Chapter Thirty-Five:
She hadn't realized it until they got back to the circus that her heart was hurting a lot more than it used to. Glinda's body was suddenly feeling heavy… and not right. Something, the spell most likely, was causing her insides to suddenly have sharp edges and cut into her skin from the interior and she was starting to feel its effects. She winced as a sharp jab to her side erupted a feeling of intense pain and her breath suddenly became short.
"Miss Glinda, are you alright?" Dorothy had noticed the blonde's look of pain when she had abruptly stopped in the middle of walking.
"Fine," she got out in one breath. She continued walking despite pain, anxious to speak with Morrible and The Wizard herself.
"This doesn't look like an Emerald City," said the girl as they passed through the numerous train carts and tents. Glinda groaned, the child had been full of nonstop questions ever since they had departed in the bubble and had stopped where the circus was, "Why it looks like a circus!"
"We're taking a little detour," muttered Glinda as she walked along the grass to find Morrible's tent. She led the girl and that irritating dog inside.
"Dorothy Gale," Morrible sounded pleased. "You are very welcome to our humbled land of Oz." She clasped the child's hand and smiled at her graciously.
"Who-who are you?" asked Dorothy suddenly looking frightened.
"I am Madame Morrible, The Wizard's Press Secretary. I will be the one escorting you to the Wizard himself," said Morrible as she smoothed out her deep purple dress, trying to look professional.
"Oh that's alright," the girl gave Madame a cheery smile, "I'm perfectly fine with Glinda taking me. That bubble ride sure is something!"
"That will not be necessary," Morrible's fake smile drooped, "Glinda is not needed for this and she can wait outside," the headmistress flashed the blonde a warning look.
"But Madame I need to-" spoke up Glinda.
"Not now dearie!" snapped the old woman in a strained tone. She motioned for Glinda to go outside and the blonde did so, reluctantly.
Once outside, she drowned out all of the excess noise she heard all around her and she closed her eyes. She could feel herself starting to cry. But what was she crying over? Glinda herself didn't even know.
Maybe it was regret… remorse for doing this to Elphaba. She had just brought in Elphaba's killer at the same time that she had just admitted to herself that she couldn't do this.
She needed to get out. Chuffrey had been right all along. These people were monsters and she was becoming one of them just by being here.
Glinda didn't want to be a monster. This place was haunting her, making her re-think her whole life. She didn't want to spend it causing pain to anyone. She herself had already suffered enough pain to last a lifetime.
She didn't want to end up like Madame Morrible or Yackle. Old, bent on revenge, bent on being powerful.
That was not the life she wanted to live. She didn't want to live a lie either.
Glinda caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror that had been thrown out of one of the tents. It was shattered, pieces in various places on the dirt but she could still see her reflection.
She picked up a piece, careful not to cut her hand with its jagged edges and looked at herself. She could feel a sense of guilt, of shame well up inside of her. Her lips trembled.
She was not this princess. She was not even close to being a princess. She didn't deserve these clothes and this fake recognition. Those people, those Munchkins had thought of her as a savior, a hero.
But it was all a lie.
She was just a vengeful woman on the path of destruction pretending to be someone she was not just to gain people's trust.
Her mother would have been proud of her but everyone else would not have been.
She sniffled as she set down the piece of glass on the ground. She ran a forefinger over it, memorizing the feel of it. Soon her skin would feel like that. It was only a matter of time before her entire body became a walking window or mirror.
Glinda knew she deserved it though. After everything she had done, she deserved to be punished.
It was then that she lost it. She completely unraveled and sank to her knees, crying furiously with hatred towards herself. She never, in a million years, thought that she would end up in this position. Here she was, ready to have all of her dreams come true and yet she didn't want any of it.
Tears fell down on her cheeks and hit the glass of the mirror, making a tinkling sound. Her shoulders heaved and sobbed, as did her whole body.
An ache began to form inside of her and it wasn't from the sadness. It was because her interior was finally complete. Glinda could feel it. Every bone, every vein, every muscle was now glass. It changed the way her body moved. She was now more cautious, more structured. She ran hand down her own face and she could feel the bones and muscles were now smooth and cold beneath her hot flesh.
She savored the feeling of her skin, knowing that it was only a few days before it would be gone forever.
She felt like screaming but she knew it was no use. Nothing could stop this spell. She stood up shakily, trying to figure out how to move with her new body. It wasn't easy. Her lungs felt heavy and it never seemed like she was getting enough air. Her heart beat and sent streams of blood down long glass tubes that used to be her veins and arteries. Her arms and legs moved at awkward angles.
If anything broke, Glinda didn't know if she would be able to fix it.
She walked slowly back into the tent, needing to talk with Morrible right away. When she came in, Glinda noticed the girl and her yapping dog were gone.
"Where's Dorothy and that dog Dodo or Toto whatever?" she asked the elder woman.
"On her way to the Emerald City to receive instructions from the Wizard himself," said Morrible sounding bored with her questions, "Now if we have nothing else to talk about-"
"I need to speak with you," said Glinda confidently as she stood her ground. Morrible had always scared her but this time the blonde was determined not to be frightened.
"About what?" She shuffled some papers in her grasp at her desk, not looking at the woman.
"This needs to stop now. I can't go through with this. I am ordering you not to kill Elphaba," commanded the blonde with a stern look.
That piqued Morrible's attention. The papers stopped moving and before Glinda knew it Morrible was inches away from her face.
"Now you listen here Missy and you listen good. There is no backing out of this bargain, do you understand? Elphaba Thropp will die with or without your help," hissed the former headmistress threateningly.
"You will not kill her," said Glinda just as sternly, "Not on my watch."
A smile curved its way on to Morrible's lipstick-adorned lips, "Who said we wouldn't kill you first before we kill her?"
That statement sent a cold spell over Glinda's body. The thought of that happening toyed with her mind.
"You-you wouldn't…" sputtered the blonde in a weak attempt to talk the woman out of it. Her hands began to shake in fear.
"Couldn't you see that you were our pawn? That we already had this planned out in the first place and we just waited for you to come along and we let you think that you were orchestrating this entire thing." Morrible cackled, "Then again, you never could see the truth even if it was right in front of you."
"Did you really think that we would let you win? That we would just let you get away with knowing Elphaba… oh my dear. How foolish of you," Morrible patted her trembling hand, "You and Fiyero know too much to be able to just walk away from this."
Madame Morrible, satisfied with her work, walked right past Glinda and left the tent.
She was wrong. Glinda was going to prove her wrong. She would not let them win.
Not this time.
She returned to her cart with a newfound determination to beat Morrible and The Wizard at their own game. Her head was spinning with all of these plans and efforts to try and escape. But her energy was quickly squashed once she saw who else was in the cart with her. Tied up, bound and gagged against the wall was her prince, her fiancé.
"F-Fiyero?"
I'm almost done writing this entire story! Just a few more chapters and then this will be over. And I may or may not do the whole alternate ending thing I was planning on doing. It will depend on how you guys react and what you want.
But we're not at that point yet.
Anyways, this week is kind of crazy so I might not upload again this week until the weekend at most.
Bubble