A quick update, as requested by The Wizard of Wicked ;)
And we're down to third to the last chapter. Many thanks to those who have been reading this story!
Elphaba focused on casting her modified healing spell on her freezing friend while Dorothy watched helplessly. Toto, being an ever-loyal guard dog hopped of from its master's arms and barked at the approaching figure. Goosebumps grew on Dorothy's arms when the figure passed by.
Morrible ignoring her provided little relief to the girl who sat still in fear. The old sorcerer walked on towards her two former students.
"My, my. I never imagined this reunion. Makes you want to go back to your young and carefree days in Shiz, huh?" said Morrible. "It breaks my heart to imagine how all of this will end."
Elphaba laughed mirthlessly. "Please. Don't make me laugh. You wanted this."
The former professor mocked hurt. "Oh, don't say that, Miss Elphaba! All I wanted is what's bestest for my students."
"And for them to become slaves to the Wizard," continued Elphaba. "No, not even the Wizard. You're behind all of this, aren't you?"
Morrible clapped her hands. "As expected from the star student of Shiz University. Oh, you could've easily topped your class if you graduated together with them!"
The green witch poured some more energy onto her healing spell, leaving a protective barrier around Glinda. She dusted her hands and braced herself for battle.
"No need to be so rash, dear. I can give you another chance…" Morrible tried to calm her down.
The former student summoned a fireball on her hands. "I don't need it! I will never be like you or the Wizard!"
"You leave me no choice, then."
A ball of energy appeared at the tip of Morrible's wand. Elphaba stood defensively between her companions and her opponent.
As the battle between two powerful mages proceeded, Dorothy helplessly watched the fight and Glinda alternately. As she looked around the room, she eventually found Fiyero lying unconsciously on the floor. While cautiously avoiding offshoots of magic, Dorothy and Toto crawled their way to him and tried to wake him up.
Although Elphaba's fire spells melted the ice, the melted ice extinguished her flames quickly enough to prevent her from forming walls of fire. She did not have much practice yet with lightning, so she was unable to fully take advantage of that skill. All she could do was use telekinesis and her levitation spell for evasion. She could not even power up her fire spells because she left some of her energy to protect and heal Glinda. Deep inside, she felt frustrated that reading and studying the Grimmerie for less than a month did little to improve her magical combat skills.
Morrible, on the other hand, had ice powers, which she did not seem to have five years ago.
After evading the small avalanche Morrible summoned, Elphaba sat down behind a stone structure, gathered herself and tried to form a plan.
"Feels like déjà vu, doesn't it?" Morrible chuckled. Elphaba, despite her lack of energy and plans, defiantly glared at the old sorcerer. "You see, five years may have passed, but you're still the same naïve little girl back then. Meanwhile, other people have changed. Even Fiyero has become stronger and quicker. Glinda, though quite unexpectedly, has become more powerful, herself. Ugh! I am disgustified to admit that but I cannot deny it." At her will, ice claws grew on Morrible's fingers.
"Those ice powers. They're from Glinda," Elphaba observed.
"Close, but not exactly, dearie. I'm only using her life force, just like what I did with you," the old sorcerer answered. "You see, in my last years as a professor in Shiz, I taught myself some ice spells. But I didn't have enough life force for it. I have been old, anyway. I needed the beryllite to prevent the weather in Oz from getting too warm. I only do what I should do for the welfare of Oz."
Elphaba laughed sarcastically. "So your idea of keeping Oz cool was to cover it with snow? Without even protecting the people of Munchkinland and Quadling. Now I see how much you really care about the people!"
"Enough!" Morrible's ice claws elongated towards Elphaba, effectively pinning her onto the wall. "I have given you so many chances. You've got so much potential, Elphaba, but you leave me no choice."
Not giving the young witch to utter her last words, Morrible raised her wand with her other hand and summoned a huge lightning bolt. Unable to evade the old sorceress' powerful spell, Elphaba closed her eyes in anticipation for the piercing lightning that descended from the sky.
"Stop!" Glinda tried for the nth time. "Oz, stop this car at once!"
Convinced that the driver would not listen, she tried to jump off the carriage. Immediately, her escorts tried to stop her.
"Can't you see that the Tower of Magic is collapsifying? If you can't let go of me, then at least help me go there!"
They did not seem to understand her because they simply brought her back to her seat.
"Oh for goodness' sake!"
Her escorts were taken aback when Glinda raised her scepter and summoned a giant bubble.
Elphaba opened her eyes disbelievingly and looked around. The ice claws that once pinned her were broken and some of its pieces have melted. Smoke came out of the small flames most likely induced by the huge lightning bolt Morrible summoned not many clock ticks ago.
She knew she was supposed to feel relieved to survive the attack, but not if it meant hurt for someone else. Shock and horror filled her emotions upon seeing Fiyero standing between her and Morrible. His torn clothes revealed a fresh burn that ran from his jaw, down to his neck and chest.
"No," was all she could say once it registered to her that Fiyero saved her life by absorbing Morrible's attack.
Elphaba hurriedly caught him before he completely fell down. He fell heavily on her shoulders and sighed.
"Fae…"
"Please save your strength, Fiyero," Elphaba interjected as she laid him on the ground. "I won't let you die. I won't…" Subtly, she wiped her tears with her sleeves before laying her hands on his wound.
Fiyero smiled at her weakly, although she did not look at him. On the other hand, she tried not to look at his face, too afraid she might cry and lose her concentration on the healing spell.
Elphaba gasped when she felt something cold on her legs. Her eyes widened as she watched ice crystals slowly cover her lower body.
"No!" Fiyero rose up quickly and held her protectively upon seeing Morrible behind her back.
"It is rather unfortunate that it is only I who will come out of this tower alive," said Morrible. "Elphaba, I would have saved your life, too, if you hadn't caused this much trouble. Anyway, even if I don't get your life force, I'd still be the most powerful sorceress in Oz. No one can stop me!"
The old sorcerer covered her wand in ice, converting it into an ice dagger, and used it to strike Elphaba's back. Just when the ice dagger was about to touch green skin, it shattered. The ice that surrounded Elphaba stopped growing and started to crack.
"What in Oz…?" Morrible gasped in horror because of, aside from her broken wand, her now wrinkled hands.
Once the sounds of cracking ice died down, Dorothy and Toto peeked from their hiding place behind the table where Glinda laid. The two noticed immediately that the table now held nothing.
To answer the old sorcerer's unfinished question, she found Glinda walking towards her.
Of course, Glinda noticed Elphaba and Fiyero but she chose to let them concentrate on healing. After all, she thought, it was most likely for her sake that her friends had been tired and injured.
Upon seeing Morrible's appearance, she gasped. "You look… old. What happened to you?" she asked.
Pre-occupied by her own thoughts, Morrible seemed to have ignored the blonde's query. "G- Glinda, dear, th- there's… there seems to be a little miss- misunderstanding around here. Th- those fiends…!" She pointed at Elphaba and Fiyero. "They worked together to steal the beryllite!"
"No!" Dorothy protested. "Miss Glinda, she's lying! Fiyero found Elphaba in the Quid... Quadloo... um… in the power plant. She was the beryllite!"
Glinda internally recalled the reports she have received regarding the power plant and compared it with Dorothy's narrative.
"Shut up, child!" Morrible shouted angrily. "I told you to keep your nose off adults' business! And besides, you are one of them, aren't you? Do you know what punishment awaits those who…" Morrible stopped mid-sentence when Glinda raised her scepter, keeping in mind that her magic had been disabled due to the broken wand.
"Miss Glinda, please, listen," Dorothy tried again. "Fiyero didn't do anything wrong. He only saved Elphaba. He lo…"
The girl was unable to finish her sentence when she felt the floor they were standing on shake. They heard a loud cracking sound and, before they knew it, the floor gave in and fell. The Tower of Magic collapsed.