Chapter 37: Stay

Fiyero made good on his promise and brought Glinda and Elphaba whatever books he could find on ancient Vinkun history. The three of them pored through them for days, looking for the smallest nugget of information that might give them some insight into the sorcery of the ancients or the Grimmerie.

"What do you make of this: 'Vinkuns once used to use sorcery to hunt,'?" Fiyero read aloud.

"May I see it?" Elphaba reached for the book.

Glinda thought for a moment. "I can't think of any spells in the Grimmerie that had to do with hunting, unless you consider the transformation spell a way to just put animals in front of them and kill them."

"That just sounds lazy," Fiyero opined.

Elphaba scanned the book. "That's all it says. Then it goes on to talk about how the Vinkuns hunt today. Damn." She flipped through the pages. "It doesn't seem like there's much else in here." She sighed and passed the book back to Fiyero.

They sat in silence again until Glinda found the next lead. "Listen to this: 'The ancient Vinkuns have long since disappeared. While no one knows exactly what happened to them , several theories have been thrown about. One is that a famine coupled with diseased killed them off. Another is much less likely, but more intriguing. Myths speak of the ancients doing powerful magic. Some renowned sorcerers believe that it was this magic that may have caused their tragic end.'"

"What does it say after that?" Elphaba craned her neck over Glinda's shoulder.

"'There are rumors of a certain spellbook that held enormous power. The book was rumored to be magic in and of itself. But the power from the book could overcome its users. A specific spell from the book had to be changed to 'purify' the user so that they would not be taken by the book and would not use the spells for evil. But the ancients were greedy and did not want to purify themselves. The dark magic overtook them and they destroyed the land and the people until nothing was left.'"

Elphaba's eyes widened. "What else? Glinda, keep reading!"

"'But of course, that is merely a fantastical myth. Most scholars agree that it was famine and disease that wiped out the ancient Vinkuns.' And that's all it says about it."

"It's not much, but it's something."

"A spell that would purify us and protect us from the book… It's in the book. What spell could it be? I don't remember any spell like that."

"It has to be hidden somehow."

"We have to find it and use it."

"Do we really want to?" Elphaba questioned.

"What?"

"I mean, what if there's more to the spell than just protecting us? And what if the spell's idea of evil and ours is different?"

Glinda folded her arms across her chest. "Elphie, that's exactly what got the ancient people killed."

Fiyero nodded. "Fae, it's the safer option. Or don't use the book at all."

Elphaba sighed. "I know. I want to read through it first. I don't trust this whole thing. If that spell even exists in the first place."

"Can you bring the book over at some point in the next few days, Fiyero? You'd have to hang out here for a while so that Elphaba and I can look through it. You would be the one who'd be able to notice if it does something to us." Glinda turned to Fiyero.

"No problem. Do you have classes on Thursday afternoon? We don't."

"When did you memorize my schedule?" Elphaba demanded.

"Fae, you're in half of my classes."

"That's true."

"Plus you spend enough nights in his room for him to figure it out," Glinda teased.

Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of, do you want to come over later?" Fiyero asked.

"Subtle," Elphaba laughed.

"Will you?"

"Come over? Yes. That's as far as that promise goes."

After they made love, Elphaba played with the scarves that Fiyero left on his bed after he had untied her hands. She had actually enjoyed relinquishing control for once. "These are beautiful."

"So are you," he told her.

"I just wasn't quite focused on how lovely they were earlier."

"I'm glad. I'd much rather you have been focused on something else."

She put her head on his chest and listened to his heart beat for a moment. The sound relaxed her, kept her grounded, kept her from thinking too much and allowed her to actually enjoy the present moment. He ran his hands through her hair while she drew patterns along the diamonds on his chest. Elphaba tried not to think about the Grimmerie, her family, the Wizard, the Animals or Morrible. Those worries had no place in bed. "Mm. I feel so peaceful."

Fiyero kissed the top of her head. "So do I."

No wonder people liked sex so much. Not only did it feel good during, the aftereffects were soothing, as well. Although she realized that perhaps the soothing aspect was being with Fiyero, not necessarily sex in general. She couldn't imagine sleeping with someone else. She hadn't ever imagined sleeping with anyone until she'd met him. While she'd always been curious, she'd never thought she'd bother with sex or love. "I love you, Yero."

"I love you, too, Fae," Fiyero murmured. "I always will."

"You can't guarantee that."

"I can."

Elphaba didn't want to argue. "If you say so."

"After graduation, Fae, what's going to happen?"

"That's months away. And what do you mean?"

"With us."

"Nothing. We'll be the same."

"I don't see how that will work. You may or may not need to go back East. You know I have to go back to Kiamo Ko. If we want to stay together, one of us is going to have to make a huge decision."

So much for the present moment. "I can't tell you what I'm going to do when I don't know what the Wizard is going to tell me. I told you I'd ask about the West and if perhaps he could use me out there, instead. But I can't know if he'll agree to that."

"So we're in limbo? We don't even know if we can stay together?"

"What do you want me to do? Go see the Wizard over the fall holidays and talk to him?"

"You don't have to take the position."

"Yero, I love you, but I have plans. I'm not throwing everything away. I wish I could have everything I want and not have these conflicts. Please, let me see what happens and if it doesn't go well, we'll figure it out from there. There's nothing that says you can't leave your kingdom and come be with me."

"You'd rather live near your family instead of near mine?"

Elphaba giggled. "Not at all. But I want so much, Yero."

"I do, too. I want to be king because I know I could be fair and I want to bring the Vinkus into the modern age with the rest of Oz so that we can be as respected as the ancients were. I want to be with you, and I want you to be happy."

"I can't promise you anything. How can I? I don't even know what my future is, Yero."

He sighed heavily. "I guess."

She sat up. "Fiyero, do you really think I'd be lying here right now if I didn't think we'd be together? I can't promise you anything, but I want to be with you just as much as you want to be with me. Can we please enjoy this time instead of worrying? If, Oz forbid, we can't stay together, do you really want to waste all this time obsessing over the future?"

Fiyero smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's fine. I understand why you're concerned, but there is nothing we can do right now."

He pulled her back down close to him again. "I'm going to just assume it'll work out. After all, karma owes us after everything we dealt with."

"I don't know. We got to be together. Isn't that enough?"

"Staying together would be enough."