A/N - Hello all. Happy Thursday. I hope everyone is doing well.
To be completely honest, I don't know a lot of the "official" history of Kiamo Ko. I hope you don't mind that I've written a history of my own in this chapter.
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It was amazing how a change in viewpoint affected one's appetite. Days before, while grieving the loss of their families, Elphaba really didn't feel like eating as her sorrow overtook her need for food. Now, determined to live and to defeat their foe, she ate like she hadn't eaten in days…which was technically true. She was starving and her body craved food. King Zebediah and Queen Evella had told the two women they could have anything they wanted for breakfast. Upon request, the kitchen staff had prepared a wonderful breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast and coffee. Not surprisingly, Galinda seemed to be in the same frame of mind. They both apologized multiple times to the King and Queen for their behavior as they all sat and ate their fill, but Zebediah just chuckled.
"It's not a problem. Based on what we've heard, you probably haven't eaten for a while."
"Thaf's soh tfuu," Galinda tried to reply with her mouth full of pancake, receiving a nudge from Elphaba.
"Don't speak with your mouth full," she admonished.
"But, it's soooo good," the blonde whined.
A servant approached the green woman. "Would you like more coffee, Miss Thropp?"
"Yes, please," she replied both politely and excitedly. Galinda then glared at her.
"That's your fourth cup of coffee, Elphie!"
"So? It's good coffee and I need it!"
"You are going to be so hyped up on caffene."
The two witches were interrupted in their "argument" by the Queen bursting out laughing. "This is just like Fiyero when he was a boy."
Elphaba quickly apologized. "I'm so sorry, your Majesty. We're normally not like this…"
"Yes we are," Galinda interrupted indignantly.
"You're not helping, Glin," the green woman hissed.
But the Queen held up her hand. "First of all, please call me Evella. And second, I'm just glad you two are well and enjoying yourselves."
"And third," Zebediah added, "It's nice to hear some light-hearted conversation. It helps lighten the mood right now with everything that is going on."
Elphaba's expression turned serious at the King's comment understanding what he was saying without saying it. "How much do you know?"
"Just what we've read in the papers; which, to be honest, isn't much," Zebediah replied. "We read about the Governor and the Highmuster; we are so sorry for your losses."
"Thank you," Galinda silently replied and Elphaba nodded in acknowledgment.
Zebediah continued. "However, I assume that you have more information about what's happening."
"We get the feeling it's much more serious than the papers are letting on," Evella added.
"When Fiyero wrote and used the phrase 'fair weather' in his note, we quickly left Adurin Iir and made our way here."
Galinda leaned over to Elphaba, "What's 'Adurin Iir'?" she whispered.
"Official residence of the Vinkun Royal family," Elphaba whispered back.
Turning her attention back to the King and Queen, Elphaba asked, "Why here, if I may ask?"
Evella replied, "Kiamo Ko was once used as a military headquarters during the Vinkun/Ugabian war. Once the war ended, it was turned into an unofficial royal residence."
Zebediah then spoke. "The fortification around the castle as well as it's location makes it a much more defensible position. I'm sure you've noticed the increased military presence around the castle. Kiamo Ko has been designated a 'safe house' for the royal family for generations. We gave it the nickname 'Fair Weather' because the weather here is usually drier than at Adurin Iir."
Taking his wife's hand and giving her a reassuring smile, he turned back to the two young women. "To be honest, this is the first time we've ever had to come here for shelter."
Elphaba took some time to take in the information that the King and Queen had shared with them. They were right, though: there was a lot more to the story.
"Well," the green woman began. "I want to thank you so much for a wonderful breakfast, but is there somewhere else we can go to chat?"
Nodding, Zebediah escorted the women to the drawing room…
…not before Elphaba snagged one more cup of coffee from the servants.
They made their way to a "sitting room" to chat. Elphaba marveled at the wood walls with their intricate carvings. Two large windows let the morning light into the room and a large marble fireplace sat in between them. They made their way to two ornate couches with a beautiful coffee table between them.
Both witches sat on one couch as the King and Queen sat across from them. Elphaba began telling them their story, starting with the events at Shiz University. She only described the T-800 as the "magic man" as she had no idea if the Royal couple would believe them if she told them the truth. They explained their escape and receiving help from two helpful women. Galinda sadly explained their discovery at the Upland household, the events at the police station and their escape.
"Wait…you flew?" the Queen asked in amazement.
Galinda answered the Queen's question. "Yeah, that was our reaction too."
"So, you can use magic?"
"We were studying sorcery at Shiz," Elphaba offered. She then asked, "Does the Vinkus have any spell books?"
However, the King shook his head. "The Vinkus is not known for its magic; but, I will ask around to see if any of the libraries or archives has any."
Elphaba nodded in response. "Thank you."
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He had made his way to an abandoned house in the countryside outside of Uptown, Gillikin. It game him time to let things die down after the incident at the Police Station. It also allowed him the ability to asses his options.
The women were gone and he needed to figure out where they went. They could be anywhere in Oz. Walking the entire land of Oz was definitely out of the question.
But he had a plan.
Taking a pencil and paper he stole from a store, he began sketching the faces of the two women from his memory. He started with the green woman first - drawing her facial features and long black hair and shading her skin slightly. Once he was complete, he then moved on to the blonde, drawing her features and lightly drawing her curls.
It took some time, but he had his sketches of the two women complete. Now to draw the men.
He started with the smaller man, drawing his face and his short blonde hair. Then came the taller man, as he drew his square face and tinting his hair to represent his brown hair.
Once he finished them, the then proceeded to draw the two women who attacked them. They were definitely T-600s but if he found them, he would find his targets.
With the sketches complete, he now had pictures of his targets and known associates. If he asked around, someone should be able to give him a clue as to at least one of them.
That would help narrow his search.
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It was the middle of the afternoon when a servant entered the library.
"Excuse me, Miss Thropp; Miss Upland: his Royal Highness the Prince and his companions have arrived."
The two women looked at each other with amazement: they made it! Before the servant could say anything else, both women ran bolted for the front door.
They stopped as they saw Fiyero hugging his mother and father, followed by a conversation she couldn't hear. The look on his face, however, suggested it was a serious conversation, with Boq also talking to the King and Queen. They also saw Cameron help Rosie out of the carriage; by the way the redhead was walking, she looked like she was hurt.
…or damaged as Cameron would say.
Fiyero then walked up to Cameron and gave her some instructions. Nodding, Cameron then took Rosie towards the way he pointed.
Watching all of this, Elphaba's heart fluttered at the site of the Prince.
Fiyero was here.
He was safe.
And then, he looked up and saw her. Relief flooded his face as she ran towards him, practically throwing her arms around him tightly as he wrapped her in his arms.
"Thank Oz you made it," she breathed.
"And you as well," he simply replied as he pulled her closer. "Sorry if we scared you. It took a little longer than we hoped but we got away ok."
"Were you followed?"
"No. We're safe for now."
His answer felt more true to Elphaba at that moment than he realized. She almost wanted to cry with joy with him there. Just as before, whenever they were together, she felt safe; and, right now, in his arms, she felt happier. She didn't want to let go but the present situation warranted they go inside and talk.
They pulled away and noticed Galinda holding Boq just as tightly. "I was so worried. Are you ok?" Galinda asked the Munchkin.
"Fine," he squeaked as he held her there, realizing that Galinda Upland was actually hugging him.
Fiyero couldn't help but chuckle to himself; Elphaba just rolled her eyes.
Fiyero motioned towards the castle; then, he held out his hand to the green woman. Elphaba was slightly taken aback by Fiyero's gesture and she swore she could feel her heart flutter again. It felt wrong - now wasn't the time for romance. But, he was here and safe. Against her better judgement, she took it and he led them inside. Boq and Galinda followed behind them.
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The four friends sat inside one of the sitting rooms. Fiyero began the discussion.
"Boq, Cameron, Rosie and I were talking on the way here. We realized that, in every encounter with the T-800, we've just been trying to keep alive. We've not thought about defeating this thing."
Elphaba nodded in response. "We were thinking that too. It's time we stopped running and started fighting."
All four of them nodded in agreement. "Agreed," Fiyero answered. "We were trying to bounce ideas around during our trip, even with the two 'metal-heads'. Let's face it; guns currently don't work on this T-800 so we realized we needed another idea. I thought explosives but that's too volatile. However, Boq actually had a great idea and we ran with that. Do you want to describe your idea, buddy?"
They turned towards the Munchkin who began: "I remember reading a story where a group of men were trying to trap a tiger who was killing their livestock. They dug a deep pit and covered it with logs, leaves and other items to disguise the pit. They lured the tiger into the pit and were able to capture it."
The two men could see the idea churning in the women's heads. Galinda then spoke, "So, you're thinking of capturing this in a pit? Create our own 'tiger trap'?"
"Not just one pit," Fiyero added. "We're thinking of having two pits: one containing a large number of fuel canisters. If we trap it in the first trap, we light it and hopefully burn this thing. If that works, then we're all good. If that doesn't work, the second pit will contain explosives; we then blow this thing apart."
"Questions," Elphaba began as she thought about the plan. "Where would we do this? We can't exactly do this in a populated area."
Fiyero agreed. "We have a cottage in the Greater Kells that's secluded enough from the general population. We can bring a battalion with us to help prepare the traps and bring the best firepower we can muster. We also have explosive experts; they can shape the charges to focus on the T-800 in the trap and blow it to smithereens."
"If we're too close, the shockwave of the blast will turn our insides into jelly."
"I thought of that, too," he replied. Then, a lopsided smile formed on the Prince's face. "Since you two have learned to fly, we were hoping we could get a lift."
They couldn't help but chuckle at the Prince's joke.
"That's actually a good idea," Galinda mused.
However, Elphaba turned to Fiyero. "Speaking about magic: Galinda and I have been talking too. We want to work on our magic to fight this thing. That means finding spell books so we can learn new spells and use our magic in battle. And there's only one place we know of that has a large collection of spell books; as well as our notes…"
Fiyero realized what she was going to say before she finished. "Fae…" he began but she cut him off harshly.
"We have no choice, Yero! We have to be prepared. I agree with your plan: I want to blow this thing up that it turns to powder."
"Yeah," Galinda added, "And then take that powder, turn it back into steel and blow it up again!"
"YES!" the green woman replied a little too enthusiastically. "Total destruction! I've had enough of running from this thing! It's taken too much away from us! I want revenge for Nessa, for our families, for all of those cops in Gillikin…for just about every Oz-dammed person in Oz! I want…"
Her rant was interrupted by Fiyero gently placing a finger on her lips.
"Do you ever let anyone else talk?"
She was getting worked up and he knew it. Maybe Galinda was right and she had too much coffee.
Fiyero continued. "First, I was going to say that if you take the afternoon train tomorrow, you'll get to Shiz at dusk. You'll be able to sneak into the University at night. We can provide funds for train fare, food and lodging if you need it. Second…"
He stopped. He felt something strange: like the hairs on his arms started standing on end. He could then feel an electricity building around him. It was a feeling he felt once before...at Shiz...before releasing the Lion Cub…
Fae's magic!
"And second, come with me now!" he commanded, taking her hand and pulling her out of the room.
He was practically running and it took the green girl everything she had to keep up. She tried pulling her arm away in protest but his grip was firm. "What the hell, Yero! What are you doing?"
"Trust me!" He cried as he led her out of the back of the castle. Elphaba quickly followed him outside into the rear courtyard, past the questioning guards stationed there and into a clearing behind the castle.
"Talk," he simply commanded as he walked a few feet away from her.
She crossed her arms. "About what?"
"How are you feeling?"
"Pissed."
"About?"
"Him. IT! EVERYTHING!" She released her arms and held her hands in fists.
"Why?"
"Why do you think? I told you I'm tired of running and hiding. I'm tired of all of the killing!"
Her fists started shaking. She felt the anger in her start to boil and her hands started to feel electric. It was then she realized why Fiyero had brought her outside - her magic was building out of control.
"What do you want to do?" He asked her.
"Destroy it! Turn it into dust!"
She could feel all of her repressed emotions coming to the surface: the anger at all of the death and devastation caused by the T-800; the sadness and horror of watching Nessa die! It was time to let it all out!
"What do you want to do?" He asked her again and she didn't hold back in her response:
"I WANT TO FIGHT!"
Suddenly, Elphaba's magic burst from her like a shockwave and Fiyero dropped to the ground before being consumed by it. Guards came running from their posts; arms ready to defend after such a devastating blast. However, the Prince waved them away as he got up, assuring them everything was ok. Elphaba swayed where she stood as tiredness took over from such a strong release of magic. Before she fell, Fiyero was by her side cradling her in his arms.
"Whoa. It's ok, Fae. I've got you," he softly told her as she sat down on the ground. Once she got her bearings, Elphaba saw the devastation before her: smaller trees had shattered and were scattered over the ground. Larger trees had the bark torn off of them. Any bushes or other plants nearby were either torn from the ground or were definitely damaged.
"Do you feel better?" Fiyero asked the green woman as she laid up against him as his arms held her.
"Definitely," she softly replied. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he replied. They sat outside the castle; Elphaba reveling in the warmth of Fiyero's body. Her mind flicked to the conversation she had earlier with Galinda while they walked.
There were a thousand reasons why a relationship with Fiyero wouldn't work. However, at this moment, she decided to let her heart override her mind.
"Fiyero?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't let go," she softly replied as she snuggled closer to him.
"OK."
He kissed the top of her head and she let out a contented sigh.