A/N: Yay, it's another story! Thanks to elphabathedelirious32 for coming up with the title for me. Lots of dialogue from the musical in the first parts (don't sue me!), but it gets less plotsy later, so don't worry. It might be littered with descriptions and explanations and stuff, but I couldn't help it, there's too much to describe in the first chapter and if I ignore it, it explodes. Also there are little quotes from the novel to pose as a miniature treasure hunt.
Disclaimer: Not in my wildest delusions.
The carriage ride was cold and uncomfortable, and Elphaba was glad when she finally arrived. She had requested a separate carriage from Nessa and her father, who had immediately obliged. He seemed glad to be rid of her, if only for the time being. She was too full of anticipation to listen to his lectures anyway, but Nessarose had hung on to his every word. It was chilly outside, and Elphaba drew her cloak tighter around her, fixing her eyes on the sight before her.
Shiz University, regal and mighty, loomed over the green girl like a shadowy beast. At first glance, it looked quite theatrical and staged, like something out of a play. But, aside from the blatant grandeur of it, Elphaba decided she liked the imposing look. It would be wonderful, she was sure, despite the inevitable presence of the other students. Deciding Nessa and her father were perfectly capable of finding their way, she strode toward the building. She doubted she would be missed.
Inside, it was as grand as the exterior, if not more. Intricate tapestries and ancient oil lamps littered the entrance hall; vines snaked patterns on the walls. A gaggle of students gathered in the Main Hall, chattering animatedly. Others, just arriving, drifted in from the entrance hall, shooting hateful glances at Elphaba, which she quickly returned. Irritated, she took a seat on the far side of the room, away from the gabfest, which she already seemed to be the topic of. She realized she was seated near one of the lamps, making her face even brighter, the colour of chrysoprase; her hat and frock were now a bright cyan. She looked like some sort of odd fluorescent flower. This only made the students snicker more. Why did she have to be so damn colourful? She tried to pay no attention to the buzzing idiots, but was overwhelmed by the numerous sarcastic comments forming in her head. Shooting up from her seat, and looking more like a flower than ever, she strode toward the crowd, sending several of the smaller students--Munchkinlanders, no doubt--scuttling to the other side of the room.
"What? What are you all staring at?" Elphaba said, raising her voice slightly. "Oh, let's just get this over with. No, I'm not seasick; yes, I've always been green; no, I didn't eat grass as a child; no, this isn't a costume for the Spring Festival . . ." She was listing the answers to the numerous idiotic questions she had been asked before, when she was interrupted by a considerably shorter girl stepping forward.
"Well, looking like that, you don't need a costume." The girl said, snarkily. "Although you look more like a weed than a flower." Her remark sent another cruel snicker echoing through the crowd. The girl had a short bob of curly, flaxen hair, and was dressed in a truly ridiculous outfit, no doubt the latest fashion in the Emerald City. She had a useless abundance of suitcases with her, and was flanked by couple of girls who nodded and smirked at everything she said, obviously incapable of forming their own opinions.
Elphaba seethed. She hated girls like this. Girls who thought their money would buy them a place in Oz, who cared more about clothes than anything else, who had everyone hanging on to their every word, no matter how idiotic. Girls who would grow up to be society dames, who had bubbles instead of brain cells. At first sight, Elphaba detested the girl, whoever she was. Pent-up anger and annoyance rose inside her.
"You look like you belong in the frosting section of a bakery, not in a university!" Elphaba said, eyes flashing dangerously. A thought fluttered through her brain briefly: Not a good start. But she ignored it and continued, on a roll. "Why don't you go shopping and buy yourself some brains, as you desperately need--" She interrupted herself when she saw her father wheeling in Nessa. Deciding she didn't care, as her father disapproved of her very existence anyway, she wanted to continue, but in her fury she had forgotten what she had been saying. Oh, well, she could make up for that. "And this is my sister, Nessarose," she said, pointing a long green finger toward the invalid, "as you can see she's a perfectly normal colour. The definition of perfection, we call her--"
"Elphaba!" Her father looked irritated, and stern. Elphaba left the crowd and ambled over to where he was tending to Nessa, making sure she looked perfect. As if she isn't already, Elphaba thought bitterly, then caught herself, and refused to wallow in self-pity. She glared at the floor. "Stop making a spectacle of yourself! I don't want any of this nonsense during your time here, understand?" It wasn't a question, it was a command; the minister's daughter nodded her head as meekly as her dignity would allow her. "Remember, I'm only sending you here to take care of your sister." He turned away from Elphaba, coldly, and focused his attention on his other daughter. The one he would readily admit was his. Lurline knew how relieved he was to be rid of the green one. It was enough that she had ruined her family so, wrenched his love away from him; she also resembled Melena, even slightly, but enough to make him feel even more scornful of her. Frexspar looked at Nessarose, smiling up at him, the picture of a perfect daughter.
"My precious little girl, a parting gift." The minister reached into his satchel and pulled out a beautifully wrapped box, a gift box with intricate detailing. He handed it to Nessarose, who opened it eagerly without any humble protests; she was too excited. The box fell open, and she gasped; the sight that met her eyes was blinding with its beauty. They seemed to contain the colors of the rainbows after rain, the brilliance of the sun, the mystery of moonlight. All the colors she had ever known were glittering back at her.
"Jewelled shoes! Oh, thank you, Father!" Nessarose exclaimed. She heard the crowd of students murmur slightly, those restless gossips, and felt a glow of pride. Finally, she would be the envied one!
"Only the best for my Nessarose, the future governor of Munchkinland." Frex fixed them onto her feet, where they glittered majestically. With the help of new shoes, instead of the old house slippers, she looked as regal as any queen. Something twisted in Elphaba's features, and cold indifference was replaced by longing. In a blink, it was gone. She didn't dare ask if there was anything for her; she knew the answer, anyway, and would only face more humiliation. By now a familiar feeling.
"Goodbye, my dear Nessa." Frex was leaving. The green girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Elphaba. Take care of your sister, and..." What sort of parting words did one say to a daughter you hardly knew? "...Don't talk so much." He nodded at her briefly, and strode away in a whirl of robes.
"Oh, Elphaba . . ." Nessarose looked uncomfortable, and guilty; yet the glow of fresh excitement was still there. Elphaba suppressed a sigh, and brushed off her sister with a sarcastic remark.
"Well, what could he have gotten for me? I clash with everything." Elphaba said. She sat down beside her suitcase and fiddled with the straps. In a few minutes or so, a tall woman, huge as a barge, swept into the room in a suffocating cloud of powder and perfume.
"Welcome, new students!" She said, her booming voice echoing around the hall. The chatter had ceased and all eyes were on her; an arrangement she seemed to enjoy. "I am Madame Morrible, the Headmistress here at Shiz University. We have many subjects here, including sorcery, a favourite of mine; whichever you are here to study, we have the highest hopes for some of you. Now, regarding room assignments . . ." At these words, both Elphaba and the same glittery blonde girl from before raised their hands. Unfortunately for Elphaba, the Head noticed the other first. "Yes, is this regarding room assignments?" The blonde then addressed the Head, putting on an expression of innocence.
"Oh, thank you for asking, Madame, but I've already been assigned a private suite." A groan from the crowd, and muttering. The blonde panicked momentarily, but was quick to smooth over the situation. "But you can all come visit whenever you like!" The sparkly society girls she had with her praised her goodness, while she muttered false protests. Morrible looked irritated rather than intrigued.
"Do you have a question?" The Head said, evidently trying to keep her temper. The blonde turned back to the headmistress, fighting the urge to respond to the numerous followers fawning over her excellence. She never could reject a compliment, not sincerely; it was even harder to ignore them.
"Yes, Madame Morrible, you see, I am Galinda Upland. Of the Upper Uplands." She had an irritating bubbly voice that made Elphaba's ears hurt, and a talent for emphasizing any pronouns related to herself. "I sent in my application for your Sorcery seminar with my essay: "Magic Wands: Need They Have A Point?". Perhaps you recall?" But Madame Morrible didn't seem to recall, or perhaps she didn't want to. Her obvious wish at the moment was to be rid of the ridiculous, chattering blonde.
"Yes . . ." The Head waved at Galinda dismissively, mumbling something incoherent. "Well, I do not teach my seminar every semester, unless someone special were to come along." Galinda opened her glossed mouth to say something, but Morrible had already drawn her attention to Elphaba.
"Madame, we have not received our room assignments," Elphaba said, looking up at the Head; she was an imposing woman, and her fluorescent clothing only made her the more striking. Elphaba's eyes were beginning to hurt from the multitude of fluorescent hues. Shiz as a whole was a shock to her senses.
"Yes, of course!" Madame Morrible said with a flourish, waving her tree trunk arms at Nessarose, who flinched. "You must be, let's see. . . oh yes, the Governor's daughter, Miss Nessarose! What a beautiful girl you are." She turned her attention to Elphaba, and jumped at the sight of the green girl, who struggled not to roll her eyes at her Headmistress. It was as though she had not seen her just a moment ago. "And you are?"
"I'm the other daughter, Elphaba."
"Yes, well, I'm sure you're very bright." Said the Head; Elphaba heard Galinda stage-whisper something to the crowd of students, but didn't care to listen to the ramblings of ninnies such as those. She knew it was about her, anyway, and she was too used to hearing low comments on her skin colour, so she tuned the Headmistress back in, who had been saying something-or-other in her dramatic tones. ". . . don't you worry, we'll find some place to put you. Now, which of you lovely young ladies would so very graciously volunteer to share a room with Miss Elphaba Thropp?" She said, at the same time as the blonde Galinda girl had turned around, ready to address her with another query. Mistaking Galinda's raised hand for a reply to her own question, Morrible gushed on about the blonde's goodness, and eventually announced, "Miss Elphaba, you may share with Miss Galinda."
"Oh, but Madame, you see, I've always looked after my sister, and my father said . . . " Elphaba began to protest, but the Head interrupted her.
"Yes, the Governor has expressed his concerns for your sister's well being. So, I thought it best she share my own private suite so I may assist her as needed."
"But Madame--" Elphaba tried to protest, but everything was flitting by her. No one was paying any attention to her. She might as well have been incapable of speech.
"Everyone, off to your dormitories!" Morrible boomed at the gaggle of students, wheeling away Nessarose, who looked apprehensive. Elphaba felt herself lose grasp of the situation, with everyone wheeling and skipping away to their rooms. She had always cared for Nessarose as a young child, with her father running off to do his political duties and such. The frustration went deeper than that, though; Elphaba had never let herself be manipulated if she could help it. She would not let this happen.
"Let her go!" Elphaba yelled, forgetting that she could get into a considerable amount of trouble for shouting at the Headmistress. She felt the surge of an amalgam of rage and fear, of electricity, or magic, rushing through her veins, felt the air crackle around her, felt her hands grow numb and prickly, and as both Morrible and the crowd of students watched her, transfixed, Nessarose's chair wheeled itself into her outstretched hands, its occupant shrieking helplessly. She grasped it, but to steady herself or to claim her prize she did not know. She eventually floated back to reality, the murmured rumours and Nessarose's dismay at what she had done hitting her in unison.
"Elphaba, you promised me this would be different..." Nessa said. Elphaba sighed hopelessly, sadly accepting the fact that something else had gone wrong. She looked at the Head, expecting a lecture at the very least. But the woman looked thrilled. Perhaps she was just crazy.
"Y-you mean, this...this has happened before?" Morrible stuttered excitedly. Elphaba muttered an apology, to her sister and the Head, who looked scandalized. "What! Never apologize for talent! It is a gift, and gifts are meant to be cherished! My dear girl, have you ever considered a career in sorcery?"
"Sorcery?" Elphaba echoed, dumbfounded. She had expected disapproval, but for once in her life she had gotten praise, in possibly the oddest circumstances. Morrible ignored her and steamrollered on.
"I shall tutor you myself, and take no other students!" She exclaimed theatrically, ignoring Galinda's desperate protests. "Now, off to your--" The dismissal to the students' respective dormitories was once again interrupted. A girl with dark blond locks, one of Galinda's posse, spoke up.
"Madame Morrible, I have not yet received my room assignment." The girl said, in high-pitched tones that mirrored Galinda's. "I am Miss Milla, of Upper Gillikin." Morrible peered at her list.
"Miss Milla, of course, how could I forget you," she said, rushing on. "You will be rooming with Miss Cathareen of the Eastern Uplands." But no girl stepped forward to claim her position. Morrible repeated, annoyance thick in her voice, "Miss Cathareen?" Silence echoed through the hall. "Very well, if Miss Cathareen finds it so difficult to be punctual, I must--" Morrible was once again interrupted, this time by a girl bursting into the room in a whirl of purple skirts. She scurried up to the Head.
"I'm Cathareen, hello!" The girl said breathlessly, offering a charming smile as apology for her lack of articulacy and social grace.
"Yes, Miss Cathareen, might I remind you that we encouragerate punctuality here at Shiz University." Madame Morrible smiled with a sticky sweetness; the statement sounded more like a threat than an encouragement. The girl nodded respectfully; Morrible went on. "As I was saying, you will be rooming with Miss Milla, of Upper Gillikin. Off to your dormitories everyone!" The chatter began again, roommates engaging in banter. But not Elphaba and her cupcake of a roomie; the blonde stepped daintily toward the second floor, while Elphaba trudged along behind her. She was caught on the arm, however, by the Head. Elphaba shuddered involuntarily; the touch sent chills down her spine. Whether Morrible noticed or not, she said nothing, and addressed the girl.
"My dear, I almost forgot, I'll be sending word to the Wizard about your special talents." She said, beaming. "I'm sure he'll find a suitable job for someone like you!" Elphaba was shocked. The--the Wizard? Job!? This was too good to be true. She thanked the Headmistress excitedly and almost skipped to her room, her feet treading lighter than usual.