Tick tock

[Elphaba Thropp]

"Well, to be blunt, you're probably going to be their next target Claire."

[Claire Heart]

She nodded. "I know. I've figured as much." She dropped her eyes. She wanted to seem strong, she really did, but her strength was wearing thin.

[Elphaba Thropp]

"I have one idea... the only way we're going to do this is to turn Mombie and the Nome King against each other. The only information I have on them is the location of the Ruby slippers - if I could find out where he is, I could tell him MOmbie told me the location of them - make him thing she's trying to cut him out of the deal"

[Taye Keats]

"Like hell is Claire going to be captured," Taye growled, pulling Claire closer protectively. He turned to Elphaba. "I like that plan... but how can we do it? Where's the Nome Kingdom?"

[brooser]

"Roquat of the Rocks also has the Magic Belt," Ozma chimed in. She blushed as everyone turned to her. "I think he stole it from my family years and years ago. Barely anyone knows about it... not like the Ruby Slippers. It's also far more powerful though... which could be bad for us."

[Claire Heart]

"It's ok," she said, touching him gently, trying to calm his nerves. It was really nice to have him so protective of her, but at the same time, she wasn't gone yet. "No one knows where the Nome Kingdom is or I think every one of us here would have already taken off..."

She looked to Elphaba. "It sounds like a plausible plan. We just have to find out the answer to the burning question: where is he located?"

This belt scared her. "Ozma, do you remember anything else about the belt that might be helpful to us?"

[brooser]

"Oh, I know how to get to the Nome Kingdom," Ozma said, surprising even herself with the answer. "I think it was part of my training to be the ruler. It's underground of course... it spans more or less the entirety of Oz, as well as underneath the Deadly Desert and places as far as Ev. As a result, there are several entrances..." She thought for a moment. All of these memories from her previous life as Ozma were having trouble coming back to her. "The entrances are usually in mountainous areas, like... Mount Runcible, or in the Glikkus. The easiest entrance would probably be in the Great Kells, south of Kiamo Ko. The entrance is well-hidden though..."

[Claire Heart]

Claire could barely believe what she was hearing. It was still Kay, but there was all of this knowledge spilling out of her! This was incredible! Sure, she'd read al about Ozma, but with all her wisdom, Claire could never picture her as a child, really. Plus, she figured by now Ozma would be grown, older, perhaps even elderly...Any of that she was prepared for, but the fact that it was Kay blew her mind every time she thought about it.

"So do we all go as a unit or do we send some and some stay behind to make sure they come out alive?" That didn't sound very nice, but it was true. Claire knew how dangerous the Nome King could be, especially with Mombi at his side.

[Elphaba Thropp]

"Then this is what we need to do - first of all, we have to get this information to Dorothy somehow. She needs to find the Nome Kingdom. Secondly, I need to pay a little visit to Yorq Yiggle - if I can get his magic belt, it will be a great benefit. But I need to figure out how to do it - it's very powerful, and the last thing we all need is for me to get captured too. Ozma - you created Jack Pumpkinhead - can you somehow give him the information on the Nome Kingdom - without showing up in person? And I need to get to Yorq as soon as possible. We don't want Dorothy to show up and not find the Nome King"

[Ian Tibbit]

"I'll go with you Elphaba." Ian said. "Afterall, I have seen this Yiggle once before." he reminded them all.

[Claire Heart]

Claire wished she knew what to do. She felt a little helpless. She wanted to do whatever she could to help find Ellie and Glinda, but she was quite sure she was next on the target list and didn't want to jeapordize being captured herself. Plus, she figured if she volunteered for anything Taye was going to jump down her throat. So she just nodded, and a little begrudgingly, waited to be told what to do.

[brooser]

Ozma nodded. "I'll send Jack a message," she said, closing her eyes and concentrating. She certainly wouldn't have been able to do this as Kay, but as Ozma it was a piece of cake. After she was done sending Jack the message, she opened her eyes.

"What should I do?" She turned to look at Taye and Claire; they had yet to be assigned to any task either. "Perhaps... we could work the plan on Mombi as well? We could make her think that the Nome King was trying to cut her out of the plan."

[Claire Heart]

"That's a good idea, Ozma. However, Mombi isn't the easiest to fool. She's already quite sure I'm not on her side...unless I could convince her that Polly had convinced me to join their cause since Ellie ws gone..." But if they were found out there would be hell to pay and Claire knew it.

[Taye Keats]

"Hmm... I doubt if she'd fall for it though. Mombi is smarter than that." Taye's brow furrowed in thought. "We could try to get Polly on our side, but I fear that she's too far gone to listen... maybe we should just catch up to Dorothy and Jack Pumpkinhead. If Elphaba and Ian distracted Yorq Yiggle in Munchkinland, we might be able to get to the Nome Kingdom and free Glinda and Ellie." His animosity towards Ian was now nonexistant, since he was no longer drawn to Ellie. While he had never had any sort of real conversation with the munchkin, everyone else seemed to trust him plenty... and for now that was good enough for him.

[Elphaba Thropp]

"All I need to know - Ozma - is what the best way is to get the belt, without falling victim to it. After that - I'll take care of it."