Chapter 12: The Wicked Witch of the East

all alone and loveless here, just the girl in the mirror

A tube of soft pink lipstick, some red ribbons, and a pile of hairpins laid scattered on the vanity table. Concentrating carefully on the image reflected back at her, Ikki painstakingly twisted the loose half of her hair into a small bun identical to the one on the other side and tied it up with a ribbon. It nearly struck her how similar it looked to the way she once wore her hair as a little girl. But she'd left that little girl behind long ago, and any messy strands that might have splayed out back then were now carefully pinned against her head, clean and sleek.

"Do you need anything else, ma'am?"

Otaku's voice interrupted her wandering train of thought. "No," she replied coolly, "that will be all." She took the tube of lipstick and applied it carefully. No matter what anyone said about her, they couldn't say that she was ever unkempt or untidy.

"Are you sure, Miss Ikki?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and turned her wheelchair around to face him.

"Otaku, I really just want to be alone."

He approached her carefully, a strange mix of concern and fear glistening in his eyes. "Are you sure you wouldn't like the company? You've been so resigned over the past few years. You once had so much energy, so much life… I've been worried about you, Miss Ikki. I've been worried about you for a while."

Ikki gave him a cold glance. "You've overstepped your bounds, Otaku. I'll ask you one last time to leave me be."

She noticed the hurt in Otaku's eyes, but she'd learned long ago to suppress guilt. Guilt only held her back. With one final glance, he left, and Ikki faced the mirror once more.

"Well," came an all too familiar voice from among the shadows, "it seems the beautiful only get more beautiful, while the green just get greener."

Jinora stepped out into the light, looking almost the same as she had three years earlier. The only difference was the length of her dark brown hair, raggedly cut just at her shoulders, a nervous smile on her face. Ikki screamed.

"What are you doing here?" Ikki hissed. "You're-"

"Ikki, please calm down. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," Jinora said, shocked at the fear on her sister's face. She had never expected Ikki to listen to all those rumours about her. "I came to ask you for help. Where's father? I need to convince him to stand with me against the Wizard."

"Father's retired," Ikki said shortly, and it took Jinora by surprise. She stared at Ikki, frowning.

"The role of leadership became too much for him, after everything. What else would you expect, after you ran off on that silly broomstick of yours. After you left Kai behind."

"Father…" Jinora ignored the snide comment. "Then Ikki, you're the governess. You can help me."

"Why should I?" she scoffed. "Firstly, I'm an unelected official. I can't harbor a fugitive. And why would I help you when you fly around Oz rescuing Animals you've never even met, when you never even thought to rescue me!" Emotions that were once carefully tucked away now flooded her consciousness, and for a moment, Ikki looked like her younger self, the once vivacious, energetic girl that talked far too much and felt even more.

Jinora's eyes widened, as if she was hearing Ikki for the first time. "Ikki, I can't just - "

"No, you listen to me," Ikki said. "You don't get to disappear for three years to talk over me." She looked away and laughed humourlessly. "I depended on you and Father nearly all my life, and then Father decides to just pack up and leave, which isn't nearly as bad as what you did. Now I depend on a bumbling assistant who hovers even more than you and Father did. Did you ever stop think how that felt? How it feels to be trapped in this hideous wheelchair, scrounging for scraps of pity to pick up? And then you just left. You left me, and Father, and Kai, and now you think you can just come back to beg for my help?" She looked back up at her, a fire in her eyes that hadn't shone for years. "Think again. And you haven't seen Kai, have you? He's never even crossed your mind! But I see his pain, because I love him, but he's too hung up on you to even notice, and it's not like he'd ever take a girl in a wheelchair!"

Jinora fought for her voice to work, her heart pounding. Kai… he's too hung up on you… Was it possible that somehow, Kai still had feelings for her, despite everything? She shook her head; she needed to focus on Ikki.

"Ikki, I had to leave, if you would just listen-"

"No, you are going to listen. For three years you've had that damned book and you never thought to fix me?!"

"Ikki, you aren't broken - listen, Ikki listen, there isn't a spell for everything, I'm still learning, I just -" Jinora glanced at her sister desperately, the sparkle of her sister's silver shoes catching her eye. "Maybe there is a way." She dropped to her knees and pulled the Grimmerie out of her bag, flipping through the pages till she found the spell she was looking for. Immediately, she started chanting.

Ikki stared in horror. "What are you doing? What does that mean? What are you -" Then Ikki cried out in pain, and her shoes began to glow a bright red. After having little to no sensation in her feet for as long as she could remember, the sensation of them burning was alarming and terrifying, yet strangely satisfying. The burning sensation died away as Jinora's chanting ceased, but the shoes remained a bright ruby red.

"Try taking a step forward," Jinora said. Ikki looked at her, but slowly, did as she said. Her foot hit the floor and slid, but other than that she remained upright. Ikki took her other foot from her wheelchair and took another step.

Ikki laughed in joy, running to the other side of the room. "Jinora - Jinora, I'm walking… I - I can do anything. Otaku… I don't need him anymore!" She turned back to her sister. "And maybe now Kai would have me…"

Jinora's heart leapt into her throat. "But wait, Ikki, the Wizard, he's doing horrible things to the Animals, and we-"

"Who cares about the Wizard?" Ikki crowed. "I need to go to the Emerald City, announce the good news."

Jinora frowned, her eyes stinging. "So you're not going to help me-"

"Ikki, are you alright?" a man's voice asked, interrupting the two sisters.

"Otaku, come in here, look at this!" Ikki shouted. Jinora recognized the young man as Otaku - older now, but still the plump, well-meaning boy she had known from her days at Shiz - as he came into the room.

He yelped at the sight of her. "What is she doing-"

"Never mind her, look at what I can do!" Ikki said, running toward him. She let out a little giggle, but had trouble stopping and had to grab onto Otaku's shoulders for support. His eyes lit up, and he looked over to Jinora.

"You did this? For her?" he asked quietly.

"Finally, something good has come from my powers," Jinora said, smiling a little. For once, there was a light in her life.

"And…you're not here to hurt anyone?" Otaku asked cautiously, just barely containing his own excitement.

Jinora shook her head gently. "Of course not. I tried to tell the Wizard the truth, about the Animals. But he's the one behind it!" Was someone actually listening to her? Jinora felt like she wanted to cry out of relief.

Otaku looked a little longer at Jinora, as if trying to assess whether or not to believe her. Then, he gave her a small smile, and looked back to Ikki. "We should help-"

Ikki looked up at him, startled. "Help? Otaku, we can't… help. We have our own citizens to worry about. You can't… you can't be falling for her too! You're the one thing that's mine! The one person who doesn't think of me as the Wicked Witch of the West's little sister!"

A blush crept onto Otaku's face. "…Yours?"

"Yes, mine!" Ikki snapped. "You're my servant! Who else is going to take me to the Emerald City to see Kai?"

Otaku's face fell. "Kai? Why do you need to see him?"

"To make sure she can't take him from me like she's taken everything else," Ikki said, pointing at Jinora. "Maybe, now finally, Kai will see me the way I see him."

Otaku took a step away, hurt weighing on his features. "You're in love with him." Otaku shook his head. "I've been such a fool. I always hoped… you're wasting your time, Ikki. Kai's in love with Jinora. He hasn't stopped and I don't think he ever will."

Jinora's eyes widened. "He loves me?" her voice cracked.

"And she left him," Ikki spat. "I'm going to him. Maybe if he sees that I won't leave him behind, that I'm strong enough to stand by his side now-"

"I wouldn't leave you," Otaku interrupted, his voice trembling. "Ikki, Kai doesn't want you-"

"He sure as hell doesn't want the Wicked Witch of the West!" Ikki screamed, tears pooling at her eyes.

"He won't want the Wicked Witch of the East either," Otaku countered. "Please Ikki, stop this. Despite everything you've done, I still believe there's some good in you. Please prove me right. I know the girl I fell in love with three years ago is still in there somewhere."

Ikki looked at him, stunned. "…You're wasting your breath. I'm not the girl you danced with at the Ozdust three years ago. I left her behind long ago. Maybe I am wicked. And if I am, then you should learn to hold your tongue!"

Otaku kept staring at her, trembling. "I don't believe that. I believe that girl is still inside you, somewhere. I want to stay and help you find her again. Please. Let me in." He took her hands tenderly. "I'm never going to leave you."

Ikki pulled her hands away, slowly backing away from him. "No. This…this won't do…I can't have Kai thinking he has competition… I'll just have to…turn your heart away from me…" In a mad frenzy, she reached for the book and flipped through until she found an appropriate spell.

"Ikki!" Jinora bent down towards her and tried to pull her away, but Ikki threw her off, stumbling through the words of the Grimmerie.

"What are you doing?" Otaku asked in a soft, hollow voice.

"Ikki, it's dangerous. You're pronouncing the words all wrong. Please, stop before -"

A loud cry escaped Otaku's lips, and he collapsed onto the floor. "My heart…it feels like…it's shrinking…"

Ikki's eyes widened in horror. She turned to Jinora, clasping her arm. "I didn't mean to hurt him. Jinora, I didn't want to hurt anyone, I didn't mean for it to go this far…Do something!"

Jinora took Ikki's hand and looked at her sorrowfully. "You can't take back a spell once it's been cast." She looked towards the Grimmerie solemnly. "All I can do now is look for a spell that might save him."

"Please," Ikki said, fighting back tears, "hurry."

Ikki caught a glimpse of her reflection in the vanity, one strand of hair out of place and a single tear rolling down her pale, trembling face. She'd never meant for it to go this far. She'd never meant for anything she did to go so far. The the abandonment she'd felt from father and sister had hardened her heart, and she'd let her jealousy, her paranoia and shame, get the better of her. Her whole life, she thought she had been ashamed of her sister. Now, she realized she had only ever been ashamed of herself.

She looked to Otaku, his breath stilling, and thought of the people of Munchkinland, stripped of their rights because their governess was too insecure to allow them to wander farther than she could reach on her own. She had only ever been ashamed of herself, and now she had every reason to be.

All the choices she made had led her to the girl in the mirror. The Wicked Witch of the East.

She heard Otaku's breathing normalize, and Jinora's chanting stopped. "There. I've done all I can."

Ikki glared at her through fresh tears. "What about his heart?" she demanded.

"He won't need one now," Jinora said gently. They both looked at Otaku lying unconscious on the floor, and Ikki gasped at the sight of his new metal body.

"You never should have shown me that wretched book," Ikki said, her voice thick and heavy. "I can't help you. If you want to face the Wizard, you're going to have to do it on your own."

"Ikki-" Jinora reached out a hand and placed on Ikki's shoulder.

Ikki shrugged her off, raising a hand, keeping her back turned to her sister. "Just go," she croaked.

Jinora choked back a sob, but complied and stepped away from her sister. She couldn't help but wonder where the little girl for whom she had always tied bows in her hair had gone. "I've always done everything I could for you. And it still wasn't enough. It'll never be enough." She took a few more steps toward the door, then stopped at the doorknob, and turned to face her sister. "Goodbye, Ikki."

The door slammed shut behind her. Ikki let out a ragged sigh, tucked the loose strand of hair away, and wiped her face of her tears.

Then, Otaku's metal body roused with a loud creak. "What happened?" he asked groggily.

Ikki paused for a moment, unwilling to tell Otaku what she'd nearly done to him. Then, once he stood up at caught a glimpse of himself in the vanity, before he could scream, she said, "It was Jinora," and simply walked off.

If people were going to call her the Wicked Witch of the East, than that was exactly what she would be.