Doglover645: LOL! I never said the reference would be subtle. *Smirk*

PhantomoftheBarricade1832: Ding! Ding! Ding! You're correct! And we won't know what happens to the Shiz gang while this is going on, but we'll see them later.

UndeafeatedAura: LOL! This will be a mess!

NellytheActress: The order of Elphaba's lessons.

The next morning, Elphaba woke up to find a note taped to her nightstand. Yawning, she pushed herself up and opened the note.

Meet me in the arena after breakfast ~Elicity

Elphaba looked up and saw a dress hanging on the edge of her bed. It looked exactly like the one the crown gave her, only this one was a dark green. She quickly got out of bed, showered and put on the dress before joining the other girls for breakfast.

"Morning, Fae," Chanela greeted once the green girl entered the kitchen.

"Morning," Elphaba smiled at the younger girl. She would have to learn their names eventually.

"I'm sure you got Elicity's note this morning," Juyaliana said.

"Honestly, I don't know why you had to leave her a note," Nelliee said, glaring at Elicity. "I mean, you knew you would see her."

"Don't question my methods of teaching!" Elicity quickly snapped at Nelliee before returning to her breakfast.

"Hey, wait a minute! Who said you get to go first?" Chanela frowned.

"The book," Elicity said simply.

"What book?"

"The book."

"You're going to have to be more specific."

"The lost book of Cythalia."

"You found it?"

"Well, if I found it, it wouldn't be lost anymore, now would it?"

"Anyway, what about the book?"

"Well," Elicity began. "I didn't find the actual book, but I was in the library last night and one of the pages from the book was in one of my mystery novels. It gives the order of training for the warrior princess to master each of the eight warrior skills." She pulled out the page of the book and passed it around the table.

"How long do we have to train Fae?" Nathalinia asked.

"Well, there are eight of us, each with different special powers that match what Fae has to learn and master."

"Again, how long to we have to train Fae?"

"My guess would be… not long."

"How long is 'not long'?" Maddalia asked.

"A year or two… maybe three."

"Remember how long it took us for our training?" Juyaliana asked, raising an eyebrow. "It took more than three years."

"And I scouted the edges of the forest last night," Maddalia quipped. "Apparently, the Wizard knows something's going on, because he's starting to build up an army."

"Just what we need right now," Maxinena sighed.

"Maybe he knows about the rise of the warrior princess. It's a well known legend and you know how superstitious some… most… of the Ozians are," Lizzie shrugged.

"And this is the year of the Lion. Even if it weren't true, the Wizard would still build up and army just in case."

"Would he attack?" Nelliee asked.

"Well, I don't think he knows where the warrior princess will rise, but he does know when. I think we have to beat him to the punch."

"So… attack him before he attacks us?"

"Exactly."

"I like the sound of this," the younger redhead said, smirking wickedly.

"He has to train the new recruits, so that might buy us some time," Chanela added.

"Do we know the reason why he's building up an army? It might not be for the reasons we think," Elicity said.

"It could be that he wants to cage more Animals. And if that were the case, this would be a perfect time for the warrior princess to make her grand reappearance," Maddalia smirked.

"It's settled then. Training starts this morning, as planned, and then we kick the Wizard's butt."

"Wait a minute. We can't go up against the Wizard and his army alone," Nathalinia said.

"We kicked butt last time," Elicity pouted.

Nathalinia sighed. "That was a small group, not a whole army. We're gonna need backup."

"We could get the Outlands countries to help us."

"You're kidding, right?" Lizzie said, staring at the younger girl. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"I'm not kidding. We'll need help, they have armies."

"We can discuss all the minor details later. Right now, Fae and I have training to do," Elicity smiled, standing up and tugging on the green woman's arm.

Elphaba stood up and followed the young warrior girl down the hall to the arena. "Welcome to the Arena!" Elicity smiled, doing a grand arm gesture. "I love doing that! Now," she said, turning around to face Elphaba. "My special powers are nature powers. Which include, but are not limited to this…" She waved her hand and flowers sprouted from the rock ground. "Or this…" Another hand gesture and a small rose tree grew in the corner. "Or this…" As she slowly raised her hands, butterflies emerged from the flowers and flew around the arena. "It's not just for making things pretty. It can also come in handy when fighting. For example…" Smirking, Elicity snapped her fingers and vines grew from the ground and wrapped around Elphaba. "You also get control over the weather." Clapping, Elicity created a small storm cloud over Elphaba and it started raining on her. "See my point?"

Elphaba nodded and sneezed. "Oh, sorry. Can't have you getting sick during training." Elicity waved her hand and the vines and storm cloud vanished. "Now, you already have the warrior powers locked up inside you, and it's up to the other girls and myself to help you unlock them. Have you ever had any sign of these magical powers before?"

Elphaba searched her brain, trying to remember.

"Let her go!"

"Elphaba, you promised things would be different here."

"I'm so sorry, Nessie. Please forgive me."

Gasping, Elphaba fell to the ground. Elicity knelt down before her and found the green woman crying. "Fae, are you alright?"

Quickly composing herself, Elphaba looked up and nodded. She allowed Elicity to help her up and quickly brushed the dirt of her dress. She wondered who she had heard. Who was Elphaba and who was Nessie? Did they have some type of connection with her?

"Now, lesson number one. Make a flower sprout up from the ground."

Elphaba looked down at the ground and frowned. "But… flowers can't grow without soil."

"You have the magic to make it grow. Nature is one of the easier powers you have to unlock. Once you get the basics of it, the rest comes easier. You can do it. Just concentrate."

Elphaba looked down again and concentrated on making a flower. Sweat glistened her forehead. If this was one of the easier lessons, Oz help her when she got to one of the harder ones.

"It's just a small flower. I'm not asking you to sprout a cherry blossom tree," Elicity said, noticing the sweat on Elphaba's forehead.

Elphaba calmed down and tried to focus again, She smiled when she saw a small, green weed sprout up from the ground.

"Nice," Elicity smiled. "Not what I asked for, but it's a start."

Smiling with newfound confidence, the emerald woman turned and, waving her hand, created a small patch of poppies.

"Now you're getting it!" Elicity smiled, applauding.

Turning with a smirk, Elphaba snapped her fingers and created a storm cloud over the younger warrior.

"Okay," Elicity said, slowly nodding as it began to rain on her. "I guess I deserved that." She waved the storm cloud away and smiled at the emerald woman. "Well done, Fae. Keep practicing and I'm sure you'll…" Elicity was unable to finish her sentence, due to Elphaba creating vines from the ceiling that wrapped around her ankles and hoisted her up.

"Really?" Elicity asked, now upside-down.

"I might like this," Elphaba smirked.

"I'm sure you will."

Laughter caught their attention and Elicity turned, seeing Nathalinia, Nelliee and Maddalia standing a few feet away, laughing.

"Guys, this isn't funny," Elicity frowned, wiggling against the vines.

"I think it is," Nelliee laughed.

"It definitely is," Nathalinia smirked.

"Serves you right for laughing at me yesterday," Maddalia cackled.

"Fine, fine, I get it. Now, help me down!" Elicity demanded.

Sighing, the three warrior girls walked up and untied the vines, causing Elicity to fall, not so gracefully, to the ground.

"Thanks," she muttered, pushing herself up and wiping the dust off her combat dress.

"No problem," Nelliee smirked.

"How were flower lessons?" Maddalia asked casually as they walked out of the arena.

"There's more to nature than just flowers," Elicity said, her nose high in the air.

"Right, you can also make it rain," Nathalinia giggled.

"Hey, weather is my specialty," Elicity smiled, taking an elaborate bow.

Elphaba froze. Where did she hear that before? Had someone said it to her? Did she say it to someone else?

"Fae?" Maddalia asked when she realized the emerald woman was no longer walking beside them.

Elphaba snapped out of her gaze and quickened her pace to catch up with the girls. They didn't say anything to Elphaba, but secretly wondered what was going on. Maybe she was regaining her memory of who she was before they found her. After all, it just might help them.