Elphaba stared at the carpet beneath her. Her gaze wandered to the cat, who was happily pulling on the fabric with its claws. The witch frowned. Was that it? Its favourite carpet? She sighed. Turning her broom to have the bristles up, she stomped it on the ground to let her annoyance out and the cat know that she was not happy with its little game. She had her mouth open, but stopped breathing before even speaking. The cat slightly winced and looked at her. Elphaba stomped the broom again, this time not as hard. This was not the sound she had expected. It sounded like wood, not stone, and almost hollow. Frowning, she took a couple of steps back, getting off the old and filthy rug.
Crouching down with the musty fabric between her fingertips, the green woman slowly lifted it up. She did not even notice the black cat walking around the carpet and sitting next to her leg. There was wood, just as she suspected.
With a flick of her arm, she flung the carpet over. Dust swirled around her and she had to pinch her nose in order not to sneeze. She kept her eyes squeezed shut for a moment longer, before blinking against the mouldy particles in the air. There was a trapdoor.
"Meow." Elphaba turned her head to look at the cat. It looked back, its blue-green eyes wide and friendly. Elphaba's mouth curved into a slim line. Inhaling, she stretched her hand towards the metal ring and pulled. It was stuck, so Elphaba raised from her crouch and pulled harder. She groaned, jerking her arms upward when suddenly, the hatch burst open, the handle flying out of her hand. With a yelp of surprise, the witch stumbled back, but found her balance after a few steps.
Looking down, Elphaba saw nothing but utter darkness. Cool air rose up from the opening, bringing the smell of cold and wet rock with it. On the wall opposite of her was an old torch, which she yanked from its mounting. Eagerly mumbling a spell she recalled from the Grimmerie, she lit the end of the torch up and stepped back to the opening. Curiosity fluttered inside of her like a bird yearning to leave its cage.
She held the burning end down towards the hole and squinted to catch a glimpse of steps, winding their way into the dark cellar. Quickly licking over her dry lips, Elphaba took the first step down, then started to climb down the narrow stone stairs. She looked to the side, when just her head was peeking out of the opening, wondering where the cat had gone. It sat at the top of the stairs, watching her calmly, so Elphaba shrugged with a slight frown across her forehead and continued her way down.
Hearing the pitter-patter behind her, she knew that the cat was following her with steps that sounded a lot more certain than her own. Worrying that Fiyero would not find her upon returning and panicking, Elphaba hesitated more and more with each step. The torch – which only enlightened the narrow staircase and nothing beyond – did not help much with her concern. Noticing that her breath was shaky, Elphaba closed her eyes for a moment. Telling herself that there was nothing to be scared about and that she was acting ridiculously.
In her head, she thought about how Glinda would probably be more scared than her and either pretend not to care about what was down there or die to know, but not go herself. In any case, Elphaba would have to go by herself, or at least first.
Suddenly, she tripped and fell, not having watched her step, since her eyes were closed. With a gasp, she stumbled on the step, hearing the cat hiss in surprise behind her. Groaning in pain, she hit the wall in front of her, then slid forward before her feet could find any grip. Catching herself with her hands, Elphaba landed on her stomach, hitting the rocky ground. Groaning again, she pushed herself up, drawing her bruised knees towards her.
With an uncomfortable sigh, the young witch sat up and blinked into the darkness. Her hands burned from being scraped, and so did her knees and thighs. Some of her toes felt as if they might be bruised as well, but she was glad that her face had not been injured.
"Meow." She could hear the cat raise its voice next to her. Turning her head, Elphaba looked into glowing eyes, blinking at her. Perhaps it was worried, she thought, smiling slightly.
The second she had thought it might actually care about her, the eyes moved away from her. She could see the silhouette of the small animal walking past the torch, which she now noticed had fallen onto the ground next to her. The cat disappeared in the shadows, from where it meowed at her a couple of times. Elphaba quickly picked up the torch, winced back when the wood touched her open wounds, but held onto it as tight as she could.
She had slight trouble getting up, but managed after a moment. The calls had stopped and so Elphaba blindly walked into the direction the cat had disappeared into. Holding the torch far in front of her, she could hear loud purring, the further she walked.
Elphaba had to crouch down to see her furry new friend. It was still purring loudly and when the witch lowered her torch, she could see the cat rubbing its sides against a box. Elphaba leaned the torch against the box, which was about double the height of the cat and square. It was made of a strange, light brown material she had never seen before. Running her fingertips over the closed flaps of the same material, she felt a rough and paper-like material, but thicker.
Suddenly, the box caught on fire next to her. Quickly, Elphaba took the torch away from it. Her wounds brushed the handle and with a groan of pain, she let it fall onto the ground. Turning back to the box, her thoughts raced over how she should extinguish the flames, not being able to use her hands properly.
Taking the rim of her hat gingerly, she slapped it onto the flames and suffocated them. Elphaba let out a long sigh. She carefully knelt down, hissing when her knees touched the ground, but did not wince back. She picked up the torch and decided to keep holding onto it. A hesitant 'meow' reached her ears, so she turned to see the cat returning to her side. It must have fled upon the box catching fire, Elphaba assumed.
"So now what? This is it?" She asked with a sigh, not expecting an answer in the first place. Turning her attention back to the box, the young witch slowly opened the first flap, then the next one. She held the torch towards the box, but watched out for it not to touch the thick paper. One hand reached into the box, where she felt something she already knew all too well.
"Glitter?" Elphaba frowned. Lifting her hand out of the box, she watched the sparkles gently rain down from her fingertips. Enthusiastically meowing, the cat flung its paws towards the glitter, trying to catch it out of the air. Elphaba frowned even more, unable to hide the amused curl her lip curved across her face. "You remind me an awful lot of someone, who would have me stumble through the dark just for a pile of glitter, too…"
Reaching into the box again, Elphaba felt glass, so she carefully took it out. It was round like a crystal ball, but smaller, fitting into her hand if she did not close it shut. It was see-through and sparkled a little from the glitter. There was a small loop on top of it, like an eyelet, where a golden string was tied to it. Elphaba took the string and let the glass orb turn at the height of her eyes.
An idea struck her like lighting. Elphaba settled the torch between her thighs to have the other hand free. While the orb still turned around itself as she held it by the string, Elphaba's other hand encircled it. Her fingers sidled and winded around the glass. The green witch chanted, first with a mere murmur, then louder and louder, almost hypnotizingly. Her melodic and deep spell casting showed its effect when the ball started to glow. Having her eyes closed and completely focused on her magic, Elphaba repeated the words of the ancient language she had remembered from the Grimmerie.
Almost hissing the last syllable, she opened her eyes. Wide-eyed, Elphaba stared into the crystal ball, which's outside was still glowing slightly in a reddish gleam. Frowning, she wondered why it had not worked. Where is he? Elphaba wondered, not seeing Fiyero, but complete and utter darkness inside the glass. She sighed, frustrated but more concerned, when the image suddenly changed.
Slowly, something came into view inside the orb. Elphaba squinted and was glad that the spell had made the glass glow by itself, so that she did not have to hold the torch close to it. Something green appeared in the blurry image. She tilted her head in confusion. But… that's me!