A/N: Happy October everyone! I meant to write that at the beginning of the Galinda chapter but I forgot to before posting lol. I always love the Autumn and I'm so happy it's that time of year again. Also, I'm very curious to see how Halloween goes this year.

Fiyero

Fiyero was throwing dice in his chamber, enjoying the sound the sound they made as they clattered upon the stone floor, when he decided he was hungry. Dinner was soon but he couldn't bear to wait. He gathered up his cubes and began to make his way to the kitchens. Maybe he could steal a tart or two, or a bit of whatever he was sure the servants were preparing. He had already made a visit half an hour ago, which scored him a few cookies and sugar sticks, but those were nearly all gone, and he was famished.

The little boy skipped out the door and into the hall. He stopped short when he saw a small figure crouching at the far end of the corridor. Was this the same creature-like-shadow he had seen with Avaric? Why was it so close to the Royal Family's living quarters? A sickening feeling grew in the pit of his stomach as he slowly crept forward. He had nothing to arm himself with — only a pair of dice. Maybe he could throw them at it? Fiyero snorted. Fat chance of that doing any good.

The thing stood, having seen him. Fiyero held his breath, heart in his throat. "You!" he exclaimed when he saw who it was. The Governor's daughter said nothing.

Now Fiyero was less afraid and much more irritated. The Crown Prince of the Vinkus had been resulted to a trembling mess over a little girl. How pathetic of him. If Avaric had been here Fiyero wouldn't have heard the end of it.

Fiyero crept forward. "What're you doing out here?" The guests were residing on the other side of the floor. "Hello? Why don't you say nothing?"

He knew she understood him. He was using Ozish, the common language of Oz, which she responded to a mere hours before when his mother was speaking to her.

The fact that he couldn't see her face or read her expression because of the odd little veil unnerved him greatly. Her father said it was for religious reasons. What a terribly restricting religion to have, Fiyero thought, to be unable to feel the breath of a breeze or the kiss of a raindrop on your cheeks. But all to their own beliefs, he supposed.

The girl simply stood there, staring at him, Fiyero assumed. He couldn't really assume anything else.

"Fine, whatever," he mumbled. Everyone seemed to be ignoring him lately. First his father, which wasn't really a surprise for it was a common habit of his, then his mother, who had been preoccupied with preparations and duties, and now this funny quiet girl who didn't even know him enough to want to ignore him was doing just that.

"Forget it, I don't care." Fiyero's stomach grumbled, reminding him of his initial quest. He went to spin on his heel.

"Lost?"

He looked at her.

"L-lost?" she repeated. "Lost?" Her voice was so small he had to take several steps closer to hear her.

"Lost?" Fiyero said, perplexed. "Am I lost? No, I'm not lost."

The veil fluttered somberly as the girl shook her head. She pointed to herself.

"You? You're lost?"

She nodded.

Oh. Drat. The princely thing to do would be to offer to take her back to her chambers, but they were so far away from the kitchens, and if he didn't hurry there wouldn't be any sweets or treats left to steal.

"Sorry bout that," he said as he started to inch away, hoping he might be able to sneak off and be left alone. "And, uh, good luck on getting back…"

He made it four feet.

"No!" the girl cried.

Fiyero reluctantly froze in his spot.

She twisted the fabric of her skirt tightly in her hands. "I come?" she asked shyly. "I come with you?"

Fiyero heaved a great sigh. Great. Now he didn't have a choice but to accept her company, for if his parents found out he had left their esteemed guests' daughter to wander aimlessly in their castle he would never hear the end of it.

"Sure," he said bitterly. "You can come." S'not like I'm busy or anything."

The little girl bounced on her toes, clapped her hands and made a squealing sort of noise. Oh Oz. This is why he didn't like girls. They were far too loud and sounded like pigs.

The Governor's daughter flew to his side, babbling incoherently. She was extraordinarily small for her age. The top of her head didn't even reach the center of his chest when they stood side by side. The girl grabbed his hand with her own (why was she wearing gloves inside? This once again reenforced his opinion on girls) and began to pull him along. Fiyero dug his feet into the ground.

"Wait, what's your name?" He couldn't keep referring to her as the 'Governor's Daughter.'

The girl sighed and pointed to herself. "El-pha-ba," she said awkwardly, as if she wasn't used to calling herself by her name.

"Elf-fae-ba?" Fiyero repeated.

She shook her head. "El-pha-ba."

"Elf-faba-la?" It was so hard to hear her under the veil. "El-fa-la? El-fae-ba?"

She stamped her foot. "No."

Fiyero groaned and threw his hands up. "This is too much work. I'm calling you Fae, okay? That only one syllable." The girl cocked her head like an inquisitive little owl. He took the hand that was still in his and raised it to her chest.

"Fae," he repeated, gesturing to her person with her own fingers. "Fae. F, A, E. Like Day, but with an F. You're Fae. That's you. Got it?"

Slowly, she nodded. "Fae," she said, tasting out the word. "Fae. FaeFaeFaeFaeFae!" she chanted happily. She took their intwined fingers and placed them on Fiyero's chest. "Fae?"

The boy shook his head. "No. You're Fae, I'm Fiyero."

"Fi-yer-o?"

Fiyero's face broke out into a grin. "Yeah! That's it! Fiyero. That's me! Good job — hey, what're you doing?" Elphaba had grabbed his other hand and was uncurling his fist. She cooed over the dice that sat in his palm.

"My father gave these to me," Fiyero told her. Ons of the only things he had from his father. "Wanna play?"

She picked one up and held it to the faint light of the corridor "Play?"

"Yeah. Play. See, there's regular dice, but it isn't that much fun if there's nothing to play for. What I do is roll the dice and whatever number comes up is how many doors I pass, and then I go into the last one."

He took the dice from Fae's hand and threw them both on the floor. It came up as twelve. He scooped them up and slipped them in his pocket. "Come on!" he said as he broke into a run, pulling her with him.

And this is how the two children found themselves in the west wing, chests heaving and pulses skipping from dashing here and there and back again.

"Two!" Fae cried as she let the dice spill from her fingers. "Two!"

She took off, leaving Fiyero to gather the dice. He followed her shadow around a corner and into an adjoining hall — the same hall Avaric had followed him into a few weeks before.

"Stops here," Fae said. She was standing at the end where the same gargoyle grinned sneakily at Fiyero. "Stops here." She crossed her arms sourly and let out short breaths.

"We'll have to go back then," Fiyero said. That same queasy feeling stole over him as he scanned their surroundings. "C'mon Fae, let's go back and start again."

"Door."

"There are no more doors."

"Door," she said firmly. She began to caress the wall with her hands. It seemed as though she was searching for something.

Oh.

"The keyhole, you mean? I already know about it, you don't have to show me. Me and Avaric found it. It's just a useless keyhole."

Fiyero had returned several times to feverishly attempt to explore and study the mysterious find. After all, why would anyone have a random keyhole in the middle of a wall? But the was no door or purpose it belonged to that he could decipher. None of the Royals — other than himself and Avaric — had even visited the west wing in years, much less conduct business here, and the shape of the hole was unlike any other he had ever seen. None of the keys or keyholes in the castle matched this one.

Fae's fingers finally caught on something, and she pulled. "Door," she said smugly. "Door."

Fiyero's jaw dropped as he realized that what she had been tracing was a cleverly disguised door, which she just opened by pulling on a hidden latch. Fiyero rushed forward and felt the wall himself. Nothing. It was as smooth as polished stone, as smooth as before. He could have sworn there was nothing here. So how did Fae find it, and how did she know what to search for?

Fae extended her hand. "Coming?"

Fiyero grabbed a torch from the wall and took her hand. Tentatively, the pair crept over the threshold, making sure to keep it cracked so that they could exit.

The door led to a short, narrow passage that forked into three separate chambers. The first chamber on the left was cramped, dark, and smelled of fish and rotting flesh. Fiyero quickly steered Fae away from that one. The second chamber in the center was more spacious than the first, still dark, but smelled clean, was vacant, and had a small pelt on the floor. The last chamber on the right was identical in size to the first chamber and was dark as well. It was this one where they found a bedframe with a mattress bare of blankets and coverings, a small table, and a window that overlooked the rear of the castle.

This would be such a neat discovery to show Avaric. Fiyero could only imagine the amount of mischief they could get into. But the more he thought on it, the more he began to dislike the thought of sharing this find with another. He didn't know how or why; he just knew that if someone else was aware of this place, it would destroy the magic.

Fiyero beckoned to Fae and pointed to a cluster of stars in the west. "That constellation there is the Serpent. In Arjiki lore the Serpent was chased by the Hunter for seven nights and seven days until it grew sleepy, so it went up a tree and threw itself into the sky, where it stays forever to lead other animals to safety."

Fae hummed low in her throat. She made a hissing sound between her teeth that the two children couldn't help but giggle at. They stargazed for a few more moments before Fae collapsed on the bed.

Fiyero made to join her but jumped up when he felt an object in his back pocket. He had forgotten all about it. He pulled out a slightly squished cookie and held it out to Fae. "Here."

Small hands eagerly grabbed the treat and disappeared with the cookie beneath the folds of her veil.

"I would've had more, but I met you instead," he told her almost gently.

A bell chimed from the east side of the castle. Dinner. Disappointment pooled in his gut. They had only just found this place. He wanted to stay longer, dust and dark and scary shadows included.

"We stay?" Fae asked.

"They'll be looking for us."

"Stay? More snake?" She made another hissing noise and pointed to the stars. "Pwease Fi-yer-o?"

A funny feeling came over him when she said his name, and he dearly wished he knew what she looked like beneath that infuriating veil.

"Only a few minutes. Then we'll go," he relented. He took a seat by her side. "That constellation is the Bow. The first chief of the Arjiki tribe took his bow with him when he died so he could protect his future offspring from the heavens while they slept..."