I don't even know, guys. I was reading a primary source for my history class and thought, "Elphaba. Glinda. BAMF vigilantes." So I bring you this.
Disclaimer: I own a pair of rain boots.
Glinda weaved in and out of the crowd with all the grace of a butterfly. She fit in so well among the guests that no one would have ever guessed she had ulterior motives for the wine and dine. She smiled demurely as a man with a large gut bowed to the best of his abilities and then kissed her pro-offered left gloved hand. It was impossible, but I swear I could hear her giggle over the deafening noise of the gala. Every path she took, she left a trail of head turns and whispers behind hands. No one knew her name, but everyone wanted to get to know her. She had that effect on people. She made the strongest man weak and the coldest woman warm. It was nearly unthinkable to associate Glinda with the presence of wicked. She laughed her twinkle laugh when people brought up the topic of evil. All she had to do was say that no such thing existed, and those around her would fool themselves into thinking this little blonde with the bouncy curls was right about everything.
I never took my arrow off of her, ready to release it without a second thought.
She left a few more people fumbling for words and made her way a little closer to the haughty man at the head of the large banquet room. Throwing a quick glance around, I moved carefully over the rafters, keeping the arrow on Glinda at all times. A woman who looked remarkably similar to a fish stopped the blonde with a firm grasp on her elbow. I readied my aim, but a toss of her hair put my attention back on the blonde. The woman talked for a while. Long enough for the clock, somewhere in the room, to chime eleven times. It'd been two hours, and we were behind schedule. We were never behind. Well, we were hardly ever behind. Normally, we were in and out. I should have known galas were dangerous. I couldn't barely trust Glinda to walk in and out of a shoe store on a tight schedule, coming to something this stuffed with frills and thrills was a long shot. I seriously contemplated shooting an arrow right into the layers of fabric that covered the blonde's butt, but I reminded myself that would lead us nowhere.
Finally, the two parted. I perked up when the fishy lady beckoned Glinda to follow her. When her companion's back was turned, Glinda glanced up at me and adjusted the necklace she was wearing; and I was on the move again. I put the arrow away and clutched the bow tightly as I resorted to simply watching over the blonde without the added protection. The woman brought Glinda to the man at the head of the room. His mouth slackened at the sight of Glinda, and he kissed her cheeks like she was some saint sent to him from one of Oz's many deities. I rolled my eyes and waited for Glinda to give me some signal before moving on.
The second she casually fit in an unmistakable trace of the shell of her ear, I was walking to the far wall. Just like we planned. A movement out of the corner of my eye stopped me in my tracks. I had my bow and arrow back up and ready within a moment, pointing in the direction where I had seen the flash of silver. Keeping my aim on the shadows and steps slow and careful, I continued moving towards the window that was waiting for me. I didn't attempt to go through it until no movement or sign of life was made or seen. It could have been the candle light down below reflecting off of something one of the guest's had on. It had happened many times before. Tricks of the light. Or I could have been so tired that my mind was fooling me. Either way, I made sure to wait another minute or so before slinking out onto the roof.
There was an eerie feeling to the night. Then again, there always seemed to be an eerie feeling whenever we were out. I stared down at the black river that the building was banked on. The owner of the house across the way drowned in it. He had been trying to kill his wife and child and set fire to the house. He was an idiot, though. Locked himself inside with the flames and victims. He made to jump out the window into the water below, but his robes got caught on something (the story changes every time). His daughter tried to shoot him in the head, but she got his throat for her hands were shaking so bad. The pain jerked through him and the movements released him from whatever had been holding onto him. He tumbled into the water and drowned in his blood and the unforgiving water. The mother was never the same. The daughter won't touch a gun.
But she's quite handy with chloroform.
I shimmied into the empty room and waited out of sight.
It didn't take long before Glinda's effortless laugh broke through the silence.
"You're very pretty." Followed her glee and cut it off.
"You're too kind." Glinda answered.
A lit candle put their shadows above me. I rolled my eyes at the position they were locked in.
"You're so tense, Master." Her voice was low and husky, which was quite impressive for her.
"It comes with the job." He moaned as Glinda's figure began to massage his shoulders.
Glinda hummed a note that could have been mistaken as a sigh of content. It wasn't. We done this so many times that it seemed second nature now. Before he could even register what was happening, I made my appearance known. He jerked away from Glinda at the movement I made. From behind him, she clamped her right hand over his mouth just before I released the arrow with his name on it. The arrow pinned his hand to his trapezius, and the chloroform on Glinda's glove caught the scream in his throat. He went down on the bed without a sound, and Glinda wrapped her glove up before washing her hands thoroughly.
"Boq won't be happy with how late we are." I told Glinda as she reemerged from cleaning up. I finished pressing a pink hand print to the left side of his face to match the green one on his right.
"Biq will be happy with what he gets." Glinda said firmly.
"It's Boq."
She waved her hand dismissively, "That's what I meant." She sighed with a frown at the man propped on the bed. "Let's get out of here. He gives me the creeps even when he's harmless."
We took the servants route out of the building. No one was ever in those when there was an event. All the servants were tending to the masses, and if anyone was fooling around, they were doing it on the employer's bed. Or somewhere where they could unsanitize what was supposed to be sanitary. Like the dining room table. At the exit, Glinda ditched the dress she had lifted off of whatever poor woman she was able to trick and slipped into the tunic and tights she usually wore after a job. I waited for her to get her cloak on before leading her out of the building. There were very few weapons she was good with and even fewer ones she allowed herself to touch. She was determined to learn sorcery instead, but so far all we had was magic books stacked in different corners but no magic even hiding in them.
So we walked side by side, on constant alert, because if someone were to try and attack us, I was the only one who could defend us. Until Glinda's magical abilities kicked in...
It couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes of something more than leisure walking before a series of whistles tied into a melody. Glinda slowed to a stop, glancing about. I waited a second before a final low whistle followed it.
"Orphans." I said into the night.
"Filthy stinkin' rich." Came an answer.
Glinda giggled, and I rolled my eyes as a man with long brown hair and a scruffy beard emerged from an alley.
"Looking a little scrappy there, Tenmeadows." I watched as Glinda threw her arms around his waist in a long hug.
"Looking a little green there, Grasshopper." He replied, kissing the top of Glinda's head before tearing himself away and pulling her over to me. "Didn't expect to see you two out tonight. It's supposed to rain." He explained.
"We don't melt." I sneered.
"Sugar melts and evil fades." He shrugged, earning another giggle from the blonde.
I shook my head and continued walking. I had no time for his frivolities. Let him indulge Glinda. He followed with Glinda clinging onto his hand like it was her last lifeline. I suppose, in some odd way, he was her last hope for a normal life one day. You didn't meet much honest people doing what we do. And no matter how sneaky and shady he seemed to be, Avaric was an honest man. Unfortunately, he showed as much interest in her as she showed in Boq. It was a funny little circle. Well, tragically funny.
"What are you doing here?" I asked when it was clear he would be with us for the night.
"I'll be more inclined to talk with a cup off coffee in my hands."
I shot him a look, but he just grinned back at me.
As I suspected, Boq was a bouncing mess of nerves when we finally walked over the threshold to the abandoned Corn Exchange. He let out a noise that was somewhere between a groan and a sigh of relief. For such a small person, he had such a wide range of emotions. And they came and went quickly. He rivaled Glinda's emotional stability most days. Tonight, his relief and agitation faded into a cool demeanor. He never cared for Avaric. Actually, he never cared for anyone Glinda took an attraction to. Avaric just happened to embody all the attributes that Glinda so loved: Rich, handsome, charming, and tall. I think it may have been the height that put Boq on edge. I gave him a sympathetic smile when he caught my gaze. He just shook his head and silently took the files Glinda blindly offered him.
"Do we have any coffee, Biq?" Glinda asked, fussing to make Avaric comfortable.
"I'll get it," I told them both. "Boq needs to run those files to the church. I'll have a cup waiting for you when you get back."
"I can wait another hour or so." Boq muttered with a sly look in Avaric's attention. It wasn't so sly, because a smirk pulled at Avaric's mouth. "To what do we owe your company, Avaric?" Boq acquiesced to a civil tone. "Don't tell me you murdered someone." There was a pleading edge to his last comment.
"Can't I visit my favorite trio?"
Boq and I squared him with a look.
"Calm yourselves," Avaric snickered. "I just need a place to rest my head until tomorrow evening, then I'll be on my way."
"Where are you headed?" Glinda looked at him as she ran a comb through her curls.
"The Vinkus."
We all frowned at him. Even Glinda.
"What's in the Vinkus?" I set a cup of coffee in front of him.
"Civil war."
"Oh?"
"The upcoming chieftain of the Arjiki is getting a little too big for his britches already." Avaric said after taking a sip of his coffee. "The other Winkies aren't too happy with some changes he's started making, so they're thinking it's time for a regime change. So I was approached and paid half up front for my services." His smirk deepened. "Elphaba, you know how I love to help the minorities."
"Avaric," Glinda took a few paces away from him, and Boq noticeable relaxed. "That's not a job, that's an assassination."
"Don't tell me you two haven't offed a fiend or two in your time." He turned a dark glare on Glinda, "Especially you."
"We kill when we have to, we don't go looking for a murder." She snapped.
"Avaric, just think about what you're doing." I added. "You're not taking out a criminal, you're murdering the crowned prince."
"You're awfully quiet about this, Munchkin." Avaric shot at Boq.
"I, well..." He looked about at the three of us. "He's been on the watch list for some time." Boq mumbled, causing Avaric to laugh boastfully. Glinda stared at Boq like he'd just torched her favorite clothes. "Glinda," He tried to reason. "The man is just plain awful. His file is a blood bath. Humans and Animals alike." He added with a look in my direction.
"I want to see it," The blonde demanded.
Avaric and Boq shared a hesitant expression.
"Glinda," I spoke blindly for them. "You don't even like thinking about a messy fight, reading a file that's compared to a blood bath hardly seems like something you'd be able to stomach."
Glinda considered me for a moment before turning to Boq, "The file please." She held her hand out expectantly. "And I'd like the job file, too. If you're drinking our coffee and dirtying our couch, the least you can do is let me read the file." And since no one can deny the blonde, they handed over the files like she was asking for a pencil. "Boq, I suggest you run the files we got tonight to the church. Avaric, you sleep. Elphaba and I will be in the loft if you need us."
We stayed up all night reading and memorizing the files. Even if we wanted to sleep, the brutality of the Vinkun prince would have haunted every minute of slumber. So we kept ourselves up through the night, and by the time the sun was peeking over the horizon, Glinda had decided we were going to help Avaric kill the crowned prince.
So? Thoughts? Should I keep going?
If I have any thread of your interest, you should leave a quick review:)