This chapter is not my favourite, but it'll do. It's only really here to move us along a little, and to develop relationships. Review, if you feel like it :) I used a bit of inspiration from the novel of Wicked in this chapter, just so you don't think I'm not aware of it.
Sorry for any grammatical or spelling mistakes.
"It's strange to think that you won't be here anymore," Elphaba sighed, folding a cotton blouse and packing it neatly into the designer suitcase.
"Elphie, you won't even notice I'm gone," smiled Galinda, arranging her shoes in order of colour inside their separate case. The deepest reds made way for the salmons, which seeped into the light pinks, before running into the sparkling whites. The little Gillikinese girl had a lot of shoes. Her companion snorted unattractively.
"You won't be there to bounce around the corner just when I need to talk to you! There will be a definite lack of spring and energy in the house by tonight."
"I could try and enchant my letters to bounce, I suppose. A locomotion charm, and then something to make it hop around the room…"
"I'd like to read the letters, Galinda, not have to chase them around the house!" Elphaba laughed, and her friend joined her, sinking onto the bed. The pair continued to fold the clothes, piling them methodically away.
"I wish…" The blonde trailed off, a slightly guilty expression reaching her emerald eyes.
"You wish what?" Elphaba queried, casting a wary eye over her friend.
"I wish that we had become friends under better circumstances."
"What better circumstances could we wish for? I was forced into a marriage to your grandfather because of the prejudices of my powerful aunt, making me your new grandmother. What could be better?" the green girl spat, her voice heavy with irony. Galinda sympathised with her pain, and didn't take the tone to heart.
"Oh, I'm sure I can think of something," she smiled mischievously, plopping an unsightly orange hat onto her flaxen head. "We could have met at school! We would both have been top of all the classes we took. We could go to parties every weekend, and have handsome boyfriends, and share a room with each other."
Elphaba laughed, and Galinda continued, "We could become the most famous girls in Oz, and we could do so much to help people and Animals! And we could marry our dream husbands, and populate our palaces in the emerald city with little Elphabas and Galindas. Now, I don't know about you, but I far prefer that life to this."
"It does sound nice…But I don't want children." the green girl said staunchly, pursing her lips.
"Why ever not?"
"I don't have an ounce of motherly feeling about me, Galinda. And anyway, I wouldn't wish…this on an innocent child."
"What in heaven's name are you talking about, dear?" Galinda quizzed, slightly confused as to what 'this' was.
"My skin," Elphaba sighed. Children of her own was another thing that would be she would be robbed of because of her strange colouring.
Elphaba stood stiffly at Rilt's side, waving forlornly after the gilded carriage that carried Galinda. The old man had a fond smile on his face as he waved, and it was clear to anyone that he completely doted on his young granddaughter. His new wife swallowed her pride, and turned to face him.
"Thank you," she murmured, and he cocked an eyebrow, confused. "For bringing Galinda with you, I mean. She's the first real friend I've ever had," Elphaba admitted, her eyes settling on the floor. Her husband chuckled gently.
"There will not be many more like Galinda, Elphaba. She's a good girl, and I'm proud of her." he stated, and the pair started back towards the house together.
"What was your job? Before you married into the Arduenna clan, I mean." Elphaba questioned, sitting opposite the man in the main parlour. He smiled, and his milky eyes became distant.
"I was in the Emerald City Army. I enlisted when I was fourteen, to try and earn some money for my family. It was during the war for the Glikkus, and I had twelve siblings. I was the eldest, and my father was dying of an unknown virus. I killed many Munchkinland soldiers, and helped to secure the Glikkus for Gillikin." Rilt removed his spectacles, polishing them on his waistcoat.
"Life in the trenches was difficult. You have no idea how many of my friends died in my arms, and how many of them disappeared without a trace. The war continued until I was eighteen, when I returned home. My father was dead, four of my sisters and one of my brothers were dead, and my mother was gravely ill."
"I got a job in a munitions factory, and one day, on my way to work, a blonde beauty passed me in a carriage. I followed it right from the centre of Shiz until it reached a huge house in the hills. The Arduenna family lived there, and the young daughter was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I courted her, and we married."
Here Rilt paused, and Elphaba heaved a sigh. She secretly thrilled at his tale, and felt a whole new wave of sympathy for the old man who's beginnings had been so difficult. He continued,
"Once we were married, Julitta showed her true colours. She was a cold, and heartless, and I grew to hate her. She was something like you, really. Beautiful, exotic…And yet totally unreachable. I suppose it's my destiny to feel an overwhelming aversion to my wives. You were both so…ghastly. Perhaps that's why I couldn't sustain any real intimacy on our wedding night. You were out cold, and I could see the colour of your skin so clearly… It was consummated, but barely. I tried, but it was all I could do to keep myself from vomiting."
The green girl gasped, and leapt to her feet. In three long strides she was out of the room, concealing her tears by letting a veil of dark hair fall over her face. She found herself at the back of the house, and slumped down next to a neatly pruned hedge. Her sharp nails dug into her scalp, and Elphaba let the tears flow. They streamed down her cheeks, sliding gracefully from the end of her chin and onto the grass at her feet.
The sound of footsteps approached, and Elphaba hurriedly wiped the salt water from her face and sniffed loudly.
"What's wrong, toad face?" Eissa asked, strolling into view from behind a marble statue. Her niece narrowed her eyes disdainfully, glaring with absolute hatred. "You're all alone again, toad face? No-one wants you. Your mother never wanted you; you were just the product of her lonliness while your 'father' was away. An accident. An embarrassment." the woman shrieked, cackling viciously and walking towards the back door.
The young girl stared at the gargoyles on the roof, fighting to control her temper. She focused on one with a snarling face and wide eyes, the blood coursing through her veins like fire. As Eissa neared the house, a loud rumbling could be heard.
There was a crack, and the gargoyle fell.
Eissa gazed up at the falling object, and barely had time to blink before it landed, smashing her skull mid screech.
She fell to the ground, absolutely dead.
Whoops...