Chapter Four: Nessarose
Lots of gratuitous Nessa torture in this chapter, but also a chance for her to tell her part of the story.
"Will there be anything else, Madame?" asked Boq, bitterly. Nessa didn't even register the sarcasm in his voice – she was absorbed in her own reflection. She must be the vainest paraplegic in all of Oz, thought Boq.
"I've asked you to call me Nessarose, remember?" said Nessa sweetly. She genuinely loved Boq, so much that she was blind to the fact that he did not return her feelings. The only reason that she had banned the Munchkins from leaving was to keep Boq with her. He was the only man who she had ever loved… and was it so bad that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him?
"Yes… Madame," he said quietly, and then left the room.
Nessa smiled and turned back to her full-length mirror. She turned her wheelchair, admiring herself from every angle. She might be a cripple, but she was still leagues more beautiful than her horrible green cabbage of a sister. Elphaba might be the Wizard's lackey now, but she would always be hideous.
Nessa took solace in that fact. She had always been jealous of her sister, although she would sooner die than admit it. Elphaba was the strong one… she didn't care about what other people said, and had made her way through years of school without needing a single friend. And herself… well, she was just a sad girl in a wheelchair. She relied on the scraps of pity that people threw to her. She relied on people to lift her up the stairs every morning. She hated not being able to do anything on her own, not even bathing or changing.
It was humiliating.
"Well," said a sickly sweet voice. "It seems that the beautiful only get more beautiful."
Nessa screamed, and pushed her wheelchair backwards. The long mirror tipped over and hit the ground, smashing into a thousand tiny pieces. She frantically looked around the room, but found nothing.
"While the mighty fall," continued the voice, and Nessa realized who was speaking. "Fall… fall… fall."
A pulse of magic shook Nessa's body. She screamed even louder as excruciating pain wracked her body, and a ring of flames surrounded her wheelchair. There was a blinding flash of light, and Glinda the Wicked was standing before her.
The pain stopped, and Nessa doubled over in her chair, gasping for breath. The smoke from the flames was making it hard to breathe, and she found herself sucking in ashes.
"I'm sorry," said Glinda, so sweetly that she might be feeling sorry. "Did I scare you? I tend to have that effect on people."
"What are you doing here?" coughed Nessa, trying to clear her throat. Her eyes were watering, making it difficult to see as Glinda walked towards her. She felt as though she was going to pass out from the blazing heat.
Glinda waved a hand negligently, and the flames disappeared. "I need your help," she said, and Nessa sensed the desperation in her voice. She had the advantage here… she had all the cards in her hand.
"You're the governor of Munchkinland," Glinda continued. "You're going to help me cover up this whole mess."
And she did look like a mess. The beautiful blue dress she was wearing had been torn and ripped, and it resembled a beggar's rag. Her hair seemed as though it had been burnt, and her face was covered in what seemed to be fine sand. Nessa assumed that she'd been travelling through the deserts of Oz… hiding like a wild beast. She had lost all respect for her former friend and mentor.
"I can't," she replied. "I'm not even the governor yet! Have you forgotten? My father is the acting ruler of Munchkinland until - "
"Spare me the crap, Nessa," interrupted Glinda. "I know about the little accident you have planned."
"I beg your pardon?" stuttered Nessa, feeling a sudden fear. She began to wheel herself towards the door, very slowly, and her fingers reached to undo the lever that kept her from moving –
Glinda narrowed her eyes into slits, and they glowed like rubies. The lever hissed as it was superheated, burning Nessa's hands as they touched. She screamed in pain, but her hands would not let go of the burning metal.
"You would kill your own father, just so that you can rule this pathetic place?" sneered Glinda, emotionless as she burned Nessa. "You're even more desperate than I thought."
"Please," screamed Nessa, trying to escape from her burning wheelchair. "I'll do anything you ask! Aggh!"
The heat subsided, and Nessa saw that her beautiful, gentle hands had been burnt to stumps. Now she had neither legs nor hands – she had nothing. She turned to Glinda, using her long hair to cover her face as she cried.
The door burst open, and Boq ran in, his eyes wild. He gasped as he saw Glinda.
"What are you doing here?! Stay back!"
"Bick, it's just me, I'm not going to hurt you!" gasped Glinda.
"No! You're lying! That's all you ever do! Both of you! She's as wicked as you are! I'm leaving now. I'm going to the Emerald City. Elphaba is getting engaged, and - "
"Bick," sighed Glinda, walking forward and stroking the short man's hair. "Oh, my dear Bick… you're absolutely right."
One moment there was the Munchkin man, standing in fear. The next, he was screaming on the floor, clutching at his chest as though his heart would explode. Nessa screamed and used her body to jerk her chair towards Glinda, trying to knock her down – but she stepped aside, and Nessa trampled Boq beneath the wheels.
"What are you doing!?" she screamed. Glinda snarled and tossed her against the wall, breaking off the wheels of the chair. She hit the ground with a crack, and felt the feeling in the rest of her body vanish.
"Men only betray you in the end," she said with a snarl. "They're heartless."
Her thoughts flickered back to Fiyero… that horrible, cheating bastard. He'd run off with Elphaba when she needed him the most. She had been born a privileged woman. She had never felt pain before… but when Fiyero left her, it was like she had died inside.
It had torn away her conscience. Every drop of her guilt. All that mattered to her now was revenge.
"You're taking me to the Emerald City," she hissed, lifting Nessa up with the force of her mind. "Silently. Tell nobody. If there's even the slightest hitch, the Munchkin dies."
Nessa nodded, terrified. She couldn't move, and her feet were hovering a foot above the ground. Her eyes flickered to Boq, who was lying on the ground, motionless, and she felt the tears well up in her eyes. It had all gone so wrong… but it was too late to change it now. Even now, Lord Thropp would be walking into the ambush that Nessa had paid a group of bandits for.
Certainly, she would feel bad for a while. She would mourn her father's death as though she had nothing to do with it. But then it would heal and everything would be better. At least that's what she had thought. Now, she wasn't sure about anything.
"Let's go," said Glinda, and lowered Nessa back into her wheelchair. As she pushed her out of the door, Nessa quietly closed her eyes and focused all her thoughts on Boq. She saw her one and only love, lying dead on the ground, and felt sorrow melt her heart.
"Ahtum Tahtae… Hayae Ahtum Tahtae Ahtum..."
As they left the room, there was a flash of silver light, and the creaking of metal joints. Nessa closed her eyes, and a silent smile crossed her bloodied face. She realized now that Boq had never loved her… but she could accept that. Just as long as she got her little bit of revenge in first.
Oh, he would regret this for the rest of his life.
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