Elphaba was already worried enough when she agreed to let Avaric go into the palace. She was unsure if that was the correct choice and she advised him against going, but Avaric pleaded to go in and she had relented. She was thrilled when after an hour of wandering around she found a small opening near the East side of the palace. It wasn't the most fun way to enter but it was a way. Then her excitement turned into nervousness when after another hour of waiting he did not come out. Nevertheless she waited, waited and watched as the guests trickled out one by one and left. At that point, she began to slightly panic when it did not escape her notice that the city was slowly filling with gale force soldiers. She bit the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from having a full blown panic attack and walked off in the direction of the shelter. Maybe she hadn't seen him leave and he was back home. There was no need to start panicking.

Elphaba pulled the dark cloak further around her face as she walked, pulling her sleeves to hide her hands. No one really paid attention to her something she secretly enjoyed and relished.

If only because it made her feel normal even when she wasn't. Perhaps if this hadn't had happened, her life could be different. Or not. She wasn't being a pessimist when she thought that even if this hadn't happened she would still be green and she would still be a freak. Only this way she was able to really do something with her life and not settle for taking care of Nessa for the rest of her life.

In a way, she felt longing for that life of taking care of Nessa with Sanevan by her side. If things had been different she was sure that would have been her life, and she would have been happy with that life, but now... Things changed and he changed, and he killed Boq...

He would always be her first love and that is something that would never change. Elphaba shook her head violently. She shouldn't be thinking of him now. She had more important things to think about. She didn't want to think of anything; all she wanted to do was walk without having to worry until she absolutely had to. She already knew what she had to do if Avaric wasn't there, and she wanted to deal with that then. So she pushed those thoughts away no matter how hard it was for her and she simply enjoyed the short walk taking a deep breath and letting the evening air fill her lungs. The climate had changed dramatically in the two months they had left Shiz, it was either that or she wasn't used to the colder weather of the Emerald City. She shivered walking out of the city, and was glad when she arrived to the shelter.

Elphaba turned her head to double check if it was safe to enter, she wiped her feet on the mat and unlocked the door.

"Avaric?" She called out once she was inside, pulling her hood back to get a better look.

"Hasn't been back yet." Someone answered and a chill went up her spine.

"Crap. Well, I have reason to believe he has been captured." She informed them and the Animals began to talk over each other. Elphaba raised her hands to quiet them. "I have to take the documents and hide them, the five of you get packed and be ready to leave when I return."

"I'm not leaving. We are safe here." The Wolf, Olsen, growled pushing himself in front of the other to stand before her.

Elphaba looked at Olsen, his teeth baring at her. "If you wish to stay you may go ahead, but personally I wouldn't take the chance. Anyone else want to stay?" She looked at the other Animals.

"I don't see any reason to leave." A Beaver named Benny spoke up, his wife nodding in agreement beside him."Avaric wouldn't snitch on us and it's not like we are doing anything wrong by living here."

"You seem to think too highly of Avaric, he may not be a snitch but if someone he cares about is threatened he will spill everything. I know for a fact he wont care what he says."

Relan, a Raccoon immediately jumped up. "You are all crazy, I'm going." He scurried off to his room.

"We should never have brought you two in at all." Olsen complained and she flashed him a look.

"You don't have to worry about us anymore Olsen."

"Good. You two have been nothing but trouble and now we might have to be even more careful because that Gillikin boy wont be able to use his head."

"Listen. It's a possibility, he might not say a thing and he may not even be captured. For all I know, he found some girl and he's out there enjoying himself. I'm only telling you to come with me because it's only getting worse for Animals in the city. I didn't see one Animal walking about other than the horses that were being used to pull the carriages. "

"We'll be fine. We aren't in the city." Olsen argued and she sighed. There was nothing she could do and she couldn't force them to go.

"If that's what you feel. Now if I may I'm grabbing my stuff." She moved to leave but Olsen stood in his spot, after a moment he growled and let her pass. She couldn't shake the possibility that Avaric had gone off with some girl, but she had to be prepared for everything and hide those papers. Elphaba walked into her room and took her bag shoving her few objects into it and grabbing the document from under her pillow, hiding them within a book in her bag.

"You have less things than I do and you took forever." Relan chuckled, with a bag in hand when she returned.

"So where are you thinking of going?" Errin asked her eyeing her from across the room.

"I'll stay close by and see if Avaric comes back, if he does we'll move along on our plan and tell everyone. If he doesn't come back I'm going to see if I can do anything to get him out without too much risk."

"Okay. Good luck." Errin told her and she smiled.

"Thank you." She said sincerely.

"Let's go!" Relan shouted throwing his bag around his shoulder and rushing out.

Elphaba chuckled before following behind him. Her cloak already covering her from the cold wind that was now blowing.

"So what's the real plan?" Relan asked not a couple minutes later.

Elphaba turned to him slightly, watching the path in front of her. "What are you talking about?"

"I know that you aren't thinking of going around and trying to defraud the Wizard."

"Why do you say that?"

"You aren't that stupid. What sort of person would just go around and do that? No one would just believe some random crazy girl—who also happens to be green. You'd have to be stupid through and through."

Elphaba shrugged, a small breeze of the cold air blowing into her cloak causing her to shiver. "Maybe I am?"

Relan paused and studied her, shaking his head a moment later. "Don't think so. Everyday you stay up for Oz knows how long reading those books that Tibbet brings you."

"I like to read." She argued wrinkling her nose from the cold. "Trying to keep my education going is a very different thing than knowing how to make a perfect plan to reveal a corrupt government. It's not my expertise at all, I'm doing what I can."

"You're young but not stupid. It would be reckless of you to do what you want to do…unless you are looking for the attention and not actually helping the people."

Elphaba faltered in her steps momentarily.

"Maybe that is what you're looking for?"

"I'm green. What more attention could I receive?" Elphaba retorted heading into the trees when the path opened up more.

"Positive attention." He chuckled as he followed. "You're talented in magic, and if what you have been saying is true that talent can be greatly used by the Wizard. You'd be held in such high esteem."

She thought of that before...but now things were very different.

"That doesn't matter to me. There are more important things to do. Besides, I know little of my magic and what I do know is useful enough. Everything else is out of my control."

"Yeah…But I find it odd that Avaric was able to stand and walk with little pain two days after being shot…There isn't any sort of infection either." He said knowingly.

"Tibbet brought pain medication, it was enough to drug him up enough to make him believe he was all right." She answered stiffly and Relan smiled.

"Of course, that's some pain medication. I'm sure any hospital in Oz would love that quick working relief…"

Her eyes narrowed, looking at him. "You don't believe me?"

"I —" Both of them stilled immediately at the noise. There was another loud crack in the air before Elphaba realized what it was.

It was a gunshot.

She felt the blood drain from her face as she turned around. "I'm gonna—"

"I'm short, I'll check." Relan hissed rushing off before she had a chance to object but she followed behind him with careful steps. It would be hard to spot her in the midst of the trees but there was always that possibility she could be caught. Relan stopped and clambered up a tree while Elphaba peeked out from behind it.

She bit her bottom lip at the sight. "No…" She turned her eyes away clenching her teeth and pressing her eyes together tightly.

"We have to go." She said quietly, so only Relan could hear.

She heard the rustling of the leaves as Relan climbed back down his face showing everything she was currently pushing away.

"We can't just…" He trailed off his head shaking.

"There isn't anything we can do anymore. We have to go somewhere else." She said narrowing her eyes at him.

"But they —"

"—They are gone, or they will be, and we will too if we don't go."

"We can't just leave them!"

"There is nothing we can do!" Elphaba said more firmly.

"There's a possibility—"

"Relan. They are dragging them out. If we want to do something we have to get these documents as far away from here. That's what we can help with. "

"So we're just gonna let them drag them out like that? " He said looking at her in horror as if she was at fault for the Animal's deaths. Which she could have, they could have been following her for all she knew, but that wasn't something she wanted to think about.

"If we get caught, if they so much as see that we saw them, we will not make it out alive. You know this."

Relan was frowning at her words because he knew they were right. No matter how much she wanted to go back and do something. She couldn't because doing that meant that a considerable amount of people would suffer. That would not happen, she could not let that happen.

So Elphaba reluctantly turned away and walked off going further into the trees, she heard the tiny steps behind her moments later.

"We should find Tibbet." The tiny voice came out in a soft whisper.

He was mourning his friends she knew, but she couldn't let herself break at all. She had so much to do, too much to think about and plan.

"We should," She agreed with him. "Lets stick by the path. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw him any second now, it's around the time he is usually home."

"How are we going to tell him?" Relan choked on his words and Elphaba bit back a small cry.

"We don't." She said in a hard tone. "We just say they were captured and taken and that we escaped."

Relan gasped, "That's lying."

"It's better than the truth."

"I'm sure that's exactly what those people tell themselves when they kill Animals and wipe people's heads to forget about it." He said bitterly.

Elphaba stilled in her steps while Relan continued walking.

She followed behind almost brooding. Why would he compare her to them? She didn't want to hurt anyone.

They walked silently until they made it to the edge of the forest. Something that only took five minutes but felt like an eternity in the tensed air.

Walking until they could finally see Tibbet's form in the distance. She paused as she saw him, almost skipping back home with a bag around his shoulder—her books.

Relan whistled trying to catch his attention when he came closer and Tibbet stopped, looking around for the noise. His head tilting as he frowned, peering into the trees.

"Tibbet?" Relan scurried over to him and Tibbet smiled widely.

"Relan? What are you doing out here so late?" Elphaba was quick to get to him and quiet him down.

"Shush." She whispered as he gasped into her hand in alarm.

Tibbet tried saying something but his words were muffled by her hand as she simply said, "Gale force. "

That made Tibbet quiet and Elphaba removed her hand from his mouth as he whirled to face her.

"What's going on? What happened?" his voice rose an octave looking nervously at her and then at Relan who tried quieting him again. "Relan what's going on? "

Relan opened his mouth and closed it quickly blinking and turning to Elphaba with a frown.

"Miss Elphaba will explain. " He looked at Tibbet for a moment before Tibbet nodded and met her gaze.

"We have to go, it's no longer safe here." She stammered on her words. Something she had never done before. "Do you know of any other place? "

"What? What about the others? " He blinked at them both in surprise.

"They are gone." She responded automatically feeling Relan's eyes bore into her side.

"Captured?" Tibbet asked in fear.

She snuck a glance at Relan who was staring at her almost expecting her to tell Tibbet the lie.

"No. They've been.. " She closed her eyes for a moment, swallowing the knot in her throat ."They were... They are most likely dead. " She admitted painfully. Tibbet's mouth fell open in shock, looking at her in complete terror.

"No, they can't have been…we're safe, it's not possible." He said, running both his hands through his blonde hair.

"They are gone Tibbet."

"But Relan…How can this be?" Tibbet shook his head violently. "It's not possible we were promised!"

Elphaba turned her head to him sharply. "You were what?"

"My father…he promised me he'd leave us alone."

She furrowed her eyebrows."Your father?"

"Yes!" He nodded. "He's…He's part of the Wizard's personal guards and he promised me-"

"You're father works with the Wizard?" She said accusingly and Tibbet fell silent.

"Um..yes."

Elphaba's nose flared. If she had known his father was working for the wizard, Avaric might not be wherever he was and the Animals might not have been harmed.

"Don't take it the wrong way - He kicked me out for not being man enough!" Tibbet said quickly at the look on her face.

"You know we've been looking for a way into the palace even before we got those papers and you didn't bother in telling me your father literally works inside?"

"I live- lived, with Animals that hate the wizard. I didn't think it was information I should be saying out loud."

"You could have told me!"

"Why would I do that? My father is a homophobic asshole but he doesn't deserve to be threatened by you!"

"I wouldn't have threatened him!"

Tibbet's eyes widened and he nodded. "Yes, you would have. If you didn't get what you wanted you would have threatened him."

"I wouldn't have hurt him!" She answered heatedly.

"He could have hurt you or he could have hurt us. If I would have told you it would have come back to us."

"Doesn't really matter now does it?" Relan muttered.

"It still matters…Listen Tibbet. I'm not looking to threaten or hurt your father, but if you can talk to him- "

"- I'm not doing that," He shook his head briskly. "I'm not risking my father's life no matter how homophobic he may be. I have a sister and I'm not putting her in danger."

She cursed under her breath but nodded, "Okay, I understand. I'm not that inconsiderate."

"You sure sound like it." He snapped at her and Elphaba scowled at him.

"Okay, stop this the both of you. Right now we need to find someplace safe, unfortunately the safest places are in the Vinkus and Munchkinland and we need to prepare for those kind of trips."

"I know of another place, but it's inside the city. They don't work for the Wizard so it's of no use interrogating them."

She glared at Tibbet and he slowly grinned. "I'm just joking Elphaba. Trying to bring the tone back down, sometimes you don't think the things you do. You would have very much threatened my father if it helped you and I know I'm joking about the interrogating thing, but honestly, they know less about the Wizard and his laws and care only about helping others, so if you want to come follow me."

Elphaba had no other choice.

Her lips parted slightly as her eyes glazed over his form. Avaric was sitting still right in front of her, his eyes staring blankly at nothing, once in a while he blinked. Morrible had asked her to wait with him while she finished something else. She still wasn't trusted to know what it was she was doing.

But she waited, feeling uncomfortable being beside Avaric but she had no choice. She caught another glance at him wondering what Morrible had done to him to stop him from resisting. He just sat there, not looking at her and not doing anything at all. He fought against the guards hold and he had been brought into the room with Morrible, when she was asked to stay and watch him he had already been sitting there.

She was curious, her hand reached forward without meaning to and she grazed his arm feeling her fingers prickle at the small hairs there, she heard his breath hitch and Galinda's hand stopped, resting on his arm. Her brow furrowed as she watched his eyes roam towards her for a split second. "Avar-"

The door opened and she pulled her hand away staring at Morrible entering the room.

"How is our little friend? He didn't say a word did he or show any signs that he is aware of his surroundings? " Morrible asked her with pursed lips.

"No, Madame. " She lied easily.

"That's good, very good my dear girl. "

She smiled politely. "I was wondering... What exactly is going on with him? If it's appropriate to ask madame. "

"Asking questions Miss Upland? Good, good. You are trying to learn. "

She smiled again, nodding.

"He is currently in a passive mode. It's a little perk in those that have been changed." Morrible looked at Avaric and brushed her fingers in his hair, causing Galinda to shiver. "They already have the spell blocking their memories and likes, this one blocks their whole mind. Right now all he hears is buzzing from our lips and he sees nothing but blurs." Morrible shook his hair almost playfully before shoving his head to the side.

She tightened her jaw as Avaric did nothing but look forward and blink. "Is he the first to go through this sort of thing or are there others? How do you know that he is not pretending?" Was he pretending? She could have sworn that his eyes had focused on her when she had reached out to him earlier. However, that wasn't something that Morrible needed to know.

"Wonderful question. He is not the first and I know he hears and sees nothing because it has been tested before. It also helps that he isn't fighting back as he used to." Morrible sneered as she came close to Avaric again and she watched as Morrible placed a finger in front of his eyes waving it back and forth, and grabbing at his chin to twist it.

"Oh." She simply said, watching Morrible enjoy that he was under her control.

"Have you any news from our friend?" Morrible asked her, leaving Avaric alone.

Galinda shook her head."No madame, he said he was close to finding them when you were gone. You have no reason to doubt him he knows what he has to do."

Morrible huffed. "If those imbeciles would have listened to their orders this would not be happening, I would not have any need to send that silly boy out there and they would still all have their jobs and be free men.…"

"He is with us, Madame. He will not disappoint you or the Wizard."

"So confident are you?" Morrible asked with an eyebrow raised impossibly high making her arms erupts with goosebumps, but Galinda did not let it affect her in any other way. Her face was serious and her sure smile wide on her flawless face.

"Yes." She replied and after a moment Morrible nodded, satisfied with her answer.

"Good Miss upland."

She only smiled.

"Keep watching him for any other signs he may be aware. "

"Shouldn't someone else be in here with me in case it wears off? "

"Are you saying you can't take an injured boy?"

She blinked. "Injured? He's injured?"

"The doctor inspected him thoroughly. He was shot an estimated four weeks ago, the wound was closed but his resistance opened it up a bit. If he becomes aware it will be too painful for him to fight, and besides I trust no one else to watch him...no one knows him like you do."

She glanced at Avaric's still form and nodded.

"I understand madame. "

"A Unionist Mauntery?" Elphaba asked looking at the maunts walking about and chatting to one another. She couldn't help feel an odd sense of deja vu as she saw the women wearing the clothing strikingly similar to the ones the women would wear in munchkinland when she was young and was forced to accompany her father and sister to listen to other preachers.

"Yes, A Unionist Mauntery, there are good people here." Tibbet answered greeting a few of the young women who sat on benches.

Elphaba noticed that they didn't look at her twice, except to wave hello. She found it quite strange that they did not look at her like the maunts back home - with disgust. So she found it somewhat easy to give a tiny smile and wave back.

"I spent a lot of time here as a child, you needn't guess why. They never tried to change me here, despite my father's wishes for it. They accepted me for who I was and helped me understand that I could not change who I was. They are wonderful people."

Elphaba nodded perplexed. What would her life have been if she had been to a place that accepted her green? Accepted her magic?

"They pass a great message here. Instead of trying to bring the people to paradise with the Unnamed God, they want the Unnamed God's paradise to be in Oz." Tibbet looked up to the sky and back to the floor, frowning. "I guess people don't agree with that...Now wait here, I have to go and talk to the Superior Maunt for rooms."

"Why can't I go?"

He shrugged."Because she doesn't know you, Relan is staying here with you anyway, it's not personal."

Relan was wiping tears off of his eyes. He had been silent the entire way."Actually I'm going to walk around a bit, see if I can get what happened out of my mind for a second. Don't worry I wont get in trouble." He smiled meekly and shuffled away with his head hanging low.

It was painful to see him as he mourned for his friends.

"So will you wait?" Tibbet asked her.

"I'll have a look around." She said starting to walk away.

"Okay."

Elphaba was eyeing the large stone in the middle of the courtyard. She came closer to it, walking around and admiring the beautiful markings, trying to make out the words there.

St. Glinda's

She smiled finding the name similar to her old roommates name. Her hand reached out of her cloaks sleeve to feel the old stone and it's ridges. The other words too hazy and withered to make out.

"Elphaba?" Someone calls her name. Her heart begins to beat quickly, it's a sweet voice she has heard a million times before and a voice she could never mistake because she's known the voice her entire life.

"Sanevan?"