"Travelers"
9 Days Left
The train leaves early in the morning.
Elphaba was entertained at the fact that she had to wake up Glinda instead of the other way around.
The sun was still in a pale shade of blue when they decided to leave their dorm room. They were delayed, however, when Glinda noticed that Elphaba had left all her medicine on her bedside table.
"Um… Elphie," Glinda said uncertainly, pausing by the door.
Elphaba was already down the hall, carrying her valise with her. She turned around at the mention of her name. "Yes?" she inquired.
"Your medicine," Glinda said hesitantly, "You… forgot them." She had a very shrewd idea that Elphaba had purposely left them.
"Have I?" Elphaba said, but Glinda noticed the way she shuffled her feet to move farther discreetly from where she stood. "I'm pretty sure I put them in my things last night."
Glinda didn't know why, but she felt strangely annoyed. Elphaba was killing herself. She was going to die, there was no way of escaping that twisted ending. But, to Glinda, she shouldn't go the easy way out of her misery by subtle suicide.
Huffing with impatience, she strode into their room, grabbed the various bottles and dumped them unceremoniously in her bag. After that, she left for good, closing and locking the door behind her.
"Let's go," she said to Elphaba upon reaching her. She grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. "I took the liberty to pack your medicine for you."
Elphaba halted, drawing the two of them to pause at the peak of the stairs. "Put them back," Elphaba muttered, frowning at her own boots, evading her roommate's accusatory gaze.
"Elphie, you know you need them," Glinda asserted gently.
Elphaba's eyes snapped into hers.
For a moment, Glinda thought that she butchered their last trip. She could see imminent anger dancing in her friend's earth-colored eyes. The flaring of her nostrils didn't escape her notice. The deepening shade of green in her face hinted suppressed rage either. The arm Glinda held quivered, and for one mad second, she wildly thought that Elphaba might hit her for being so intrusive.
Glinda was almost ready to walk back to their room when Elphaba threw her gaze somewhere else.
"You know what? Let's not go through this," Elphaba suggested, "Bring them if you want for all I care, but I'm not taking them. Now, please, let's just go."
Harsher than she meant to, she wrenched her arm from Glinda's hold, and jogged down the stairs before the blonde could say anything.
Glinda pursed her lips as she stared at her roommate's retreating figure, wondering if their last trip together will work out.
They walked in complete silence towards the train station.
Glinda purposely lagged a couple steps behind, trying to think of possible activities and topics she could share with Elphaba at the train ride.
They were taking two trains to the Emerald City, and they had to stay the night in a town before they could ride again.
It was eating up precious hours left, but Glinda reasoned that it gives her more time with Elphaba. And she was determined to make it worthwhile. But she was off in a rough start, seeing as she had successfully irritated her roommate over a set of medications.
They sat in a bench at the station within several minutes.
Other than the conductor, the person manning the ticket station, and some security personnel, they were completely alone.
Glinda glanced at Elphaba several times, thinking of a way to break the muteness. Elphaba was sitting stock still, her eyes glazed as she absently stared at the rusty train tracks.
"Elphie, are you mad at me?" Glinda dared to ask, unable to take the chilly reticence anymore. It was a silly question. She knew she somehow struck a nerve. But she was desperate to mend the burning bridge between the two of them to salvage the fun and excitement she expected them to experience.
Elphaba blinked and seemed to have snapped from a deep trance. She turned her head to look at Glinda. "What? No, why?" she asked.
"Well, I think I made you mad by taking your…" Glinda faltered, tightly clutching the handle of her own valise. "I know you don't like them, but I just—"
"You're just afraid that I might drop dead if I don't have my prescribed intakes, is that it?" Elphaba said coldly, unaware that she was raising her voice in every word.
Glinda cringed at the bitterness of the words. "No, it's not like that," she said, though she knew that it was half a lie. She's terribly worried. "The doctor gave them to you for reasons, and I'm sure it somehow helps in—"
"In making me live longer?" Elphaba interrupted. Her voice sounded softer this time. Glinda was even taken aback to see her smiling serenely at her. "Glinda, I'm dying. I don't need them anymore. Nothing can help me anymore."
"Please stop," Glinda pleaded, directing her eyes in the opposite direction. She didn't want Elphaba to see the tears building in her eyes. Every time she tried to stir a conversation, no matter how irrelevant, it always ended with Elphaba reminding herself of her death. "Please. Not now."
Elphaba detected the change of mood and decided to say nothing else. She had even unwittingly hurt herself with her own words, and it was enough to drive her to silence once more.
Things were easier once they were on board.
They had a compartment to themselves. They seemed to have come up with a silent agreement to get over the little scuffle at the train station.
Glinda started firing about the Emerald City and the things they might see once they were there. To her immense relief, Elphaba was very interested and had frequently asked questions.
But not everything was perfect.
Their amiable conversation was occasionally hindered when Elphaba would start coughing. The coughing fits were no laughing matters either. They sounded deep and raspy that Glinda was almost certain that it was painful. But the green girl would soldier on and try to interact with Glinda as if nothing had happened.
By noon, halfway to the Emerald City, they've reached the town Glinda had been told about. They got off and headed to the nearest inn.
"It feels so good to be out of classrooms. Right, Elphie? … Elphie?"
Glinda turned around and saw Elphaba standing a few feet away from her, staring fixedly at something beyond the woods. Curious, she stood beside her, squinting to see better.
Her skin crawled and her back felt an unpleasant chill.
Far beyond where they stood, almost obscured by the branches of the towering trees, was a broad and green plain full of white, marble tombstones.
"Uh oh…" Glinda couldn't help but say to herself. A cemetery isn't what Elphaba needed right now.
Indeed, there was something about the local burial area that captured Elphaba's attention. She looked paler than ever. Her hands clenched and unclenched without her noticing. Her chest rise and fell in a fast pace. All in all, she looked as though she was ready to pass out any minute.
"Elphie, let's go," Glinda said, tugging at her arm. She was starting to feel wary of the sight of the graveyard.
Elphaba didn't move.
"Elphie."
No reaction.
Glinda dropped her valise and roughly grabbed Elphaba's shoulders, single-handedly twisting the green girl to face her. "For Oz's sake, Elphaba, look at me!" she commanded.
Elphaba's eyes seemed to regain focus. She blinked. "Oh…" she muttered, still breathing hard. Her face looked indifferent and composed, but her eyes betrayed her, showing the fear and apprehension she was struggling to keep inside.
Glinda didn't know what to say either. She just grabbed her valise in one hand, and took Elphaba's with the other. "Let's just go. Okay?" she asked, starting to lead the two of them away from the trail.
Elphaba glanced at the graveyard for one last time before letting herself be pulled away.
After securing a room in an inn, Glinda took Elphaba around the area.
She was annoyed at how the people ogled at Elphaba's striking complexion, but she kept her temper.
She never released Elphaba's arm as they walked around. Elphaba was still not in the right mind. She just let Glinda steer her. She barely talked either. Not once did she smile or laughed unlike what she did on the train.
Realizing that a "leisure walk" wasn't helping, Glinda directed the two of them back to the inn as the sun started to set.
She barely ate dinner, and she went straight to bed afterwards. Glinda couldn't find the heart to remind her of the medicines she had to take. So instead, she collapsed next to her on the bed they shared.
Hours later, long after Glinda had dozed off, Elphaba lie awake in the dark, staring at the starry night outside.
Even while she was awake, she was already suffering from visions of her name imprinted on a white slab of stone.
Nine days, she thought to herself with a conflicting amount of panic and numbness, Nine more days, and nightmare becomes reality.
With that sadistic idea, Elphaba curled on one side and wait for sleep to come.
A/N: … This is what you get from listening to Avril Lavigne's "Keep Holding On". It's been stuck in my head for days, and viola. Angst, angst, angst, angst….