The Jester of OZ

Chapter Fourteen

The Jester tapped his fingers impatiently against the scepter, wondering why she was taking so long. He didn't think his old room was at all fascinating, if anything, he didn't touch it because he simply didn't care for past reminders. Yes, that was it. He didn't care about it. He didn't care if she saw it, and he simply didn't care what she thought of it. He didn't care about her pity, all he wanted was her affection. He didn't care what she thought... He didn't care period! As long as he had what he wanted. Telling himself that, he felt he was thinking of a lie. Deep down, he did care. Dear OZ, he cared about her opinion so much he spent half an hour trying to decide which suit he should wear before meeting her. He hated it, he despised the idea that someone like her could've possibly made him care. But then shortly afterwards he realized it felt... nice to care for once. It was nice to have something to look forward to when he woke up every morning. Now that OZ was all his, she could join him and they would both rule the land as if it were a playground. That would make life so much more bearable! Just as he was about to check in on her, to make sure she wasn't snooping around where she shouldn't, he heard the sound of her footsteps walking towards him. The sound was softer this time, proving that she was no longer wearing the ruby slippers. When he turned around to face her, he grinned. Amber had a light blush on her face as his eyes seemed to inspect every inch of her appearance. On her feet was a pair of old, faded pink, pointed ballet shoes.

"There you are! I see you've found them. Though, I think we can do a LOT better." Twirling the scepter around in his hands, he hopped over to her. Whispering something inaudible to it, the glass sphere glowed with magic. Amber was about to protest, but by then the glowing had ended. "There we are! Now we can have a little fun." He exclaimed happily. At first she was confused as to what he meant, but then when she glanced down at her feet, the shoes no longer appeared to be old. Instead of a washed out pink, they were now sparkling red. Their ribbons appeared new as well, wrapped around her ankles snugly. Amber tried to focus on what was happening, but she couldn't shake off what she saw. She knew how terrifying being bullied could be. Now that she knew he had suffered worse then she could ever imagine, it made her... relate to him a little more. "Why the long face?" He asked, frowning sarcastically as if trying to copy her. Amber knew that when he smiled again, it was only to cover up whatever emotions he wanted to hide. He had spent years... years of living in the shadow of the Wicked Witch. Half of her wondered how one person could bottle up such a burden. "I-It's nothing." His expression changed slightly when she said that. Seeing right through her, they made serious eye contact for a few seconds only for her to break the silence once again. It was as if he knew what she was thinking. "What did you have in mind?" She asked, thanking her lucky stars that he played along without pushing her farther. "Well aren't you polite! I'm glad you asked." Clapping twice, the magic from his hands glew slightly. Amber heard shuffling above her head, so she looked upwards to see what was there.

There, hovering just above them, the many instruments she had seen before were back and ready to play. There were violins, flutes, and a few cellos here and there. Without any puppets to intrude, it made her feel a lot more comfortable. "OH! I almost forgot!" He snapped his fingers before twirling the scepter around in his hand. Like before, the orb glowed brightly, but only for a short amount of time. Amber watched as the violet and green aura surrounded her. When she looked up she also saw that it surrounded him as well. By the time it cleared, she looked in complete awe. Instead of her plain white dress, she was now wearing a sparkling black, modest tutu paired with a violet top with dark purple and black leggings. She marveled at how comfortable and beautiful it was. Amber was never able to get the main parts in any recitals back home, so to wear something that looked the part, it felt unbelievable. "Like it?" He chuckled. When she looked back at him, she couldn't help but let out a small giggle. "What?" He laughed too.

His suit was now yellow and blue, complete with a large, obnoxious, striped bow tie that sat on the bottom of his neck, red and green. Amber tried to calm herself down, but she couldn't help it. He looked too funny when he was actually trying to make someone smile. At the same time, she reminded herself that he looked oddly handsome when he wasn't trying to be scary. "You look beautiful, puppet." He tucked the scepter underneath his arm while his fingers adjusted his bow tie.