Chapter 11
Frynda hurried towards Glinda, knowing that time was ticking by fast. She felt beads of sweat starting to gather on her forehead due to her increasing nervousness.
Concentrate, Frynda, she told herself. Glinda needs you now.
Her mind had already thought of the spell she needed to use and as soon as she knelt down by the blonde's side, she put her hands on the unconscious girl's forehead and started to chant under her breath,
"Eleka garthen dormtae." She sharply exhaled when she noticed Glinda was unresponsive, so she tried again,
"Eleka garthen dormtae."
She was growing desperate. Glinda needed to wake up. She placed a red hand on Glinda's temple just to make sure she was correct. Yes, she felt her pulse beating fast and strong. So why wasn't she waking?
"Eleka garthen dormtae!"
Glinda's eyes started to flutter and Frynda smiled.
"Glinda,"
The blonde's blue eyes then flickered open as she gasped in air. She spotted the auburn-haired woman hovering above her and she tilted her head to the side.
"Elphie?" Her voice was laced with drowsiness.
Frynda blushed as she shook her head. "N-no, I'm not Elphaba. I'm Frynda."
Glinda looked up at the ceiling, her eyes still not quite focused. "Why am I on the floor?"
"You-"
"Oh sweet Oz!" Glinda gasped as abruptly she sat up, startling Frynda. "Elphie! Where is she?"
"That's the problem. She thinks you're-"
"Oh Oz." Glinda stood, not waiting for Frynda to assist her. She looked around as the red woman stood next to her. "Where is she?" Her voice was getting panicky.
"I-I'm not sure," Frynda stammered.
"We need to find her. Immediately."
"I'll go with you."
The new voice made both of the girls turn around.
Glinda let out a gasp and took a few steps backwards. "G-get away from me!"
The Great Witch sighed. "Glinda, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
Bolynda appeared behind her as Glinda grabbed Frynda's arm. "Where's the bathroom?" she asked the red woman, still staring at the Great Witch.
Frynda raised a brow. Why would Glinda need to go to the bathroom at a time like this? Wasn't she looking for Elphaba?
"Upstairs, second door to your left," the Great Witch told her helpfully, but the blonde just stared at her like she was some sort of monster.
Glinda kept staring at her for a second before pulling Frynda towards the direction of the stairs.
The red woman could not help but to be dragged by the blonde. "What are you doing?" she hissed at her.
"She has done this before. I might need some magical help. We have to hurry before it is too late-" she choked on the last word as she started to ascend the stairs. Looking over her shoulder, Frynda mouthed a 'help' at the Great Witch, who shrugged as she silently followed the pair up the stairwell.
Bolynda lingered back, figuring this is now or never. With the rest of the household occupied, she could escape. This was her chance.
She needed to find Zafryna. She would know what to do.
***
Elphaba quietly opened the bathroom door, not wanting to alert anyone if they were looking for her. She glanced around the room before closing the door, making sure what she needed was there. It was.
Softly she closed the door behind her. Suddenly she let out a moan as pain shot up her leg. She had shut the door on one of her injured legs. Her eyes watering in pain, she gingerly opened the door and took her leg out, the numbness starting to recede. She needed to do this before the pain becomes too much to bear.
Elphaba limped towards the tub, gripping its sides tightly with her hands. She closed her eyes, holding back tears and biting her lip until it bled. She needed to do this. She had to.
She climbed into the tub, feeling its unfamiliar porcelain walls against her green skin. She crawled towards one end, away from the faucet. She had thought about taking off her dress, but had decided against it. The dress was the cause of this whole mess anyways.
She reached over to the faucet handle, lingering over it for a second.
What the hell are you doing? Get out of there!
She ignored her conscious as she twisted the faucet, watching the water as it started to pour into the tub. She flinched as she felt misty drops land on her skin.
"I'm coming for you, my love," she whispered into the air, wincing as the water started to run unto her green legs. It brought sharp pains, bringing her legs back from a previously numb state.
Get out, get out, get out!
Her conscious was screaming at her. She tuned it out, focusing on the task. The water wasn't filling fast enough. As she reached over to twist the faucet again, she heard the door open. The hairs on the back of her neck rose. She was caught.
"What are you doing?"
It was Zafryna.
Elphaba rolled her eyes. Over all of the people, why did it have to be her? She decided to ignore her and grimaced as the water reached her thighs.
"You're burning yourself!"
Zafryna hurried to the green woman's side, but Elphaba brushed her off. She tried to get up in order to move to the other side away from the other woman, but one of her legs gave out, causing her to slip further into the tub. Elphaba let out a cry as water splashed unto her back, the thin dress she was wearing not providing the necessary protection against the liquid.
"Elphaba!"
"Leave me alone!" the green woman hissed at Zafryna. "Don't you see that I have nothing else to live for?"
"What do you mean?"
Elphaba's expression twisted in pain as Zafryna grabbed her arms, attempting to lift her out of the rising water. She struggled against the younger woman's grip, but Zafryna stayed firm.
"Let me go!"
"I will not let you kill yourself, Elphaba!" Zafryna shouted at her, heaving upwards.
Elphaba grabbed the sides of the tub with all the strength she had, feeling her nails dig uselessly against the smooth porcelain.
"I said! Let! Me! Go!" Elphaba's command came out in short gasps.
"No!" Zafryna's was even harsher. "I will not stand here while you try to hurt yourself, Elphaba!" Without another word, she hurriedly reached over and turned off the water.
"What the hell? Turn that back on!" Elphaba was frantic.
Zafryna shook her head as she grabbed her upper arms, tugging upwards. Elphaba was stubborn, her nails leaving scratches against the white porcelain. Her legs started to thrash, both in pain and in her struggle against Zafryna's strong grip. Water started to splash everywhere, landing on both of the women as they fought, one to end her life, the other to save it.
"El-pha-ba!" Zafryna huffed as she heaved upwards. "Fucking-stop-this!"
As a desperate last attempt, Elphaba decided to turn to her last resort. Magic. What spell could she use to get rid of the woman standing in her way or better yet…kill herself faster than the water ever could? Her mind raced with spells she had learned from the Grimmerie through the years it was in her possession. One came to mind, but she couldn't…she wouldn't...
She would. For Glinda, she would do anything.
Elphaba took a deep breath and stopped struggling against Zafryna.
Zafryna noticed the green woman stop her struggling and she automatically feared the worst. Was the water too much for Elphaba to bear?
"Elphaba?"
Her question was unanswered. She looked down and saw that the woman's eyes were closed and her mouth moving rapidly, as if she was…
Oh shit.
Elphaba fell limp, her skin growing a deathly pale green.
"NO!"
***
Glinda crashed into the bathroom, her cry echoing through the hall as Frynda came in after her.
"Get Elphaba out of that tub NOW!" Glinda yelled at Frynda, not wasting any time. She barely noticed Zafryna or her deathly pale look as she hurried to her love's side.
"Elphie? Elphie, open your eyes. It's me."
Elphaba didn't respond. Her head hung limply from her shoulders as Frynda and Zafryna both lifted her from the tub. They placed her on the floor and Glinda immediately draped herself over the cold, wet form of her lover.
"Elphie?! Elphie, wake up!"
Zafryna flinched against Glinda's frantic words, as if each of them were a dagger to her heart. She knew Elphaba had succeeded in her attempt to kill herself. She had used the one spell that she feared most. The Death Spell.
"Elphaba!"
Glinda started to sob, clutching at Elphaba's wet dress.
Zafryna felt her eyes mist over and she looked at her sister beside her. Frynda was staring at the couple on the floor; her eyes wide open in horror.
"W-what happened?" Frynda's voice was small and shaky.
"Elphaba tried to kill herself."
Frynda closed her eyes, tears running down her red cheeks. She didn't know Elphaba was going to go all the way to try and end her life. Her fists clenched as she tried hard not to break out in sobs, like Glinda. She had to stop this. There might still be hope. She had to get the Great Witch.
"I should ask you what happened." Zafryna turned to her youngest sister. "Why did Elphaba do this to herself?"
Glinda's unstoppable sobbing almost drowned out Frynda's next words, but fortunately Zafryna had excellent hearing to catch it.
"She t-thought Glinda was d-dead," Frynda half-whispered, half-stammered. She was avoiding Zafryna's emerald eyes, which were growing wet with tears.
Glinda was starting to shake Elphaba, begging her to wake up.
Zafryna couldn't stand this any longer. She gently bent down and placed her hand on Glinda's back. The blonde did not respond to her touch, except to shake Elphaba even harder.
"Glinda," Zafryna whispered to her, "Glinda, listen to me."
Glinda shook her head and raised a hand to slap Elphaba in order to bring her back to this world, but Zafryna quickly grabbed her before she could do anything. She looked at Glinda until she met the blonde's tearstained blue eyes.
"Glinda, she's not going to wake up."
Glinda broke their eye contact and struggled against Zafryna's grip, not wanting to believe Zafryna. "No! She has to wake up! I can't lose her!"
Zafryna lowered her eyes and let go of Glinda's hand, deciding to leave the blonde to figure it out herself. She got up from the floor, turning away from the blonde and her unresponsive lover.
Zafryna faced Frynda, who was silently weeping into her hands. She put a hand on her younger sister's shoulder and Frynda suddenly crashed into her chest, sobbing almost as loudly as Glinda.
Zafryna blinked in her brief surprise, but then let her sisterly instincts take over as she wrapped her arms around her obviously distressed sister.
"Shh, Frynda," she soothed into her youngest sister's red ear. "Let's let her have some time alone."
"I could have stopped her!" Frynda sobbed into her sister's chest. "I-I could've-"
"Done nothing," Zafryna finished for her as she led her distraught sister out of the bathroom and into the hall. She bit her lip before continuing, "If anything I could have stopped her. I tried, but she was persistent."
"She loved Glinda," Frynda whispered. If it wasn't for Zafryna's acute hearing she should have missed it.
"She did," Zafryna agreed. "A lot. I am certain that she had killed herself in order to join Glinda in the void of death."
"Can we do something?" Frynda asked her, looking up to meet her sister's sympathetic green eyes. "Can we ask the Great Witch if she has anything that could help her?"
"I'm afraid there is nothing she could do," Zafryna said with a catch in her voice. "The spell she used was irreversible. She used the Death Spell, Frynda."
The red woman's amber eyes blinked, and then gave a loud sob as she remembered just what the Death Spell was.
"Oh n-no," she sputtered.
Zafryna gave her a nod. She didn't understand why her sister was so attached to a woman she had met that same day, but she knew of her sensitive nature and as a sister and friend, she acknowledged it accordingly.
"What will happen, Zafryna?" Frynda asked her quietly. "Will Glinda do the same thing?"
Zafryna cast a glance at the bathroom door, listening to Glinda's continuing pleas for her lover to wake up. "I'm afraid she will. We will have to stop her when she figures out Elphaba will never wake up."