Rifiuto: Non Miriena
Written: 2005 Found: 2017- Licia
She spun around and around, the blindfold over her eyes, counting out loud. In the distance, she could hear the snapping of tree branches and shuffling of leaves as her sisters rushed off to hide. It was a game they regularly played whenever they were at Mederia Castle; the seaside residence was right on the beach, and it wasn't unusual for the children to go rushing outside in their bathing clothes on warm days.
"Eight... nine... ten." She lifted the blindfold off, and looked around, seeing no sign of her sisters, though she could hear their laughter. After a moment, she rushed through the woods in search of them, looking for any sign of a white skirt or green sash. "Elia? Nessa? Raina? Where are you?" She continued to search, moving further and further into the woods, until she was hopelessly lost. As she turned to go back before it got dark, she stumbled over something, landing on her butt.
Her gaze moved down, and it took her a few moments to fully grasp what she was seeing, before the scream escaped her throat. Oziandra lay at her feet, body exposed, blood oozing from every orifice, skull bashed in; it was as though she was slaughtered. She crawled back, crying out for Sophelia and Nessarose, only to find herself alone with her sister's body. Once she managed to climb to her feet, she rushed off, further into the woods, only to stop as something slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. She rolled onto her back, finding herself looking towards the sky.
A face soon blocked her view, however, and she choked on a cry as she recognized the face. "Yero! Oh thank God! Yero, we have to find my sisters. Elia and Nessa are-"
But she stopped when he raised his gun, letting out a scream as he slammed the butt of it into the side of her head.
Glinda awoke to screams, and after a few moments, realized that they were coming from the bedroom.
"Yero! Fiyero! Fiyero!"
Quickly stumbling to her feet, she rushed to the source, climbing onto the bed and grabbing her cousin's arms as the girl struggled against... something. "Fabala! Fabala, wake up! It's a nightmare! It's a nightmare! Fabala!"
After several minutes, the girl's dark eyes snapped open, and she looked out, not recognizing where she was, until her eyes landed on the blonde. "Glinda!" She threw her arms around the other girl, burying her face in her shoulder. Glinda held her, stunned at the horror in the girl's eyes.
"You're shaking-" She held the girl tighter. "Oh, Fabala, it was only a nightmare-"
"They were dead... my sisters... and... and Yero..."
"Shh. Hush, it was only a nightmare. You're safe now. You're safe."
"Here you go."
Elphaba accepted the cup of hot water and lemon, as her cousin climbed onto the sofa beside her. "Thank you, Glinda."
The blonde nodded softly, reaching out to pat her knee as the girl took a sip of her drink. "It was just a nightmare, Fabala, that's all. I promise."
She shook her head. "I want Yero, Glinda. I want him back."
"Oh, Fabala, we've been over this-"
"I don't care." Her voice broke, and she tangled a hand in her hair. "He should be here, with me."
Glinda sighed, knowing there was no use arguing with her. "Even if you could find him, there's no way he would come back; he made that very clear- he wants no part of this world."
"He doesn't have to be a part of this world, Glinda, he just has to be a part of mine."
"But as long as you're in this world, Fabala, he will never be a part of yours."
She met with Parliament the next afternoon; by the time she and Glinda returned to the apartment, she was exhausted, physically and mentally. The few things she'd brought with her on her trip across Oz with Fiyero were in her room; while Glinda fixed tea, she made her way to the bedroom, unpacking her belongings. As she pulled out the green dress that Fiyero had bought her the day after their wedding, something clattered lightly to the floor. She set the dress down, and knelt to look under the cot, eventually finding what she was looking for. Her fingers curled around the object, and she sat back, opening her hand.
Lying within her palm was the emerald pendant with her cipher.
I know I put it back on the chain on Yero's pocket watch-
But at some point, it had obviously come off, landing in her clothing; most likely on the night they made love. She sat back, curling her legs under her, tears coming to her eyes as she realized that the one thing he had taken to remember her as a teenager that night, was now back in her possession.
"No. I don't want it. I don't want it. It's not mine. It belongs to Yero... it belongs to Yero..."
"Fabala? Fabala, what's wrong?" She looked up as Glinda knelt in front of her, a look of worry etched on her pretty features. "Fabala, talk to me."
The princess held out the pendant, shaking her head. "I don't want it, Glinda. It's Yero's, not mine."
"Your pendant?"
"It's not mine. It's Yero's... it's Yero's. It belongs to him... I belong to him..." Glinda wrapped her arms around the girl, not missing the last, choked sentence. The blonde sighed. She'd had a bad feeling that Elphaba meeting with Parliament was too soon. Yes, the princess was going to take the throne, but what others didn't understand was that she was also a young woman. A young woman who had spent weeks, months, even, with the former Crown Prince who'd been her husband- only to find him having left her several weeks ago so that she could take the throne of her home country. And after having spent so much time with him, having fallen in love with him all over again, after finding her family and her true identity, this was all too much, too soon. She was emotionally and psychologically drained.
And Glinda feared, if she didn't get some time away from everything going on, she would never recover.
