I labeled this AU, but it could potentially be set before Shiz in musicalverse. Please tell me what you think.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Prologue
Nessa sat in front of the window, looking out over the lawn of the Governor's Mansion. Elphaba approached her, her green hand placed gently on her little sister's shoulder. Nessa drew in a deep breath.
"I'm scared, Elphaba."
"I know," Elphaba replied, drawing an equally deep breath. "So am I."
"They've been in there for three whole days. From what I can gather from eavesdropping, Father and the Governor of Gilikin are ready for battle and the Governors of Quadling Country and the Vinkus are merely choosing a side."
Elphaba pulled a chair up next to her sister. They sat in silence, only interrupted by occasional bangs and shouts from their father's office only doors away from them.
As they watched, Elphaba noticed something over the crest of the hill opposite them. The mansion lay in a valley, a hill rising in the front, and forest spreading behind. The speck over the hill was dark against the setting sun behind it. And it got larger.
Elphaba squinted, one hand raised to shield her eyes from the sun. The speck was clearly a person, squatting just over the top of the hill.
"Do you see that?" Elphaba asked quietly.
But Nessa didn't have time to answer, as the figure on the hill had just pulled out a gun.
"NO!"
When Frex and the other Heads of State entered the room, the scene was unimaginable.
The front window was shattered. A massive cloud of dust had flown up from the now shredded curtains. Nessa's chair was flung sideways against the wall, and the girl herself was huddled against an opposite wall. Most of her figure was blocked however by Elphaba, who had clearly tackled Nessa out of her chair, using her own body to protect Nessa from the attempted assassination.
"Elphaba Ameya Thropp! What the devil is going on here?!"
But Elphaba was already on her feet. One long, green index finger was pointing to the hill, where the figure had now disappeared into the deepening black.
She outlined the path of the bullet from the hill to where Nessa's chair had been to the wall behind her. She took a few steps forward, and there, clear as day in front of them all, was a bullet hole in the wall. The height of where Nessa's heart would have been.
Elphaba then turned to the Governor of Giliken, a portly older man with a white mustache. Sweat had beaded on his forehead. There was fear in his eyes as he made eye contact with Elphaba, whose face was filled with rage and murder.
"Thought you'd get a head start on the war? Compromise the Governor of Munchkinland emotionally by killing his daughter? By KILLING MY SISTER?!"
Frex and the Governor of Quadling Country had to restrain Elphaba so she would not attack the Gilikinese Governor. Nessa sat, still huddled against the wall, silently sobbing in the background.
The next sequence of events flashed by in a blur. Frex's guards let go of Elphaba, who fell backwards. They grabbed the Governor of Gilikin. But the Governor of Gilikin's guards stepped in and wrestled the Munchkinland guards to the ground, while another scooted the Gilikinese Governor to a waiting carriage. It then sped off.
When the scene slowed to real time, Frex was standing in the middle of the room. Two guards were unconscious at his feet. Elphaba was holding Nessa tightly, tears sliding down her cheeks as Nessa sobbed freely in her arms.
Without much thought in what he was doing, he knelt down beside both of them and wrapped his arms around them. Even Elphaba.
The sound of footsteps thundered down the hall. Four guards skidded to a stop in front of the doorway. They saluted, and one stepped forward. He said nothing, but just awaited orders.
Frex took a deep breath, gave the girls one last squeeze and turned to face the guards.
His face was deadpan. A new vehemence showed in his eyes.
"Lieutenant Killsara, contact the rest of the guards and send a message to the general of the Munchkinland Army. Tell them to arms themselves to prepare for battle. We are at war."