Content Advisory: Mild Violence, Gambling, Prejudice (towards fictional group— "Animals")

✉ Chapter Twenty-Seven: Mockbeggar Market ✉

"If you care to find me, I am at your beck and call."

Elphaba lurched awake.

After a restless night of distressing, fragmented dreams she gave up on sleep and stood outside on the overhang past the falls, narrowing her eyes pensively towards the horizon as the sun rose in the east. She and Fiyero had passed a few days around the region of the falls, but she was growing fidgety.

"Felt you tossing and turning," Fiyero yawned as he emerged from the cave to find her. "Did you sleep at all?"

"Some," she answered distractedly, drumming her fingers against her cheek in troubled contemplation. "How does the weather look to you?"

"The weather?" Fiyero frowned. "Looks clear to me."

"Yes, but out there," Elphaba gestured vaguely towards the sky. "Don't you feel anything?"

"No?"

"I feel something coming," Elphaba determined. "I just can't tell what. Not yet."

Fiyero approached and planted a good morning kiss on her cheek.

"Scratchy," Elphaba complained over his growing stubble.

"Get over it."

"It's better that you grow it out, though," Elphaba commented, turning and parting the falls to reenter the cave. "Anything to disguise your appearance for when we go out."

"Go out? When are we doing that?" Fiyero asked as he followed her in.

"Today? Now?" Elphaba stated as if it were obvious, already tugging on her boots. "We can't stay in one place forever. Besides, we need supplies."

"Sorry, I never took Fugitive 101."

"Well, you'll get your crash course today," Elphaba said as she threw on her cloak. "We're going to Mockbeggar Market."

"Mockbeggar Market?" Fiyero swallowed. "Isn't that place kind of dodgy? You hear stories about criminals…"

"We are criminals."

"Is it safe?"

"We're safer there than anywhere in civilized society," Elphaba strung on her bag and grabbed her broom with a gloating grin. "Why, Tigelaar? You scared?"

"No," Fiyero scoffed.

Elphaba clicked her tongue and grasped Fiyero's chin between her thumb and forefinger.

"Never you worry, my love. You're traveling with the biggest bad around." She granted him a sympathetic kiss. "Put your shoes on."

Mockbeggar Market was south of The Emerald City on the eastern border of The Vinkus. Its offbeat location and loose regulations attracted dubious characters from all over Oz. It was the premiere destination for contraband items and shady dealings. Respectable people wouldn't be caught dead there unless they were looking for trouble. Elphaba and Fiyero touched down on the outskirts and Elphaba pulled the hood of her cloak over her head.

"Don't talk to anybody and try not to look anyone in the eye," Elphaba instructed. She extended her hand towards Fiyero. "Follow me, Yero?"

He slid his hand into hers.

"Anywhere."

Her hand linked with Fiyero's, Elphaba brazenly led them into the open market. Fiyero did as Elphaba said and kept his gaze low as they swerved through crowded alleys and dodged crooked merchants. Elphaba pulled Fiyero to a newsstand and promptly placed a copper piece down.

"Newspaper."

"It's two coppers now," the vendor grunted.

"Is that right?"

The vendor looked up and Elphaba lifted her head enough so that he may see a flash of green beneath her hood. He accepted the coin and nodded to his stand.

"Which province?"

"Munchkinland."

He handed the paper to Elphaba who took it and walked off without a word. She handed the paper to Fiyero.

"I can't read the small print. Tell me if there's a news story about it."

"About what?"

"I don't know, but you'll know it when you read it."

Fiyero scanned the front page with nothing to note. When he went to check the second Elphaba grabbed it from his hands.

"No. It'd be on the front page." Elphaba tossed the newspaper in a nearby bin. "It must not have happened yet."

There was a yell in the distance and Fiyero glanced back instinctively as someone stumbled behind him. He continued on, unphased, but Elphaba turned suddenly and tripped the man with her broom before jabbing the handle stiffly at his sternum.

"Cough it up!"

"What's happening?"

"This lowlife just pickpocketed you." Elphaba twisted the handle deeper into the thief's chest to leave a shallow bruise. "Hand it over or it'll be all the worse for you."

The thief yelped in terror and tossed Fiyero's coin purse back up to him. They'd drawn the attention of a crowd and Elphaba tore off her hood eliciting scattered gasps.

"That's right, dearies," she taunted the onlookers. "He's with me. Any misfortune done upon him will promise triple misfortune on you."

She pulled her hood back on, linked her pinky finger with Fiyero's, and moved ahead as the apprehensive crowd parted the way for them.

"You play it up," Fiyero mentioned under his breath. "The witchy voice."

"It serves me."

Fiyero obediently followed Elphaba's lead as he observed her in her element. Though it was strange for him to see her in this light, he felt a certain smugness to be on her arm. Her mere presence commanded respect and fear from those around her and she used it to her advantage. Nobody messed with her.

It was pretty hot.

After purchasing some meager groceries Fiyero noticed that Elphaba was glancing towards the sky every few clock-ticks.

"Something up?"

"Just keeping an eye out," she muttered vaguely before giving herself a little shake. "I have a pounding headache."

"Should we take a rest?" Fiyero offered, but Elphaba wasn't listening.

Her attention was drawn to an unattended table tucked away in a crevice between two buildings. Various pendants and baubles were set for display, but that wasn't what caught her eye. A crystal ball with an ornate stand sat dead center. Elphaba approached the table and regarded the crystal ball curiously, not fully aware that her green fingers were stretching towards it.

"Ah ah ah! You mustn't touch, poppet."

Elphaba's head snapped up to see an ancient, shriveled woman with white hair now sitting behind the table. Fiyero jumped back in alarm.

"Where the hell did she come from?!"

"Yackle sees you like it, yes. Yes," the woman nodded.

Elphaba narrowed her eyes. "How much?"

"More than in the prince's pocket."

Elphaba turned her back with a scoff. "Let's go."

"You want what this can tell you. Yackle knows you feel it. Yackle can tell you're looking for answers." Elphaba turned slowly and Yackle grinned a toothless grin. "They're not in the paper, nor in the sky! They're here."

Yackle clacked her long fingernails on the crystal ball. Elphaba felt a chill up her spine, her eyes betraying uncertainty for the first time all day. She turned and tugged Fiyero away from the table.

"What was that all about?" Fiyero stressed as Elphaba pulled him into an alley and checked their surroundings.

"How much money do you have?"

"Not much. Why?"

"I need that crystal ball," Elphaba said urgently.

"What? Why?"

"I just do! We don't have enough," she wrung her hands together. "I would set up my grift but I don't have my supplies."

"Your grift?" Fiyero coughed. "You have a grift?"

"I had to make money somehow, Yero. It's not like I could get a job."

"What did you do?"

"It's silly."

"Come on!"

"I…sell prophecies to people," Elphaba admitted guiltily.

"Fake?"

"Of course fake!" Elphaba said. "I obviously don't have a crystal ball. I used an Emerald City glitter globe I swiped."

"Elphaba Thropp," Fiyero clicked his tongue in mock disappointment. "Conning innocent people? Stealing glitter globes? I'm surprised at you."

"Yero—"

"I mean I'd heard how dastardly the Wicked Witch was but this just crosses the line."

"I need the crystal ball, Fiyero. I feel it. I can't explain why but I feel it."

"Okay," Fiyero rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "We'll find a way to afford it."

Elphaba thought for a moment before Fiyero saw an idea light up her eyes.

"You gambled in college, didn't you?"

"Uh…no?" he tried. Elphaba gave him a look. "Okay a little." Elphaba stared. "Okay a lot."

"That's our answer."

"I'm surprised I have to tell you this, Elphaba, but gambling is risky. We could lose what little we have."

"Oh, but darling…" Elphaba offered a low laugh. "We won't be playing fair."

The gambling hall was located in a seedy basement where people and Animals alike gathered to empty their pockets at all hours of the day. The hall was dimly lit and thick with cigar smoke as they weaved through the various games of chance. Fiyero eyed the poker game longingly but Elphaba redirected his attention.

"We're not playing that."

"I'm really good at poker, though."

"Too risky," Elphaba sighed. "I would just count cards in Blackjack like I usually do but we're short on time."

"You count cards?!"

She shushed him and discretely nodded her head to the roulette wheel in the back of the hall. "That's our game."

"Roulette?" Fiyero groaned. "There's no strategy to roulette."

"There is when you're playing with me," Elphaba muttered. "Plus the dealer is a blockhead. He never catches wise."

"How often do you come here?"

Elphaba shrugged him off before entrusting him with all of the money she had on her.

"Make any bet," she instructed, closing his fingers around her coin purse. "I'll make it count."

Elphaba hung back and settled at a nearby table with her back to the roulette table. Fiyero briefly wondered how she was going to make this happen if she wasn't even looking, but trusted that she must have something up her sleeve. So to speak.

Fiyero greeted the dealer and, by Elphaba's orders, exchanged everything they had for chips. He wordlessly placed his first bets, spreading a decent mix across the board. The dealer spun the wheel and Fiyero's throat went dry when the ball landed on the green zero, earning them nothing.

What the hell, Elphaba?!

The dealer laughed condescendingly as he collected Fiyero's chips. Fiyero was losing some of his nerve as he placed his next selections, opting to place more on less risky outside bets. Gambling wasn't nearly as fun when you couldn't afford to lose. He got a modest payout when the ball landed on an odd number. He felt reasonably emboldened as the dealer slid him his earnings, but the following rounds played out about how one would expect in a game of luck. He broke even on the next round, won a little bit, then lost what he won. Elphaba would surely stop him if her plan wasn't working, right?

"Fate yanking you around, boy?" the dealer snorted.

"Something like that," Fiyero drummed his fingers on the board as he observed his dwindling chips.

He gritted his teeth and determined to make a bold bet, placing almost all the chips he had on a single number. The dealer couldn't contain his glee as he spun the wheel, prepping for Fiyero's inevitable loss.

Come on Elphaba, Fiyero thought as the wheel spun.

The roulette wheel slowed and Fiyero watched in suspense as the dealer's face turned the same shade of red as the little sixteen it stopped on. Fiyero jumped out of his seat and whooped victoriously as the dealer begrudgingly slid him his payout. The adrenaline from winning egged Fiyero's gambling instinct to continue, but he knew it was time to walk away.

He cashed in his earnings and met up with Elphaba who he found casually loitering outside.

"Come along," she said simply, calmly concealing the money in her bag under her cloak and leading him down the street.

"And here I always thought that I was the one corrupting you," Fiyero grinned before lowering his voice. "You stopped the wheel."

"Or perhaps you're just very, very lucky," Elphaba corrected, forcing back a smile.

"Well, I already knew that," Fiyero laced his fingers with hers.

When they arrived back at the table the old woman was absent again. Elphaba knocked on the table a few times and called for her.

"Hello?" she called impatiently. "Excuse me? Ding-dong!"

"Ding-dong indeed, dolly! Ding-dong indeed!" Yackle emerged from the shadows with a delighted, hissing whisper. "Wake up, you sleepy head. You've almost got it."

"Here," Elphaba dropped a fair share of their gambling payout on the table. "I'll be taking that now."

Yackle picked up the crystal ball and placed it into Elphaba's hands.

"The Witch thanks you," Elphaba said tightly.

"Ah!" Yackle exclaimed with a screeching laugh. "But which old witch?"

"I do not like that woman," Fiyero shook his head.

Elphaba and Fiyero soon found themselves squeezing into a dingy tavern down the street. Plastered to the walls were dozens of wanted posters and Fiyero was startled to realize that many of the depicted outlaws sitting in the very room.

"There I am," Elphaba pointed proudly to her prominent poster. "The artist really captured me, don't you think?"

"Your teeth look pointy," Fiyero commented before squinting at Elphaba. "Are they really that sharp? Let me see."

Elphaba playfully bared her teeth. "Careful Tigelaar. I bite."

"Believe me, I know," Fiyero returned smugly.

"Yero, look! Look!" Elphaba gasped and poked Fiyero. "You made the wall."

"Huh?"

"You made the wall!"

The poster looked freshly pinned and displayed a blown-up picture from Fiyero's engagement announcement with Glinda cropped out.

PRINCE FIYERO TIGELAAR

WANTED FOR: TREASON, CONSPIRACY, AND ACCESSORY TO WITCHCRAFT

"You should be very proud," Elphaba pestered. "There's a reward and everything."

"Yeah…" Fiyero sighed disappointedly. "Not as much as yours though."

"Don't be jealous, my sweet. We can't all be public enemy number one."

They situated themselves in a dusty corner and Elphaba set her crystal ball upon the table.

"I haven't used one of these since college," she frowned, drumming her hands upon the cool glass. A twist of red smoke appeared but dissipated when she removed her hands. "I'm a little rusty."

"What is it supposed to tell you?" Fiyero asked, squinting into the orb. He couldn't see anything.

"I'm not sure. I need to study it…"

"Well Miss Elphaba-a-a, your studies were always your strong suit," bleated a rough voice.

Elphaba looked up with a stunned expression and gasped to see a familiar Goat standing before their booth.

"Professor?" she gasped. "Doctor Dillamond! Oh, Doctor Dillamond, thank goodness."

She scrambled out of the booth and collected the Goat into a strong, relieved hug.

"Oh, Professor, thank Oz you're okay. Thank Oz you're alive!" Elphaba fawned. "What are you doing here?"

"Traveling!" he said with a raspy chuckle. "Though not by choice. My companions and I have been displa-a-aced."

He cleared his throat and shook his head apologetically. "Apologies, Miss Elphaba. My chords have seen better days."

Elphaba observed her former professor. He looked weary and malnourished. He was dressed in shabby clothes and one lens of his spectacles had a crack in it. But he was still standing. Still speaking.

"Join us, Professor," Elphaba offered her side of the booth at once. Fiyero stood and Elphaba smacked her forehead, having forgotten him for a moment "Yes—Doctor Dillamond. I trust you remember Fiyero Tigelaar?"

"Yes, I recall seeing you in my class…occasionally," Dillamond teased good-naturedly.

"He's my—"

"Lover," Fiyero filled in grinningly and Elphaba whacked his shoulder.

"Uncouth…but accurate," Elphaba allowed. "We're together. Fiyero is new to life on the run, just got his first wanted poster."

"Mine is hidden away somewhere," Dillamond waved a hoof in the direction of the wall.

"You're wanted?" Fiyero frowned. "For what?"

"Speaking," Dillamond returned with a sad smile. Fiyero's face fell.

"Ah—my comrades," Dillamond nodded towards the entrance. He waved them over. Fiyero and Elphaba sat on the same side of the booth as an Owl and a familiar Badger approached. "May I introduce Vicar Mathias Popkin of Munchkin Rock—and Miss Elphaba, you may remember Miss Amalia from your days at Shiz."

"Yes! Of course. How good to see you," Elphaba said.

Amalia nodded shyly. She opened her mouth but spoke so softly Elphaba had to lean in to make out her words.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that…"

"You as well, Miss Elphaba," she repeated in a stronger but still strained whisper.

"Amalia is still building her voice back up," Doctor Dillamond explained gently. "The three of us have been detained until only recently."

"Oh, sir…I feared as much. I feared worse," Elphaba exclaimed. "If there is anything I can do—"

"More than you have already done?" Dillamond chuckled. "Why, Miss Elphaba-a-a, your reputation is well known in our circles."

"He claims you every day, tells everyone we meet that you're his student," the Vicar hooted heartily.

"Although it seems that the student has become the teacher!" Dillamond praised. "Your recitation method has done wonders for all of us, Miss Elphaba."

"I suppose my pamphlets have been circulating," Elphaba shrugged humbly.

"You've published pamphlets? What haven't you done?" Fiyero gaped.

"I may be forbidden to preach but they cannot stop me from reading scripture," said the Vicar. "My voice gets stronger every day, all the better to spread the Unnamed God's word."

Elphaba may have rolled her eyes at the Unionist jargon, but the Owl was so earnest that she didn't have the heart. Amalia began saying something and Elphaba leaned in to listen patiently. She didn't catch anything but the last word.

"…sister."

"Pardon?" Elphaba asked slowly.

Dillamond who sat beside Amalia leaned in and she whispered it to him.

"She is asking how your sister is, Miss Elphaba," Dillamond relayed. "Yes, that's right. Amalia was her caretaker."

"I didn't know that," Fiyero said.

The others continued talking but Elphaba frowned as her head gradually began to pound. She jumped slightly as a deep, resonant moan began to reverberate in her ears.

"Does anyone hear that?" she asked feebly.

Fiyero and the others took notice of Elphaba's odd behavior and their conversation trailed off.

"Hear what?"

Elphaba suddenly cried out and covered her ears as the moan grew louder. It sounded like someone was in pain, great pain.

"Fae, what is it?" Fiyero asked in concern.

"Can't you hear her?!" Elphaba shrieked in distress, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Hear who?!"

ELPHABA! an agonized voice shrieked in Elphaba's head, as clear as if it'd been screamed directly into her ear. ELPHABA PLEASE!

Elphaba's eyes flew open and she let out a shuddering gasp as her eyes focused in on the crystal ball on the table before her. She forcefully gripped the orb and gasped as the vision became clear. A twister, a growing shadow, and two crushed legs sticking out from beneath a house wearing a pair of fine, jeweled shoes.

"NESSA!" Elphaba screamed aloud, scrambling out of the booth and to her feet.

Fiyero jumped out of the booth as well and urgently gripped Elphaba's shoulders. "Elphaba, what is going on?"

"It's her, Fiyero! She's what I've been feeling all day," Elphaba moaned in panic. "I have to go to her. I have to go to Nessa!"

"Why?" Fiyero asked.

Elphaba met his eye in an intense gaze.

"Because she called for me."

✉ Unravel the Riddle: Drop a comment if you think you know why "16" was chosen for the winning roulette spin.