TRIGGER WARNING: MENTION OF PAST NON-CON/RAPE. NO ACTUAL DEPICTIONS BUT IM PUTTING IT HERE JUST IN CASE

Seeing that bloody, throbbing soul dropped in my hand was one of the terrifying moments of my life.

And not because it was a soul, because I had seen enough of those in my lifetime.

But because of the sickening grin Astoria was wearing when she handed it to me.

The sirens that were blaring rang in my ears and the bustle of doctors and nurses as they rushed through the halls made everything disorienting.

I stared at the bloody soul in my hand, every single detail of it burned into my head forever. The light blue glow, the dark splotches of madness signaling it's descent into madness. The blood dripping off the soul, into my hand, and onto the floor.

"You… You… you didn't…"

I began to stammer, trying to find the right words to express what I was feeling. I couldn't really placement. It was fear, it was shock, it was even disgust.

Astoria nodded, wiping the blood off her hands.

"Yes. I did. I wasn't thinking about it at first, but it kind of… happened in the moment," she whispered, walking past me and towards Marina.

Seeing Marina clutch Wesley closer and back away from her own daughter made me sick to my stomach.

"Ma… I need you to arrest me. Put me in Elphaba's custody, so that I can be taken to the DWMA to be trialed properly," she commanded, holding her wrists out.

Marina stared down at her daughter's wrists, her eyes wide with fear.

Wesley was staring at his mother with shock and disbelief, his jaw trembling.

"M-Mother… wh-wh-why are you c-covered in b-b-blood?" he whimpered, tears building in his eyes.

Astoria frowned, looking down at her feet.

"...Wesley, take care of your brother until I get back… okay?" she smiled, her voice finally reverting back to it's soft, motherly tone.

Wesley gave her a look of confusion, lifting his head and coming out a bit from under Marina to stare at his mother.

"Mother?"

Astoria smiled once more, putting her wrists down and turning back to me.

"I think this'll be easier if we just go ahead and leave."

I nodded, gesturing for her to come back over to me. When she approached, I lowered myself down and held my arm out.

She sat down on my bicep, grabbing ahold of my shoulders. I stood up, lifting her off the ground. I walking into a neighboring room, heading to the window to open it.

"Elphaba!"

I turned around, seeing Marina standing in the doorway with Wesley.

"Where are you going?" she panicked, stepping forward.

I frowned, looking up at Astoria.

"I'm… taking her away. Would rather have her… 'arrested' in Death City than here. Since she never really resigned, I'll have her...dealt with there…"

With that, I opened the window and dove out.

I heard Astoria cry out, but I expanded my wings out and lifted up into the air.

It was time to go back to Death City, and I was hoping it would be on a better note.


When Death City was in sight, Astoria was completely silent. She hadn't said anything on the way there, her aura eerily still.

My best guess was that she was pondering over what she was going to do when we got there, or what was going to happen.

I myself, was pondering. What would happen to her? She was definitely getting arrested for first-degree murder.

I hated this. Knowing that Astoria was going to suffer the rest of her life for this action. In my opinion, the bastard had it coming. Had it coming for a long time…

"We're here…"

Astoria had whispered suddenly, taking me out of my thoughts. I hadn't known we were flying over the city until she said something.

I sighed, climbing more into the air to keep from hitting any of the buildings.

I heard a few voices crying out below us, some announcing my return and some pointing out Astoria's presence.

"IT'S LADY ELPHABA! SHE'S BACK!"

"IS THAT THE PHANTOM SCYTHE WITH HER!?"

"I THOUGHT SHE LEFT FOR GOOD!"

I did my best to ignore the calls, trying to focus on the academy. Astoria remained silent after she announced our arrival, her aura never changing.

I began to make my descent into the city, putting my legs out to land in front of the large double doors. I lowered myself to my knees to let Astoria hop down, seeing the double doors open.

I saw Death rush out, Stein and Spirit right behind them.

"Elphaba! Honey are you alright!?" Death cried, slamming into me. I squeaked when he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tightly, burying his face into my neck. I had to laugh a bit, reaching up to hug him back.

"Death, I'm fine! I'm okay, see? Now, I love you, but could you let go… you're crushing my ribs…"

Death made an 'oof' sound, letting me go immediately. I took a few deep breaths, gripping my side.

"Damn hun, sometimes I forget how strong you are…" I chuckled, accepting the kiss he planted on my lips.

"Momma?"

I looked down, seeing Kid hanging off of Death 's side like a koala of some kind.

"Hey little blossom, how are you," I asked, getting down on my knees and opening my arms. Kid jumped off of Death's side and threw himself into my embrace, snuggling into my side.

"I missed you Momma! Where'd you go?" He asked, holding onto me as I stood back up, moving him to sit on my side.

"Oh, just to help a friend," I answered, looking over at Astoria. She had been given a few rags by Stein and Spirit and was washing her arms off. When she looked over, Kid ducking into my neck, hiding himself from her.

"Aw, what's wrong Kid? Why are you so shy all of sudden? You've met her before," I cooed, running my fingers through his hair.

Kid looked up at me, giving me a confused stare.

"I have? When? I don't remember…" he whispered, looking over at Astoria, who smiled in return.

"I helped your Momma have you when you were born," she explained, walking up to pat Kid's head with her now clean hand.

Kid gave her a look, turning back up to me.

"What does she mean? She helped you… have me?"

I chuckled, "I'll explain that when you're a little older."

Astoria smiled back, looking over at Stein and Spirit.

"So, what's the normal procedure for this?" she asked, gesturing to my pocket where I had stuffed George's soul.

I looked down, staring at the lump as if it offended me. Death looked down at it as well, his eyebrows furrowing.

"What is that?" he asked, reaching down to poke it. However, I swatted his hand away, reaching into my pocket to pull it out.

I heard Stein and Spirit gasp, and Death's eyes widened in shock. I pushed Kid's head down to put it against my neck, not wanting him to see the half pure, half corrupted soul.

"E-Elphaba? What is that?" Death asked, taking Kid from me when I gestured him to do so.

"This is the soul of George Evans. Astoria took the pleasure of ridding the world of his presence.


"MURDER!? ASTORIA KILLED SOMEONE!?"

I was currently back at home, cleaning off the blood from the soul, and just taking another shower to relax.

Astoria was currently in the academy, down in the half-cell, half weird rooms down in the basement levels of the building. I led her there and told her to clean up and that I'd be back after collecting my thoughts and thinking of a plan.

After stepping out of the shower in our room, Death was waiting in the bathroom if a change of clothes from the old hospital shirt I was wearing.

I sighed, "Yes. She's a mercenary that's kind of her whole job." I took the clothes from him, placing them down on the counter as I began to ring the water out of my hair.

"Yeah, that I know. But, but she killed someone off the list! Astoria, she'd never do that! Would she…?" Death asked, sitting down on the bathtub's edge as I began to dry.

I looked down, running the towel through my hair.

"Only if she had a good enough reason too. Trust me, I think George had this coming," I answered, tossing the towel aside.

Death caught it, placing it down next to him.

"Okay, I know George was a bad guy. No, correction, a fucking evil tyrant. But his soul still had good in it. Maybe… maybe he could've come back fr-"

"Geroge was responsible for making Astoria's youngest attempt to blow his own brains out, and if I wasn't there, he would've succeeded. I can tell you with certainty that there was nothing that could ever redeem that man. He cared about his money, fame, and success more than I think he even cared about himself. And Astoria and her family have suffered for over a decade for it. In my opinion, this is the best thing to happen since Velvet died!"

I stared at Death almost angrily, holding my clothes tightly in my fist.

Death stared at me silently, the man having recoiled at my sudden outburst.

Yes, after Velvet died, Astoria and I almost, fell out of contact. I hardly had any conversations with her after it, those past seven years being hard, on both of us. For me, it was Kid's lifespan, then the magic, and even having to deal with the impending prophecy of my death.

For Astoria…

God I could only imagine.

I began to hastily put my clothes on, wanting to get back over to the academy as fast as I could.

"Elphie… I know this is huge for you, and her both. But… I don't think it's a good idea to… encourage this. Astoria isn't very stable right now, I could just tell by her wavelength. She's angry, sad, hopeless, desperate even, and now, she may never see her children again. We need to deal with this properly. I know you don't want to, but I don't think there's any way for us to… well… save her from punishment. She broke the most sacred rule of our organization. She took an innocent soul for herself…"

That's where it was.

While listening to Death, I was desperately looking for a loophole to get Astoria out of a lifetime's worth of punishment. I know it's not a good thing, and Death was right, that she needed to be punished for her crime.

But there had to be some way to leverage it.

And there it was.

"Wait a minute, Death. No… she didn't. She didn't kill an innocent soul."

Death stopped talking, staring at me with a look of bewilderment.

"What do you mean? Yes she-"

"No, honey you don't get it. She didn't. First things first, that soul if corrupted half way. It's not fully innocent, nor is it fully corrupted, right?"

He nodded.

"And secondly, she didn't take it for herself. She didn't eat his soul. She gave it to me. She didn't desire his energy to strenghen herself, she merely wished to get rid of him for the safety of her sons!"

Death bit his lip, worrying his hands together, "Yes, that's true. But there's still-"

"And thirdly! There's a law, DWMA handbook rule #158 states-"

Yes, I knew it by memory.

"-Should a soul be halfway corrupted, it can be either saved or destroyed by a high-ranking member of the DWMA after a proper judgment of said soul's character!"

Death stared at me with shock and confusion.

"...It does?"

I rolled my eyes.

"How do you not know your own handbook?" I asked, truly amazed that he had seemingly forgotten it.

"I didn't write half of the shit in there, my team did! I maybe wrote the first few dozen, don't get mad!" He defended, crossing his arms. He sighed, "And while that's true, Astoria's not-"

"Did she ever turn in a letter of resignation?"

I interrupted him with a question, making Death snap his lips together. His eyes darted around, thinking about it.

"Umm… don't think so."

"And if she didn't doesn't that mean that despite not taking missions, or working directly for us anymore, she's STILL a member of this organization?"

"...Yes. What's her-"

"And didn't Astoria climb her way to the top of the mercenary ranks? She may not be a Death Scythe, but she's fucking up there! She's still one of the five heads of the mercenary squadron!"

Death's eyes widened.

"Meaning…"

"What she just did was completely LEGAL!"


"WHAT!? What do you do mean it was legal!?"

After my realization, I had quickly returned to the DWMA with Death in tow, dropping Kid off to Panthera's home before fetching Astoria and heading straight for a conference.

"You heard me. If was completely legal! Astoria broke no rules by collecting his soul! She didn't take it for herself, his soul was half corrupted, and since it was, she was allowed to judge and see if he was redeemable in any way, shape, form, or fashion. Astoria broke no laws by killing him. The only thing she'll get in trouble for is for doing it in broad daylight in public, and for leaving the body behind."

Back in the conference room, I was having a meeting with some council members to determine the fate of Astoria. I had gotten together the few people in charge of our law system, with Death, Spirit, and Astoria herself at the end of the table.

Spirit was there for moral support to Astoria, and also because he was the current reigning Death Scythe. Death for obvious reasons, and just three of the main council members.

Thankfully, Arthur, the one I hated with a fiery passion, had retired two years ago. Probably one of the most memorable moments of my life, simply because I played "Bye, Bye, Bye" by NSYNC at the ceremony.

The three with us was Jeremy, Andrew, and Markus. Markus was a good friend to Arthur, so he had very similar beliefs to him.

It also meant, he hated my guts.

"There is no way that what this woman did was legal! She killed a man in cold blood in the middle of a hospital and probably traumatized a few dozen doctors and nurses! How is that legal!?" He snapped, slamming his fist on the table.

I frowned, knowing he had point.

"Okay, I know she'll have repercussions for traumatization of many, and leaving a… well... a very disembodied man in her wake, but the action itself isn't first-degree murder. I explained it before, and I'll do it again if you let me." I took out a folder and placed it on the table. I took out a file I had printed from the Melody Police Department, thanks to Marina, and laid it out on the table.

"I've had a discussion with the ranking members of the MPD, where the crime occurred, and this is what they said…"

I recalled the conversation with Marina's boss that I had had a few minutes before the meeting.

"They said, and I quote, 'When we deal with crimes committed by citizens of our nation, we usually deal with them personally. However, in Ms. Astoria's case, she's a member of a large scale organization, that has been making arrangements for a partnership for the past year-"

Something I hadn't mentioned was the future partnership of the DWMA and Melody, in hopes of broadening the horizon for magic users.

"-So in order to sort of, make this more firm, we wish to have members stationed here dealt with by said organization. Ms. Astoria committed a crime while affiliated with the DWMA, therefore, making your organization the prime prosecutor of this. She will have to pay, in both money and potentially house arrest, for committing this crime in public, and mentally scarring many young nurses and doctors, even a few visitors and patients who witnessed and experienced the event. However, since his soul was… what did you call it?"

I heard Spirit giggle as I read the transcript.

"Corrupted? Yes? Corrupted, this falls under something that the DWMA deals with globally, even here from time to time. What I recommend, is you enact whatever sentence she'll receive there because it wasn't fully corrupted, and she'll return here to face punishments. I will say this, that due to this outburst, she'll be in therapy for anger management, in mental health for a few years, will be paying for any therapy needed for witnesses, and under house arrest at least for a year. Whatever happens there, happens."

I put the transcript down, lacing my fingers together.

The three men all stared at me, looking over the file and their own copies of the handbook.

"...Well… what she says is true. And the rule states, that since she's still a high ranked, specifically a three-star weapon, and one of the five heads of the mercenary branch, who co-lead the Star Clan Seige-"

I felt my heart jump into my mouth for a moment.

"-She technically hasn't broken any rules on our end. The only thing is we need to see how he wasn't redeemable."

Markus smiled, turning to me.

"Which you can't prove. You need someone who witnessed his actions in order to prove-"

"Abuse. Neglect. Blackmail-"

Astoria suddenly began to speak.

"Murder. Framing. Theft. And domestic violence. These are just a few things that George did. He blackmailed my mother, myself, and my lover in order to force our marriage. He threatened to kill Sound, my mother, and both of my children should I retaliate. He abused me regularly, including hitting me, choking me, and he even raped me a few times."

I felt a searing fire explode in my chest. Death's jaw dropped, as well as Spirit's.

George… raped her!? We all knew she never wanted to have sex with him, but we all figured he'd at least have enough dignity to do while she said it was… at least in some way alright.

"He overworked my eldest son to points he'd pass out, until his wrists were swollen or knuckles bleeding. My youngest son was beaten, threatened, and neglected, to the point that just yesterday… yesterday he…"

I saw Astoria's emotionless structure begin to waver. Tears built in her eyes, and she began to choke on her words. I finished.

"Just yesterday, I was called by Astoria to assist her when George had suddenly 'gone mad'. I watched him beat and fight with their butler, her mother, and her lover Sound. He struck both their youngest Solusod, and their eldest Wesley numerous of times. And in the end, the youngest but a gun in his mouth, and made an attempt at his own life."

The room became dead silent. Still as a grave. Markus had shrunk back in his seat, clearly overwhelmed with the evidence towards killing George, and the others just look horrified.

"And do you all want to know how long this all happened?"

They nodded.

"Twelve years."

The room went silent again.

"T-Twelve years? That long under…" Jeremy stammered, looking down at the files.

I nodded, crossing my arms and leaning back in my chair.

"So… how does everyone feel about this situation now?"

After a few moments of silence, it was Death who spoke up.

"Under normal circumstances, we would let this go. But, since she caused heavy damage to man people's psyche, she still needs to face a punishment on our end."

My head snapped over to him, glaring at him harshly.

"What do you-"

"Before you kill me Elphaba, hear me out! I'm not going to do much to her. She, has a high ranking member, must be able to make a proper judgment. She judged that George was irredeemable. However, how she carried it out was irresponsible and poorly thought out. Because of this, many people suffered at the sight of this kill. While he, George, was a horrible man and was unable to be redeemed, Astoria shouldn't've dealt with him in the way she did, and where she did."

Astoria lifted her head, staring up at Death and I.

"What will my punishment be?"

I looked over at Death, watching him take a deep breath in. When he remained silent, I reached over and took his hand, giving it a small squeeze.

He smiled, looking over to smile at me.

He turned back to Astoria.

"Due to your bad judgment, I'm afraid you can no longer serve as a third-star weapon. In fact, this kind of judgment is not acceptable in any DWMA member. I'm afraid that… that we'll have to let you go."

I let a gasp escape, staring at Death with shock.

"Death!? What are you-"

"Elphie. It's okay. I'll accept this punishment. If I won't be punished for first-degree murder, then I'll accept all the other punishments with stride."

I wanted to speak out, scream in protest. Especially at Death. But when I looked over at Death, this feeling flowed away. He was biting his lip to the point it was bleeding, and tears had built in his eyes.

I frowned, taking his hand and pulling it into my lap. I rubbed his hand gently, giving him a warm smile.

Death turned and smiled back at me, his lip quivering. He didn't want to do this to Astoria, as much as I didn't want it to happen. I wondered if there was anyone else he had done this to.

"Meeting dismissed."


"Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

Astoria nodded, sitting down on the seat in the car.

"Yes, I'll be okay. I know I'm gonna have to face a lot of consequences for my actions, but at least I'm going home, and I'll still be with my family," she answered, giving me warm smile.

"I'm just worried that you'll be… you know…" I frowned.

"Arrested? Don't worry, Ma will deal with it," she answered, fixing her feet into the car.

She was going to be driven back to the airport, the recently built one, and flown back to Melody in a private jet. The councilmen insisted she didn't mingle with anyone until she had proper treatment.

"Don't worry, once I'm home and everything is dealt with, I'll call you," she smiled, holding her arms out.

I smiled, leaning down to accept her hug.

We remained that way for a few minutes, before the chauffeur stepped in, signaling that it was time to go.

I let go and stood up, watching her close the door. The door roared to a start, and she gave me a final wave before the car drove off.

I heard Death come up behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him, feeling tears build in my eyes.

I dove into his arms, feeling him eclipse my frame. I let my tears go, clutching to him helplessly.

I had a bad feeling about this… like…

Like that was the last time I was going to see her in person.


It's on time! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy!

Welp... that's that. This is the last chapter we see Astoria in.

Yeah, one of the most reaccuring character's will no longer be seen. Well... not in person anyway. Elphaba will have some moments of speaking to her over mirror, but other than that, Elphie has a hunch she'll never see her again.

And sadly, she's right.

So, let's talk about DWMA law.

So I think that a soul would slowly become corrupted over time, not just eat a shit ton of souls and poof, your evil. I think it slowly corrupts and kinda looks infected in a way. And if this happens, a high ranking member can determine whether or not this soul is "redeemable".

Not that George is...

And, we hear a word of a sort of partnership between the DWMA and Melody, but that's for Astoria's story to explain, since it heavily affects her family.

And yeah, this chapter is brief. It's sort of, meant to be. This moment in her life was brief, to the point. So, she describes it that way.

And the next few chapters are kinda gonna be written in a diary sense. The next chapter is going to be written in present day, so that'll be fun!

Welp, that's all I gotta say! The Dragon Witch is updated every Saturday at 5 pm Tokyo time (9)!

NEXT TIME:

Everything has finally gone back to normal. Astoria has married Sound and is now free of George, and nothing expect the prophecy made by Lily is affecting Elphaba. Except for one thing. Elphaba discovers something that both excites... and terrifies her. When does she find out, and how will she and this time-consuming matter handle the next few months?

Find Out Next Time: December 15th!

~HUGS ALL AROUND~

EDIT: There's a mention of rape and I forgot to put a warning! So sorry!!!