And instant of sharp pain before the numbness. The world was floods above and fire below.
The faces of those she has left spin around her, and she feels herself begin to fall, leaving them behind, forever lost to that world. As Elphaba falls, she feels herself begin to spin, faster and faster the farther she falls, as if she is part of the tornado that struck down her sister.
And then she lands, with a painful thud, sparing a thought to wonder at the shot of pain. Surely it is too much to expect someone to not only endure pain throughout life, but throughout whatever comes after, as well. It is a puzzling thought, but then Elphaba had never believed in Another World after life, and yet here she stood. Perhaps those vague ideas that had managed to form under her father's influence were wrong as well. Whatever the case, here she was.
Wherever here was, that is. Elphaba rose slowly to her knees, taking a moment to look around. The walls were dark, some kind of rough stone covered with what looked to be splashes of blood. The floor was plain dirt, slightly moist, and combined with the rough look of the walls, gave the impression of being in a cave. Only the ceiling, as smooth as any ceiling in the dormitories at Shiz, gave a different impression.
Elphaba was so immersed in studying her surroundings that the sound of a cackling laugh behind her caused her to jump and spin around. Behind her were a rough table, and an empty cradle. She saw no indication of anything living, but surely the sound had come from somewhere. But then again, who said the sound had come from a living creature? Elphaba had felt the pain of death, and surely this was a place of death, perhaps even death itself. Who was to say sound had to come from a living throat?
Throwing caution to the winds, for after all she was already dead, Elphaba walked towards the table, ignoring the cradle for the moment.
The table was set for one, yet even as she watched the table seemed to spin, giving the impression of many settings. Elphaba almost found herself drawn in, but dragged her attention away before she was lost to the mesmerizing power. She heard the laugh again, louder this time. It seemed to come from the cradle a few feet away. Ignoring the twinge of fear deep in her stomach, Elphaba walked towards it, wondering what she would find. But the cradle was empty, with just a small blanket bunched in the bottom.
Something about the blanket was familiar, and Elphaba hesitated a moment, then snatched it up. It was the blanket she had been wrapped in as a babe, faded and ripped rather than colorful as she remembered.
"You're life ended up much like that blanket" came a hoarse voice from behind her. Elphaba slowly turned, refusing to give in to the fear that was now flooding her system. Standing beside the table was an old woman, her face a mass of wrinkles, her form shrouded by a dark cape, not unlike the one Elphaba had worn. Something about the crone's face caused a shiver to run down Elphaba's spine. It almost seemed as if Elphaba was looking into the face of evil.
"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean." Elphaba said, forcing herself to be calm. The old crone smiled slightly, seeming to change before Elphaba's eyes into a much younger woman. The change didn't bring any comfort however, for the cruelty of the features became more pronounced now that they were no longer hidden by the wrinkles. The eyes were especially chilling, jet black and devoid of any compassion or humanity.
"Come now, don't you? Your life was once full of promise, but then you threw it away, and faded, becoming torn by guilt and by grief." The voice had changed as well, no longer hoarse from age, but cold. Every word seemed to drop the temperature of the room. Elphaba found herself chilled to the bone, and something about the power in the voice froze her to the spot.
But she could still manage to speak. "Be that as it may, I lived my life as best I could manage. And now it seems my life has ended, and I have been brought here. Wherever this may be, and for whatever purpose."
The young woman's smile disappeared, and she slowly walked forward towards Elphaba. "As best you could? No, little broken one, you did not. You did not accomplish the task I had for you, and you didn't even manage to take the escape that would have brought you joy. Instead you struggled along, living in pain and misery."
"I don't understand what you're going on about. Speak clearly, not in riddles. What task did you have for me? I have never been here in my life." Elphaba was becoming angry, the heat of that anger driving away the chill of the room. But even as she spoke, she wondered at the wisdom of speaking so to the woman in front of her.
But the woman merely smiled again, walking closer and looking down towards the cradle they were both standing beside. Elphaba looked down and started slightly. Lying in the cradle was a child, green as sin, but without the teeth Elphaba had sported at the beginning of her life. The facial features were also less angular than Elphaba's. The child almost looked like Nessarose had as a baby, save for the coloring and arms.
"Such was the child that came to this cavern many years ago. But for my purposes, I couldn't send you into the world exactly like this. And so I gave you what you needed, and then gave you your intellect, so that you could choose your path. And yet you didn't take the escape I offered you. No one ever has, but I thought you might have seen it, might have turned from the sorrow. But no, you walked away, and so here you find yourself."
Elphaba tore her eyes away from the image of herself in front of her, fixing the strange woman next to her with the glare that had so often been on her face in life. The woman's features were once again the features of the crone, save for her eyes. The eyes were still the same cold pebbles as before.
"Speak no more riddles to me. I had enough of them in life, I see no reason to abide by them in life. What is this place? Who are you? And why am I here, why do you say I have been here before?"
The crone turned away, her shoulders slumping slightly. "I had hoped you would be different, but I see you're the same as every human who has been through this cavern. Very well, have it your way. I am Kumbricia, and this is the Cavern of Souls. You are here because you both failed to accomplish my goal for you, and failed to escape my grasp."
Elphaba felt as if she were rooted to the spot with fear. Kumbricia, the Kumbric Witch herself, the source of evil in the world, if the ancient texts were to be believed. A sinister smile crept across the witch's face, and her voice echoed from around the cavern, though her lips remained still.
Kumbricia stirs the pot, and licks the ladle,
sets the table. Pours a glass of tears.
Waits beside the ominous empty cradle.
Waiting still. She can wait for years.
"Another riddle?" Elphaba managed to force out past the lump in her throat.
"No, not another riddle. Throughout the entire history of Oz, I have sat in the cavern, directing the lives of those who serve me. Giving them the power they need to accomplish my tasks, then waiting to see whether they escape, or serve. So far, no one has ever escaped my plans for them, but neither has anyone accomplished them."
Elphaba's fear was fading by the second, replaced by her need to understand. Kumbricia smiled slightly, as if sensing the change in her mood. "Perhaps not the same at all" she murmured, running her hand along Elphaba's cheek. Elphaba fought her revulsion, keeping still. Kumbricia's hand was cold, colder even than a corpse, colder than even ice. The slight smile came once more, before fading yet again.
"What escape are you speaking of?" was all that came to Elphaba's mind as she fought to stay still.
"The escape I offer to all of my pawns. The escape of joy, of happiness. Of a life of fulfillment, rather than of sorrow. For you, I speak of Glinda, the beauty I placed beside you. But you chose pain, chose the path of hardship, and so you not only chose for yourself, but for her as well."
In the midst of bristling at being called a pawn, Elphaba was suddenly remembering her time at Shiz, remembering how she had loved the blonde who shared her room, remembering how she had been unable to act on that love. All because she had to protest something, without making any changes. "But it needed to be protested" she whispered to herself. "It was a necessary cause, even if we managed to change nothing."
Kumbricia cackled again. "Changed nothing? Why, little broken bird, your protests changed the very fabric of Oz. Thanks to your actions, nothing will change."
"How is that a change?" Elphaba cried. "How can I have changed Oz if nothing will change?"
"Because you failed in the task I set you. Had you succeeded, much would have been accomplished, much would have changed. Instead, you have doomed the Animals of Oz to a live of slavery and contempt."
The thought of having failed so completely nearly broke Elphaba. "What task? What is the task you set me, the one I failed to accomplish?"
"War. Your task was to lead the Animals who were set to flock to your side, to overthrow the Wizard and plunge Oz into chaos such as it has never suffered."
"But how would that accomplish my goal of freeing the Animals from the tyranny of the Wizard?" Elphaba cried, not able to comprehend what Kumbricia was saying.
"Your goal? It wouldn't have accomplished your goal at all. It would have accomplished mine. Chaos is my goal, a total loss of coherency, throughout all of Oz. If one of my pawns can accomplish that, my goal will be served." Kumbricia turned and walked away from Elphaba, towards the cavern wall she had been studying when she first arrived. "Chaos" came the whisper from Kumbricia, a loving caress that hung in the air, seeming to brighten the very walls of the cavern for a moment.
"What purpose does chaos serve? Why should you crave something as empty and meaningless as a total lack of order?" Elphaba knew she had said too much at that moment, as Kumbricia turned slowly, her eyes turning from jet black to pure white.
"Chaos is not empty and meaningless to me. Chaos is everything, chaos is what I sprang from, fully formed, before the foundations of Oz were formed, and achieving chaos is my goal. In that moment, in the moment when life as those in Oz know it ceases to exist, I shall return to chaos, and my time here will be complete. And so, I seek it, constantly hoping one of you fallible mortals will be able to complete my task."
"But then why give us a choice? If you can control our lives so much, why not just control our choices? Why toy with us? Why offer escape at all? Why not just end it? And what will happen to Oz once chaos is released?"
"In order to release Chaos, the rules of Oz must be followed. And those rules demand a choice, or it isn't a human releasing chaos, it is my own doing. And I cannot bring about my own end. Don't expect to understand the rules constraining me, they are beyond you. Just know that you have failed me, and have failed Glinda, and the Animals. And because you have failed me, I shall tell you what would have happened had you chosen escape."