Don't Wish
Chapter 10: Visitification
Glinda's muscles tensed as she heard the sinister voice behind her. It was not a time of night for anyone to be walking about, and the voice was so familiar. There was only one way to confirm her fears.
She turned slowly, and found herself staring straight into the eyes of Madame Morrible.
The old woman looked horrible. Her curly hair was coarse and matted and her face was disgustingly deprived of make-up. Her skin was dirty and she was still dressed in her black prison robes, which made her look like a specter of the night.
But the worst thing was, clutched in her bony fingers was: Glinda's wand.
"How did you-What the-How could-?" Glinda stuttered in shock and disbelief.
"I see you ability for public speaking hasn't improved much." Morrible sneered, "Did you honestly think that little prison cell could hold me forever?"
Usually, Glinda would have some brilliant, yet brutally honest comeback. But that wasn't the case this time, as she realized Madame Morrible was right. She stood, glaring defiantly, but not speaking a word.
Morrible chuckled at the young woman's silence, and then went on. "I always knew you weren't the brightest match, ever since I first met you." She said, smiling, "I thought you would prove me wrong, but alas, you're a disappointment."
"Do you mind explaining to me, what in Oz are you doing appearing in the middle of the night, in my garden, holding my wand?" Glinda said, appalled at Morrible's ideas of her.
"There's not much you could do with it anyways. As long as you don't try to levitate me, I might explode like a sandwich." Morrible cackled shrilly and loudly.
The cackle sound familiar to Glinda, and she knew where she had heard it before. Twice before.
In her dreams.
She shuddered at the thought, but battled to keep a straight face. "Please, stick to the properfication and answer my question." She said, with as little fear in her voice as she could muster.
"Formalities mean nothing to me, Miss Glinda, I am a convict if you have so forgotten." Morrible sneered, "But if you must know, I want the Grimmerie."
"Too bad." Glinda answered simply, "It's mine. And there's nothing you can say or do to make me give it to you."
"I wouldn't say that." Morrible said, flashing a deviously evil smile, "You do remember that reporter."
Glinda nodded, not quite understanding what Morrible was getting at. Then she realized, who else besides Glinda, Elphie and Fiyero could know about Levian. Morrible must have sent her!
"You sent her?" Glinda asked, echoing her thoughts.
"So she can but two and two together! Yes, you dense little midget, I sent her!" Morrible said in an irritated tone, "There's only one person in this land smart enough to figure out the Witch is alive. You couldn't figure it, so that left me."
"You know?" Glinda gaped, appalled that Morrible could figure that out and she couldn't.
"Yes I know. And I have pictures that could ruin your perfect reputation." Morrible sneered.
"I don't care. Do what you wish." Glinda said, looking straight up into Morrible's eyes and faking a defiant and unafraid stance,.
It was as if Morrible could smell fear, or Glinda just looked stupid, because she chuckled as Glinda spoke. But, she played along with her.
"Well, you do know, my dear, that this not only buts your life on the line. It affects Elphaba too."
Glinda stared into the cold eyes of Madame Morrible and knew she wasn't too slow to understand this one.
If the Ozzians get word of this, they'll know Elphie lives. And they will go after her. They'll hurt her. They'll kill her.
Glinda glanced over to a wall in the courtyard. On it was faded red graffiti, unable to be completely washed away. Maybe it was the words, or the timing, or the lack of finding the culprit, but Glinda found it symbolic. It was probably the words.
Elphaba Lives
She could hear Elphie's voice in her head, as if it were telling her what to do.
Forget about me, Glinda, you have to save Oz! If Morrible gets a hold of the Grimmerie, everyone will be doomed. Think of what she can do! What does one life mean at the cost of a million others?
It means the world, Glinda answered, even though she knew the voice was not really Elphie.
Morrible chuckled, snapping Glinda back into reality. "I see you understand." She said, "I'll be back tomorrow night, around this time. I trust you will see it my way and hand over the Grimmerie."
Without another word, Morrible turned towards the darkness. But, she turned back and tossed Glinda's wand to the ground.
"You also might want to get that ankle fixed. Since you don't have enough powers to do it yourself." She cackled. And then, as quickly as she had come, she disappeared into the night.
Glinda stood alone, staring at the floor in silence for a good few minutes. She hadn't even remembered her injury until Madame Morrible pointed it out. It didn't even really hurt anymore, or maybe she was just ignoring it because of the state her mind was in.
She halfheartedly conjured a bubble and floated back to her balcony, stepping lightly and popping the bubble once she reached her destination.
"There's no way I'm going to get back to sleep now." She muttered to herself, leaning her wand up against the railing.
Glinda decided to occupy her time another way, she pulled out the Grimmerie from her closet and sat out on the balcony. She opened it and whisked through the pages, looking at the pictures and diagrams, hoping they would somehow explain the nonsense words.
She found a picture of a leaf on fire, and decided this would be the first spell she would try. She picked a leaf off a climbing vine and set it in front of her.
I am Glinda the Good Witch, and I will read the Grimmerie. Elphie may be smarter, but I can learn too. I can learn too.
She found words separated from the rest of the text, and figured it must be the spell. She began, hoping she got the pronunciation right.
"Ponha a Polha de Fogo de Planta."
She repeated it a few times, until she saw a little spark of fire on the leaf. She could have screamed with joy, she did it! She read the Grimmerie! She kept chanting with more and more passion than before and soon, the leaf was completely aflame!
"I did it!" She said, admiring her flame that extinguished the moment she stopped chanting, "I can read the Grimmerie!"
Sure, she had only done one spell, but her confidence was overflowing. She flipped wildly through the pages until she spotted a picture of two bones being fused together, thinking she could fix her ankle. She chanted the words on the page with enunciation and passion.
"Utbedrer Disse Brutt Bein Utbedrer Min Brutt Hjerte"
She repeated it over and over, until she felt a stabbing pain in her ankle. It felt like the bones were growing apart, obviously she had said something wrong. She bit her lip to stifle a scream as her eyes watered at the ache.
Glinda turned her attention away from her throbbing ankle and out to the rising sun. She caught a glittering red light in the corner of her eye and whirled to find the source.
On the wall of the courtyard, gleaming as brightly red as it had once before, was the graffiti.
Elphaba Lives
A/N: Here you have it, Chapter 10! (Finally) It went through much rewriting, but here it is! Hope you enjoyed it, be sure to review! By the way, the Grimmerie spells are in two different languages. The first is Portuguese and the second is Norwegian.