Chapter 29: Offering
Emma hated what she had to do.
She flipped through the Grimmerie. She read and read until she landed on a sleeping hex.
The spell had two variations. One was for eternal sleep, which not what Emma wanted at all. The other was for something shorter, ranging 1-3 hours depending on the ability of the caster. Emma figured that didn't give her much time, but she was low on options.
Elphaba and Finn were arguing loudly about which underground passage would be easiest to connect. Emma whispered the spell as quietly as she could, hoping the arguing would distract them. The spell finished, and Emma sat up. Both of her friends had their heads on the table. She went over to survey them; they were both breathing calmly, fast asleep.
"I'm sorry, but I won't let her get to you."
Emma slipped the Grimmerie into Finn's satchel. Glinda had been giving her tons of clothes to choose from, so she found something comfortable. She dug through, sick of dresses, pulling out a pair of pants that were probably men's. They were a big large, but they fit well enough. She pulled the closest thing to she could find to a black tee shirt—"Yes, I brought black Elphie, why wouldn't I?"Glinda had scoffed—and a black military-style jacket with silver buttons. She slung the bag over her shoulder, grabbing the knife from Finn's side before she left. She paused again, walking back towards her friends. She felt a knot in her stomach appear when she realized that she wasn't sure if she'd see them again. She planted a soft kiss on Finn's cheek.
"I hope Elphie's wrong about how you feel about me," she said softly. "I'm not going to be around much longer for you."
She slipped out the door, closing it behind her. It was eerily quiet in the Southstairs, yet every torch was lit and shining brightly. She gritted her teeth. Morrible was making her path very clear. She walked up the staircase, remembering the first time she had ever landed there. She could remember her excitement, how she was able to float around undetected. She was undetected now, but not for a good reason.
It felt like hours before Emma finally entered the main hall to the castle. Even in the dark, the place was blindingly emerald green. She felt something inside, a small pull, telling her to go to the left. She sighed. Morrible was definitely telling her where to go. She walked down the main hall, crossing through two other sets of hallways before finding herself before the familiar gold-plated door.
What if I would have ran? She thought. What if I would have never entered these doors in the first place? What if I would have taken off, weaving my way through Oz on my own? Would I have survived? Would I have been caught? Would anyone had known who I was?
Emma found that she was growing frustrated with herself.
You were too bold, too reckless! You could have stayed hidden behind that statue. You could have blasted the light from there. Nobody would have seen you! Morrible wouldn't have known it was you! You could have swooped in and rescued them. But you had to make an entrance. You had to be a hero!
Emma felt the internal pull once more. She straightened up, trying not to let the fear show on her face in front of Morrible.
You wanted to be a hero. Now you can be. Finn told you that one must always sacrifice for their friends. It's your turn.
Emma pushed the golden doors open, entering the room.
She was greeted by the sight of both Madame Morrible and the Wizard, barely two feet away from her. She stopped in her tracks. They both were smiling.
"Miss Emma!" The Wizard wrapped his arms around Emma in a terribly awkward hug. "I heard that you can read the book! This is wonderful, simply wonderful!"
Emma pulled back and the Wizard let go. He gestured to a table at the center of the room.
"Come have a seat, would you? And bring the book!"
Emma followed behind the two leaders of Oz, sitting at the head of the oblong wooden table, Morrible and the Wizard sitting on either side. She rested her satchel on her lap, arms around it protectively.
"Now, let's see that book!" The Wizard was excited.
"I will show it to you, but I'm not giving it to you."
The Wizard's smile faltered slightly, but Morrible kept smiling.
"Of course, dearie. It's no use to us. You are the one who can read it, after all."
Emma stayed wrapped around the satchel.
"You said that my friends would be safe. I want your word."
"Of course, my dear. We will not harm your friends."
Emma took a few breaths and pulled the Grimmerie from her bag, sitting it on the table in front of her.
"Have you ever looked through this book?" she asked the Wizard.
"A few times, yes," he said. "But I can't read it."
"That surprises me," said Emma. "Because this entire thing is written in English."
Morrible gave the Wizard a look. "English? Your home language? You told me you couldn't read it!"
"Well…um…." The Wizard looked very nervous. "I mean…I could read some…I just…"
Emma stared at him. "Can you read? Like, at all?"
"Well of course I can! It's just…I wasn't very interested in school…I was never very much into the books and things….It got to a certain point that it was too hard and I just never bothered…."
"Oh my gosh, seriously?" barked Emma. "You've been chasing down someone to read this book for you because you never bothered to learn to read past the level of a child!"
"Silence, insolent brat!" roared the Wizard. "No one speaks to me in that manner!"
"Well, let me write it down for you then," hissed Emma. "Oh wait…that's right…you wouldn't be able to read it anyway."
Emma's head whipped to the side. The Wizard, in his anger, had slapped her. Emma started laughing, noticing how shrill her laugh had become since landing in Oz.
I'm becoming more and more like Elphaba every day.
"Feel better, oh wonderful, powerful, illiterate Wizard?"
Emma felt something snap around her wrists. They were bound to the table in Morrible's magical shackles.
"I told you that I would come willingly. You don't need to do this."
Morrible sneered. "We can't take chances, now can we?"
"There's something I want you to do. A test, if you will." Morrible eyed the girl. "The last time I had the Grimmerie, I was working on a tracking spell. If you have an object that belonged to someone, you could use it to find them. I was struggling with it, not having much success, before the Wicked Witch stole it from me. I want you to try it."
She handed Emma an empty liquor bottle.
"Oh boy, I'm looking for a drunk. I'm sure you can look outside any bar or brothel and he will probably be there."
"This belongs to a man we believe to be aiding the Resistance," said Morrible. "He's been helping them. Find the spell and locate him."
Emma did not want to do this. She did not want to help Morrible. She had to choose between saving her friends and saving this stranger. She felt her heart race. She really hoped this man was far, far away.
Emma found the spell towards the center of the book, titled: "Locator spell."
Emma read this one, laughing louder than she did earlier.
This book is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.
The spell wasn't exactly a spell to her. She had read it and memorized it during the masses she had to sit through every Sunday for 13 years.
The locator spell is the freaking prayer to St. Anthony.
The Wizard and Morrible were eyeing her suspiciously.
"Oh, if you only had a brain…" said Emma in sing-song, laughing even harder at her own joke.
This whole place is a trip.
She grabbed the bottle in her right hand.
Okay St. Anthony, let's find us a drunk.
"St. Anthony, when you prayed, your stolen book of prayers was given back to you. Pray now for all of us who have lost things precious and dear. Pray that lost things, needful and helpful to us, may be returned to our keeping. Or, if we must continue in our loss, pray that we may be given Christ's comfort and peace. Amen."
Emma found herself standing back in her cell, staring at Finn and Elphaba, still asleep on the table. She looked down at the bottle and back up at her friends, the realization taking a while to dawn upon her.
It's Finn's. She thought in a panic. She's trying to find proof against Finn in case he escapes.
Emma didn't get much time, for she was thrust back into her shackles at the table.
"Well that didn't last long," said Morrible. "I hope you got a glimpse of him."
Emma did. She could still see him in her head. His arms were crossed underneath his head like a makeshift pillow. His eyes were softly closed, his hair all wild and fluffed up. He smiled slightly in his sleep. He must have been having a good dream.
Emma felt warm, fuzzy feelings in her chest.
Oh Christ, I am in love with him.
And love makes you do stupid, stupid things.
"I did," said Emma.
"And?" The Wizard and Morrible hung on her words.
"I believe you told me that I had to find him," said Emma defiantly. " And I found him. You never told me that I actually had to tell you anything."
Morrible let out a loud screech in anger. The shackles on Emma's wrists tightened painfully.
"You tried to trick us you wretched, wretched girl! It's too bad for you! You are our prisoner, where you will either read the book and do as I see or be subjected to daily beatings and tortures I have not even come up with!" Morrible screamed so loud that the halls echoed. "I will call the Gale Force!"
"No!"
Emma was able to move just enough to flip the bottom corners of the book. She found exactly what she was looking for. She made sure that she found it and marked it before she did any magic on her friends.
To Reverse a Sleeping Hex
Morrible had told Elphaba that spells could not be undone. Some of them came with warnings, saying they were unbreakable. However, the sleeping spell she cast on Elphaba and Finn was labeled as a Sleeping Hex, and simple hexes can, in fact, be reversed.
She chanted as fast as she could, praying they would wake up before the guards arrive.
"Thinking of me but just the same, return this spell from whence it came, awake those cursed my dreamer's minds, return them to the world unkind!"
The Wizard howled, grabbing a knife from his belt. He raised it into the air, sending it down onto Emma.
