Post by SandstormFurever on Jun 26, 2018 14:42:12 GMT -5
Without further ado, here's Two Short Witches!
If you haven't seen Wicked or don't know the story, this will make no sense.
Chapter One
“Elle, get down here! Your father hasn’t seen his hat in days and all odds point to you!”
You’re probably wondering, who the heck is Elle and why do all the odds point to her? Well, I’m Elle. Elle Tiggular, at your service. I’m not guilty, no, and the odds did not point to me. They pointed to a little cat named after Nessa. Now, Nessa was glorified by my green mother Elphaba and scarecrow father Fiyero, because they saw Nessa as a “reincarnation” of Elphaba’s long lost, dead sister. The only reason they thought that was because Elphaba found the cat the same day her sister died, and supposedly it looked like Nessarose, the dead sister, so they didn’t blame her for anything. Instead, they blamed me for everything wrong Nessa did, which I called bull-you-know-what and got yelled at every time. Aren’t I a great daughter?
I rolled my eyes and hurried downstairs, the floorboards creaking as I took every step. “I’m coming already!” It wasn’t long before I was greeted by an irritated green witch, drumming her fingers on a wooden table.
“Elle, what have I told you about stealing things?”
“That it’s Nessa’s fault?”
“Watch it blondie! I told you that it is a wicked thing to do!”
“I promise I didn’t steal it. Check Nessa’s bed, for goodness’ sake!”
“If it’s not there, you are in serious trouble miss I’m so perfect!”
“Why won’t you just believe me this once?”
“I’m not sure I don’t, to be honest,” Fiyero’s voice stuck out, so I turned around to find Fiyero with his hat and hand coming from the door. “Nessa had it tucked under her bed. Turns out that darn cat isn’t the angel we thought she was.” I thanked Lurline silently, but remembered that Elphaba believed in the unnamed god, so also panicked a bit.
“See what I mean? I was right!” I hissed out at Elphaba, “I’m going back to practicing singing, I’ll see you both at dinner.” I stormed up the stairs, thankful that they finally caught the culprit but mad that Elphaba didn’t apologize, still.
I was back in my room, I sat down on my plump, pink bed that Fiyero had somehow afforded years ago, and found my sheet music from Phantom of the Emerald Palace just as I had left it. It was a song called “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,” which was a personal favorite of mine. I was Christine in the local production of it, and I was extremely thankful for my golden voice. There had been a voice like it when I was a baby, before Fiyero picked me up from the orphanage. That’s what sparked my love for music, the longing to be as beautiful and amazing at singing as that mysterious voice, if I ever were to hear it again.
I sang softly, going over the difficult parts and then finally rehearsed it one last time, full on. I sounded great. Happily, I found my leather covered diary and wrote down a quick entry describing Nessa being caught and how I felt I'd improved singing.
I was interrupted by a knock on the wood near the entry to my room. It was Elphaba, and she looked guilty. “Elle, I wanted to apologise… I shouldn't have been so harsh. It was Nessa all those times, wasn't it?” I looked down at my diary.
“Indeed,” I replied softly, “every single time. But I should apologise too… I've been a brat just as much as you've blamed me.”
“It’s alright, my dear. But your father and I have been talking, and we've decided it's time you meet your real mother.”
“I don't wish to know my real mother, though. I've got a perfect one right here.” Elphaba laughed softly, and sat down beside me on the bed.
“My dear, I am not perfect and nor is Fiyero. You, though, you are as perfect as a daughter can possibly be. So Fiyero and I want to send you to the Emerald City, because even if you don't want to know your real mother, we promised her she could meet you. You don't even have to know who she is. Just… please us, okay?”
I sighed. I wasn't ready to leave home, although I was 15, the age most Ozians left home. I just felt connected to home, like it was the only place I felt safe. The only place I could comfortably smile, and not be embarrassed to be the adopted daughter of a scarecrow and artichoke. “Do you really want this?”
Elphaba nodded, “I made a promise, Elle. To someone I loved dearly. She expects me to uphold my promise, and in return she upholds hers. Please, Elle. Do it for Fiyero and I.” I shut my eyes tight, and breathed slowly. I didn't want to go. But I couldn't let down Elphaba. I opened my eyes, and my eyes immediately began to tear up. I wiped them.
“Ok, I will.” Elphaba placed something in my hands, and cupped her hands around mine.
“Give this to her. Don't open it, just hand it to her. When you get there. You'll know who. Now get packing.” I could tell that Elphaba's face was tear stained as she got up and walked down the stairs. But she didn't look back. What have I done? I got up from my bed, but began crying, so collapsed back on the blankets and hugged them. I didn't want to let go, ever.
Eventually, I was able to put the emotions away and begun to pack. I really didn't need too many clothes, because if I was to be a maid I'd probably get a uniform, I just needed enough for the journey. I grabbed my journal, and threw the binder of Phantom sheet music I had into the bag as well. I grabbed the locket that I'd had since… forever, and grabbed the paper Elphaba gave me. I slung the bag on my shoulder, and headed downstairs. This was the day my life would change forever.
Fiyero and Elphaba greeted me, and both seemed very upset. I ran into Elphaba's arms, and buried my face in her shoulder. I didn't want to let go.
“You all ready, girl?”
“Ready as ever, I guess. How could one possibly be prepared to say goodbye anyway?” and with that, I smiled so bittersweetly. Was I ready to leave home forever? To never see Fiyero or Elphaba again?
“I can't believe your finally leaving myself,” Fiyero said, suddenly. I let go of Elphaba and ran into Fiyero's open arms.
“I'm fifteen Dad. It's time for me to go, we all know that.”
“Still. Elle, promise to visit once a year,” Fiyero concernedly said. I nodded quickly, suddenly excited yet bittersweetly sad. I let go, and looked up at both of my adoptive parents. Gosh, I was a lot shorter than both of them! Fiyero was like a foot taller, and Elphaba was about six inches taller, she's 5’9”. I guess I just wanted to leave that realization to the end, eh? I wanted to lie to myself and say I was tall. Oops.
“I promise Dad,” I said sweetly, “but I better get going if I'm to tag along on the supply cart. I only have about five minutes before it passes the house. I’m not sure I'm ready to say goodbye though.” I whispered the last note.
“Neither am I kiddo,” Fiyero replied, “but all good things have to come to an end, isn't that right Fae?”
“Don't mention it Yero.”
“Anyway,” I flung my hands freely at my sides, “I guess this is goodbye.” Wiping away tears, I hugged each of them one last time. Fiyero kissed my forehead in a fatherly way.
“We love you, Elle. No matter what. Remember that.” That was Elphaba's final note to me as I walked out the door, now crying full on. The cart drove past, and I had to run to hop in the back of it. No matter what, I'd uphold my promise. Even if that meant going through a frightful and potentially dangerous journey. For you, Elphaba.
Chapter Two
I sat in the back of the hay filled cart, bored and uncomfortable, for at least a day before the sparkling green spires of the Emerald City came into view. I hopped out, praying that the driver didn’t see me, with straw stuck in my golden hair and stuck to my butt. I groaned as I ran to the side of the road. There was only about a mile walk to the city gates. ONLY! As if laying on scratchy straw for an entire day wasn’t unpleasant enough!
With my bag on my shoulder, I confidently yet nervously walked to the city. I’d only walked about half the distance when a carriage rolled by me, but stopped. The driver hopped off the top and looked at me, before offering, “You need a ride to the city?” I nodded quickly.
“That'd be amazing, sir!” I replied, with a big smile.
“Hop on up, kiddo!” the man said. So I climbed onto the seat thing, and the man sat next to me. “I’m Avaric, how ‘bout you, miss?” I looked him over a bit. He had messy blonde hair, with deep, dark emerald green eyes, and was really tall compared to me, probably around six feet high.
“I’m Elle Thropp,” I replied, with a smile, “I came the Vinkus, and I’m looking for work in the city.”
“You look like more of a Gillikin than a Winkie,” Avaric observed, and I nodded.
“I’m adopted, you see,” I explained, with a smile. “What’re you, Mr. Avaric?”
“I’m a Gillikin too,” Avaric said, “I mean, I sorta did work for the Vinkus royal family for a bit, but I am pure… urm, well, Gillikin. Ahh, here we are. You can get off here if you want, or head to the palace with us. You can speak to the maids to see if there are any openings there.”
“I think I’ll stay with you,” I was flattered that he’d even offer it. I guess, for an older guy, he was kinda handsome. Okay, I had to get that idea out of my head, but maaaayyyybbbeee… no. No Elle, GET THAT OUT OF YOU DARN HEAD! But I did smile a bit, thankful and somehow still crushing on an older man a little bit?? The gates opened, and the streets parted for the carriage. Everything was a sparkling green, bringing a smile to my face. It was all so beautiful, the Ozians waving to us happily. I had never seen anywhere so joyous and gay, free to be fun and cheery, everyone so rich. There were shops everywhere, museums, and even a library. I had my eye on one of the shops, which seemed to have really cute shoes. I could do for a new pair.
“Speaking of which, who else is on the carriage?”
“Oh, just Glinda and her boyfriend. Well, I think he's her boyfriend, she breaks up with men so quickly these days. It's one guy one day and another dude the next,” Avaric casually said. I’d heard things about Glinda, and those stories said that she was the current ruler of Oz. The ruler. I kinda had an insane freakout, completely forgetting about my little crush on Avaric.
“Glinda? As in the good witch of the south? The, Glinda?”
“Yep, her Ozness herself,” Avaric replied. Hmm, I wonder if that's who Elphaba wanted me to give the paper to. Oh, but it couldn't be. That'd be stupid!
“Give me a second, will ya?” I held a finger up, as to signal that I needed a moment. So I grabbed my bag off of my shoulder, and opened the pouch up, finding the light pink piece of parchment. I unfolded it, to see a big G in the left corner. Oh my God, it is for Glinda! Does this mean…? No. It can't be. I mean that's impossible. Why would the ruler of Oz-?
“Elle, you might want to get off here,” Avaric said to me. I blinked out of my thoughts, and refolded the paper, putting it back into the bag and slinging it over my shoulder.
“Thank you Mister Avaric,” I said sweetly, “I'll see you around.” And with that, I stepped down a step and hopped all the way down, landing gracefully (somehow) on the floor. Avaric waved goodbye, and the horses began pulled the carriage inside the palace courtyard. Crap. What do I do now? I guess I could always go to an inn and ask if Glinda speaks to peasants ever… But then a better idea filled my head. Maybe I could run… I began chasing after the carriage, running as fast as I could. Thankfully the carriage wasn't going that fast. I got up extremely close. There was a bar by the wheels in the very back, pretty high up on it. If I could maybe jump and… aha! My hands clutched onto the bar, giving me a firm grip. I hung from it, and prayed that I wouldn't fall off it. The carriage bustled along, and finally stopped. I dropped down and sighed in relief.
“Avaric!” I yelled, “I'm back!” I ran to the front of it, and found Avaric getting down from the top of the carriage.
“Hey perky, you weren't supposed to go past the walls,” Avaric concernedly said.
“Could you get me a job at the palace?”
“I mean I know people in the place, but-”
“Can who, get a job in the palace?” an almost squeaky, odd voice said from behind me. It was Glinda, in all her glory. I'd never seen her before, and frankly I was surprised. She was a bit shorter than I, four inches or so, and was extremely suntanned with strawberry blonde curls. She was extremely thin, and her bright yellow dress complimented that. Although she was older, she managed to still be pretty. A strange man, extremely tall and definitely not handsome, climbed out, with a dazed frown on his face. He stormed off towards the entryway, seeming very upset. “Oh don't mind Judas, he was just leaving. And who might you be, dear?”
“My name is Elle, ma’am, and I was wondering if I could get a job in the palace,” I smiled, with a polite curtsy. I still had a bit of straw in my hair, but that was inevitable. “My parents sent me from the Vinkus to be a maid.”
“The Vinkus, you say? Hmm,” Glinda looked me over a bit, and smiled, “well I'm sure there's a spot in the palace somewhere. I can check with the maids for you.”
“Really? I can't thank you enough ma'am,” I cheerfully said, “you won't regret this!”
“I'm sure I won't. Avaric, dear, will you show miss Elle to the maid’s break room? I need a bit of time to myself,” Glinda softly said to Avaric, who nodded.
“Come along, Elle,” Avaric said to me, with a smile. I walked by his side to the back door, which he opened to a sparkling green room, with a bunch of maids, young and old, scattered around the room. There were a few Quadlings filing their nails, some Munchkins reading their books, and some Winkies boredly chatted. But there were no Gillikins, strangely. That’s odd. I smiled.
“Hello, my name is Elle,” I spoke up, but none of the girls looked up. I looked down at my feet awkwardly. “I’m wondering if there are any jobs open.” A Quadling looked up at me, and disapprovingly looked me over.
“There aren’t any,” she said quickly, “besides, what would a rich Gillikin be doing wanting to become a maid?”
“I’m not rich, number one, and I don’t get what the prejudice is all about! I was adopted into a family in the Vinkus, and no one there is so…” I had to think about the word, “RUDE!”
A munchkin looked at me, sympathetically, “Look girl, we’re sorry, its just, the only Gillikins in the Emerald City are those cute guards,” she looked at the other girls with a smile, “and Glinda herself. We just don’t expect any Gillikins to be maids, I guess. Right, Brittany?!” The Quadling girl rolled her eyes and got back to doing her nails. “Look, we’d be happy to give you a job. My name’s Iila, and I’m the head maid.” She reached out a hand to shake, and smiled. I shook her hand with a smile.
“Thank you so much,” I softly replied.
“Iila,” Glinda walked in, startling me a little bit, “Oh! It seems you’ve already met miss Elle. Make sure she gets a job, alright? Bye, my dears!” Glinda left perkily, leaving me with the rude maids. When will I get a chance to give Glinda the paper? I rummaged the paper in my pocket, frettedly. Well, I guess we’ll just see how it goes. And with that, I faked a smile and pretended to like the girls, with one nervous look back at where Glinda walked out. Good luck me.
Chapter Three
I woke up the next morning on a semi-comfortable bunk bed above Iila, the only person willing to bunk with me. My hair was a mess, so I grabbed the pink brush I had packed, and brushed it out.
“Now Elle, here’s your maid uniform,” Iila reached up and laid the dress on my bunk, as I ran the brush through my hair, “If it’s ever stained, just tell me and I can give it to the royal laundry cleaner, he’ll get it out with no problem. Now, I don’t know why, but Glinda requested you personally as her helper for the day. You’re lucky, the maid she calls upon normally gets to witness magic.” When I heard magic, I was suddenly interested. Elphaba had occasionally done a spell or two, but nothing too dramatic. Still, it was amazing. I smiled largely, this could be my chance to actually learn something like Elphaba!
“Magic? That’s… that’s awesome!” I had a sudden burst of energy, and my hair was perfect. I took the dress and carefully stepped down the ladder. “Mind you, is there anywhere we could change in, urm, privacy?”
“We all change in front of each other here,” Iila said, “unless you have a girl issue or something, of course, if you know what I mean.” I nodded.
“Okay, I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda awkward sometimes,” Iila laughed, “but you will get used to it, trust me.” I smiled, and took off the dress I slept in, and put on the maid uniform.
“Would you mind tying it in the back?” I asked, and Iila smiled.
“Of course!” Iila took the ribbon and neatly tied it into a bow, “that tight enough?” I nodded.
“Yeah, thanks,” I smiled, “I’ll have to learn how to do that too, I guess.” Once completely sure I was ready, and after literally five minutes of brushing my teeth, and stuffing the note in my dress’s pocket, I decided to ask Iila where to go.
“Where exactly do I go?”
“Just head down the hallway to the right, and make a left turn into the throne room. From there you’ll know.”
“Thanks, girl!” I smiled and followed her directions, making the left turn down the hall and opening a door. But it wasn’t the throne room.
It was the dirty laundry room. I rolled my eyes. Iila wasn’t as nice as I thought her to be, clearly. There was a note on the stinky sock pile, messily reading, “Hey newbie you’ve fallen for it. You’ll find Glinda down the hall at the next left. Welcome to the palace, Gillikin crap.” I rolled my eyes, and angrily walked down the hall, making the left and entering the throne room. Iila was a jerk- they all were. I didn’t want to live in somewhere with people this crappy all around. And they called me crap!
Glinda waited on her throne, scanning over a big fat book, looking old and wrinkled, “Oh! Elle, you came. Did Iila and the gals welcome you?”
I groaned, “it wasn’t much of a welcoming.”
Glinda, depressedly, said, “Oh,” then stood and put the book down on the chair. “Well, welcome to the palace. I always like to make sure the newbies had a good night’s rest, and then I always invite them to tea with me so I can get to know them. You’ll receive a good amount of money for working for the palace, because I know you girls come here to help your parents and siblings.”
“Well, I don’t exactly have real parents or siblings,” I awkwardly said, not really wanting to say that I was adopted.
“Oh?” Glinda raised an eyebrow, “well, do you have parents at all?”
“Adoptive ones,” I replied, hardly getting the words out, a bit embarrassed, “they sent me here to give you something and to start my life.” I pulled out the crinkled piece of parchment, and handed it to Glinda. “At least, I think it’s for you. They said I’d know who to give it to, and the only clue was a G, so I just sorta assumed it was you.” Glinda took the paper, and flattened the paper out a bit, before scanning the paper.
“My Lurline,” Glinda gasped, then put the paper down, “so how about that tea?” She quickly changed the subject, “Let’s go to the Garden Pavillion, how ‘bout that?”
I nodded, but almost wondered why she was so surprised. Darn! I didn’t read the letter! Oh I wish I had… if only…
I followed the witch through the tall halls, until there was a glass door, which Glinda opened with a wave of her hand. I gasped, and Glinda turned around, with a smile.
“What? You’ve never seen magic before?”
“I didn’t say that- I just haven’t see it in a while. My adoptive mother knows a few spells, I think, but she’s never bothered to teach me any,” I replied, and we kept walking. The Garden Pavillion had a glass floor, and was high above the ground. Planters held plants that I’d never seen. Pink fruit hung from strange trees, oddly blue lemons gew out of the ground, and there were even weird branches that were rainbow colored. Everything was just so… pretty. There was a neat table nearby a glass fence, with two teacups and a teapot.
Glinda sat down in one seat, and motioned for me to sit in the other. I sat down and sat up straight, trying to have perfect posture. I couldn’t have bad posture in front of Glinda.
“So, miss Elle, what are your adoptive parents’ names?”
“Elphaba and Fiyero Tigulaar, ma’am,” I replied, “we’re just a common family in the Vinkus, you see. About a day’s journey from here.”
“Wait, did you say El-pha-ba, and Fi-yer-o?” Glinda over pronounced the words.
“Yes, what’s so special about their names? Er- no disrespect to them or anything, but they aren’t exactly famous or anything,” I said quickly, finding Glinda’s concern very awkward.
“Elle, I think you’ve been raised by the Wicked Witch of the West,” Glinda concernedly said.
“The who??” I didn’t recognize that title.
“Oh my- they never told you? Well Elle, this may come to be a bit of a shock, but I knew your mother and father. Dated, your adoptive father, and was best friends with your adoptive mother, to be exact,” Glinda said, suddenly extremely happy. But her cheerful expression faded, “but your mother wasn’t exactly the most popular. She was the only one in all of Oz to spot the evil, and that caused her to be called wicked. Up until a few moments ago, I thought her to be dead.”
What.
The.
Hell.
Chapter Four
“How in the world do you know Elphaba and Fiyero? They’re nobodies from, er… Munchkinland and a corn field, who aren’t high enough in the social pyramid to even know the town mayor!”
“It may come as shocking, but your adoptive mother was the daughter of the governor of Munchkinland, and your father was a Winkie prince. Now-”
“What the hell? That is not Fiyero and El-”
“Watch your language with me young woman! And yes, indeed it is!”
There was an awkward pause, and Glinda seemed to be so lost in fury that she gazed off into the sky, so I finally whispered, “Mother?” Glinda turned her head and looked at me.
“Oh, my Lurline. Elle, your adopted, and by a green lady and a scarecrow, who used to know me! That doesn’t mean- oh wait. OH MY LURLINE! Elle, what is your full name?”
“Urm, it’s Rachelle, but I’ve gone by Elle since… well, since forever,” I said quietly. Oh my Lurline, what was happening?
“Elle, Rachelle, whatever your name is, if what I believe to be true is true, you are my daughter.”
“Um, it ain't true.” I didn't believe Glinda at all! I mean, that is the most stupid sentence. But, why in the world did I say Mom earlier? Could it really be true?
“Oh really? Then how do you explain the similarities in our appearances?”
I rolled my eyes and got to an important fact, ignoring her last question. “Glinda, if you thought Elphaba and Fiyero to be dead, how did I end up in their care?”
“Well, I woke up a few weeks after Ra- er, you were born, and went to your crib, but you weren’t there, just a note saying that you’d be in good care. I had the city be on a search for you, with no success. You were stolen, and I’m guessing by Elphaba and Fiyero based on what you now tell me. But I want to know how, exactly, they survived. Of course, that can wait-”
“Wait a second- they stole, er, me? This entire thing is crap, Fiyero and Elphaba would never steal me, therefore I am not your-”
“Okay, there’s one thing that will solve all of this. When you were little, did you have a emerald locket around your neck always? Inseparable from it?”
“Yes, I have it in my bag-”
“That’s the selling point, I blindly gave it to you the night before you were stolen. I didn’t realize you might choke on it, but I knew you would always love it. Because it would remind you of home,” Glinda said, and I started crying. “My dear Elle, why are you crying?”
“I guess I’ve just always dreamed of this day. I never expected it to be like this,” I rubbed my eyes, a bit embarrassed, “I didn’t exactly imagine my mother to be high class or anything.”
“I suppose it could be quite a shock,” Glinda softly said, and after a brief, awkward silence, “well, do you still want to be a maid?” I giggled a little bit, but was so unsure of what to say.
“I don’t really know, I guess that’s why I came here, but the other maids aren’t exactly the friendliest… urm, can I get back to you on that?”
“Why of course,” Glinda replied, “Now, I was just wondering… where exactly are Elphaba and Fiyero?”
“A little cottage in Winkie country. It’s very… quaint, compared to your palace,” I replied, unsure if I should tell her exactly. Sure, it was right near the old witch’s castle, but I would never say that to Glinda.
“Are they happy?”
“Happy as ever,” I smiled, “but of course that cat Nessa won’t stop at making sure all our lives our miserable.” Glinda snorted, very unattractively.
“You have a, cat?”
“Yes, it’s named Nessa and I think my mother thinks its her dead sister.”
Glinda burst into laughter for literally a minute straight, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Well,” I said, trying once more to change the subject, “I might as well face those bullies. They’ll hear me out, that’s for sure. I think so, at least. If they prank me again I might as well… well, let’s not go there, I guess.”
“Elle-”
“What?”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
And with that, I unsurely and uncomfortably left Glinda stranded with her tea. I noticed how neither of us had touched our tea, very awkwardly. Not one sip. I guess we were too busy with our problems. I smiled, very faintly, but kept on my way. I remembered the instructions, and found the maids’ break room/bedroom on the left. Iila was painting the door, with a smirk on her face.
“How’d ya like the laundry room?”
“Very funny munch,” I spat out the last word angrily, “but I actually did meet Glinda and we had a very intense conversation. She heard all about your darn prank, and trust me, you asses will be sorry, just you wait.” Iila rolled her eyes, stood up, and was equal with my eye level. She took the paint brush in her hand.
“Now you wait miss I’m so perfect, you think Glinda would stop to care about a nobody like you? She’s too busy for your Gillikin crap,” and with that, Iila took a swing at my face with the paint brush, smacking me with bright green paint in the face. I gasped, still shocked even after ten seconds after. I tried to hold it together, but I just couldn’t. And with that, I grabbed a spare paintbrush and dipped it in the paint and flung it at a fleeing Iila. Her uniform was splattered in paint. Iila gave me the evil eye, and stormed off, likely to the laundry room. But I couldn’t help but feel small and almost idiotic.
Glinda ran into the room, seemingly worried about all the noise the two of us made, “Elle! Oh dear, what happened?” She looked down at the paint splattered floor. “Oh, oh my, I’ll have to get some maids to clean that… but let’s get you cleaned up.” And with that, Glinda used a bit of magic, and wiped off my face. It was a weird sensation, like a warm washcloth that wasn’t wet softly ran over my skin.
“It was Iila, I told her that I reported her, and she decided to paint my face instead of the door,” was I going to play the victim? But I felt so bad, I couldn’t leave it at that. I was guilty too. “And, in anger, I sorta threw another paint brush at her?”
“Oh, well, I’m not exactly the best at handling these things, but it sounds like you have an enemy.”
“Well, duh dur.”
“Come on, we can talk in my chamber.”
“Glinda, I’m not so sure that I want the maids to know that I’m your… you know.”
“Why, won’t it make them respect you?”
“The opposite, really. Glinda, I just don’t think they’ll respect me unless I work hard. They obviously think Gillikins are lazy, and I don’t want to live up to their expectations of a Gillikin. But I also don’t want to do handy work like that.”
“Well, what do you want to do, then?”
“I want to… oh, it’s silly.” I can’t tell her that I want to be a performer, that’s nothing special. And I don’t want to beg her to learn the magic skills I never will have. Lurline, help me. “It’s nothing special, and nothing that could be used in the real world.”
“What is it, Elle?”
“I want to be…” I sighed, “a performer.”
“Well, I suppose there’s nothing wrong with a thirst for applause, is there? I was a performer myself, many years ago. In fact I used to sing-”
“You sang for me,” I replied, remembering that sweet voice, “when I was an infant, your voice was there. Could you, ya know, sing for me? Just for old times sake, or whatever?”
“I’d love to Elle.”
“On one condition. Let me sing with you.”
“Alright. You have any idea of what to sing?”
“Do you know Phantom of the Emerald City?”
“It’s one of my favorites, what do you wanna sing from it?”
And with that, I burst into a whole, tear filled performance of Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again with Glinda. Her voice was that of an angel’s.
You were once my one companion,
You were all that mattered.
You were once a friend and mother,
Then my world was shattered.
We sang through the verses, putting so much heart and effort into the song. It seemed to be perfect for the two of us, describing our longing to be with each other again and the absence we had to bare for so long.
No more memories,
No more silent tears,
No more gazing across,
The wasted years,
Help me say,
Goodbye.
And at the end, I shared my first hug with Glinda, tears rolling down my cheeks softly. I guess, in a way, I had found my way home.
Chapter Five
It wasn’t long before I found the break room bedroom empty, so I snuck in and grabbed all my belongings. I had quickly agreed to moving into a different room after Glinda and I’s duet, so I could get away from the terrors of Iila and her cult. Glinda waited impatiently outside the door with her poofy blue dress. I walked out, and the two of us quietly walked down the halls.
“It’s right next to my room, I believe,” Glinda said, and quickly found the giant doors to the room and magically opened them with a wave. She seemed to do that a lot.
The room was bright, and not greenified. The walls were a light pink, with a sky blue bed in the middle. The bed looked plump, with fuzzy pillows and even an extremely soft comforter. There was an open door to what I believed was a walk-in closet (which I was excited for, despite my lack of many clothes), and doors to a bathroom. There was a desk complete with a huge amount of books, and even a grand piano. It was large, and extremely lavish, but not too lavish for me. This is the type of room I’d dreamed of having when I was a little girl, my fantasies that I was the luckiest adopted girl alive because my adoptive parents were royalty. Oh, those were the days… The room rivaled anything I’d ever seen before, to be honest.
“Wow…” I was marveled at the grand room, even its windows stretching far above me.
“It’s great, isn’t it? This was originally my room before being converted into a guest room years back when I moved into my current room. I had this room customized to my liking, and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did,” Glinda said, happily, “Do unpack, feel at home. The closet will be the perfect place for any clothes, though you might want to give the maid uniform back. There’s also a few outfits that I wore while at school in there if you’d like to take a look.”
“Glin- Mom, this is amazing. I couldn’t thank you enough!” I said, a large grin displayed on my face, “my room back at home is like a broom closet compared to this.”
“I’m glad your happy. Now, if you excuse me, I have to write something down really quickly.” Glinda left the room and shut the doors magically (again!), leaving me alone. I sat on the bed and opened up my bag. I pulled out the pink skirt and white long sleeved Phantom of the Emerald City shirt which I’d worn on the journey. They were dirty, so I’d have to put them in the laundry. I didn’t bring any other clothes (stupidly), so I guess I’d have to go into the closet and “steal” Glinda’s.
Walking into the closet, my brain immediately laughed at how Glinda had said that there were “some” of her outfits from her school days. What she meant was, she had an entire population’s worth of clothes. There were more wintery clothes, such as scarves, sweaters, ice skates, and winter gowns, a giant spring section dedicated to brightly colored dresses, and even an entire section of bikinis. The summer section was the most scandalacious of them all, though, with dresses with cutouts in places I didn’t know there could be cutouts. Since it was early spring, I decided on a yellow sundress. I’d have to have it adjusted so I could fit into it, so I stayed in my maid uniform (much to my disappointment). Now that that matter was put aside, I could have some time to myself. I set my sheet music on the piano, and flung myself aimlessly onto the bed. It’s so… soft! I smiled so brightly that it could light up an entire village. I loved plump beds, in fact I wouldn’t have beds anyway else if I could.
So, laying on the best bed in the world, I began to think about some very odd things. Like who my dad was. Mainly who my dad was. I really didn’t know. Glinda never told me, and probably never could. Based on what Avaric told me, it couldn’t have been that man, Judas, because Glinda “flies through boyfriends.” Wait a clock tick… what if it was Avaric? No, of course that couldn’t be. He was a guard and I didn’t think Glinda would date such a peasant. Ever. Maybe it was some prince or something. Hmm, maybe I should ask Glinda. That would help a lot. But I didn’t want to necessarily bug her. Maybe she didn’t want me to know. WHAT IF IT MADE HER ANGRY? Well I guess one question wouldn’t be that big of an impact. So I nervously walked to Glinda’s room with an unsure, shy smile.
“Uh, mom? I just wanted to ask you something,” I said shyly, right outside of the door.
“What, my dear? And come on in,” Glinda said, closing the door behind me with her magic. She was sitting on her bed, a journal in her lap.
“Well, who exactly is my father?”
“Well, that is a very good question. One I can answer, but not proudly. Come,” Glinda patted the area next to her. I plopped down on the bed, and Glinda opened up her journal.
“All can be explained with this, I guess,” she flipped to the very beginning. “‘July 15th. Elphie sent me this new journal and I still am shocked at how she got it to me under Madame Morrible’s close watch on me. I guess it was her way of apologizing for stealing Fiyero. But, I found a bit of a replacement, but no one can know about him. His name is Avaric, and he’s a guard here at the palace. He used to be one of Fiyero’s close friends and best guards. He just told me he loves me, and even offered his hand in marriage, though I dare not accept. If I accept, I will be frowned upon by all of Oz. My parents wouldn’t be happy either. And I just discovered that I am expecting Avaric’s child. Oh, Avaric, if only we could be together.’ That’s it. He’s your father. Are you happy?
“Avaric’s my father?” I said in disbelief, “that tall guard who was driving your carriage?”
“Indeed. A long time ago he loved me, but when I declined his proposal, we were both so heartbroken, we decided to only be friends. I had to explain to him why I wouldn’t accept, and I suppose that was the hardest thing I’d done since I had to tell Dorothy who stole a close friend of mine’s sister’s shoes directions. I’m surprised she actually made it to the Emerald City, to be honest,” Glinda explained, shutting the book.
“This is all, er, very nice, but does Avaric even know that I’m his daughter?”
“No,” Glinda shook her head, “he can’t, and won’t ever know. It’d hurt him too much, and I can’t bare to hurt him anymore. I’m sorry, Ellie.” Glinda called me Ellie, which was a strange nickname I’d never heard.
“Ellie?”
“Oops, did I call you Ellie? Silly me. Urm- are you okay with me calling you Ellie?”
“Of course,” I laughed, “I love the nickname. It's very… me.”
“I'm sure it is,” Glinda laughed, “speaking of which, I don't really know you that well yet, Ellie. What are your hobbies? What were you like in school? Er- you get what I mean?”
“Yeah, and I definitely have the same thoughts vice versa… uhd.”
“What were your grades like?”
“Well, mostly Bs and maybe one A. I was never that book smart,” I replied embarrassedly, “my passion was never with school. I mean I did write a journal and still do, but it's not good enough to be viewed by anyone except myself. I’m a crappy writer.”
“Oh I bet you’re not. If anyone’s the crappy author, its me. An example of my descriptive writing is, ‘the brown bench.’” I snorted dorkily, but was a bit embarrassed at my pig-like snort. Glinda didn’t seem to care, thankfully.
“Well, my math is basically finger counting,” I laughed, “I got Ds up until I somehow scored an A, which raised it to a B.”
“Well, at least it wasn’t an F?” Glinda said, with a bit of confusion in her voice.
“Yeah, I’m glad. I did always get a good grade in the music related classes. Outside of school I did theatre and choir. A lot of theatre, actually. I’ve been in five something shows. There was even one based on Dorothy’s story, which I was in. I was in that before I realized who the wicked witch really was, and Elphaba always seemed a bit bothered by it.”
“OOH! Who’d you play?”
“Toto!”
“Oh,” after a thirty second period of silence, Glinda said, “Why didn’t they put you as me? Your vocals rival mine, and there’s such a resemblance!”
“I was five.”
“Oh.”
There seemed to be too many awkward silences between us. I guess two awkward gals make awkward silences. I tried to change the subject.
“What were you like, as a kid?”
“I was your average rich, spoiled Gillikin girl. A lot like you, I think, but a lot more spoiled. I was over-the-toply dramatic, which it seems you are, and I loved clothes. I still do. Fashion is everything, it used to govern my life,” Glinda smiled, and looked down at her hands, which peacefully rested in her lap, “But then I met a girl who made everything so much better. I will admit, it was Elphaba, and I did like her. But of course, that was before I’d gotten to know Avaric. Elphaba moved to just the best friend position.”
“Oh,” I didn’t know they had been that close. That must’ve been hard, to have to give up a friend like that. “OH SHNIZZLEBERRIES!” I forgot to say goodbye to Gwen, my best friend. This surely didn’t mean anything good for our relationship. She was like, my bestie. And she wasn’t one to be happy about me forgetting about things, because I did it… a lot is like not even close. More like every single day, I’d forget everything she told me. If she told me to come over to her house, I’d forget in a split second. It wasn’t that I had a bad memory, I had a superb memory, it was more of the fact that something inside me told me not to care.
“What? And also, what the heck was that word?”
“I just forgot something, that’s all. Nothing important,” I lied completely. “Anyway,” I was ready to change the subject completely. “I’m going to go read, I guess.” That was a lie.
I knew exactly what I was going to do, and that was tell Avaric that I was his daughter.
Chapter Six
I didn’t necessarily tell Avaric that night. Or any night, for three months. During those three months, Glinda had jam packed our schedule with interviews and trips to parts of Oz. I’d seen what I presumed to be every inch of land in a journey that took about five weeks. It was amazing. I saw mountains, rainbows, lakes, forests- anything you could imagine, really. Oz was really as beautiful as the books said. I suppose all was good in those three months until Glinda asked me if I wanted to enroll in Shiz University.
It wasn’t that I had anything against Shiz. I’d heard the best stories from Elphaba and Fiyero, and it seemed that they’d had a fantabulous time there. It was more of the fact that I was an average student, and my passion wasn’t with books and math, it was with music. Surely Glinda could understand. Well, turns out, she couldn’t.
“You don’t want to go to Shiz?”
“I’m too young, and I’m just not interested,” I explained. Glinda’s jaw dropped. I was prepared for her argument, I had to argue a lot as a little kid, and I always won. There were few times when I’d get proven wrong.
“B-but it’s the best and most fancy school in ALL of Oz!” Glinda gasped, “it’s how I learned to not be stupid!”
“Uh, I don’t think you learn how to not be stu-”
“WELL YOU GET MY POINT! You see, I think it’d be very helpful for you!”
That conversation ended with me losing the argument promptly. I didn't want to go to Shiz, but I'd have to.
So I stormed out of the room and to the stables where Avaric worked. I came up from behind him, and poked him. He nearly jumped a foot.
“Gah! Oh, Elle, it's just you.”
“Who else would it be?” I said, with a bit of a dorky laugh. Avaric rolled his eyes.
“What’dya need kid?”
“It's kinda late, but you know how I'm Glinda's kid?”
“Uh, yeah…”
“Well, turns out I'm your kid too.”
Awkward.
Avaric’s face went white. Well, how else was I going to tell him? By saying, “Hey Avaric I’m your daughter,” it’d be like a cheesy, cliche sentence, and he’d be all like, “Well hey nice prank.” But instead, Avaric’s face grew into a big grin.
“You’re… my daughter? G- Glinda, and I’s, daughter?”
“Yep,” I said softly. Avaric seemed to have suddenly had a Glinda Pep Talk. His smile was about as wide as the crescent moon. “Glinda told me three months ago, but I couldn’t find time to tell you.”
“I can't believe this!” Avaric's smile soon turned to a bit of a frown, “now I know why she was acting so funny back then… er- if you don't mind I need to talk to your mother.” I frowned a bit, but nodded.
“If you must,” I replied, with a sigh. I wish he had been a bit happier, but I didn’t show it at all besides that one frown and sigh. Avaric left the stables quickly, obviously not wanting to talk to me. Lurline, why did this have to be so awkward? I sighed, and walked out of the stables, passing each stall and petting the horses as I went. It wasn’t long before I reached the hallway, where I turned to find Iila, the one person I hated the most in all of Oz, sweeping. I hadn’t seen her since our brawl back when things were still awkward with Glinda.
“Well look who it is, little miss munchkin, come to bully me some more?” I said extremely sassily. I put my hand on my hip. “Turns out I’m the superior here. Who’da thunk the orphan from Vinkus is really Glinda’s daughter? Well, definitely not the jerkiest girl in Oz and her pity maid squad!”
“Watch it Gillikin, even though your the ruler’s daughter now doesn’t mean I can’t tell you the truth.”
“The truth? Oh,” I put my hand over my mouth, very dramatically, “is someone a little bit jealous?” Iila looked over my pink dress, and frowned.
“You look like you’ve been covered in unicorn waste and dragged in crap,” Iila began to say, “then farted on by the Wicked Witch of the West. Whew!” Okay, I wasn’t going to act like I wasn’t at all offended by that. I grabbed the collar of Iila’s maid uniform and pushed her against the wall. “Now, now let’s be civilized, shorty, we don't want your mother finding out, do we?”
“Let me make this clear. I'm not short, my mother already knows about our… rivalry, and that I have no clue how to fight,” I let go of her, “and you don't look much better miss maid.” Iila seemed to be pulsing with anger, her face red.
“You're just as plastic as Glinda,” Iila said quietly, and stormed off. I rolled my eyes. That girl needed to get a life. Now, where was I? Right. To my room. I walked slowly, whistling and examining the sparkling green walls. They seemed to get prettier every day. But I couldn’t get my fight with Iila out of my head. That dam- darn, girl (yes I am trying to watch my language) didn’t know when to stop. I wonder if all maids are as crappy as she was. Well, I bet Gillikin maids aren’t. We all have a respect for each other, no matter what our occupation or look.
I tried to block all thought of the girl from my mind, but it didn't work. I had to smile, to hide my anger, but it really didn't work. Iila wouldn't stop taunting me in my head, random new insults flying out of nowhere. Why couldn’t the girl just shut up? I noticed my eyes were tearing up. I wiped them, not wanting to be seen crying, and started running to my bedroom. The tears kept coming. I have to tell Glinda. She needs to fire Iila! I silently thanked the fact that Glinda had taught me beauty magic which I had used to apply an illusion of makeup instead of real makeup, otherwise it’d be completely ruined.
I collapsed on my bed, and buried my face in the comforter. I didn’t want to speak to anyone. I just wanted to pout and cry. Frankly, when I was down, that’s all I ever wanted to do. Pout and cry, and then it’d be over. That was how I got over anything that didn’t go my way. Of course, it didn’t always work. Elphaba had given me many speeches about that over the fifteen years I lived with her and Fiyero. This was one of those times I had that dreadful feeling that it would never work.
“Ellie? Can I come in? I heard your, erm, crying, and I just wanted to see if you were okay,” Glinda’s voice made me jump, and I realized she had been watching. I lifted my head, as she slipped into the room.
“Yeah,” I wiped my eyes, “it was just Iila, nothing impor-”
“Iila needs to die in a hole.”
“Okay, that’s a bit extreme… but we just had a bit of a fight, nothing important…”
“What in Oz happened?”
“Well, she started insulting me, and then I almost punched her,” I said, finally done crying, “we just… hate each other, loathe each other, to be honest.”
“That’s exactly what I thought about Elphie,” Glinda said softly, with a slight smile.
“Do you miss her?”
“More than ever,” Glinda sighed, “but let’s not make this all about me. Avaric and I… had a talk. We decided it'd be best for him to not openly be your father.”
“Why?” I suddenly blurted out.
“The public just won't look at it the right way. We've agreed to it-”
“I feel like everything is about what the public thinks with you! Lurline, Mom! Think about me for once! What I think!”
Glinda was silent, but I could see pure rage on her face, and she turned and exited the room, her curls bouncing as she walked. Her fists were clenched, and she had just the essence of anger with her walk. Oh dear. I'd just angered someone that I should never had messed with. I silently prayed that she'd get over it as quickly as possible, but I knew better. I'd really hurt her. Sure, Elphaba and I had gotten in fights, but that was different. With Glinda, I felt like she was more unstable with her emotions, more… vulnerable.
Okay, let's wait till tomorrow… hopefully she won't be bad then. Lurline knows what she's thinking…
Chapter Seven
A few weeks had passed, and Glinda had forgiven me. She had understood my point, but had justified her's so I eventually agreed.
It was early morning when I heard a wake-up bell. I groaned and rolled over. It likely wasn't Glinda's doing, she liked to sleep in until 10:00 most mornings. I heard a knock on my door.
“Ellie I know it's early, but your audition for You're a Good Man Wizardly Guy is in two hours,” Glinda called. Eh, I didn't feel like it, and clearly had completely forgotten. Even though I probably was the top contender for Lucy, it wasn't a musical I was that excited about.
“I don't feel like going, Mom!”
“Well, I hate to burst your bubble but you are committed!”
“I don't have a bubble, Mom.”
“That was not funny.” Glinda entered, her hair in messy curls, in a pink robe. She didn't seem to have tried very hard to look presentable.
We spent about an hour arguing, and completely missed the audition time. We really were arguing a lot lately, more than usual. Eventually, she and I just began gossiping, because that’s what normally happened after one of our arguments.
“So I heard there are new recruits coming in,” Glinda said quietly, sitting on the bench. I filed my nails as she spoke.
“Haven't met 'em yet. What do they say about them?” I looked over at Glinda, who was trying to brush her hair and get it to be straight.
“I haven't had a chance to meet them,” Glinda said, carefully pulling the brush through. “Apparently they're nice, but odd.”
“Odd meaning?” I raised an eyebrow, and got back to focusing on my nails.
“I don't know,” Glinda shrugged, “I'm not exactly the smartest person in the palace. If I wanted gossip, I'd go to the maids.”
“Or, how about we meet these newbies? Give em’ a warm welcome?”
“Let's do it.”
So once she had brushed out her hair and I had filed my nails, she helped me choose one of her old dresses to wear. It was a lemon colored dress that reminded me of a de-pom pommed pink dress with Glinda called her makeover giving dress. It was a bit small at first, so they had had to make it a bit bigger (because Glinda is quite a bit smaller than I).
We left the room after I had changed and was presentable, (Glinda just used magic to change out of her robe), and headed to the maid’s bunker. Thankfully if Iila dared to insult me I’d have Glinda right behind me. Glinda stood in front of me, and knocked on the door.
“It’s just Glinda, we just wanted to remind the new recruit that she’ll be working for me today!” Glinda called. She turned, “I’m excited, I haven’t had a good maid tea talk since you first came.” I nodded, with a slight smile. “Okay, let’s go.” Glinda began to walk, so I quickly started walking to be walking at her side. She walked fast, so I had to leap to catch up.
“Hey, slow down!” I laughed. “You're quite the speedy old woman.”
“Watch it missy, I am definitely not old.”
“Suuurrrrreeee,” I laughed, “how old are you? Like, in your forties, right?”
“Urm, younger than that.”
“Liar!”
We both burst into laughter. Glinda was a terrible liar, she really rivaled me in lack of lying skill. That was exactly when we ran into a maid running straight at us. But she looked strangely familiar, even though I could tell she was new. Almost like-
“Elphie?” Glinda’s gasp was almost silent, but was just loud enough so the woman and I could hear. The woman did have a striking resemblance, the same deep brown eyes and silky black hair. The thing that ruined the resemblance was the pale skin. The woman shook her head.
“Lola, ma’am. I believe I am to be working for you both today, am I correct?” Glinda nodded in reply, with an uneasy smile.
“Yes, you will join us for tea. I’m sorry, you just reminded me of someone I used to know,” Glinda said softly, “anyhoo, I’m Glinda and this is Elle.”
“Nice to meet you!” The woman smiled, but I couldn’t help but be creeped out at the woman’s resemblance to Elphaba.
“Shall we head to the tea garden?”
“There's a tea garden?”
“Shush, it's the one with the pretty overlook,” Glinda whispered in my ear, but looked back at Lola. “Now, Lola, Ellie, let's go.”
We headed to the garden, Glinda and I chatting occasionally, with Lola just watching. Glinda opened the glass door magically, letting Lola and I enter. The table seemed untouched, the teapot in the exact position it had been months ago. Glinda had to summon another chair for me, which I was fine with.
“Well Miss Lola, where are you from?”
“The Vinkus. My husband and I both came for work here.”
“Your husband? What's his job?”
“He's a guard, I believe.”
Glinda nodded, and looked at me with an eyebrow raised, as if trying to tell me something. I mouthed a quick, what? But Glinda just shook her head as to say nevermind.
“So, why'd you come to work here?”
“My daughter's a maid,” Lola explained, and Glinda nodded.
“Which one?”
“Urm…” there was an awkward silence. “Well, she was a maid.”
“Oh.” Glinda seemed a bit disappointed. “Anyhoo, what type of tea do you want?”
“Passionfruit, please.”
And so, Glinda poured Lola a cup.
“Urm, Miss Lola, do you want a donut hole?” I asked, politely yet awkward.
Lola shook her head, “no thank you.” I nodded, a bit bugged by her declining the donuts.
“Well, we might as well have some, right Mom?”
Glinda nodded, “I'll notify the kitchens, Ellie.”
“Wait a second- you're her mother?”
“You couldn't tell?” Glinda raised an eyebrow, “we're literally identical.”
“Well, I'm taller than you-”
“I said, identical as in looks,” Glinda seemed a bit bothered by the height difference, so I decided to shut up. We weren't exactly identical, but there was a resemblance. “Now, Lola, what are your favorite brand of shoes?”
“I've never really thought of that,” Lola replied, “back in Vinkus we weren't exactly buying designer shoes.”
“Oh,” Glinda sighed, “well, finish up your tea, and I guess we can find something to talk about.” Glinda looked at me, as if desperate to find a subject to talk about. Glinda? Not knowing what to talk about? Lurline, what was wrong with her?
Chapter Eight
Lola had been there for about a week, and I wasn't completely sold with her. She was just too… serious. I passed her in the hallway once while I was speaking with Avaric, and she didn't even say hi when I enthusiastically waved to her. Something seemed… off. But both Lola and Glinda seemed different. So one day, I decided to approach my mother on what was wrong, if anything.
“Urm, uh, Mom?” I knocked on her door, with no response, “Mom?” I heard a groan from the other side.
“I'm napping, Elle!”
With that, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. “Is something wrong? You never nap!”
“I've got a lot on my mind, Elle. Let me nap!”
“Like what?”
“Nothing Elle, go away!”
So I rolled my eyes again, before turning and nearly crashing into Lola. “Oh my Lurline, I'm so sorry Miss Elle!”
“It's okay, at least we actually didn't fall over,” I laughed off, but Lola still looked a bit bugged.
“I mean it, blondie. I'm really sorry.”
Blondie? Only Elphaba had ever called me that… could it really be?
“El- Elphaba? Is it really you?”
The woman looked around, “Shhhhh! Of course it's me, but keep it quiet! We can't have Glinda or anyone else knowing!” I stood, speechless.
“Is Fiyero here too?”
“Yeah kid, but let's have this conversation away from Glinda's room, okay?” Elphaba scream-whispered. I nodded slowly. So we moved into my room.
“How did you degreenify your skin?”
“A washcloth and soap.”
“Really?”
“No, of course not! I used a spell,” Elphaba hissed, now a bit louder.
“And um, why are you here, exactly?”
“Look, it doesn't matter why. Just don't tell Glinda!”
I rolled my eyes, “Glinda should know!”
“No one, including Glinda, can know. You got that?”
I rolled my eyes, “but why? It's been, what, 16 years-ish, since you were melted? Glinda deserves to know you're actually here! She knows you're alive, for Lurline’s sake!”
“She knows I'm alive?”
“You think I haven't told her, cabbage?”
“Watch it blondie. And yes, I’d expect you to shut up,” Elphaba snapped. I gulped.
“I… I had to tell her! She was quizzing me, you know! She’s like some… some interrogator!”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that blonde brain of hers quickly got converted to the people’s side,” Elphaba growled, “they would do anything to find me and destroy me.”
“But you’re dead to them, right?”
“Not necessarily?”
“Elphaba, what do you mean you’re not dead to them?”
“In the past three months, it seems you’ve been actually not hearing gossip. I didn’t know that was possible based on how much you terrorized Fiyero and I with it!”
That shut me up, but then I thought about it, and had something to say, “Terrorized?”
“Yeah. This is exactly what I had to go through with Glinda back at Shiz,” Elphaba said, “and then you started telling Fiyero and I- you know what? It doesn’t matter. But basically, I had an appearance in the town, which didn’t go so well. Now there are witch hunters that are after me. It seems like Glinda’s been either hiding it from you, or is too caught up in her own life to care.”
“That’s…” my face faltered. I hadn’t realized how much they hated her. Like, I knew they had a day dedicated to her “death”, and worshipped people for “killing” both her and her sister, but I didn’t feel like they hated her so much that if they found out she was alive they would want to kill her, erm, again, I guess? Gosh, am I stupid or what? But suddenly, another thing popped into my head.
“Elphaba, how did you end up adopting me anyway?”
“Well, I can’t exactly explain. But there is a spell, a flashback spell. Mind if I use it?”
“I don’t care. Just let me know.”
Elphaba mumbled some words, and suddenly I was no longer in the present. Everything was a bit hazier, but almost more gorgeous, the haze sparkling and adding charm.
“Fae, are you sure you want to do this?” I heard a voice behind me, so I turned, only to see a younger scarecrow Fiyero. The painted on wrinkles were less elaborate. There was Elphaba, as well, but much prettier, except for the dark circles under her eyes like she hadn’t gotten enough sleep.
“I need to take something of her’s, Yero. She won’t notice,” Elphaba said, a bit distraught, “like a blanket, honestly anything.” As they moved, I captured my surroundings a bit better. I was in Glinda’s room, but it wasn’t quite Glinda-y. There wasn’t enough pink. It was all green, like I’d never seen it. I moved closer to the two, and Elphaba suddenly looked down.
“AHA! Perfect! It’s pink, and its definitely Glinda’s,” smiled Elphaba, grabbed what seemed to be a bundle of blanket. It rested on more blankets (Author Note: of course, because WHY NOT. Another note: Does that sound right? Idk) So the two bounded out of the window on a rope, Elphaba with a careful hold on the bundle. I looked down. Elphaba gasped. A small face peeked out of the bundle. “Oh my goodness. Fiyero, we need to go back up.”
“Why, Elphaba?”
“It’s a baby, Fiyero. We grabbed Glinda’s baby,” Elphaba said.
“Then put her back!”
“No, we’re taking her.”
“Why’d you say go back up then?”
“To leave a note. An explanation.”
“And why are we taking her exactly?”
“So she doesn’t end up spoiled rotten. Look, our humble cottage would be perfect. We could spoil her in a… less wealthy setting, maybe?”
“What does humble mean again?”
“Yero, how did you graduate Shiz?”
Suddenly, the world faded away, and I was back alone with Elphaba.
“I’m sorry neither of us have told you until now. She didn't know it was me at the time, I signed the note anonymously,” Elphaba sighed, and looked down. “Although it wasn’t the wisest of decisions, it’s one I definitely don’t regret.”
“Well, I guess… urm, thanks for showing me. So you came here to do what exactly?”
“To blend in,” she sighed, but quickly added, “Home's still safe, they didn't trace me back to there. Everything is just as you left it.” Elphaba looked at me concernedly, “keep your ears open to gossip, kid. Apparently palace gossip is as gossipy as it gets.”
I nodded, and replied, “I will make sure to. Besides, what's life without a little rumor?”
Mini Chapter Nine
Evening rolled in that night, and there was the most spectacular sunset I'd ever seen. The sky was painted with pink and red, as the sun floated below the horizon. I was in awe the entire time, while Glinda didn't seem to notice or care. She was too busy reading a book. Yes you heard that right.
Moments after the sun went down completely and the magical lights lit, Glinda spoke up, “are you excited for Shiz, Ellie?” I sipped my tea, and disappointedly looked at her.
“That's not necessarily what I wanted to do with my life, as I've said before,” I put the teacup down, and took my biscotti. After taking a bite, I spoke, my mouth full. “Fi fant fo fe fon Fozway, Mom!”
“They have theatre classes there, dear. I think you'd regret not going,” Glinda said. I rolled my eyes.
“I just don't want to go, why can't you accept that?”
“I just can't, alright?” Glinda got back to sipping her tea, as to try to calm down. I eyed her, a bit confused. Glinda had never done that before. “Sorry, I’m just a bit stressed out lately. All these court cases are bewildering.” Bewildering? What in Oz was that?
“Meaning?”
“Confusifying, sorry.”
“Right…”
This can’t be Glinda. Her sudden freakout, and use of a word I don’t even know? I guess… no, I couldn’t!
“So what’s your current view on the Wicked Witch of the West?” I immediately regretted asking it.
“That’s… an odd question, Elle. But currently, I think those people are right. Wickedness must be punished. If the Wicked Witch of the West is alive, she must die.”
Wow. She definitely ain’t Glinda.
Chapter Ten
I hurried as fast as I could to find Elphaba, who in fact was sweeping outside Glinda’s room. I looked at her, panicked. “There’s something wrong with Glinda.” Elphaba’s eyes met mine, and I could see sudden fear sparking in them.
“Elle, take me to her,” her tone became serious, “now, tell me. What is wrong with her?”
“Well, it’s not that ea-”
“What is wrong with her, Elle?” There was so much worry in her voice.
“She said…” I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t bare to say it to Elphaba.
“Just tell me what she said!”
“Alright already!” I hissed, “she said she wants you dead if you’re alive!” Elphaba could hardly speak, so taken back by my words. She struggled to speak, but finally looked deep in my eyes.
“Tell me this isn’t true.”
“I… can’t.”
“Tell me that those damn words did not come out of her mouth!” Elphaba magically shut and locked the door. I looked up at her, suddenly afraid for my own sake.
“Elphaba, there’s something seriously wrong with her!” I said quickly, “I’m so confusified. She’s so much different! She’s been so… sophisticated, lately, like she was going to spit out smart things! She is always getting upset,” I started, “like she’s ready to break.” Elphaba’s furious gaze softened.
“She’s not on her period, right?”
“Elphaba!”
“I’m just saying,” Elphaba shrugged. “Now, blondie, if you and Glinda go into town anytime soon, go to the bookstore and get me One Hundred and One Species You’ve Never Heard Of and Their Characteristics. It’s important. There might be an explanation in there.”
“Are you saying she’s a species I’ve never heard of?”
“What? N-n- okay, no, Elle, she is definity a Gillikin. There just might be an answer in there.”
“Wait a second, there might be a copy of that in the library now that I think of it.”
“You know there's a library?” Elphaba was unconvinced.
“I'm dumb but I'm not stupid. I've had to go in there a few times to get sheet music.”
“Oh, well then, would you mind going with me?”
“We don't want to make my mom suspicious, Elphaba,” I replied, quickly, “besides, you can say I sent you to do it so you have permission to go in there.”
“You're actually smart on occasion.”
“Shut it, zucchini.”
“Watch it blondie,” Elphaba snapped, but her expression changed, “Now, I'm going to go, stay out of trouble if you can. Avoid… her, at all costs. Alright? We don't know what's exactly wrong with her.”
I nodded, “I'll try my best.” I paused, and then an idea came to mind, “I'm going to take a bath, hopefully that'll clear my mind.”
“Alright, I'll see you later, than,” Elphaba said, then hurried out of the room. I shut the door behind her, and locked it. The bathroom smelled of lavender for some odd reason, but that immediately calmed me down as I stepped into it. The tub was full for some odd reason, and there was steam rising from it. It's already filled? That must've been Elphaba's doing, right? I wondered, and undressed fairly slowly. Once I was completely naked, I slipped on into the tub.
For some reason, the water completely smelled of lavender with no bubbles in sight. Maybe it's enchanted or something. To be honest, I didn't question anything magical-y.
In less than ten minutes I felt like I was going to fall asleep…
And then I did.
---- timeskip ----
When I woke up, I had no clue how much time had passed. I lay on my bed, not in the bath, and saw Elphaba tending to something on my dresser.
“The water was drugged, this should help with the grogginess…” Elphaba moved to me, and spooned something into my mouth. Suddenly I was wide awake, like magic.
“The water was drugged?” I was shocked.
“Yes, it seems someone doesn't like you,” Elphaba said, putting the bowl down on my dresser. She grabbed a book, and I got out of bed, joining her. She looked over me, “you might want to put some clothes on.”
“Right,” I laughed it off, running to the closet to get a nightgown. I returned, with a light pink dress covering me.
“This was the book I was looking for. It should explain Glinda, but if it doesn't, it's probably no big deal…” Elphaba opened it, and skimmed the pages. I waited and waited, and actually started to paint my nails (which I hadn't had painted in a while) when Elphaba suddenly found what she was looking for. “Figura Cruth, a shapeshifting species.”
“Shapeshifting? So, she's a shapeshifter?”
“No, blondie, she's been replaced by a shapeshifter. The question is, why?”
“And for how long?”
Elphaba looked at me, concern in her eyes. “It must've been the Figura Cruth who drugged the water. A simple lavender concoction could've knocked you out for months, thank goodness it was only for a few hours. Figura Cruths are famous for knocking people out with liquids and killing them once unconscious, that's how I could tell what she was.”
“How was it only for a few hours, then? And how am I alive?”
“I honestly don't know, the water must've deluted the drug,” Elphaba sat on the bed. “What matters is your safe. I'm guessing you were drugged to be put aside, not killed, but I don't know for sure.” I frowned.
“So where's the real Glinda?”
Chapter Ten Fun Fact: Figura is Latin for shape and Cruth is Irish for Shifter
Chapter Eleven
The day he arrived, no one expected it. Fake-Glinda and I were in a carriage heading back to the Emerald Palace from Frottica, Glinda’s hometown. Fake-Glinda didn’t seem to know that I knew the truth about her. But because I knew, things between the two of us were extremely awkward. Elphaba had instructed me to be extremely careful.
Our carriage was going down the yellow brick road, and I was reading Les Miserables, a book the Wizard brought. It was actually quite interesting- for a book. The musical made me sob, so I decided to try the book. That’s when the carriage abruptly stopped.
“Ma’am, come have a look at this!” called the driver.
“Ugh, what is it this time?” Fake-Glinda groaned, and opened the door. After she exited, I followed. Fake-Glinda had little of a reaction. I gasped. A boy with dark brown hair was sprawled out, knocked out, on the brick road. Fake-Glinda shrugged.
“He’s just asleep, go around him.”
“He’s blacked out, ma’am,” the driver was kneeled beside the boy. “We should probably take him with us and get him care.” The driver picked up the boy carefully, “is it okay if he sits with you?”
“He can sit up top with you.”
“I think he’d be better off inside, ma’am.”
“Fine. Elle, he will be by you.”
I didn’t care, I just wanted him to be safe. He just seemed… special. I didn’t know why. We got back in the carriage, and the driver put the boy next to me. The carriage rumbled along, and it wasn’t long before we arrived back in the Emerald City. We disembarked the carriage in the courtyard, and the driver promised he’d take the boy to the hospital wing as soon as he could. I tried my best, but Fake-Glinda kept trying to have a conversation. I wanted nothing to do with her.
I tried my best to get away from Fake-Glinda, and finally did, finding Elphaba cleaning off the piano in my room.
“So how was your week off?”
“Week off from what?” I laughed.
“Life,” Elphaba said, “how was Frottica?”
“Nice, I guess. I was too worried about not getting killed by an evil shapeshifter.” Elphaba rolled her eyes at that.
“We don't know if the shapeshifter is evil, Elle. By the way, is it true there was a boy passed out on the road?”
“Yeah, he was just… there all of a sudden apparently. Then we helped him. Well, the driver did, I just saved him from having to sleep on top of the carriage,” I explained, “it was really weird. They brought him to the hospital.”
“The hospital, you say?” Elphaba said, and left.
“Where are you going?”
“The hospital, now come on!”
Elphaba started walking quickly, and I followed closely behind, wanting her to almost protect me. I didn't really feel safe anymore unless Elphaba was near.
We exited the palace and entered the city, where citizens waved to me. I waved back, now extremely comfortable. I did love it when people loved me. But what performer didn't?
The hospital let us both enter, and a receptionist informed me that “Glinda” was on floor 2 in section 4, Room 601. We climbed the stairs, and finally found the room. Voices could be heard talking inside.
Fake-Glinda was in a perky yet usable dress, the one she called her Announcement Dress. She didn't seem to notice when Elphaba and I slipped inside. That's when the boy gasped, and started coughing. Nurses ran to his aid, and I looked at Elphaba, confused.
“Is he waking up or something?”
“That's exactly it, miss.”
And suddenly he stopped coughing. His eyes opened, “Where on Earth am I?”
“Where the Ev is Earth?” I blurted out.
“I could ask you the same thing about wherever this is,” the boy looked over at me. He was handsome, with dark brown hair and a friendly face. But there was something in his eyes, confusion.
“This is Oz, where are you from?”
“Earth. Big blue ball with some land on it, in the sky.”
“Urm, there aren't any big blue balls in the sky.”
“Thats not what I meant. Earth's a planet.”
“A what?”
“He’s from the other world,” Elphaba whispered into my ear, “Earth's the other world.”
I gasped, “oh my Lurline. Urm, Mom?” I tried to get Fake-Glinda to continue the conversation.
“What, sweetie?”
Casually disturbed by what she called me, I said, a bit uneasily, “he must be from the other world.” Elphaba looked at me briefly, almost as if saying, Why did you say that?
“Oh… Oh my,” Fake-Glinda gasped, “boy, what is your name?”
“Uh… Tannen… Tannen… umm…” he scratched his head, “Polenburg.” Tannen Polenburg. He had quite the shock prepared for him. Tannen looked at me, with a confused look. “Who the hell are you?”
“Elle,” I replied, “Elle Upland.”
“Elle, where exactly am I? What's Oz?”
“Urm, we're in the Land of Oz. That's pretty much it.”
“Where is Oz?”
“Uh, it's just Oz.”
“Well you're a fat load of help,” Tannen seemed a bit pissed off, so when he started talking to Fake-Glinda I was glad. I zoned out. I thought about if I'd ever really met my real mother- who would've wanted a figura whatever it's called to take her place (if the figura thing WAS helping someone, it was just a little theory I'd thought of on the vacation). Suddenly, I heard my name, and everyone looked right at me.
“Elle? Your hobbies are…?”
“Uh, singing, acting, playing the piano, and reading,” I said, confused at how they'd even gotten onto the subject of my hobbies.
“I read too,” Tannen offered, “though I've never been too fond of participating in musical things, I do appreciate the art of it.” Why is he talking so proper?
“That's a shame,” I replied, “you're really missing out.” Tannen looked at me.
“I might give singing a try sometime.”
“Oh, you think you can sing?”
“I know, I can sing, blondie. I don't need to think,” Tannen rolled his eyes, but I was more bothered by the fact that he called me blondie than his cockiness. That was a word reserved for Elphaba to call me. A word I'd only heard spoken out of Elphaba's mouth. But I let him call me that, I didn't even tell him to stop calling me it.
“I'd like to see you try,” I replied, and Tannen got out of the bed.
“Mr. Polenburg let us fetch you a hospital shirt-”
“No need, nurse. He'll be coming with us, we can get him a nicer shirt at the palace. He will stay with us.”
“Please, I insist-”
“Do what I say. Leave,” Fake-Glinda hissed. As we walked and talked, I couldn't help but notice how muscular Tannen was. And I couldn't help but tell my eyes over and over to stop looking at him, but he was so handsome my eyes were seeming magnetically attached. It didn't help that he was shirtless. What is wrong with you, I thought to myself, he's just a boy. Eyes, get off his stupid face. Finally, I teared away from my view of Tannen and brought my eyes to look at Fake-Glinda. Elphaba trailed behind us, as if she was ready to ward off paparazzi.
We walked back, and Fake-Glinda's first order for Elphaba was to fetch a shirt for Tannen. Thank Goodness!
Chapter Twelve
The rest of the day, I had no clue what to do. I didn’t feel like talking to Elphaba, because she was always so serious, and didn’t want to confront Fake-Glinda for obvious reasons. They said that I shouldn’t even talk to Tannen because it’d stress him out too much, which bummed me out.
So I decided to read. I was in the middle of Les Miserables, right as the barricade boys were being introduced. Because I knew the musical, I knew what their fates were to be. I was actually a very fast reader, even though I despised reading half my life. I opened the book, and suddenly something fell out of the book. I jumped back, surprised by the sudden appearance. They were… keys?
I ran my fingers over the metal, strange art running up the key. The decorations almost seemed like vines, crawling up the keys. Why are these here? I wondered. What do I do with them? I guess I should find the owner… But a better idea came to mind. I’m gonna see what they open.
For about an hour, I wandered around the palace trying every door I came to see. Oddly enough, it didn’t fit anything. I tried locked cabinets and chests, with no success.
“I guess they aren’t for the palace,” I sighed, accidently aloud, but then realized I hadn’t checked Glinda’s room, or the maid’s room. I decided to check the maid’s room, not thinking of my old enemies. I walked in, and saw the face of the head bully herself, Iila.
“Seems like the worst maid ever is still in the palace,” I said, eying Iila’s dirty uniform.
“Hey Elle, stop it, I’m through with hating you,” Iila rolled her eyes, “I’ve moved on to ordering other maids around, not torturing someone I can’t order around.”
“So you’ve turned over a new leaf?”
“Well, depends on how you look at it.”
I almost smiled. I was done hating her too. Not like I worried about running into her anymore, but it relieved some stress. “Well, if you excuse me I need to try and figure out what this unlocks.”
“I wouldn’t be looking in here, Glinda passed a new rule a while ago that maids and servants aren’t allowed to have anything ‘locking.’ Stupid rule, if I’m honest,” Iila rolled her eyes again.
“Ok, see you around,” I said, and left before Iila even had a chance to say anything. There was only one place left, and it’d be very stupid to try there. But I had to try, no matter how stupid. Glinda’s room.
I hurried through the halls, occasionally stopping to say hello to a servant or a maid. Of course, the maids all still despised me, but they seemed to at least attempt to be nice and put aside their anger. When I arrived at Glinda’s room, I spotted Fake-Glinda by the window, sipping her tea. She saw me, and I had no time to hide the keys.
“What are you up to, Elle?”
“Um, nothing!” I lied, “Just… wanted to… say hi!”
“No, you’re trying to find what that key opens. Because you don’t trust me. Because you think that I’m not Glinda.”
“How… how did you-”
“Yes, do you think the keys came out of nowhere? I’ve watched you and that maid, and I put those keys there so you would come to me. So you can join your mother.”
“Speaking of Glinda, where is she?”
“The keys?” Fake-Glinda raised an eyebrow, “they open the door over there. That’s where you’ll be going.”
“What’s behind that door?”
“You’ll see soon enough. Now, Elle,” Fake-Glinda summoned a vine of light, and moved it, wrapping it around my wrists. “If you don’t mind, you’ll be going into the room.” There was a strange force that pulled me towards the door- I couldn’t fight against it. Panic filled me.
“Don’t make me go in there!” I pleaded. But Fake-Glinda only laughed.
“Enjoy your stay in prison.”
“Prison?!” I gasped.
“Yes, and if you don’t shut up I’ll place some magic over your mouth too. It’s awfully annoying.” The door opened magically, and I was seemingly thrown into the darkness. The door slammed behind me, and the magical handcuffs disappeared. My eyes adjusted slowly, it was so dark, when finally I saw a light kinda far away. It was a candle, with a face behind it. Glinda. I ran towards the light, as fast as I could, when suddenly I tripped.
“Fi-? Oh- oh my Lurline! Elle! Are you okay?” Glinda came towards me, and knelt by my side. I happily looked at her, relieved to finally see her again. Who knew how long it’d been since I’d actually seen her?
“Yeah, I just tripped, I’m-” I tried to get up, but a sharp pain went through my ankle. “I must’ve twisted my ankle.”
“Gosh, that must hurt! I wish I knew a healing spell, I could fix it…”
“It’s okay Mom, it’ll heal,” I tried my best to smile. But my ankle really hurt when I moved it.
“What’s been happening? Has she hurt you?”
“No, no she hasn’t. I’m fine,” I smiled, “but there’s been way too much stuff going on lately.”
“Stuff?”
“Yeah. A boy came from the other world.”
“The other world? Like… Dorothy?”
“Yep. Earlier today, actually.”
“That’s insane!” Glinda gasped, but quickly changed her tone of voice, “is he cute?” I giggled.
“Very. Now Mom, shouldn’t we focus on getting out of here?”
“I’ve tried everything. There’s no-”
A shrill scream made me jump. Light came from the door, which had been opened.
“I have her unconcious. Hurry!” a familiar voice said. I could only see the silhouette of our saviour. I limped to the door, and Glinda helped me. I could tell it was Elphaba as we drew closer. We exited the room, and I eyed the mysterious white deformed figure. “It’s the Figura Cruth, she’s just lost her form. If it is a she. Now, Glinda, could you help me put her in the cell?” The two took initiative, leaving me awkwardly standing there. Once she was shut in the closet, Glinda helped me walk to my bedroom, where I sat down on the bed.
“You missed a lot, Mom,” I said, and Glinda frowned.
“Besides the boy, what else happened?”
“Well, it’s going to take an awful while to explain, so get comfortable!”
Chapter Thirteen
Glinda was back. Elphaba and Glinda were reunited. The Figura Cruth was dealt with. To be honest, everything seemed to be alright. Glinda and Elphaba worked hours on end to try and find a way back for Tannen, but it seemed as if he almost didn’t want to go home. He was really loving Oz. How could he not? Besides evil shapeshifters, Oz was a safe place. Even the Wicked witches ended up being good.
Weeks passed, and I got to know Tannen even better. One day, I showed him the Emerald City’s candy store. That didn’t go so well. We both ate way too much candy for our own good.
Everything was fine. For once, there was peace in the Emerald City.
I was eating dinner when suddenly there was a loud bang. I couldn’t tell where it came from, but it startled everyone at the table. Elphaba, who was holding a platter with food on it, nearly dropped the platter to the floor. Glinda was holding a glass filled with wine, and it dropped from her hands, spilling all over the table.
“What the hell was that?” Tannen said, surprised. That’s when Glinda got up from her meal, not bothering to clean up her spilled wine, and Elphaba put down the platter. The two headed out of the dining room.
“Should we join them?” Tannen asked. I shrugged. So we both followed Glinda and Elphaba, until they found what they were searching for. A body.
Avaric, in a pool of blood. He had a wound, but I didn’t dare look. I didn’t want to see my father’s corpse. No. It couldn’t be true. I refused to believe that it was true.
“He’s dead,” sighed Elphaba, “a gunshot.” I averted my eyes away from Elphaba and the body. It was too difficult to look at. I felt tears forming. Even though I didn’t know him that well, he was still my dad.
Glinda hugged me the tightest I’ve ever been hugged. We both cried, even though she cried much longer than I. Elphaba and the other servants dragged the body away, but Glinda was sure to pipe up.
“Elphie- I mean, Lola, don’t have them dispose of him completely. Have him cremated. We’re going to hold a funeral,” Glinda said through her tears. Elphaba nodded.
“As you wish,” Elphaba replied on her way out. Glinda closed her eyes.
“Tannen, Elile, go back to dinner. I need… some alone time,” Glinda said sadly, before leaving. Tannen looked at me, seemingly having a loss for words.
“Let’s go back to dinner,” I said softly.
“Ok,” Tannen said, clearly disturbed by the image he'd seen. So the two of us hurried back to the dining room and served ourselves, something I hadn't done in quite some time. He tried his best to cheer me up, but wasn't so successful. After dinner, I went straight to my room and read a bit of Les Miserables to get my mind off Avaric's death. Turns out, a book about revolution where everyone dies is not at all uplifting.
So I gazed at the ceiling, thinking. I put the book down, and just laid on my bed. What had become of peaceful Oz? We’d had a break from chaos and it ended so quickly. Too quick for my liking.
I tried my best to get my mind off the death. But depressing song lyrics floated into my head, and I couldn’t help but tear up. Everything was so much more… real now.
A knocking surprised me. “Your mother would like to speak with you, in the garden,” a guard said, from outside my room. I sighed, and got off of the bed. I didn’t really want to speak to her. I just wanted peace and quiet. But maybe I could help her… I had to remind myself that she hurt more than I.
So I pushed open my door, and walked down the hallway, a bit nervously. I didn’t know why, I just had a sick to my stomach feeling. Like our conversation was going to be bad. I opened the glass door, and joined Glinda at the tea table. She was looking down at her hands.
“He’s happier now,” she spoke softly, “he’s under Lurline’s protection.” I sighed. I’d come to hate death. I hadn’t gone through many before this, just a few friends who’d died of an illness. But this was different. This was a murder.
“He was murdered. How could you be happy in the afterlife knowing you died because someone hated you so much they wanted to kill you?”
Glinda was silent. I’d had a good point.
“They’re investigating as we speak, I promise,” she replied. A tear started to crawl down her face, but she wiped it away.
“Drink with me, to days gone by. Sing to me, the songs we knew,” I sang alone, seeming as it was a fitting moment. Glinda smiled.
“You’re so much like him, you don’t even know,” she softly said. I couldn’t help but crack a smile.
“At least I have you and Elphie,” I replied.
“And me,” I turned to see Fiyero standing by the door. I ran to him, a large smile on my face, and hugged him. Glinda was confused.
“Fi… Fiyero? Is that really you?”
“Yeah it is, and I’ve come to apologize. For everything,” he said, still hugging me. I couldn’t let go. Fiyero was one of my favorite people, it’d been forever since I’d last seen him. Elphaba soon came out, and the four of us all joined in a group hug. No matter what, the four of us were family. And family sticks together.
That's it! I hope you enjoyed.
If you haven't seen Wicked or don't know the story, this will make no sense.
Chapter One
“Elle, get down here! Your father hasn’t seen his hat in days and all odds point to you!”
You’re probably wondering, who the heck is Elle and why do all the odds point to her? Well, I’m Elle. Elle Tiggular, at your service. I’m not guilty, no, and the odds did not point to me. They pointed to a little cat named after Nessa. Now, Nessa was glorified by my green mother Elphaba and scarecrow father Fiyero, because they saw Nessa as a “reincarnation” of Elphaba’s long lost, dead sister. The only reason they thought that was because Elphaba found the cat the same day her sister died, and supposedly it looked like Nessarose, the dead sister, so they didn’t blame her for anything. Instead, they blamed me for everything wrong Nessa did, which I called bull-you-know-what and got yelled at every time. Aren’t I a great daughter?
I rolled my eyes and hurried downstairs, the floorboards creaking as I took every step. “I’m coming already!” It wasn’t long before I was greeted by an irritated green witch, drumming her fingers on a wooden table.
“Elle, what have I told you about stealing things?”
“That it’s Nessa’s fault?”
“Watch it blondie! I told you that it is a wicked thing to do!”
“I promise I didn’t steal it. Check Nessa’s bed, for goodness’ sake!”
“If it’s not there, you are in serious trouble miss I’m so perfect!”
“Why won’t you just believe me this once?”
“I’m not sure I don’t, to be honest,” Fiyero’s voice stuck out, so I turned around to find Fiyero with his hat and hand coming from the door. “Nessa had it tucked under her bed. Turns out that darn cat isn’t the angel we thought she was.” I thanked Lurline silently, but remembered that Elphaba believed in the unnamed god, so also panicked a bit.
“See what I mean? I was right!” I hissed out at Elphaba, “I’m going back to practicing singing, I’ll see you both at dinner.” I stormed up the stairs, thankful that they finally caught the culprit but mad that Elphaba didn’t apologize, still.
I was back in my room, I sat down on my plump, pink bed that Fiyero had somehow afforded years ago, and found my sheet music from Phantom of the Emerald Palace just as I had left it. It was a song called “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,” which was a personal favorite of mine. I was Christine in the local production of it, and I was extremely thankful for my golden voice. There had been a voice like it when I was a baby, before Fiyero picked me up from the orphanage. That’s what sparked my love for music, the longing to be as beautiful and amazing at singing as that mysterious voice, if I ever were to hear it again.
I sang softly, going over the difficult parts and then finally rehearsed it one last time, full on. I sounded great. Happily, I found my leather covered diary and wrote down a quick entry describing Nessa being caught and how I felt I'd improved singing.
I was interrupted by a knock on the wood near the entry to my room. It was Elphaba, and she looked guilty. “Elle, I wanted to apologise… I shouldn't have been so harsh. It was Nessa all those times, wasn't it?” I looked down at my diary.
“Indeed,” I replied softly, “every single time. But I should apologise too… I've been a brat just as much as you've blamed me.”
“It’s alright, my dear. But your father and I have been talking, and we've decided it's time you meet your real mother.”
“I don't wish to know my real mother, though. I've got a perfect one right here.” Elphaba laughed softly, and sat down beside me on the bed.
“My dear, I am not perfect and nor is Fiyero. You, though, you are as perfect as a daughter can possibly be. So Fiyero and I want to send you to the Emerald City, because even if you don't want to know your real mother, we promised her she could meet you. You don't even have to know who she is. Just… please us, okay?”
I sighed. I wasn't ready to leave home, although I was 15, the age most Ozians left home. I just felt connected to home, like it was the only place I felt safe. The only place I could comfortably smile, and not be embarrassed to be the adopted daughter of a scarecrow and artichoke. “Do you really want this?”
Elphaba nodded, “I made a promise, Elle. To someone I loved dearly. She expects me to uphold my promise, and in return she upholds hers. Please, Elle. Do it for Fiyero and I.” I shut my eyes tight, and breathed slowly. I didn't want to go. But I couldn't let down Elphaba. I opened my eyes, and my eyes immediately began to tear up. I wiped them.
“Ok, I will.” Elphaba placed something in my hands, and cupped her hands around mine.
“Give this to her. Don't open it, just hand it to her. When you get there. You'll know who. Now get packing.” I could tell that Elphaba's face was tear stained as she got up and walked down the stairs. But she didn't look back. What have I done? I got up from my bed, but began crying, so collapsed back on the blankets and hugged them. I didn't want to let go, ever.
Eventually, I was able to put the emotions away and begun to pack. I really didn't need too many clothes, because if I was to be a maid I'd probably get a uniform, I just needed enough for the journey. I grabbed my journal, and threw the binder of Phantom sheet music I had into the bag as well. I grabbed the locket that I'd had since… forever, and grabbed the paper Elphaba gave me. I slung the bag on my shoulder, and headed downstairs. This was the day my life would change forever.
Fiyero and Elphaba greeted me, and both seemed very upset. I ran into Elphaba's arms, and buried my face in her shoulder. I didn't want to let go.
“You all ready, girl?”
“Ready as ever, I guess. How could one possibly be prepared to say goodbye anyway?” and with that, I smiled so bittersweetly. Was I ready to leave home forever? To never see Fiyero or Elphaba again?
“I can't believe your finally leaving myself,” Fiyero said, suddenly. I let go of Elphaba and ran into Fiyero's open arms.
“I'm fifteen Dad. It's time for me to go, we all know that.”
“Still. Elle, promise to visit once a year,” Fiyero concernedly said. I nodded quickly, suddenly excited yet bittersweetly sad. I let go, and looked up at both of my adoptive parents. Gosh, I was a lot shorter than both of them! Fiyero was like a foot taller, and Elphaba was about six inches taller, she's 5’9”. I guess I just wanted to leave that realization to the end, eh? I wanted to lie to myself and say I was tall. Oops.
“I promise Dad,” I said sweetly, “but I better get going if I'm to tag along on the supply cart. I only have about five minutes before it passes the house. I’m not sure I'm ready to say goodbye though.” I whispered the last note.
“Neither am I kiddo,” Fiyero replied, “but all good things have to come to an end, isn't that right Fae?”
“Don't mention it Yero.”
“Anyway,” I flung my hands freely at my sides, “I guess this is goodbye.” Wiping away tears, I hugged each of them one last time. Fiyero kissed my forehead in a fatherly way.
“We love you, Elle. No matter what. Remember that.” That was Elphaba's final note to me as I walked out the door, now crying full on. The cart drove past, and I had to run to hop in the back of it. No matter what, I'd uphold my promise. Even if that meant going through a frightful and potentially dangerous journey. For you, Elphaba.
Chapter Two
I sat in the back of the hay filled cart, bored and uncomfortable, for at least a day before the sparkling green spires of the Emerald City came into view. I hopped out, praying that the driver didn’t see me, with straw stuck in my golden hair and stuck to my butt. I groaned as I ran to the side of the road. There was only about a mile walk to the city gates. ONLY! As if laying on scratchy straw for an entire day wasn’t unpleasant enough!
With my bag on my shoulder, I confidently yet nervously walked to the city. I’d only walked about half the distance when a carriage rolled by me, but stopped. The driver hopped off the top and looked at me, before offering, “You need a ride to the city?” I nodded quickly.
“That'd be amazing, sir!” I replied, with a big smile.
“Hop on up, kiddo!” the man said. So I climbed onto the seat thing, and the man sat next to me. “I’m Avaric, how ‘bout you, miss?” I looked him over a bit. He had messy blonde hair, with deep, dark emerald green eyes, and was really tall compared to me, probably around six feet high.
“I’m Elle Thropp,” I replied, with a smile, “I came the Vinkus, and I’m looking for work in the city.”
“You look like more of a Gillikin than a Winkie,” Avaric observed, and I nodded.
“I’m adopted, you see,” I explained, with a smile. “What’re you, Mr. Avaric?”
“I’m a Gillikin too,” Avaric said, “I mean, I sorta did work for the Vinkus royal family for a bit, but I am pure… urm, well, Gillikin. Ahh, here we are. You can get off here if you want, or head to the palace with us. You can speak to the maids to see if there are any openings there.”
“I think I’ll stay with you,” I was flattered that he’d even offer it. I guess, for an older guy, he was kinda handsome. Okay, I had to get that idea out of my head, but maaaayyyybbbeee… no. No Elle, GET THAT OUT OF YOU DARN HEAD! But I did smile a bit, thankful and somehow still crushing on an older man a little bit?? The gates opened, and the streets parted for the carriage. Everything was a sparkling green, bringing a smile to my face. It was all so beautiful, the Ozians waving to us happily. I had never seen anywhere so joyous and gay, free to be fun and cheery, everyone so rich. There were shops everywhere, museums, and even a library. I had my eye on one of the shops, which seemed to have really cute shoes. I could do for a new pair.
“Speaking of which, who else is on the carriage?”
“Oh, just Glinda and her boyfriend. Well, I think he's her boyfriend, she breaks up with men so quickly these days. It's one guy one day and another dude the next,” Avaric casually said. I’d heard things about Glinda, and those stories said that she was the current ruler of Oz. The ruler. I kinda had an insane freakout, completely forgetting about my little crush on Avaric.
“Glinda? As in the good witch of the south? The, Glinda?”
“Yep, her Ozness herself,” Avaric replied. Hmm, I wonder if that's who Elphaba wanted me to give the paper to. Oh, but it couldn't be. That'd be stupid!
“Give me a second, will ya?” I held a finger up, as to signal that I needed a moment. So I grabbed my bag off of my shoulder, and opened the pouch up, finding the light pink piece of parchment. I unfolded it, to see a big G in the left corner. Oh my God, it is for Glinda! Does this mean…? No. It can't be. I mean that's impossible. Why would the ruler of Oz-?
“Elle, you might want to get off here,” Avaric said to me. I blinked out of my thoughts, and refolded the paper, putting it back into the bag and slinging it over my shoulder.
“Thank you Mister Avaric,” I said sweetly, “I'll see you around.” And with that, I stepped down a step and hopped all the way down, landing gracefully (somehow) on the floor. Avaric waved goodbye, and the horses began pulled the carriage inside the palace courtyard. Crap. What do I do now? I guess I could always go to an inn and ask if Glinda speaks to peasants ever… But then a better idea filled my head. Maybe I could run… I began chasing after the carriage, running as fast as I could. Thankfully the carriage wasn't going that fast. I got up extremely close. There was a bar by the wheels in the very back, pretty high up on it. If I could maybe jump and… aha! My hands clutched onto the bar, giving me a firm grip. I hung from it, and prayed that I wouldn't fall off it. The carriage bustled along, and finally stopped. I dropped down and sighed in relief.
“Avaric!” I yelled, “I'm back!” I ran to the front of it, and found Avaric getting down from the top of the carriage.
“Hey perky, you weren't supposed to go past the walls,” Avaric concernedly said.
“Could you get me a job at the palace?”
“I mean I know people in the place, but-”
“Can who, get a job in the palace?” an almost squeaky, odd voice said from behind me. It was Glinda, in all her glory. I'd never seen her before, and frankly I was surprised. She was a bit shorter than I, four inches or so, and was extremely suntanned with strawberry blonde curls. She was extremely thin, and her bright yellow dress complimented that. Although she was older, she managed to still be pretty. A strange man, extremely tall and definitely not handsome, climbed out, with a dazed frown on his face. He stormed off towards the entryway, seeming very upset. “Oh don't mind Judas, he was just leaving. And who might you be, dear?”
“My name is Elle, ma’am, and I was wondering if I could get a job in the palace,” I smiled, with a polite curtsy. I still had a bit of straw in my hair, but that was inevitable. “My parents sent me from the Vinkus to be a maid.”
“The Vinkus, you say? Hmm,” Glinda looked me over a bit, and smiled, “well I'm sure there's a spot in the palace somewhere. I can check with the maids for you.”
“Really? I can't thank you enough ma'am,” I cheerfully said, “you won't regret this!”
“I'm sure I won't. Avaric, dear, will you show miss Elle to the maid’s break room? I need a bit of time to myself,” Glinda softly said to Avaric, who nodded.
“Come along, Elle,” Avaric said to me, with a smile. I walked by his side to the back door, which he opened to a sparkling green room, with a bunch of maids, young and old, scattered around the room. There were a few Quadlings filing their nails, some Munchkins reading their books, and some Winkies boredly chatted. But there were no Gillikins, strangely. That’s odd. I smiled.
“Hello, my name is Elle,” I spoke up, but none of the girls looked up. I looked down at my feet awkwardly. “I’m wondering if there are any jobs open.” A Quadling looked up at me, and disapprovingly looked me over.
“There aren’t any,” she said quickly, “besides, what would a rich Gillikin be doing wanting to become a maid?”
“I’m not rich, number one, and I don’t get what the prejudice is all about! I was adopted into a family in the Vinkus, and no one there is so…” I had to think about the word, “RUDE!”
A munchkin looked at me, sympathetically, “Look girl, we’re sorry, its just, the only Gillikins in the Emerald City are those cute guards,” she looked at the other girls with a smile, “and Glinda herself. We just don’t expect any Gillikins to be maids, I guess. Right, Brittany?!” The Quadling girl rolled her eyes and got back to doing her nails. “Look, we’d be happy to give you a job. My name’s Iila, and I’m the head maid.” She reached out a hand to shake, and smiled. I shook her hand with a smile.
“Thank you so much,” I softly replied.
“Iila,” Glinda walked in, startling me a little bit, “Oh! It seems you’ve already met miss Elle. Make sure she gets a job, alright? Bye, my dears!” Glinda left perkily, leaving me with the rude maids. When will I get a chance to give Glinda the paper? I rummaged the paper in my pocket, frettedly. Well, I guess we’ll just see how it goes. And with that, I faked a smile and pretended to like the girls, with one nervous look back at where Glinda walked out. Good luck me.
Chapter Three
I woke up the next morning on a semi-comfortable bunk bed above Iila, the only person willing to bunk with me. My hair was a mess, so I grabbed the pink brush I had packed, and brushed it out.
“Now Elle, here’s your maid uniform,” Iila reached up and laid the dress on my bunk, as I ran the brush through my hair, “If it’s ever stained, just tell me and I can give it to the royal laundry cleaner, he’ll get it out with no problem. Now, I don’t know why, but Glinda requested you personally as her helper for the day. You’re lucky, the maid she calls upon normally gets to witness magic.” When I heard magic, I was suddenly interested. Elphaba had occasionally done a spell or two, but nothing too dramatic. Still, it was amazing. I smiled largely, this could be my chance to actually learn something like Elphaba!
“Magic? That’s… that’s awesome!” I had a sudden burst of energy, and my hair was perfect. I took the dress and carefully stepped down the ladder. “Mind you, is there anywhere we could change in, urm, privacy?”
“We all change in front of each other here,” Iila said, “unless you have a girl issue or something, of course, if you know what I mean.” I nodded.
“Okay, I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda awkward sometimes,” Iila laughed, “but you will get used to it, trust me.” I smiled, and took off the dress I slept in, and put on the maid uniform.
“Would you mind tying it in the back?” I asked, and Iila smiled.
“Of course!” Iila took the ribbon and neatly tied it into a bow, “that tight enough?” I nodded.
“Yeah, thanks,” I smiled, “I’ll have to learn how to do that too, I guess.” Once completely sure I was ready, and after literally five minutes of brushing my teeth, and stuffing the note in my dress’s pocket, I decided to ask Iila where to go.
“Where exactly do I go?”
“Just head down the hallway to the right, and make a left turn into the throne room. From there you’ll know.”
“Thanks, girl!” I smiled and followed her directions, making the left turn down the hall and opening a door. But it wasn’t the throne room.
It was the dirty laundry room. I rolled my eyes. Iila wasn’t as nice as I thought her to be, clearly. There was a note on the stinky sock pile, messily reading, “Hey newbie you’ve fallen for it. You’ll find Glinda down the hall at the next left. Welcome to the palace, Gillikin crap.” I rolled my eyes, and angrily walked down the hall, making the left and entering the throne room. Iila was a jerk- they all were. I didn’t want to live in somewhere with people this crappy all around. And they called me crap!
Glinda waited on her throne, scanning over a big fat book, looking old and wrinkled, “Oh! Elle, you came. Did Iila and the gals welcome you?”
I groaned, “it wasn’t much of a welcoming.”
Glinda, depressedly, said, “Oh,” then stood and put the book down on the chair. “Well, welcome to the palace. I always like to make sure the newbies had a good night’s rest, and then I always invite them to tea with me so I can get to know them. You’ll receive a good amount of money for working for the palace, because I know you girls come here to help your parents and siblings.”
“Well, I don’t exactly have real parents or siblings,” I awkwardly said, not really wanting to say that I was adopted.
“Oh?” Glinda raised an eyebrow, “well, do you have parents at all?”
“Adoptive ones,” I replied, hardly getting the words out, a bit embarrassed, “they sent me here to give you something and to start my life.” I pulled out the crinkled piece of parchment, and handed it to Glinda. “At least, I think it’s for you. They said I’d know who to give it to, and the only clue was a G, so I just sorta assumed it was you.” Glinda took the paper, and flattened the paper out a bit, before scanning the paper.
“My Lurline,” Glinda gasped, then put the paper down, “so how about that tea?” She quickly changed the subject, “Let’s go to the Garden Pavillion, how ‘bout that?”
I nodded, but almost wondered why she was so surprised. Darn! I didn’t read the letter! Oh I wish I had… if only…
I followed the witch through the tall halls, until there was a glass door, which Glinda opened with a wave of her hand. I gasped, and Glinda turned around, with a smile.
“What? You’ve never seen magic before?”
“I didn’t say that- I just haven’t see it in a while. My adoptive mother knows a few spells, I think, but she’s never bothered to teach me any,” I replied, and we kept walking. The Garden Pavillion had a glass floor, and was high above the ground. Planters held plants that I’d never seen. Pink fruit hung from strange trees, oddly blue lemons gew out of the ground, and there were even weird branches that were rainbow colored. Everything was just so… pretty. There was a neat table nearby a glass fence, with two teacups and a teapot.
Glinda sat down in one seat, and motioned for me to sit in the other. I sat down and sat up straight, trying to have perfect posture. I couldn’t have bad posture in front of Glinda.
“So, miss Elle, what are your adoptive parents’ names?”
“Elphaba and Fiyero Tigulaar, ma’am,” I replied, “we’re just a common family in the Vinkus, you see. About a day’s journey from here.”
“Wait, did you say El-pha-ba, and Fi-yer-o?” Glinda over pronounced the words.
“Yes, what’s so special about their names? Er- no disrespect to them or anything, but they aren’t exactly famous or anything,” I said quickly, finding Glinda’s concern very awkward.
“Elle, I think you’ve been raised by the Wicked Witch of the West,” Glinda concernedly said.
“The who??” I didn’t recognize that title.
“Oh my- they never told you? Well Elle, this may come to be a bit of a shock, but I knew your mother and father. Dated, your adoptive father, and was best friends with your adoptive mother, to be exact,” Glinda said, suddenly extremely happy. But her cheerful expression faded, “but your mother wasn’t exactly the most popular. She was the only one in all of Oz to spot the evil, and that caused her to be called wicked. Up until a few moments ago, I thought her to be dead.”
What.
The.
Hell.
Chapter Four
“How in the world do you know Elphaba and Fiyero? They’re nobodies from, er… Munchkinland and a corn field, who aren’t high enough in the social pyramid to even know the town mayor!”
“It may come as shocking, but your adoptive mother was the daughter of the governor of Munchkinland, and your father was a Winkie prince. Now-”
“What the hell? That is not Fiyero and El-”
“Watch your language with me young woman! And yes, indeed it is!”
There was an awkward pause, and Glinda seemed to be so lost in fury that she gazed off into the sky, so I finally whispered, “Mother?” Glinda turned her head and looked at me.
“Oh, my Lurline. Elle, your adopted, and by a green lady and a scarecrow, who used to know me! That doesn’t mean- oh wait. OH MY LURLINE! Elle, what is your full name?”
“Urm, it’s Rachelle, but I’ve gone by Elle since… well, since forever,” I said quietly. Oh my Lurline, what was happening?
“Elle, Rachelle, whatever your name is, if what I believe to be true is true, you are my daughter.”
“Um, it ain't true.” I didn't believe Glinda at all! I mean, that is the most stupid sentence. But, why in the world did I say Mom earlier? Could it really be true?
“Oh really? Then how do you explain the similarities in our appearances?”
I rolled my eyes and got to an important fact, ignoring her last question. “Glinda, if you thought Elphaba and Fiyero to be dead, how did I end up in their care?”
“Well, I woke up a few weeks after Ra- er, you were born, and went to your crib, but you weren’t there, just a note saying that you’d be in good care. I had the city be on a search for you, with no success. You were stolen, and I’m guessing by Elphaba and Fiyero based on what you now tell me. But I want to know how, exactly, they survived. Of course, that can wait-”
“Wait a second- they stole, er, me? This entire thing is crap, Fiyero and Elphaba would never steal me, therefore I am not your-”
“Okay, there’s one thing that will solve all of this. When you were little, did you have a emerald locket around your neck always? Inseparable from it?”
“Yes, I have it in my bag-”
“That’s the selling point, I blindly gave it to you the night before you were stolen. I didn’t realize you might choke on it, but I knew you would always love it. Because it would remind you of home,” Glinda said, and I started crying. “My dear Elle, why are you crying?”
“I guess I’ve just always dreamed of this day. I never expected it to be like this,” I rubbed my eyes, a bit embarrassed, “I didn’t exactly imagine my mother to be high class or anything.”
“I suppose it could be quite a shock,” Glinda softly said, and after a brief, awkward silence, “well, do you still want to be a maid?” I giggled a little bit, but was so unsure of what to say.
“I don’t really know, I guess that’s why I came here, but the other maids aren’t exactly the friendliest… urm, can I get back to you on that?”
“Why of course,” Glinda replied, “Now, I was just wondering… where exactly are Elphaba and Fiyero?”
“A little cottage in Winkie country. It’s very… quaint, compared to your palace,” I replied, unsure if I should tell her exactly. Sure, it was right near the old witch’s castle, but I would never say that to Glinda.
“Are they happy?”
“Happy as ever,” I smiled, “but of course that cat Nessa won’t stop at making sure all our lives our miserable.” Glinda snorted, very unattractively.
“You have a, cat?”
“Yes, it’s named Nessa and I think my mother thinks its her dead sister.”
Glinda burst into laughter for literally a minute straight, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Well,” I said, trying once more to change the subject, “I might as well face those bullies. They’ll hear me out, that’s for sure. I think so, at least. If they prank me again I might as well… well, let’s not go there, I guess.”
“Elle-”
“What?”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
And with that, I unsurely and uncomfortably left Glinda stranded with her tea. I noticed how neither of us had touched our tea, very awkwardly. Not one sip. I guess we were too busy with our problems. I smiled, very faintly, but kept on my way. I remembered the instructions, and found the maids’ break room/bedroom on the left. Iila was painting the door, with a smirk on her face.
“How’d ya like the laundry room?”
“Very funny munch,” I spat out the last word angrily, “but I actually did meet Glinda and we had a very intense conversation. She heard all about your darn prank, and trust me, you asses will be sorry, just you wait.” Iila rolled her eyes, stood up, and was equal with my eye level. She took the paint brush in her hand.
“Now you wait miss I’m so perfect, you think Glinda would stop to care about a nobody like you? She’s too busy for your Gillikin crap,” and with that, Iila took a swing at my face with the paint brush, smacking me with bright green paint in the face. I gasped, still shocked even after ten seconds after. I tried to hold it together, but I just couldn’t. And with that, I grabbed a spare paintbrush and dipped it in the paint and flung it at a fleeing Iila. Her uniform was splattered in paint. Iila gave me the evil eye, and stormed off, likely to the laundry room. But I couldn’t help but feel small and almost idiotic.
Glinda ran into the room, seemingly worried about all the noise the two of us made, “Elle! Oh dear, what happened?” She looked down at the paint splattered floor. “Oh, oh my, I’ll have to get some maids to clean that… but let’s get you cleaned up.” And with that, Glinda used a bit of magic, and wiped off my face. It was a weird sensation, like a warm washcloth that wasn’t wet softly ran over my skin.
“It was Iila, I told her that I reported her, and she decided to paint my face instead of the door,” was I going to play the victim? But I felt so bad, I couldn’t leave it at that. I was guilty too. “And, in anger, I sorta threw another paint brush at her?”
“Oh, well, I’m not exactly the best at handling these things, but it sounds like you have an enemy.”
“Well, duh dur.”
“Come on, we can talk in my chamber.”
“Glinda, I’m not so sure that I want the maids to know that I’m your… you know.”
“Why, won’t it make them respect you?”
“The opposite, really. Glinda, I just don’t think they’ll respect me unless I work hard. They obviously think Gillikins are lazy, and I don’t want to live up to their expectations of a Gillikin. But I also don’t want to do handy work like that.”
“Well, what do you want to do, then?”
“I want to… oh, it’s silly.” I can’t tell her that I want to be a performer, that’s nothing special. And I don’t want to beg her to learn the magic skills I never will have. Lurline, help me. “It’s nothing special, and nothing that could be used in the real world.”
“What is it, Elle?”
“I want to be…” I sighed, “a performer.”
“Well, I suppose there’s nothing wrong with a thirst for applause, is there? I was a performer myself, many years ago. In fact I used to sing-”
“You sang for me,” I replied, remembering that sweet voice, “when I was an infant, your voice was there. Could you, ya know, sing for me? Just for old times sake, or whatever?”
“I’d love to Elle.”
“On one condition. Let me sing with you.”
“Alright. You have any idea of what to sing?”
“Do you know Phantom of the Emerald City?”
“It’s one of my favorites, what do you wanna sing from it?”
And with that, I burst into a whole, tear filled performance of Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again with Glinda. Her voice was that of an angel’s.
You were once my one companion,
You were all that mattered.
You were once a friend and mother,
Then my world was shattered.
We sang through the verses, putting so much heart and effort into the song. It seemed to be perfect for the two of us, describing our longing to be with each other again and the absence we had to bare for so long.
No more memories,
No more silent tears,
No more gazing across,
The wasted years,
Help me say,
Goodbye.
And at the end, I shared my first hug with Glinda, tears rolling down my cheeks softly. I guess, in a way, I had found my way home.
Chapter Five
It wasn’t long before I found the break room bedroom empty, so I snuck in and grabbed all my belongings. I had quickly agreed to moving into a different room after Glinda and I’s duet, so I could get away from the terrors of Iila and her cult. Glinda waited impatiently outside the door with her poofy blue dress. I walked out, and the two of us quietly walked down the halls.
“It’s right next to my room, I believe,” Glinda said, and quickly found the giant doors to the room and magically opened them with a wave. She seemed to do that a lot.
The room was bright, and not greenified. The walls were a light pink, with a sky blue bed in the middle. The bed looked plump, with fuzzy pillows and even an extremely soft comforter. There was an open door to what I believed was a walk-in closet (which I was excited for, despite my lack of many clothes), and doors to a bathroom. There was a desk complete with a huge amount of books, and even a grand piano. It was large, and extremely lavish, but not too lavish for me. This is the type of room I’d dreamed of having when I was a little girl, my fantasies that I was the luckiest adopted girl alive because my adoptive parents were royalty. Oh, those were the days… The room rivaled anything I’d ever seen before, to be honest.
“Wow…” I was marveled at the grand room, even its windows stretching far above me.
“It’s great, isn’t it? This was originally my room before being converted into a guest room years back when I moved into my current room. I had this room customized to my liking, and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did,” Glinda said, happily, “Do unpack, feel at home. The closet will be the perfect place for any clothes, though you might want to give the maid uniform back. There’s also a few outfits that I wore while at school in there if you’d like to take a look.”
“Glin- Mom, this is amazing. I couldn’t thank you enough!” I said, a large grin displayed on my face, “my room back at home is like a broom closet compared to this.”
“I’m glad your happy. Now, if you excuse me, I have to write something down really quickly.” Glinda left the room and shut the doors magically (again!), leaving me alone. I sat on the bed and opened up my bag. I pulled out the pink skirt and white long sleeved Phantom of the Emerald City shirt which I’d worn on the journey. They were dirty, so I’d have to put them in the laundry. I didn’t bring any other clothes (stupidly), so I guess I’d have to go into the closet and “steal” Glinda’s.
Walking into the closet, my brain immediately laughed at how Glinda had said that there were “some” of her outfits from her school days. What she meant was, she had an entire population’s worth of clothes. There were more wintery clothes, such as scarves, sweaters, ice skates, and winter gowns, a giant spring section dedicated to brightly colored dresses, and even an entire section of bikinis. The summer section was the most scandalacious of them all, though, with dresses with cutouts in places I didn’t know there could be cutouts. Since it was early spring, I decided on a yellow sundress. I’d have to have it adjusted so I could fit into it, so I stayed in my maid uniform (much to my disappointment). Now that that matter was put aside, I could have some time to myself. I set my sheet music on the piano, and flung myself aimlessly onto the bed. It’s so… soft! I smiled so brightly that it could light up an entire village. I loved plump beds, in fact I wouldn’t have beds anyway else if I could.
So, laying on the best bed in the world, I began to think about some very odd things. Like who my dad was. Mainly who my dad was. I really didn’t know. Glinda never told me, and probably never could. Based on what Avaric told me, it couldn’t have been that man, Judas, because Glinda “flies through boyfriends.” Wait a clock tick… what if it was Avaric? No, of course that couldn’t be. He was a guard and I didn’t think Glinda would date such a peasant. Ever. Maybe it was some prince or something. Hmm, maybe I should ask Glinda. That would help a lot. But I didn’t want to necessarily bug her. Maybe she didn’t want me to know. WHAT IF IT MADE HER ANGRY? Well I guess one question wouldn’t be that big of an impact. So I nervously walked to Glinda’s room with an unsure, shy smile.
“Uh, mom? I just wanted to ask you something,” I said shyly, right outside of the door.
“What, my dear? And come on in,” Glinda said, closing the door behind me with her magic. She was sitting on her bed, a journal in her lap.
“Well, who exactly is my father?”
“Well, that is a very good question. One I can answer, but not proudly. Come,” Glinda patted the area next to her. I plopped down on the bed, and Glinda opened up her journal.
“All can be explained with this, I guess,” she flipped to the very beginning. “‘July 15th. Elphie sent me this new journal and I still am shocked at how she got it to me under Madame Morrible’s close watch on me. I guess it was her way of apologizing for stealing Fiyero. But, I found a bit of a replacement, but no one can know about him. His name is Avaric, and he’s a guard here at the palace. He used to be one of Fiyero’s close friends and best guards. He just told me he loves me, and even offered his hand in marriage, though I dare not accept. If I accept, I will be frowned upon by all of Oz. My parents wouldn’t be happy either. And I just discovered that I am expecting Avaric’s child. Oh, Avaric, if only we could be together.’ That’s it. He’s your father. Are you happy?
“Avaric’s my father?” I said in disbelief, “that tall guard who was driving your carriage?”
“Indeed. A long time ago he loved me, but when I declined his proposal, we were both so heartbroken, we decided to only be friends. I had to explain to him why I wouldn’t accept, and I suppose that was the hardest thing I’d done since I had to tell Dorothy who stole a close friend of mine’s sister’s shoes directions. I’m surprised she actually made it to the Emerald City, to be honest,” Glinda explained, shutting the book.
“This is all, er, very nice, but does Avaric even know that I’m his daughter?”
“No,” Glinda shook her head, “he can’t, and won’t ever know. It’d hurt him too much, and I can’t bare to hurt him anymore. I’m sorry, Ellie.” Glinda called me Ellie, which was a strange nickname I’d never heard.
“Ellie?”
“Oops, did I call you Ellie? Silly me. Urm- are you okay with me calling you Ellie?”
“Of course,” I laughed, “I love the nickname. It's very… me.”
“I'm sure it is,” Glinda laughed, “speaking of which, I don't really know you that well yet, Ellie. What are your hobbies? What were you like in school? Er- you get what I mean?”
“Yeah, and I definitely have the same thoughts vice versa… uhd.”
“What were your grades like?”
“Well, mostly Bs and maybe one A. I was never that book smart,” I replied embarrassedly, “my passion was never with school. I mean I did write a journal and still do, but it's not good enough to be viewed by anyone except myself. I’m a crappy writer.”
“Oh I bet you’re not. If anyone’s the crappy author, its me. An example of my descriptive writing is, ‘the brown bench.’” I snorted dorkily, but was a bit embarrassed at my pig-like snort. Glinda didn’t seem to care, thankfully.
“Well, my math is basically finger counting,” I laughed, “I got Ds up until I somehow scored an A, which raised it to a B.”
“Well, at least it wasn’t an F?” Glinda said, with a bit of confusion in her voice.
“Yeah, I’m glad. I did always get a good grade in the music related classes. Outside of school I did theatre and choir. A lot of theatre, actually. I’ve been in five something shows. There was even one based on Dorothy’s story, which I was in. I was in that before I realized who the wicked witch really was, and Elphaba always seemed a bit bothered by it.”
“OOH! Who’d you play?”
“Toto!”
“Oh,” after a thirty second period of silence, Glinda said, “Why didn’t they put you as me? Your vocals rival mine, and there’s such a resemblance!”
“I was five.”
“Oh.”
There seemed to be too many awkward silences between us. I guess two awkward gals make awkward silences. I tried to change the subject.
“What were you like, as a kid?”
“I was your average rich, spoiled Gillikin girl. A lot like you, I think, but a lot more spoiled. I was over-the-toply dramatic, which it seems you are, and I loved clothes. I still do. Fashion is everything, it used to govern my life,” Glinda smiled, and looked down at her hands, which peacefully rested in her lap, “But then I met a girl who made everything so much better. I will admit, it was Elphaba, and I did like her. But of course, that was before I’d gotten to know Avaric. Elphaba moved to just the best friend position.”
“Oh,” I didn’t know they had been that close. That must’ve been hard, to have to give up a friend like that. “OH SHNIZZLEBERRIES!” I forgot to say goodbye to Gwen, my best friend. This surely didn’t mean anything good for our relationship. She was like, my bestie. And she wasn’t one to be happy about me forgetting about things, because I did it… a lot is like not even close. More like every single day, I’d forget everything she told me. If she told me to come over to her house, I’d forget in a split second. It wasn’t that I had a bad memory, I had a superb memory, it was more of the fact that something inside me told me not to care.
“What? And also, what the heck was that word?”
“I just forgot something, that’s all. Nothing important,” I lied completely. “Anyway,” I was ready to change the subject completely. “I’m going to go read, I guess.” That was a lie.
I knew exactly what I was going to do, and that was tell Avaric that I was his daughter.
Chapter Six
I didn’t necessarily tell Avaric that night. Or any night, for three months. During those three months, Glinda had jam packed our schedule with interviews and trips to parts of Oz. I’d seen what I presumed to be every inch of land in a journey that took about five weeks. It was amazing. I saw mountains, rainbows, lakes, forests- anything you could imagine, really. Oz was really as beautiful as the books said. I suppose all was good in those three months until Glinda asked me if I wanted to enroll in Shiz University.
It wasn’t that I had anything against Shiz. I’d heard the best stories from Elphaba and Fiyero, and it seemed that they’d had a fantabulous time there. It was more of the fact that I was an average student, and my passion wasn’t with books and math, it was with music. Surely Glinda could understand. Well, turns out, she couldn’t.
“You don’t want to go to Shiz?”
“I’m too young, and I’m just not interested,” I explained. Glinda’s jaw dropped. I was prepared for her argument, I had to argue a lot as a little kid, and I always won. There were few times when I’d get proven wrong.
“B-but it’s the best and most fancy school in ALL of Oz!” Glinda gasped, “it’s how I learned to not be stupid!”
“Uh, I don’t think you learn how to not be stu-”
“WELL YOU GET MY POINT! You see, I think it’d be very helpful for you!”
That conversation ended with me losing the argument promptly. I didn't want to go to Shiz, but I'd have to.
So I stormed out of the room and to the stables where Avaric worked. I came up from behind him, and poked him. He nearly jumped a foot.
“Gah! Oh, Elle, it's just you.”
“Who else would it be?” I said, with a bit of a dorky laugh. Avaric rolled his eyes.
“What’dya need kid?”
“It's kinda late, but you know how I'm Glinda's kid?”
“Uh, yeah…”
“Well, turns out I'm your kid too.”
Awkward.
Avaric’s face went white. Well, how else was I going to tell him? By saying, “Hey Avaric I’m your daughter,” it’d be like a cheesy, cliche sentence, and he’d be all like, “Well hey nice prank.” But instead, Avaric’s face grew into a big grin.
“You’re… my daughter? G- Glinda, and I’s, daughter?”
“Yep,” I said softly. Avaric seemed to have suddenly had a Glinda Pep Talk. His smile was about as wide as the crescent moon. “Glinda told me three months ago, but I couldn’t find time to tell you.”
“I can't believe this!” Avaric's smile soon turned to a bit of a frown, “now I know why she was acting so funny back then… er- if you don't mind I need to talk to your mother.” I frowned a bit, but nodded.
“If you must,” I replied, with a sigh. I wish he had been a bit happier, but I didn’t show it at all besides that one frown and sigh. Avaric left the stables quickly, obviously not wanting to talk to me. Lurline, why did this have to be so awkward? I sighed, and walked out of the stables, passing each stall and petting the horses as I went. It wasn’t long before I reached the hallway, where I turned to find Iila, the one person I hated the most in all of Oz, sweeping. I hadn’t seen her since our brawl back when things were still awkward with Glinda.
“Well look who it is, little miss munchkin, come to bully me some more?” I said extremely sassily. I put my hand on my hip. “Turns out I’m the superior here. Who’da thunk the orphan from Vinkus is really Glinda’s daughter? Well, definitely not the jerkiest girl in Oz and her pity maid squad!”
“Watch it Gillikin, even though your the ruler’s daughter now doesn’t mean I can’t tell you the truth.”
“The truth? Oh,” I put my hand over my mouth, very dramatically, “is someone a little bit jealous?” Iila looked over my pink dress, and frowned.
“You look like you’ve been covered in unicorn waste and dragged in crap,” Iila began to say, “then farted on by the Wicked Witch of the West. Whew!” Okay, I wasn’t going to act like I wasn’t at all offended by that. I grabbed the collar of Iila’s maid uniform and pushed her against the wall. “Now, now let’s be civilized, shorty, we don't want your mother finding out, do we?”
“Let me make this clear. I'm not short, my mother already knows about our… rivalry, and that I have no clue how to fight,” I let go of her, “and you don't look much better miss maid.” Iila seemed to be pulsing with anger, her face red.
“You're just as plastic as Glinda,” Iila said quietly, and stormed off. I rolled my eyes. That girl needed to get a life. Now, where was I? Right. To my room. I walked slowly, whistling and examining the sparkling green walls. They seemed to get prettier every day. But I couldn’t get my fight with Iila out of my head. That dam- darn, girl (yes I am trying to watch my language) didn’t know when to stop. I wonder if all maids are as crappy as she was. Well, I bet Gillikin maids aren’t. We all have a respect for each other, no matter what our occupation or look.
I tried to block all thought of the girl from my mind, but it didn't work. I had to smile, to hide my anger, but it really didn't work. Iila wouldn't stop taunting me in my head, random new insults flying out of nowhere. Why couldn’t the girl just shut up? I noticed my eyes were tearing up. I wiped them, not wanting to be seen crying, and started running to my bedroom. The tears kept coming. I have to tell Glinda. She needs to fire Iila! I silently thanked the fact that Glinda had taught me beauty magic which I had used to apply an illusion of makeup instead of real makeup, otherwise it’d be completely ruined.
I collapsed on my bed, and buried my face in the comforter. I didn’t want to speak to anyone. I just wanted to pout and cry. Frankly, when I was down, that’s all I ever wanted to do. Pout and cry, and then it’d be over. That was how I got over anything that didn’t go my way. Of course, it didn’t always work. Elphaba had given me many speeches about that over the fifteen years I lived with her and Fiyero. This was one of those times I had that dreadful feeling that it would never work.
“Ellie? Can I come in? I heard your, erm, crying, and I just wanted to see if you were okay,” Glinda’s voice made me jump, and I realized she had been watching. I lifted my head, as she slipped into the room.
“Yeah,” I wiped my eyes, “it was just Iila, nothing impor-”
“Iila needs to die in a hole.”
“Okay, that’s a bit extreme… but we just had a bit of a fight, nothing important…”
“What in Oz happened?”
“Well, she started insulting me, and then I almost punched her,” I said, finally done crying, “we just… hate each other, loathe each other, to be honest.”
“That’s exactly what I thought about Elphie,” Glinda said softly, with a slight smile.
“Do you miss her?”
“More than ever,” Glinda sighed, “but let’s not make this all about me. Avaric and I… had a talk. We decided it'd be best for him to not openly be your father.”
“Why?” I suddenly blurted out.
“The public just won't look at it the right way. We've agreed to it-”
“I feel like everything is about what the public thinks with you! Lurline, Mom! Think about me for once! What I think!”
Glinda was silent, but I could see pure rage on her face, and she turned and exited the room, her curls bouncing as she walked. Her fists were clenched, and she had just the essence of anger with her walk. Oh dear. I'd just angered someone that I should never had messed with. I silently prayed that she'd get over it as quickly as possible, but I knew better. I'd really hurt her. Sure, Elphaba and I had gotten in fights, but that was different. With Glinda, I felt like she was more unstable with her emotions, more… vulnerable.
Okay, let's wait till tomorrow… hopefully she won't be bad then. Lurline knows what she's thinking…
Chapter Seven
A few weeks had passed, and Glinda had forgiven me. She had understood my point, but had justified her's so I eventually agreed.
It was early morning when I heard a wake-up bell. I groaned and rolled over. It likely wasn't Glinda's doing, she liked to sleep in until 10:00 most mornings. I heard a knock on my door.
“Ellie I know it's early, but your audition for You're a Good Man Wizardly Guy is in two hours,” Glinda called. Eh, I didn't feel like it, and clearly had completely forgotten. Even though I probably was the top contender for Lucy, it wasn't a musical I was that excited about.
“I don't feel like going, Mom!”
“Well, I hate to burst your bubble but you are committed!”
“I don't have a bubble, Mom.”
“That was not funny.” Glinda entered, her hair in messy curls, in a pink robe. She didn't seem to have tried very hard to look presentable.
We spent about an hour arguing, and completely missed the audition time. We really were arguing a lot lately, more than usual. Eventually, she and I just began gossiping, because that’s what normally happened after one of our arguments.
“So I heard there are new recruits coming in,” Glinda said quietly, sitting on the bench. I filed my nails as she spoke.
“Haven't met 'em yet. What do they say about them?” I looked over at Glinda, who was trying to brush her hair and get it to be straight.
“I haven't had a chance to meet them,” Glinda said, carefully pulling the brush through. “Apparently they're nice, but odd.”
“Odd meaning?” I raised an eyebrow, and got back to focusing on my nails.
“I don't know,” Glinda shrugged, “I'm not exactly the smartest person in the palace. If I wanted gossip, I'd go to the maids.”
“Or, how about we meet these newbies? Give em’ a warm welcome?”
“Let's do it.”
So once she had brushed out her hair and I had filed my nails, she helped me choose one of her old dresses to wear. It was a lemon colored dress that reminded me of a de-pom pommed pink dress with Glinda called her makeover giving dress. It was a bit small at first, so they had had to make it a bit bigger (because Glinda is quite a bit smaller than I).
We left the room after I had changed and was presentable, (Glinda just used magic to change out of her robe), and headed to the maid’s bunker. Thankfully if Iila dared to insult me I’d have Glinda right behind me. Glinda stood in front of me, and knocked on the door.
“It’s just Glinda, we just wanted to remind the new recruit that she’ll be working for me today!” Glinda called. She turned, “I’m excited, I haven’t had a good maid tea talk since you first came.” I nodded, with a slight smile. “Okay, let’s go.” Glinda began to walk, so I quickly started walking to be walking at her side. She walked fast, so I had to leap to catch up.
“Hey, slow down!” I laughed. “You're quite the speedy old woman.”
“Watch it missy, I am definitely not old.”
“Suuurrrrreeee,” I laughed, “how old are you? Like, in your forties, right?”
“Urm, younger than that.”
“Liar!”
We both burst into laughter. Glinda was a terrible liar, she really rivaled me in lack of lying skill. That was exactly when we ran into a maid running straight at us. But she looked strangely familiar, even though I could tell she was new. Almost like-
“Elphie?” Glinda’s gasp was almost silent, but was just loud enough so the woman and I could hear. The woman did have a striking resemblance, the same deep brown eyes and silky black hair. The thing that ruined the resemblance was the pale skin. The woman shook her head.
“Lola, ma’am. I believe I am to be working for you both today, am I correct?” Glinda nodded in reply, with an uneasy smile.
“Yes, you will join us for tea. I’m sorry, you just reminded me of someone I used to know,” Glinda said softly, “anyhoo, I’m Glinda and this is Elle.”
“Nice to meet you!” The woman smiled, but I couldn’t help but be creeped out at the woman’s resemblance to Elphaba.
“Shall we head to the tea garden?”
“There's a tea garden?”
“Shush, it's the one with the pretty overlook,” Glinda whispered in my ear, but looked back at Lola. “Now, Lola, Ellie, let's go.”
We headed to the garden, Glinda and I chatting occasionally, with Lola just watching. Glinda opened the glass door magically, letting Lola and I enter. The table seemed untouched, the teapot in the exact position it had been months ago. Glinda had to summon another chair for me, which I was fine with.
“Well Miss Lola, where are you from?”
“The Vinkus. My husband and I both came for work here.”
“Your husband? What's his job?”
“He's a guard, I believe.”
Glinda nodded, and looked at me with an eyebrow raised, as if trying to tell me something. I mouthed a quick, what? But Glinda just shook her head as to say nevermind.
“So, why'd you come to work here?”
“My daughter's a maid,” Lola explained, and Glinda nodded.
“Which one?”
“Urm…” there was an awkward silence. “Well, she was a maid.”
“Oh.” Glinda seemed a bit disappointed. “Anyhoo, what type of tea do you want?”
“Passionfruit, please.”
And so, Glinda poured Lola a cup.
“Urm, Miss Lola, do you want a donut hole?” I asked, politely yet awkward.
Lola shook her head, “no thank you.” I nodded, a bit bugged by her declining the donuts.
“Well, we might as well have some, right Mom?”
Glinda nodded, “I'll notify the kitchens, Ellie.”
“Wait a second- you're her mother?”
“You couldn't tell?” Glinda raised an eyebrow, “we're literally identical.”
“Well, I'm taller than you-”
“I said, identical as in looks,” Glinda seemed a bit bothered by the height difference, so I decided to shut up. We weren't exactly identical, but there was a resemblance. “Now, Lola, what are your favorite brand of shoes?”
“I've never really thought of that,” Lola replied, “back in Vinkus we weren't exactly buying designer shoes.”
“Oh,” Glinda sighed, “well, finish up your tea, and I guess we can find something to talk about.” Glinda looked at me, as if desperate to find a subject to talk about. Glinda? Not knowing what to talk about? Lurline, what was wrong with her?
Chapter Eight
Lola had been there for about a week, and I wasn't completely sold with her. She was just too… serious. I passed her in the hallway once while I was speaking with Avaric, and she didn't even say hi when I enthusiastically waved to her. Something seemed… off. But both Lola and Glinda seemed different. So one day, I decided to approach my mother on what was wrong, if anything.
“Urm, uh, Mom?” I knocked on her door, with no response, “Mom?” I heard a groan from the other side.
“I'm napping, Elle!”
With that, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. “Is something wrong? You never nap!”
“I've got a lot on my mind, Elle. Let me nap!”
“Like what?”
“Nothing Elle, go away!”
So I rolled my eyes again, before turning and nearly crashing into Lola. “Oh my Lurline, I'm so sorry Miss Elle!”
“It's okay, at least we actually didn't fall over,” I laughed off, but Lola still looked a bit bugged.
“I mean it, blondie. I'm really sorry.”
Blondie? Only Elphaba had ever called me that… could it really be?
“El- Elphaba? Is it really you?”
The woman looked around, “Shhhhh! Of course it's me, but keep it quiet! We can't have Glinda or anyone else knowing!” I stood, speechless.
“Is Fiyero here too?”
“Yeah kid, but let's have this conversation away from Glinda's room, okay?” Elphaba scream-whispered. I nodded slowly. So we moved into my room.
“How did you degreenify your skin?”
“A washcloth and soap.”
“Really?”
“No, of course not! I used a spell,” Elphaba hissed, now a bit louder.
“And um, why are you here, exactly?”
“Look, it doesn't matter why. Just don't tell Glinda!”
I rolled my eyes, “Glinda should know!”
“No one, including Glinda, can know. You got that?”
I rolled my eyes, “but why? It's been, what, 16 years-ish, since you were melted? Glinda deserves to know you're actually here! She knows you're alive, for Lurline’s sake!”
“She knows I'm alive?”
“You think I haven't told her, cabbage?”
“Watch it blondie. And yes, I’d expect you to shut up,” Elphaba snapped. I gulped.
“I… I had to tell her! She was quizzing me, you know! She’s like some… some interrogator!”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that blonde brain of hers quickly got converted to the people’s side,” Elphaba growled, “they would do anything to find me and destroy me.”
“But you’re dead to them, right?”
“Not necessarily?”
“Elphaba, what do you mean you’re not dead to them?”
“In the past three months, it seems you’ve been actually not hearing gossip. I didn’t know that was possible based on how much you terrorized Fiyero and I with it!”
That shut me up, but then I thought about it, and had something to say, “Terrorized?”
“Yeah. This is exactly what I had to go through with Glinda back at Shiz,” Elphaba said, “and then you started telling Fiyero and I- you know what? It doesn’t matter. But basically, I had an appearance in the town, which didn’t go so well. Now there are witch hunters that are after me. It seems like Glinda’s been either hiding it from you, or is too caught up in her own life to care.”
“That’s…” my face faltered. I hadn’t realized how much they hated her. Like, I knew they had a day dedicated to her “death”, and worshipped people for “killing” both her and her sister, but I didn’t feel like they hated her so much that if they found out she was alive they would want to kill her, erm, again, I guess? Gosh, am I stupid or what? But suddenly, another thing popped into my head.
“Elphaba, how did you end up adopting me anyway?”
“Well, I can’t exactly explain. But there is a spell, a flashback spell. Mind if I use it?”
“I don’t care. Just let me know.”
Elphaba mumbled some words, and suddenly I was no longer in the present. Everything was a bit hazier, but almost more gorgeous, the haze sparkling and adding charm.
“Fae, are you sure you want to do this?” I heard a voice behind me, so I turned, only to see a younger scarecrow Fiyero. The painted on wrinkles were less elaborate. There was Elphaba, as well, but much prettier, except for the dark circles under her eyes like she hadn’t gotten enough sleep.
“I need to take something of her’s, Yero. She won’t notice,” Elphaba said, a bit distraught, “like a blanket, honestly anything.” As they moved, I captured my surroundings a bit better. I was in Glinda’s room, but it wasn’t quite Glinda-y. There wasn’t enough pink. It was all green, like I’d never seen it. I moved closer to the two, and Elphaba suddenly looked down.
“AHA! Perfect! It’s pink, and its definitely Glinda’s,” smiled Elphaba, grabbed what seemed to be a bundle of blanket. It rested on more blankets (Author Note: of course, because WHY NOT. Another note: Does that sound right? Idk) So the two bounded out of the window on a rope, Elphaba with a careful hold on the bundle. I looked down. Elphaba gasped. A small face peeked out of the bundle. “Oh my goodness. Fiyero, we need to go back up.”
“Why, Elphaba?”
“It’s a baby, Fiyero. We grabbed Glinda’s baby,” Elphaba said.
“Then put her back!”
“No, we’re taking her.”
“Why’d you say go back up then?”
“To leave a note. An explanation.”
“And why are we taking her exactly?”
“So she doesn’t end up spoiled rotten. Look, our humble cottage would be perfect. We could spoil her in a… less wealthy setting, maybe?”
“What does humble mean again?”
“Yero, how did you graduate Shiz?”
Suddenly, the world faded away, and I was back alone with Elphaba.
“I’m sorry neither of us have told you until now. She didn't know it was me at the time, I signed the note anonymously,” Elphaba sighed, and looked down. “Although it wasn’t the wisest of decisions, it’s one I definitely don’t regret.”
“Well, I guess… urm, thanks for showing me. So you came here to do what exactly?”
“To blend in,” she sighed, but quickly added, “Home's still safe, they didn't trace me back to there. Everything is just as you left it.” Elphaba looked at me concernedly, “keep your ears open to gossip, kid. Apparently palace gossip is as gossipy as it gets.”
I nodded, and replied, “I will make sure to. Besides, what's life without a little rumor?”
Mini Chapter Nine
Evening rolled in that night, and there was the most spectacular sunset I'd ever seen. The sky was painted with pink and red, as the sun floated below the horizon. I was in awe the entire time, while Glinda didn't seem to notice or care. She was too busy reading a book. Yes you heard that right.
Moments after the sun went down completely and the magical lights lit, Glinda spoke up, “are you excited for Shiz, Ellie?” I sipped my tea, and disappointedly looked at her.
“That's not necessarily what I wanted to do with my life, as I've said before,” I put the teacup down, and took my biscotti. After taking a bite, I spoke, my mouth full. “Fi fant fo fe fon Fozway, Mom!”
“They have theatre classes there, dear. I think you'd regret not going,” Glinda said. I rolled my eyes.
“I just don't want to go, why can't you accept that?”
“I just can't, alright?” Glinda got back to sipping her tea, as to try to calm down. I eyed her, a bit confused. Glinda had never done that before. “Sorry, I’m just a bit stressed out lately. All these court cases are bewildering.” Bewildering? What in Oz was that?
“Meaning?”
“Confusifying, sorry.”
“Right…”
This can’t be Glinda. Her sudden freakout, and use of a word I don’t even know? I guess… no, I couldn’t!
“So what’s your current view on the Wicked Witch of the West?” I immediately regretted asking it.
“That’s… an odd question, Elle. But currently, I think those people are right. Wickedness must be punished. If the Wicked Witch of the West is alive, she must die.”
Wow. She definitely ain’t Glinda.
Chapter Ten
I hurried as fast as I could to find Elphaba, who in fact was sweeping outside Glinda’s room. I looked at her, panicked. “There’s something wrong with Glinda.” Elphaba’s eyes met mine, and I could see sudden fear sparking in them.
“Elle, take me to her,” her tone became serious, “now, tell me. What is wrong with her?”
“Well, it’s not that ea-”
“What is wrong with her, Elle?” There was so much worry in her voice.
“She said…” I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t bare to say it to Elphaba.
“Just tell me what she said!”
“Alright already!” I hissed, “she said she wants you dead if you’re alive!” Elphaba could hardly speak, so taken back by my words. She struggled to speak, but finally looked deep in my eyes.
“Tell me this isn’t true.”
“I… can’t.”
“Tell me that those damn words did not come out of her mouth!” Elphaba magically shut and locked the door. I looked up at her, suddenly afraid for my own sake.
“Elphaba, there’s something seriously wrong with her!” I said quickly, “I’m so confusified. She’s so much different! She’s been so… sophisticated, lately, like she was going to spit out smart things! She is always getting upset,” I started, “like she’s ready to break.” Elphaba’s furious gaze softened.
“She’s not on her period, right?”
“Elphaba!”
“I’m just saying,” Elphaba shrugged. “Now, blondie, if you and Glinda go into town anytime soon, go to the bookstore and get me One Hundred and One Species You’ve Never Heard Of and Their Characteristics. It’s important. There might be an explanation in there.”
“Are you saying she’s a species I’ve never heard of?”
“What? N-n- okay, no, Elle, she is definity a Gillikin. There just might be an answer in there.”
“Wait a second, there might be a copy of that in the library now that I think of it.”
“You know there's a library?” Elphaba was unconvinced.
“I'm dumb but I'm not stupid. I've had to go in there a few times to get sheet music.”
“Oh, well then, would you mind going with me?”
“We don't want to make my mom suspicious, Elphaba,” I replied, quickly, “besides, you can say I sent you to do it so you have permission to go in there.”
“You're actually smart on occasion.”
“Shut it, zucchini.”
“Watch it blondie,” Elphaba snapped, but her expression changed, “Now, I'm going to go, stay out of trouble if you can. Avoid… her, at all costs. Alright? We don't know what's exactly wrong with her.”
I nodded, “I'll try my best.” I paused, and then an idea came to mind, “I'm going to take a bath, hopefully that'll clear my mind.”
“Alright, I'll see you later, than,” Elphaba said, then hurried out of the room. I shut the door behind her, and locked it. The bathroom smelled of lavender for some odd reason, but that immediately calmed me down as I stepped into it. The tub was full for some odd reason, and there was steam rising from it. It's already filled? That must've been Elphaba's doing, right? I wondered, and undressed fairly slowly. Once I was completely naked, I slipped on into the tub.
For some reason, the water completely smelled of lavender with no bubbles in sight. Maybe it's enchanted or something. To be honest, I didn't question anything magical-y.
In less than ten minutes I felt like I was going to fall asleep…
And then I did.
---- timeskip ----
When I woke up, I had no clue how much time had passed. I lay on my bed, not in the bath, and saw Elphaba tending to something on my dresser.
“The water was drugged, this should help with the grogginess…” Elphaba moved to me, and spooned something into my mouth. Suddenly I was wide awake, like magic.
“The water was drugged?” I was shocked.
“Yes, it seems someone doesn't like you,” Elphaba said, putting the bowl down on my dresser. She grabbed a book, and I got out of bed, joining her. She looked over me, “you might want to put some clothes on.”
“Right,” I laughed it off, running to the closet to get a nightgown. I returned, with a light pink dress covering me.
“This was the book I was looking for. It should explain Glinda, but if it doesn't, it's probably no big deal…” Elphaba opened it, and skimmed the pages. I waited and waited, and actually started to paint my nails (which I hadn't had painted in a while) when Elphaba suddenly found what she was looking for. “Figura Cruth, a shapeshifting species.”
“Shapeshifting? So, she's a shapeshifter?”
“No, blondie, she's been replaced by a shapeshifter. The question is, why?”
“And for how long?”
Elphaba looked at me, concern in her eyes. “It must've been the Figura Cruth who drugged the water. A simple lavender concoction could've knocked you out for months, thank goodness it was only for a few hours. Figura Cruths are famous for knocking people out with liquids and killing them once unconscious, that's how I could tell what she was.”
“How was it only for a few hours, then? And how am I alive?”
“I honestly don't know, the water must've deluted the drug,” Elphaba sat on the bed. “What matters is your safe. I'm guessing you were drugged to be put aside, not killed, but I don't know for sure.” I frowned.
“So where's the real Glinda?”
Chapter Ten Fun Fact: Figura is Latin for shape and Cruth is Irish for Shifter
Chapter Eleven
The day he arrived, no one expected it. Fake-Glinda and I were in a carriage heading back to the Emerald Palace from Frottica, Glinda’s hometown. Fake-Glinda didn’t seem to know that I knew the truth about her. But because I knew, things between the two of us were extremely awkward. Elphaba had instructed me to be extremely careful.
Our carriage was going down the yellow brick road, and I was reading Les Miserables, a book the Wizard brought. It was actually quite interesting- for a book. The musical made me sob, so I decided to try the book. That’s when the carriage abruptly stopped.
“Ma’am, come have a look at this!” called the driver.
“Ugh, what is it this time?” Fake-Glinda groaned, and opened the door. After she exited, I followed. Fake-Glinda had little of a reaction. I gasped. A boy with dark brown hair was sprawled out, knocked out, on the brick road. Fake-Glinda shrugged.
“He’s just asleep, go around him.”
“He’s blacked out, ma’am,” the driver was kneeled beside the boy. “We should probably take him with us and get him care.” The driver picked up the boy carefully, “is it okay if he sits with you?”
“He can sit up top with you.”
“I think he’d be better off inside, ma’am.”
“Fine. Elle, he will be by you.”
I didn’t care, I just wanted him to be safe. He just seemed… special. I didn’t know why. We got back in the carriage, and the driver put the boy next to me. The carriage rumbled along, and it wasn’t long before we arrived back in the Emerald City. We disembarked the carriage in the courtyard, and the driver promised he’d take the boy to the hospital wing as soon as he could. I tried my best, but Fake-Glinda kept trying to have a conversation. I wanted nothing to do with her.
I tried my best to get away from Fake-Glinda, and finally did, finding Elphaba cleaning off the piano in my room.
“So how was your week off?”
“Week off from what?” I laughed.
“Life,” Elphaba said, “how was Frottica?”
“Nice, I guess. I was too worried about not getting killed by an evil shapeshifter.” Elphaba rolled her eyes at that.
“We don't know if the shapeshifter is evil, Elle. By the way, is it true there was a boy passed out on the road?”
“Yeah, he was just… there all of a sudden apparently. Then we helped him. Well, the driver did, I just saved him from having to sleep on top of the carriage,” I explained, “it was really weird. They brought him to the hospital.”
“The hospital, you say?” Elphaba said, and left.
“Where are you going?”
“The hospital, now come on!”
Elphaba started walking quickly, and I followed closely behind, wanting her to almost protect me. I didn't really feel safe anymore unless Elphaba was near.
We exited the palace and entered the city, where citizens waved to me. I waved back, now extremely comfortable. I did love it when people loved me. But what performer didn't?
The hospital let us both enter, and a receptionist informed me that “Glinda” was on floor 2 in section 4, Room 601. We climbed the stairs, and finally found the room. Voices could be heard talking inside.
Fake-Glinda was in a perky yet usable dress, the one she called her Announcement Dress. She didn't seem to notice when Elphaba and I slipped inside. That's when the boy gasped, and started coughing. Nurses ran to his aid, and I looked at Elphaba, confused.
“Is he waking up or something?”
“That's exactly it, miss.”
And suddenly he stopped coughing. His eyes opened, “Where on Earth am I?”
“Where the Ev is Earth?” I blurted out.
“I could ask you the same thing about wherever this is,” the boy looked over at me. He was handsome, with dark brown hair and a friendly face. But there was something in his eyes, confusion.
“This is Oz, where are you from?”
“Earth. Big blue ball with some land on it, in the sky.”
“Urm, there aren't any big blue balls in the sky.”
“Thats not what I meant. Earth's a planet.”
“A what?”
“He’s from the other world,” Elphaba whispered into my ear, “Earth's the other world.”
I gasped, “oh my Lurline. Urm, Mom?” I tried to get Fake-Glinda to continue the conversation.
“What, sweetie?”
Casually disturbed by what she called me, I said, a bit uneasily, “he must be from the other world.” Elphaba looked at me briefly, almost as if saying, Why did you say that?
“Oh… Oh my,” Fake-Glinda gasped, “boy, what is your name?”
“Uh… Tannen… Tannen… umm…” he scratched his head, “Polenburg.” Tannen Polenburg. He had quite the shock prepared for him. Tannen looked at me, with a confused look. “Who the hell are you?”
“Elle,” I replied, “Elle Upland.”
“Elle, where exactly am I? What's Oz?”
“Urm, we're in the Land of Oz. That's pretty much it.”
“Where is Oz?”
“Uh, it's just Oz.”
“Well you're a fat load of help,” Tannen seemed a bit pissed off, so when he started talking to Fake-Glinda I was glad. I zoned out. I thought about if I'd ever really met my real mother- who would've wanted a figura whatever it's called to take her place (if the figura thing WAS helping someone, it was just a little theory I'd thought of on the vacation). Suddenly, I heard my name, and everyone looked right at me.
“Elle? Your hobbies are…?”
“Uh, singing, acting, playing the piano, and reading,” I said, confused at how they'd even gotten onto the subject of my hobbies.
“I read too,” Tannen offered, “though I've never been too fond of participating in musical things, I do appreciate the art of it.” Why is he talking so proper?
“That's a shame,” I replied, “you're really missing out.” Tannen looked at me.
“I might give singing a try sometime.”
“Oh, you think you can sing?”
“I know, I can sing, blondie. I don't need to think,” Tannen rolled his eyes, but I was more bothered by the fact that he called me blondie than his cockiness. That was a word reserved for Elphaba to call me. A word I'd only heard spoken out of Elphaba's mouth. But I let him call me that, I didn't even tell him to stop calling me it.
“I'd like to see you try,” I replied, and Tannen got out of the bed.
“Mr. Polenburg let us fetch you a hospital shirt-”
“No need, nurse. He'll be coming with us, we can get him a nicer shirt at the palace. He will stay with us.”
“Please, I insist-”
“Do what I say. Leave,” Fake-Glinda hissed. As we walked and talked, I couldn't help but notice how muscular Tannen was. And I couldn't help but tell my eyes over and over to stop looking at him, but he was so handsome my eyes were seeming magnetically attached. It didn't help that he was shirtless. What is wrong with you, I thought to myself, he's just a boy. Eyes, get off his stupid face. Finally, I teared away from my view of Tannen and brought my eyes to look at Fake-Glinda. Elphaba trailed behind us, as if she was ready to ward off paparazzi.
We walked back, and Fake-Glinda's first order for Elphaba was to fetch a shirt for Tannen. Thank Goodness!
Chapter Twelve
The rest of the day, I had no clue what to do. I didn’t feel like talking to Elphaba, because she was always so serious, and didn’t want to confront Fake-Glinda for obvious reasons. They said that I shouldn’t even talk to Tannen because it’d stress him out too much, which bummed me out.
So I decided to read. I was in the middle of Les Miserables, right as the barricade boys were being introduced. Because I knew the musical, I knew what their fates were to be. I was actually a very fast reader, even though I despised reading half my life. I opened the book, and suddenly something fell out of the book. I jumped back, surprised by the sudden appearance. They were… keys?
I ran my fingers over the metal, strange art running up the key. The decorations almost seemed like vines, crawling up the keys. Why are these here? I wondered. What do I do with them? I guess I should find the owner… But a better idea came to mind. I’m gonna see what they open.
For about an hour, I wandered around the palace trying every door I came to see. Oddly enough, it didn’t fit anything. I tried locked cabinets and chests, with no success.
“I guess they aren’t for the palace,” I sighed, accidently aloud, but then realized I hadn’t checked Glinda’s room, or the maid’s room. I decided to check the maid’s room, not thinking of my old enemies. I walked in, and saw the face of the head bully herself, Iila.
“Seems like the worst maid ever is still in the palace,” I said, eying Iila’s dirty uniform.
“Hey Elle, stop it, I’m through with hating you,” Iila rolled her eyes, “I’ve moved on to ordering other maids around, not torturing someone I can’t order around.”
“So you’ve turned over a new leaf?”
“Well, depends on how you look at it.”
I almost smiled. I was done hating her too. Not like I worried about running into her anymore, but it relieved some stress. “Well, if you excuse me I need to try and figure out what this unlocks.”
“I wouldn’t be looking in here, Glinda passed a new rule a while ago that maids and servants aren’t allowed to have anything ‘locking.’ Stupid rule, if I’m honest,” Iila rolled her eyes again.
“Ok, see you around,” I said, and left before Iila even had a chance to say anything. There was only one place left, and it’d be very stupid to try there. But I had to try, no matter how stupid. Glinda’s room.
I hurried through the halls, occasionally stopping to say hello to a servant or a maid. Of course, the maids all still despised me, but they seemed to at least attempt to be nice and put aside their anger. When I arrived at Glinda’s room, I spotted Fake-Glinda by the window, sipping her tea. She saw me, and I had no time to hide the keys.
“What are you up to, Elle?”
“Um, nothing!” I lied, “Just… wanted to… say hi!”
“No, you’re trying to find what that key opens. Because you don’t trust me. Because you think that I’m not Glinda.”
“How… how did you-”
“Yes, do you think the keys came out of nowhere? I’ve watched you and that maid, and I put those keys there so you would come to me. So you can join your mother.”
“Speaking of Glinda, where is she?”
“The keys?” Fake-Glinda raised an eyebrow, “they open the door over there. That’s where you’ll be going.”
“What’s behind that door?”
“You’ll see soon enough. Now, Elle,” Fake-Glinda summoned a vine of light, and moved it, wrapping it around my wrists. “If you don’t mind, you’ll be going into the room.” There was a strange force that pulled me towards the door- I couldn’t fight against it. Panic filled me.
“Don’t make me go in there!” I pleaded. But Fake-Glinda only laughed.
“Enjoy your stay in prison.”
“Prison?!” I gasped.
“Yes, and if you don’t shut up I’ll place some magic over your mouth too. It’s awfully annoying.” The door opened magically, and I was seemingly thrown into the darkness. The door slammed behind me, and the magical handcuffs disappeared. My eyes adjusted slowly, it was so dark, when finally I saw a light kinda far away. It was a candle, with a face behind it. Glinda. I ran towards the light, as fast as I could, when suddenly I tripped.
“Fi-? Oh- oh my Lurline! Elle! Are you okay?” Glinda came towards me, and knelt by my side. I happily looked at her, relieved to finally see her again. Who knew how long it’d been since I’d actually seen her?
“Yeah, I just tripped, I’m-” I tried to get up, but a sharp pain went through my ankle. “I must’ve twisted my ankle.”
“Gosh, that must hurt! I wish I knew a healing spell, I could fix it…”
“It’s okay Mom, it’ll heal,” I tried my best to smile. But my ankle really hurt when I moved it.
“What’s been happening? Has she hurt you?”
“No, no she hasn’t. I’m fine,” I smiled, “but there’s been way too much stuff going on lately.”
“Stuff?”
“Yeah. A boy came from the other world.”
“The other world? Like… Dorothy?”
“Yep. Earlier today, actually.”
“That’s insane!” Glinda gasped, but quickly changed her tone of voice, “is he cute?” I giggled.
“Very. Now Mom, shouldn’t we focus on getting out of here?”
“I’ve tried everything. There’s no-”
A shrill scream made me jump. Light came from the door, which had been opened.
“I have her unconcious. Hurry!” a familiar voice said. I could only see the silhouette of our saviour. I limped to the door, and Glinda helped me. I could tell it was Elphaba as we drew closer. We exited the room, and I eyed the mysterious white deformed figure. “It’s the Figura Cruth, she’s just lost her form. If it is a she. Now, Glinda, could you help me put her in the cell?” The two took initiative, leaving me awkwardly standing there. Once she was shut in the closet, Glinda helped me walk to my bedroom, where I sat down on the bed.
“You missed a lot, Mom,” I said, and Glinda frowned.
“Besides the boy, what else happened?”
“Well, it’s going to take an awful while to explain, so get comfortable!”
Chapter Thirteen
Glinda was back. Elphaba and Glinda were reunited. The Figura Cruth was dealt with. To be honest, everything seemed to be alright. Glinda and Elphaba worked hours on end to try and find a way back for Tannen, but it seemed as if he almost didn’t want to go home. He was really loving Oz. How could he not? Besides evil shapeshifters, Oz was a safe place. Even the Wicked witches ended up being good.
Weeks passed, and I got to know Tannen even better. One day, I showed him the Emerald City’s candy store. That didn’t go so well. We both ate way too much candy for our own good.
Everything was fine. For once, there was peace in the Emerald City.
I was eating dinner when suddenly there was a loud bang. I couldn’t tell where it came from, but it startled everyone at the table. Elphaba, who was holding a platter with food on it, nearly dropped the platter to the floor. Glinda was holding a glass filled with wine, and it dropped from her hands, spilling all over the table.
“What the hell was that?” Tannen said, surprised. That’s when Glinda got up from her meal, not bothering to clean up her spilled wine, and Elphaba put down the platter. The two headed out of the dining room.
“Should we join them?” Tannen asked. I shrugged. So we both followed Glinda and Elphaba, until they found what they were searching for. A body.
Avaric, in a pool of blood. He had a wound, but I didn’t dare look. I didn’t want to see my father’s corpse. No. It couldn’t be true. I refused to believe that it was true.
“He’s dead,” sighed Elphaba, “a gunshot.” I averted my eyes away from Elphaba and the body. It was too difficult to look at. I felt tears forming. Even though I didn’t know him that well, he was still my dad.
Glinda hugged me the tightest I’ve ever been hugged. We both cried, even though she cried much longer than I. Elphaba and the other servants dragged the body away, but Glinda was sure to pipe up.
“Elphie- I mean, Lola, don’t have them dispose of him completely. Have him cremated. We’re going to hold a funeral,” Glinda said through her tears. Elphaba nodded.
“As you wish,” Elphaba replied on her way out. Glinda closed her eyes.
“Tannen, Elile, go back to dinner. I need… some alone time,” Glinda said sadly, before leaving. Tannen looked at me, seemingly having a loss for words.
“Let’s go back to dinner,” I said softly.
“Ok,” Tannen said, clearly disturbed by the image he'd seen. So the two of us hurried back to the dining room and served ourselves, something I hadn't done in quite some time. He tried his best to cheer me up, but wasn't so successful. After dinner, I went straight to my room and read a bit of Les Miserables to get my mind off Avaric's death. Turns out, a book about revolution where everyone dies is not at all uplifting.
So I gazed at the ceiling, thinking. I put the book down, and just laid on my bed. What had become of peaceful Oz? We’d had a break from chaos and it ended so quickly. Too quick for my liking.
I tried my best to get my mind off the death. But depressing song lyrics floated into my head, and I couldn’t help but tear up. Everything was so much more… real now.
A knocking surprised me. “Your mother would like to speak with you, in the garden,” a guard said, from outside my room. I sighed, and got off of the bed. I didn’t really want to speak to her. I just wanted peace and quiet. But maybe I could help her… I had to remind myself that she hurt more than I.
So I pushed open my door, and walked down the hallway, a bit nervously. I didn’t know why, I just had a sick to my stomach feeling. Like our conversation was going to be bad. I opened the glass door, and joined Glinda at the tea table. She was looking down at her hands.
“He’s happier now,” she spoke softly, “he’s under Lurline’s protection.” I sighed. I’d come to hate death. I hadn’t gone through many before this, just a few friends who’d died of an illness. But this was different. This was a murder.
“He was murdered. How could you be happy in the afterlife knowing you died because someone hated you so much they wanted to kill you?”
Glinda was silent. I’d had a good point.
“They’re investigating as we speak, I promise,” she replied. A tear started to crawl down her face, but she wiped it away.
“Drink with me, to days gone by. Sing to me, the songs we knew,” I sang alone, seeming as it was a fitting moment. Glinda smiled.
“You’re so much like him, you don’t even know,” she softly said. I couldn’t help but crack a smile.
“At least I have you and Elphie,” I replied.
“And me,” I turned to see Fiyero standing by the door. I ran to him, a large smile on my face, and hugged him. Glinda was confused.
“Fi… Fiyero? Is that really you?”
“Yeah it is, and I’ve come to apologize. For everything,” he said, still hugging me. I couldn’t let go. Fiyero was one of my favorite people, it’d been forever since I’d last seen him. Elphaba soon came out, and the four of us all joined in a group hug. No matter what, the four of us were family. And family sticks together.
That's it! I hope you enjoyed.
