Title: One if by Land, Two if by Sky

Author: Aerohead

Email: in my profile

Website: In my profile

Pairing: Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda, Glinda/OC, OC/OC

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer/Dedication: For L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, and Winnie Holtzman who own this idea that I'm extending. Thank you for giving me the first part. This is also for everyone in the OibLTibS RPG, so Sheika belongs to F-kun, Destin belongs to Tori, Riley belongs to Nessy, and Kade and Noelani belong to Cree.

Warning: spoiler for the ending of the musical Wicked, but that's pretty much about it.

Genre: Romance, adventure (book/play amalgamation)

Summary: Seventeen years after the "death" of the Wicked Witch of the West, a group of Shiz students must come to terms with their differences in order to help inform Oz about the truth behind the lies. If they can work together.

Author's Notes: I was looking through my site, and I am adding a soundtrack section. I have image songs up and the RPG/story's theme song, and I may add an individual theme for each chapter. Tell me what you think. Anyway, the link is from geocities. So, after putting in geocities, but /wickedoibltibs/soundtrack, then dot htm. And the randomness of the way I did that is because when I edited the notes on , they didn't let me put the URL, so I found a loophole. The spell Fabala uses is the levitation spell from the play, in case anyone was wondering. Oh, and I brought Shell into this, don't ask me why, I just thought Fabala needed some family alive.

Chapter Seven: Levitation 101

A week had passed, and Fabala and Kade had been working in secret on Valen for about as long. She had other plans, though. And they consisted of a certain book.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Aran as he walked along beside her.

"I'm positive." Fabala answered. Together, the were making their way to a small bazaar set up a little farther off from the Emerald City than Shiz was. They had walked a long way, and were finally on the Yellow Brick Road, when the old man from the bar came into view. He seemed to be waiting for something.

Or someone.

"That's the man from the bar." Fabala whispered. She grabbed Aran's hand and slowed him down. She also moved slightly behind him. On Kade's encouragement and Nissa's constant badgering, she had finally pulled her hair into an odd loop, which seemed to fit her more than the braid, though now she really wanted her braid back. She pulled her hair down and started to rebraid it, when the old man stepped out in front of them

"Hello there, children." He said amiably.

"We're not children." Aran said, walking away from the man.

"Aran, wait." whispered Fabala, touching Aran's arm lightly. He turned to her, slightly confused. She let go of his wrist, before turning to the old man. "What do you want?" She asked, chin set.

The old man put up his hands in surrender. "I only want a moment of your time. You look familiar, that's all. I've thought so since I saw you with your friends last week."

"Keep my friends out of this." Fabala said, coming closer to the man, putting herself protectively between the man and Aran.

"I mean them no harm, nor you." The little man said. "I promise. I just wanted to know who you are. You do look familiar. I understand you have origins in the Vinkus," he motioned to her arms, before continuing, "but I was wondering if you have any family in Munchkinland also."

Fabala looked apprehensive for a moment, before turning to Aran, who shrugged. She bit her lip, before nodding once. "I had family in Colwen Grounds, they're all dead now."

The man smiled sadly. "I'm sorry to bring up such sad memories, then, but I'm sure you have many memories of them to live with, am I correct?"

Fabala's look became more dark and severe. "If you must know, my grandmother died in childbirth many years before I was born, my grandfather died a year before I was born, my aunt died a few months before I was born, and I've never met my uncle, and I'm not sure if he's dead or alive." She pursed her lips, glaring at the man. "So, no, I don't have any happy memories of them alive."

The little man bowed his head, holding a grimy old hat in his hands, almost as a ward against the Winkie. Aran touched Fabala's arm lightly. She jerked away at first, but then, blushing, she grabbed his hand. "Sorry," she whispered to him, "I'm still not used to it."

He nodded, fully understanding. He had lived with Fabala long enough to know she wasn't used to touching other people that weren't Fiyero or Elphaba, and she still shied away from Nissa in the blonde's over-exuberance, even though now the two half-sisters had become rather good friends.

The little man backed off of the Yellow Brick Road slightly, not meaning to offend the girl. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss. I didn't mean to offend you. But you say you had family in Colwen Grounds? That may be why you look familiar. I've only been to Munchkinland once or twice myself; once when I was much younger, and the second time a few years ago, but I'm sure I've seen someone with your face." He bowed to her, before stepping back. "I'm sorry to intrude upon your walk with your swain, Miss...?"
"Thropp." She answered haughtily. Aran squeezed her hand to show his encouragement.

The little man's mouth twitched. "And where are you from, originally, Master...?"

"Diggs, please, call me Diggs." The man said with a flourishing bow. "All the students do. And I'm from Ugabu. Not originally, mind you, but I had been living there until I decided I missed Oz too much to stay away."

Fabala's face hardened and she stiffly nodded to Diggs. "Well, I'm glad to meet you, Master Diggs, but we really must get to the market before our curfew. Excuse us." She stepped around the man, and pulled Aran along with her.

They didn't say anything for a long while, but when they were a few feet away from the bazaar, they turned to each other simultaneously.

"I don't trust that man, Fae." Said Aran.

"That man is looking for something." Fabala said at the same time. Aran chuckled, but then turned to her.

"Like what?"
"My mother." Said Fabala quietly. Aran's brown eyes widened, but then he nodded in understanding.

"He didn't react like others do to the name Thropp, did he?"

"No, he didn't. And he was...just odd." Fabala said, making a face.

They walked into the bazaar, looking around. There were beautiful scarves from the Vinkus, next to carved toys from Munchkinland, and precious jewelry from Quadling Country. Fabala noticed Aran stop as they walked past the jewelry, and she stopped. She squeezed his hand and let go. "I'll be in the next stall." She said quietly.

Aran nodded, before tentatively approaching the stall. "What can I do for you, sir?" Asked a young woman, about twenty, who was sitting in the shadows. "Do you want to buy a bauble for your sweetheart? Or maybe sir would like a...sweet Oz!" Aran looked up quickly at the young woman, whose brown eyes had widened in disbelief as she stared at Aran. She moved out of the stall to look at Aran. She inspected the scar on the left side of his face, moving his hair out of the way carefully as she did. "It can't be, can it? Little Aran?"
"Little?" he said, offended. The woman smiled. She wasn't a particularly hansom woman; hard years working in the mines had left her looking rather boxy, and her skin and hair was dirty. He blinked, and pulled away from her. "I'm sorry; miss, but I don't know you." He said quietly.

She didn't look too fazed by his reaction, but simply looked into the darkness of the stall. "Abena, come here!" the girl called, before turning back to Aran. "I'm Baina. I know you, you are little Aran. We grew up together, until they took you away; the first time the Gale Force invaded Ovvels." She looked down. "Aran, the Gale Force has nearly decimated our villages. Most of our families – yours as well as mine – have been sent to the Glikkus." Baina looked around. "It isn't safe for you here; the Gale Force is watching our stalls."

Aran looked at Baina, before shaking his head. "I'm no longer a citizen of Oz, they can't hurt me."

Baina frowned at him. "You are still a Quadling, and that means you are still under their control."

"He's not under anyone's control." Fabala said acidly, coming up behind the two. "He's a human being; you can't expect a human being to be controlled by someone."

A haggard old woman came out of the stall, looking at them curiously. "Ah, but all people are given a destiny by Lurline."

"I don't believe in a fairy queen, nor do I believe in a god with no name." Fabala said flatly.

The woman looked perplexed. "But surely you believe in something child?"
"Yes, myself." Said the girl, before turning. She held a long, wrapped package in her hands, and she glared stiffly at the two Quadlings.

She turned to leave, and Aran sighed, looking at the women. "I had a choice; I could have fought back, but I didn't. I was brought to the Vinkus, and saved. But I regret not fighting back. Please don't regret what you have done. Lurline Bless." He turned, but Baina grabbed his arm.

"Please, take this, Little Aran. As a gift, for Lurline brought you back to your family." She handed him a small signet ring with the crest of the house of Upland. He smiled at it, and nodded, thanking the two women.

When they returned back to Shiz, Fabala stored the package on her bed, before going to the library. If she had any luck at all, Nissa would be there, chattering away with her Gillikinese friends. And of course, there she was, perfect Nissa, smiling and laughing at the right moments. Fabala sighed; she could never be like that. She didn't want that responsibility, and she hated to admit it, but she envied Nissa some for her popularity. Though she could tell from the fakeness of the smile that Nissa didn't want it.

"Nissa, I need you to do something for me." Fabala said curtly. They kept up some pretense of hating each other around Nissa's friends. It was best to keep the ignorant in the dark.

Nissa pouted, and pointed to the small study group that consisted of Kade, Sheika, Riley, and, for some reason, Noelani. "Why can't you get Riley to do your dirty work?"

"Because I need you to help me, whether you want to or not." She said flatly.

Nissa let out an extravagant sigh, before getting up and nodding. "Right, fine. I'll see you later, girls!" She followed Fabala out the library stiffly, before clinging to the girl's arm. "So, what's this about?"

Fabala didn't answer until they reached their dormitory. She opened the door and went to the bookshelf, where she pulled the Grimmerie off. "I want to try the levitation spell." She said quietly.

Nissa backed away. "Why do you need me here?"

"Because, I don't know if I can pull myself out of the chant. You can help me if I go overboard."

Nissa sucked in a breath, before nodding, backing herself against the door. Fabala pulled the wrapping off of her package, and revealed a new broom.

She sat on the bed, book open, and broom lying haphazardly away from her. She could tell her witness was nervous; she was nervous, but she wouldn't let anyone else know that.

"Ahben tahkay entayah tinfentah," she read, slowly at first. Then the words started to come faster as she got used to them.

They came fast and strong; she was surer of herself as she said the words of the incantation over and over seemingly to herself. To her, there was no one else in the room. It was just her and the book.

Well, where are your wings? Maybe you're not as powerful as you think you are.

She felt a shudder pass through her. She was no longer in the present, but as she spoke the four words of the spell over and over again, she was also getting pulled back into the memories of the book. It scared her to realize that the magic of the book allowed it to have memories, but it was thrilling and more real that anything she had experienced.

"Ahben tahkay entayah tinfentah..."

Come with me. Think of what we could do. Together.

The world was slowly spinning out of focus, but she didn't care. She pulled in an erratic breath, before she continued to chant.

"Stop it." She heard, far away. It sounded like it was coming from someone on land while she was slowly getting pulled under water. No, she wasn't getting pulled into water. That sent another chill up her spine as she continued to chant, this chill due to fear.

"Ahben tahkay entayah tinfentah..."

Elphie, you're trembling. Here...put this around you.

"Please, stop it!" Everything was starting to muddle together. She had to stop; she needed to stop. But the thrill and exhilaration she felt as she read pushed her to continue.

It's not her! I'm the one you want! She has nothing to do with it. It's me, It's ME!

"Ahben tahkay..."

"Fabi!" Nissa screamed, breaking her sister's concentration. Fabala broke off, breathless. They stayed in their places, Nissa staring at Fabala. She hugged herself, nervous. "Well?" she said after a long moment of silence. "Where are your wings?"

Fabala shook. In her exhaustion, she saw the broom quiver, then rise. She let out a shout of surprise, before getting up and hugging Nissa, who was staring wide eyed at the broom. "We did it!"

"You did it." Nissa whispered, hugging Fabala.