Hello to everyone!
I'm very happy to see that a few people actually read this and like it. And I thank you all for reviewing. It really means so much to me.
This is a very crucial moment in my life since in a few weeks I'll take a very important exam and according to my grades I will enter university. I'm so nervous and I have loads of things to study(history, Latin and Ancient Greek amongst them). So,this story is my secret piece of peace and sanctuary.
Seeing supporting reviews makes me feel so happy and gives me strength for both writing and for my soon-to-take-place exams.
So, if you like the story please please please ( with creme and chocolate above) Review!
Thank you all for reading,
Katria
Disclaimer: I can only wish but anything that has to do with the Wicked Universe isn't mine. I only own my OC characters (ex Tilly, Corrin, Damion so far)
Chapter Three: Childhood II
Emerald City
Elphaba DeRuelle, Age 7
Melena DeRuelle sighed as she looked out the window at her small garden. It was spring- April to be exact- and her small garden- hidden in a neighborhood just outside of the Emerald City- was full of colourful flowers. Roses, lilacs, dandelions, poppies, lilies were blossoming at every corner of her tiny garden creating a scenery of colours and delighting smells. She even had a small almond tree that had just started blossoming with tiny pink and white flowers.
She had the most beautiful garden in the world even though she lived in one of the poorest neighborhoods just outside the Emerald City. Everyone always complemented her at how wonderful her garden was and how much it made the depressing area looking more beautiful. Someone had even suggested her to open a flourish shop but the woman had enough to deal with already to open a shop in the center of the city. It would put unwanted pressure.
From behind the window she saw a girl playing in her garden with a white kitten. The little girl was around three years old but she already was beautiful. She had bright and sparkling brown eyes -not amber like her mother's but still warm and kind- and her hair were long and auburn, exactly like Melena's. She was dressed in a blue dress and with her kitten in her arms she had set to dance a waltz between the flowers.
Her little legs were already skilled in the art of dancing as if she had been born with the talent. Melena bet she had been. As the woman opened her window she realized that her little daughter was dancing because of a sweet, melodic humming coming from a seven year old girl who sat close by. The seven year old was equally beautiful even though her skin was green as the city they lived in. Those two were her beautiful girls, her musician and her dancer, her reason to live.
She sighed at the thought of each one of her girls. Elphaba was the child of her true love and she may looked like her- minus the skin colour- but she was Oscar through and through. Ambitious, intelligent, stubborn, talented, charming in her own way, an outcast in Oz, lonely but unique.
Nessarose was the child of her tormentor and had been conceived under force and pain. Under Frex 's jealousy and wanting for a male heir. She had found out of her pregnancy almost a month after running away from Munchkinland. Frex would never know he had a child that was "normal" and beautiful because he never deserved Nessarose and her kind, tender heart.
It had been very difficult at first. She remembered the first days after they had left Munchkinland. They had run to the Emerald City and they had stayed in a poor hotel in the slums of the city, trying to start from zero. The first few days she had searched for Oscar but no one seemed to know the man. Of course it was a big city and it would be impossible to find him so she tried not to be disappointed. Her second priority-since she hadn't managed to find her long lost lover- was to find a suitable job and provide for her three years old child. She had kept enough money on the side,in case of emergency,but she knew she really needed a job if she wanted to survive.
She ended up with a job as a waitress in a fancy restaurant and her good looks and well breeding finally became useful. The owner of the restaurant was a rich widowed old woman that hired Melena for her beauty and the woman made the best out of it. Serving gourmet cuisine and red wine with a bright smile on her perfect lips wasn't such a terrible fate. Plus, the owner was a kind hearted woman that allowed Elphaba to stay in the restaurant when she worked so as not to be left alone.
The owner, Madame Lalodero had been very supportive when Melena had revealed her pregnancy too. Of course her catchy, depressing story had made miracles but no one had been more touched than her employer. A young widowed poor woman, with a toddler to take care of and an infant on the way, alone in a big city... How could Madame Lalodero not pity her?
At some point of her life, during their second year in the City- after Nessarose had been born- Melena heard rumors about someone named Oscar living in the Emerald Palace. But for some reason,which she couldn't remember, Melena never tried to contact said man or search if her Oscar was actually around the City. She focused on making a good profit and finding a stable home for her children. At the end of the day she found a cheap apartment and by the end of the year they had built their new life there, piece by piece. Elphaba started going to school, Melena continued working, Nessa continued growing up and they were always there for each other.
Her little girls continued their small performance in the garden, unaware of their mother watching them. The song and the dance were familiar to Melena since she was the one to teach the girls everything. From talking and walking to dancing and singing. And she could say for sure that her daughters would outshine her in everything...
"Fabala, Nessa! Come in. Dinner's ready!" she called to the girls, already sorry for interrupting their game of dancing and the singing.
"Coming mama!" Two seconds later the girls were inside. Nessa was still holding the white kitten in her arms and Melena sent her a disapproving look, silently asking her to let go of the feline and come to the table.
"Mama why can't Nia sit with us on the table to eat?" Melena burst into laughter at Nessa's question. The girl would always have the strangest questions for her, something she had definately learnt from her sister. Melena had never been a curious child but Elphaba was curious about everything, setting a perfect example for Nessa. The numerous questions sometimes drove the young mother mad but most of the time they were amusing.
"Because Nia is a cat. She can't sit on a table!" Elphaba explained quickly and sent a meaningful look to Nessa. The younger girl let go of her kitten reluctantly. The two girls soon washed their hands to eat whatever delicious meal their mother had prepared. However, behind Nessa's innocent looking brown eyes, Melena saw the next question.
"Mr and Mrs Davon are cats and eat on a table." The three year old asked. Elphaba of course decided to answer this too. She was annoyingly smart and observant and Melena cursed Oscar for that. She had tried to take credit for Elphaba's brightness but it wasn't completely her domain of expertise. It was Elphaba's father-Oscar- who observed and read and asked.
"Well" started the girl as she sat on the table. "Mr and Mrs Davon are Animals not animals. They are Cats not cats." The little girl took in all the information and nodded. Elphaba had understood the difference perfectly when she had been Nessa's age but little Nessa had difficulty taking in all the information. The fact that Melena had already started feeding her didn't help at all. The food, though nothing special but simple rice and chicken, was far to tasty for Nessa to pay attention to Elphaba's answer.
"Mama?" Melena looked up from feeding Nessa at her older girl and nodded for her to continue.
"Do you think I'm beautiful?" Melena's fork fell from her hand and she quickly picked it up again to hide her nervousness.
"How come you ask something like that Fabala?" she managed to force the words out of her mouth.
"I don't know mama. It just came to me!" Elphaba was staring at her food and nowhere else and she was nervously playing with her fork. This gave Melena exactly the answer she wanted. Nothing just came to Elphaba without a reason. So she raised an eyebrow and took her daughter's chin in her hand. She forced her to look up and Elphaba finally cracked and told her.
"The other kids won't play with me." Her heart was breaking for her little girl. It was like all of Melena's sins had fallen on Elphaba and the poor child paid the consequences of things she wasn't responsible of. Nessa would never have that problem but Elphaba would...
"Why, my love, won't they play with you?" She took Elphaba's petite and thin hand in hers and caressed the perfectly soft skin.
"They say I'm weird!"
"No! You are not weird my little flower. You are unique!"
"They say I'm ugly!"
"You are the most beautiful child in the world."
"I'm green!"
"No, you are different! And your difference is what makes you wonderful!" Elphaba didn't seemed satisfied by the answer but she nodded and continued eating in silence. Melena tried to ask her daughter more about her day, about school, about the tiny few comments she had heard around town about her child, but she didn't.
One thing was sure... Something was troubling the little girl. But Melena knew that Elphaba would wait for the right moment to tell her anyway... She always told her everything.
She found out what was truly wrong with Elphaba in the most unexpected way.
Two days had passed since their conversation in the kitchen and Melena was growing worried with Elphaba's silence. The third night though she would witness the reason of her daughter's distress by herself.
It was around midnight when she heard a loud crash from Elphaba's and Nessa's shared bedroom. The next thing she heard were soft crying and sobbing and her daughter's voice.
"Go away! Please leave me alone! Stop this, I'm begging you! Stop!" Her eyes were wide open as she looked at the ceiling of her bedroom with their hard glare. But she wasn't awake.
"Don't hurt him! Please! He did nothing wrong. He is innocent... Stop this! Don't hurt him!" Melena was frozen, staring at her daughter with fear. It was obvious that Elphaba was dreaming and hallucinating but she was also speaking nonsense.
"Why me? Why was I chosen to be a freak? I did nothing wrong." yelled the green girl and her mother rushed to her to calm her down.
The moment she touched Elphaba, the girl jerked away from her and continued yelling to no one.
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" Melena had no idea what to do or how to deal with the situation. Her daughter had had nightmares in the past but nothing had ever been like this. She was deeply worried and determined to free her child from this slumber, so she walked back to her and embraced her. Elphaba kicked and yelled a bit more and cried even more than before but she soon found her self relaxing.
"I'm here Faba! I'm here my little sweet beautiful girl and I'm not leaving you! Ever! I love you Elphaba! I love you with all my heart. Please my starling calm down. Please my love! Mama is here. She will always be here!"
Her daughter became limb in her arms and the wide awake amber eyes closed. She was back to normal, no longer yelling and crying. She was relaxed again so Melena placed her in the small bed and kissed her forehead. She had no idea what had happened but she was glad it was over, that Nessa hadn't woken up from all the screaming and that Elphaba was alright.
But nothing was truly alright...
It was the next morning that Melena noticed something extremely odd when she went to wake up her girls for the day. She had seen other signs too at Elphaba's earlier stages of life but she had never seen something as grand as this. She had been having her suspicions for a while but she had never been sure until now.
It isn't everyday that a mother enters her children's bedroom to find the wooden floor covered in fresh green grass and tiny red poppies...
The Vinkus, Castle of Parse Vis
Fiyero Tiggular, Age 9
"Fiyero! Fiyerooo!" The nine years old prince was running as fast as his legs could carry him in the vast gardens of Parse Vis. He was laughing and running happily as his best play mate chased him around.
"Fiyerooo! Hold on! I'm tired." said Corrin as he came to a stop to catch hid breath. Fiyero stopped and laughed his heart out at his best friend, looking tired and dizzy.
"Come on Corrin ? How will we be knights if we can't run fast?" The other boy sent him a death glare but Fiyero pretended not to notice. He was too busy playing with the bushes to notice Corrin 's annoyance. He was also avoiding a fight with him because he knew that Corrin was angry.
And the reason why his best friend was angry was the mud on Corrin 's clothes, a result of Fiyero's neverending mischief. The moment he glanced at his friend's way, the young prince burst into laughter and Corrin followed soon after. They could never be angry with each other for more than a few minutes.
Fiyero still didn't have many friends though he now had Tilly and his little brother. Damion and him got along perfectly well and Fiyero was indeed a model brother. However, Damion was still very young for most of the games Fiyero liked to play. So, the crown prince had been delighted to find another friend. Corrin and him had met only a year ago and they were best friends ever since.
Corrin Goldstin was the son of the Duke of Gillikin and the two had met when the Duke and his family came to the Vinkus. Corrin had pale complexion and curly black hair while his eyes were a twinkling forest green. He was Fiyero's age and the two had gotten along well immediately when they met. Ever since then, Corrin visited the Vinkus at least twice a month.
Today was a sunny spring day and the two were playing outside in the garden. They were playing hide and seek when Fiyero decided to have a different kind of fun by throwing mud on Corrin's chest. And that had lead to Corrin running after Fiyero screaming like a little girl. And that lead to the two of them laughing their hearts out.
"Yero? My parents said that you could come and visit me during the summer!" said Corrin and Fiyero stopped laughing. This time he smiled.
"That is great! We'll have so much fun and play a lot and I can meet your friends." He was over excited to meet new people. Life in the palace was so boring, he didn't get to play often because of his lessons as prince and he certainly didn't get to have much fun. His days with Corrin were his break from a life he didn't particularly enjoy. He had everything but he didn't like it. It wasn't that he was ungrateful to his fortune of being a prince. It had its privileges. However, he felt like he didn't belong in the Vinkus. Like there was another place where he was more needed. As if his destiny wasn't to be King of The Vinkus.
Though he was mostly a happy child, Fiyero had mastered from a very young age the art of pretending. He pretended he liked being a prince. He pretended he enjoyed maths- though he prefered science. He pretended he liked the castle of Parse Vis when all he ever wanted was to go to the old deserted castle that often accompanied his dreams.
No one but his parents knew of his strange dreams. Fiyero dreamed of a castle near the Great Kells. He saw himself in the castle in an older age, at night time, and he was always walking through the dark corridors. There was always someone with him in the dark castle because he could feel himself holding a soft hand. He could never see the other person, just a dark shadow with a dark cloak and what seemed to be a pointy hat. The figure and himself would climb up some stairs to a cold tower. At the end of the stairs there was an old wooden door and the moment he pushed it open he would always wake up...
The dreams had started when he was five- a bit after his brother had been born- and had become more intense over the last three years. Everytime he would notice a small difference that wasn't there the previous time.
"I can't wait for you to meet Avaric and Daston and Mane..." Corrin was bumbling but Fiyero had stopped paying attention. Another strange thing about the prince was that he lost concentration easily. His mind would float from one thing to the other, rarely paying attention for long. And when he wasn't concentrated his body would work on its own.
He had started walking towards the well at the other side of this part of the garden. It was like he couldn't control his movements. And then the voices started.
"Come on Prince Fiyero . A few more steps!" the voices were saying in his head.
From the back of his mind he could still hear Corrin's voice, like an echo, like the blurry voices in his dreams. He stood over the pond and looked at the water. He wasn't a good swimmer and a well wasn't an ideal place for swimming. It was quite deep and he was scared to go closer but for a moment he didn't have control of his movements. He leaned a bit forward to examine the dark blue water and he heard Corrin's voice again calling what could he his name.
"Come on little Prince. The water is good!"
Next thing he knew he was struggling to breath as the water pushed him deeper and deeper in the depths of darkness.
He woke up in his bed several hours later, with his mother sleeping on a chair a few feet away. Tilly was on his other side with a sleeping Damion in her arms, holding his hand. He shouldn't have woken up after his incident because he needed extra rest. But he did... He woke up at the sound of a sweet, childish but beautiful voice. He never forgot neither the song nor the voice.
Emerald City
Elphaba DeRuelle, Age 12
She had one of her usual unexplained headaches again. It wasn't uncommon for her to have these headaches. She had them whenever one of her visions would appear in front of her eyes. And it would be an understatement to say that she was simply peculiar for having visions.
First and foremost, Elphaba DeRuelle was green. Not an ugly green, according to her mama. It was neither forest green nor lime. Her skin was emerald and soft and perfect, without a little default besides the peculiar green colour. People found her atrocious and children made fun of her. She was never refered to by her real name when she was outside of home. In the market or at school she was "The artichoke, the cabbage, the freak, the green bean, greenie, the little monster". People had come as far as to call her a "witch".
Not that they were mistaken. Elphaba had magical powers that had made their appearance a few years ago. Her magic was controlled by her emotions so if she couldn't control her emotions, she couldn't control those powers. If she wasn't angry then her powers were "asleep". If she was happy her powers were mild and actually beautiful.
Then there was the problem with her dreams and visions. The images in her visions were hazy and blurry, there were no sounds and nothing ever made sense. They would come and in miliseconds they were gone. Her dreams were another story. The dreams were there almost every night since she turned six years old and they were different each night.
However her most frequent dream was the most confusing. It was a castle in the middle of a dark mountain range and a dark figure in a pointy hat and a broomstick in hand, climbing up the stairs to the tallest tower. Someone else was always there but she had never seen the other person. She could only feel a presence. The dream always ended when she made to open the door at the end of the stairs.
She had told no one of her dreams. Her mother and sister only knew because they had witnessed it. She would forever be grateful for their support.
The visions however were her little secret. No one knew and she hoped no one would ever find out. She was already considered a freak. Why give people more reason to hate her?
Her headache that day was unnaturally strong. She had been unusually quiet all day at school and during launch and she was glad that her mother wasn't around. She really didn't want to deal with her worries or make her even more worried. However, Nessarose was home to witness a tired looking Elphaba with dark circles under her eyes and pale green complexion. That day she looked sick.
Elphaba was sitting on the kitchen table with her head resting in both her hands. The food in front of her was untouched and her fork had fallen on the wooden floor. There was a glass of water nearby and she was oblivious of her magic getting slowly out of control by boiling the water.
That was how Nessa found her that day, when she returned from her dancing lesson. Crying, disoriented, sickly pale, with sparkles of green magic dancing around her...
"Fabala! Fabala are you alright?" asked the worried nine year old but her older sister ignored her. Elphaba seemed to be balancing between two realities: her sister and the kitchen she was currently in with the world of her confusing dreams.
"Elphaba! What's wrong? Are you alright?" Nessa made to touch her sister but saw the tiny green flickers of magic so she decided against it. It wouldn't do any good for Elphaba to be touched in a moment such as that.
It seemed like an eternity till the magic stopped affecting the green girl and Elphaba finally looked up from the surface of the table to Nessa's watery eyes. Nessa noticed that Elphaba was on the verge of tears too.
"I'm sorry I scared you! I saw something!" said Elphaba in a low voice and extended her hand to her sister. Nessa took the offered hand reluctantly at first but soon she was embracing her sister tightly.
"Don't you dare scare me like that again, ever!" she said, still embracing Elphaba. Her older sister looked better now. The grey-green paleness was returning back to its normal emerald and the dull amber eyes were becoming more and more lively.
"I'm so sorry Nessie! I can't control it!" Nessa kissed Elphaba's cheek, comforting the teenager.
"One day you will!" she said with confidence.
"You think so Nessie?" Elphaba took Nessa's hand in hers and stroked the pink soft skin of her palm.
"One day Elphaba you will be the most powerful sorceress in all of Oz. You will be wonderful!"
For some reason, Elphaba believed her...
That night Elphaba couldn't fall asleep. She revived her earlier vision again and again. The headache was still there when she laid in bed but it was milder and didn't bother her so. What bothered her was the images playing in her mind. She couldn't sleep easily while the images tortured her so. They were innocent but she had a strange emotion in her heart as if those visions where more important a.
She must have waited for several moments- maybe hours- to pass before drifting to sleep. She prayed that she would have a dreamless sleep and hoped for a better tomorrow.
Neitherwas to be...
She spend at least a week thinking of the vision...
There was music and singing and dancing. People around her were laughing and congratulating someone she couldn't see. She only took a glimpse of the person. She could see a boy, probably one or two years older than her. His hair were dark blond. And his chest and arms were covered in what seemed to be the most wonderful blue pattern she had ever seen.
Blue diamonds...
A week later the headache was gone.
The
Vinkus, Castle of Kiamo Ko
Fiyero Tiggular, Age 14
The Vinkus was probably the most exotic and beautiful province in all of Oz. Illuminated by the Western Sky, close to the border with the rich land of Ev, with castles and villages by the sea, developed economy through agriculture, the mines with the blue and green diamonds and of course the famous Vinkun silk. The Vinkus was a perfect land with history as old as time itself. It was a place were peace ruled most of the time, especially after all the different Vinkun tribes were united under the rule of the Arjikis.
The Vinkus was a place were everyone, besides religion, appearance, language, dark past etc would be accepted. Either you were a short Munchinlander or a golden Gilikinesse, either you supported the Unnamed God or Lurline, either you were rich or poor, or if your skin was red or black, you were accepted in the Vinkus.
Being a very old Kingdom in the land of Oz meant that it had a great story and tradition that went back many centuries. One of the oldest traditions in the Vinkus was one concerning the royal family. A Vinkun Prince, once he reached the age of fourteen, he would go to the oldest castle of the family- in this case, Kiamo Ko- and there was held a special ceremony in honor of the young prince. During the ceremony, the prince would choose a colour he liked and then a specific patern of shapes. After that, he had that patern tattooed on his chest and arms.
It hadn't taken very long for Fiyero to decide the colour and the shapes he wanted. It had been rather easy and for some reason neither his parents nor his best friend and brother were surprised. Corrin and Damion knew that Fiyero's favorite colour was blue and they also knew that Fiyero wanted to be a strong leader and King one day and diamonds were a symbol of strength for Vinkun royalty.
Now, beautiful blue diamonds were covering his chest and arms. Queen Ellauria struggled to remember where she had seen those diamonds before but her memory seemed to fail her. She could admit though that they were perfect for her perfect Fiyero. They made the already wonderful boy even more handsome.
The King though seemed a bit upset by his son's choice of tattoos. He didn't tell his wife that he remembered perfectly well where he had seen those tattoos again. He knew that Ellauria wouldn't thing more about it. But the King was weary. His family had suffered a great deal in the past centuries and Fiyero was already disturbing the peace by having these annoying nightmares and dreams.
Hearing a sweet voice singing, talking to the blue flowers in the garden, leaving in the middle of the night to explore the darkness of Parse Vis because he couldn't go to Kiamo Ko... Those weren't things a normal person would do. Not even Tilly could keep him in order when he had his strange hallucinations...
It was full circle and King Halmond knew it.
Fiyero Tigelaar and Fiyero Tiggular, the latter being his son, were somehow connected. He knew it and avoiding it was the only solution he could think of. No one had ever fought against a curse and his little Fiyero couldn't fight it either. At least not alone...
His cheerful and happy son had become more introverted over the years. He had made a few friends during his visits to Corrin's homeland but he was never too close and open with them. His relationship with his brother also helped a great deal but it was never enough.
Every time he was around other people he would put on a façade and pretend to be a brainless carefree prince. He had put aside his own personality to avoid his problems and the difficulties of his title as the crown prince. Fiyero was pretending and the King was the only one who could see it. Even Ellauria was oblivious to Fiyero's unhappiness.
King Halmond was the only one who could be by his side and keep him sane until the day he would finally be free of the damn curse... somehow...
For the time being, the blue diamond tattoos seemed harmless. Though no one knew that an emerald skinned girl was dreaming about them...
~Never~
She doesn't like the way they are connected. She hates it with all her heart and soul. Hundreds of souls had been entwined in this never ending game of hers but none of them had ever had a bond as strong and true as the current occupants of Fiyero's and her souls.
The new prince of the Vinkus and the young sorceress have already created a strong bond and they haven't even met. And oh how much she hates it...
Sometimes she pities them. Sometimes she feels awful for torturing the green girl with nightmares and forcing the prince to drown himself. She feels awful for breaking them apart because she knows what's their destiny.
She knows that they are supposed to be happy. It is written in the starts for them to find the love she and Fiyero broke to pieces. But she can't let it happen. She can't...
She has to protect Elphaba. It is her job to guard the heart of the girl and keep her away from the handsome prince. It is her job to destroy the love that's supposed to break her curse. But how can she when she knows?
She decides not to interfere much. She already knows that even without the curse their future love is doomed. Humans are so predictable and there are so many evil of them to block Elphaba's path and separate her from Fiyero, even without magic interfering.
And even if they make it through the odds of mortals, they have to face something above them to find happiness. Things will find their right way and path and when the right moment comes she shall strike and break the love. She can break the love with her own hate and rage that has been built over the centuries.
When the right moment comes she will be ready.
For the time being, she lets them rot in her deep velvet darkness... A sweet innocent life full of mystery in which they are happy but at the same time they aren't...
She works her magic and sends Fiyero another dream, this time about a long straight waterfall of raven hair...
"Soon!" she things with a wicked smile.
