A/N: Hello again everyone! I'm sorry that I left you with such and unfair cliffhanger. I've been out of town for about a week, and before that I was dealing with midterms. But I'm hopefully back for good now. I feel like since I've had some time away from this story, I can come back to it refreshed and ready to finish it out. :)
"What? Why?" Anya asked, all at once incredulous and heartbroken. How could they do this? After years of ignoring Elphaba, why choose to kill her now?
Anya suddenly began to regret things that she had no control over. She regretted Elphaba's childhood. She regretted Elphaba's color, which had caused the woman so much pain. And most of all, she regretted the steps that had led her to this cell. She wished above all that she could return to her lover and that she could forget about this whole ordeal. She regretted getting to know the Witch, only to lose her again in the most horrific of ways.
Elphaba looked at her then, as if she could hear Anya's thoughts. Anya immediately felt remorse for wishing to never have known the wonderful woman sitting next to her. Despite the pain, deep down Anya knew that through Elphaba's life Anya had learned to appreciate her own life. She had learned how to question the "facts" given to her, and she had learned to truly listen to people. Anya would forever be grateful to Elphaba, which made the news even harder to digest.
"The bastards," Avaric repeated, having regained his composure again. "This benefit tonight was only a sham, a ploy for the Wizard to announce his plans to execute the Wicked Witch."
"I…I don't understand," Anya admitted. She couldn't, wouldn't accept that Elphaba might be taken away from her. She didn't think she could survive Southstairs without her.
"I'm like a token of the Wizard's power," Elphaba said, her voice strangely weary.
"That filthy rat is losing power and influence in Oz, so he's dragging Elphaba back out into the limelight to show what he's capable of. He's using her execution to show what he accomplished in capturing the Wicked Witch in the hopes of recovering some of the disgruntled Ozians," Avaric whispered quickly through clenched teeth.
"How is he losing influence? He's the Wizard. People practically worship him." Anya couldn't quite understand the Wizard's motives. As far as she was concerned, he had all the power in the world. If he could take away an Animal's rights as easily as taking a breath, then he had to still have some measure of power.
"Some of the Ozians aren't seeing the progress that they had hoped for when the Witch was captured," Avaric tried to explain. "They're finally starting to see how rotten the Wizard is. He is letting our once beautiful lands fall into ruin. The Yellow Brick Road is mostly in shambles now, and the different provinces are losing communication with each other and with the Emerald City. The Wizard is hoping that using the Witch as a common enemy once again will reunite Oz under his rule."
Anya nodded, feeling strangely calm and collected. She understood what Avaric was telling her, and she felt that knowledge was half of the battle. Now that she knew what they were up against, she felt that they could fight it, and, more importantly, that they could win.
"So what are we going to do?" she asked.
"I don't know," Avaric admitted, rising and running his hands through his hair roughly. "I suppose I can find an exit that we can use. But what's unfortunate is that the Wizard went out of his way to make sure I have limited contact with Elphaba. That means that I'm being watched. Hell, they probably know that I'm here now. These walls seem to breathe sometimes."
"Does he suspect how involved your relationship is?" Anya asked tensely. Their escape could depend entirely on his answer. It was one thing for the Wizard to question Avaric's loyalty; it was a completely different matter if the Wizard was certain of Avaric's connection with Elphaba.
"I don't think so. I believe that he thinks I've just been partaking in…physical pleasures with Elphaba. He fears that will cloud my judgment around her."
"At least he hasn't caught on to the truth yet." Anya breathed a sigh of relief. It was short lived, however. She had a feeling that true relief wouldn't be present in her life for a very long time. "Avaric, we have to escape."
"I know. I just haven't figured out how. Security is increasing around your cell tomorrow. In fact, I don't know when I'll be able to come back. They've got me posted in the third quarter, of all places. Far, far away from here, of course," he said bitterly.
"Really?" Anya asked, perking up. "That's perfect!"
Avaric looked confused. "I'm not following."
"My…family lives there. He'll help us."
"Who is he?" Avaric asked, also beginning to get a glint of hope in his eyes.
"He's Vinkun. A tailor. But he has many connections, Animal and otherwise. The community will listen to him. We can give the Wizard a fight that he never dreamed of."
Avaric smiled for the first time that night. "We can finally give the Wizard what he deserves."
The two conspirators smiled at each other in the damp darkness of the cell. Elphaba, who had been strangely quiet throughout the ordeal, straightened on the mattress. Anya could feel the tension radiating off of her body, and when Anya looked over at her, she could tell that Elphaba was not happy. On the contrary, Elphaba appeared to be quite angry.
"No," she nearly growled.
Avaric, who hadn't noticed the change in Elphaba's demeanor, jumped at the fierce sound in her voice. "Elphie?"
"I will not have more blood on my hands."
"But Elphaba—" Avaric tried.
"No," she said more fiercely than before. Anya shrank away from the green woman, fearing her anger.
Avaric looked to Anya for support. Anya gulped and attempted to convince Elphaba of what they needed to do to save her life. "Elphaba, please. We have to get you out of here. I don't think all of those who you have fought for could bare to see their heroine murdered."
The look that Elphaba gave her made Anya feel as though she were the one murdering Elphaba. It was a mix of sorrow, anger, understanding, and, most surprisingly of all, acceptance. "I can't have anyone else risking their lives for me. I won't allow it. I would rather die at the blade of the Wizard than be forced to live with that guilt for the rest of my life. I already have too much of that."
"Elphaba, Fiyero wouldn't want this. He would want you to keep fighting. He would hate that you were here in the first place," Avaric tried again.
Elphaba rose quickly and slapped him across the face. He grabbed his cheek and looked surprised and, above all, hurt. "I told you to never use him as leverage again. Now get out."
"Elphaba—"
"Go!" the green woman screamed, the force of it nearly shaking the walls of the cell, or so Anya imagined.
Avaric turned to go, looking more stricken than he had when he had entered. At the door, he glanced back at Elphaba, who still stood seething in the middle of the room. "I'm sorry," he offered.
"I forgot to ask, Master Avaric," Elphaba started, her tone still sizzling with her anger, "when am I to die?"
"Two weeks," Avaric answered morbidly. He exited and shut the door quietly behind him. Anya sat very still, shock not even beginning to describe her reaction to the events that had just unfolded.
Once Avaric had exited the cell, Elphaba visibly deflated. Anya remained silent, afraid of what speaking would cause. Elphaba suddenly rushed to the small drain in the corner of the room that they used as a toilet. She vomited, doubling over and clutching her stomach. Once she was finished, Anya carefully carried some water over to her. She was shaking with the force of her sickness, and she barely acknowledged Anya.
Finally, she took a drink of water and straightened to her full height, only to grab her stomach and vomit again. Eventually, after what seemed to Anya a painfully long time, Elphaba crossed the cell to her mattress and sat precariously on the edge.
"Damned gravy," she tried to joke, but her voice shook.
"Are you okay?" Anya asked, her concern apparent.
Elphaba tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. "I'm fine. Just a little upset is all."
"You shouldn't be so hard on Avaric. He cares for you very deeply."
Elphaba nodded slowly. "Yes, I know. But he aggravates me with his constant badgering. I just wish he would respect my decision. He says that Fiyero wouldn't be happy with me because I'm here, but I know that Fiyero would at least respect and understand why I have to be here."
"Well, have you tried explaining your reasons to Avaric?"
Elphaba shook her head. "I think only me and the Unnamed God, if he exists, know my reasons. Even then, I'm not sure if the Unnamed God truly understands."
"Maybe that's why Avaric is having a problem in seeing you stuck here. If you explained it to him—"
"If I explained it to him, he would simply argue and disagree."
"Why not try explaining it to me then?" Anya was surprised by her own boldness, but her curiosity over Elphaba's reasons had reached its peak.
Elphaba succeeded in producing the smallest of smiles. "Fine, dear girl." Anya held her breath, strangely excited for what Elphaba had to tell her. It felt as if the two were schoolgirls preparing to share a secret over a handsome classmate. But Anya knew that Elphaba's explanation was nothing like the frivolity of schoolgirl crushes. It made Anya wish for times past, when life wasn't so complicated.
"I choose to be here as a punishment for my life," Elphaba said matter-of-factly.
Anya looked at Elphaba as if she were crazy. "What?"
Elphaba sighed, and Anya feared that she would be sick again. The Witch closed her eyes for a moment, either settling her stomach or gathering her thoughts. Perhaps both. When she opened them again, she focused on Anya.
"I've caused so much pain unnecessarily throughout my life. This is my way of repaying that debt. Whatever pain I face here is nothing compared to what I've caused others. I've ruined lives, Anya. This was the only way I could feel comfortable living with myself."
Anya couldn't believe what she was hearing. Punishment by way of torture? It seemed incomprehensible that the green woman could have caused as much pain as she had endured in wretched Southstairs. "What good can that do the people that you've hurt? Torturing yourself is no way to atone for your sins, whatever they may be."
Elphaba suddenly looked consumed with weariness. She sighed, holding her head in her hands. "I'm afraid it's the only way I can truly atone for the sins I've committed."
"What can be so bad?"
The Witch leveled a look at Anya. She could tell that Elphaba was struggling with her emotion, struggling against her own body, struggling against all the ties that had bound her and made her silent for all this time. "Anya, I—I've killed someone; I've caused someone's death. Because of me, he no longer breathes in another day, no longer blinks against the harshness of the sun. Because of me, because of my stupid ideals. I can't allow that to ever happen again. Better for me to be beaten than to cause another death."
"Who?" Anya asked, taken aback by the emotion in the Witch's voice.
"Fiyero," she whispered.
The earth continued to spin, allowing its residents to enjoy another day. The moon shone brightly through the window, illuminating the cell and bringing to light the grimy reality of it all. Water dripped somewhere, its sound echoing through the silence. The women sat there, burdened by past and unwilling to move into the future.