"Are you ready for me to start?
"I'm still in the room, aren't I?
"Yes, but you need to be in the room with your mouth shut, so that I don't get distracted. No, do not retort to that remark!"
Fiyero the scarecrow stood perfectly silent and still with a large scowl on his face. He loved her, but she always had to make some shrewd remark, no matter what they were talking about or doing. Then again he couldn't really blame her. After all, having been teased and tormented all her life about her skin color, she had to have wit in order to fight back.
Elphaba pointed at Fiyero and began to chant in a strange tounge which she had found to be an ancient, dead language of Oz. "Naru eliba sho...Chistery!" A flying Monkey came swooping in and dropped the latest copy of "Oz Today" at Elphaba's feet before zooming out. Elphaba sighed; Over the past year she had been trying to help Chistery not only to relearn speech but manners as well. He had a habit of frequently disturbing her during the most inconvienient times. Unfortunately, Elphaba's labours hadn't borne much fruit. She began again, "Naru eliba sho konnen araba."
Elphaba and Fiyero both waited anxiously to find out what the results of this latest spell would be. Fiyero suddenly felt an itch on his face. After a few agonizing moments of ignoring it, he began to scratch profusely at his face. All at once the cloth that served as his face began to shred and tear, revealing human skin underneath. Fiyero, though failed to notice this change. All he was concerned about was ridding himself of the itch which had suddenly spread throughout his entire body. Elphaba, being a bit more perceptive, understood what was happening. She rushed over and yanked off one of Fiyero's gloves along with the straw stuffed in it.
"Hey!" Fiyero cried out expecting to see a great deal of straw poking out of his sleeve from where his hand had been. To his shock, he found a human hand stick portruding from his sleeve.
"It worked!" shrieked Elphaba wildly throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his face profusely, a rare act of affection that didn't involve her barbed wit or sarcasm. After a few minutes she let go and helped him remove the remaining straw from his clothes.
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"So how are you ladies today?" asked Glinda as she daintly poured tea into each of the three cups.
"Oh absolutely dreadful! I was sitting in a coach minding my own business when this woman with a simply dreadful looking hat on entered and sat across from me. Of course I couldn't help but comment to Shenshen..."
"How is Ozma?" interupted Shenshen preventing Pfannee from launching into one of her endless stories about the decline of fashion sense within the general population of Oz.
"She's faring quite well. Although she can be a bit timid, she's doing an excellent job of reforming and keeping Oz in order for having been in power for so short a time. "
"I'll say. How long did it take you to find her?" interrogated Pfannee.
"Has she shown any signs of eccentricity?" asked Shenshen. "You know all the Ozmas did have strange habits," she added.
"How did you recognize her anyways?" asked Pfannee as she and Shenshen continued to bombard Glinda with questions about the recent and somewhat mysterious Ozma.
"Well it took about three months to locate her and two more before I actually met her. She had been hiding ever since the Wizard took power. She has small underground society of supporters and protectors. These people had me filling out endless amounts of paperwork and answer hundreds of thousands of questions. I was mostly convinced of her authenticity by all that work. I mean really, if you have to talk with three different people a week and meet in a cellar with four armed guards standing by, you'd certainly be convinced that the person you were meeting with had some sort of great merit. Oh yes, and her eyes were ruby-red, a trait posessed only by the Ozmas."
"Those eyes," thought Glinda. It wasn't the color that mattered; it was the statement relayed by them. Glinda knew and understood that look. It was a look of a person desperately wanting to be taken for what they truly are. She was familiar with the feeling, having been mocked by Madame Morrible when she was allowed to join the wretched woman's sorcery class. She'd also seen the same expression in Elphaba's eyes the day she denounced the Wizard and flew off into the West.
Pfannee noticed that Glinda's attention was slipping to somewhere else. Attempting to reel Glinda back into the conversation she said, "Have you heard that the Wicked Witch of the West is possibly still alive and hiding somewhere? Not that it really matters to any of us, am I right Shenshen?"
Shenshen who had been momentarily sulking because Pfannee had stolen her topic of conversation was glad to be back in the spotlight and answered, "Of course we really don't know if that's true. You shouldn't be such a gossip Pfannee, but to answer your question I agree with you. She was always so weird."
"Yes,and she always had some sarcastic remark to make about everything. Honestly, Glinda I simply don't understand how you could've ever become chummy with her. Then again, you always were Glinda the Good," said Pfannee.
"Have you heard where she might be hiding?" inquired Glinda trying not to sound too interested.
"Oh for goodness sakes, I don't keep tabs on the whereabouts of witches!" laughed Pfannee.
"I bet some of the Animals would know,"added Shenshen.
"Well of course they would. They were her biggest supporters you know. Glinda, I don't know why on earth you let them back into civilized society!" said Pfannee. Glinda flinched at the remark. Although, she too at one point and time had been an ignorant societal snob, she had grown out that persona once she had befriended Elphaba. Pfannee on the other hand hadn't undergone any sort of growth with the exception of her fashion and snottiness. Glinda couldn't tell much about Shenshen.
"Oh! Look how time has flown!" remarked Glinda glancing up the grandfather clock in the tea room. "We've been here chattering away for almost an hour now!"
"Really? Luckily Shenshen and I don't have any pressing matters at hand, so I suppose we could stay for another few minutes or so." replied Pfannee. Glinda was ready to tear her hair out.
"Oh how kind of you both to stay and keep me company," she said lying through her teeth. "You know it does get terribly lonely in this house. Oh! I must call my dressmaker and schedule an appointment to be fitted for the gown I'm to wear at the coronation of the Ozma regent. Have either of you gotten your dresses made yet? You do remember that the ceremony is only about a month away."
"No we haven't," replied Pfannee thoughtfully.
"What are you wearing Glinda?" asked Shenshen.
"Something pink of course, with let's see...lots of ruffles and poof to it," answered Glinda.
"I beg your pardon Glinda, as I know I just said that Shenshen and I could afford to stay a while longer, but I just remembered some errands we have to run. We really must dash," said Pfannee who was intent on imitating Glinda's look before it became public.
"Oh that's so disappointing. I was hoping we could reminisce about our days at dear old Shiz," replied Glinda sending a silent a prayer of thanks to Lurline at the same time. Rather than ring for the butler to fetch the two women's personal items, Glinda ran and got them herself.
As Glinda was showing her and Shenshen out the door, Pfannee turned around to her hostess and said, "Glinda dear it was so delightful to see you again." Glinda simply held her false smile. Just as the two had stepped out the door and were about to depart down to the road, Glinda called after Pfannee.
"Oh Pfannee," she called. Pfannee whirled around smiling as if she were expecting another invitation to tea.
"Just so you know, the Animals are civilized society, I simply don't understand why they let you be a part of it. Also the shade of blue that your gloves are clashes with the color of your dress." Glinda said sweetly as she slammed the door shut in Pfannee's face which held an expression of horror and mortification.
"Now out of all the Animals I know, who would most likely know where Elphie would be hiding?" pondered Glinda as she skipped merrily away from the door, relieved that the tea party was over and that she had given Pfannee quite a bit to think about.
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AN: Wow that chapter really sucked and took me a lot longer to write than it should have. I have so many ideas whirling about in my head, and I'm trying to get them all organized into the right chapters. I think that's the worst chapter to write because it's in a sort of inbetween state. Just trying to get info out without bluntly stating it. Sorry if the spell sounded stupid or the words didn't flow right or whatever; I'm hardly the poet. That tea party scene was hell to write. I will NEVER again have a scene in which Pfannee is heavily involved. I absolutely LOATHE her now, doesn't matter if she's not mentioned much in the book. Anyhoo, the story's movin' along though and soon Ch. 3 will be up. That will be my fave chapter I think with all the funny stuff in it. Please review, I love to comments.
"I'm still in the room, aren't I?
"Yes, but you need to be in the room with your mouth shut, so that I don't get distracted. No, do not retort to that remark!"
Fiyero the scarecrow stood perfectly silent and still with a large scowl on his face. He loved her, but she always had to make some shrewd remark, no matter what they were talking about or doing. Then again he couldn't really blame her. After all, having been teased and tormented all her life about her skin color, she had to have wit in order to fight back.
Elphaba pointed at Fiyero and began to chant in a strange tounge which she had found to be an ancient, dead language of Oz. "Naru eliba sho...Chistery!" A flying Monkey came swooping in and dropped the latest copy of "Oz Today" at Elphaba's feet before zooming out. Elphaba sighed; Over the past year she had been trying to help Chistery not only to relearn speech but manners as well. He had a habit of frequently disturbing her during the most inconvienient times. Unfortunately, Elphaba's labours hadn't borne much fruit. She began again, "Naru eliba sho konnen araba."
Elphaba and Fiyero both waited anxiously to find out what the results of this latest spell would be. Fiyero suddenly felt an itch on his face. After a few agonizing moments of ignoring it, he began to scratch profusely at his face. All at once the cloth that served as his face began to shred and tear, revealing human skin underneath. Fiyero, though failed to notice this change. All he was concerned about was ridding himself of the itch which had suddenly spread throughout his entire body. Elphaba, being a bit more perceptive, understood what was happening. She rushed over and yanked off one of Fiyero's gloves along with the straw stuffed in it.
"Hey!" Fiyero cried out expecting to see a great deal of straw poking out of his sleeve from where his hand had been. To his shock, he found a human hand stick portruding from his sleeve.
"It worked!" shrieked Elphaba wildly throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his face profusely, a rare act of affection that didn't involve her barbed wit or sarcasm. After a few minutes she let go and helped him remove the remaining straw from his clothes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"So how are you ladies today?" asked Glinda as she daintly poured tea into each of the three cups.
"Oh absolutely dreadful! I was sitting in a coach minding my own business when this woman with a simply dreadful looking hat on entered and sat across from me. Of course I couldn't help but comment to Shenshen..."
"How is Ozma?" interupted Shenshen preventing Pfannee from launching into one of her endless stories about the decline of fashion sense within the general population of Oz.
"She's faring quite well. Although she can be a bit timid, she's doing an excellent job of reforming and keeping Oz in order for having been in power for so short a time. "
"I'll say. How long did it take you to find her?" interrogated Pfannee.
"Has she shown any signs of eccentricity?" asked Shenshen. "You know all the Ozmas did have strange habits," she added.
"How did you recognize her anyways?" asked Pfannee as she and Shenshen continued to bombard Glinda with questions about the recent and somewhat mysterious Ozma.
"Well it took about three months to locate her and two more before I actually met her. She had been hiding ever since the Wizard took power. She has small underground society of supporters and protectors. These people had me filling out endless amounts of paperwork and answer hundreds of thousands of questions. I was mostly convinced of her authenticity by all that work. I mean really, if you have to talk with three different people a week and meet in a cellar with four armed guards standing by, you'd certainly be convinced that the person you were meeting with had some sort of great merit. Oh yes, and her eyes were ruby-red, a trait posessed only by the Ozmas."
"Those eyes," thought Glinda. It wasn't the color that mattered; it was the statement relayed by them. Glinda knew and understood that look. It was a look of a person desperately wanting to be taken for what they truly are. She was familiar with the feeling, having been mocked by Madame Morrible when she was allowed to join the wretched woman's sorcery class. She'd also seen the same expression in Elphaba's eyes the day she denounced the Wizard and flew off into the West.
Pfannee noticed that Glinda's attention was slipping to somewhere else. Attempting to reel Glinda back into the conversation she said, "Have you heard that the Wicked Witch of the West is possibly still alive and hiding somewhere? Not that it really matters to any of us, am I right Shenshen?"
Shenshen who had been momentarily sulking because Pfannee had stolen her topic of conversation was glad to be back in the spotlight and answered, "Of course we really don't know if that's true. You shouldn't be such a gossip Pfannee, but to answer your question I agree with you. She was always so weird."
"Yes,and she always had some sarcastic remark to make about everything. Honestly, Glinda I simply don't understand how you could've ever become chummy with her. Then again, you always were Glinda the Good," said Pfannee.
"Have you heard where she might be hiding?" inquired Glinda trying not to sound too interested.
"Oh for goodness sakes, I don't keep tabs on the whereabouts of witches!" laughed Pfannee.
"I bet some of the Animals would know,"added Shenshen.
"Well of course they would. They were her biggest supporters you know. Glinda, I don't know why on earth you let them back into civilized society!" said Pfannee. Glinda flinched at the remark. Although, she too at one point and time had been an ignorant societal snob, she had grown out that persona once she had befriended Elphaba. Pfannee on the other hand hadn't undergone any sort of growth with the exception of her fashion and snottiness. Glinda couldn't tell much about Shenshen.
"Oh! Look how time has flown!" remarked Glinda glancing up the grandfather clock in the tea room. "We've been here chattering away for almost an hour now!"
"Really? Luckily Shenshen and I don't have any pressing matters at hand, so I suppose we could stay for another few minutes or so." replied Pfannee. Glinda was ready to tear her hair out.
"Oh how kind of you both to stay and keep me company," she said lying through her teeth. "You know it does get terribly lonely in this house. Oh! I must call my dressmaker and schedule an appointment to be fitted for the gown I'm to wear at the coronation of the Ozma regent. Have either of you gotten your dresses made yet? You do remember that the ceremony is only about a month away."
"No we haven't," replied Pfannee thoughtfully.
"What are you wearing Glinda?" asked Shenshen.
"Something pink of course, with let's see...lots of ruffles and poof to it," answered Glinda.
"I beg your pardon Glinda, as I know I just said that Shenshen and I could afford to stay a while longer, but I just remembered some errands we have to run. We really must dash," said Pfannee who was intent on imitating Glinda's look before it became public.
"Oh that's so disappointing. I was hoping we could reminisce about our days at dear old Shiz," replied Glinda sending a silent a prayer of thanks to Lurline at the same time. Rather than ring for the butler to fetch the two women's personal items, Glinda ran and got them herself.
As Glinda was showing her and Shenshen out the door, Pfannee turned around to her hostess and said, "Glinda dear it was so delightful to see you again." Glinda simply held her false smile. Just as the two had stepped out the door and were about to depart down to the road, Glinda called after Pfannee.
"Oh Pfannee," she called. Pfannee whirled around smiling as if she were expecting another invitation to tea.
"Just so you know, the Animals are civilized society, I simply don't understand why they let you be a part of it. Also the shade of blue that your gloves are clashes with the color of your dress." Glinda said sweetly as she slammed the door shut in Pfannee's face which held an expression of horror and mortification.
"Now out of all the Animals I know, who would most likely know where Elphie would be hiding?" pondered Glinda as she skipped merrily away from the door, relieved that the tea party was over and that she had given Pfannee quite a bit to think about.
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AN: Wow that chapter really sucked and took me a lot longer to write than it should have. I have so many ideas whirling about in my head, and I'm trying to get them all organized into the right chapters. I think that's the worst chapter to write because it's in a sort of inbetween state. Just trying to get info out without bluntly stating it. Sorry if the spell sounded stupid or the words didn't flow right or whatever; I'm hardly the poet. That tea party scene was hell to write. I will NEVER again have a scene in which Pfannee is heavily involved. I absolutely LOATHE her now, doesn't matter if she's not mentioned much in the book. Anyhoo, the story's movin' along though and soon Ch. 3 will be up. That will be my fave chapter I think with all the funny stuff in it. Please review, I love to comments.