AN: Mwahahahaha.

BlueD: Yep. It did.

Elphaba-WWW: Oh, dear... :P And yes, I do drink coffee myself. Not buckets of it, though. I don't even drink it every day, since it's not exactly very healthy, and stuff... but I like it, and I do drink it every now and then.

Failey: OMO. I love flashmobs. I organised one myself once, but that one was kind of messy. I am DYING to take part in a real one sometime, but there aren't too many of them here in the Netherlands, so... yeah.

1katiemariee: You still scare me.

Fae Tiggular: Because that would be boring. And I'm glad I managed to make Nessa likable, even to you :).

Artsoccer: I hope so.

Lexie: Nope.

BroadwayBoundStar: Because it's funny. And your reactions make me laugh. And because I can. MWAHAHAHA.

Glisa the Good: Aw, thank you so much! And now I'm going to answer your question in Dutch, because it might mystify/irk the people on here that don't know Dutch and I like being mysterious/irksome, so: ik had Carolina, en ik vond haar echt geweldig goed, hoewel ik niet helemaal weg was van haar timing. Maar dat Nurlaila jouw nichtje is, dat is zó supercool! Ik ben zeker van plan om nog eens te gaan, dus misschien zie ik haar dan wel! :) (And all the non-Dutch people understood of this was 'timing' and 'supercool'. Mwahahaha. Yes, my pretties, go on and open Google Translate - I know you want to!)

Oh, and just for the record: I totally made the Fae-thing up. Just so you know. I did look up its meaning, but it just means 'fairy' or something like that, so I gave it a twist.

Chapter 21. Escape

'What?' squeaked Nessa. Amaia nodded hurriedly and ushered them towards the back door. 'They don't know this door is here. They entered the house just moments ago – I'm sure they saw me go in here, so there's not much time! They could be here any moment now! Go!'

Nessa ran out of the door, but Elphaba remained rooted to her spot. 'I can't just leave you all here!'

'You have to!' hissed Amaia. 'It's the only way you can help Oz, Fabala. If they get their hands on the locket…' She shook her head. 'Just go. I'll try my best to ensure nothing happens to your friends.'

There was another noise in the living room, and Elphaba gave in and quickly slipped out of the back door herself. Just in time, because a Shadow entered the kitchen and directed his dark eyes at Amaia. No words were spoken as the Shadow took the woman with him into the living room, joining the others.

They hadn't seen this coming – none of them. Soon after Elphaba and Nessarose had left the room, the door had suddenly been thrown open and Shadows came streaming in – about a dozen of them, perhaps more. They were waving magical energy balls around and they had ordered everyone to sit still and keep quiet, or they would kill one of them. They had then tied the friends' hands behind their backs, and one of the Shadows, a man with dark hair and almost black eyes, had stepped forward. 'Where is the green witch with the locket?' he had growled.

Glinda was no fool. She had heard Elphie's stories, and she had read along almost every time her friend had researched the Shadows. She recognised the sign this man was wearing as belonging to the Cobra tribe, meaning they weren't with Morrible. These ones were different, and Glinda guessed that this was the man that had murdered Elphaba's father in his attempt to get to the locket.

No one had answered the Shadow, and finally, he had gagged them all and ordered the others to search the house. Most of them came back empty-handed; one of them brought Amaia in from the kitchen. She didn't struggle, she didn't speak a word; she knew there was nothing she could do against these creatures' magic. As long as Elphaba and Nessarose were safe, it would be best to cooperate.

As soon as the Shadow emerged from the kitchen, dragging Amaia with him, Fiyero had started to squirm, trying to ask Amaia what he really wanted to know, but he was still gagged and so no sound came out of his mouth. The frustration and despair were clearly visible on his face, and even if Amaia hadn't been able to see it in his eyes, she would have known what question he wanted to ask. She met his eyes and nodded, slowly, a small smile gracing her features for a moment. Fiyero felt relief washing all over him when he realised what that meant. Elphaba was safe… for now, at least.

'There's no one left, sir,' one of the other Shadows told the dark-haired one, who was obviously their leader. 'The house is empty.'

The Shadow snarled. 'She escaped me before, but she will not escape me again! Get out of here and find her, and bring her to me! Dead or alive, I don't care, as long as you will bring me the girl and the locket!'

Most of the Shadows followed his orders; two stayed behind with their leader to keep an eye on their prisoners. The leading Shadow snarled again when he looked at them. 'Pathetic. You humans are so vulnerable.' He slid the tip of his knife along Glinda's cheek, eliciting some drops of blood from her creamy skin. She squeaked, and Cohvu struggled against his ropes blindly in an attempt to get to her, but of course it was of no use. The Shadow smiled, satisfied, and leaned back again. 'You are so easy to kill,' he continued. 'And so easy to manipulate. Do you know what your problem is? You have emotions getting in the way.' He spat out the word contemptuously, as if emotions were something that disgusted him. 'You care for one another. You should have seen that little green witch when I told her I had murdered her family – she nearly broke down almost immediately.' He threw his head back and laughed, and Fiyero felt his blood starting to boil. There was still nothing he could do, though.

'And that,' the Shadow finished, gazing at his prisoners with his black eyes, 'is why I know that she will be back. Because she wouldn't be able to stand it if something happened to any of you.'

The worst part, of course, was that he was right about that.

Glinda caught Boq's eyes, trying to convey him a message through facial expressions. He frowned at her, unsure of what she was saying. She widened her eyes, indicated Nessa's bedroom door with a subtle nod of her head, then shook her head. Boq cocked his head to the side in confusion.

Glinda sighed. Apparently only girls were capable of having conversations through facial expressions.

She tried again, and finally, his eyes widened a little when it dawned on him. The Shadows hadn't mentioned Nessa. In fact, the leader of the Shadows had just talked about him murdering Elphaba's family. Not her father, but her family. Boq now realised what the blonde meant: the Shadows didn't know that Nessa was still alive. They thought they had succeeded in killing her that fateful night.

The Munchkin boy wasn't sure how that could come in handy, but everything that might lead to an advantage on their part, was welcome now – perhaps it could give them the element of surprise.

'So now, we'll wait.' The Shadow perched himself on the arm of the couch, eyeing his prisoners with interest. 'She might not show up for a long time, but that's okay.' He laughed, and the sound sent chills down Boq's spine.

'I have all the time in the world.'

'Fabala… I…'

Nessa collapsed against a tree trunk, panting. Elphaba turned around and immediately felt guilty. 'Oh… Nessie, I'm so sorry – you can't even walk properly yet, let alone for such a long time at once!' She looked around her to assure herself that there was no one around, before allowing Nessa to sit down on a fallen tree amidst a few bushes. 'Here you go, try and rest for a while.'

Her younger sister looked up at her with huge, scared eyes. 'Fabala?' she whispered. 'What will happen now?'

Elphaba ran her fingers through her ebony hair. 'I don't know, Nessa,' she said with a sigh. 'I don't know. I can't… I mean… Last time something like this happened, I ran, but…' She shook her head. 'I can't keep doing that all my life,' she said, her voice barely above a whisper now. 'I have to stop running sometime.'

'Why?' asked Nessa, her voice quavering. 'Why can't you just keep running? Isn't that much safer?'

'Perhaps,' Elphaba conceded. She sat herself down on the tree trunk next to Nessa and looked at her sister solemnly. 'But I can't keep running forever. And now they have our friends, Nessie. Think about Boq and Amaia!' She could see in her sister's eyes that she understood, and so she went on. 'I can't just leave them, Nessie. I can't. Not Boq and Amaia, not Glinda and Cohvu… and especially not Fiyero.'

Nessa smiled at her a bit sadly. 'But what can we do?' she asked softly.

Elphaba rose to her feet again, extending her hand for her sister to take it. 'We fight back.' She met her sister's eyes, determined and steady. 'But first we need to get your ring back.'

'Here it is.' Nessa quietly took out the small wooden box from the spot she had hidden it in – in her room back at the Governor's mansion. In her wardrobe to be exact, in the drawer where she kept her underwear. To Nessa, underwear was almost something sacred, something no one but she herself would ever see; she'd never realised that it was actually a rather obvious spot to hide something – like a diary, or an Object of Power. 'I still can't believe you found this spot so easily,' she complained to her older sister.

Elphaba smirked. 'Every girl magazine mentions hiding diaries in underwear drawers.'

'You never read girl magazines.'

'That doesn't mean I'm completely ignorant regarding what's in them.' She smiled a little. 'Glinda also kept her diary in her underwear drawer.'

Nessa heaved a shaky sigh. 'I hope they won't get hurt…'

Elphaba's smile faded. 'Me, too.'

Nessa opened the box and her sister looked over her shoulder at the small silver ring inside. It was pretty, she had to admit, with small silver bands twisting around each other in an elegant pattern. As was the case with the locket, its exterior didn't give anything away about all the power it held inside.

Nessa left the ring to her sister and looked around her room, tears shining in her eyes. 'I never…' She touched her desk, trailing her finger down it, creating a line in the dust covering the surface. 'I haven't been back here since… you know,' she whispered.

Elphaba squeezed her shoulder. 'Me neither,' she said quietly. Her eyes scanned the room, the room she had seen so many times – when she played with Nessa, when she read her bedtime stories, when she comforted her during a storm, when she had found her on her bed, covered in blood-

She shook her head and brusquely slammed the wooden box shut. 'We'd better get going again.'

Nessa looked up at her sister, her lower lip trembling. 'Can't we stay just a little while longer?' she whispered pleadingly. 'Please? I… I want to say goodbye.'

Elphaba hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. 'Fine. But don't take too long,' she warned the younger girl. 'Those Shadows know where we used to live, and they're not stupid. They'll come and look for us here.'

'Just for a moment,' promised Nessa, gingerly tiptoeing out of the room and into the hallway, as if making any kind of noise would wake the spirits resting here. She entered her parents' bedroom and lingered just beyond the doorway.

Elphaba turned away sharply. She didn't want to go in there, and she didn't want to see Nessa going in there, either. That particular room held too many memories. Being in the house at all was bad enough as it was.

Suddenly, there was the sound of heavy footsteps from downstairs. Nessa spun around, her eyes wide with fear, and Elphaba brought a finger to her lips, telling her sister to be silent. She beckoned her and sneaked through the hallway and towards a door at the end of it, with Nessa trailing close behind.

She opened the door and held it open for Nessa to enter; then she softly closed it behind them. There wasn't a room behind this particular door, just a set of winding stairs, and the sisters descended it as quietly and quickly as they could. The stairs ended in the basement beneath the ground floor and Elphaba immediately made her way towards the far left corner, where she lifted an almost invisible hatch, gesturing for Nessa to get inside before following suit, closing the hatch again behind her.

'How did you know about this place?' whispered Nessa, and Elphaba laughed softly. 'Dad showed it to me once. I used to hide here whenever we would play hide and seek…' Her voice trailed away. She shook her head. 'Anyway, it's a storm shelter or something. If you don't know it's there, you won't find it. I promise, Nessie, that we're safe here... for now.'

The younger girl wrapped her arms around herself, hugging her drawn up legs closer to her body, tears brimming within her hazel eyes. 'I'm scared, Fabala,' she said in a small voice, and Elphaba scooted closer to wrap her arms around her sister, rocking her softly. 'Ssh, Nessie,' she said softly. 'It's okay. I know it doesn't seem like it, but things will be okay. We're safe here. They can't get us now. They won't get you and they won't get the ring. I promise you'll be safe, okay? I won't let anything happen to you.'

Nessa buried her face in Elphaba's shoulder and cried, and Elphaba held her close and stroked her hair. 'Ssh… It's okay, Nessie, it's okay…' she whispered over and over again in her sister's ear.

They stayed like that for a long time, losing every sense of time and space they in that small, pitch black room. Nessa stopped crying after a while, but she was still trembling violently, and Elphaba reached out for a blanket she knew to be there and wrapped it around her sister. 'Here.'

'T-thank you,' Nessa managed to choke out. Elphaba rubbed her back and arms. 'Don't be scared, Nessie. We're together, okay? I will protect you with my life.' She grasped her sister's shoulders, forcing Nessa to look at her. 'Nessa… Remember this.' She swallowed and Nessa stared at her with huge, doe-like hazel eyes. 'What?'

Elphaba took a deep breath. 'If anything happens to me, anything at all, and you can get away-'

Nessa's eyes grew even wider as she realised what her sister was saying. 'No! Fabala, I won't leave you!'

Elphaba shook her head. 'This isn't about me!' she hissed. 'Nessa, we have two Objects of Power here. If they fall into the hands of the Shadows, Oz will be lost. Protecting them is our first priority now. So if anything happens to me – if I fall behind, or get kidnapped, or worse…' She felt Nessa starting to tremble again, but she knew this had to be said. 'Then you take your ring, and my locket, too, if you can, and you run. Get as far away from here as possible. It would probably be wisest for you to keep the ring, but hide the locket somewhere – I don't know, bury it or something. It's too dangerous to keep those two Objects this close to one another.' She gazed into her sister's eyes. 'If somehow, Fiyero and the others break free, or are released… find them. They can help you. Mom has told Amaia what she needs to know; she'll know what to do. Okay, Nessie? I need you to promise me.'

Nessa was hiccupping with sobs again. 'No… I- I can't…' she choked out. 'Fabala, I could never leave you behind!'

'You have to!' Elphaba lowered her voice to prevent it from carrying outside the cellar. 'Nessa…'

'Okay…' the girl whispered. 'I will. But…' A fresh sob escaped her lips. 'I can't do this, Fabala, I just can't… I'm so scared…' She started crying again, quietly, but in a heart-wrenching manner. Elphaba just held her sister close and softly rocked her back and forth.

She listened. No more footsteps. She wasn't sure whether the Shadows really had left, but she was almost certain they had. That irksome feeling of impending doom was gone now.

However, she still didn't want to leave their spot, just in case; so she started singing to Nessa again in an attempt to calm her down, softly stroking her light brown hair, brushing it away from her face.

'Just close your eyes,' she sang quietly. 'The sun is going down. You'll be alright; no one can hurt you now…'

Nessa's weight slowly grew heavier against her, and she gently lowered her sister to the floor, tucking the blanket under her chin and kissing her forehead. 'Come morning light…' She looked up at where she knew the hatch to be, and desperately wished that what she was telling Nessa now would become the truth. Her voice was a mere whisper, barely audible, as she sang the next words.

'…you and I'll be safe and sound.'

'Where IS she?!' the Shadow growled, grabbing Boq's collar and easily lifting him off the couch. He pulled the gag from his mouth and shook him. 'Talk.'

Boq made a spluttering sound. 'I don't know! She went to the kitchen for coffee, and I haven't seen her afterwards!' he wailed. The Shadow threw him down onto the couth and removed the gags from the others' mouths. 'So she escaped – I figured out that much! Now where could she have gone?!'

'I don't know!' cried Glinda. 'I'm not even from Munchkinland – I don't even know what there is around here!'

The Shadow turned towards Boq and Amaia. 'You two are from here,' he grunted. 'You've known the girl since she was a baby. Where. Did. She. Go?!'

Boq was trembling a little. Amaia gave him a reassuring look and turned to face the Shadow. 'I don't know,' she said. 'And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you.'

The Shadow slapped her across the face. Boq yelped and tried to get to her, but he was still tied up.

The front door burst open and a few other Shadows, the ones that had been looking for Elphaba, came in. Their leader turned around. 'And?' he barked, and one of the others stepped forward. 'We've been to the cemetery, but there's no sign she's been there,' she said. 'And the Governor's mansion was empty, too.'

'Though it looked like someone had been in the youngest girl's room,' another Shadow added. 'The wardrobe had been opened. We've searched the entire house, but she wasn't there.'

'And none of the villagers have seen her, either,' a third Shadow added.

The black-eyed Shadow roared in frustration and smashed a glass from the breakfast table against the wall. It shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. 'That witch won't escape me this time!' he yelled at the others.

'Perhaps,' the female Shadow suggested, 'we could lure her out somehow. Make sure she comes to us, instead of us coming to her.'

His gaze drifted over the students and the woman sitting across from him, and slowly, a malicious grin spread across his face. 'Lure her out… yes,' he said, satisfied. 'Yes, that's a good idea.' He grabbed Fiyero's hair and yanked him up. 'The boyfriend would do the job, don't you think?'

'Using him would probably be most effective,' another Shadow agreed, and the leader nodded. 'You – stay here,' he told two of the other Shadows. 'You,' he indicated the others, 'come with me. She's an evil little witch, and she's stronger than you might think.' He pulled Fiyero out the door with him, parading down the muddy roads. 'Miss Elphaba!' he yelled at the top of his lungs. 'Miss Elphaba! Look who I've got here!'

'She can't hear you,' Fiyero spat at him. 'She's long gone by now!'

The Shadow punched his face, causing him to see stars. 'No, she's not,' he growled. 'She'd never leave her dear friends behind!'

Unfortunately, Fiyero knew that to be true. But perhaps… she had Nessa to protect now. Maybe, just maybe, she would do the right thing and leave them here to keep her sister, the Objects, and herself safe.

'Fabala?' Nessa asked sleepily. Many hours had passed, though Elphaba wasn't sure how many, exactly; and her sister only now woke up. Elphaba stroked her hair. 'Yes, Nessie?'

Nessa's voice was weak. 'What are we going to do now?'

In reply, Elphaba rose to her feet and held out her hand for Nessa to take. 'Come on.'

The younger girl complied and Elphaba pushed up the hatch, eyes darting around the basement for a moment, taking everything in, before beckoning her sister. 'It's safe. I think they're gone.'

She helped Nessa out and they sneaked around the house, Elphaba first, poking her head around corners, ready to bolt the moment she saw any movement; but there was no one there. She gently tugged at Nessa's hand. 'Come on. Let's get out of here.'

The sisters left the house and went for the lake nearby, where they could hide away between the trees to catch their breath and come up with a plan. 'We should leave,' said Nessa. 'We have to keep those Objects safe… We have to run.'

Elphaba, however, shook her head with the infamous Thropp stubbornness. 'I'm not going to run, Nessa. Not anymore. I'm tired of running.'

Nessa stared up at her sister with huge, frightened eyes. 'What? But Fabala…'

'I'm not leaving Fiyero and the others behind, Nessie,' said Elphaba, quietly but firmly, pulling the locket from the bodice of her dress and fastening it around her neck. 'I've tried that before, and it didn't work for me. Not to mention the fact that apparently, I can't seem to get rid of them even when I wanted to,' she muttered under her breath, and Nessa tilted her head a little to the side. 'What do you mean?'

Elphaba grimaced. 'Well… I fled Shiz because Glin and Cohvu knew about my secret, but they found me again. And I tried to get away from Fiyero once, too, because it scared me that he knew… but again, he found me.' She shrugged. 'I'm not sure if I believe in fate, or anything… but if it exists, it apparently doesn't want me to ditch them.'

Nessa quirked an eyebrow at her sister, looking amused for a moment. 'Is that the only reason?' she teased. Elphaba grumbled. 'Shut up.'

Nessa cast her eyes heavenwards. 'Oh, please, Fabala. Just admit that they're your good friends and that you love Fiyero.'

Elphaba glared at her sister. 'Fine. They're my friends and I care about them, and that's why I am not leaving them behind. Satisfied?' She yanked a branch from a tree and started to strip it from its leaves with violent gestures, causing Nessa to smirk slightly. 'Oh, Fabala. You shouldn't get so worked up about the fact that you care about someone. You're allowed to, you know. It's not a bad thing.'

Elphaba shook her head impatiently, tossing the branch aside as she realised she was being childish. 'Never mind, Nessa. The point is, I'm not going. I've been running for too long already. This time, I'm going to face them.' She looked straight at her sister, their eyes locking. 'And you're going to help me.'

'Miss Elphaba! I know you can hear me!' the Shadow boomed. By now, he was fuming with rage, since the green girl still hadn't shown up. He was actually starting to doubt that she was still around; he knew that if she was, she would have heard him at some point, since he had strolled across the roads for hours, dragging the Vinkun prince with him. And if she had heard him, she would have come out. So what if she really had fled? How was he supposed to find her then?

'Last chance, little witch!' he yelled at the top of his lungs, spinning around, still dragging Fiyero with him, the other Shadows trailing behind them. He pressed the blade of his knife to the boy's throat. 'Come out right this instant or your little boyfriend is dead!'

Fiyero struggled. 'Don't come out, Fae!' he yelled. 'Don't come-' He was cut off by a knee in his stomach, sending him doubling over in pain. The Shadow stopped at the edge of a field, looking around with narrowed eyes. He caught a flash of black fabric and a devious grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. Finally. There she was.

'I know you're there, Elphaba,' he shouted. 'I give you three clock-ticks and then I'm going to cut little princey's throat. One. Two-'

'No, don't!' Fiyero's head shot up at her voice. She emerged from behind a tree, hands held up in defeat. The Shadows immediately raised their hands, dark smoke and lightning swirling around them, ready for attack. Elphaba ignored them, however, her gaze fixed on Fiyero and the dark Shadow – their leader. 'Don't hurt him!'

'Fae, get out of here!' Fiyero burst out, earning him another punch in the stomach. Elphaba's eyes flamed. 'I said don't hurt him!'

'I'm going to count to three again,' the Shadow said, holding a struggling Fiyero in check, pressing the knife to the princes throat again. 'You are coming to me, and you're going to hand that locket over to me, or princey dies.'

'No.'

'One…'

Elphaba raised her chin in defiance. 'Never.'

'Two…' The Shadow tightened his grip on the knife, and Fiyero closed his eyes in anticipation. 'Thr-'

Elphaba's dark eyes flashed as she spread her arms, clutching the locket with one hand. 'I said NO!' At the same time, she released her magic in a sonic boom, sending every Shadow plus Fiyero toppling to the ground.

The leader of the Shadows rose to his feet, black eyes burning with hatred. 'Attack!' he yelled, pointing at Elphaba with a wild gesture. 'Kill that witch and bring me that locket!'

Fiyero worked himself up on all fours just in time to see the Shadows charging on Elphaba, and his eyes widened. 'Fae, no!'

Elphaba stood there, eyes still blazing, her long raven hair billowing in the wind, clutching the locket so tightly in her one hand that her knuckles had turned white. She didn't pull a muscle as the Shadows came closer. The air was crackling with magic and Fiyero held his breath.

When the Shadows were about ten meters away, Elphaba suddenly yelled, 'Nessa, now!'

The younger girl, who had apparently been hiding behind one of the scarce trees in the field, now dashed towards her older sister, her eyes just like her sister's; filled with fear, but also with determination. Keepers' eyes. Thropp eyes.

She, too, was clutching something in her hand, and Fiyero knew that it had to be her ring. She went to stand next to Elphaba, sliding her free hand in her sister's. Elphaba squeezed it in a reassuring gesture, and then they both focused on the Shadows charging on them and closed their eyes.

'Ready?' whispered Elphaba, feeling the magic flowing through her body and towards Nessa's through their linked hands, before flowing back again. Nessa's voice was trembling a little when she replied, 'I guess.'

Elphaba squeezed her hand once more. 'Just focus on the magic,' she whispered. 'That's all you need to know. You can do it. I know you can. Are you ready?'

This time, her sister's voice was a little bit steadier. 'Yes.'

All of that happened quickly. The Shadows almost reached them and Elphaba took a deep breath. It was now or never.

'Now!'

Their eyes flew open. They released their magic.

And the sky exploded.

Are you guys familiar with the How it should have ended-thingies on YouTube? I particularly love the Hunger Games one. Look it up. CAMO-, CAMO-, CAMOUFLAGE.

Review please! You'll make me happy! :D