"I'll be back by midnight at the latest," Nessarose said to the blonde as she put in her earrings. Glinda watched as Nessa got ready for one of those political meetings she had to attend. She never went to a one before, but Nessa had never gone to one at night. Glinda was usually okay when Nessa left during the day to go meet with head Munchkinlanders, but this one was one of the ones in which the leaders of each country came together to discuss matters with people from the Emerald City. Luckily for Nessa, it was being held in Munchkinland so she wouldn't have to travel far; the only downside was she'd be expected to stay until the last person left due to the fact it was her territory.
"I'm nervous," Glinda admitted as she pulled the blanket up to her chin. It was only four o'clock, but she was exhausted as she had nightmares the night before. She wondered how Nessa didn't look the least bit tired; maybe she had taken a nap earlier while Glinda was in the library reading. The smaller girl had dark circles under her eyes and she felt as if she could fall asleep at any moment.
"You'll be okay," Nessa said and sat down on the bed. She looked beautiful in her long midnight blue gown. She put her hand on her small shoulder, making the blonde less tense.
"You'll be back no later than midnight?" Glinda whispered.
"If everything goes as planned, yes."
"But what if it doesn't?" Glinda looked up at her with tired eyes.
"You'll be okay. Boq is staying here, so he'll be here if anything happens. Just try and sleep; it'll make time go by faster," Nessa said and kissed the top of her head.
"I'll try," Glinda nodded, trying to reason with herself that it was just for a few hours, and she was old enough to sleep on her own. She found herself being ridiculous with this fear of sleeping alone; if she had a nightmare, big deal! It was just a dream, wasn't it? They said goodbye, and Nessa was off after tucking her into bed.
Glinda tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. She hated herself for being too terrified. She got up out of the bed timidly and made her way to the desk where there was an unopened letter from Dr. Dillamond sitting there. She figured that she'd read it slowly to pass time considering his letters were usually a few pages long. And then maybe she'd go read a book; that would make time fly by and Nessa would be back before she knew it. Smiling to herself, she grabbed the letter and ripped it open.
She was confused when his letter started talking about how much he and Nessa cared about her; she cocked her head to the side when he mentioned how he was treated in the Animal camps. Tears came to her eyes as she read the words he never told her; she never understood his position as much as she wanted to, and he probably never truly understood how she survived Southstairs, either.
When he said that he wouldn't be alive much longer and that he was planning on taking his own life, Glinda dropped the note onto the floor. Her jaw dropped in disbelief. She had to confirm that he was alive and that he really didn't commit suicide. The blonde rushed out of the room and darted down the stairs where she came across Boq. "Miss Glinda, what's the rush? Nessa said you would be sleeping," he said to her.
"Did anyone throw away the newspapers from the past week or two?" Glinda asked him hurriedly.
"I don't think so," Boq said. She had never found interest in the news before, a quality she seemed to have kept from when he knew her from Shiz.
"Can you get them and bring them up to the bedroom?" Glinda asked, knowing it would be faster if Boq brought them up to her.
"Yeah, sure. Any particular section?"
"The obituaries, please. I'll explain later," she said, blushing when she realized she was still in her nightgown, sans corset. She was glad that he only seemed to make eye contact with her. Sighing in relief, she thanked him before rushing up the stairs to dress properly.
After quickly lacing up her corset and throwing on a light blue gown, Boq rushed up with the newspapers she had asked for. Before he could ask, she handed him the letter and mumbled, "Last paragraph," hoping that she wouldn't find his name in the newspapers. After he read it, the Munchkin began to search along with her. The blonde felt her heart stop when she saw Dr. Dillamond's name, claiming he had taken his life five days ago. "No, no, no," she cried, all hope gone.
"I'm so sorry," Boq said. He wasn't sure if he could hug her; she was very particular about the people who touched her.
"I need Nessa right now," she said as calmly as she could. Boq could tell she was going to have a breakdown. She did need Nessa, and he was going to make sure he got Glinda to her.
"I know, we're going to her right now," Boq said. He ordered for the spare carriage to be brought around to the front. He helped Glinda with her shoes and coat. He was surprised she leaned into him, and he put his arm around her waist to hold her up.
"He didn't have to do it," Glinda shook her head. "He didn't have to. I should have done something."
"You didn't know, Glinda. Nobody knew. It'll be all right," he said, helping her in the carriage.
"This isn't real," Glinda cried. "It can't be, but all the proof is there. Oh, sweet Oz. I can't breathe." She sat down beside Boq, forcing herself to put air into her lungs.
"We'll get to Nessa in no time," Boq assured her. She allowed him to put his hand on her shoulder, but nothing more. The carriage ride, however, seemed to take a long time even though it was only thirty minutes and the driver was going as fast as he could under Boq's orders. Glinda shook with sadness, wishing this was just a horrible dream. As she had learned, reality was sometimes just as terrible as her nightmares. The blonde was helped out of the carriage and made her way to the entrance with her eyes blurred with tears. Boq must have said something to let the guards allow the two to enter the political gathering as Glinda thought he gave her a look of sympathy.
When they entered, Glinda ran from Boq in pursuit of Nessarose. She pushed her way through the masses of political leaders, politicians, and figureheads. Her tears were making it impossible to see anything in her panicked state, but she knew she'd recognize the brunette when she saw her. Boq was chasing after her, calling her name, but he got lost in the crowd. Glinda collided with someone and fell to the floor. The other woman only stumbled a bit before looking down at her. Glinda's eyes went wide with fear when she saw it was Madame Morrible giving a Gale Force guard a command. The blonde was helped up against her will by the guard and grabbed her arm a bit too roughly. "Let me go!" Glinda cried. "I need Nessa right now, not this."
"Dearie, I feel absolutely terrible for what happened to you in Southstairs." Glinda wasn't sure if this was a true statement or not, but she panicked all the same. "I've wanted to take you to an asylum so you could deal with your problems, but Miss Nessarose made sure that I never got to you. However, it would be most beneficial for you to go to a mental institution."
"I'm not going there," Glinda said as she was released by the guard. "I can't-I can't be locked up again," she cried.
"But dearie, you must consider what is most important. This is your mental health! Don't you hate the nightmares you are most likely having? The inability to communicate what truly happened to you?"
"Please, I just need Nessarose right now," Glinda sniffed. The walls were closing in on her and her world was seeming smaller and smaller as Morrible continued to mention the horrors that she assumed went on in Southstairs.
"I know you have scars on your upper thighs. I know exactly why they are there," Morrible whispered to her so that only she could hear. The blonde gasped, giving away the terrible secret she kept to herself. As far as she knew, only Nessa knew that they were there, but she didn't think Nessa knew why they were there. "Anyone who sees those ugly scars will know exactly what happened to you; they'll know that you're used up. If your precious Miss Elphaba saw those scars, would she still care for you? Would she want someone who gave herself up to multiple men?" Morrible's words were twisted, and Glinda began to think that her old missions to guilt Morrible hadn't worked; she still wanted to watch Glinda slowly deteriorate.
"She'll understand…" Glinda replied, doubting herself. Elphaba hadn't even made an effort to see her when it was well known around Oz the Wicked Witch of the North was residing with the once Wicked Witch of the East who wasn't so wicked anymore, the Munchkins had decided once she began to give their rights back and improve the country.
"Dearie, she hasn't exactly decided getting in contact with you was a priority in her life."
"Please stop," Glinda cried, the tears pouring down her cheeks. Rational thinking was slowly becoming impossible. Morrible continued to speak to her; she tried to block it out by putting hands over her ears, but that just made the negative thoughts become clearer. Glinda tried to ignore everything around her, but she just couldn't. She started to mumble, producing illusions. She didn't hear the gasps or the screams from the people of the party.
Glinda opened her eyes, becoming aware of what she was doing. She let her hands drop to her sides. Her tears ceased to fall, and she let herself smirk menacingly at Morrible. She turned her fear into what had made her the Wicked Witch of the North. The blonde was tackled down by a Gale Force guard. He had a knife to her throat in panic; she wondered why he didn't shoot. At first she was afraid of the knife pressing into her throat. The tables turned when she used her magic to levitate him and slam him onto the ground.
Glinda stood over him, forcing his own hand to put the knife up to his throat. The illusions were going throughout the room. They consisted of spirit like faces bleeding from their eyes or their mouths; ghost like creatures chained together and walking about the room, moaning in pain. "Glinda, stop!" Nessa shouted over the screams and the moans of the illusions and people around them. The blonde ignored her as she pressed the knife harder to his throat, creating a thin line of blood. By any means it wasn't fatal, but she wanted to scare him before she actually did kill him. Other people were shouting that she was a wicked witch and that she was a murderer, a killer, evil.
"Glinda, stop, please!" it was a different, but familiar voice, that shouted this. Glinda whipped her head to the left where the voice came from.
"Elphie?" she whispered, her expression softening. She saw the look of horror in Elphaba's eyes as she watched the scene unfold. Coming to her senses, Glinda jumped away from the soldier, letting him go as he ran off into the crowd, afraid for his life. Glinda continued to stare at Elphaba; there was no way the green woman would want her after seeing that the woman she had once claimed to care for, almost kill someone right in front of her.
"Glinda, it's all right," Nessa said calmly. But Glinda knew it wasn't all right; she knew she was going to be pursued by the Gale Force again, Nessa was most likely terrified, and Elphaba would never love her again.
"I-I have to go," Glinda said before rushing out of the event. Her illusions disappeared as she continued to run far away. Conjuring up a bubble so that she could get away from poor Nessa who chased after her, she flew away, crying as she left behind Nessarose, the last person in Oz who once cared about her; but she knew after what she had just done, even Nessa couldn't care about her anymore.
I am so sorry, Nessa. After everything you have done for me…
I am terribly sorry about the slow update. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it! There's more action and emotions to come. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!