Chapter Thirteen: Injustice

The "ca-clack, ca-clack, ca-clunk" of the gears slowed until the train locked into place. The coaches shuddered and a few slumbering passengers begrudgingly awoke with the movement.

Galinda, however, was still fast asleep, as she had been from the moment she had sat down in the chair and closed her eyes, many an hour ago. The bouncing motion of the carriage had not allowed her even a brief moment of peaceful slumber, but the train's gentle, smooth speed had allowed her to shut down, mercifully collected by dreamless sleep.

Fiyero had been glad for the solitude.

For an entire month, he had been like a specimen, under a very small glass jar. The many eyes that had been fixed on him were finally lifted away and the heavy weight that the attention had pressed into him, for conversation, for information, was gone. He sighed as the people around him began to move to the exits.

"Guess we'd better go," he said, reluctant to leave his seat. He wondered if anyone would even care if he stayed on for another ride. But then he realized that Galinda was not getting up; he couldn't let her stay. That would have defeated the purpose, anyway.

"Galinda, we're here," he said, rising. He touched her arm, but she did not move.

"Come on, Galinda, up…"

He put his arm around her and shimmied her from the seat. She sleepily threw her arms around him. She muttered something about another minute and then held him tightly.

"Mmm, Elphie…"

Fiyero shook his head. Even after all their time away, it seemed that neither of them had forgotten about one thing in particular.

"Galinda, stand up," he let her fall back into her seat and the impact jostled her so much that she woke up, tossing her head side to side, looking around her as though she had no idea where she was.

"How long have I been asleep?" she asked, bewildered. She rubbed her eyes and Fiyero smiled; she looked so innocent, he thought.

"The whole trip," he said, pulling down the smaller bags. He would have to get a handcart for the rest.

"Oh, my head," Galinda moaned, rubbing a bruise that was sure to be developing. Fiyero winced; he hadn't meant to hurt her.

"You alright?" he asked. Galinda nodded and stood up. She looked flustered.

"Don't worry; you weren't talking in your sleep," Fiyero said with a laugh. She blushed.

"How did you know I was worried about that?"

The whistle blew, hurrying everyone along so the next batch of travelers could fill there vacant seats. Fiyero rushed to get their things together as Galinda gathered herself.

Galinda stabilized herself on her chair, looking out the wide windows, her eyes unintentionally searching. When her gaze fell upon a familiar black hat, she shivered, her dream returning to her, more real than any dream should ever be. The hat moved and the two eyes peered out, finding Galinda's.

Galinda blinked, startled, then shut her eyes fearfully. But once they were closed she was enveloped by warm arms, cold air, breath on her neck making her hair stand on end.

Galinda's eyes shot open and a shiver ran through her when she saw the black hat was nowhere in sight.

------

"Come on, Elphaba," Nessa said, shaking her head. "I want to get everything put away quickly. Boq and I are meeting for dinner."

Elphaba, thrown back into reality with that statement, laughed aloud.

"Nessa, you aren't even unpacked, and you have a date?"

Nessa ignored the comment and put more force behind her wheels. Elphaba tried to keep up, just barely hanging on to their three suitcases. She must have been a sight, balancing three large cases in front of her face, blindly following her sister. She thought herself only lucky when she made it all the way to the dorms without crashing into something or someone.

"I'll see you Wednesday, for lunch," she said, keeping Elphaba's company no longer than it took her sister to get her luggage into her room. Nessa rolled away and left Elphaba at the door, leaning against the frame, huffing noisily as she tried to slow her breath.

"Your welcome!" she shouted after her, but Nessa was already gone. Elphaba took off her hat and gripped the edge tightly.

"It's going to be just like before," she thought, miserably. Now that they were back at Shiz and she had Boq, her sister would leave her, as Nessa had always wished she could. She had no one, now.

"That's just fine," Elphaba grumbled. "I like being on my own, anyway."

Dragging her suitcase behind her, Elphaba climbed the stairs to her room. The door wasn't open yet; that was a good sign. Perhaps she could get in and out before-

"Oh, hello," some muttered behind her. Elphaba turned to see Galinda, dragging her things on a hand cart behind her. She didn't so much as looked up at Elphaba as she passed.

Elphaba stopped in her tracks, watching Galinda. A whole month apart, and that was all she had to say?

Galinda, oblivious to Elphaba's thoughts, did her best to open the door without letting go of the handcart. Her hands shook though, but Elphaba, thankfully, did not see. Galinda could already feel the beads of nervous sweat collecting on her brow; she turned her face away from Elphaba and pressed against the door. It fell open and she went inside, leaving the door slightly ajar. Elphaba took a few moments to close her open mouth and followed.

When she entered, Galinda remained silent. She didn't even turn in Elphaba's direction.

"So, how was your break?" Elphaba tried, putting her suitcase on her bed. Galinda replied with a non-committal "fine". Elphaba tried again.

"Nothing interesting? No… engagements I should know about?"

Galinda laughed, but not the playful, high laugh that made Elphaba smile, but a somber, almost cynical scoff.

"No, but my parents loved Fiyero," she said. Elphaba felt her heart drop.

"I got a new carriage, too. It's coming this week. They're sending it here so I don't have to rent one if I want to go out on the weekends."

This sort of news should have been delivered the Galinda way: bouncy, happy, full of almost sickening pride and enough details to assure that the listener never even had to see it to have a crystal clear image, though she would tell everyone they just i>had /i> to come by! But it wasn't said the way Elphaba would have expected. The words were quick, precise. No unnecessary details. Not even a change in tone.

"I bought… I bought some flowers, at the Winter Festival," Elphaba said, disturbed by this new lack of enthusiasm from a young woman who, just a month or so ago, had been brimming with so much energy that it had annoyed Elphaba.

"Oh. That's nice," Galinda sighed, continuing to unpack without any further comment.

That's…nice? Elphaba shook her head. She had just mentioned flowers. FLOWERS! Galinda loved flowers! Galinda loved anything with a pretty smell! Anything with the word pretty!

"They… they reminded me of you," Elphaba said meekly. Maybe the truth would help her, for once.

"Really?"

Galinda stopped suddenly, but then continued to unpack.

"That's… that's…."

"I thought they were so similar to that perfume you like so much," Elphaba interrupted, shaking, afraid to stop speaking. She pulled out some dried flowers from her suitcase and set them at the side of her bed. Galinda stopped packing, her eyes fixed on the vase of white flowers.

"They're beautiful," she said, tears gathering in her eyes. She brushed them aside the moment Elphaba looked down at the flowers, gently cradling the dried petals between her ring and forefinger.

"They are," Elphaba said, softly. "They smell even better than they look," she took a deep inhale and closed her eyes. Galinda watched the muscles in her throat contract as Elphaba swallowed gently.

"You can have some, if you like," Elphaba said, taking a few out of the vase. She took them to Galinda's bed and set them almost reverently on her pillow before Galinda could object.

"I…uh… thank you," she managed to say. Elphaba smiled.

"Well, I guess I'd better go… I have a lot of things to do before classes tomorrow."

Galinda swallowed, saying nothing. As Elphaba went to the door, she felt words forming in the back of her throat, her vocal chords humming, readying her to open her lips and speak, but the door shut, and Elphaba was gone, her half-unpacked things strewn over her bed.

Galinda shut her eyes and shivered at the feelings that tingled over her skin. She quaked and put her arms around herself. Slowly, Galinda looked up at the flowers on her bed.

They were so pretty, so beautiful, so unlike anything Galinda would have ever expected Elphaba to appreciate or enjoy.

Hesitantly, she moved across the bed, until she was within arm's reach. She extended her hand and snatched one of the flowers up. Her hand instantly stung with the sensation of another hand on hers, a touch so gentle that Galinda could not describe it. It was as if Elphaba had left her physical impression within the stem.

Galinda sighed. It was going to be a long semester.

------

The restlessness of extended time off was often a catalyst of educational purposes. Fresh from the holidays, a lack of responsibility, and not seeing there friends, most of the students were actually on time for all of their classes, more eager to catch up with schoolmates than to resume their learning, but early just the same.

In most classes, it took a few minutes to quiet everyone down, but the curiosity that a new semester inevitably garnered over the free time helped direct the attention of the students to some degree.

"Alright, everyone," Dr. Dillamond said, looking about the room. When he found his students almost immediately complying, his resolve wavered. With a deep breath, he clacked his hooves together.

"Ms. Elphaba, where is Ms. Glinda today?"

Elphaba looked behind her towards the last row but found only Fiyero, grinning stupidly. He waved. Elphaba turned back.

"I don't know, professor," she said gently.

"No matter," Dr. Dillamond sighed. "I had simply hoped I would get to see everyone…"

Elphaba's eyes widened at that comment.

"Today," he began, raising his weak voice once more, "will be my last here at Shiz. I am… no longer permitted to teach."

Attentive as they were, it took the class a moment to fully absorb his meaning.

Elphaba, however, leapt immediately from her seat.

"Professor, you can't be serious," she said, approaching him. "They can't do that!"

"They can," he said, wearily, "and they will."

Dr. Dillamond said this without daring to look into the eyes of his favorite pupil, for fear of what he would find there. He could not chance seeing the sadness and righteous anger that so often burned in those green depths.

The class reacted slowly, a hushed voice here, a gasp of realization there, as everyone began to comprehend the consequences of their teacher's announcement. Most sat back, stunned, while some looked on the brink of tears. There were, of course, those few exceptions that shrugged and flipped through their books. That is, until the door to the classroom flew open, and two men came marching in.

The reaction was immediate: a gasp from every mouth, a scream from one. A third man entered, dressed in all gray like his cohorts, pushing a rattling cart from which an almost inaudible sound was emanating. It sounded like…crying.

The first of the men stepped forward and grabbed Dr. Dillamond gruffly by the forearm.

"Alright, goat… let's go."

The second joined him, roughly seizing the professor from the other side and the two began to most literally drag Dr. Dillamond from the classroom.

"Where are you taking him?" Elphaba asked, seething with anger and confusion. The men did not answer; they continued to pull Dr. Dillamond even as he struggled, calling out to the class,

"They can stop me from teaching, but they will never silence me! Don't let yourselves be deceived!" They men tugged as he tried to hold on to the door frame. "Don't forget what you've seen today! Don't let them--"

The door slammed shut.

The last man pushed his cart to the center of the room and stood erect, tipping his gray bowler hat back, revealing a gaunt face. The shadow that the brim cast only further illuminated his sallow skin and hallowed cheekbones. Elphaba's eyes narrowed at the ghastly looking stranger.

Just as she was about to say something, a hand pulled her back. She wheeled around, ready to direct her fury upon the person who would dare touch her at this moment.

She was naturally shocked to see blue eyes staring back at her.

"It's no use," Fiyero said, still holding onto her arm. His fingers pressed in as she tensed and then pulled away.

"You can't do anything about it, Elphaba! Why can't you accept that there are some things you just cannot change?"

Elphaba turned away, angry and distraught. She didn't know what to do. Was Fiyero right? Could anything she did even make a difference?

"Alright, kids, gather round, gather round," the voice of the stranger drew the class forward but Elphaba looked away, the sound of his strained voice almost painful to her.

"It's a lion cub!"

There were gasps at this and Elphaba looked up sharply.

There, on the cart the man had been pushing, was a medium-sized lion cub. Its mouth was open, a soft, mewing sound touching Elphaba's ears delicately.

"What have you done to it?" Elphaba pushed through the crowd and put her hands to the wiring around the animal. The cub continued to cry.

"It's called a cage," the man said. He then pulled a long pole from the cart and prodded the cub with it. The animal reacted by curling in tightly, cowling in the corner of the "cage".

"You're hurting it!" Elphaba said, rocking against the cart, wanting to act but not sure what to do. The man withdrew the pole with a laugh.

"He's fine," he said, prodding the poor creature once more for good measure. Elphaba teetered on her feet. "By keeping an animal in a cage and making him aware of my dominance, I stay in control! It's the safest way to keep an animal."

Elphaba looked back at Fiyero, whose eyes darted to the floor.

"Safe for whom?" Elphaba said, her voice a low growl, but the man ignored her.

"If kept like this from a cub, the animal also will never learn how to speak!"

Everyone gasped, some moved in closer, mouths gaping, intrigued.

"How does it work?"

"Can it move?"

"Will it grow?"

Elphaba slowly backed away as her classmates closed in. She bumped into Fiyero but simply stopped, saying nothing, horror-stricken by her classmates.

"That's barbaric," Fiyero whispered in her ear. His hands came to her shoulders, holding her steady.

"Look closer, everyone," the man said, "And observe how the cage keeps him from learning how to attack!"

There were appreciative sounds, gasps of awe, and Elphaba could no longer stand still. Fiyero could feel the prickling of Elphaba's skin beneath her clothes.

"Elphaba…"

Her body began to shake, almost to the point where she was vibrating. Then, quite suddenly, Fiyero's hands flew off, a flare of electricity throwing his arms back and almost knocking him to the ground.

"Don't do something you might regret!"

But his words went unheard, drowned out by the hum of electricity and the cries of the lion cub. Elphaba took a step forward, lifted her hands, and the students looked up too late.

Fiyero scrambled to his feet, thinking to stop her, but a surge like a bolt of lightening leapt from Elphaba, ensnaring the entire class and the stranger, sending their bodies into convulsions with the pulse of light and energy.

"Elphaba, stop it! You could kill them!"

Elphaba's arms dropped and she didn't hesitate for a moment. She darted through the crowd, not touching anyone as she went. Fiyero watched in shock as the bodies danced, invisible puppet strings making them move and jump.

Elphaba emerged from the center, the cage in her hands, a burlap sack thrown over it to protect the cub from the electrical current.

"ARE YOU INSANE?"

Elphaba pushed passed Fiyero, heading for the door.

"Where are you going to take it? You can't just run out of here and leave them all like this! Elphaba!"

Elphaba rounded on him and the stunning blend of anger, confusion, and determination in her eyes made Fiyero wilt.

"At least I'm going to do something!" she shouted. The electricity in the room surged, throttling the students. Fiyero approached her slowly, hands up.

"Careful!" he barked. "You could hurt someone!" He moved closer, slowly, shifting his feet cautiously.

"Why didn't it affect me?" he asked. Elphaba shrugged. "You were out of range," and then, frustrated, "Are you going to help me or no!"

With one look at the students, arched in pain as the electricity rushed through them, Fiyero had his answer.

"Let's go."