"Faolen, stop fidgeting." Chided Glinda as she tried to fix his tie.
"Galinda, please, I can dress myself." He said with a smile.
Glinda sighed as she sat down on the bed, "I was just trying to help. I don't even know why we're going to this stupid assembly."
"To greet the brave adventurers who have requested an audience with the Wizard."
"Ok, why do we have to go if they want to see the Wizard?" Pouted Glinda.
Faolen shrugged, "I guess it comes with being the face of Oz and the Captain of the Gale Force."
"But, Faolen, I don't want to go. I want to find Elphie…and I've been having suspicions about that tornado that struck Nessa."
The Blond pulled his fiancé close, "Me too. But we'll settle that later. Right now, we best be going."
Glinda sighed, "There's still a few minutes." She muttered.
"C'mon now." Chuckled Faolen as he took her hand and reached for the door.
Unbeknownst to the two, the adventures, at that very moment, were already in the middle of their meeting with the Wizard of Oz.
"The beneficent Oz has every intention of granting your requests." Boomed the great and terrible Wizard, "But first, you must prove yourselves worthy by performing a very small task."
The four standing before Oz were listening intently at this point.
"Bring me the broomstick of the Witch of the West."
"B-b-b-b-but to do that, we'll have to kill her to get it!" Sputtered the Lion.
The Scarecrow was frantically thinking of a way out of this.
What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? Damn you Wizard. Damn it, he wants Elphaba dead! Where the hell is Faolen and Glinda? Crap, new plan, new plan, I need a new plan!
"But, what if she kills us first?" Piped up Dorothy.
"I said go!" Roared Oz.
The Lion nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Oz's voice, he promptly ran out of the room on all fours. The farm girl and tin man followed, while the scarecrow lagged a bit behind, still deep in thought.
This sucks so much. I've seen Elphaba twice since I was tied to that damn wedgie causing pole, and not once has she recognize me. Now that fascist Wizard wants me to help kill her, that's just fan freaking tastic.
One could practically see a light bulb above his head as the Scarecrow's blue eyes lit up.
I got it!
The Scarecrow whistled for a palace messenger as he quickly scribbled a note.
"Deliver this to Kiamo Ko. Immediately." He ordered.
"But, that's where the Witch of the West resides!" Stuttered the messenger.
"Yeah, dude, that's kind of the whole point." Muttered the Scarecrow as he jogged away, "Good luck buddy!"
After a few minutes, he caught up with Dorothy and the others, all gathered on a stage with a large audience before them. Faolen Srithentic was just finishing shaking the hands of the farm girl when he saw a Scarecrow run onto the stage.
"Can I help you, sir?" He asked.
"Uh, I'm one of the…witch hunters, I suppose." Answered the Scarecrow.
Faolen stuck out his hand, "A pleasure to meet you." He said woodenly.
How ironic is it that I meet the person I've been looking for and he doesn't even recognize me? Way to go, you dumb blond. I can't tell you that I'm the disgraced ex-captain of the guard with this huge ass crowd right here!
The Scarecrow lowered the brim of his hat so that Faolen couldn't see his eyes, "Nice to meet you too, Faolen." Sighed the Scarecrow as they shook hands.
"How did you know my name?"
"Errr…because you're famous of course! Oh, my apologies, Captain Faolen to me," Laughed the Scarecrow nervously, "Well, I gotta go…talk to…tin man, so-ok-thanks-bye!"
The Scarecrow quickly ran off.
How odd. Thought Faolen to himself.
"Go and hunt her! Find her, and kill her!" Chanted the citizens of the Emerald City.
"Good fortune, witch hunters!" Cackled someone in the crowd.
"Wickedness must be punished! Evil effectively eliminated!" Roared another.
The tin man stepped forward, "And this is more than just a service to the Wizard. I have a personal score to settle with Elph-, with the witch!" He yelled as he thrusted a tin fist into the air.
Elph! He said Elph! Elph is almost Elphaba! Thought the Scarecrow. Had the tin man known Elphaba before she was branded the Wicked Witch of the West?
"It's due to her I'm made of tin, her spell made this occur! So for once I'm glad I'm heartless, I'll be heartless killing her! And I'm not the only one!" He pointed to a cowering figure behind Dorothy, "Oh, come on, you! Come out and tell them what she did to you in class that day. How you were just a cub and she cub napped you!"
Cub? Lion cub! Oh no way. That's just too freaking convenient. Impossible.
The Scarecrow listened on nervously.
"You see, the Lion also has a grievance to repay! If she'd let him fight his own battles when he was young, he wouldn't be a coward today!"
"No, no, that's not the way it happened!" Sputtered Glinda, a few metres away from the Scarecrow, standing next to Madame Morrible, "Madame, you've got to stop this, it's gone too far!"
"Oh, I think Elphaba can take care of herself." Said Madame Morrible dismissively.
"Madame, something's been troubling me about Nessarose and that cyclone." Added the Captain of the Guard, standing to the right of Glinda.
"Oh yes…well, I guess it was just her time."
"Was it? Or did you..." Glinda glared at her accusingly.
There was a moment of silence as Faolen started glaring at Madame Morrible as well.
"Now, you listen to me, Missy, you have fooled the rest of Oz with this 'aren't I good' routine, but you know better. You've wanted this since the beginning…and now you're getting what you wanted. So just smile and wave and shut up!"
"You can't speak to her like that!" Grunted Faolen.
"You shut up too, pretty boy!" Snarled the Madame.
She turned her attention back to the crowd, "Good fortune, good fortune witch hunters!"
"Kill her! Kill the witch!" Chanted the mob.
Madame Morrible turned to look at the Captain of the Guard, "Now then, Captain Srithentic, don't you think you should be leading the march?"
Faolen stiffened, "With all due respect, Madame, this is Dorothy and the other witch hunters' task, not mine."
"But Captain, you and the other guards should join us!" Shouted a voice in the crowd.
"No, that's fine…" He smiled nervously.
"Come on Captain! We have to go help them kill the Witch!" Exclaimed Faolen's leftenent as he pointed to Dorothy, "Look! That one's just a child!"
Crap, crap, crap.
The Captain cleared his throat, "Well then, if you all really want me to go, how can I say no?" He raised his gun, "We're off to slay the Witch, the Wicked Witch of the West!"
The witch hunters roared in agreement as they started marching in the direction of Kiamo Ko.
The Blond lingered behind, he then turned to Glinda, "Go to Kiamo Ko, find Elphaba, warn her. It'll take us about two days; give a take a few hours to reach the castle."
Glinda the Good just stared at him.
"What are you waiting for? Go! She needs you!"
Glinda snapped out of her daze and summoned her bubble. As she flew off, the Captain of the Gale Force grimaced and cleaned his glasses.
Oz speed, Galinda, Oz speed.
