(AN: Here we go, the beginning of a new Wicked fan-fiction. It might be cross-over, eventually, but right now it's in a sort of limbo world. I NEED some ideas, people! It is no longer based on "Another World, Another War", though events that happened in such may be mentioned and you might be missing some details if you haven't read those stories, so do so. The concept of various fan-fics that span multiple worlds was inspired, for me, by Wicked'elphaba-fiyero, so thank you. Now enjoy. This prologue has references to other works, and therefore let me state that I do not own Wicked, LotR or Tom Shadyac's famous comedy film.)

The Crossroads

The four figures were enveloped by the golden light. It illuminated a huge cavern, whose bottom poured down into a bottomless abyss and that had no ceiling, just an inky, black, star field of golden and white lights overhead. Pieces of stone buildings of many types floated through the huge room, as if gravity had no meaning here.

In the mind of the three Ozians, they knew for certain that they weren't in any world they were familiar with.

They looked around themselves with wrapped attention at the beautiful, mesmerizing sights that floated all around them. It was quite a spectacle. Large, island-like platforms of rock and stone were anchored to the path on which they stood with "rope" bridges made of chain. On top of these, they saw, were ruins of gray-brown stone, the same color of the rock that made the back-wall of the room. The path which led to the cave, the same one on which they stood, petered out into the abyss, held as if by nothing, and finally terminated on a great plateau of gray-brown tiles.

They saw a lone figure standing there, looking about as if waiting for someone.

Before either of them could consider who this strange figure might be, it raised a hand and beckoned them over with a wave.

"What do we do?" asked Glinda.

"Let's go." Fiyero proposed.

"What, are you crazy?" Elphaba protested.

"Nope, just brainless." he said with a smirk, but this fell when he saw that his wife was all serious. "Come on, it's not like we can't take one, little person on all by ourselves if we have to. We've been through some bad stuff before, it's nothing new."

"I guess you're right."

They made their way down the path to the plateau, Fiyero smiling inside. He knew that things were getting back to normal, well, as normal as they could be with her. At least she wasn't as volatile and combative as she had been before.

They now came upon the plateau, and saw that the man who waved them over was some kind of custodian. He was clad in a simple, gray jumpsuit, and had a broom in his hand. They also saw that he was very old, in many ways: his hair was gray and going white, and in his brown eyes they saw a depth that was perhaps older than any great one they had met in the last year or so.

"You found the way in." the man cryptically said.

"'Way in?'" Elphaba queried.

"Or, 'the way out', if you prefer." he said, smiling as he finished his sentence.

"What is this place?" asked the green woman.

"Oh, its nowhere in particular." he said. "Just a cross-road of sorts."

"Cross-road to where?"

"Everywhere."

"We're looking for a gateway." Glinda spoke up.

"Oh, its here." the Custodian said.

"I have a question," Fiyero piqued up. "Why can't we go back the way we came here?"

"You can't go back." was the reply.

A stunned silence filled the three Ozians.

"What do you mean, 'we can't go back'?" Elphaba queried suspiciously.

"Oh, you can go back to where you came from," he said, pointing back down the path they came. It lead to the cave tunnel, pitch black in contrast to the brilliantly glowing room. "But you can't go back to Oz through the Time Dragon Clock."

"You know of the Clock of the Time Dragon?" asked Glinda.

The Custodian nodded.

"Why not?" Elphaba asked. "Why can't we go back that way?"

"Don't you remember?" he asked. "When you fell through, you were in the middle of this world, correct? There's no back with that way, since there's no twin in this world."

Elphaba thought hard about what was being said. What did he mean by there being no twin? She definitely recalled falling through the Time Dragon Clock in Oz, and finding themselves in the Wilderland forest, with no sign of the Time Dragon anywhere else. Maybe it was a door-way of sorts, between two worlds, and since there was no other "door-way" on the other side in the other world, it was only a one-way door.

"Now you're gettin' it." the Custodian said with a smile.

"Wait," Elphaba said, throwing up her open hands. Her logical self was surfacing out of the confusion of finding this "crossroads to eternity" in a cave in the middle of nowhere. "Who are you?"

"Who, me?" asked the Custodian, pointing to himself. He then shook his head and gazed off into the abyss. "I'm just the help. I keep everything together, cleaning up after the children leave a mess, sometimes dropping in to say my two cents of helpful advice. It's not how it used to be, that's for sure: everybody always forgets the janitor."

"That still doesn't answer my question." Elphaba said, her face turning a greenish shade of violet in frustration. "Who are you?"

"Nobody, really." he responded. "I know everything that goes on, I've seen people come and go. Not for any ill reasons, mind you." He said, raising a hand as he saw Elphaba ready to protest. "No, I don't mean any harm. The time for my battle is not yet upon you. But when you're the janitor, you tend to hear a little bit of everything and know what's going on everywhere. Then with a few eons of time to yourself..."

"Um, you said this was a cross-road of sorts." Elphaba spoke up.

"Yes, that's right."

"To everywhere, right?"

"Right."

"So, does that mean we can go anywhere from here?" Fiyero asked.

"Damn right, son." the Custodian said with a smile. "I knew you had brains in there."

Fiyero had nothing to say, for this was rather a shock for him.

"Which way is Oz?" Elphaba asked.

"Just over there." He pointed to a ledge that branched off from the main plateau. "Just walk down that path, and it's the third island on the left."

Elphaba turned to Glinda. "I guess this is good-bye."

"I don't want to go back just yet." she suddenly replied. "I just found out you're still alive. All those years we spent apart after that day in the Throne Room, I want to take it all back and make up for the time we threw away...I threw away, I mean." She was tearing up now. Her eyes were long dry of mascara, for there was no such cosmetic in the world in which they were once visitors.

Elphaba nodded. "Okay, you can stay with us."

The little blond grabbed the green woman in a very strong hug, considering her size.

"Where else can we go?" Fiyero asked, wanting to be important.

"Now there's a path." the Custodian said, pointing to one that suddenly materialized behind him. It led down, a long way down, to an "island" that was very low and close to the darkness. "Just go to the island and drink the water that you find there. Good luck."

One by one, the Ozians said good-bye to the Custodian and then made their way down the path. Then, Elphaba stopped and turned around to ask the Custodian a question. It seemed irrational, for why should he know the answer? But something was nagging at her mind that just had to be told.

"What happens to Fiyero if we go somewhere else?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Elphaba clarified. "In Oz, I turned him into a scarecrow. When we came to Arda, he turned back into his old self. If we go back..."

"You won't know until you try." he said. "The question is, will you still love him when he's a scarecrow again?"

"Yes." Elphaba answered, almost too soon.

"I have faith in you," the Custodian said. He then rose his hand and waved them good-bye.

The three Ozians continued on their way down the slope, with Nessarose quietly following after them. It was a long, steep slope down to the island. However, though it seemed very treacherous, the horse did not stumble and so they also had little to no trouble getting down.

Once down, they made their way across the narrow, chain-link bridge that led to the island. None of them dared look down into the abyss, for it seemed all too near and close at hand, almost so much that, were they to reach out, they could actually feel the abyss between their fingers. It was too close for them, and it sent shivers through their spines, particularly Elphaba.

However, they came at last to the island and saw a rock, out of which spilled a small spring whose waters spilled out of a crack in the rock and bubbled down to a small pool at the base.

"Good thing you're not allergic to water." Fiyero brought up, bringing an annoyed scowl to Elphaba's face.

"Even if she were," the voice of the Custodian echoed from above, though he was not shouting. "She would not be harmed. Don't be afraid, drink it."

Carefully, the three Ozians knelt down to the pool, reached down with one hand and brought the cold, clear water to their mouths. Just to be sure, Elphaba made a green bowl with two of her hands and brought up some of the spring's cool liquid to Nessa's mouth, where she drank from it.

A strange sensation overcame them, like the water was clearing a great fog that was upon their minds and eyes that they had not realized had been there before. As they blinked their eyes and rubbed their heads (or shook their heads and neighed in the case of Nessarose), the golden-brown light of the cross-roads room slowly faded as they blinked it away.

They were now on the edge of a great, green, foreverdark forest...

(Okay, I'm thinking about making this a Wicked/Norse mythology story. I know, very inappropriate. But if Wicked can thrive in Helsinki Finland, in the heart of good'ol Scandinavia, I think that I can take up the challenge. Please review, and make sure to leave ideas. They are helpful. Stay tuned for more)