Elphaba spun around, a dagger whizzing by her head and narrowly missing her. Glinda pressed up against Elphaba, gently pushing her to the side to avoid the slightly-weakened thunder that someone had sent at them.

"What the...what the hell?" Elphaba snapped. She hopped on one foot to reposition herself while Glinda tightened her hold on Elphaba's waist. "What was that? Is someone else here?"

"Maybe..." Glinda mumbled. "Elphaba, I - "

"Don't cry," Elphaba cut Glinda off. She looked at Glinda and smiled. "Please don't cry. We are fine." Glinda nodded hesitantly. "I am going to see if someone else is here - do not move, Glinda. Do not!"

Before Glinda could protest, Elphaba pulled herself away and began half-hopping, half-limping towards where the dagger came from. She could make out two figures standing on the beach.

"Who are you?" she called as she got closer. "Tell me who you are now!"

The figures - two young men - turned around and looked at her. One - the blond - had a monkey-like tail. He smiled, but reached for his other dagger. The other simply shook his head, his lavender hair shining in the sunlight.

"Who are you?" the blond man questioned. Elphaba moved her fingers slowly, producing tiny green sparks as she did so.

"I refuse to answer until you answer me," she said. "Tell me; who are you and why are you here?"

The lavender-haired man cleared his throat. "I am Kuja and this is Zidane - my younger..." his voice trailed off, not sure if he wanted to finish the sentence. "Friend."

"I am Elphaba," Elphaba answered quickly. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Zidane tackled her.

"Are you here to kill us?!" he shouted, pressing the blade of his dagger against her neck. She simply smiled and set her hand on his back.

"No. But," she paused to move slightly, "I may have to if you stay with your knife pressed against my neck."

Zidane didn't move. He added a little more pressure to the dagger, cutting Elphaba with the tip a little. A small hiss of pain escaped Elphaba, moreso from her previous injuries than from the newly-inflicted one.

"Elphie?"

Kuja disappeared into the forest towards where Glinda's voice was coming from. In a moment of panic, Elphaba released all of her built up magic into Zidane's back, tossed him off of her, and moved as fast as she could in the direction that Kuja went. Zidane quickly chased after her, ignoring the pain from the attack.

"Glinda!" Elphaba screamed, panic and desperation evident in her voice. "Glinda! Run! Please run!"


Glinda turned around, hearing her name being called by Elphaba. Before she could ask what was wrong, someone burst through the leaves and vines. He stopped and stared at her for a minute, a smirk slowly appearing on his face. He held out his left hand and it began to turn icy blue.

"So, your name is Glinda then," he said softly and slowly. Glinda nodded, backing away from him. "Elphaba seems to really care about you, Glinda. Do you hear the panic - the raw fear in her voice when she's calling for you?"

A very recognizable scream came from a ways away. Glinda screamed in response, out of fear and a few other things she couldn't quite name. "Elphie!"

"By the way, my name is Kuja," the man said, a solid form beginning to form on his hand. His smirk turned into a smile. "Question, Glinda. Do you like the cold?"

"No...I...I don't like the cold - why? Why are you asking me?" she asked. Kuja didn't answer. He simply laughed and dramatically waved his hand, sending a ball of frost and ice at Glinda. She attempted to jump away, but failed and fell down. Kuja walked over to her and set his hand on her stomach, much to her discomfort.

"I guess you don't like the cold...well, here," he grinned. Slowly, Glinda began to feel a light warm sensation start where his hand was. It spread across her body and quickly rose in temperature until it was burning her horribly. She screamed in agony while Kuja laughed.

"Leave her!" Elphaba screamed, falling to her knees. She sent Kuja flying towards a tree and quickly crawled over to Glinda, ignoring the pain in her legs and sides. She collapsed next to her, coughing painfully. "Glinda..."

A blond man was quickly behind her. His dagger was dripping blood and Glinda quickly realized that it was Elphaba's blood.

"What have you done?!" she shrieked, turning over and hugging a probably-dead Elphaba. "She...you...why?!" She began crying, not sure of anything else to do. Kuja walked over to the blond man, frowning.

"Zidane...this is dumb. Why are we attacking them - they're stuck here too...we should give them a chance before we hurt them," he said.

"Good idea...they might be able to help us..." Zidane replied. "But that green girl...I..."

Before he could finish, Kuja knelt down beside Elphaba. Glinda pulled her closer.

"No! Don't touch her!" she shouted.

"I can fix her, Glinda," Kuja murmured, showing uncharacteristic compassion and remorse. Slowly, Glinda's grip on Elphaba loosened until Kuja was holding Elphaba.

Zidane walked over and helped Glinda up. "Come on," he said. Glinda reluctantly followed him towards the beach, casting a final glance over her shoulder and crying again.


Elphaba opened her eyes and saw the crystal blue that she thought she recognized. She opened her mouth to protest being woken up, but quickly realized that she wasn't in her room at Shiz with Glinda - she was lying in some man's arms in a forest on an island in some land that she didn't know. And the man that was holding her had tried to kill both her and Glinda. The whole situation was very confusing.

"What happened? Where is Glinda? What have you done...?" she asked in a hoarse voice. She didn't voice the fact that she wasn't in any pain at all anymore - she could feel her lower body completely and her sides didn't sting from the fabric of her dress getting in the deep cuts. "Answer me, Kuja."

"Zidane apparently almost killed you, and he took Glinda away to talk to her or deal with her possible injuries - he didn't tell me, he just left," Elphaba's saviour answered. Elphaba shifted in an attempt to get up, but Kuja stopped her. "Don't. The magic is still finalizing - any major movement can break the spell and reopen the wounds. I saved you, by the way. That's the answer to your final question."

"Thank you..." Elphaba replied, closing her eyes tightly. "Thank you for sending Glinda away...thank you for saving me...just...thank you."

"You're welcome," Kuja said. "You had quite a number of injuries - is Glinda injured too?"

"Not that I know. She did not crash as bad as I did - I was in front of her and took most of the impact. I think she may have actually landed on me," Elphaba chuckled slightly. "A few minor cuts and bruises, maybe a little emotional and mental injuries with all that has happened recently...but she is virtually unharmed, by my knowledge."

Kuja nodded, but decided to use a bit of healing magic on Glinda anyways.

"So...do you know where Zidane and Glinda might be?" Elphaba asked.

Kuja grinned and looked over his shoulder. "All I know is that they left that way, Elphaba."