A/N: Oh dear, it seems I've done it again-haven't I. Started another story, and then forgot about it. Well, fear not readers because I have returned with another chapter. And I'm also half a chapter ahead of myself, so hopefully no more unplanned hiatuses. This is the second chapter of Glinda's descent into insanity. Enjoy-and remember, constructive criticism is appreciated, and-why bother with flames?
"Elphaba?" Glinda whispered disbelievingly. Her palms started to sweat, and her hands began to shake. Was it truly Elphaba returned from the dead? And if so-what would she think of Glinda, leading the celebrations of her death? Glinda bit her cheek to keep from calling out. It would not do for the Ozians to notice that the 'dead' Wicked One was in their midst.
Glinda kept her eyes on the green woman, gaze fixed an unblinking. Finally she did blink and when Glinda searched to find the green woman Elphie? - she could not. The woman with the emerald skin had vanished out of the blue. Desperately scanning the crowd, Glinda searched for Elphaba. She would be satisfied to catch a glimpse of her old friend.
There! A flash of emerald, a pop of verdigris. Elphie! But…wait. Either Glinda was seeing things, or Elphaba had a twin she never mentioned. Several, in fact. There were at least twenty Elphabas pushing through the crowd to get to the stage. The strange thing was, the crowd seemed not to notice the Elphie doppelgangers. The Ozians were staring up at Glinda waiting for her to continue the speech. Which she would have to finish, realized Glinda.
She shook her head and fluffed her hair, and then proceeded to close her eyes for a brief moment. When Glinda opened her eyes not one Elphie twin was there. They had all vanished, as if they had not even been there in the first place. Perhaps her insomnia had gotten the better of her? After all, she had been extremely tired lately. Clearing her throat, Glinda turned to the microphone once again to address the Citizens of Oz.
"Fellow Ozians," she spoke, "I am sure you all recall what horrendible things the Wicked One bestowed upon our fair country of Oz." The crowd booed almost if given a cue-hissing their hatred of the witch. Glinda gave her largest plastic smile before continuing.
"But let us not dwell on her wicked ways. We are here celebrating her death-are we not?" This time a cheer rose up from the crowd. "Oh what a celebration we'll have today, let's have a celebration the Glinda way!" she cheered before going on, "We have a splendiferous ball planned and all are welcome to attend. Thank you fellow Ozians and happy Freedom Day!" Glinda cheered, smiling at the citizens before exiting the stage.
She closed the doors to her mansion to the roar of the crowd. Dismissing the guards, Glinda went up to her chambers to prepare for the ball. Slipping on her famous blue gown and diamond tiara, Glinda once again observed herself in the mirror. Staring into her own eyes, she furrowed her brow when the mirror began to fog up. It wasn't fog anymore…the mirror was entirely grey from smoke.
Out of that smoke appeared the head of Elphaba. Her face was screwed up in an expression of pure disgust for the blonde before her.
"Tsk, tsk my sweet," the apparition spoke, "Now we're seeing things? Just one more step into the deep end," she cackled. "Now just what will the Ozians say to that? 'Oh yes, we had no inkling that our Lady Glinda was truly batshit, oh no,'" the face of Elphaba laughed. "Oh my sweet, you are totally screwed. Better start getting your room in the loony bin ready." Elphaba paused to take a breath. "Nothing to say my pretty? This is ever so unlike you."
Glinda-ever since the fog had first appeared in the mirror-had been stunned into silence. On one hand, she wanted to scream at Elphaba; to ask her why she had died, why had she left Glinda all alone, why she was being so mean… but on the other hand-Glinda wanted to get down on her knees and pray, thanking Lurline that Elphaba had returned to her, no matter how unconventional the form.
She chose a combination of the two. Silently thanking the deities for Elphie's return, Glinda stepped up to the mirror. Looking Elphaba straight in the eyes, she spoke-getting louder and louder as she became more confident. Thank Goodness most of the servants had the holiday off, lest they be able to hear her.
"How dare you!" Glinda shrieked,"You go and die, leaving me here all alone-and you blame it on me?" She gave a bitter laugh, not unlike Elphaba's earlier one. "You cannot possibly be my Elphie, because my Elphie would never do this. I may have once loved you-but NO LONGER!"
And with that, Glinda picked up her silver tipped hairbrush from the vanity and threw it at the mirror-breaking it, Elphaba's image, and Glinda's heart. Gasping and out of breath Glinda surveyed the mess she had made. There were glass shards all over the carpet-but thankfully she did not receive a cut anywhere on her porcelain skin.
Feeling satisfied and somewhat proud of herself Glinda left her chambers, glass crunching under her heels. It was time for the 'celebrations ' to begin.
Upon arriving at the OzMist Banquet Hall, Glinda took a deep breath before pushing open the gilded double doors. Entering-she was struck by cheers, hollers, and flashing lights. Feeling somewhat disoriented, Glinda flashed a beaming smile at the crowd.
"Fellow Ozians," she spoke in an excited tone, "It is so wonderful to be here at this ball with all of you!"
More cheers. "Glinda, you're so good!" cried one exuberant citizen. "We love yeeewww Glinda," called another.
Glinda gave a tinkling laugh, waving her hand about."I know, I know," she said, "And now-let us begin the celebrations!" The Ozians cheered once more, and then wandered off and began to mingle. Glinda sighed, fixing a plastic smile on her face. Let the games begin.
She wandered about the banquet hall, greeting guests and exchanging pleasantries- "Oh Ophelia, you look fabulous," and "Sir Quadington, how are the grandchildren?"
She was the picture of a charming hostess, but in actuality, Glinda just wanted to scream at them all. To yell that they shouldn't be so happy on this somber day. The day when Elphaba…dearest Elphie met her end. That day, that fateful day… Glinda looked off to the distance.
"Lady Glinda?" and she was snapped back into reality. The person who had interrupted her reverie was a man-attractive enough she supposed. The trouble was, the thing that made her heart skip a beat in horror-the man looked oddly like Fiyero. The same tousled brown hair, the same tan skin, the same blue diamond tattoos.
Glinda blanched, a fog clouding her mind. She could faintly hear herself replying back that she must've been distracted for a moment. The man laughed, sounding exactly like Fiyero. It made her heart clench. He looked like Fiyero, sounded like Fiyero-but it couldn't be the scandalacious Winkie prince-returned from the afterlife? Could it?
Glinda blinked, trying to get rid of the green spots that had formed behind her eyelids. As she listened absentmindedly to the Fiyero-clone (who she wasn't sure exactly who he was), something strange began to happen. The green spots-usually caused when one stares at the sun/lights for a long period of time-were merging into what looked like a solid figure. They took the shape of a person Glinda knew all too well.
Elphaba. Was she hell bent on driving her to, and past the brink of insanity? Glinda assumed so. Elphaba cackled. Glinda whipped her head around, could nobody else see the green woman? The Fiyero-clone continued to drone on. Glinda ceased listening. Her attention was focused solely on Elphaba.
"Oh my sweet," laughed the green witch, "You thought you could get rid of me that easily?" She cackled once again, sending shivers down Glinda's spine. "Well-think again." She moved forward until her mouth was less than an inch away from Glinda's ear. "I'll be here as long as you are still living. Watching, waiting-forever." Elphaba let out a final bone chilling laugh before disappearing into green smoke-leaving Glinda all alone with the Fiyero look alike.
Speaking of the man…"And when my father and then brother Fiyero died-that's how I became king of the Winkies!" he looked at Glinda expectantly, awaiting her response.
She stumbled to find the right words to use. "Well," Glinda smiled charmingly, "That story was quite facinatiory Your Highness, but I'm afraid I have to go and…powder my nose." Glinda giggled. "A lady must look her best on every occasion." She curtsied to the Winkie King, he kissed her hand, and then Glinda flounced off in a wave of blue taffeta.
On her way to the ladies' room, Glinda spotted a waiter holding a tray. On it were flutes of champagne. 'One glass wouldn't hurt,' Glinda told herself, 'I could do with a little loosening up.' Grabbing a glass, Glinda downed half of it in one gulp. What Crope and Tibbett would've said-had they been alive. Little Galinda finally learned how to hold her alcohol.
Finally arriving at the bathroom, Glinda checked to make sure there was nobody in there-and once she was assured, Glinda locked the door. She placed the glass containing the half empty glass of champagne on the glittering emerald countertop. Glinda checked herself in the mirror. She appeared to be…old, sad-and was there a hint of insanity in her bright blue eyes? No of course not. She was Glinda the Good and she was perfectly sane. Right?
Glinda suddenly winced, putting a manicured hand to her forehead. The doctor had warned her about overthinking. That-coupled with her extreme case of insomnia, could lead to some very drastic results. Luckily, she had been given medicine to alleviate the symptoms.
Out of her purse Glinda pulled a black bottle. When she shook it, she could hear the rattling of hundreds of tiny pills. She twisted open the cap, and tipped the bottle up. Out fell four tiny green pills. Looking for something to take them with, Glinda's eyes fell on the glass of champagne.
After swallowing the pills, Glinda reapplied her makeup and stowed the green bottle away. She failed to recall the warning label on the medicine bottle. Do not take with alcohol. My have disastrous results.
Later that evening, Glinda was out unaccompanied in the garden of the banquet hall, when she suddenly began to feel faint. Sitting down on a stone bench, she watched as her vision began to go grey at the edges. Panicking slightly, Glinda tried to stand up, but soon found out that she could not. Losing sight and consciousness quickly, Glinda saw a green figure standing not too far away from her.
"Elphie?" she whispered before everything turned to black.
A/N: Well, ta-da! Second chapter's done, one more to go! Hope you enjoyed-and I'll try to get the last chapter out as soon as I can. And…y'know, reviewing would be lovely.