Disclaimer: This is the last chapter. This is not a typo, this is the last chapter. Don't scream, don't yell, don't tear out your hair, but that's what it is. I hope the ending's good enough, or at least not horrendibly disappointing. Apologies to those who started reviewing just in the last few chapters, but if I continued it would just become pathetic. Oh, and I don't own Wicked. -LostOzian
Boq waited at the edge of the forest, his nervous energy building. He shouldn't have let Glinda go in alone. He knew full well what the Witch, both Witches, was capable of; he should have gone in to help protect her. But on the other hand, Glinda had called Elphaba a Wicked Witch, so she wouldn't be holding back anymore. It was about time she saw reason, and started making rational decisions.
"Help!" Boq heard someone shout from somewhere else. Boq scanned the forest line to see Glinda, carrying a small child. She found that little convict! Boq thought happily as he ran to meet Glinda. The Good Witch looked a little scratched up, probably from having not used her bubble or something like that, but the girl, Grinella by birth, was almost frantic.
"Oh, Oz," she was whispering to herself in a breathy squeal. "She killed her, she killed her, oh, Oz save us all…" Boq looked down at the girl disdainfully, choosing to turn to Glinda instead.
"What happened? Where are the Witches?" Glinda, also lookinig shaken, sat down on a rock and continued to hold the little girl close.
"The Little Witch is truly insane," Glinda said lowly, rocking Grinnie back and forth gently. "She and the Wicked Witch got in a fight about killing me." Boq shook his head.
"I keep telling you," he said. "Elphaba is dead."
"I know she is," Glinda agreed. "And so is the Wicked Witch. The Little Witch killed her because she passed up the opportunity to assassinate me." Grinnie jumped from Glinda's arms, not giving Boq enough time to actually comprehend what Glinda said. As she pleaded, she tried to hold onto his slick metal body.
"Please, don't let the Little Witch get me! Don't let her get me!" Boq pulled her off, resisting the urge to just shove her aside.
"Why should we listen to you?" he spat at her, causing Grinnie to fall to the ground and cower. "What makes you think we should save you from what you swore allegiance to?" Grinnie just sat there, staring at the ground as she started crying.
"You're the Kind Tin Man," she said to his feet. "Defender of the weak, esteemed Governor of Munchkinland. You wouldn't leave me in harm's way... would you?"
"You overestimate me," Boq said maliciously. Grinnie hunched over even further, her sobs becoming more violent.
"Please!" she cried. "She's insane! The Little Witch would have killed me, too!" Boq looked up at Glinda.
"Care to explain, Your Goodness?" Boq pressed. Glinda looked down at Grinnie.
"After the Little Witch killed the Wicked Witch, her body turned back into mud. Turns out all the Little Witch did was un-meltify her."
"But you said the Little Witch was the Wicked Witch's daughter," Boq said. Glinda bit her lip, looking ashamed.
"I think she lied to me about that," Glinda said. "She just fancied herself as the Witch's daughter, so she told lies to make it so. She had the appearance and the powers; it was a believable story. Either way, we would have just killed the Wicked Witch if we caught her, so I didn't stop her, but the Little Witch turned on Grinnie. She was about to kill her when I interfered."
"Then where's the Little Witch?" Boq said shortly. Had Glinda been wrong in fighting magic with magic? He still thought the best way to fight anyone was with a solid weapon, preferably his ax.
"She fled as soon as she realized I was there," Glinda said. "Even with her power, she knew who the more experienced sorceress was." Boq thought over that for a second, before relenting and accepting it.
"After the Little Witch was gone, Grinella began begging for protection against the Little Witch. I questioned her briefly, and all she remembers is going to the palace and then finding herself in you office, alone and under guard." Glinda said. "It was a spell. The Little Witch controlled her, even through the trial."
Grinnie seemed not to have been paying attention, hugging her knees and hiding her face from Oz as if that would make the horrors go away. Boq looked down at her, wondering if the story was true.
"Grinnie, was it?" he asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. She looked up at him fearfully. "Have you heard of anyone named Toj?"
Grinnie shook her head. Boq tried again, this time with something more serious.
"Or Fiyero?" Again, Grinnie shook her head. "What about Boq?" Grinnie continued to shake her head.
"Am I supposed to know who they are?" Grinnie said innocently. "Historical heroes? I'm not good at history." Boq looked from her to Glinda a few times, not fully trusting their story.
"Lady Glinda, I must insist on increased security at the palace. If the Little Witch was willing to kill her accomplices to pave the way for an assassination attempt, I wouldn't put it past her to keep trying." Glinda nodded, once again the refined Queen of Oz.
"I was thinking that myself," she said. "Security will intensify upon my return. Meanwhile, I intend to try and extract more information about the spell the Little Witch used." Boq raised tin eyebrows. "Which means Grinnie needs to come with me. I'll try to find solid proof for the court record; hopefully the unwilling victim won't hang."
"I'll withhold the charges to give you time, Your Goodness." Boq said, looking down at Grinnie. A victim of the Little Witch, killed by those she turned to for protection. Boq thought as Glinda summoned a large bubble for her and Grinnie. Where's the heart in that?
"That should be the last one," Elphaba said, the page of carefully copied spells sitting on Noquec's floor in front of her. Fiyeraba could easily identify the purpose of the spells; one for fire, one for water, one for healing various injuries, and the original flight spell. Elphaba had barely needed to look at the Grimmerie as she copied the levitation spell; it was probably the spell she knew best. Noquec looked over Elphaba's shoulder, trying in vain to make sense of the strange scribbles.
"You don't need anything else?" she said. Elphaba folded the piece of paper carefully, sticking it inside her boot.
"Nothing copied," she said, flipping to a new page in the Grimmerie and pulling out a worn rectangle of lace. It wasn't very big, a foot by a foot and a bit. "Just one last spell…" She began chanting again, this time leaving Noquec and the other Tiggulars completely confused. She finished soon enough, and draped the lace over her face.
"Fae!" Fiyero looked at her with a mixture of shock and surprise. "You're not green!" She smiled beneath the lace, her face half-hidden by the see-through fabric.
"I think the Grimmerie called it a shroud," Elphaba said. "It'll hide the fact that I have green skin, but it won't work if I take it off or someone touches me." Fiyeraba touched her mother's still-green hand, and she saw through the shroud immediately, Elphaba's face returned to its usual few-shades-lighter-than-emerald. Giving Fiyeraba's hand a quick squeeze, she pulled off the shroud and placed it in her bag. She turned to Fiyero, looking him over sadly. "Though I'm not sure how to make one able to cover all of you." Fiyero shrugged, offering his arm to help Elphaba stand. It didn't help at all, but it was the thought that counted.
"We'll find a way," he said. "Maybe we'll find a society with other talking scarecrows or something." Elphaba smiled ruefully, looking to Fiyeraba.
"Ready to go?" she asked. Fiyeraba turned to Noquec and Dr. Dillamond, thinking of how she would have gone running off to her oblivion if they hadn't helped her stay put.
"Thanks," she said, hugging Noquec, and then the old doctor. Dr. Dillamond smiled at her, his deep brown eyes reassuring and strong.
"Good things come to those who wait," he said sagely. Fiyeraba nodded, glancing at Elphaba and Fiyero. She had a family for the first time in her life.
Breaking the hug, Fiyeraba picked up the broom, holding it out for her parents. Fiyero held up a hand, plucking Elphaba's hat from the pile of supplies and placing it on his daughter's head. It tipped forward slightly, covering her eyes mysteriously.
"Let's go," she said, smiling wickedly.