disclaimer: I own nothing except the characters that I made up.

Chapter 7: The Truth That so Many Tried to Hide

Fayba looked out the window of the carriage the whole trip. She thought it was funny how a person could be happy one minute then in a split second, that happiness is ripped away and agonizing pain fills the empty space. This was how she felt when Pete said those two words 'she's dying.' Those words repeated in her head over and over again. 'She's dying,' 'she's dying.' After that, everything was sort of a blur in Fayba's memory that she tried desperately to remember.

"We were hoping that it was just a bug… but it turns out that it's the curse," Pete said, trying to explain it the best he could to Fayba as well as comfort her. Fayba didn't say anything, she just slid down the wall to the ground. She was so shocked that she didn't even realize that she was crying until she felt a tear run down her cheek. Pete grabbed her hand, trying to comfort her but nothing could make her feel better. She had never felt this way. Even when her father died, she still at least had her mother, comforting her, telling her that she would never leave. Now, now, she had nothing. She had no parent to comfort her, only a monkey. She looked at Madame Torrible who was staring at the floor as if she just wanted to melt through it and be anywhere else that wasn't here.

"How long… how long have you known?" Fayba finally choked out.

"Not very long," Pete said in a reassuring voice.

"How long!" Fayba demanded. "Did you know when I called two days ago?" she asked looking at Pete. He immediately looked down, ashamed to meet her eyes.

"Yes," he whispered.

"Why didn't you tell me? I had a right to know!" she said, getting angrier by the minute. She had so many emotions running through her body. Anger at Pete for keeping something so important from her, anger at herself for thinking about her project instead of pushing Pete to tell her what was wrong. She felt guilty for going to Shiz and only saying that she should stay home as a joke. Feeling sadness that her mother was going to die. Every shred of happiness she felt at one time was gone. She couldn't even remember what happiness felt like. Fayba looked at Pete waiting for his excuse to why he didn't tell her.

"I didn't want to worry you," he said, still looking at the ground.

"Well you should have," Fayba said, ripping her hand out of Pete's grasp. "You should have told me the second you knew! The curse is deadly!" Fayba whispered the last part. She wasn't over exaggerating. The curse was the most deadly thing in Oz. No one knew where it came from, when it would come, how someone got it, or if someone would get it. The only thing that everyone knew is if someone gets the curse, it would be only a matter of time before they die. No one has a chance of surviving the curse. Not even Glinda the Good Witch of the North.

"Fayba, I…" Pete couldn't even finish the sentence. He knew from the second he found out it was the curse that whatever decision he made, someone would think that it was the wrong one. He turned to Madame Torrible, hoping that she would say something.

"Fayba, Pete came to take you home to be with your mother. You should go and pack up. Don't worry about your classes, all your teachers will be notified and you won't lose marks. If there is anything else I can do please let me know," Madame Torrible said to the wall above Fayba's head, too afraid to look in her eyes.

Fayba nodded, stood up, and wiped the tears off her face. "I'll go pack and I'll meet you at the entrance in a couple minutes," she said, leaving the office. Once outside, she noticed that Jasmine, Conlan, and Lance were waiting for her. All of them looking concerned.

"What happened?" Jasmine asked but Fayba didn't seem to hear her. She just walked towards the dorm rooms. Everyone followed her, wanting to know what was wrong. "What happened?" Jasmine repeated, running to keep up with Fayba's fast walk.

Fayba reached her dorm room and started fiddling with the lock. She couldn't seem to get her key into the lock because her vision was blurred by her tears. She felt someone grab the key from her hand and opened the door for her. She looked up, seeing Lance handing the key back to her. Fayba took it and walked into the room, snatching a suitcase and placing it on her bed. She opened the suitcase, started grabbing her clothes, and shoved them into it. She knew she couldn't use magic when she was upset. She would end up getting ducks when she wanted flowers.

"Where are you going!" Jasmine demanded, getting frustrated that Fayba wasn't talking to her.

"Home," Fayba said without looking up. She zipped up the suitcase and was going to grab another one but Conlan handed one to her. He tried looking into Fayba's eyes to analyze her actions to understand her but he was only good at analyzing potions and numbers, not people.

"Home? Why? Fayba what's wrong?" Jasmine said, panicking because her best friend was leaving. Had they kicked her out because of her presentation? If that was the case, Jasmine planned to fight for Fayba to stay.

"My mom has the curse," Fayba said zipping up the second bag and walking out of the room. Jasmine didn't follow her, she stood there, desperately trying to hold back the tears. What she said devastated her. She was soon unable to control her tears and they started pouring down her face as she covered her mouth to muffle her sob. Lance ran after Fayba and Conlan stayed behind with Jasmine, catching her when she dropped to the ground.

"Fayba, I'm so sorry," Lance said, running up to her. Fayba just quickly walked to the front entrance of Shiz. Lance opened the door for her and she walked outside without even noticing that Lance was trying to talk to her. She handed her suitcases to the servant that worked at her home. Her home. She never called it that before. It was always the castle or the prison but now she realized that home was anywhere her mother was. Pete went inside the carriage, expecting Fayba to follow. She was about to climb in but Lance caught her arm. "Is there anything I can do?" Lance asked, feeling a bit powerless.

Fayba looked at him for a second then nodded. "Don't tell anyone, please. Can't have more people pity me, and make sure you tell Jasmine and Conlan too," Fayba said. She climbed into the carriage before Lance could reply and then the carriage started to move, leaving Lance outside the school by himself.

Fayba jumped out of her thoughts when she saw the gates to the castle. She sat up, looking at her home coming closer to her. Part of her wanted to hurdle out of the carriage and run away but another part of her wanted to run towards the castle. When they reached the front of the castle, Fayba didn't wait for a servant to open the door. She just jumped out and ran inside the castle. Pete chased after her, hoping to catch her before she reached Glinda's bedroom.

"Fayba wait!" Pete called.

Fayba didn't slow down though. 'She's dying,' 'she's dying,' she thought as she ran faster until she reached her mother's room. She stopped right in front of the closed bedroom door. She couldn't open it. She was too scared to. She didn't know what she was suppose to say to her mother. What does someone say to a dying person?

"How. Did. You. Learn. To. Run. Like. That?" Pete panted once he reached Fayba.

"What do I say to her?" Fayba asked.

"Tell her that you love her," Pete suggested still a bit panting. "But you must remember that the curse makes a person very tired so she might be sleeping," Pete continued. Fayba nodded and opened the door.

She walked in and saw her mother lying down on the bed with many quilts on her. The curse made a person feel very cold. Glinda turned her head to see who walked into the room, seeing Fayba and Pete she immediately smiled.

"I thought I told you to stay at Shiz," Glinda said, making Fayba smile. She walked to the bed and knelt down beside it.

"What can I say, I told you it was a bad idea," Fayba joked.

Glinda laughed a bit but the laugh turned into a cough. She grabbed her handkerchief and coughed uncontrollably into it. Fayba pulled back, feeling the tears in her eyes. Once Glinda stopped coughing, she turned to Fayba.

"Oh darling, don't cry. This was why I didn't want Pete to tell you. I didn't want to stress you out," Glinda said, holding Fayba's hand.

"I'm sorry mom, I just… I can't lose you," Fayba said, once again unable to control her tears.

Glinda nodded. "I know. I don't want to go," she said, "but I am going to die soon and there is something I have to tell you," she continued. She looked at Pete and he knew exactly what she was going to say. Glinda smiled. "It's time to tell her," she said trying to calm Pete's nerves. Pete nodded and Glinda looked at Fayba. "I heard that you did a project on Elphaba and you said some things don't make sense."

Fayba nodded. "I just did the presentation today but it doesn't matter."

Glinda shook her head. "It does matter. You have to know the truth if you are going to be the leader of Oz when I leave." Fayba looked like she was going to say something but Glinda continued, not giving her the chance to speak. "Elphaba and I were best friends at Shiz. One day, Madame Morrible said that the Wizard wanted to see Elphaba because of how powerful she was. Elphie, as I called her, invited me to come along and of course, I said yes, everyone wanted to see the Wizard, we all thought he was magnificent. When we got there though, we meet the Wizard, and find out his second in command is Madame Morrible. She hands Elphie a spell book and told her to read a spell to see if Elphie could do it. Elphie could read it with such ease that it was shocking because Madame Morrible said she could only read and master some of the spells in the book and she spent all her life studying it. When Elphie finished reading, she finds out the spell that she cast gave monkeys wings. The Wizard and Madame Morrible were doing all these horrible things to the animals, Elphie was mortified and ran off with the book, and I chased after her.

"The Wizard and Madame Morrible wanted Elphie captured because she took the book and she knew too much. Madame Morrible said that Elphie was wicked and was the reason why the monkeys grew wings. Elphie chose to fight back, fight for animal rights and asked me to fight with her but I was too scared and I stayed behind. The Wizard deemed me the Good Witch of the North so I would keep quiet. You have to understand Fayba that I was a weak, shallow, and a coward back then, thinking that people liking me was more important than helping my best friend.

"Things just escalated from there. Everyone in Oz was looking for Elphaba, wanting to please the Wizard. On my engagement party to Fiyero at Emerald city, well more like me proposing to Fiyero, I kind of just surprised him with the party, telling him that we were getting married," Glinda laughed a bit, thinking about it, "Elphie came back to Emerald city to release the monkeys that were still in cages. The Wiz caught her though when she was leaving and called on the guards. Fiyero was head of the guards at that time; again, I kind of roped him into it. Instead of catching her though, Fiyero decided to go with her and leave me. They loved each other and I was only in their way.

"After that, Madame Morrible and the Wiz thought of a plan to capture Elphie. I thought they were just going to spread a rumour that Nessa was sick but they decided to kill her instead by Dorothy's house. As expected, Elphie came to Nessa's body when there was no one around but me. When I saw her, I was still so angry with her for taking Fiyero away that we started fighting. We were attacking each other when the guards came to capture her. Fiyero though came to rescue her and he was turned into a scarecrow.

"Elphie then went bonkers. She decided to let everyone think she was wicked instead of fighting it. She didn't do most of the things she was accused of, you know. The cowardly lion was treated horribly when he was younger and Elphie sent him free but he blamed her for not having courage. The tin man's name was Boq and Nessa loved him but when Elphie cast a spell on the shoes to help Nessa walk, he wanted to leave her and she got angry. Nessa grabbed the spell book and read a spell so that she could have Boq's heart. The spell took it literally though and it was going to rip out his heart, causing him to die. Elphie saved him but accidentally turned him into tin in the process.

"I think the only thing that Elphie did that was bad was capturing Dorothy. She wanted Nessa's shoes but not for the power, those shoes had no real power. She wanted the shoes because they belonged to her sister. I confronted Elphie, begging her to let Dorothy go because that poor girl was so scared. I told her that it wasn't worth it and then one of the monkeys handed her a note saying Fiyero was dead. She decided to give up, gave me the spell book because it had good spells in there too. She told me not to try to clear her name because everyone would turn on me. She then let Dorothy throw the water on her. I was in the next room and I heard it all.

"I decided then that I needed to fix Oz, for Elphie. I sent Madame Morrible to jail and told the Wiz to leave and never come back. It was only at the celebration when I saw Fiyero saying goodbye to Dorothy that I knew Elphie made a horrible mistake. I was going to talk to Fiyero after the celebration but I never got the chance. He disappeared and I think he killed himself. He loved Elphie with all of his heart.

"I think about Elphie everyday. I told you when you were younger that I made up your name because I wanted you to be unique but the truth is I named you after Elphaba. See you take out the 'y,' change the 'F' to a 'ph,' and add an 'El' and you get Elphaba. Simple isn't it? Well not really but if I made it too obvious then I would be accused of being one of the Wicked Witch of the West followers." Glinda stopped talking and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before but it had to be a secret, very few know the whole story as it is."

"Mom," Fayba said softly, still trying to wrap her head around the information that Glinda gave her. "Are you sure that Elphaba died. I mean having water thrown on her seems like a weird way to die."

"Yes she died," Glinda said, still with her eyes closed.

"Fayba, we should go and let your mother rest," Pete whispered.

Fayba nodded, squeezed Glinda's hand one last time and left the room, with Pete following. Once they were outside, Nancy immediately started talking. She had been waiting outside the room to talk to Fayba.

"I know that it's later than usual but there's food ready for you Fayba."

"I'm not hungry," Fayba said, staring at Glinda's closed door, wanting desperately to wake up from the nightmare that was her life.

"You should eat something, I'll keep you company," Pete said. Fayba looked at him strangely. Pete never liked the dinning room table. He said the chairs were too big, table too long and there was always too much food. He only sat at the dinning room table on special occasions. Before she could say anything, Pete grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the dinning room. He led her to the seat that she always sat in. Once he let go of her hand and walked away to sit across from her, she realized that he passed her a note. It said 'flying food tastes bad cold.' Fayba smiled. It was the code language that she made up when she was a kid. She taught it to Pete so they could talk to each other in code. The hadn't used the code for years but Fayba still knew what it meant. Pete wanted to talk to her after dinner. Fayba nodded and put the note in her water, destroying all evidence.

After dinner, Fayba followed Pet upstairs. He led her to the tower that was only used to set up fireworks for special events. Her head was still spinning, still thinking what her mother told her about Elphaba. Never in a million years would she have expected the story to end like that, but then again, she never expected her mother to have the curse either. So many things made sense in the story now except for Fiyero's disappearance and Elphaba dying by a bucket of water.

Once they reached the tower, Pete opened the door to the tower room, letting Fayba walk in first and shutting the door after he stepped in. He looked around the room, making sure no one was in there as Fayba sat down on a seat that was left up there. Once he was confident that no one could hear him, he turned to Fayba. "What I'm about to tell you can never leave this room. Out of all the people that know the true Elphaba story, there is even less that know this part of the story. Your mother doesn't even know and you can't tell her," Pete said as Fayba nodded, pushing him to continue. "I was there, the day that Dorothy threw the water on Elphaba," he said pausing, not knowing what to say next.

"Okay," Fayba said slowly, a bit confused as to where this was going.

"You were right, dying by having water thrown on you is a weird way to go." Pete sighed; he knew he couldn't beat around the bush any longer. "Elphaba didn't die, there was a plan."

"What!" Fayba shouted jumping up.

"Shhhhhhhh! Someone might hear you!" Pete whispered harshly. Fayba sat back down so that Pete could continue. "The plan was for Dorothy to throw water on her and she would fall through a trapped door, looking like she melted. Fiyero would then meet her after the celebration of her death so he would get a 'brain' and not cause to much suspicion. We were going to do it right when Dorothy was captured but Elphaba wanted to wait for your mom and she knew she would come. She thought Elphaba went bonkers. Elphaba wanted to make amends and give your mom the spell book. Once she did, it was show time for Elphaba's supposed death. Your mother believed Elphaba died and so did everyone else in Oz. Most of the monkeys followed Elphaba but I stayed behind. Elphaba instructed me to stay and protect Glinda but to never tell her that she was still alive."

"Why are you telling me this?" Fayba asked. "What good is it for me to know that Elphaba is still alive?" Fayba continued. As much as she liked to know the full story, she would rather just be with her mother. Pete could have told her after Glinda's death if he felt he really needed to.

"I'm telling you this because there was a person who had the curse but survived it. She was taken off the count because everyone assumed that it couldn't have been the curse but it was. Elphaba cured her." Fayba stared at Pete in complete shock. This had been one eventful day. To think that when she woke up, she was nervous about a project, now she had hope that her mother may survive the curse.

"Elphaba cured her? How?"

"I don't know."

"Well, where is Elphaba?"

"I don't know," Pete repeated. "She never told me where she was going, thought it was safer that way."

"Well what do you know?" Fayba said, standing up and began to pace. She was getting frustrated that her hope for her mother surviving was slipping away.

"Elphaba can't be anywhere in Oz because she would be caught if she was."

"Do you know who the person that was cured, maybe she knows something."

Pete pondered it for a second, trying to remember the name. "Her name is Miss Libree but I don't know where to find her, all I know is that she probably has Elphaba's yearbook since she said she lost it at her house." Fayba stopped pacing and stared at him for a second. Who knew there was so many twists and turns in this story.

"What?" he questioned, wondering why Fayba looked like she knew something he didn't.

"I need to go back to Shiz," she said running out of the room.

"What?" he called, chasing her for the second time today.

"And you have to help me," she said, stopping on the stairs, pointing her finger in his face.

"What!" he yelled confused and frustrated.

"I need to find Elphaba and the Shiz library will help me find her as well as the librarian. I have to find her to save mom. You have to insist to send me back to Shiz when I ask and-"

"Fayba, it's a long shot to even find Elphaba much less before your mother dies. She can go any day. You should just stay here and spend the time you have left with her."

"I can't just sit here and wait till she dies, knowing that there is a chance to save her. I have to at least try. So I am going to go out there and grab my suitcases that I haven't unpacked and go outside the castle. You are going to get the carriage ready so that by the time I walk outside, the carriage and the driver will be ready to leave. The excuse will be that I can't stand seeing my mother in pain. When I leave, you will phone Madame Torrible and tell her to expect me late at night. Ready, break," Fayba said, clapping her hands together and walking out of the tower and into the hallway.

"Hey! I didn't agree to this!" Pete shouted as he followed Fayba.

"Agree to what?" Nancy asked. Pete looked at Fayba, not knowing what to say.

"I'm going back to Shiz because I can't see my mom in pain. Pete agrees with me but he doesn't think I should go tonight but tomorrow but I have to leave now." Pete looked at Fayba, completely shocked. She was such a good liar, which made him wonder what else she has lied about.

"But Fayba, don't you want to spend the time you have left with your mother before she goes," Nancy said, shocked that Fayba would even think about leaving.

"I can't be here. I'm sorry. Pete can you get the carriage ready please," Fayba said. Pete was about to say something but Fayba put up her hand. "I need to go tonight," she said then walked away, still putting on a show for Nancy. Nancy stood there in shock. She turned to Pete and he shrugged his shoulders, walking away to get the carriage ready.

Fayba ran out of the castle, afraid that if she waited too long, Nancy would stop her or worse, her mother. She didn't want to talk to her mother, she was scared that she would forget the reason why she was leaving and stay at her mother's side. 'I'm not abandoning her' Fayba repeated over and over in her head, hoping that soon she would believe it. When she walked outside, she saw the carriage, a driver ready to leave and Pete waiting for her. A servant took her suitcases and Fayba went into the carriage.

"Thank you Pete," she said as he shut the door.

"Don't worry about it, just find Elphaba," he whispered.

Fayba nodded, as the carriage started moving. Pete waited until the carriage disappeared through the gates before he went to call Madame Torrible. He thought about the last time he was standing there, watching the carriage that was bringing Fayba to Shiz. Back then, he had hope that Glinda didn't have the curse. Now he had to hope that Fayba would find Elphaba.

It was late at night when Fayba finally reached Shiz. Madame Torrible was waiting outside the school for her. Fayba grabbed her suitcases and followed Madame Torrible inside.

"I don't understand why you are here, your monkey friend tried to explain it when he called but I still didn't understand. Anyways, it doesn't matter, you're hurting and that doesn't always make sense. I'm giving you the day off tomorrow. Don't go to any of your classes, stay in your dorm room or go to a place that you love, just don't go to class," Madame Torrible said as they reached Fayba's dorm room.

"Thank you Madame Torrible," she said, opening her door. Madame Torrible nodded and walked away, leaving Fayba alone with her thoughts.

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