AN: Yeah, another update. I meant to post the previous chapter last night, but I was busy and then tired, and so I need a double update or I won't be able to post everything before London... so here.
Meg: Yes, up next is 26. That's what comes after 25. :P
Doglover645: THAT IS TOO EVIL!
PocketSevens: ...maybe. Maybe not. *smirks*
GreenForGood: Thank you so much! :)
Alright guys, here we go. Brace yourselves.
Chapter 26.
This was a bad idea. She knew that.
And yet here she was.
Because it didn't really matter anymore. The Fiyero she'd known was gone and she knew he would be better off for it. He'd be fine without her. He wouldn't even mourn her now – he'd probably be happy the Wicked Witch was dead.
If Dawyn were here right now, she'd try to stop Elphaba from doing this. She'd call her crazy and order for her to get out of here right now. She'd argue and she'd probably win, too; and even if she didn't win, she'd just grab the green girl and drag her out of here and back to the Animal village.
If everything was still as it was supposed to be, Dawyn and Fiyero would get her out of here, only to give her a two-hour lecture about why this was an incredibly stupid idea, how she could have gotten hurt or even worse, and did she even have any brains at all, at which Elphaba would quip something about Fiyero being brainless and he would pretend to be hurt, but he'd laugh, too; and Dawyn would just glare at her and declare that was not the point at all. But in the end they'd forgive her for being stupid, she knew. She would listen to their reasoning and admit that she could have thought this through better. They'd come up with a better plan together, which they would execute together as well, and everything would be okay.
But Dawyn was gone and Fiyero did not care anymore, and so here she was. There was no-one to reason with her now. No-one to stop her. Her only companions were the Gale Force soldiers just outside the room and the vial in her hand.
She had flown in through the window, planting her broom in a corner and hiding behind the Wizard's mechanical head. She knew Morrible still often came here – this was the place from which she ruled Oz, after all. She held meetings here, she spoke to the Ozians from the balcony of this very room. If Elphaba only waited long enough, Morrible would come to her eventually.
She recognised the fact that getting into the throne room had been much easier than getting out of it would ever be, but it didn't matter. She'd meant what she had told Glinda before, back at Kiamo Ko, when the blonde had tried to tell her Fiyero was still alive. She was limited. And her limit was drawing near.
Morrible was alone when she entered the room, the guards staying outside. Elphaba watched as the older woman closed the door behind her and padded across the room.
She threw the vial with the potion.
Morrible shrieked when something hit her feet and she spun around, looking around her wildly. When she only saw the now-shattered vial on the floor, she understood what must have happened.
She slowly turned around, scanning the room with her eyes.
"Where are you, dearie?" she called out to the seemingly empty room. "Come out!" She grinned as she slowly made her way around the room, looking behind every piece of furniture. "Come out, come out, wherever you are…" she sang. "I'm going to get you, Miss Elphaba – you know that. You might as well just come out and face me… or are you scared?" She threw her head back and cackled. "You should be. Stop hiding like a coward and let me see you!" she suddenly snarled.
Elphaba, meanwhile, had stayed behind the Wizard's mechanical head, softly chanting the spell; but she cut herself off with a yelp when Morrible suddenly grabbed her and dragged her out from behind the mechanical head, striking her across the face, causing her to fall down to the floor.
"You little witch," Morrible hissed furiously, kicking Elphaba in the side. The green girl gasped and doubled over.
"Did you really think you could just kill me?" Morrible demanded. "I've been after you for years already. I'm stronger and more powerful than you are. This is my home, my palace, my city, my Oz… and I will not let you live in it for a clock-tick longer!"
With that, she suddenly snatched a shard of glass from the shattered potion vial off the floor. Before Elphaba, who was just scrambling back to her feet, could so much as turn around, Morrible raised the sharp piece of glass high up into the air.
With a raged scream, she plunged the shard deep between Elphaba's shoulder blades.
"Faster!" Glinda yelled at her bubble, though of course that hardly had any effect at all. She tried to make it go faster with her magic, but she wasn't focused enough and she grated her teeth in frustration.
"Calm down," Cohvu said, massaging her tense shoulders. "It'll be okay, Glinda, really."
"Glin," said Fiyero, "I still wish you'd just turn around and go back. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"If you only came along to try and convince me that I should not help my best friend, I'm going to open my bubble below your feet and drop you twenty metres to the ground," she snapped at him. Cohvu gently pulled her back to keep her from flying at the prince's throat.
Glinda, however, wasn't done yelling at Fiyero just yet. "You're supposed to help me, Fiyero!" she shouted at him.
"And I'm going to," he said, looking a bit taken aback by her violent reaction. "I just don't see why –"
She yanked herself free from Cohvu's grip and slapped the Vinkun prince.
"Because the woman you love is in danger," she hissed, her face very close to his. "She might be hurt – maybe even dead already. She never fully healed from her injuries in the first place. Can you honestly look me in the eye right now and tell me that you do not care?"
He opened his mouth to reply, but she shook her head.
"Don't," she said. "Never mind. I don't want to hear the answer."
She leant back against Cohvu, unable to look at Fiyero any longer. The former Gale Force guard put his arms around her and dropped a kiss to the top of her head, and Glinda closed her eyes for a brief moment, taking deep breaths, in and out, until she felt a bit calmer again.
She steered the bubble to the Emerald Palace, where she knew Elphaba would be.
"What is our best shot?" she asked, biting her lip worriedly. "Where do you think she went?"
"She went to find Morrible, right?" Cohvu said and he shared a look with the blonde. "The throne room."
Glinda immediately moved in the direction of the balcony attached to said room and she flew in through the open window, landing at the same moment she made the bubble disappear. What she saw inside, however, filled her with terror.
"No," she whispered incredulously.
Elphaba was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, gasping for air. Morrible was standing over her, a bloody and sharp shard of glass in her hand and a smug expression on her face. Neither of them saw Glinda, Cohvu, and Fiyero.
"It's over, dearie," Morrible hissed, nudging Elphaba with her foot. "You're done for."
"Maybe," Elphaba rasped, raising her head just the tiniest bit to glare at the older woman. "But so are you."
She chanted softly, speaking only a few more words to finish the spell she had initially started; and with a scream, Morrible suddenly collapsed on the floor next to the green girl, dead.
Glinda, Cohvu, and Fiyero could only stand there and watch for a few moments. Glinda had both hands clasped over her mouth in horror and Cohvu looked pale.
Fiyero looked at the scene before him – the Witch lying on the floor in a puddle of her own blood, the old fish-like woman standing over her before suddenly falling down as she died… and he felt strange.
Then the young witch on the floor suddenly looked up at him weakly, their eyes met, and it felt like he was struck by lightning.
"Fae," he whispered.
That, somehow, snapped Glinda out of her fear-induced state.
"Are you serious?!" she yelled at him, her voice laced with frustration, pain, and fear as she turned to the prince. "Now you remember? It's too late, Fiyero!"
Cohvu placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "Glin…"
"She's going to die!" Glinda screamed at Fiyero, tears now welling up in her eyes and spilling over, streaming down her face. "She's going to die and it's going to be your fault! If you just remembered, none of this would have happened!"
Fiyero looked like he was about to be sick and Cohvu gently pulled the blonde girl back.
"It wasn't his fault, Glin, you know that," he said softly to her. "He was under a spell."
Glinda suddenly deflated and sagged against Cohvu, sobbing. "Elphie…"
"She's not dead yet," Cohvu reminded them both. He wanted to say something else, but his remark had the effect of a dropped bomb – Glinda and Fiyero both shot over to the green girl faster than he could blink, falling down on their knees next to Elphaba.
"Elphie," Glinda cried, taking one of her friend's hands. "I'm so sorry…"
"It's okay, Fae," Fiyero told the dark-haired witch, but his voice broke. "You're going to be okay."
Her eyelids fluttered open when she heard his voice and she looked at him, her dark eyes filled with confusion.
"Fi-Fiyero?" she asked and his heart broke at how weak she sounded.
"It's me," he confirmed, stroking her hair. A single tear escaped his eye and fell down his cheek. "I'm back. I'm so sorry, Fae…"
She closed her eyes for a moment when she felt his tear hit her cheek. She opened them again and looked at him, and Fiyero could see the pain in her eyes.
"I hoped you wouldn't," she croaked.
"Wouldn't what?" he whispered, fearing he already knew the answer.
She looked at him sadly. "Remember."
It felt like his heart was being torn from his chest and he had difficulty breathing. He hadn't been there for her. She had gone through all these things – she thought she'd lost him, she'd come up with this crazy plan and there were so many other things that had happened to her and that he didn't even know about… because he hadn't been there. It must have torn her apart. And now he was back and he was on the verge of losing her forever.
"Guys," Cohvu interrupted them sharply. "Can we do this later? We need to get Elphaba to a hospital right now."
"No." Elphaba shook her head weakly. "No… hospital."
"I'm not listening to you, Elphie." Glinda wiped away her tears and carefully created a bubble around all three of them, lifting it up into the air. Elphaba whimpered in pain and Fiyero helped her turn onto her side, feeling nauseous again when he saw the ragged wound in her back. It was just to the right of her spine, which meant Morrible probably hadn't hit her heart or any nerves… but still. What vital organs could be hit? He couldn't remember, he was too panicked. There was so much blood…
"Come on, Elphie," Glinda whispered, looking at her friend. "Hold on."
She knew she couldn't take Elphaba to a regular hospital – no-one would want to help the Wicked Witch of the West – so she steered the bubble in the direction of the nearest Animal hideout she knew of. By bubble, it should only take a few minutes. She hoped Elphaba could hold on that long… but what if they did make it? Would the Animal doctors there be able to help her?
Fiyero was still stroking the young witch's hair. "Just stay with us, alright, Fae? Come on, you can do it," he encouraged her. "Stay with me."
Her eyes were fluttering shut, however, no matter how hard she fought to keep them open. "Yero…"
"Come on, Fae, you can do it," he whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. "Please… I can't lose you. I love you…"
She didn't reply and Fiyero looked down at her fearfully, trying to see if her chest was still moving. It was, but only faintly. He felt nauseous, his throat constricted. "Fae? Please, sweetheart, just hold on." He reached out to touch her cheek.
That was when she stopped breathing.
BOW BEFORE YOUR QUEEN OF CLIFFIES! *cackles maniacally* ALL HAIL THE QUEEN!