NellytheActress: You'll find out soon. Don't worry.

ExoticPeachBlossom: LOL! You're welcome!

SkySorrow: I'm actually not working with the other authors in the story. I was considering making everyone from Earth, but that's been done too many times, so I decided on Ozians instead.

Iamgoku: Close, but not quite.

The movie references were from Finding Nemo (Maddalia's little singsong) and from The Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian (You people have no imagination.) The TV reference was from Wizards of Waverly Place (Why are you hitting yourself?)


The sun was beginning to rise in the eastern sky. Elphaba slowly opened her eyes, wincing at the sudden light streaming in from her room. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and yawned. She felt much better this morning. Her fever had gone down and she felt hungry. Rising, from the bed, she slowly made her way out of the room.

She turned, trying to figure out where everything was. She sniffed the air and a sweet scent caught her attention. She followed the smell and her nose led her, thankfully, to the kitchen.

"Oh, what a pair we'll be, the weekend and pie!" Nathalinia sang as she took a coconut cream pie of the oven. She turned around and jumped, seeing the green woman standing there. "Oh. Hi, Fae. You're awake."

Elphaba nodded.

"You must be hungry," the young girl smiled, placing the pie on the counter, looking at it as if to say 'Stay' and walked up to Elphaba. "I'll get everyone else up and then we can have breakfast."

And with that, Nathalinia skipped away, leaving Elphaba alone to her thoughts. The green girl stood awkwardly in the kitchen, not knowing what to do or where to go. She decided to wander through the hideout.

The green woman wandered aimlessly down the long hallways, lightly sliding her fingers against the wall, lost in her own world. She didn't know what it was about this place, but it made her feel safe. Like nothing could harm her. Nothing bad could touch her.

"Stop! Thief!" a voice shrieked.

Startled, Elphaba dove into a corner and wrapped her arms around her knees. She saw a shadow of a person run past her, followed by a loud cackle.

"MADDALIA, PUT THAT PIE BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM, OR SO HELP ME…"

"You'll never catch me alive!" Maddalia cackled.

"I. WILL. DESTROY. YOU!" A whiz and Maddalia screamed. Something made of tin hit the floor and soon, a rush of footsteps flooded Elphaba's ears.

"What's going on?"

"What happened?"

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Ooh… pie!"

Elphaba gathered up her courage and stood up. Smoothing out her nightgown, she slowly made her way towards where she heard everyone gathering.

The girls, all still dressed in their nightgowns, were standing in a circle around someone, probably Maddalia, snickering.

"This isn't funny!" the older girl hissed as she tried to push herself to her feet, but failed.

"It kinda is," Elicity giggled.

"It is!" Nathalinia cackled.

"Stop trying to cackle like me," Maddalia hissed. "And what… did you just shoot me with a paralytic arrow?!"

"Maybe…"

"You couldn't have shot me with a different arrow?"

"What arrow? A love arrow? And have you fall in love with the pie?! Who do you think I am? Cupid?"

"You'll pay for this!"

Had Maddalia been able to rise to her full height, the other girls would have been cowering in fear. But to see one of their older warriors lying on the floor, completely paralyzed, the younger girls erupted into a fit of giggles.

"Come on, guys. It's… not… funny," Maxinena said, trying her best to contain her laughter, but failed. Taking a deep breath, she reached down and pulled the arrow out of Maddalia's butt, causing her to wince.

"I hate you all so much right now," Maddalia growled as Maxinena helped her up and supported her along with Lizzie.

"It'll wear off in a while," Nathalinia said, waving a dismissive hand.

"You'd better hope it doesn't," Maddalia said, lunging towards the younger girl.

Yelping, Nathalinia, along with the other younger girls, ran away down the long corridor.

Maddalia sighed. "Sometimes, those girls…"

"We know," Lizzie giggled.

"I'll get them back!"

"I'm sure you will," Maxinena smirked, helping Maddalia down the hall.

Elphaba stood frozen the entire time, not fully sure of what was going on. Taking a deep breath, she turned on her heels and walked back to her room. When she got back, she found a simple, dark blue dress pressed out on her bed. Wondering where it came from, she picked it up and held it against her body. It looked like it would fit her, so she disappeared into the bathroom and quickly showered and dried her hair. Slowly, she put on her underclothes and pulled the dress over her head. It fit around her waist snugly and the skirt spilled down around her legs. She smiled, enjoying the feel of the soft cotton against her skin.

"Breakfast!" she head one of the girls call.

Slowly, Elphaba walked out of her room and walked back to the kitchen, where the eight girls were sitting around a large, circular table, eating breakfast.

"Fae, you're up!" Elicity smiled up at the green woman.

"She's been up," Nathalinia said, giving her friend a look.

Elicity glared at Nathalinia before pulling out the chair next to her. "You can sit next to me."

"And me?" Nelliee whined, looking at the vacant seat in between her and Elicity.

"Shut up, Nelliee!" Smiling back at the green woman, Elicity invitingly patted the seat she just pulled out.

Giving the younger girl a small smile, Elphaba slowly sat down and stared at her plate of food.

"You're not hungry, Fae?" Juyaliana asked, noticing that Elphaba hadn't touched any of her food.

"A little. I just… what were you all talking about before… about me being 'The One'?"

"It was nothing. Nattie shouldn't have said anything," Maddalia said, glaring daggers at the younger girl.

"It is most certaintly not nothing!" Nathalinia protested. "She could be…"

"And what if she isn't? You would have gotten her worked up over nothing."

"You're the one who's getting worked up."

Maddalia bit her bottom lip, looking almost ready to kill the younger girl. Nathalinia met her with an equally hard gaze.

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty," Chanela said, hoping that they wouldn't have to pull anyone off the ceiling. That job always fell to her and, Oz, how she hated that job.

"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we all just sit down, shut up, and drink some prune juice?" Juyaliana suggested optimistically.

"We don't have any prune juice," Nelliee said dryly.

"Then maybe we should get some. Maybe that why those two are always arguing like cats and dogs. I'm telling you, it's the lack of fiber that…"

"Thank you," the rest of the girls interrupted, not in the mood for Juyaliana's sciencey spiel.

"I'm not a little girl anymore! You can't keep telling me what to do," Nathalinia shouted across the table at Maddalia.

"Says the girl who still sleeps with a teddy bear," the older girl shouted back.

"We do not insult Mr. Snuggles!"

"Guys, we have a guest," Lizzie said.

Nathalinia and Maddalia stopped arguing and muttered quick apologies before sitting back down.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Elicity asked, trying to brighten up the mood.

"I have to work on my training," Nelliee said, stabbing her eggs with her fork.

"Me too," Chanela said.

"Me three," Juyaliana added.

"I think it's safe to say that we all have to work on our training," Nathalinia said, taking a sip of her juice. "Although…"

"No, Nattie," Maxinena said sternly.

"Well… that's the only way we're gonna know for sure."

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

Nathalinia gave the older girl an innocent smile before turning towards Elphaba. "Fae, there's an old prophecy that in the year of the Lion, which is this year, a warrior princess will rise up from the shadows and defeat the Wizard."

"He's been in power for too long. I'm sick of him," Juyaliana complained, grabbing the butter knife and cutting a slice of bread.

"The Wizard?" Elphaba asked. Why did that name ring a bell?

Maxinena nodded. "Yup, the 'Wonderful Wizard of Oz'. Or so people think. Every time I hear that, it makes me wanna…"

"The point is," Lizzie quickly interrupted, "that it might be time to overthrow the Wizard and restore peace to Oz."

"And we can't do that without our hero," Chanela said.

"And you think she's the hero?" Nelliee asked.

"She's the only person who's entered these woods in a while. Plus, she's green. She's our best bet," Nathalinia said, finishing her breakfast. "Everyone ready?"

"To do what?" Maddalia asked, putting her fork down.

"To go down to the catacombs."

"I'm finished," Elicity said, taking her last sip of juice.

"Me, too," Juyaliana said.

"Me, three," Chanela chimed.

"Great! Let's go!" Nathalinia chirped, jumping out of her seat and running out of the kitchen, pursued by the other girls and Elphaba.

"Who has the key?" Juyaliana asked once everyone stopped in front of a large, wooden door.

Lizzie pulled a key out of her pocket, but hesitated. "Now, are you absolutely, positively, one hundred percent sure that…"

Not waiting for the older girl to finish her sentence, Elicity snatched the key from Lizzie's hand and unlocked the door.

The group quietly descended the stairs to the bottom and gathered around in a circle around a golden crown on a pedestal.

"What… what is that?" Elphaba asked, taking a step back.

"The Crown of Cythalia. She was the greatest warrior princess known to Oz. Like you, she also had green skin. Legend has it that when one of her descendants wears the grown, it will glow."

"But, the legend also says that if someone wears the crown and they're not a descendant of the warrior princess, they'll be disintegrated into ashes," Maxinena added.

"This should be interesting," Nelliee said.

"Go ahead. Try it on," Elicity encouraged.

Timidly stepping forward, Elphaba looked at the crown on the pedestal. She reached for it and pulled her hand back. "What… what if it's not me?"

"Then, as Maxinena said, you'll be disintegrated," Nelliee said, earning her an elbow to the ribs from Elicity.

Taking a deep breath, Elphaba took the crown and carefully placed it in her hair.

"Nothing's happening," Chanela said after a while. "Why isn't anything happening."

"Maybe the crown just needs some time to warm up," Juyaliana shrugged.

"Or maybe…" A sudden streak of light shot out from the crown. The girls were blasted against the wall and shielded their eyes against the bright light.

Elphaba closed her eyes as she felt her feet leave the ground. She stretched out her arms and inhaled deeply, suddenly feeling strongly calm.

The light finally died down and the girls opened their eyes. They gasped, seeing Elphaba no longer clothed in her black dress, but a royal blue warrior dress.

"What… you are… she is!" Elicity gasped, smiling. "Wow… Nattie was right."

"You sound really surprised about that fact," Nathalinia said, giving her friend a sideways look.

Elphaba looked over her new outfit and then back up at the girls. "What… what happens now?"

"Now comes the fun part," Lizzie smiled, stepping forward. "Training."


So, coming up are the eight training chapters, one for each lesson. The powers (and order) of the Calathean Warriors will be announced as their chapters come up because you all know I'm not one for spoilers. Reviews make my day!