I don't own Wicked.
Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands was a typical Gillikinese girl attending Shiz. She was blonde, beautiful, pretty blue eyes, and had the perfect figure. She had a great sense of fashion and was the most popular girl at university. She loved shopping, gossiping, and makeovers. What wasn't so typical about her was her best friend was green as sin; she had a secret passion for architecture, and actually could hold an intelligent conversation, as proven by her best friend, Elphaba. However, Galinda was about to find out that she wasn't exactly normal. She was about to find out something more, and something that she couldn't have even created in her dreams.
That night was typical; she took a bath, had Elphaba read to her aloud to whatever book the green girl happened to read, she got under her covers, and fell asleep on her plush pink pillow. However, she heard a noise and woke up with a start. She sat up and looked around fearfully until her eyes landed upon this pink fairylike creature. It was creepier than the ones from the fairytales, for its ears were pointed and its mouth held sharp teeth. It grinned at her and made a motion, as if urging her to follow her.
This would have startled her more if she hadn't seen this thing already. She had seen it multiple times in her life, the first time when she was only three, and the last just a few nights ago, although, it was becoming more frequent. But there was something different about it tonight, and that was that it wanted it to follow her. Usually, it would just fly around the room for a few minutes, then go back to wherever it came from. Blood dripped from its mouth before it disappeared. "Elphie," Galinda whispered to her roommate, a bit scared at the fairy creature for the first time in her life. "Elphie!" she said a bit louder this time, and the green girl stirred.
"What is it?" she mumbled and turned to face the blonde. "This better be important." Galinda went to explain to her that she saw the fairylike creature, and she was about to tell her everything. However, she remembered that the last time she told her parents, they thought she belonged in a psych ward when she persisted about it. Luckily, she had only been ten and the psychologist had said it was probably just an imaginary friend and she'd grow out of it. But it wasn't an imaginary friend, Galinda knew, but it was something more.
"I-I had a nightmare," she managed to say. "And I'm completely terrified." The last part had been the truth. Since the more frequent appearances of the creature, she was thinking she was losing her mind. Sleep had been hard to come by lately.
"You look exhausted, Galinda," Elphaba said when she noticed how tired her roommate sounded.
"I haven't been able to sleep right in months," the blonde admitted. It was true and she knew she must look it because she had to apply more and more makeup to hide the dark circles under her pretty eyes.
"Come here. There's no need to cry." Galinda felt her cheeks with her hands and discovered that she was indeed, crying. Why hadn't she noticed that before? Wordlessly, Galinda got out of her bed and hopped into Elphaba's. She leaned her head on Elphaba's chest and listened to her heartbeat. For some reason, she found this calming as well as long, green digits combing through her curls. She could hear the fairy talking to her, but she ignored it. She was terrified she was losing her mind more and more, and quite quickly as well.
"Elphie, what if I told you I can see fairies and I can hear them talking to me?" Galinda questioned, hoping she didn't sound too crazy.
"I'd say you have some kind of mental disorder," Elphaba stated. "What a weird question to ask. Just go to sleep. Your mind must be playing tricks on you after that nightmare of yours."
"Yes," Galinda whispered and gripped the fabric to Elphaba's nightgown in her fist. "You're right."
"Just go to sleep. Remember, it's just a dream. It cannot harm you." Galinda nodded, but the fairy was still there, trying to get her to follow it. She gripped Elphaba's nightgown tighter, reminding herself that it wasn't real. The fairy couldn't be real. It was her unstable mind she kept a secret from everyone. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep as Elphaba rubbed her back in a somewhat motherly fashion.
The next day, Galinda was exhausted. She got little sleep, but forced herself to go to class. She was terrified because the fairy wouldn't leave her alone. Usually, the fairy would show up at night, but today, it was flying beside her and gently tugging on her hand to get her to follow it. But she ignored it and took a seat in Doctor Dillamond's history lecture. Perhaps this would distract her. "My Oz, Galinda, you look awful!" Pfannee said as she took a seat beside the blonde. "Was that roommate of yours plaguing you all night?"
"Oz, no. I just couldn't sleep. And do not speak of Elphaba in such a way, please," she sighed, not really having the energy to speak. She ignored her so called friends and tried to focus on Dillamond's lecture.
"Miss Glinda," Galinda heard a male voice as she was shaken awake. She must have fallen asleep in class! How embarrassing, she thought. Her friends didn't even care to wake her, she assumed, as the class was deserted. Even Elphaba was gone, which wasn't like her at all. She usually stayed to talk with her favorite professor.
"I am so sorry," Galinda said, not even caring that he didn't pronounce her name correctly. She had stopped correcting him about a month or two ago, completely giving up on correcting him every time he said her name.
"You look exhausted, Miss Glinda. Is everything okay?" he questioned her. She could tell him. Really, she should have told him what was going on. She knew he knew a lot about science and history, and perhaps he could explain her condition to him without having to report her to a psychiatric ward. But instead of telling him, she just asked,
"I've been thinking lately," she started. "And how do you know if someone has a mental disorder?"
"Do you think you have a mental disorder?" he asked her with only concern in his voice.
"I-yes," she confessed. "I've been seeing this fairy creature since I was three. Lately, it wants me to follow it and I can't sleep at night because I'm terrified. You must think I'm insane," Galinda said as she got up and started pacing around the room. "Perhaps I do belong in an asylum. Maybe they can make the images stop, or even better, just detach the frontal lobe of my brain and call it a day. Maybe-"
"Miss Glinda," Doctor Dillamond interrupted her. "Excuse me, but I must say you do not belong in one of those hospitals for the insane. You are actually quite sane."
"Then explain the fairy thing! It's tugging on my hand right now and I just…oh, why won't it just go away? Haven't I been tortured enough?"
"Maybe you should follow the fairy," he said, playing along with her antics. "Follow it and see what happens. Maybe once you follow it, it'll go away for it will be satisfied. Pardon me for saying this, but many times when a person fulfills what the hallucinations are telling them, they go away. Your case seems harmless to others, so I say just follow the fairy. You don't seem to lack judgment, so if it told you to harm yourself, I highly doubt you'll do it."
"You won't tell anyone about this, will you?" the blonde asked. She was so tired, she had accidently let her secret slip.
"No, I won't. If I do, you will probably end up in one of those hospitals. And Miss Glinda, you are too good to end up in one of those."
"Now I see why you're Elphie's favorite professor. Thank you."
"You are welcome," the Goat said as she left the room.
That night, the fairy continued to persist that she follow it. Galinda decided to be brave. "Hold on," she whispered, taking Doctor Dillamond's advice. "It's cold out there." She put her robe on and followed the fairy. Although it was creepy looking, the fairy seemed nicer than she had originally thought. It flew in front of her as she left Crage Hall. She hadn't realized how far she ran to keep up with the thing until she looked behind her shoulder and couldn't see the dormitories anymore.
Galinda was led into a forest and eventually a ruin of stones carved with intricate designs. The walls were at least four stories tall and seemed to be left over from some ancient civilizations. She continued to follow the fairy as she stared at it in awe. She hadn't even noticed it started to rain. "What is this place?" she asked no one in particular when she realized she had walked down the steps. She was completely surrounded by large columns and carvings of stone walls. The rain made it look even more beautiful than it already seemed to be. It made the rock shine in the moonlight.
"This is just above the portal." Galinda jumped as she was startled at the voice. She turned around to see Doctor Dillamond holding an umbrella over his head, then bringing her under it with him. She hadn't realized how cold the rain was or how it was drenching her nightclothes and ruining her perfect curls.
"Doctor Dillamond?" Galinda questioned. "What are you doing here?"
"I knew you would finally follow the fairy. I've been waiting for you to follow her for quite a while now, since you started attending this very university, actually."
"What is going on? I am extremely confusified and I'd love an explanation right now," she demanded.
"Miss Glinda, let me explain. You can see this fairy, and so can I, but for different but very similar reasons of course. I am not from Oz, and neither are you."
"Of course I'm from Oz!" Galinda exclaimed and stepping away from the umbrella as the rain started to drench her again. "I was born in Gillikin!"
"Maybe you weren't ready to come here," Doctor Dillamond responded. "You should learn about your origins before you come here. Take this paper and research it," he said and handed her a piece of paper of a drawing of a blonde girl. It looked to be quite old, probably a photograph from a book. "Learn about her, Miss Glinda. Then when you put the pieces together, come back here. I will be waiting."