A/N: Gah! I did it again, with the ending, it sucks! I must work on that! And there is no Fiyero or Damaran in this chapter! Well, they make an appearance, but I go into no detail about it due to lack of inspiration. And this one's fairly short…
Jemima: I laughed when I read about your dream! Very awesome. And no, you're not dumb because you didn't get the thing about Damaran and Lillany! I was hoping no one would…
Ari: Thank you! You're right…this is kind of the beginning of the end…which is sad, no matter how bad I think it is, it's still fun to write!
Zafr0: That's all right! I'm glad it went over your head; it definitely would have gone over mine!
Animes18: LOL, nice keeping track of the score! Thank you!
Frederick Charleston: LOL yup, it was foreshadowing! And I shall continue, of course!
Viva-taquitos: LOL, well, thanks…I don't have much to say to that, actually, just thank you: )
Sinfulpurgatory: Glad you think so!
Idinakristinfan: Hahaha, I updated, I want my invisible virtual Wicked tickets now! And I can see the invisible virtual show! …watching…FLY, ELPHABA, FLY! Wow, sorry, it was Defying Gravity! It's intermission, now, so I'll continue posting this! …yeah…I know I'm insane…
Katie: Thanks so much!
Whogirl: It was awhile ago (I think it was chapter four) that I really talked about Damaran and his family and all that. Shall I review it? Yes, I think so…
All right, so Damaran ran away from his family because his mother was an alcoholic and he was sick of her (or something) and he was going to the Emerald City to try and find his sister, who had left when she was eighteen. Damaran was in the woods near Kiamo Ko, and Fiyero mistook him for some sort of animal and shot him with an arrow. And then he brought him home…and all that. Yes.
The Lonely Goatherd: Thank you!
…
Elphaba wasn't sleeping when Oveel came by with her food, and he smiled at her. "Some night."
She nodded. "Thanks," she said. "You know…about Fiyero and Damaran."
He nodded, dismissing the comment. "Lillany is assistant cook now, she put tea on your tray."
She was a little surprised, but took the tea from the tray. "How'd she manage that?"
"The regular one…fell ill."
She nodded, and drank it quickly. It went down the wrong pipe, and she coughed, choking on it.
"Are you all right?" He asked her, nervous and wide-eyed.
She nodded, staring at him under furrowed eyebrows. "Yes, I'm fine."
He looked relieved. "Good…there's a sickness going around Oz right now. It's…it's really bad. One of the main symptoms is coughing…"
She set the tea down. "How bad?"
He shook his head. "People have already died from it. Some get better, but…some don't. It usually only takes a couple of weeks."
She stared at him, wide-eyed. "Do a lot of people have it?"
"No, not yet. But it's contagious…it's getting worse."
Her hand shook a little bit, having to ask the question. "Who has it?"
He didn't want to tell her, she looked so scared, and he was nearly sure of who she was thinking about. "Glinda."
…
Glinda knew she was sick, and it scared her. A doctor had been employed to take care of her, and he was never too far from her room. She knew it was bad, there had been talk of a sickness going through Oz. She slept a lot, and was beginning to lose her voice. Everything ached. Once, halfway conscious, she thought she had seen Lillany come in and take a book from her nightstand…but she may have been dreaming; she couldn't be positive in the state she was in.
People hovered over her, asking if she felt like a glass of water, or replacing the cool washcloth on her head they would put to keep her fever down. What she really wanted was to brush her hair, but she would keep quiet and let them bring her water. The first day or so, when it had just been coughing, she had thought she would get better, it was just a cold. Now, though, she was getting worse, and it frightened her. She didn't want to die, and she knew people had from the sickness that she was stricken with. She knew people had also gotten better…and she was Glinda the Good. She would get better, of course…she wouldn't die. There were too many people that depended on her. She couldn't.
…
Elphaba sat staring off into the distance, unbelieving of what Oveel had said.
Glinda had a sickness she could die from? No! No, Glinda wasn't going to die while they were mad at each other. She wasn't going to die at all. Was there any medicine? Elphaba had asked Oveel. No, he had responded, they don't know how to treat it yet.
No…she took a shaky breath. She imagined this must have been what it had felt like for Glinda when she had heard they were going to kill Elphaba. It was a terrible feeling.
The Grimmerie! Elphaba remembered her spell book in an instant, excitedly. She could get the Grimmerie…there had to be something in there, after all. If she could find something, some spell in there, Glinda could be better. There was always the chance that there was no spell in there for something like this…but she didn't think about that, she had to see it to find out. Maybe she could get Oveel to get it for her…her thoughts raced. She would ask him as soon as she could.
Oveel didn't come by until that evening, he and Lillany came before Fiyero and Damaran had come by. She spent the entire day waiting for him, and when she heard the footsteps she ran to clutch the bars, her face held close to them. They rounded the corner and walked to her cell. "Oveel, I need you to do me another favor." She said eagerly.
He bit his lip, and Lillany looked from one to the other, waiting to see what he would do. "Okay," he said, remembering the last time all he had to do was deliver a message.
She smiled. "I need you to get me the Grimmerie."
"Oh, no," he said, his hands up in defense. "No. That's that spell book of yours, I've heard of that, I can not get you that, definitely not. You could try to escape or something."
She sighed, exasperated. "I'm not going to try to escape! I need it…just…pleaseOveel. I promise, I'm not going to escape, I just need to see it, I need to…" she trailed off, not exactly sure why she didn't want to tell him why she needed it.
Oveel and Lillany exchanged a glance, and she watched them, nervous. Oveel turned back to her. "You promise you're not going to try to escape?"
She nodded impatiently. "I don't even know if there's a spell in there for…me to get out, anyway. Glinda has it," she told Oveel.
"I could get it," Lillany volunteered shyly. Elphaba looked at her, surprised and grateful, and then turned back to Oveel. He stared at Elphaba for a moment, and then sighed.
"Fine," he said. Elphaba grinned. "Why do you need it?"
She didn't say anything, just stared at him. He sighed. "Fine," he said again, defeated.
Damaran and Fiyero came then, and Damaran and Lillany greeted each other with a hug again. Fiyero clutched her hand (it had stopped raining) and she gave him a smile. She had a slight bit of hope…and though she hadn't thought of it, Oveel was right. She could try to escape…after she had helped Glinda, of course. She wasn't sure that she would, but if she had the Grimmerie, there was really nothing stopping her. She decided to make a decision later.
They had a boring visit which Elphaba never wanted to end, but inevitably, Damaran and Fiyero left. She was left with Lillany and Oveel, and once Damaran and Fiyero had left, Lillany turned to Elphaba. "I can get the book to Oveel tomorrow morning," she said.
Elphaba nodded at her. "Good," she replied.
Oveel pursed his lips. "All right, whatever," he told them both. He motioned for Lillany to follow him out. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, then," he told Elphaba.
She nodded again, hopeful that she would find something in the Grimmerie that might help Glinda. Lillany and Oveel left, and she licked her lips. There had to be something in there that would help Glinda. There had to. There was always the chance that she would get better on her own…but if she didn't? Elphaba couldn't think of that. She couldn't have Glinda die. It wouldn't be her fault, if Glinda did, but she knew she would always feel guilty because of the way they had last parted. She sat against the bars. Glinda would live. She would.
…
Elphaba was up early the next morning, waiting for Oveel. He was carrying the Grimmerie under the tray, and she smiled despite herself when she saw it. He slid the tray to her, and then turned the book sideways so he could fit it through the hole the bars made. She grabbed it from him, and sat down with it eagerly. She began to quickly paw through the pages, skimming each one anxiously.
"So I'll see you later, then?"
Her back was to him, and she raised a hand in farewell, absorbed in the book.
He was extremely nervous about her having the Grimmerie, and didn't go outside of the jail, just turned the corner from her and sat, his back against the bars of one of the cells. He knew that there could be something in there to help her escape, and if she did, he would be in huge trouble with the law – he would be an accomplice. He groaned quietly to himself. He should have at least asked her why she needed it.
He let his mind drift to other matters. He had been avoiding contact with most people in Oz – he didn't want the sickness. He wasn't scared for Elphaba's sake; she came in contact with, what, four people? No, he was scared for his own – and for Lillany's. He didn't know why, after all, he barely knew her, but he seemed to…care about her. He smiled, and listened carefully. He could hear Elphaba flipping pages in the book. He hoped she wasn't looking for something terrible. She had promised – but what good was her word? So he, personally, liked her. Was he forgetting everything she had done? The fear she had put Oz in for years? The tyranny she had held over the Wizard? The mutilation to the animals she had done? He sighed, inwardly. There was nothing to be done for it now, at least. He stood up and went out again, back to the entrance to the building. He would check on her soon. She wouldn't get out, not under his watch.