Elphaba dragged herself throughout the entire day-which was a surprise. Elphaba never dragged. She strode or stomped or stormed, but never dragged. While doing all her obligations, lovingly told off as 'chores' as they are wont to tell her off as, Elphaba never lifted a foot more than an inch off the ground. She stayed stubbornly grounded to the floor. Strict Frexspar, dear Nessarose, and little Shell all noticed this very different Elphaba trudging inside the household instead of swift, solid Elphaba. Nanny simply tsked, tutted, and turned away at this seemingly moodier Elphaba and focused on getting a few more hours of shut-eye, before she has to serve the hodgepodge of Thropps.

Having never encountered this particular species of Elphaba before, the family was cautious and extremely wary. Fear did breed contempt and rash decisions and the Thropp family knew that those two are not a very good mix in the presence of Elphaba, regardless of whether or not she is truly Elphaba as of today-so the three watched and observed from afar.

This Elphaba still responded to simple requests and conversation pieces but usually brought grunts and loud dissatisfied sniffs for replies. In addition to being firmly rooted to the ground, Elphaba's hunched form became even more crooked, if it were possible (and it was, since the evidence is currently sulking under the Thropp residence), and arms in a default position of being defiantly crossed across the chest when not in use. When left alone to simmer and brood, and when Elphaba thinks that no one was watching, she would simply sit in front of an open window and watch the clouds meander through the sky. She became deathly still, barely blinking, and her eyes would cloud over like the expansive blue above her. Her arms would slowly fall and land softly on her lap, fingers twiddling. What was even more worrying (damning, as well, as this action was only done in dire times) was witnessing her mouth, slightly ajar, whispering words under her breath. The Thropps tried to strain their ears to hear her silent speech but it seemed that the intended audience included only Elphaba herself. Resigning Elphaba to her own devices was the only action left for the other residents, and so the three dispersed to do what needs to be done.

In reality, Elphaba knew that she was being watched. She knew that she never brought her foot higher than the width of a penny. She knew that her wit was as dull as her eyes on the sky. She knew that, well, she wasn't being particularly Elphaba today. Today should have been like any other day in Elphaba's life-it was a routine, a schedule in other words, and never was a day wasted on an activity that wasn't preplanned weeks ago. This wasn't how Elphaba planned this summer day to go as. She should be strutting around the house, making sure everything was in proper order. All the chores would be done and taken care of, and anything else that could be finished tomorrow was done today. Frexspar would be studiously working on his preachings, Nessie right at his side. Shell would be bothering Nanny or prancing about in the gardens. Elphaba would have a nose buried in a book, researching the importance of biological evolutions to better fit a species to their environment or brushing up on the next academic year's topics. Yet... strangely and oddly, here was Elphaba, perched on a chair she dragged from a table across the room, staring blankly up to space and repeating a mantra under her breath-and she wasn't worried in the slightest! If she was witnessing this scene days before, she would've kicked herself squarely behind and roared for her to channel her energy on something else. But Elphaba was planted firmly on the chair, and no phantom Elphaba from the past came to shake her out of her reverie.

Elphaba, while deceptively calm, was brewing. She was laying maps-mental maps, mind you-and reviewing the information hypothetically laid in front of her. Shiz University was in one corner, with the Charmed Circle waving lazily up to her, Galinda blowing a kiss and giving a smile. Somewhere off to its right was Dr. Dillamond and other Animals, all causing quite an imaginary protest with their cries for justice. Colwen Grounds and Rush Margins, her partial childhood house and current haunting place for the summer near Illswater, in another, her father was spitting fiery spiels of the Unnamed God. The Emerald City took another, the Wizard of Oz and Madame Morrible smiling mischeviously. The last corner, a fog was settled. She has been thinking about this particular fog throughout the day. Ever since she woke up, her mind was muddied and muddled with this thought of something uncertain. When she focused on it, bits and pieces of chopped conversations, flashes of scenes that she has never seen before, a promise, a desperate request, surface momentarily before losing itself among the thick vagueness and ambiguity of it all. It crashed and collided, the surf thundering and smashing into the cliffside of her mind. She was baffled by the meaning of it all. She hated it.

You don't put Elphaba Thropp in the dark, she beats the dark with a solid verbal lashing and makes it beg for her to light a match so it can no longer exist. But, this was something different. This was the future, not the immediate future, not a few weeks into the current date future, but the future. Elphaba can plan ahead and foresee months unraveling from now but this wasn't something she can mold to her liking. This future was already set in stone. She knew that it will happen because she has had visions of it, fleeting glances in dreamlike trances, her own voice speaking from the void. A cold blooded murder, a tiny lumpy bed, an icon of St. Glinda, a flying house, a castle on the mountains, a child with a bucket of water and an annoying dog (only a dog, hopefully), and... a white light. A very white light with static noises reaching deafening levels.

Elphaba Thropp was scared of this future. The moment she came back to her body was the moment she realized that she would have to die. Not in peace, not in battle, not willingly-Elphaba Thropp would die alone. Not with Dr. Dillamond, not with fair Galinda, not even with Nessa. Elphaba Thropp will pass the world of living, well and truly by herself.

"Horrors."