Elphaba zipped away on her broom, the tears blowing from her eyes with the quick wind making them feel like razors on her emerald skin. Terrified. Elphaba was terrified, Fiyero was dead. Elphaba had left Chistery to destroy the grimmiere. There was nothing left for her anymore, she had hurt too many people. No Good Deed goes unpunished Elphaba thought rashly. Her emerald face was blushed with the cold strength of the wind. She could see the tall sparkling buildings of the emerald city clearly now. Elphaba began getting lower and lower until she was able to land in front of the emerald palace. Madame Morrible must have anticipated her, because her and the wizard stood on the steps of the palace. Elphaba dismounted her broom 10 feet from them. "What do you want, Witch!" screamed Madame Morrible. Elphaba held her hand out the side, the broom hovering in the air, followed her hand. She reached under that arm and snapped. The broom clambered to the ground. No longer Elphaba's powerful source of magic, but an inanimate object. Elphaba fell to her knee's, shaking. She held back sobs as hard as she could while tears streamed down from her broken, empty eyes. "I surrender" Elphaba squeaked.
All Elphaba's courage and passion for what is right, looked drained. She looked weak and defeated, young and helpless. Elphaba hated being weak in front of these two disgusting evil people, but that is what she is now, weak. The pair looked shocked. After moments of staring, wide eyed at the trembling 21 year old witch, The wizard fled in the back exit to this throne room here he wouldn't be seen, "Guards!" Morrible shrieked. Elphaba squeezed her chocolate brown eyes closed, not want to see her pending doom. She could hear the clanking boots approaching her at a run. Elphaba fought the urge to open her eyes. This was what she wanted, wasn't it? Elphaba wanted to die. She thought her fate was upon her when she felt them grasp her upper arms and pull to her feet. Elphaba gasped upon being grabbed, her eyes flew open, not being able to hide for any longer. "Madame.." one of the soldiers began, Morrible answered before he finished "Take her to the south stairs to rot. This witch needs to think about what she's done, the south stairs are the perfect place for that." Morrible said, grinning evilly at poor Elphaba. "Yes Madame." the soldiers said in unison. "No!" Elphaba screamed. this wasn't what she had wanted! she had wanted to be killed! she thought for sure they would have had her killed. "Silence witch!" one of the men screamed. another swung the butt of his gun at her head. Elphaba's vision blurred then went completely dark.
Elphaba woke in a dusty room, with 4 soldiers, one off to the side, looking fairly familiar, and a woodstove burning in the corner, too the feeling of a freezing cold bucket of water being poured over her head. "Stand witch!" the soldiers demanded. She stood. A tall man stood behind her and tore the laces of her beautiful gown. The once majestic piece of clothing now lied in two pieces on the filthy floor of the south stairs. Elphaba stood shivering in grey fingertip length, loose cotton shorts and a white camisole that was once clingy to her body but had began to hang loose off her shoulders in the past months. Her sopping hair reached all the way to the back of her knees when it was wet. The freezing water made Elphaba shiver despite the fire. A guard took Elphaba's hands and laced her finger with his own, she wondered what he was doing until he quickly snapped his own wrists downward, breaking hers, Elphaba winced and bit her cheek to keep from making a sound. He then pushed her to the ground, and made Elphaba spread her fingers out on the floor, the soldier took the butt of his gun and began bashing at Elphaba's delicate green hands. Elphaba hid her face of agony on the floor while the man shattered all the bones in her hands. "Why?" Elphaba sobbed. He grabbed the ends of her wet hair, "Can't do magic with shattered hands." said the cocky guard.
Elphaba choked on her sob as the guard lit a torch, then extinguished the fire in wood stove. Another guard chained Elphaba's excruciating hands together, then her ankles. She was pushed along the narrow corridor and down long sets of stairs, until they reached the deepest, darkest cell in the southstairs, she was miles away from any other prisoners, and deep, deep in the cold underground. Elphaba's bare feet were cold and raw from the long walk to her cell. Her hands were chained to the wall, she was locked up and left in the pitch black. Elphaba didn't know what to do with herself. She thought of Glinda and Fiyero, how she had let them both down, how she had caused Fiyero's death... how she had cause her sister's death... how she had cause so many people so much sadness and terror. Elphaba lowered herself to the cold concrete floor. 'I deserve this' she thought.
Elphaba had began to drift to sleep finally, when she was woken by the clanging of a guards heavy boots. Elphaba stood quickly, when the familiar looking guard came into sight carrying a torch and a black leather whip, embedded with emerald colour metal. He placed the torch in the holder on the wall, illuminating the hellish place around them. Elphaba braced herself. The man unlock the tiny cold cell, then closed it behind him. Elphaba stood with her hands quivering by her sides. She didn't want to appear weak and afraid, she didn't want to give him what he wanted. She offered him a sarcastic grin, and she was returned with a pitiful one. The guard lashed her in the knee, which caught Elphaba off guard. The soldier grabbed her arm and spun her around, with each lash on the back Elphaba seem to fall more, but she refused to fall completely. Sitting on her heels facing the wall, Elphaba knew she was helpless in this, especially with shattered hands, which now in the light she could see were very badly bruising. Elphaba tried to think of other things while she endured her punishment, but she couldn't, she was trapped in the reality that would probably be her life now. Tears were flooding her cheeks and blurring and vision, the pain was so bad. The guard seemed to stopped, but Elphaba wouldn't dare turn around. When she heard him leave her cell and walk back up the corridor with his torch, Elphaba let herself go. With a quivering lip Elphaba wept.
Her camisole was completely in tethers and soaked with blood in the back. Elphaba had barely a minute alone before she heard more boots hitting concrete. She tried to stand but was too weak. So instead she wiped any signs of crying from her face and sat, facing the bars of her cell. It turned out to be the same guard from before, this time, the whip was tucked away in his belt, which was a relief to Elphaba. But he carried a small wooden stool. The man put his torch in the holder then put his stool right in front of Elphaba's cell, he walked off again, only for a moment and came back with a long, thin, wooden stick with a slightly sharp tip. Elphaba had figured out why he was her now. The two sat on either side on the bars, staring at each other, not breaking eye contact. Elphaba was exhausted, she needed to sleep. Reluctantly, Elphaba's tired chocolate eyes fluttered shut, and her head lolled to the side. Her moment of peace was broken quite quickly with jab on the side with the wooden stick. Just what she thought, she wouldn't be allowed to sleep. Elphaba looked up at the ceiling to avoid closing her eyes. She would not give him what he wanted.
Elphaba's body threatened to fall over, she wanted to lie down so bad, but if she lied down she'd fall asleep. Elphaba and the guard had yet to say anything to each other, but the two were again locked in awkward eye contact. Elphaba's body slumped over onto the floor. She tried so hard not to fall asleep. It must have been more than 48 hours since the last time she had had any rest, and even then her rest had only been a 2 hour sleep. Elphaba was exhausted, she decided that being poked with stick would be worth any amount of rest. Elphaba closed her eyes, and surprisingly, wasn't poked, she had thought maybe he'd let her sleep for a little while, until she heard the creaking of the bars opening. Elphaba ignored him. She wanted to sleep. Elphaba grunted in pain as she felt a lash of the whip across her cheek. Her eyes opened to revel the soldier standing above her. "Wake up." he said simply, stepping back out of her cell and locking it. The guard plumped back onto his little stool.
Elphaba thought she'd take a chance with asking for water, thinking it might help her snap out of her sleepiness. Elphaba looked him in the eye. "Can I have some water?" she said. He looked at her for a moment but then nodded and got up. She didn't know how far he'd have to travel for water so she decided not to try and sleep. Instead she stood up, the open wounds on her back aching and stinging each time she paced the small cell, the noise of her chains helping to keep her alert. Because of the noise, she didn't hear the guard return with a cup of water. He pushed it through her bars to as far as her chains would allow her to come. Elphaba tried to pick up the plastic cup, but couldn't because of her aching, shattered hands. The soldier watched as Elphaba struggled to lift it with her forearms. "Stop" he said, "you'll spill it." Elphaba stopped trying to lift the plastic cup and stood back against the wall. The guard unlocked her cell and came in, picking up the cup. He put his hand on Elphaba's jaw and tilted her head back, pouring the water in her mouth. The guard started to pour a bit too much at once and Elphaba choked, the guard seemed slightly panicked, until Elphaba stopped choking and even chuckled a little bit. He sighed in relief and smiled, locking her back in the cell and putting the cup down by his stool, which he now pushed back farther from Elphaba. After a few moments of awkward silence between them, Elphaba still trying hard to stay awake the soldier spoke "would it help you stay awake if I talked to you?" he said. Elphaba raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you allowed to do that?" she asked quizzically. "Nobody ever said I couldn't." he replied. "Okay then, sure, talk away." said Elphaba, looking down at her bare, green feet.
"You know, I remember you from Shiz, I was in the year above you." He said. Elphaba look up at him "Really?" she said 'so that's why he looked familiar.' thought Elphaba. "Yeah, you and Glinda Upland, inseparable." He grinned. Elphaba frowned and looked at her feet again. She missed Glinda so much. "Sorry, sensitive topic?" He said apologetically. Elphaba smirked a bit, "Yeah I guess... you don't seem like such a bad guy after all you know, you brought me water and your helping to keep me awake, so why won't you let me sleep, and why did you whip me?" Elphaba asked. He look even more apologetic, "They'll know if you sleep, and what happens to you isn't in my hands. Sorry about the whip, it's part of you sentence, minimum 30 lashes every 8 hours. The point of keeping you awake is just too rattle your sleep schedule so you lose track of time, sorry." He said. Elphaba nodded and yawned. "So how'd a guy like you end up with this job?" she asked. "My father had this job and my grandfather, and practically every other man in my family, I didn't have much of a choice." He said, "Well that's a real sucky situation." Elphaba said, shaking her head. The guard scoffed, "not quite as sucky as yours I'd say." he replied. "Well, we can't all be the wicked witch of the west, huh?" Elphaba scoffed back, her eyes again starting to flutter shut. "Come on, wake up." he reminded her. Elphaba nodded and opened her eyes. "I know your innocent." he said. She nodded thankfully and held out her crushed and useless hand as far as the chains would allow, "I'm Elphaba." she said. The soldier got up off his stool and reached between the bar, shaking her forearm, so he wouldn't hurt her hand "Drew" he introduced.