(AN: Welcome, fellow Ozians, to a new fan-fic about Wicked. In keeping with my established statements, this is musical-verse. It is also something of an experiment, both in genre-wise and in pairing. It is Gelphie, my first honest-to-Oz Gelphie fic that is 100% Wicked.)
(You may notice lines that are similar, almost verbatim from "On My Own" from A Musician's Fan-Fiction. My explanation is that I enjoyed writing that explication of the Throne Room/Attic scene so much that I borrowed from my own work, I hope you can forgive me. Furthermore, the POV will shift occasionally, but Glinda is the main character [the Dutch seem to think so, as shown by their promo-posters. After all, she 'outlives' her friends, overthrows the Wizard and Madam Morrible and has 'the torch' of Elphaba's duty passed down to her, so to speak. So yeah, placing Fraulein Janzen in front of the other two actors is allowable...though not preferable]).
(Okay, now enjoy this little prologue)
What Glinda Saw
The little old man who appeared from out of the rear of the Great Head could not have been taller than she was. How old he might have been was anyone's guess - between fifty and sixty-six. He looked well enough, it seemed, for he moved briskly enough: therefore he was not that old.
"Oh, I hope I didn't startle you!" he called out, removing a pair of goggles from over his eyes. "It's so hard to make out peoples' faces when I'm back there." He seemed happy enough.
But why was Glinda so shocked, especially after the fearful presence of the Great Head?
The old man - was he really the Wizard? - removed the gloves that were on his hands, and placed a pair of clear spectacles over his eyes. He looked like he could have been a professor at Shiz.
"Now, let's see," he said, scrutinizing the two young women. "Which is which?" His laugh broke the silence that filled the Throne Room. "Ah, you must be Elphaba!" He pointed to the tall, thin green woman at Glinda's side. Elphaba was practically beaming. Glinda knew how much this meant for her.
"A pleasure, a genuine pleasure!" the old man greeted warmly, wrapping his old, wrinkled hands around Elphaba's thin, clever green ones. Glinda could almost feel the electricity that was generated from where Elphaba stood.
"And you are?" he asked her, as if she was an after-thought. But that didn't matter much, as long as the Wizard noticed her. That was all she wanted.
"Glinda Upland," she said, curtsying before the Wizard while she held his hand. "The 'ga' is silent."
But he wasn't paying attention to her. He was now looking at Elphaba, who was marvelling at the Great Head.
"A bit much, isn't it?" The Wizard asked her. "I know, I know! It is, it really is. But people expect this kind of thing from a guy like me, and you have to give people what they want. Truth be told, you two are the first people to visit me in a long while: I don't let many people see me very often."
"I'm so honored, Your Ozness!" Elphaba said. She was practically beaming. "I can't tell you how happy I am to be here."
"Well, that's good!" he exclaimed. "Because that's what I love to do: making people happy." From somewhere in the darkness beyond the lights, the sounds of an orchestra filled their ears. The Wizard then began to sing something of a little song that, they expected, he had arranged for their arrival.
I am a sentimental man
Who always longed to be a father
That's why I do the best I can
To treat each citizen of Oz as son - or daughter
The Wizard then walked over to Elphaba and took her by the hand, leading her up before the giant head, singing directly to her.
And Elphaba, I'd like to raise you high
'Cuz I think everyone deserves the chance to fly
And helping you with your ascent
Allows me to feel so parental
For I am a sentimental man
Glinda had never seen Elphaba happier in her entire life.
"Was that too much?" the Wizard queried. "It's true, I-I can't help it. I'm a real sucker for helping people. I guess that's why I'm so wonderful, to them at least."
"Oh, Your Ozness!" Elphaba practically gushed. "I'm so glad to hear you say such things. You see, I..." Elphaba waved Glinda over, who eagerly joined her hand in hand, beaming at the Wizard. "We are not just here for ourselves."
"We're not?" She gasped.
"No!" Elphaba whispered to her, then turned back to the Wizard. "We're here to tell you that something bad is happening to the Animals in..."
"Please!" the Wizard held out his hands. "Say no more, say no more! I'm the Wonderful Wizard of Oz! I already know why you've come here!"
The two girls 'ooh'd' at this statement.
"And I have every intention of granting your request," the Wizard continued. "But, uh, of course, you must prove yourself."
"Oh! Certainly, certainly!" Glinda nodded. Were they prepared for magic? Oz knows she wasn't. She turned to Elphaba. "Go on, show yourself!" She practically pushed her toward the Wizard while she took a step back.
"But, how?" Elphaba asked, turned towards the Wizard. Now she was surely afraid of letting him down. Who wouldn't be fearful of letting down the most powerful man in Oz?
In answer to Elphaba's question, the Wizard turned around and called for "The book!" To their surprise and, somewhat, alarm, the sight of the giant fish-faced Head Shiz-tress floated into the room, bedecked in green robes and just as cod-like as they had remembered her. In her arms was a large book, with a weather-beaten hard cover of leather.
"I believe you all know Madam Morrible," the Wizard stated. "Head Mistress of your school and, uh, my new Press Secretary."
"'Press Secretary?'" Elphaba repeated with awe.
"Yes," Madam Morrible said proudly, maybe even a little smugly. "Yes, dearies, I've risen up in the world!" She pointed up dramatically with one of her bejeweled fingers. "If you stay here, you'll find that the Wizard is a very generous man: if you do little for him, he'll do much for you." She then turned to Elphaba. "Now, then, I took the liberty of informing His Ozness about your talents when I wrote to him, and he asked that you prove yourself when you came into his presence."
"But, how?" Elphaba asked.
The Wizard turned around and blew on a silver whistle. Immediately, a very odd-looking Monkey pranced out of the darkness. Glinda gasped, but Elphaba seemed immediately taken by this cute little thing. She 'aw'd' and scratched the scruff beneath the monkey's chin, and he chattered loudly. This done, he walked over before the Wizard and sat down.
"This is Chistery," the Wizard announced. "He's my monkey servant, one of the finest. But lately he's grown rather moody, watching the birds all day with longing. Naturally, I expected that he wanted to be with them..."
"And so," Madam Morrible said, presenting the book. "His Ozness suggested that you prove yourself by casting a simple...levitation spell."
They looked in awe at the book in Madam Morrible's hands.
"Is...is that what I think it is?" Glinda whispered.
"Yes, dearie!" Madam Morrible proudly annoucned. "The Grimmerie: the ancient book of thalmaturgy and enchantments."
"Can I touch it?" Glinda gasped, her tiny, manicured hand reaching out to touch the hard, well-worn leather.
"No!" Madam Morrible mockingly answered, pulling the book away from her reach and presenting it to Elphaba. Glinda seemed quite forgotten as Elphaba was pouring over the pages of the book. Glinda thought she saw a hint of violet and silver flashing up from the pages, but she dismissed that as silly. Books weren't made that way...
At least the books she had seen.
"Don't be discouraged," Madam Morrible assured Elphaba. "If you can't decipherate it right off. I've spent years studying that old book and can only read a spell or two."
Glinda wondered just how many years Madam Morrible meant. She always looked like a cod-fish in a powdered wig with heavy make-up, but it wasn't until just now that Glinda noticed just how old she really looked. A fearful thought fell upon Glinda's mind when she feared that, eventually, she would look that way also.
No! she wailed inside. Oz forbid! I'd rather die than look like a fish. Oh, if only there were a spell in that book that Elphaba was going over that could make her eternally young.
Just then, Glinda's thoughts were disturbed by the sound of Elphaba chanting, slowly at first, and haltingly, but increasing slowly and with more fervor.
Ahben Tahkay Ahben Tahkay Ahben Atum Ahben Takayah Entayah Ah Entayah Tifentah Ahben Tahkay!
"Yes!" the Wizard exclaimed. Now he was beaming! "Look at her go! Chistery!" He walked over to the monkey, who flinched slightly. "What an experience you're about to have!" The Wizard looked out and waved his hand, the orchestra striking up again.
Since once I saw my own name in the sky
I think everyone deserves the chance to...
But before he could finish, Chistery gave out a blood-curdling cry of agony. His little hands reached up at his back, pawing at his shoulder-blades as if to rid them of some evil that was causing him great pain.
"What's happening to him?" Elphaba gasped.
"No need to worry, dearie!" Madam Morrible said. "Just part of the transition!"
"Chistery, what's wrong?" Elphaba asked the writhing monkey, but all that he could do was screech. She then turned back to Madam Morrible. "What's wrong with him? Why can he speak?"
Before Madam Morrible could answer, a pair of blue, bat-like wings exploded from out of Chistery's back.
"Glorious!" the Wizard exclaimed.
"What an impressive wing-span!" Madam Morrible exclaimed.
"You did it, Elphie!" Galinda cheered on from where she stood with the others. "You really did it!"
Elphaba, however, was everything but jubilant. She was looking at Chistery, noticing that he was still pawing at the roots of the wings and making screeching noises.
"No!" she gasped. "He's in pain!" She turned back to the book in a hurry, skimming over the pages. "Quick! How can I reverse it?"
"You can't!" Madam Morrible exclaimed. "Spells can't be reversed once they're cast!" She then turned back to the Wizard. "I told you she had it in her! I told you!"
"Alright, alright!" the Wizard said. "I admit, you were right."
Elphaba halted, if only externally. Her heart was racing inside of her.
"You knew?" she asked. "You knew this would happen and you let me do it anyway?"
"But you'll benefit from this also, dearie." Madam Morrible said. The Wizard was slowly backing away, both hands behind his back. He gave a look at something behind the curtain that sat behind the Great Head and exclaimed joyously:
"And look! This is just the beginning!"
He pulled a lever and the curtain swung back, revealing a large cage filled with monkeys. They were all chattering, screaming out in pain, with wings sprouting from their backs. Glinda was shocked by how many they were, and took a step back to gaze in wonder at them. She heard, from behind, Elphaba gasping. Was she okay? She had seem something happen, that moment when she turned to the Wizard after reading the spell. Her face looked different...
Or maybe it was just Glinda's imagination getting the better of her.
"Why the long face?" the Wizard asked Elphaba. "If this is what you can accomplish on your first try," He pointed to the monkeys. "Well, then, the sky is the limit!"
"This is perfect, Your Ozness!" Madam Morrible exclaimed. "What fine spies they will make!"
"'Spies?'" Elphaba echoed.
"You're right!" the Wizard said, pointing to Elphaba. "That's a harsh word. How about 'scouts?' I mean, that's what they'll really be, after all. They'll just fly around Oz and report on any subversive...uh, Animal activity."
"What?" Elphaba gasped. "You-You mean...it's you? All those cages in Oz, Animals being forbidden to hold jobs of importance, shoved back into the fields, into slavery, into silence...it's all you?"
"Elphaba, please try to understand!" the Wizard said, walking over to her left-side. "When I first got here, there were all sorts of disorder and fear. Back where I come from, the best way to bring folks together is to give them a really good enemy."
Glinda could not imagine what was going on inside Elphaba's head. She knew how much Animals meant to Elphaba (more than Dr. Dillamond meant to Fiyero, apparently, since he didn't really care about her changing her name in honor of how the old Goat pronounced it), and to have the one she admired the most, the one she nigh revered, turn out to be her worst enemy, how could she bear not breaking down into tears on the spot?
But she didn't, she was breathing so fiercely, it sounded like she was seething.
"You have no real power, do you?" she breathed, pointing to the Wizard.
"You're absolutely right," he smiled. "That's why I need you. Don't you see, Elphaba? The world's your oyster now! You have so much potential!" Suddenly he cast his eyes toward her, towards rich, ambitious little Glinda. "You both do!"
"Oh, thank you, Your Ozness!" she smiled, walking over to his side. Elphaba could be upset if she wanted to be, but Glinda knew that she had a future of her own, her own dreams to make, and the Wizard could help those come true.
He held out his hand, and the orchestra struck up again. He then turned back to Glinda, his hand out-stretched and open. She accepted it without question or hesitation.
The two of you, in time, I'll raise you high
Yes! The time has come for you to have the chance to...
He held the note, turning to Elphaba, his hand outstretched, asking for her to do the same. Surely she would, surely Elphaba would make the smart decision. It would all be alright in the end, wouldn't it?
A burning desire came over Glinda to see Elphaba's face. All she saw now was her body, she was standing, erect maybe, with the heavy book in both of her hands, looking at the Wizard's hand. By reason, perhaps, of the lights in this room, her wide-brimmed hat - the one she, Glinda, had given her - obscured her face.
Glinda's heart was racing. What was taking Elphaba so long?
"NO!" Elphaba shouted. She took off like a shot, running somewhere, anywhere. A half-way open doorway - the one Madam Morrible had come out of - loomed fearfully at the corner of the room. Elphaba ran straight towards it.
"Elphaba!" Madam cod-face called out sternly.
"Elphie, wait!" Glinda cried out. Oh, why do I always have to find myself stuck in the middle of these things? She was shaking in her little jeweled heels. Responsibility was suddenly thrust upon her little shoulders.
What do I do?
"I'm sorry, Your Wizardness!" she turned, both hands out in an expression of abject apology. "I'll get her back." She then turned toward the door, screaming "Elphie!" as she ran after her as fast as her high-heels could carry her.
She ran through the doorway, finding three other halls that connected to this one. One went around the length of the building, while another went straight towards what looked like an old office. The other one arched upward, into a stair-case that went upward.
Up those stairs the sounds of boots pounding upon wooden steps could be loudly heard. There was no time to take her shoes off, or she might lose Elphaba. Glinda groaned in frustration, then set off to running up the stairs after Elphaba, no matter what.
Suddenly, below her, feet, a roar echoed from what Glinda could only imagine was the Throne Room.
"GUARDS! GUARDS! THERE IS A FUGITIVE AT LARGE IN THE PALACE! FIND HER, CAPTURE HER, BRING HER TO ME!"
She had to get her back before the Wizard's guards found her first.
Before they were both found.
"Elphie, stop!" she called out.
But Elphaba wasn't stopping. She pushed the door at the top of the stairs open with the surprising momentum of her thin body. Glinda, huffing and panting, walked in behind her and found herself in a dry, dusty room. A domed ceiling was just above her head, glowing faintly green. There were also no more doors, no more stairs: no way out.
"Elphie, listen to me..." she sighed. The sounds of boots coming from downstairs snapped Elphaba to attention.
"They're coming up the stairs!" she nervously mused to herself. "I have to barricade the door!"
"What?" Glinda exclaimed. "Elphie, wait!"
Elphaba was now up and about, looking around this Oz-forsaken attic, panting heavily. There was nothing that looked useful even in the slightest. The sound of boots pounding upon the wooden stair-steps were getting closer.
"Ah!" she exclaimed. Sitting by a box of ratty old clothing there was an old broom - the kind that had bristles of straw tied about a handle of real wood. This she grabbed and took over to the door, jamming it under the latch. It would not hold for long.
"Elphaba Thropp!" Glinda shouted, gasping for breath. "Why couldn't you have stayed calm for once, instead of flying off the handle?"
I hope you're happy!
I hope you're happy now
I hope you're happy how you've
Hurt your cause forever
I hope you think you're clever!
Elphaba turned on her, and Glinda almost jumped back, seeing the fierce, angry look in the green woman's brown eyes.
Well, I hope you're happy!
I hope you're happy, too
I hope you're proud how you
Would grovel in submission
To feed your own ambition!
So, though I can't imagine how
I hope you're happy...right...now
The two looked the other way, trying to pretend that they were angry at each other. Glinda was more frightened than mad. The guards would soon be at the door, and the broom would not hold them for long. Once they were in, it would not be long when they were brought back before the Wizard in chains. But even here, trapped in this Oz-forsaken attic, Glinda did not feel safe. She had seen Elphaba's face for a brief moment, and it shocked her how angry her friend was, so angry, so vehement, so fierce...
So unnatural.
Like when they spoke in unison. Were the situation any lighter, she would have been blushing with embarrassment. According to Gilikinese tradition, if a couple spoke in unison or finished each other's sentences, that meant that their minds already worked as one and therefore were meant for each other. But the only exception for that rule had been twins, whose minds usually were linked.
But she had just spoken in unison with Elphaba, another woman. How was that possible? It was not proper for a woman to take a liking to another woman, that was not the way things were done in high society Gilikin, and Glinda was definitely such. But tradition had spoken, she and Elphaba were meant for each other.
But why in Oz's name did her face look so sharp, so venomous, so...unnatural?
"Citizens of Oz!" the voice of cod-faced Madam Morrible called out, most likely magically enhanced. Her voice was menacing and threatening, filled with great malice. Glinda was covered in chills of fear.
"There is an enemy who must be found and captured!" the Wizard's press secretary shouted. "Believe nothing she says: she's evil! Responsible for the mutilation of those poor, innocent monkeys!"
"Oh no!" Glinda whined. Somehow, in the dark of that room, her hand found its way into Elphaba's. She thought that the angry green girl would throw it aside. Instead, it closed around her little pale hand in a tight, warm grip.
"Her green skin is but an outward manifestorium of her inward, twisted nature!" Madam Morrible continued, her voice rising with rage. "This...distortion! This...repulsion! This...WICKED WITCH!"
Glinda's ears were still ringing with the roar of Madam Morrible's denouncement. Her blood ran cold, and suddenly this attic seemed very strange and unwelcoming. The old floor-boards, creaking beneath their weight, seemed to be counting down the moments until this darkness would be lifted, until they would be prisoners. Hope seemed as distant to poor Glinda as her home in the Upper Uplands of Gilikin right now.
"Don't be afraid!" she whined, her hand squeezing the green fingers she held onto as if for her very life.
"I'm not," the green woman returned, with determination in her voice. "It's the Wizard who should be afraid...of me!"
"Elphie, listen to me!" Glinda reasoned, pawing at Elphaba's shoulder. "Just say you're sorry, before it's too late. You'll see..."
You can still be with the Wizard
What you've worked and waited for
You can have all you ever wanted
"I know," the green woman returned. "But I don't want it..."
"Elphie..."
"No!"
I can't want it - anymore
Glinda stood rooted, while Elphaba walked off by herself, speaking some words that she did not exactly understand. The little blond needed some time to think, to get her thoughts straight. It must be a mistake, tradition did not apply for when two women spoke the same thing at the same time, did it?
She found the green woman rather pretty, in her own, vain manner. Perhaps it was desire for the world to see the beauty that she saw that she gave Elphaba the make-over that night after the Oz-Dust ball, what seemed like a lifetime ago.
Elphaba's voice was now raising. She was saying something about defying gravity. What was she thinking? Had she gone mad? Glinda walked over to her, grabbing the green woman by her bony shoulders, and turning her around to face her.
Can't I make you understand?
You're having delusions of grandeur!
But Elphaba would have none of it. She brushed her off and walked over to the other side of the room, not even giving Glinda once glance.
I'm through accepting limits
'Cuz someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But 'till I try, I'll never know
Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love, I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love it comes
At much to high a cost
Glinda was pacing behind her, wondering what this could mean, while Elphaba went on, oblivious to what the little blond was thinking, what she was feeling. Suddenly, reality came knocking - or pounding, more like. The guards were at the door, banging on it with their fists.
"Open this door in the name of his Supreme Ozness!" the captain of the Gale Force shouted.
But Elphaba was back on the floor, the Grimmerie open and chanting frantically, her hands dancing over the pages.
Ahben Tahkay Ah Tum Entay Ditum Entayah
"Elphie, wh-what are you doing?" Glinda asked. Suddenly a new thought came into her tiny mind. She had always seen Elphaba as beautiful, especially with her green skin. But now, just a few moments ago, she had seen her face, and how it looked - it gave her frights and shakes all over.
Ahben Tahkay Ah Tum Entay Ditum Entayah
Glinda came to a startling conclusion. She had never seen Elphaba's face look so...unnatural, not before...
"That's what started this in the first place, that hideous levitation spell!"
Ahben Tahkay Ah Tum Entay Ditum Entayah
Just the thought of what might happen.
"STOP!" Glinda screamed, throwing her hands over her face.
Silence. Even the guards had ceased their assault on the door.
"It's stuck, sir!" one shouted.
"Bash it in!" the captain ordered. "You three, go back and fetch the battering rammican!"
"Yes sir!"
The sound of foot-steps echoing down the hall was all the noise that was heard
With hands trembling, Glinda peeked out from between her fingers, afraid of what she might see. All that was there was the black-clad and hatted form of Elphaba, crouched over the Grimmerie...
"Well?" Glinda asked, her hands falling from her face. "Where are your wings?" Nowhere. "Maybe you're not as powerful as you think you are."
Suddenly, there was a sound of rushing wind. Glinda saw something small and brown flying up close to the ceiling.
"Oh, sweet Oz!" she gasped.
"I told you, Glinda!" Elphaba shouted, her hands shaking as she looked after the small flying thing. "Ha! Didn't I tell you?"
Tell me what? she thought. Elphaba hadn't said anything about escaping, or that she could via the Grimmerie.
The broom now floated down and rested in Elphaba's green hands, which she leveld down like a spear.
"Quick!" she said, turning to Glinda. "Get on!"
"What?" the blond queried, taking a step back. The face that looked back at her from beneath the black hat looked nothing like the Elphaba Thropp she knew and loved. Do I really love her? The face was definitely similar, but it looked more...savage.
Something bad was happening to Elphaba right beneath her nose.
"Come with me!" the green girl begged. "Think of what we could do, together!"
Unlimited
Together, we're unlimited
Together, we'll be the greatest team that's ever been
Glinda, dreams, the way we planned them
If we work in tandem? she queried, placing a hand on the broom.
There's no fight we cannot win
Just you and I, Defying Gravity
With you and I, Defying Gravity
"They'll never bring us down!" Elphaba exclaimed.
Glinda had taken a step back. She noticed that it had happened again. Doubt filled her mind, doubt about Gilikinese tradition, about how she had been raised, about whether she really wanted to go with Elphaba and do...whatever it was that she wanted to do.
"Well, are you coming?" Elphaba asked, as she knelt down over the Grimmerie. Glinda wanted to shout, to cry, to say something. But something held her back, the part of her old personality, the old way of doing things - Galinda - who did not want to go with Elphaba. Let her run off and do whatever she wants to, that part reasoned. If she wants that end, then let her have it. I want to marry Fiyero and become popular, famous even!
She didn't want to listen to it, because it was so...cruel. But she was afraid, afraid of what might happen, afraid of what was already happening. And that seemed to fit hand in hand with what her 'old self' was trying to convince her to do.
Stay behind.
"Oh, Elphie," she sighed sorrowfully. "You're trembling." She looked around, trying to think of something. If I'm going to betray my friend, she thought, I might as well be nice about it.
But you're not betraying your friend, the other thought said. You're making your own way in life. She's the one who's being unfair, asking you to give up your dreams to follow after her.
She didn't listen to it, for now she walked over to a pile of dirty old clothing. A thick black cloak caught her eyes. She picked it up, shook off the thick layer of dust that clung to the fabric, and draped the cloak over Elphaba's shoulders.
I hope you're happy
Now that you're choosing this
She half-expected Elphaba to be angry, to say that she knew that she would turn on her when push came to shove. After all, she was still Galinda at heart.
You too, was all the green woman said.
I hope it brings you bliss
They were now together again, hand in hand. It didn't matter to Glinda that Elphaba's face looked different, that there was an unsettling look in her brown eyes (or did they look a little orange now?). Deep down inside was the same woman, the same one that she had chosen to stand up for that night at the OzDust ball.
I really hope you get it
And you don't live to regret it
They were now speaking in unison again. Glinda's little heart was pounding fiercely against her rib-cage. She noticed how close she was to Elphaba, so close...
I hope you're happy in the end
I hope you're happy...
A moment of silence as they were caught in each other's eyes.
...my friend.
And it was gone, as surely as Elphaba had vanished into the shadows. The guards came back in and Glinda found herself being dragged away, did they think she was the Witch? She screamed and struggled, but another had saved her. A blur of black and green shot out of the attic, soaring up into the sky, knocking the guards down on their backs. Glinda looked up with longing at the little black speck, vanishing as it went higher and higher into the Ozian stratosphere. Were they really just friends? Why, then, did she feel so much more? They were linked at the mind, it seemed, for they spoke in unison. Why not at the heart?
Glinda looked about, and whimpered in fear as she noticed something that made her blood run cold...
Elphaba had taken the Grimmerie with her.
(AN: More questions than answers here, definitely. But that's what these stories are all about!)
(The whole 'Gilikinese tradition' is something I stated in A Musician's Fan-Fiction, which I reuse here in this story. It's part of the Gelphie thing.)
(I will plan to see this story to fulfillment, so just wait...I don't know when I'll be able, what with my laptop dying once again, but I will try to update as soon as possible.)