Wonderful Wizard of Nick - Chapter 2

Many miles away from Hillwood or any other known spot on the maps, a big, imposing woman, dressed with a dark mariachi outfit, played a magical guitar and had fun using it to terrorize the residents of a small town, by playing it to cause a powerful lightning storm. The woman cackled while playing, and the lightning illuminating the sky revealed she was literally on the bones; she was a living skeleton.

“Oh, this is just so fun. I hadn’t made any storm this big in ages.” The woman thought out-loud. “Heh, maybe I can combine it with a hurricane and use the winds to bring something very big and heavy to crush some house… Mmm... that orphanage down the street looks perfect.”

The woman grinned and played with more enthusiasm.  After a while, she saw a large, flying object carried by her storm’s winds, and then used her guitar to aim at the orphanage she wanted to destroy.

“HAHAHAHAHA..!” The woman then noticed the object’s shadow was right over her now and wide opened her eyes. “Oh. I miscalculated.” Pause. “This is gonna hurt.”

CRASH!!!!

The powerful impact woke-up Lila and Spunky; the girl was now more than glad about her idea of using the tent as an improvised bed, as it softened the fall for the dog and herself. The redhead noticed the impact had half-opened the warehouse’s door (plus making several new holes and cracks on the walls), so she grabbed Spunky and ran to the door; luckily, the rain outside was over now, as Lila could see sunlight coming through the holes.

When Lila opened the door, however, she was completely shocked at the scene. Wherever the warehouse had landed, it definitely wasn’t Hillwood. The houses were considerably smaller, as there seemed to be no tall buildings at all; also, the houses’ style was very rural-like, reminding Lila of some old western town. Also, the sky was completely clear now, without a single cloud, something quite weird considering that not more than 5 minutes ago the storm had been powerful enough to carry the warehouse.

“Spunky... I don’t think we’re in Hillwood anymore.”

Not long after she said this, people started walking out of the houses; Lila realized many of them looked Latino-like, and this worried her a bit; the storm was so powerful it carried the warehouse over the south boarder? She just hoped the authorities wouldn’t accuse her of being an illegal immigrant.

“Uh, excuse me, but… uh… I… I hope the warehouse didn’t hurt anyone but...”

“Didn’t hurt anyone?” A large, imposing man, with a big black mustache and an eye-patch pointed at one side of the warehouse. ”Your flying house landed on Sartana!”

Lila looked at the spot the man was pointing at, and gasped. She could see the low part of a dress and a pair of very skinny, pale legs (Lila didn’t know they were just the bones) wearing silver boots protruding from under the warehouse. For Lila’s even bigger shock, the ‘legs’ turned to dust at that moment, and then disappeared, along with the dress, and leaving just the boots behind.

“Oh, no!!” Despite knowing it wasn’t really her fault, Lila was horrified at this. “She.¦. the person that was standing there… she’s dead...”

“Yes, Sartana of The Dead. And you crushed her!!” The man said in a very joyful tone. Then, a blue haired girl, wearing a pair of red goggles on top of her head, spiky bracelets on her wrists, and a short red dress covering a white shirt, shouted in excitement.

“Ding-dong, the Dead is dead!!”

The whole crowd started cheering and dancing in happiness. Lila was now in shock, but then she started crying and actually got a bit mad.

“How can you be ever-so-happy? A person is dead!! It was a tragedy!!!”

The villagers noticed this and cooled down a bit. The large man approached Lila again, this time in a calmed, comforting tone.

“I see that you must be a good witch, not just because of your power, but also because you respect life. I can see why you feel bad over your actions, but you saved all of us from this very evil witch that had been abusing her power for a very long time.”

“Besides, she was already dead.” The blue haired gal added.

“Witch? B-but I am no...” Lila, very confused by now, tried to get a proper explanation but then the crowd looked up and cheered again. When Lila did it, she gasped when seeing a beautiful, tanned, brown long-haired, silver-masked woman flying over them; she was wearing a bright silver outfit, fitting enough to show a very pretty body, plus a red cape, a large silver sombrero, and a bulky, black and silver glove on her right hand. She landed graciously right next to Lila and grinned.

“Uh… eh… hello… Mrs...” Lila stuttered a bit.

“Plata Peligrosa!!” The woman said in a loud, proud tone, with the villagers cheering again. “So, Sartana is gone for good, Chief Suarez?”

“Yes; she’s under this house... well, the dust of her bones, at least.” The large man answered.

Lila wide opened her eyes and Spunky yipped when this Plata Peligrosa woman lifted the warehouse over her head with her ungloved hand. Then, everyone could see the remains of Sartana’s guitar; Plata then pointed at the remains with her glove, and, a moment later, an energy blast emerged from her fingertips, vaporizing what was left of the instrument.

“There. Now, she’ll not be able to reform.” Plata put the warehouse back on the ground and then looked back at Lila. “Thanks for the help. I’ve been trying to get rid of Sartana for years now, but my offensive powers only work for one hour a day, and fighting her always took me a lot more than that. Heh, crushing her with a house; why didn’t think about that before?”

“Mrs Peligrosa… uh… eh… can you tell me where am I? This definitely isn’t Hillwood, or the USA.” Lila finally managed to talk again.

The imposing woman softened her features and nodded at Lila before removing her glove; almost instantly, her outfit was replaced by a white dress with red and green lines, and her overall body language and expression changed from a boisterous warrior to a warm, sweet housewife’s. Lila was now starting to realize why the villagers thought she was a witch; apparently, wherever she was, magic was very real.

“I see you and I need to talk. First of all, the proper introductions; my name is Maria, The Good Witch of The North, and you have landed in Miracle City, on the Eastern Side of this country we call Nick.” The woman said to Lila, who now bowed respectfully at her.

“Glad to meet you, Mrs Maria. My name is Lila Sawyer, from Hillwood, in the United States of America, and he’s Spunky.” Lila petted the dog. “And, excuse my ignorance, but, how far are we from my country?”

“You need a good explanation; it’s a fact.” Maria then produced a book out of nowhere with ‘Good Explanations’ written on the cover. The woman turned at the rest of the villagers. “You people start repairing the damages Sartana caused with her storm… and prepare the celebration you’re obviously anxious to start.”

“I’m that obvious?” The blue haired girl was now wearing a party hat and holding a pair of balloons. Before Lila could ask if she was a witch too, Maria took her back into the warehouse, with Spunky right behind them.

“Mmm... this place needs a clean-up; it’s a fact.” Maria, again, produced a book, this one with ‘Places That Need a Clean-Up’ on the cover; she then opened it, and what Lila could only describe as a magical mist emerged from the inside. When Maria closed the book, the warehouse was almost perfectly repaired (except for some minor damages on the entrance door) and decorated like a small country house, including a table with chairs in the middle, and a tea set and pastries on top of the table.

“You're… okay I need to sit down...” Lila took some deep breaths and sat on one chair. Maria did the same, sitting at the opposite side of the table, and served some tea for them both.

“Now, Lila, you seem to be very surprised by magic to be a witch, so I’m guessing you are a normal girl who got possession of some magical item, like a flying house, but I doubt this place had any magic at all before I entered so, care to elaborate?” Maria’s nice tone and the tea’s relaxing effect comforted Lila, who started explaining everything as they continued drinking tea and eating pastries (that looked too much like Mexican churros for a country that wasn’t supposed to be even close to America); once Lila finished, Maria got a thoughtful expression.

“Okay, Lila, guess I see the problem here. Our country, Nick, is separated by the rest of the world by both physical barriers, namely a very big, hostile desert that surrounds our country, and magical ones, so we’re mostly a secret for the whole world. Once in a while, a bit of our magic can get past the barriers , which explains why, in your world, people can see magical, unexplained phenomena once in a while, and why, at times, stuff from your world appears here at random, especially when very powerful magic is involved, like the storm Sartana summoned; very ironic, don’t you think? She brought the instrument of her own destruction; it’s a fact.” Maria’s next book was, obviously, ‘Ironic Instruments of Destruction’.

“Well, I’m sorry about her… destruction… but I’m ever so relieved to know it wasn’t my fault. Anyway… if you are a witch too, can you please send me back home?” Lila asked but got discouraged at Maria’s suddenly thoughtful and slightly apologetic expression.

“Sorry, Lila, as I told you, the magic that takes you in and out of this land works mostly at random. Unless you have a power object with specifically oriented magic to take you where you want, or know an extremely precise spell, you can’t use magic to leave Nick.  I have my own magic, of course, but it’s mostly for low-scale spells, or to summon the books from my personal library, that help me perform some magic and research for information; and my personal power object, The Power Glove, only helps me turn myself into Plata Peligrosa, and that’s mostly for fighting purposes; I can try carrying you out of Nick by flight, but if it takes more than one hour, something I’m afraid it’s the case, we’d be left stranded in the middle of the desert until I can use the glove again the next day, and that can be dangerous. It’s a fact.”

Cue the ‘Desert is Dangerous’ book.

“And our technology isn’t as advanced as in your world, so we have no flying machines or some other vehicle you can use… In fact, only the witches and a few scholars here know about those machines, precisely because of the random objects and information we get from your world once in a while. “

“So… I’m stranded here… forever?” Lila got a tearful face now. Maria produced a paper tissue for her, something the redhead thanked while washing up her tears. Spunky, who had been eating churros most of the time, got a bit sad as well, mostly at Lila’s saddening mood.

“I think there might be a chance.” Maria mentioned, getting Lila’s attention. “You see, originally, there were 4 witches in this land; two of them, including myself, are good ones, and this building crushed Sartana, so there’s only one evil witch left; I don’t have the spells or the information to get you back home, and obviously I wouldn’t advice to go ask the remaining evil witch. And that leaves you two options; going South, to visit the remaining good witch to see if she knows a way to get you back, or go with our main magical authority. The Wizard of Nick.”

Cue ‘The Wizard of Nick’ book.

“The wizard… and he’s a good person?” Lila asked, suddenly starting to feel hopeful again.

“He’s very secretive. Most of the time, only his inner circle has contact with him… but I know he’s a good ruler, and a powerful magician; he fell from the skies several years ago, so he most surely knows about the outer world and it’s very possible he knows ways to get you back home. You can find him in Emerald City, right in the middle of Nick.” Maria smiled as she stood up; Lila followed after her as the woman opened the warehouse’s door and lead the redhead outside, where the villagers were now finishing decorating town for the party. “The journey is a bit long and can be dangerous, and sadly, I can’t go with you, but I’ll provide you with some assistance.”

Maria then kissed Lila’s forehead. The redhead smiled at the motherly gesture, and then felt a light heat on her forehead, right where Maria kissed her. Some villagers, who saw this, smiled and cheered when seeing Lila’s forehead that now had a little glowing mark that remained there for a few moments before disappearing.

“That’s my blessing. You’ll find it will open many doors for you; it’s a fact.”

Cue ‘Maria’s Blessing Kiss’ book.

“Now, you need food and water for your journey.” Maria used her magic again to produce a basket for Lila, who thankfully accepted it. “Mmm... and you can use new shoes too. No offense but your boots might need some repairing now, and you can’t wear them in a long walk.”

“Hey, how about Sartana’s shoes? They didn’t disappear along with her.” The blue haired gal approached, holding the dead witch’s shoes.

“Uh… thanks, but I don’t think they’re my size...” Lila was interrupted by Maria.

“Good idea, Frida.” Maria made a magical gesture and Lila got her shoes replaced by Sartana’s. “Those are magical shoes. I’m not sure of all their capacities, but one of their characteristics is that they adapt to the wearer’s feet. One recommendation; never, ever, take them off your feet except when you go to sleep or bath, and keep them somewhere safe when you do that. After all, they’re magical shoes and someone might try to steal them if getting the chance.”

Lila noticed the good witch was right, and the shoes, besides looking good, were quite comfortable.  Lila, again, thanked Maria and the villagers for their attentions.

“Now, some last minute recommendations.” Maria got a tone that reminded Lila of a mother orienting her kid before the first day of school. “Remember this is a magical land, so you might find things that aren’t normal at all in the outside world; and, witch or not, you already got a reputation with your arrival, and news run quite fast at any place, so don’t be surprised if others still consider you a witch; in fact, it works better for you if they do; between my blessing and the 'witch' reputation, you’ll be respected by most people you’ll find in your journey…‘most’, not ‘all’, so you still have to be careful. And don’t be surprised if some animals or even inanimate objects are capable of talking to you; it is part of this land’s magic, and also why you can understand our language just like we can talk yours.”

“Yes, I was wondering why a place that’s supposedly ever-so isolated from the rest of the world has people talking perfect English. Thanks again, Mrs Maria.. and… uh.. one last question; how do I get to Emerald City?”
Maria was about to explain when Frida walked in front of her.

“Ah, it’s easy. Just…“ The blue haired gal started singing, “Follow the yellow brick road… Follow the yellow brick road… Hey, this is catchy... follow the yellow brick road...”

Many villagers were chorusing with Frida now as they lead Lila to the town’s outsides, and the redhead saw a long yellow brick road extending to the distance. She thanked them one last time, and left to Emerald City, followed by Spunky, while the villagers continued singing.

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(In the original book, there are 2 good witches, and the witch that welcomes Dorothy to Oz, in this case, is portrayed by Maria Rivera; she, as well as all the characters introduced in this chapter, are from ‘El Tigre, The Adventures of Manny Rivera’, playing the roles of the Munchkins and, in Sartana’s case, The Evil Witch of The East.)