Thank you all for your lovely responses!
Elphaba'sGirl: All in due time.
TheWickedrae: Lanie told me to update. Here you go!
ExoticPeachBlossom: Elphaba is very overprotective, but for a very good reason.
Ultimate Queen of Cliffies: Why don't you trust him? And to answer you review in 'Seeing the Light', I'm still taking notes from YOU and ExoticPeachBlossom. Let's just leave it at that… shall we? MWAHAHAHA!
Fiyero followed Lanie up the stairs to see what was wrong. He usually didn't want to get in the way when his daughter and wife clashed, which happened more times than anyone wanted to mention.
"Lanie?" he whispered, slowly opening the door.
Lanie was sitting on her bed, clutching her pillow close to her chest. Tears were still streaming down her face as she whimpered.
"Oh, Lanie," Fiyero whispered, sitting down on the bed next to his daughter. "What happened?"
"M-Mama d-d-doesn't trust me!" Lanie sobbed. "Why can't I go outside the castle walls? Why can't I go into the forest? Why can't I have friends and a normal life?!"
"Shh," Fiyero whispered, rocking Lanie in his arms as he kissed away her tears. He couldn't tell her about the rumors. It was too risky. He felt bad for the way things were, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"Papa, tell me," Lanie begged.
"Mama's just…" Fiyero searched his brain for a plausible excuse. "She… she just doesn't want you to grow up too fast." That sounded like it should do it.
"But I'm a teenager now! I'm not a baby anymore. I don't need her always hanging over my shoulder."
"I know, sweetie. I know," Fiyero whispered, kissing away her last tear. Lanie looked up into her father's eyes. Fiyero bit his lip, trying not to cry at how much hurt, confusing and pain was hidden away in her eyes. "I'll talk to Mama."
"Thank you," Lanie whispered as her father hugged her and left the room.
Lanie groaned when she heard something hitting her window. Forcing her eyes open, she realized that it was still dark out. It was the middle of the night, not her ideal wake-up time. When the noises didn't stop, she pushed her covers from her body and slowly walked towards her window. Pushing the curtains aside and opening the window, she looked down and saw Arlis standing outside.
"You're such an idiot," Lanie said plainly.
"I know, but I'm your idiot," Arlis smiled.
"What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night, when most people would like to still be asleep."
"I came to see you."
"Other than the obvious."
"I was wondering if you wanted to come with me into the forest."
"Repeating what I said before; you're such an idiot. It's still dark outside."
"Please?" Arlis pleaded, extending his hand to the princess.
Lanie rolled her eyes and reached for the vine handing outside her bedroom window. Grasping it, she climbed out of her window and down the wall. Arlis met her with a giant smile and they walked into the forest together.
The two teenagers had a wonderful time that night. Lanie didn't realize how long she was there until she opened her eyes and the sun was shinning and she wasn't in her bed. She was lying on the dirty forest floor, securely wrapped in Arlis' arms.
"Arlie?" she whispered, shaking the boy awake. Arlis muttered something under his breath and kept his eyes closed. "Arlie?" Lanie tried again, shaking his arm harder this time. After a while, Arlis' eyes slowly fluttered open and he gazed at Lanie.
"What time is it?" he muttered.
"Time for me to go," Lanie said as she squirmed out of his arms.
"No! Stay, please," Arlis begged.
"I'm sorry. I can't. My parents' would go insane if I wasn't in bed when they woke me up. They know me well enough to know that I sleep in until someone wakes me up. My mom says I get it from my dad, put quite frankly, I don't see it. He's the early bird of the family.
Arlis nodded and allowed Lanie to stand up. He saw her conjure up a lavender-colored, sparkly ball of light and watched with curiosity as she began to scrub her face, arms and legs with it.
"What is that?" he asked.
Lanie looked up. "Oh, it's just a simple spell I learned from reading the Grimmerie. I don't want to go back home smelling like the outdoors, so this make me smell like lavender."
"You have magical abilities?"
Lanie nodded. "Yeah."
"What's the Grimmerie?"
"It's an old book of spells. My mom has it, though I don't know why. She says it's to make sure it stays safe or something."
"Safe from what?"
"That's what I don't know. Anyway, last night was really fun and, um… yeah," Lanie chuckled before running out of the forest back to the castle.
Arlis smiled. This was easier than he thought.
Elphaba was walking down the hallway, sliding her hand against the wall as she walked to Lanie's room to wake her up.
"Lanie?" she asked, slowly opening the door. "It's time to get up now." Not hearing her daughter, Elphaba entered the room and walked towards the bed. "Lanie?" She stretched out her hand until her fingertips grazed the blanket. Her eyes widened as she discovered what was going on; Lanie was gone. "No," she whispered, frantically turning her head. "Lanie! Lanie, where are you?"
Lanie was out of breath when she reached the castle. Grabbing the vine, she climbed back up the wall.
"Fiyero! Fiyero!" Elphaba shouted, her voice rising into hysterics.
Lanie froze. Her mother was in her room, looking for her. Regretting staying in the forest all night, she closed her eyes. She knew she wasn't going to make it out of this mess-up alive.
"Fae, what is it?" Fiyero asked, rubbing his eyes as he ran into the room.
"Lanie's missing!" Elphaba cried as she felt Fiyero wrap his arms around her.
"Fae," Fiyero whispered, rocking Elphaba in his arms. "Everything's –"
"Don't you dare say that everything's going to be alright!" Elphaba snapped, pushing away from Fiyero. She hung her head and she wrapped her arms around her abdomen. "If anything happens to her…"
"Elphaba," Fiyero whispered, stopping Elphaba with a kiss. "Let's go search around the castle before we start to panic."
Elphaba slowly nodded and Fiyero led her out of the room. Once she sensed her parents were gone, Lanie resumed her climb up the wall to her room. Climbing in the window, she let out a small sigh. When her parents found her, she would be in so much trouble.
Deciding that she looked presentable and smelt nice, she leaned her head against the window, trying to catch her breath.
"Lanie, there you are!"
Lanie jumped. Her parents really needed to stop sneaking up on her like that. Turning around, she saw her father with a relieved look on his face, while her mother looked murderous. Very, very murderous.
Fiyero ran into the room and wrapped Lanie in a hug. Elphaba stood in the doorway, her glare growing harder and harder by the second.
"We were worried sick about you!" Fiyero cried, tightening his grip around Lanie.
"Mmhmm," Lanie said, struggling for air. "Air!" she managed to choke out.
"Sorry," Fiyero said sheepishly, loosening his grip on her.
"Where were you?" Elphaba asked. If her glare had gotten any harder, she would have been a rock.
"Nowhere," Lanie said.
"No! You're not going to lie anymore. You're going to tell your father and I exactly where you went!" Elphaba snapped.
"Fae, please," Fiyero sighed.
"No, Yero! Lanie, where were you this morning?" Elphaba asked, her eyes looking right at Lanie, making the teenager shiver.
"Outside," Lanie whispered.
"Outside where?" Elphaba asked.
Fiyero's sighed as he sensed another one of Elphaba's magic outbursts coming on. The last thing he needed was for her to blast the entire Vinkus off the map of Oz. "Fae…"
Elphaba ignored her husband as she waited for her daughter's answer. "Lanie, w- wait! Why do you smell like… lavender?"
Lanie bit her lip. Why didn't she think her plans through? "I… I…"
Elphaba's eyes widened as she realized what had happened. Lanie used the perfume spell to cover up her real scent. "You went into the forest, didn't you? Didn't you!?"
Lanie stepped back. Never, in all her life, had she seen her mother this angry. Sure, they had their mother-daughter fights, but Elphaba never got this mad. "Mama, I…"
"DIDN'T YOU!?" Elphaba shouted. Fiyero had to pull her back to stop her from charging at Lanie. Elphaba's blood was over-boiling and Fiyero knew he couldn't hold on to her forever.
"Shh, mon ange. Calm down. Just breathe. There's nothing to worry about," Fiyero whispered to her.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Elphaba shouted, pushing Fiyero away, causing the prince to fall on his rear end. It would have been quite funny, if not for the circumstances. "Lanie, answer me!"
"Yes! Okay? Yes! I went out into the forest," Lanie said, tired of her mother always on her case.
Elphaba went from blood over-boiling mad to raging hot spicy peppers mad.
"Lanie, why were you in the forest?" Fiyero asked, deciding it was time for him to step in before it was too late. He rose to his full height and looked at Lanie.
"I went to meet someone," Lanie said, her eyes locking with Elphaba's.
"Who?" Fiyero asked calmly.
"A boy."
"A boy?" Elphaba questioned, raising her eyebrow.
Galinda popped her head in when she heard the word 'boy'. She saw Elphaba and Lanie in the middle of a heated argument. Exchanging glances with Fiyero, she quietly slipped out.
"Why were you meeting a boy in the forest?" Elphaba asked, all types of scenarios running in and out of her brain.
"He's just a friend," Lanie said.
"What's his name?" Fiyero asked, his voice remaining calm.
"Arlis."
"Why were you meeting him in the forest?"
"Because you won't let me invite anyone over here! Because you won't let me have any friends. I'm sick and tired of staying cooped up in this castle all day long with no one to talk to. Why can't I go outside?"
"I don't want you to see him anymore," Elphaba whispered, her voice hard and cold.
Lanie's face dropped. "Why not?"
"It's too dangerous."
"But he's my only friend. He hasn't done anything to hurt me and he never will."
"You deliberately disobeyed me. My decision is final. You are never to set foot into the forest again. You are to remain inside the castle where someone can always see you."
"Mama, no! Please!"
"No, Khylana. It's dangerous out there. You don't know who people really are, what they're like and what they will do. You can't just go around trusting people like this."
"Arlis is sweet and he would never do anything to harm me!"
"How long have you known him?"
"Six months," Lanie answered, then realized her mistake. That's six months worth of sneaking out of the house and lying about it.
"Six months," Elphaba repeated to herself. "So all this time, you were lying to both your father and I about your whereabouts?"
It was Fiyero's turn to look displeased. He hated it as much as Elphaba did when Lanie lied to them. Though he was more understanding than she was, he still hated it.
"Yero, talk to the General Vanadium. Since Lanie can no longer be trusted, we need to make sure she stays out of the forest," Elphaba said, turning towards Fiyero.
"Fae, are you sure this is such a good idea?" Fiyero asked, fearing that this would make everything worse.
"I'm positive. Tell him to send a soldier at each of the points on the castle grounds to make sure Lanie doesn't leave."
"Mama!" Lanie gasped, shocked. She didn't need to be treated like a child.
Elphaba held up her hand to silence her. She turned around, her glare not loosing its hardness. "No, Khylana. You have proven to me that you can't be trusted."
"But, Mama –"
"NO!"
Lanie balled her fingers into a fist, her whole body shaking. She couldn't believe her mother was doing this to her. All she wanted was a friend. "I HATE YOU!" she shouted as she ran out of her room, roughly brushing past her mother and dissolving into a fit of sobs.
"Lanie, get back here right now and apologize to your mother!" Fiyero shouted down the hallway.
"No, let her stay mad. It's not going to do her any good. My decision is still final," Elphaba said, trying to stop the tears from forming in her eyes.
"Mon ange," Fiyero whispered, quickly collecting Elphaba in his arms.
Elphaba pulled away. "Yero, talk to General Vanadium and tell him what I said. Please?"
Fiyero nodded. "Are you sure?"
"If you question me one more time…"
"Okay, okay! I'm going," Fiyero said as he hurried out of the room.
"What is wrong with you, boy?" a gruff voice asked.
Arlis kept his gaze on the ground, not wanting to answer the question.
"You're supposed to lure the princess in, not fall in love with her and invite her to the prom!"
"I didn't say anything about the prom," Arlis defended himself.
"Remember your job, boy. Or do I have to remind you of the consequences?"
"No."
"No, what?"
"No, sir."
"No, sir what?"
"No, sir, General Actinium."
"Actinium, please don't be so hard on the boy. He's just a teenager," another male voice said.
"A teenager who needs to remember his place in this operation, Osmium," General Actinium said.
"When will our plan take action?" another general, Tantalum, asked.
"Well, we are attacking the Vinkus first. They have what we want. We must know more. Arlis, have you anything to report?" the final general, Polonium, asked, looking at the boy.
"There are seven of them living in the castle. The future queen, the green one, is blind and the young princess has magical abilities."
"Did she show them to you?"
"She did."
"See? The boy is useful," Polonium said, looking around the table at the other generals.
"Very well. You have done a good job, Arlis. You're dismissed," Actinium said.
Arlis bowed and exited. A knot formed in his throat and he quickly gulped it down. He didn't tell the generals about the Grimmerie. He had already betrayed Lanie's trust.
I'm so sorry, Lanie, he thought as he walked out of the meeting room.
FIRST NIA OF THE STORY: Where did I get the generals' names from? One-shot with the prompt of your choice to the first person who guesses it correctly.
Favorite lines anyone?
