"Do you have a moment?"
Elphaba looked up. "That depends on what you want to ask me, Miss Upland. Shouldn't you be taking your lunch break now?"
"Yes, but this is very important."
Elphaba sat up straighter, put down her pen, and removed her glasses. "Come in, then."
She came in and closed the door behind her. She felt nervous, but had to act confident to convince the queen. She needed to put this matter to rest. "I would like access to the restricted section of the library."
The queen looked taken aback. "Well… that's certainly not what I was expecting you to say."
Glinda didn't back down. "Please."
"Why?"
"I need to research something."
"There are three floors of the library and somehow, what you need is in the restricted section?"
"Yes."
Elphaba leaned back. "What do you need?"
"A book of ancient poetry."
"You've taken an interest in poetry since last night's soiree?"
"… You can say that."
"I don't appreciate your cryptic responses. Which book do you need?"
"That's just it. I don't know. That's why I need to look. It's important."
"There's a reason why that section is restricted. There are things there that never need to see the light of day. The poetry section is on the second floor in the back. You may look there."
"I know that section doesn't have the book I need."
"You've checked already?"
"Yes."
Elphaba frowned. "If you can't tell me which book you need and why, I can't give you access. I won't have palace staff wandering in places they're not supposed to be."
"I feel that –"
"I can't worry about feelings, Miss Upland. If that's all you needed to ask me, I'm asking you to leave."
"But –"
"No buts!" She stood, her gaze glowering. "Just because I've been friendlier than normal with you, you think it means you can just barge in here whenever you want, asking for special favors without any factual base. I had hoped you wouldn't take advantage of my friendship, but clearly, you think you can. But unlike many others, I can admit when I'm wrong."
Glinda saw no point in arguing, especially when she was already planning Plan B. She curtsied. "I apologize, Your Ozness." If she couldn't shake off this looing feeling of uneasiness, she was going to see this through to the end and fix it on her own. Half of her brain told her she was worrying unnecessarily, but the other half told her that the former half was wrong. Something was going on. Coincidences like this didn't just happen.
She was belatedly impressed on how emotional Elphaba had been, but had controlled her magic. But she couldn't focus on that. She had twenty minutes left of her lunch break, and she needed to pay a visit to the part of the library she was allowed access to. "Rakelle?"
The dark-skinned girl looked up. "Hi, Glinda."
She was alone. Now was the perfect time to ask. "I need your help." She told Rakelle her plan, watching as her jaw slowly dropped.
"What? Have you misplaced your mind?!"
The blonde motioned for her to keep her voice down. "Possibly, but I need to do this. Please. I think… I think the queen might be in danger."
"Danger? What type of danger?"
"'Being overthrown and possibly killed' type of danger."
"So you asked the queen - a ballsy move, by the way - she said no, and now you're like, 'Okay, but I'll do it anyway'? How much does she know about this?"
"She doesn't know about the poem, nor does she know my thoughts about it. I think the less she knows about this, the better, at least until I have concrete proof."
"I don't know, Glinda. Breaking into the restricted section sounds extreme."
"If this proves to be nothing more than an ancient, fictional folktale, then I'll let it go. But until I try, I'll never know."
Rakelle sighed. "This could cost both of us our jobs."
"Not doing anything could cost the queen her life. I watched something similar happen to a close friend. I can't let –"
"Wait… you and the queen are friends now?"
After what Elphaba just said, Glinda wasn't so sure. Even if she was mad at her, that didn't mean she deserved this. "No. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to do the right thing. There's a reason that poem was in my pile; there's a reason I heard it at the poetry soiree; there's a reason why my brain isn't letting me forget about this."
Rakelle thought for a moment, weighing her options. She rubbed her face, looking at the blonde with a tired expression. "Alright, I'll help you look. But that's it. Once you find what you're looking for… or, once you don't find it, I'm done."
"Deal. Thanks, Rakelle," Glinda smiled.
"Please don't thank me. I'm sure I'll regret this later."
"I'll come here after clocking out. We'll hide and sneak in once the coast is clear."
"I just stepped into something and it's not my shoes," Rakelle muttered, watching the blonde leave.
Hours later, after everyone in the library had left, Rakelle and Glinda emerged from their hiding place.
"I still don't understand why you need my help," Rakelle whispered. "I've never been in the restricted section."
"It can't be organized much differently than the rest of the library. You've cataloged almost every book in here."
"That is true, but –"
"Plus, I need someone I can trust."
"Trust is a -"
"Shh!" Glinda hissed, thinking she heard something. Realizing that it was just the wind coming from the opened window, she relaxed and continued edging towards the dusty door. "Wow."
"I know. It hasn't been touched in years. And we're about to break that record."
Glinda tried the doorknob and realized that it was, indeed, locked.
Rakelle rolled her eyes. "If only it were that simple. Did you really think that would work?"
"I thought it's intimidating nature would be enough to keep people away."
"That's what I thought, too. Yet here we are."
"Rakelle, you don't have to -"
"Yes, I do. Just please find a way to open the door."
Glinda thought for a moment and pulled a large hairpin from the back of her head. "This might work," she said, picking the lock as quietly as possible. Every single noise the lock made seemed amplified in the silent room.
Rakelle winced every time, sure they would be caught. "Glinda, that's a very old lock. I don't think –"
The lock clicked. "Got it," Glinda declared softly, slowly pushing the door open. It still made a loud noise, causing both women to wince. After a few moments of silence, they realized they were fine and slipped inside.
"I don't even wanna know why you know how to pick locks," Rakelle whispered.
The blonde muttered a spell under her breath and a light orb appeared, hovering over her hand. "Then I won't tell you. Let's get searching."
Rakelle's jaw dropped. "You have magic?" she whispered louder than she meant to.
"Shh! Yes, it's a recessive gene on my mother's side."
"Why didn't you just use magic to unlock the door… silently?"
"I never got the hang of the unlocking spell. It's a common misconception that it's simple, but pronounce one word wrong, and instead, you blast it, and your face, to pieces." She used the light to locate a lamp or candle or something else that wouldn't drain all her energy. She found two long taper candles in holders and used another spell to light them. "Alright, let's get looking." She pulled out the first book she noticed and squinted at the golden-lettered title. The Grimmerie. She was sure she heard Morrible talk about this book.
The ancient book of spells and enchantments, her brain pulled out of recall for her.
She slowly opened it, the magic hitting her like a heat force. She squinted at the letters that seemingly floated around the page, not wanting to stay still. They slowly began to form words she couldn't (and daren't) pronounce out loud, fearing the consequences. She closed the book, her eyes and brain tired of trying to decipher the funny writing, and returned it to the shelf. Perhaps it was best that the book be kept hidden away.
"We can't look through all these stacks," Rakelle frowned, looking down the aisles of books. "We'll be here all night."
"Then let's try to find the ancient poetry books."
The two searched for half an hour before stumbling across a few books that might be helpful. They set up at a nearby table and began reading, squinting at the words and pictures under the flickering light.
Glinda had found a book of Quadling mythology. "What's this?" she asked, pointing at an intricate painting of two glowing figures sharing the sky. One had long, flowing golden hair, and the other was bald, but wore a crown mimicking the sun's rays, under the chapter titled "The Era of Trials".
Rakelle glanced over. "That's the myth of Ymtis and Ghatdione. Ymtis was the god of the sun, and Ghatdione was the goddess of the moon. The story's originally from Fliaan, but the ancient Quadlings incorporated them into their own mythology."
"I thought the ancient Quadling society was a culture of oral tradition, never writing them down."
"That's true, but as time passed and stories traveled and spread, they were translated and recorded for preservation. From what I know, the translations are pretty faithful to the original wording."
Glinda looked from the picture to the story on the next page. "The two deities were in love and wanted to be together, but were forced to be apart to keep the order of the world continuing smoothly. Ymtis would sleep during the night, and Ghatdione would sleep during the day. They would try to find ways together, but they ended up messing with the seasons and the length of the days and nights. Zebris, the god of the sky, and Uone, the goddess of the land, were getting sick of this, and tried to get them to give up their chase, but this only angered Ymtis. In retaliation, he rained fire from the sun on the land, overheating it and drying up all the rivers. When Ghatdione awoke to get ready for the night, she saw what Ymtis had done, and to help, extended the night, allowing the land to cool and rain to refill the rivers. She wouldn't allow Ymtis to raise the sun, claiming that the earth needed extra time to heal."
"Then what happened?"
"Ymtis didn't want to hear any of her excuses, and decided to raise the sun anyway. But Ghatdione blocked it with the moon, causing the first solar eclipse. The following night, Ymtis did the same to her, causing the first lunar eclipse."
"That's a nice story, but what does this have to do with the poem?"
"I… have no idea," Glinda said, trying to find the connection. She took out her paper strip and looked from the poem to the story, trying to find a connection.
"Maybe another story will have the answer."
She turned the page, but didn't have to look any further. "I think I found it."
Rakelle read over her shoulder. The next page had the heading of "The Ballad of Liynn Moures", and the corner had been ripped out of the bottom. Glinda took the ripped poem and placed it in the book. "It's a match."
"But the poem isn't. It's the same, except for the last two lines. The original says: An unlikely pair shall come forward, uniting the King of Emeralds with the Queen of Sapphire. The handwritten copy says: United souls shall come forward, and tear the ground to restore the empire. Who are –"
"The King of Emeralds is the Quadling alternate title for the god Ymtis, and the Queen of Sapphire is the Quadling alternate title for the goddess Ghatdione," Glinda recited, squinting at the footnote. "This Quadling ballad was created based on the myth. At the soiree last night, the Quadling poet mentioned sapphires and emeralds."
"That's the connection you're making?"
"It's the only one we have at the moment. Who is the "unlikely pair"?"
Rakelle considered it for a moment. "Perhaps the land and the sky. There's a similar Vinkun myth about how the land and sky wanted to be together, but couldn't, and how they found a way to meet; at the horizon line." She studied both poems. "That's the thing about myths. Different cultures have different interpretations."
"Whoever is behind all this must have access to this section."
"But only the queen has the key. She wouldn't overthrow herself, would she?"
Glinda remembered notetaking for the queen and hearing her comment (joke?) about wanting to overthrow herself because she was bored. But that was just a joke. She couldn't have been serious. "No," she sighed.
"Someone could have picked the lock like you just did."
"It wasn't an easy lock to pick."
"They could have been just as desperate as us."
"Us?"
"Yes. Looks like I'm fully involved now. It's not just your fingerprints on all these books."
Glinda smiled. "Thanks, Rakelle."
"Don't mention it. Alright, let's organize what we know. So far, we have solar and lunar eclipses, forbidden lovers finding a way to be together, Quadlings and Vinkuns and Fliaanians having similar myths –"
"The longest night shall bleed into a day of black sun. The longest night of the year is the Winter Solstice. And it's possible there could be a solar eclipse the following day. And the river shall run dry, and air turn into fire. That's a direct reference to the myth, when the fire rained and dried up all the rivers. United souls shall come forward, and tear the ground to restore the empire."
"That's obviously the government being overthrown, but what empire are they trying to restore?" Rakelle questioned, covering her mouth to yawn.
"I don't know, but I think that's enough for now. I'm going to do more research about revolutions that have taken place during solstices."
"What do you want me to do?"
Glinda took down a few notes. "For now, keep this between us. I don't what anyone finding out and panicking unless it becomes necessary." She glanced up at her. "Though, I think it will."