Chapter Text
The land of Oz was never one that would ever really be described as a quiet place. Most people would agree that, even during the more peaceful days, every part of the land had something going on at pretty much all times, and the occasional commotion was as common as bread. And while the central capital of the land, the Emerald City, was known for being grandiose and festive on any given day, the excitement that rang through the city now was considered loud enough to disturb the past four generations of the dead.
People ran wildly through the streets, screaming and clapping and cheering with intense vigor, with pretty much every resident of the city emerging from their houses to join the jubilated crowd as it passed by. As they packed into the main square of the city outside the grand Emerald Palace, many whoops and shouts echoed into the sky as they went, with feelings of joyous celebration being obvious in every word and phrase spoken by every person.
“GOOD NEWS! OH SUCH GOOD NEWS!” said one.
“HE’S DEAD! THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST IS FINALLY DEAD!” exclaimed another.
“It can’t be! Is this true?!” a woman asked in shock, “The wicked witch is dead?!”
“It is! It is true!” responded a man, “The enemy of all of Oz is dead!”
“Oh such good news indeed!” the same woman squealed in response.
“Look! It’s the Mikotobas!” shouted someone in the crowd, pointing over the masses to the stage in front of the doors of the main Emerald Palace. Just as had been said, standing there now was a man in his mid-forties and a young woman who was about nineteen years old. They were Yūjin and Susato Mikotoba, two magically gifted people who were beloved by the masses, which was obvious as the people began to cheer for and praise the father and daughter simply due to seeing them, and they each bowed respectfully to the crowd as a means of accepting their praise. Susato eventually held up her hand, and the crowd quickly fell as silent as they could get, though their lingering excitement was still there, present in the whispers and squeals that could still be heard.
“Fellow Ozians,” Susato announced in a pleased tone, “Let us all be glad on this day and celebrate the triumph of justice! The actions of our former wicked adversary have been permanently subdued and we have won, with good having conquered evil!” The crowd cheered again in response to this, and Susato smiled at her father as she viewed their reactions, and he proudly placed a hand on her shoulder with a smile of his own.
“Lady Susato! Sir Yūjin! It has indeed been confirmed that the witch is dead?” called a random spectator in the swarm.
Yūjin cleared his throat. “As there has been a great amount of rumors and speculation, we will confirm here and now for good measure,” he said, taking a scroll out from his robes and opening it to read, “According to the members of the Wizard’s Guard who were present at the scene, the death took place shortly after sunset, being the direct result of a bucket of water thrown by a young female. And they have verified, the Wicked Witch of the West is in fact dead!” His announcement caused more happy cheers, and the people then began to yell at random once again.
“Good riddance to him! No one mourns the wicked!”
“Don’t say the word ‘good’ in any sentence involving him! A good man scorns the wicked!”
“Indeed! That’s why we teach our children to not misbehave! Anyone wicked will end up the same way and die alone as he did!”
“The wicked reap only what they sew! That’s why they’re left only on their own!”
“Lady Susato! Why does wickedness happen?!” asked a woman, turning the people's general attention back towards the father and daughter on the stage. Everyone stared intently, wondering what would be said about the proposed subject.
“That is a very good question,” Susato responded thoughtfully, “One that tends to confuse a great many people. Even magic like what my father and I possess cannot explain it in full. Is it that people are born wicked? Or is it that wickedness is perhaps thrust upon them and then they cannot go back from it? This lack of an explanation is one reason why wickedness is so frightening, because it is all too easy to fear what cannot be understood. In the end, we may never have an answer to that question, though I know that will never stop us from trying to piece it together."
“Was he even a human?” asked another person in the crowd.
Yūjin was the one to answer this question. “He was a human. He had a father and a mother and was born like anyone other person. Any affairs or other circumstances of how that came to be are unknown, and there is admittedly not much information that we have acquired since even we can’t say what happened behind closed doors. But there is a difference between what we are and who we are, and those things need to be judged accordingly," he explained.
There were some murmurs among the crowd, but the atmosphere quickly became loud and boisterous again. “He's right! Who cares if he was a human?! He was still wicked! That is what matters!” came a voice.
“Yes! And the fact that he’s dead and gone is a cause for joy to spread throughout the land!” came another.
“Praise be to the name of goodness! And woe to those who spurn it!” said yet another.
As the people continued to come up with many colorful phrases about how horrible the Wicked Witch was and how his death was a momentous occasion to be celebrated, Susato and Yūjin momentarily turned away from the madness to address Barok Van Zieks, the captain of the Wizard’s Guard, who had approached them. “Your efforts were very valiant, Captain. Thank you for your strides to keep the people of Oz safe, especially during these most recent times,” Yūjin said with a polite nod.
Barok bowed respectfully in return. “I simply did what was necessary, my Lord. I’m here to inform you that the final preparations have been made for you and your daughter to officially succeed the positions of the rulers of Oz given the departures of our two former Wizards.”
“Your hard work is very much appreciated, Captain,” Susato said graciously, “You should take time to rest given how things have been recently and what you had to endure, even if just for a day.”
“Are you truly certain that things will be alright if I were to do such a thing?” Barok asked doubtingly, “I know that paradigm shifts such as these can sometimes be difficult for people to accommodate to, and I'd rather not have another mob spring up just because I took a step back."
“I do not believe there will be too much of a problem,” Yūjin said reassuringly, “Susato and I can keep watch over the people, and they are filled with happiness right now. If that is the strong emotion that is the most prominent while we are settling into these new times, then I don’t think there will be trouble.”
“The Governor Lords of the East and West provinces will need to be informed of this new development quickly,” Barok noted, “Even if those parts of the land are not under the jurisdiction of the Emerald City, it is still vital that they are informed.”
“We will be sure that happens,” Susato said quickly, “Now please, Captain. Do rest. We will take care of everything here for the time being.” Though he didn’t seem entirely convinced, Barok respectfully bowed to the two of them again and then took his leave from the square, having had more than enough of the crowd’s incessant and very loud squabbling.
Once he had departed in full, the Mikotobas turned back to the crowd, who had started just cheering rather than continuing to shout random phrases from the “Good conquers Evil” thesaurus. With a smile, Susato’s hands glowed with magic, and she sent a burst into the air, which exploded like a crystal firework and sent sparkles raining down upon the herd of people, who all stared at them like children excited by bubbles. They applauded at the sight, and then Susato raised her hand to quiet them all down once again.
“Good people of Oz,” she said, “It warms my heart greatly that joy has spread amongst you thanks to the good news. Though as you’ve probably expected, my father and I have a great many things to attend to given how two of our former Wizard have taken their leave. So if there are no further questions-”
“Lady Susato! Wait! I have one last question!” came the voice of a man within the sea of faces.
Though she couldn’t see who had spoken, Susato pretended to know who had. “Yes?” she asked.
“It's about the Wicked Witch,” came the voice again, sounding a mix of suspicious and anxious, “Is it true that, at a point in time, you were…his friend?”
The crowd fell so silent that one could hear a pin drop after this question, as everyone was in shock at the very idea of what this random person had proposed. Susato’s eyes widened for a moment due to the suddenness of the question, but then her face became serious and she let out a breath. “Yes. It is true.”
A blanket of horror and disbelief passed over the crowd, and a gasp seemed to emanate from every person there simultaneously. Yūjin nervously raised his eyebrows at his daughter as she turned to look back at him, as if silently asking her if she was sure about what she was saying. However, she simply nodded back at him before addressing the stupefied crowd. “I know it is difficult and even unorthodox to believe, but back when I first met him, things were quite different from the way they were now. Not everything we know today was set in stone, and the way I looked at him then wasn’t the same as how we all look back on him now. When our paths first crossed…when we were younger…we were just two people in school.”
Memories suddenly overtook Susato, and she closed her eyes as she tilted her head up towards the bright full moon, letting the rays of light shine on her face as she felt the cool breeze of the night. Just saying what she had aloud made her recall everything from the very beginning, and how her life had been changed forever. There were no crowds, no parties, and no thoughts about the wicked. It was back in the days of attending Shiz University, with nothing on anyone's mind except where their futures might be going, and nothing was certain. But most importantly, instead of being the Good Witch of the North, she had just been Susato Mikotoba. And instead of being the Wicked Witch of the West, he had just been Ryūnosuke Naruhodō.