Chapter 1

Erik

"Ozdammit, Erik! I can't do this! This algebra stuff just doesn't fit around my head! I'm brainless!"

"You are not brainless! Just look at the problem again." I, Erik Flummox, was trying to do the impossible: teach Fiyero Tigelaar algebra. Normally, my girlfriend would carry this burden, but alas, she was in the Emerald City meeting the Wizard of Oz himself. How I wished I could be with her at that moment, but she was the one with the extraordinary sorcery talent, not me. The Wizard needed a Grand Vizier, not an organist.

"Okay, I get that y = 3x + 4, but … what do I do with that?"
Before I could respond, we heard the annoying, screechy voice of Fiyero's girlfriend, Glinda. "Erik, FiFi!" she cried, sitting down at our table in the library. "I just got back from the EC! Nessa's in a state! I still don't understand what happened!"

"Where's Elphaba?" Fiyero and I asked in unison.

Glinda started hyperventilating. "You two don't know?! Look on the front page of The Shiz Daily!" She thrust a newspaper in our faces. I read the headline: "Green Shiz Student Turns Terrorist and Wicked Witch."

"Wicked Witch?" I repeated, astounded. "But … I don't understand. El … she's hardly wicked! Glinda, explain!"

"I don't know! She did this hideous levitation spell … and then monkeys started flying around everywhere … she told the Wizard … she told the Wizard he had no real power, and then she ran out of the room with the Grimmerie. I … I went after her. She told me to come with her, oh Fiyero, I should've gone!" She buried her face in Fiyero's shirt.

"They framed her," I said quietly. "Bastards, she did nothing wrong! After what happened with Dr. Dillamond!"

"She asked me to give you this, Erik." Glinda handed me a tightly folded piece of paper. I unfolded it with much difficulty. It read:

Dear Erik,

As Glinda has probably already told you, I am not returning to Shiz. The Wizard is behind everything, and Dr. Dillamond would be disappointed if I did not try to help his cause. Be happy for me, Erik, for I am flying free! Apropos of that, I don't want you to have the disgrace of a romantic relationship with a Wicked Witch, (oh, don't gasp, you know that's what I am called), so you are free to be with whoever you want. Just not Pfanee or ShenShen, okay? And tell Fiyero and Boq that I will miss them, as I will miss you.

Your emerald angel,

El

"She's happy," I said. "She misses us, but she is happy."

"But I'm not happy!" Glinda cried. "My bestest friend is a wanted fugitive! It's not fair!"

"I need to lie down," Fiyero announced. "Erik? Come with me?"

"But of course," I said, standing up. "See you in history class, Glinda."

"FiFi, you don't even care that Elphie is gone?!" Glinda shrieked. "And Erik! You love her! Why aren't you upset?!"

"We're upset, Glin," Fiyero said calmly. "We just deal with it in a guy way, that's all. And anyway, I think … I think Elphaba can take care of herself. C'mon, Erik." He practically dragged me out of the library, across the quad, and into Briscoe Hall.

Once we were inside our dorm room, I said, "I don't think El can take care of herself."

"I'm worried about her, too," Fiyero agreed. "We have to find her!"

"You want to stop her?"

"Not stop her – just find her, make sure she's safe."

"How do we go about doing that?"

"Lemme see that paper. 'All Oz must be on the lookout for the Wicked Witch, however the Gale Force's new mission is to find and capture her.' Erik, we have to join the Gale Force!"

"And there would be no suspicion whatsoever about the ex boyfriend of the Witch and his best friend going on a mission to find her! I am a musician, Fiyero. And you are a prince."

"You wanna find Fae or not?!"

"Of course I want to find El! I yearn for El! But I just think you're going about it in a very brainless way." Fiyero's nostrils flared.

"YOU'RE JUST BEING YOUR USUAL, ANTI SOCIAL SELF! IF YOU REALLY LOVE HER, YOU WOULD DO ANYTHING, ANYTHING TO FIND HER!"

"I'm starting to think maybe YOU love her!"

Fiyero sighed. "I'm with Glinda. Yeah, um … I love Glinda."

"Well then, why is finding El so important to you?"

"It's naptime, Erik. Let's go to sleep." He was evading my question, but I had to admit, I was tired as well.

Once Fiyero was asleep (it didn't take long), I took off my mask and wig, and crawled into bed, burrowing under the covers. Soon I was in a dream, in the presence of my emerald angel. She had been working on a dress for herself at the time of her departure, and now I was looking at the finished product.

"El?"

"Shh. Rest your voice. Let me sing for you."
"Sing, my emerald angel!"

"Think of me, think of me often …" I immediately recognized the song as one we had learned in music class. El was a mezzo soprano, but she had lowered the pitch of the song to fit her voice. She was creative that way. As I dreamed of her taking me into her arms, I resolved that I would join the Gale Force. I would do anything for the girl that made my soul defy gravity.