Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Llana Skye has been on track to go to Shiz her whole life, taking all the preparatory programs. Her rich family helped, but she is a genuinely hard worker. Meanwhile, Mia Fey is only at the school because her aunt Morgan, who is the headmistress, wanted her there to take care of her cousin Dahlia. Morgan has taken care of Mia since her own mother disappeared (she never knew her father beyond a small green bottle). Mia wants to learn how to use her gift for magic, but is already sick of being stared at so much for her green skin. She has high hopes for meeting the Wizard.

As you may have gathered, Dahlia is Nessarose. She genuinely has some of Iris’s personality traits — Mia has to want to protect her, after all. Not sure if she’s in a wheelchair or has some other disability, or whether her condition can be blamed on Mia’s verdigris (the way Nessa’s mother was made to eat milkflowers when pregnant). Maybe rather than her legs, she faints very easily, and the wheelchair is to prevent overexertion.

Madame Morgan assigns Mia to Llana’s room, making a comment about how maybe Llana’s studiousness can set an example. So Llana’s first impression of Mia is someone who only got into the school by family connections, who’s rude (okay, Mia may be a little snappy about her skin. And may have grabbed a student or two by the lapels), and who makes some strange feeling rise up in her guts. It must be loathing.

Meanwhile, Mia sees Llana surrounded by friends like Jake, Neil, Bruce, and Angel, and comes to the conclusion that she’s faking all her friendliness and concern, and that’s how she has this cadre always agreeing with her and praising her. She’s also pretty sure that Llana’s led a charmed life that led her to Shiz. And her face feels red whenever she looks at her — this feeling has got to have a name!

(Yeah, they’re gay for each other)

Dr. Grossberg talks about, like the scent of fresh lemon, the days of his youth a lot, when a Goat like him would not be the only talking animal on campus. Mia makes a good impression on him, and they start talking to each other a lot about Ozian politics and law. He always pronounces Llana’s name as Lana.

Before I start talking about Phoenix, I just want to point out @thisllendpoorly’s observation that Fiyero Tiggular sounds a lot like Furio Tigre. What Could It Mean. Also two-line wonder Avaric is Larry Butz.

So Phoenix is a new student who’s not expecting to last long at this school. He’s brainless, after all, everyone tells him he only gets by on bluffs and luck. So why not embrace that about himself! Also he’s a prince I guess?

And now we start shuffling around the love triangles. Diego is really into Mia, always calling her kitten. Llana’s noticed that Mia does not really reciprocate, so even if they have their differences she’s gonna be on this girl’s side. So she’s been subtly intercepting Diego whenever he tries to get closer than Mia is comfortable with. When he’s about to ask Mia to the ball, Llana gets him to agree to taking Dahlia out for a fun night before he even gets near the other Fey. (If they’re both students, ages are probably changed so he’s not eight years older than Dahlia. Still, there’s never even a pretense of a romantic relationship between them, bc that would creep me out.) Dahlia enjoys having someone around who’s so concerned with making her happy, and also likes seeing what she can do and how he’ll react.

Phoenix immediately gets along with both Llana and Mia, and learns about their rivalry. He invites Llana to the Ozdust Ballroom, then invites Mia. However, when the two get to the ballroom, they find themselves dancing with each other! And they start realizing that maybe their assumptions about each other were wrong, and they could be friends after all. (And wow, under these lights Mia’s eyes are really pretty, and Llana is so graceful of a dancer…)

(Phoenix: “All according to keikaku”)

So Llana and Mia get along now, though they still haven’t admitted their feelings. And Llana decides to teach Mia how to be popular (which does involve some complying with trends and putting on an act, but Mia learns that Llana really does care about her friends, and she really is pretty dang smart. She just is more concerned about image than Mia is.)

Dr. Grossberg is forbidden to teach. His replacement is *spins wheel* Robert Hammond? *continues spinning wheel* Manfred von Karma? Blaise Debeste? … You know what, lets just call the new professor “Bob”.

Bob brings in a Lion cub in a cage and talks about how he can prevent her from ever learning how to speak. Mia casts a spell in agitation that incapacitates most of the people in the room, Phoenix breaks the cage door and runs off with the cub, and Llana can’t believe she’s going along with them but… but this is wrong. Llana surprises herself by saying she’ll take care of the cub. The little lion currently only knows how to say her name: Ema.

Somehow Llana becomes convinced that Mia and Phoenix love each other. (They do not. They are very good friends.) She also decides to go by “Lana” in honor of Grossberg (and so that the author doesn’t have to keep going back and adding an extra L to her name).

Madame Morgan arranges for Mia to go to Oz and talk to the Wizard after her agitation over Grossberg. (No one knows about Ema.) Mia asks Lana to come with her because “she knows how to talk to people” (because she feels better about everything when Lana is near). Meanwhile, Diego’s getting agitated at having to spend so much time with Dahlia, who insists that they are “the best of friends!” He says that he can’t do this anymore and storms off.

Lana and Mia have a gay time in the Emerald City. Then it’s time to meet the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz…

… Gant.

Yeah, this is gonna end well.

Gant is delighted to meet Mia and Lana! He brings out a Monkey and gives Mia the Grimmerie, telling her to cast a levitation spell as a show of her powers. Mia complies, but is horrified when the Monkey starts screaming in pain. And then Press Secretary Morgan tells her that spells are irreversible, other caged Monkeys begin growing wings, and Gant goes on about how these spies, I mean scouts, can report subversive animal activities…

Mia runs off. Lana chases her, and Gant calls for guards to go after them both.

Lana says that Mia shouldn’t have run off, that yes what she was just made to do was horrible, but Gant has power and is offering them a chance to work with him! They can talk to him, influence him, direct that power where it can do some good! Mia is being impulsive to run off instead of trying to work with what they’ve got.

Mia is done playing by the rules of someone else’s game, however. She asks Lana to come with her, to follow their dreams, just the two of them.

… Lana hopes she’s happy.

The guards burst through the door, and Mia puts on a show. She’s the Wicked Witch, she’s going to take down the Wizard, Lana definitely tried to stop her but failed! No one’s going to bring her down!

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Most of Oz is terrified of the Wicked Witch.  Lana’s official title is “Lana the Good,” so how much power she has is uncertain.  She is generally beloved, but her friends from school are anywhere from worried to disgusted with her.  She’s been involved in stripping rights from Animals and making arrests on dubious charges.  It seems like for power, she’s sacrificed everything she believed in.

Unbeknownst to anyone, she tried to fight Gant, and outright refuse some of his orders.  But he revealed something — he knows about Ema, the Lioness Lana has been raising and keeping safe.  And legally, Ema is property, and can be seized and caged.  But there’s no need to do that!  … As long as Lana complies.

Phoenix suspects something is up with the way Lana has changed; she used to be so warm and caring and now she’s put on this cold demeanor.  If she was drunk with power, wouldn’t she be happy?

Lana is just trying to forget Mia, but she has to make press statements about how the terror is being addressed, and Phoenix keeps bringing her up.  In fact, he joined the guard to find her, while Lana says to just let her go.

Also the public is convinced that captain of the guard who is always hanging around Lana is her fiancé.  Because heteronormativity.

Mia goes to the home of Dahlia, new Governor of Munchkinland, to ask her cousin for help with her cause.  Dahlia guilt trips her for leaving their family and abandoning her.  Maybe she and convinces Mia to enchant a pair of slippers for her?  Not sure about that plot point, it’s a little weirder with the fraught relationship these two have.

But then Diego comes in (against his wishes, he’s been appointed Dahlia’s aide.  She really likes having him to play with) and reveals that Dahlia’s been a terrible, terrible governor.  He says that whatever Mia’s doing, wherever she’s going, he wants to be with her.  Dahlia, furious at losing her Diego (I’m going to emphasize again: not romantic.  Possessive) steals Mia’s book and tries to remove his feelings for Mia.  She shrinks his heart.  Dahlia, at this point, would be fine if Diego died, but Mia turns him to tin to save him.  Dahlia convinces “Godot” that Mia turned on him and transformed him on purpose.

Mia meets the Wizard again.  He wants her on his side, for them to work together!  Mia doesn’t really trust him, but is lonely and misses Lana and still pretty shaken by what happened with Diego.  She’s prepared to swallow her pride and try to make a change from his side, and even gets him to agree to free the Monkeys — but then she finds Dr. Grossberg in a cage in his room, unable to speak.

Mia is absolutely furious and storms off.  (The Monkeys come with her.  The very first one she gave the wings to is named Maya.)
Gant calls for the guards.  Phoenix arrives first, and manages to divert the rest of the guards and get Gant to shut up.  He tells Mia to run.  Then Lana shows up.  She basically begs Mia to just leave them alone, don’t get involved in this (what if Gant threatens you too?).  Mia feels betrayed.  Phoenix, fed up with Gant’s rule, says he’s going with Mia and joining her rebellion.  Lana sadly lets him go.

(Still not sure whether to keep the plot point that Gant is Mia’s father)

Then Gant and Morgan decide they have to take care of the Wicked Witch now.  They turn to Lana.  Lana, desperate to satisfy them but also keep Mia safe, says to spread a rumor about Dahlia (knowing that Dahlia may be Mia’s cousin, but she isn’t exactly one of her confidantes)

Morgan decides to go overboard and summon a twister to kill Dahlia.  And that twister brings with it a house…
Phoenix and Mia catch up with each other for a while.  Then Mia senses the twister.  She still feels some sort of obligation to Dahlia, and she knows that her magic is powerful enough to mitigate some of the danger posed to EVERYONE ELSE by a GIGANTIC TWISTER (seriously, did Morgan not consider collateral damage?).  Also if those shoes she was tricked into making do exist in this story, they’re hella powerful and Mia’s already been thinking of a way to get them away from Dahlia. If anyone else got their hands on them…

Lana also comes to the fallen house, very upset that this happened.

Mia and Lana start arguing about everything that’s happened.  Mia’s the one who escalates the fight to physical.  Then guards come (and Mia assumes Lana arranged that).  Then Phoenix comes to the rescue!

Mia runs.  Lana tries to stop the guards, but they take Phoenix prisoner and prepare to interrogate him.

Mia, knowing Phoenix is in danger, casts a spell to protect him from harm.  It also turns him into a scarecrow.  Mia is pretty close to despair at this point.

Oz organizes a witch hunt, a team made of:

• Godot the bitter tin man
• This young man named Miles who was dropped here with his house and dog Pess and really just wants to get back to his sister
• A strange scarecrow who met Miles on the Yellow Brick Road and offered to help him, who is bad at hiding how uncertain he looks over this witch-killing business
• And a Lion that Morgan brought in (while Lana pleaded for her not to.  Morgan says that if Ema succeeds in killing Mia, everything will be fine!  And if she doesn’t, well, a free-speaking Lion like her isn’t supposed to live anyway.  This is punishment for Lana trying to defend Mia and Phoenix).  Ema hasn’t seen much of the outside world, so she gets surprised easily.  Godot’s the one who decides to call her “cowardly” for this.

So they go on their Wizard of Oz adventure.  And eventually get ambushed.  Godot is incapacitated, Miles and Ema are taken by flying Monkeys back to the castle, and Maya has to be encouraged by Nick to rip out his straw and make it look like he was attacked too.  Maya and Nick put a plan together.  Mia is pissed at Miles (shoes?  Are the shoes involved?), but doesn’t plan to hurt him.  And Ema recognizes Mia and starts talking to her about Lana.  Ema doesn’t know why Lana changed either, but she manages to convince Mia that Lana’s still a good person.

Lana comes to beg Mia not to hurt anyone and to just tell the truth, that she’s not Wicked at all, please just come back.  They both demand explanations, and finally tell each other everything.  They reconcile, and kiss.

Then Lana has to hide.  The Witch Hunter group is all back together.  Miles gets maneuvered into throwing a bucket of water on Mia, and she “melts,” really slipping into a trapdoor.  Only Maya and Phoenix are in on the plan.

So Miles is freaking traumatized over having “killed” a person, Ema is too shocked to speak, Godot expected to feel satisfied but just feels hollow, and Phoenix is trying to keep the group together long enough to go back to the Emerald City and deal with Gant.

After they’re given some “gifts,” Lana confronts Morgan and Gant and says they’ve taken everything from her already, she’s sending them to prison and exile, and they’re pretty much terrified into doing what she wants (and she’s been keeping records of their many, many crimes that she’s willing to make public if need be).

Phoenix sneaks back to the castle while Oz is reacting to the news that “The wizard just left.  Lana’s in charge now.”  The rest of the witch-hunters are not doing great, especially Miles “Just Killed A Person” Edgeworth who’s now realizing that the wizard really didn’t have a way for him to get home.  He gets Mia, and they try to figure out what to do.  Plan A is just run far away and never come back and never tell anyone.

Maya tells them that’s a stupid plan.

Plan B involves sending messages to Ema, Lana, and (after some consideration) Miles.  They’ve got a lot of work to do to set up a secret refuge for Animals to help free them and make sure they remember how to talk in the time it takes for Lana to reinstate their rights (having Ema as a heroic SpokesLion may help), to undo the damage Gant caused, and to find some way for Miles to get home (or from what he says about his foster father, maybe just get his sister Franziska to Oz)…

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Maya made it her mission to make sure all the flying monkeys learn how to speak