The Great War of Oz

(Author's Note: This is a fan-fiction work, none of which belongs to me. This is one of my first attempts at an epic. It is based off of Wicked the book and the Oz series books. In regards to inconsistencies between the musical and the film the Wizard of Oz, I often consult the books for the final say, but will sometimes go a third way in creating an explanation of my own. I hope you enjoy this, and remember that if you like this story, keep it alive by reviewing. Thank you and enjoy)

In the middle of the Southern land of the Quadlings, deep within the Marshes, there floated a small city. It was a marvel in and of itself: whole city-quarters floating upon the surface of the marshes. They were connected by wooden bridges that could be withdrawn in the event of some mishap.

A rather unlikely occurrence in Oz.

Standing apart from the terracotta city buildings and houses of the Quadlings, veritable palaces in comparison to the mud-huts in which they lived before, was the great ruby palace around which the various sections of the city floated and were anchored to by bridge. It was a place of magic, for the sheer amount of rubies suggested that this palace must have taken years to erect and place here, in the middle of the marshes.

But it was completed in under a week, all thanks to magic. The structure was made of the usual things palaces are, save that the foundation and walls were of the same blood-red rubies that grew like grass at the bottom of the marshes. Those had been raised up by magic, using the rubies of the swamps, and made together into this great palace.

The palace of the Lady Glinda.

As her palace stood out from the earthen dwellings of the city, so the fair-skinned sorceress stood out among the ruddy-skinned swamp-dwellers of the Quadlings. More akin to the upper-class Gilikinese of the North she was. In fact, many people would mistake her for the Good Witch of the North, though her palace was located in the South. The truth was that the Lady Glinda was indeed Gilikinese, though how she had come to be the sorceress of the swamp-land is a tale that will be told in the fullness of time.

Those who knew the Lady Glinda neither cared that she was a Gilikinese woman ruling over the Quadlings – which, in more severe times, would smack of invasion and dominance by a foreign dignitary: the Lady Glinda was good, and that was the reason why so many people loved her.

Dan'ai was as Quadling as they come, except for her hair: it was red like the color of brick, or of the rubies of her land, in contrast to her dark skin. She had risen up from a common swamp-dweller to the captain of the Lady Glinda's personal guard: a cadre of young women from all corners of Oz who protected the land's favorite sorceress. There were four divisions among the guard, each given their specific color in regard to where the ladies of that division came from. Dan'ai, or Aidan as she was called by those who did not speak her native Qua'ati, was from the Red Division, though she was captain over all of the bodyguards.

As captain, she had a great deal of responsibilities. One of which was the daily report that she delivered personally to the Lady.

This brought her before the Lady Glinda's chamber, awaiting an audience. Usually it did not take a long while for the dainty sorceress to make a pause from her reading – surprisingly, someone as beautiful as Glinda actually did read – and saunter over to the door.

Today, however, there was no answer when Dan'ai knocked.

"My lady?" she inquired. There was still silence coming from the room.

"I have today's reports." Still nothing.

The young Quadling reached into her armor and took out a ruby-jeweled key. As captain of the guard, Dan'ai was given special privileges: one of which included care of the key to Lady Glinda's chamber, in case she needed to get in.

When Dan'ai opened the door, she happened upon a startling and somewhat disturbing sight. Lady Glinda was not present in the room. Even worse, the room was in a state of disorder atypical to the lavishly beautiful yet immaculately neat habits of Lady Glinda. The pedestal on which the Lady kept her book, the one which recorded events in Oz while they were happening, was empty. Where the book should have been, however, there was an envelope. It was of plain white paper, with red scribbling on the front. The scribbling spelled out a name. The name of whom the letter was meant for, obviously, for only the Lady Glinda wrote with such flowing yet interestingly messy hand-writing.

The letter was addressed to the Ozma…