(AN: If you have been reading along since The Witch's Saga, you will undoubtedly see explained what I have been leading up to in this chapter. It is quite important, not only for the beginning of Witch's Soul, but for what happens [or may happen] after Witch's Soul. I kind of don't want to go on, since this story is starting to lag outside of cross-over heaven, but if I do decide to hand over the reins, I want it to be someone I am confident can carry on the story in an appropriate way: epic fantasy adventure, while keeping the spirit/essence of Wicked and its characters alive [if you think you can do so, just say the word].)
A Tale of Two Witches
It was Glinda.
"Who...what are you?" she asked.
"Don't you know?" the other one returned with a question. "You've forgotten already?"
What Glinda saw before her was something that was very much like herself. The body was the same, the hair, though a brilliant shade of auburn, was still curled as perfectly as her own, even the bubbly voice was similar: it was as though someone had duplicated Glinda Upland through magic, dumped her in a pink version of her bubble dress, complete with a pink, ruby-studded tiara and fake, gossamer wings, then dropped this Glinda-double directly in front of the real Glinda.
"Sorry," the Glinda in her Burgundian peasant woman's dress replied. "I've been sick a lot lately, I don't remember much of anything."
"When she left," the pink Glinda said. "You found that the Grimmerie was still with you. A little patience and a lot of hard work, and you unlocked a certain spell."
The words she spoke brought the memories back into Glinda's mind. She had done just that: that was why Elphaba was so relieved to see her, claiming she had died.
"The spell," she breathed. "But I only split myself in two."
"That's not entirely true," the other Glinda shook her head. "You split yourself into four. One is not, another is lost, and two yet remain alive. You are one, and I am the other."
"Where are you exactly?"
"Home in Oz," the red-haired Glinda said. "That was your plan, after all. Stay in Worms and begin work on your plan, while the rest of us went off where you commanded us to go."
"What is my plan?"
"You never told me," the red-haired Glinda replied. "All you told me was to go back to Oz and continue ruling, just as Elphie had left for you to do: do justice, rule kindly, and make sure the Animals are treated well."
"And are they?"
"They no longer fear for their lives," red-haired Glinda answered. "Is that good?"
The blond Glinda nodded her head, still trying to wrap her mind around this.
"You said I split myself into four?"
"That is correct." the red-haired Glinda nodded.
"What were the others? Where are they now?"
A look of surprise came over red-haired Glinda for a moment, who rubbed her chin pensively, as though she were in deep thought: not a usual pose she struck, Glinda reminded herself. Slowly, the red-haired Glinda began to speak and tell her story.
"I remember when I first came into being," she began. "We were all very weak, you said it was a side effect of the spell. I looked at us, and noticed there were four of us, including me. One was dark-haired with green eyes, and the other looked exactly like you. I recall asking you why you had conjured one that was exactly like you: you told me she was to go with the others, to keep them company and report back everything that happened. Oh, I do apologize for not reporting in sooner. Please don't be offended!"
"I'm not, I'm not," Glinda shook her head.
Red-haired Glinda nodded. "You gave your blue travel dress, the one the Elves made you, to the copy-cat. I and the other were given robes and told our missions secretly. I then made my way back to Oz, and the rest, as they say, is history."
This was all too much for her to take in all at once. She knew she was nowhere near as powerful of a sorceress as Elphaba was: how had she managed to cast such a powerful spell? She had actually split herself into four separate, living entities, all of them Glinda, yet all of them different.
"Wait, you said you knew how to get back to Oz?" Glinda asked.
"Yes," nodded red-haired Glinda. "You see, after my return, I put my mind to studying magic, in hopes that, when I am no longer needed, you will assimilate my power into your own and become stronger."
"Assimiliate? How?"
"Don't you remember?" the red-haired Glinda asked. "You told me in confidence. You said none of the others knew this!"
"Knew what?"
"You told us all that, though we were permitted to call ourselves Glinda, be called Glinda, and carry out all the actions, rights and privileges of Glinda, we were not truly Glinda: only your reflections. After you and I were alone, you told me the rest of the spell: 'To Assume the Reflection.' Once we were no longer needed, you would come for us and touch us, thereby assuming us back into the whole."
Glinda saw that the red-haired version of herself was actually appearing rather sad and sorrowful, as she had not seen herself in quite a long time (then again, there were no mirrors or ways of seeing herself in Oppman's underground garage, so she didn't know if, perchance, she had become as sorrowful now as she now saw in her reflection).
"Let me show you," the red-haired one said, unable to continue. Glinda saw the room dissolve, and then reassemble into something that resembled her apartment in the hall at Worms. There sat herself, just as she had been, with the red-haired duplicate of herself, wrapped in an old cloak, standing before her.
"The spell says," the other blond Glinda said. "That when you won't be needed, I just need to touch you and you'll go back into me."
"Will I die?" the red-haired duplicate asked.
"Die? No!" she assured the duplicate. "Your body will disintegrate, but you will be back in me again. Everything you've experienced, seen, witnessed or gained, will live on in me."
"Will it hurt?"
"I don't know..."
The vision faded, and Glinda found herself back in Oppman's garage, surrounded by tools and equipment, with the red-haired Glinda standing at the foot of her make-shift bed.
It all made sense now. When the other one, the 'copy-cat' Glinda, had been killed in the past, her essence, her memories, her experiences, were transferred back to her, the true Glinda, about the time when she began to grow stronger. All she had to do now was find the others, assimilate them and she would never be this weak again.
"What about Oz?" she asked at last. "You said you found the way back from here."
"It wasn't easy," the red-haired Glinda said. "But I was able to find the spell. If you would like, I will give it to you." Just then, another thought entered Glinda's mind.
"Wait! Do you know anything about Elphie? Do you know where I can find her?"
"I was wondering when you would ask."
"Huh?"
"You see," the red-haired Glinda said. "I have a gift for you, and it concerns Elphie. That is why I sent out my consciousness to find you."
"Consciousness?"
"I am not really here," the red-haired Glinda said. "But what I have to give is real enough." Immediately, there materialized a small black orb that floated in red-haired Glinda's hand.
"This is a scrying crystal," the red-haired Glinda said. "It was made by Quadlings, and imbued with special powers. If you look into this glass, you will see whatever it is your will is most desirous to see."
"Elphie had one like this!" Glinda exclaimed, as the black orb floated down and came to rest at her feet.
"Hers was more powerful than this mere trifle," the red-haired Glinda replied. "I fear it was more powerful than anything of its kind. It is beyond reach now, but Elphie is not. Here, take this first part of your gift as use it well."
"Wait, first part?"
"I have one more gift to give you."
(AN: Ten chapters is my minimum for regular, non-short story, non-one shot, fan-fics on here. I have reached that mark, and on this cliff-hanging note, I shall seal the book of Ozian Adventures: The Land until such time as our green-skinned anti-heroine stops feeling sorry for herself.)
(Witch's Soul coming soon: [this is for real, now])
(Any ideas? Thoughts? Fears? Concerns? Comments? Questions? Requests? Suggestions for Witch's Soul? Takers for continuing their version of Ozian Adventures? All are welcomed: just fill out the review below, please.)