Elphaba walked up the steps of the building. It felt like forever since she had been there. In reality it had only been about 12 months. Any other year the schools would have had a two month break, but this year was complicated due to the influx of students. The extra 2 months granted a catch up for some of the older students so that they didn't have to deal with someone like Fiyero, at twenty, for four years.
Elphaba sat in her room and fell to her bed. She kicked off her boots. Train rides always did her in more than she liked to admit. Herla, and Lvara seemed all too happy to see Elphaba. It was a nice feeling if she was honest. Elphaba stood up and walked to Rain's ofive. It lead to a surprise, as Glinda the Good was sat at the table.
"Elphaba, I didn't hear you come in." Rain said, "If you could wait-"
"I really think it would be wiser if I didn't." For Elphaba, that off feeling grew as the Emerald city got closer. She didn't tell Fiyero, not wanting to worry him. There was something dark within the city though. It scared Elphaba.
"I'm sorry, but this is important government business. It ranks a little higher than any payment or room problems you might have." Glinda said. She meant well. It obviously wasn't a jab at the specific work of the ladies here. That being said most of them came from the orphanage. At 18, Rain would drop by and offer them work. Unless they had somewhere else to go the church forced them into becoming nuns. Rain gave them choice, economic freedom as she put it. It was a joke really. The only job for a woman alone in the world was a whore or a nun.
"You can feel it too." Ran stated, ignoring Glinda.
"It was a small nagging at Shiz, but here. I feel like I'm being watched, like every shadow has eyes. It's unsettling." Rain didn't react but Glinda seemed surprised. Even if Elphaba was a witch, the magic was coming from within the city. The power Elphaba would need to feel the disturbance from that far away... Glinda hadn't seen that kind of power since her Elphaba, all those years ago.
"You're a witch. You're Rain's apprentice?" Glinda asked.
"Ding-Dong, we have a winner." Elphaba smiled.
"I'm worried, with the Emerald Palace ball, every high ranking official in Oz is going to be in one place, it's not ideal." Elphaba said. "I think it's a sorceress. The magic doesn't feel like it has a pinpoint location, it's not coming from someone. It feels like a poisoned well. Someone dropped something in and it's diffused throughout the city."
"The question is what do we do? Not what's causing it." Rain said.
"We can't do anything till something happens. Unfortunately Oz doesn't trust witches. The laws in place keep our hands tied." Glinda said. Elphaba leaned against the wall. She leaned her head back sighing.
"Elphaba?" Rain asked.
"I've just, I've got a bad feeling. It's... the last time I felt like this someone died." Elphaba was referring to Turtle Heart, the simultaneous lover of both Frex and Melena. His skin was an odd color red, and when a series of unfortunate coincidences happen in Munchkinland, they blamed the Quadling. They practically performed a ritualistic murder.
Elphaba's statements worried Rain. Unknown to Elphaba, she had a much rarer power than just witchcraft. She had proven on several occasions to natural possess clairvoyance. In here early days of staying with Rain, she would wake up in fits, claiming to be caught in fires, droughts, and storms. Usually within the week great fires, droughts, and storms would happen. Other times she would recite dreams of births and weddings, only for high profile couples to reveal engagements or pregnancies. Unfortunately the former were more common. Rain eventually cast a spell that severally limited Elphaba's dreaming capabilities. It was the better opinion, the girl was practically dying of insomnia.
"I hope it doesn't come to that." Glinda said. Her son and granddaughter were coming to the Emerald city after all. Elphaba saw the worry her face.
"I'm sure Galinda will be fine. I use to think that preppy attitude was annoying but I've come to realize it's more of an aura. It's like she naturally outshines any darkness around her. I don't think this... darkness, could hurt her. Not directly, anyways." Glinda connected the dots, this was also the Elphaba who roomed with her granddaughter.
"I still don't feel well sitting on this." Rain spoke.
"I'd open the lay lines, see if you can purge whatever this is, or at the very least, see if it's left a strong enough mark to distinguish who cast the spell in the first place." Elphaba said. Not only were marks left by magic but were always different from witch to sorceress.
"Elphaba, you just got back. Let us worry about the issue. Get some rest." Rain said. It was a polite way of saying 'let the grown ups talk'.
"Yeah sure." Elphaba departed from the room.
"Do you not trust her?" Glinda asked.
"Of course I do, but there are things best left untouched." Rain muttered.
"What did you do?" Glinda asked.
"When she came here, her magic was indescribable. She would cause the building to shake in her sleep, break the glass and lights in fits of panic." Rain said. "It wasn't long before I realized she had connected to the magic within Oz. It's not like sorcery, it wasn't taught or learned. It's was like an open valve. I truly don't know how she even survived that long with the amount of energy that flowed through her. It would've been too much for an adult to handle, let alone a child."
"She doesn't know?" Glinda asked.
"No. I thought best not to worry her. That being said, she does have a level of clairvoyance within her. If she feels death in the air, it's not something to take lightly." Rain stared out her window.
"I think I'll take my leave." Glinda said. "There isn't much we can do anyhow." Glinda walked out. She left the Brothel and his her face as she walked through the seedy parts of Oz. On her way out she bumped into Fiyero, falling down. He looked like her Fiyero, they were related of course. A sadness pooled in her heart.
"Are you okay Miss Upland?" He asked. She looked very much like Galinda, so it wasn't a stretch when he assumed she was her grandmother.
"I'm fine, thank you. I must warn you, a crowned prince of the Vinkus in this area would not be good publicity."
"Yes well, I'd take a minute with my lover over a hundred years of bad publicity, you see." Fiyero laughed.
"You aren't by any chance headed towards the Witch's Den, are you?" The names and room assignments might be coincidence, but if he were to be with Elphaba, not long after a relationship with Galinda, well the events of Oz would be repeating themselves to a terrifying exactness.
"I am, in fact. I wouldn't worry about publicity though. The witch that resides there is the patron of the west. I have legitimate cause to be here." He smiled. He held a rose in his hand. It was an ombré rose, not common in Oz, they only grew in Eve. The inside was a whitish pink and it grew to blue, only getting darker, till it was a deep violet at the end.
"Have a nice day miss Upland." Fiyero said walking past her and into the building.