A series of OneShots/drabbles that technically are MusicalVerse, but some character traits are based in the book as are some situations, past and coming. Oh, and for our purposes…Shell exists with a different personality, he's a bastard child of Frex's. In this story, about five to seven years (as opposed to the two of the musical) passed between Defying Gravity and Thank Goodness.
((After the As Long As You're Mine sequence))
Elphaba hadn't really given herself time to think about the consequences of her actions when she had left Fiyero—who somehow managed to consolidate her while looking mostly unfazed by the turn of events—but now she was left to her own mind on her journey from the Great Gillikin Forest to the heart of Munchkinland…
Her largest concern was getting to her sister before anything drastic could occur. The last exchange between the two of them was, to say the least, horrendible. There was her sister's anger and resentment at being left behind at Shiz all those years ago—and Elphaba had to admit that she had been expecting at least some of that loathing. She hadn't given the situations that Nessarose might be put into much thought, nor had she really imagined it would grieve their father to die of shame. Her father didn't even like her! At the very least, she had been able to repair a small amount of the damage done by giving her sister the ability to walk. This could have been negated, of course, by what had happened to Boq…either way, she had to make sure her sister was alright, despite their past.
Her other main worry was Fiyero. What was she thinking, leaving him there with such little explanation! And he was so empty headed…what if he decided to do something rash? In the heat of the moment, she had given him such little consideration. Yes, he promised to meet her at Kiamo Ko…but what if he was following her now and hoping to intercept her later on? What if there were people following him following her! She was practiced in stealth and keeping away from those nasty Gale Forcers, but Fiyero…
She shook her head. Fiyero had been part of the Gale Force. Surely he knew how to avoid them. At the very least, surely he wouldn't be foolish enough to lead them strait to her.
As she flew, she considered what would happen once she got there. There really were only a handful of things that could occur. The first—and most unlikely—was that she would get there and nothing would actually be wrong. She'd find it was just an overreaction and be able to turn right back around and reunite with Fiyero at Kiamo Ko. The second—and still quite unlikely—was that something dangerous and bad would have gone down, but her sister would have been able to handle it and oust it from Munchkinland. Once more, it would end in leaving to go West.
The third possibility was that she would arrive there and dispel the issue, and her sister would be very, very mad at her. And would not allow her to leave, forcing her to fight her way out and be on a much more urgent flight away from her sister and the land she had been born in, and possibly have to take a very roundabout way to Kiamo Ko to distract the idiots that would have multiplied the chase for her.
The last possibility—which she dreaded—is that she would be too late for her sister.
And she wouldn't be too late. She couldn't be.
She owed that to Nessarose.
—
((Immediately after No Good Deed))
Elphaba kneeled on the ground for a few moments. She was so foolish. She hadn't only lost Nessarose in her foolishness; to add insult to injury, she had been denied the only thing to remember her sister by and then allowed herself to be stalled by Glinda's antics long enough for Gale Forcers to arrive.
And Fiyero! Wonderful, foolish Fiyero. He had saved her at the cost of his own life.
"Fabala?"
Her head snapped up, and she snatched her broom from where she had discarded it when she had been casting the spell. She cursed internally. More foolishness! She had hardly traveled far from Munchkinland before stopping and trying to save Fiyero out of fear for him being executed on the spot.
She was about to get on and leave when the voice called out, "Fabala?" again. She froze. It was distinctly male…and young…and she felt a stirring of recognition. She held the broom at her side as it had been when she confronted the Wizard—ready to bolt but also willing to wait and see who it was that was calling her childhood nickname.
A minute later, a man came tumbling out of the forest. Elphaba gasped, her head spinning as she caught sight of her younger brother scrambling out of the thin cover of trees into the clearing she stood in.
"Shell!" She exclaimed, lowering her broom further and hurrying toward him.
They embraced when she reached him.
"Fabala," he smiled, "you look…different." He gestured to the broom in her hand and the extravagant dress she wore.
Elphaba laughed. "You were ten when I last saw you, Shell. I'm bound to look different."
She gazed at him hungrily. Shell's mother—a rather tall Munchkin woman called Pema—had bravely come forward a few years after Melena had died and confessed to the royal family and those in high standing Munchkinland society that she was pregnant and it had to have been Frex that had impregnated her, as her husband had been gone for over six months and the only man she'd shared a bed with during that time had been the Governor. Frex had been completely shamed, and gossip spread fast among Munchkins. He had promised that Pema and her child would be allowed safety in his home.
Pema had died during labor, and the midwife had said that Shell was dying as well. Frex had screamed at her to save the boy or else he would exile her, and so she had done some…questionably moral things to Pema's body to recover the boy from it. Shell had been raised alongside Nessarose by Elphaba, who had been tasked with the job by their father—she called it pairing the spares, since Nessa had Nanny to look over her, and anyways at five she was obviously old enough for the responsibility of keeping the toddler out of trouble. Because of this, Shell had grown to love her and not really notice the skin color of his dear Fabala.
Elphaba pulled herself from her thoughts. "What are you doing here, Shell?"
He blushed. "I watched what happened in the corn field…I can't believe that Nessa's dead. I wanted to help but I didn't know what I could have done to make any sort of difference. I'm really sorry about that guy—what was his name? Faro? Fire?—whatever his name was, he looked important to you and Miss Gl—Her Goodness."
Shell realized he'd made an error when he saw the fierce glare of his sister at the mention of the blonde woman. Elphaba asked, "Do you know Her Goodness well? You almost called her Miss Glinda there."
His blush deepened under her watchful gaze, and he muttered, "She's visited."
"Visited?" Asked the green girl. "And don't call her 'Her Goodness,' it makes me sick."
"Well, I lived with Father and Nessa, when she came back. After father…after father was gone and Nessa took on the role of Eminence and Governor, I became something of a servant around the place, although she did prefer Boq's service above anyone else. A few months after she took the title, Her G—Miss Glinda arrived at our home. Nessa greeted her as…well, as a sister I suppose. I'm sure she wouldn't have introduced her to me, but Miss Glinda inquired and so Nessa really didn't have a choice. Her Goodness got all silent and weird and didn't say anything until Nessa ushered herself, Boq—her Chair Handler—and Her Goodness into her office and shut the door. Every time since that when Miss Glinda has come over, she's taken some time to speak with me and occasionally brought me things from the Emerald City."
"Every time since? She visited frequently?"
Shell was looking more and more uncomfortable by the minute. "Not frequently, but…at least three times a year. Every time, Nessa would hole them both up in the office when they spoke."
Elphaba was silent.
After a few minutes with no conversation, Shell added, "She asked me about you, you know. Miss Glinda did. That was the first thing that she said to Nessa during the first trip she'd made to visit us. I remember her, because she called you Elphie and it took me a few minutes to work out who she meant. She asked, 'Have you heard from her? Elphie?'
"Nessa glared and said, 'If I did hear from her, I'd turn her in. So no, I haven't.'
"And that was when they noticed me."
Staring down her brother, Elphaba said, "Did you speak with Glinda today?"
"No. I didn't have a chance. I could have a few minutes ago, but you would be less likely to find if I'd stalled."
Well, she thought, that makes two males that have chosen me over Glinda.
"Where are you going now, Shell? Back to Munchkinland, right?"
Shell bit his lip. "Well, I was…I was actually kinda wondering if you'd want to…want to take me along with you. I could help you like I helped Nessa—clean up and…and…and…"
Elphaba laughed. "You can't come with me, I travel by broom. It holds one."
"If you tell me where you're going I'll walk and meet you there!" He said immediately.
Again, Elphaba laughed. "Shell, I'm going all the way to the Vinkus. You're not walking from here to there, I don't care how dedicated you are."
"Please!" He exclaimed, anguish written all over his features. "Please don't leave me alone here without even Nessa! She might have been cold to me, but she was still family and still took care of me! I'll go mad without someone here."
Elphaba was tempted to say yes. Very tempted. She considered it for a few moments when the grief of Fiyero blindsided her, completely taking her over to the extent that she wanted to fall to her knees—which she didn't do, purely because of Shell. She tried to consider why her sadness had hit her at that precise moment when she realized…she couldn't put Shell in the same danger. Her baby brother! She had failed at protected her sister, she couldn't bear to see him hurt because he wanted to help.
"No." She said firmly. After a second, she added, "You take over as Eminent Thropp and Governor. You're her brother, you have right. I would," she added, seeing his face, "but you know they'd never accept me. Please, Shell. Stay here. Stay safe. Fix the mistakes that Nessa made to be christened 'Wicked Witch of the East'"—which she still couldn't entirely believe, considering her sister's extremely religious ways and distaste of magic—"and when things are better for you…I'll come back."
"…if that's what you want…I guess I can."
Elphaba nodded curtly. "Then I hope I'll see you soon. I'll send word that I'm safe when I get there." Without further comment, she mounted her broom and took to the sky, staring over at her brother as her broom climbed higher and higher into the sky. She continued to gaze at him until she was too far away to see him anymore, then turned to look forward, a single tear in her eye.
At least Shell wouldn't share Fiyero's fate.
—
((After Dorothy arrives at the Kiamo Ko, but before Glinda))
Elphaba kneeled in her tower, her dark cloak thrown casually over her shoulder, the hood pulled up. Fiyero was…alive…different, he said, but alive. She had to be convincing in her desire to kill him.
And…Boq was there. With him.
And he blamed her.
In retrospect, it really was her fault. Her carelessness at leaving the Grimmerie out while she spoke with Nessarose. She had given Nessarose the power to stand, shown the younger woman what the ancient book could do…but she had allowed the foolish girl to cast a very powerful spell and hadn't been able to fix it.
She had to save Fiyero. It was her fault he was traipsing the country with a foolish little girl. But in her desire to be convincing, she had taken it too far and he had been torn apart by her monkeys…perhaps not the best plan she had ever come up with. Either way, now all she had was the stupid farm girl scared out of her mind downstairs (who was refusing to give up Nessa's shoes!) and Fiyero, possibly dangling from a cliff somewhere. She had no idea what to do.
He was alive. She had to keep him that way.
—
((After she "melts" while she's waiting in the catacombs))
Elphaba's emotions were everywhere.
She was so glad that she was safe and alive, and so was Fiyero! He was on his way right now. It would be soon, so soon that she would reunite with him. They would have to leave Oz, but at least they would be safe and alive.
And Glinda…Glinda believed that she was dead. Her best friend…her only friend...
But "Her Goodness" would be able to fix Oz. Never again would Animals be subject to the brutality of cages. Glinda's good heard would help her against the ways of politics, and at least the other girl had a name for herself. The people would listen to her. They loved her and would follow her instructions. It would work out for the better. If it didn't…it couldn't not, because if it didn't that meant all her efforts had been for nothing.
—
And because I knew you…I have been changed…for good…