Cursed

The Forbidden Vinkus Forest was home to many creatures, but never had it been home to a sleeping beauty before. Legend has it that a grief-stricken young woman had cursed herself to sleep her life away until her so-called lost friends came and saved her. Night after night, day after day she stayed hidden in the woods, walking and waiting for them. She was not awake but nor was she fully asleep, so she had no conscious thought of what she was doing. It was as if she was in some sort of dark trance. She was on a cycle; walk, scream, cry, walk, and wait. She, when she had not cursed herself, had been hopeful that her friends would return but as the years passed on that hope diminished.

The leaves crunched underneath her dirt coated satin slipper shoes that were covered in a deep black fabric. A faded dark skirt clung to her curved but slender legs as the wind whipped through the air. Though the skirt was covered with thorns and leaves it still moved fluidly, like a billowing cape. Her tight black bodice cinched in her waist and the white long-sleeved shirt that was underneath it filled up when the wind blew. Her tumbling locks of golden but dirt-matted hair surrounded her face and fell across her breasts. Her feet made soft noises as she made her way across the forest floor. Suddenly she heard something. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned her head.

Anyone who looked at her face would have been utterly terrified of the young woman and would have run away. Her face gleamed in the light like fine, cold, smooth china. It was porcelain white, like a ghost. Little scars were all over her face from the pricking thorns of the bushes. Her eyes were the most gruesome sight that anyone in Oz had ever seen. Her eyelids were closed but they had grown so weak and so malnourished that they looked as though her eyeballs had been gouged out. Streams of her black makeup had stopped moving long ago, and now they stayed crusted on her face permanently.

Next the slumbering woman reached out a hand and touched the bark of a tree. The ridges and grooves of the wood found themselves being scraped by her long and un kept fingernails. Her whole hand now pressed against the bark. Scars and scrapes were along both of her hands and wrists from blindly trying to find her way around the forest.

Her lips, had turned almost a black color in the lack of food and nourishment, pursed together for a moment.

"Where are you?" she whispered in a slight whimper, "Where are you two?"

Her ears heard no answer but that was no surprise.

And so she kept on walking.

More leaves crunching, more whispering pleas for people who simply would not come back for her. In her sleepy and yet sleepless state, the blonde woman often what her life would be like if she had not decided to curse herself. She knew that she would have been miserable, all alone with no one to talk to in that big Palace. She would have been the ruler of Oz. But she didn't want that. Not anymore at least.

Now all she wanted was to find Elphaba and Fiyero.

It now turned night, she could tell because of the cold air that blew all around her. The blind woman walked through an icy cold river before she traveled through the high waters on rocks, not even caring, not even feeling. The curse had shut down her nerve system so she no longer felt. She barely had any memories left, and ones that she wanted to remember at that. She was a woman possessed by her own grief and self -loathing.

Once she had crossed the river, she felt uneven ground beneath her feet. Bending her knees, she put a hand to the forest floor. She was standing upon rocks. Walking carefully, she took it one step at a time as she tried to make her way back to land.

Though her eyes saw nothing Glinda could have sworn she felt another presence with her.

"Who's there?" she called out in a ghost of her former voice. Normally there weren't people in these forests, no one ever dared to come here at any time of the day much less at nighttime. The sound of water splashing softly greeted her ears and Glinda put her scarred hands up in front of her face as if to protect herself.

"I'm warning you!" her voice rose in fright, "I'll hurt you if you don't reveal yourself."

Suddenly she took a step backwards, but her satin shoe slipped on the water-covered rock. Glinda felt herself quickly being surrounded by cold, freezing water. Her legs kicked furiously as she struggled to maintain afloat. She flailed her arms, splashing up droplets of the river onto her face.

"Help, whoever you are! Help I can't swim," shrieked Glinda as she blindly tried to reach for something.

"Here, I'll help you," said a voice.

Suddenly her hands groped at something soft and yet coarse, but it seemed to be slipping through her grasp. So she grabbed tighter and grabbed more of it, but still it fell out of her grasp. Her hands clenched again and again at the hay-like substance until there were no more left of it.

"Where did you go? Come back, I need help!" screamed Glinda.

Her world was black but adrenaline rushed through her veins as her body knew she was in danger. She was scared; for once in her new life in the darkness Glinda was very scared. She knew what would happen next if she stopped fighting the current. She'd sink into the river, while her weak lungs would fill up slowly with water until Glinda could no longer get enough breath to live. But she couldn't die, not yet anyways. She hadn't found Elphaba and Fiyero yet. They were the only reason she was still alive.

Suddenly she heard someone scream, and it sounded very close to where Glinda was fighting not to drown.

"Please help," cried Glinda as she felt her body slowly grower weaker and tired, "I don't have much…"

Her body was quickly and quite suddenly propelled out of the frigid waters and slammed onto rocks.

"Who are you?" barked the voice that had screamed just a little earlier on. Glinda's ears pricked up at the tone, at the familiarity of the voice, "Look at me, will you? Do you have any idea what you-"

The voice grew considerably quiet and cut off mid sentence. Glinda had turned her head in the direction of the voice. She knew that voice. It had been so long ago when she last heard it but Glinda knew it all the same. Her heart fluttered as she yearned for that voice to scold her more just so she could hear it again.

"Elphie?" cried out Glinda softly, ever so quietly. A porcelain scarred hand reached out in the open air, Glinda just wanted to touch her, to feel that green skin that she would never see again, to feel those lips on her once more.

The blackness that was what Glinda could see would soon crumble away if she could just touch Elphaba, if Elphaba would only kiss her once more.

"Oh Oz," said that voice, Elphaba's voice, "Glinda…" she sounded sorrowful and horrified, "what have you done to yourself?"

"Oh Elphie," cried out Glinda, suddenly feeling this… this warmth rise in her. She felt like she was happy or something close to it after all these years of no feeling.

Her hands felt loose, fabric in her grasp and Glinda smiled, those dark lips curving in delight. She was so close to Elphaba's skin… so close to her once more. But she quickly felt the fabric being torn away from her fingertips.

"Don't touch me, Glinda," commanded Elphaba forcefully as Glinda heard her stand up on the rocks, "Not after what you've just done…"

The crashing waters of the river provided as a background as the two women stayed quiet in utter silence for a moment.

Glinda's lips trembled, didn't Elphie know? Couldn't she see that Glinda no longer could see anything, feel anything all for her sake? Didn't she know that Glinda had cursed herself for Elphaba and Fiyero? Didn't she know that Glinda had to be kissed by her lips in order for the curse to be broken?

"Elphie… please," begged Glinda, "I didn't mean to…"

Her pleas went unanswered.

"I can't forgive you for what you've done," shouted Elphaba passionately. Her words echoed through the stillness of the forest.

"Elphaba, what did I do?" asked Glinda, feeling hurt now more than ever over the green woman's refusal of her. She wanted to know why she was so upset, why she was so angry.

It took Elphaba a minute to answer and when she did, her voice was laced with cold hard anger.

"You tore Fiyero to pieces, Glinda. You ripped away all of the straw and stuffing that he was made out of, and now he's gone, dead. All because of you…"

I know this is a bit different than my usual fanfics but I got inspired by this Twisted Disney Princess pic of Aurora by jefftoon01. This is the first chapter of what I believe will only be a three-shot. I strongly encourage you all to go look up the picture because it truly is haunting. Please leave a review on your thoughts about this.

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