A/N: I'm sorry to have abandoned you for so long dear readers! Blame it on a severe case of writers block, the holidays and an upcoming (like 3 days) move clear across the country. But here you go, sorry if it's a lot of exposition, etc.

It was taking too long, too f-in long, in DG's humble opinion. It had taken the Arjikis and full day and night to gather supplies and find enough people to go along on the quest, as everyone was now calling it, except DG. She flat out refused to call it a quest, this was not some stupid fantasy book with big breasted elf women and half clad barbarian princes on the cover, the was her life and she wanted to hold on to a thread of sanity. This was a mission, she was on a mission and the wandering nomads, magic green people and various other people with various other quirks were just there to help her on her mission.

They had now been on the road, looking for the Gale family vault, for close to a week and had not found it yet. Of course this all would have been going a lot faster if she had packed that whirly-ma-jig that she used to it in the first place. She had given Glitch and Ardin as much information as she could remember. There had been a lot of trees, and some rocks, lots of rocks actually, but not really big ones and maybe some water, but definitely lots of trees.

Glitch had given her a large 'good for you' smile, while Ardin explained that she had just described about 60% of the O.Z. It had taken another two days of pouring over maps to cancel out most of the Vinkus and Quadling Country because of the terrain and on the second day Glitch had a synapse fire correctly and realized they could do a lot of back tracking if they retraced the first quest. Mission, DG had interrupted, it was a mission. So the group, on their mission, had set out on the fourth day after Cain was kidnapped northeast through the edge of Quadling Country and into what was the Old Munchkin Land.

They had been discouraged to find that Ardin refused to lead them by the old brick route.

"It's too dangerous to be out in the open now that we now there are Longcoats still around. This way we will hopefully come across them before they find us." Ardin had said sternly and ended that conversation.

About two days into the mission, Glitch had asked DG if she could use the staff from the Elphaba (though the term he used was "you know, that green person") to find their direction. This had resulted in DG walking around, swinging the staff, even sticking it straight up in ground and saying every crazy hocus-pocus word she could think, and thanks to those freaking wizard kid books, she knew a lot of them. This had resulted in nothing but some more green sparks and a sore head for Glitch from when DG had started to get careless about her swinging.

"Well," he tried, "sparks are good, and I bet I couldn't ever make sparks. Perhaps we should follow the sparks."

"Except, brainiack, that sparks just shot straight up in the air, and I don't think any of us can fly." Glitch looked as if he was pondering any possible avian tendencies of anyone in the group as DG rolled her eyes and looked away. She was getting aggravated and cranky, really cranky.

She felt a warm hand on hers.

"DG is very worried, we know. Remember, we are all worried, but we all know that Cain is a very strong man, he will be alright."

She looked back at Raw with a sigh. "I know, but for how long? If we keep going in circles we'll never make it to the mountains in time to save anyone."

DG remained silent until they stopped to make camp for the night. DG excused herself with a need to get a breath of fresh air and walked into the surrounding forest promising not to go far hearing Glitch as she left wonder out loud, "Fresh air? I could do with some nice musty city air my self."

She kept her word and didn't wander too far; she could see the faint light from the new campfire glowing through the trees. She had brought the staff with her, to what ends might come of it, she had no clue. She propped it up against and tree and stared at the dubious piece of wood.

"Okay I don't much care for you right now and you are apparently having issues with me or don't realize the gravity of our situation or are just a dumb piece of wood." DG stopped and stared down the stick again, actually hoping for a reply. Nothing.

"I wish Tutor was here, I bet he knew all sorts of ways on handling mood magic sticks. Now come on stick, I just want to find Cain! That's it! Find Cain, save the day! Gah!" She pounded her hands on the tree that it leaned on. It sparked a little.

"Okay, now we might be getting somewhere, which was better than nothing. Okay, boomstick," she stopped suddenly for the staff hissed, it actually hissed at her. "Okay… I won't call you boomstick and apparently not stick at all." It gave off sparks again, DG smiled. "Sparky it is then. Obviously I'm not Elphaba and I'm not my greatest great grandmother. I'm a kid from the Other Side just trying to help out and I have no idea what I'm doing. I need to get Cain and save my sister and stop an evil witch, again and in order to do this I need to find the mausoleum. But I've only been there once and that was only because my crazy hippie Dad had another magical do-hickey that helped me find it."

It sparked just a little.

"That's all I need to do right now, is find the Other Dorothy. Now can you help me do that or not?"

The staff sparked a little and DG let out a sigh, "I guess not."

Then it sparked again, more this time and brighter and began to shake. DG reached out and took hold of it and somewhere in the back of her mind she remembered Tutor and it came to her. There were no fancy movements, no magic words for the real magic; it was about what you wanted and being able to focus that. Just concentrate, DG.

She took hold of the staff with both hands tightly. Cain, she thought, No! Can't think about Cain right now, need to find the mausoleum, that space in the trees that was there but wasn't there. The mausoleum, focus on it! There were rocks and trees and magic, old magic, Dorothy. The staff began to shake at this. Dorothy, I need to find Dorothy. Take me to …

With this the staff tried to lurch out of her grasp, but she held on tight and felt the rush of the world around her and she suddenly stopped. DG was surprised, there was no falling, not even a landing; it was as if the world had moved to her instead and she knew where she was. She looked slightly to her right and in the dim light she saw the door.

She couldn't help but let out a small laugh, "Thanks, Sparky."

She walked to the door and held out her palm, glowing like before and stepped through the opening door. It slammed shut behind her with a heavy metallic clang. It was as it had been before, the deep spiral in the center and that eerie green marble crypt to the side, still sitting half ajar as she had left it and across from her the doors leading to the Other Dorothy. She entered through those doors again into the same strange, yet familiar world.

"You've come back so soon?" The young girls' voice said behind her.

DG whirled in place to face her again, yet when she saw the owner of the voice; it was not the same as the time before. Standing before her was now an older woman, lines beginning to form around her mouth and eyes. The eyes were still just a little sad, as the last time.

"Yes," DG said not knowing if what she was saying was an answer or a question. "I guess I'm not finished. The witch is not all gone, again and now she's sucking the life out of my sister and I think she's responsible for Cain disappearing."

"That mean's that Elphaba has sent you here, am I correct?"

"Yeah, I found her staff thing and she told me I had to find something you had and something else that someone else had, but she couldn't say. She said she didn't know."

"Ah, yes. What you came for from me I'll give you freely," Dorothy held out her hands, which were now holding the slippers DG had seen previously. "They're magic, but ancient magic and I don't know how well they will work anymore. I could only use them once myself, so if I were you child I would save them until you most need them. They could get you out of a tight spot." DG looked down at the shoes incredulously, however she was not hold the same pair of shoes, and they were now an exact copy of the riding boots she currently wore, except a dark, ruby red.

"What just happened?"

"Slippers are not the best footwear for daring escapes my dear, they often will change into what you need them to be, but don't worry they are the same." Dorothy smiled a fond smile at her and the shoes.

"What about the other person? Elphaba said she didn't know who had been chosen to have the third item."

"She is right, for our safety and hers we couldn't let her know about the third person. When Glinda and I were able to break Elphaba from the Witch's hold Elphaba had little recollection of most of her life, just a memory of larger details, and the farther back her memories went the more she remembered. It did not take us long to realize she did not know of something very important.

Let me start a little further back my dear, since I will most likely be the only one able to tell you this much. If the witch has gotten this far she has realized how we broke Elphaba from her and is using that against us. In order to break Elphaba free we had to use the magic of three items; something that was tied ancient magic, something that was tied to the O.Z. and something that was tied to her. The staff as you can imagine is an ancient magic and of course you are now in possession of the slippers, magic of the Gales though ancient itself, they will help you to harness our magic. But the witch has discovered this. I believe she must have something of ancient and powerful skill, most likely the grimoire and is using your sister as her tie to the Gale magic, it is not as strong as what you have, but it will do. In order to counteract that one part of the three is weak, she must be going straight for the true source of the third. So at the moment you are each quite equal in that you have the same pieces of the puzzle, so you both need a part of Elphaba."

"But," DG interrupted. "I have a part of her, I have Sparky, here."

"Patience, child, you really must learn patience."

"Sorry."

"Remember, I told you that the staff is the link to ancient magic, not the link we made to Elphaba. Now to finish part of the story." Dorothy stopped, eying DG with a look she had seen on her own mother. "Elphaba really only remembered up to a certain day of her old life, and it was truly sad day. She had a lover, a bright young man and a Prince in his own right and the last day she remembered was the day he died."

"So this thing I'm trying to find is a part of him!"

Dorothy glared again.

"Oh, yeah, sorry."

"It is a part of him, you are right on that part, but it was also a part of Elphaba. For Elphaba never remembered that after his death during her spiral into darkness she bore him a son. We hid this boy from her the best we could, for we couldn't be sure what she would to do him if she ever discovered the truth about him. Liir was a sweet boy and we were honest with him as he grew up and when the time came he was there to help us save his mother, whom he loved as if he had truly known her. I do not think Glinda and I could have succeeded were it not without the boy's help, though he was not magic at all."

Dorothy paused in her story, clearly expecting another interruption; however DG was deep in thought and only began speaking again after a good, long think.

"So…" DG fumbled over her grasp of the situation. "So Elphaba had this secret kid, with a guy who's death made her go kind of crazy in the first place and he's the one who has the last item that I need. So where is he buried? Or can it just be really simple and is this ancient artifact just in some O.Z. museum so I don't have to go all Dr. Jones across the country?"

Dorothy, like everyone when she made her pop culture references, just looked confused for a moment, but shrugged it off.

"It's not a matter of finding an item, I'm afraid. For Liir didn't not put his part of the magic into something; remember he was not magic himself. He couldn't be a conduit for the spell, only its vessel."

DG sounding repulsed asked, "So that means I've got to go grave rob for some dead guys bones?"

"No, my dear, you've got to find what remains of Liir in this world. You have to find his descendent, but I'm afraid the witch has already done this."

DG's heart sank into her stomach as she whispered, "Cain?"

Dorothy nodded solemnly. "The witch now has all the parts she needs; she has a bit of everything that took Elphaba and her magic away from her."

"What will she do to Cain?"

Dorothy only shook her head soberly and DG understood.

"Thank you," DG said softly, "Grandmother, I will try to make you proud."

"Remember DG, when I first came to the O.Z. and helped Glinda and Liir to defeat the Witch in my time, I was also a displaced Othersider. Do not let that hinder you, you will find the strength and the power to do what is necessary. Remember what the strongest magic is."

With this the world around Dorothy began to shimmer and fade and DG found herself outside in the woods again when her knees finally gave way and she sank to the ground and cried.

DG walked back into the camp a while later, her eyes still red around the edges and her lips drawn into a tight and serious line. She knew what they had to do now, they had a plan. She caught Ardin's eye and tried not to notice the worried and pained expression that crossed over Raw's face as she walked by.

She opened her mouth to speak.

"Hey, Princess!" Glitch interrupted in his usual jovial manner. "Nice shoes! Have you been shopping?"