CHAPTER 8
Fae's spell blew a gust of wind under the two, but it wasn't enough to completely save them from the drop. They landed with a crash, both going unconscious upon contact with the ground. Fae quickly dropped the bubble and ran to them. She laid both of their heads in her lap, not knowing what to do. She yelled at Blaise to bring the Grimmerie over. Maybe it had a spell to help. Blaise sat there, just staring. In situations like this, he was no good to anyone. This kind of things scared him. "Well, don't just stand there! Go find help!" Fae shrieked at him.
"And what if we get caught because I do? "
"I don't care! If we don't, they may die! Now, go!" she snapped back at him.
Blaise began heading on the way that had been going, running as fast as he could. He ran for what seemed hours (but in all likelihood, was ten minutes) until he ran into a castle. He didn't question why anyone would build one out in the middle of nowhere at that moment. He ran up to the gate, and began beating on it violently. "If anyone is here, come quickly! We need help!"
Fiyero sat in the castle, worrying about his wife. Where was she? He hadn't heard from her since she had left over a week ago. So much could have happened in that time period. "At least Ali is safe," he thought to himself. Then, for the first time in over eighteen years, he heard a knocking upon the front gate. Fiyero froze up with fear. Had someone found the castle? Did someone know who was living here?
"They can't possibly," he thought. It had been over twenty years since Elphaba and himself had run away from society of Oz. No one would possibly remember them, would they? After all, no one knew that he, the Scarecrow, had gone with the Wicked Witch of the West. Slowly, he opened the door.
"Well, it took you long enough! Come on, we need help!" Blaise said, not caring that the man was a scarecrow. He needed help, and quite frankly, didn't care whom, or in this case WHAT, it came from.
"First off, who are you and WHAT are you doing on my property?" Fiyero asked angrily, hoping to fool the man into leaving.
"My name is Blaise, and my friends just . . . have been seriously hurt, and we need help." Blaise saw no way out of telling this man everything, so he told the scarecrow. "Fae, Ali, Amirio, and I were flying over and then her broom . . ."
That's all Fiyero heard. He quickly shook the boy to get him to shut up. "Where are they?" he asked, terror in his eyes. Blaise just pointed in the direction, and Fiyero took off running with all his might.
Fae was watching over the two, trying her best to use the Grimmerie to heal them. It was to no avail, though. The two remained unconscious. Out of nowhere, however, appeared a scarecrow, running as quickly to what seemed to be this exact position.
"Uncle Fiyero!" she screamed upon recognition. "You have to help us! Ali and Amirio were flying on her broom, and a sudden gust of wind blew it down. They just fell straight to the ground. We don't know what to do!" Fae was near tears now.
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at Shiz," asked Fiyero as he examined Ali's injuries.
"It's a long story. What can we do to help?" asked Fae, concerned for the welfare of her two friends.
"I need a levitation spell to get them back to the castle. They can't be moved."
Fae concentrated as hard as she could, and spoke the levitation spell. The two started floating upon a pillow of air. She walked and muttered the spell as they quickly went back to the castle.
Ali slowly opened her eyes. Oh, how her head hurt! She carefully looked around at her surroundings, Where was she? It looked strangely like home, but it couldn't be, could it? They hadn't been that close to the castle, or at least as far as she remembered.
"Ali! Blaise, Uncle Fiyero! She's awake!" a squeaky voice yelled from beside her bedside. Was that Fae?
"What in all of Oz is going on? Where's Amirio?" asked Ali, still dazed from what seemed like a long nap.
"You don't remember anything, do you?" asked Fae, not at all surprised by this fact. "Ali, you and Amirio fell on the broom while we were trying to reach Kiamo Ko. You've been unconscious for two days. Luckily, we were close to the castle, and we returned you here. Don't move, you don't want to reinjure yourself," said Fae in a pitying tone.
"We have to go! We can't stay here any longer than necessary! We have to find our mothers!" she said, attempting to sit up, and falling back with a wave of pain into the pillows.
"Oh no. We are staying here until you are your normal per-" she cut herself off, for 'perky' wasn't the word to describe Ali. "Despondent self!"
"No, we can't. We have to go! And where is Amirio?" said Ali, ignoring the jab. This time, though, she didn't even try to sit up.
"Not now. You can't even sit up. Besides, don't you want to spend some time with your dad?" said Fae, motioning for her uncle to come in, and then quickly slipping out of the room.
"Dad!" Ali squealed and tried to sit up to hug him. The pain came back, and Ali lay back again.
"Oh thank Oz you are okay! I don't know what I would have done if you had gotten hurt!" Fiyero said, leaning over and kissing his daughter on the forehead.
"Have you heard anything from Mom yet?" asked Ali, still concerned about her mother.
"Well, we'll talk about it when you are better." Fiyero didn't want to worry his daughter, just in case it might prolong her healing.
"I need to know now, Father. Have you heard from her?"
"Christery brought back this," he said meekly, pulling out a small, crinkled, and faded piece of paper from his pocket. Ali had inherited her mother's forceful voice. The piece of paper seemed to be a journal entry, and the more Ali read, the more alarmed she became.
Oztober 20
Things grow direr everyday. Glinda and I have been on the hunt for the center of this darkness for a week, and still have not discovered it. We are in Quadling Country, of all places. Some things have happened, that have deeply disturbed me. As we have come along, under the cloak of night, of course, we have found so many strange things. Such as last night. We found a whole village, burned to the ground. It had been destroyed sometime recently, and there were no people left in it. Just ashes and soot. There was no evidence of a struggle, or anything of the sort. It seemed as if someone had just come and set it on fire, and no one cared. I fear the darkness has penetrated far more deeply than either Glinda or I thought. I fear this force is too powerful for than both of our powers combined. The sheer change in people is astounding to us both. For instance, just three days ago we met an old schoolmate. Of course, she didn't see me (I hid behind a tree), but she did recognize Glinda. Glinda covered for herself, but this woman was so secretive and rough about everything, it was astounding. During our school days, she was a popular person, who loved fashion. Now, she seems so hardened and scared no one would have recognized her. Glinda's ca
"Is this it? Where's the rest?" said Ali, looking all over the room and in her father's hands. Nothing.
"There isn't any more. Chistery found it sometime last week. It isn't like her to leave something like that so open. Something must have happened. It's been over a week since she wrote it. I told her not to go!" Fiyero said as he wrung his hands. Could he have lost his Fabala forever?
'That's it,' Ali thought to herself. No more waiting. She was through with keeping that stupid promise to her mother. As soon as she was well, they were all leaving. Her mother and aunt's life depended on it.
"It's not your fault, Dad. Mom would have gone anyway, you know that. She's so strong-willed nothing can or will happen to her."
"I just don't know Ali . . . I just don't know."
"Everything's going to be fine. I promise," said Ali. She wished she could give him a hug, but it seemed she couldn't even sit up at the moment. Ali knew she'd have to tell him that she needed to go and try to save her mother and aunt. But, the time wasn't right... not yet, anyway. Suddenly, she remembered. Amirio! Oh no, Amirio! "Dad, what about Amirio? Is he okay? Please tell me he is okay."
"He's fine. I think he and Blaise are in the library debating something or another."
Ali tried to get up and run, but her body protested. She lay back again. "Dad, could you go get her for me? Please?" she asked with the most pitiful look in her eyes.
"Sure. Just one question. Are you and he . . . . .?" he said, leaving the sentence unfinished. He remembered well enough from his college days to be careful about the question.
"If I understand you correctly, yes. Could you just go get him?" Ali asked with a blush.
"Fine," said Fiyero to his daughter. After bending down to give her a kiss on the forehead, he left Ali alone in the room. Now was the time to think. She had to carefully plan all of this. Nothing could happen to anyone. It had to be set carefully to avoid all the risks they could.
Fiyero walked into the library. Amirio and Blaise looked ready to kill each other. Blaise was shouting something about the Animals, and Amirio was taunting him. "What luck, breaking up a fight. That's so easy when you're made of straw," Fiyero thought to himself as he walked over to separate the boys.
"Like being treated like the Animals were? Hmm? Oh, that's right, you aren't as intelligent as me. Therefore, you shouldn't be allowed to voice your opinions, or even had a voice!" shot back Amirio with a tone that could cut a diamond in half.
"Why you little!" and with that Blaise threw his hardest punch. Fiyero stepped in just in time to intercept it so it didn't knock the other boy unconscious. "That will do, boys!" Fiyero boomed. Though he was a scarecrow, he still had his authoritative voice.
"If he wouldn't have started yelling insults like the munchkin he is, we could have had a perfectly nonviolent debate. But what he started, I am prepared to finish!" Blaise said, attempting to push the scarecrow aside, and not succeeding very well.
"If you ever would like to see Fae again, Blaise, I suggest you take my suggestion to leave Amirio alone. The same goes for you Amirio, only it applies to Ali. I came to get you for her. She's awake now."
"Yes sir," they both replied. Blaise had a smart comment on the tip of his tongue, but decided to keep it silenced. "Who does he think he is, Fae's father? He can't keep us apart!" Blaise mused as he walked of to find Fae.
As Amirio walked into the room, he couldn't help but be thankful that neither of their injuries were worse. After being unconscious for a few hours, he woke up from his deep sleep. He only received scratches from the crash landing, but Ali's injuries were worse. They thought she might have broken a rib, but wasn't injured any further. A fall like that could kill someone, and both were lucky to only be hurt in the small ways they were. When Amirio finally got into the doorway, he noticed Ali had her eyes closed, intent on something far away.
As Ali opened her eyes, she found her lips engaged into a kiss from a stranger. "What in... Amirio!" she squealed from her bed.
"Miss me?" he asked with his typical grin.
"More than you can know," she said with a grin very similar to his. "I mean, don't you typically miss everyone when you've been unconscious?"
"Oh yes, most defiantly. Seriously, though, how are you? I've been worried, and well," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck and a shade of pink started to appear on his cheeks.
"I'm feel fine, except when I try to sit up. Do you know what happened to me? Fae forgot that one little detail."
"We think you broke a rib, which would explain the sitting up. I can try to prop you up with some pillows though," Amirio said. He wanted to help Ali however he could.
"Please," she said with the small grin that seemed to convey everything she had ever felt about him.
Amirio helped her get the pillows situated. Neither of them could erase the foolish grin that spread across their faces. Ali knew that that she had to tell him about his plans. She snaked her hand into his, and squeezed it tightly once she was in a sitting position.
"Amirio, we have to talk," she said hesitatingly.
"About what?" he asked as he planted a small kiss across the front of her hand.
"Well..." Ali wasn't sure how to tell him of her plans.
What?" he asked as he looked into the emeralds of Ali's eyes.
"We have to leave here. As soon as possible," Ali said as she broke the stare.
"Why? Your father has offered to let us stay as long as we need," Amirio asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"Because . . . without Fae and I, there won't be an Oz."
"What?" Amirio said in shock as he dropped her hand.
"Remember that I told you about the darkness that was slowly taking over Oz?"
"I think so, but it's a little fuzzy, because of, well, you know..."
"Well, do you remember that my mother went off to try to fight it with Glinda?
"Yes, but I still don't get your point."
"Chistery- that little flying monkey you've seen around here, remember? - found this," Ali said as she gave Amirio the journal entry.
"Where's the rest?" he asked after he finished reading it.
"That's just it. There is nothing else. Nothing. We haven't heard anything in over a week. We assume the same thing goes for Nerote from Glinda. It looks like something happened, and we don't know what. That's why Fae and I have to go. We have to save our mothers, and, hopefully, save Oz."
"Save Oz? But, Ali-"
"There's not other option, Amirio. I have to. I have no choice. All I ask is that you-" Ali paused. Was this what she really wanted to do?
"That I what?"
"Come with me. Help me defeat this, this, thing that is taking over Oz!"
"I-I, uh..."
"I'd understand if you don't want to. You don't have to," said Ali, looking away.
"No, it's not that Ali. This is a major decision, and I… well, I just don't know," Amirio said as he tried to cover for his true feelings. In the back of his mind, he knew he was scared. So much could happen. He wanted to be there for Ali, but was it wrong to be scared for his own life? "What should I do?" his mind asked over and over.
"Amirio, if you don't want to, just say so," Ali said, her heart feeling like a ton of bricks.
Amirio took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He knew what he had to do. "Ali, there is no way I would ever let you go alone. You're too important to me to let you go like that. And, if that means that I have to risk my life, that's fine with me."
He then leaned in and kissed Ali. The couple held each other tight, not sure of what the future held.
Blaise headed out the door of the library to find Fae. He needed someone to rant to, and Fae would listen. Who was this Amirio anyway? What made him think that he was so special? After the way that he had stolen his money . . . The blood rose to his face again.
He and Kliptor had left the room for twenty minutes to go to a restaurant. When they had gotten there, he realized that he had left his wallet. And when he went back to get it, all the money out of it was gone. Amirio had been the only one in the room. How could Amirio? He had tried to be nice, or at least civil to the outcast, and in return, he got robbed.
"Well," Blaise thought to himself, "just wait till I catch him in the act." Oh how revenge would be so sweet! Expose the lie in front of everyone, and watch his life (what little there was of it) crumble. Ali would hate him, Fae would hate him, and Blaise would get the CONSIDERABLE amount of money back, and all would be well. Besides, Shiz didn't need lowlifes like that crawling around.
After looking in her room and the parlor, he went to the most unlikely place: the kitchen. But sure enough, there she was, her pink dress with splotches of flour covering the front and her face, and the kitchen looking like a tornado went through it.
Fae sat there, struggling with the cookie dough. Hopefully, this would make Ali cheer up. Oh, who was she kidding? Nothing would make Ali cheer up until she had found her mother. Nothing. And cookies? Ali didn't even eat that many sweets! She knew that there would be no way to avoid it. Something told her by the end of the week they would be well on their way to the center of the darkness. Was she really strong enough? This problem couldn't be fixed with a good word, or a smile and encouraging wave. No. This one had to be faced head on. And even if it scared her half to death, she was going to do it. Even if she died in the process. Just one question remained: could you still kick butt in four-inch heels?
Blaise was in shock. His girlfriend, the one who HATED cooking, and for that matter, wasn't that good at it, was in a kitchen. Oz only knew what was in that cookie dough batter. "What in Oz . . . Fae! Please tell me you didn't . . ."
"Didn't what?" Fae said with a grin. "Oh, you mean this! Well you see, I thought that I would make Ali some cookies to cheer her up. It failed. Miserably," she said with a giggle. No matter what, Fae could always find something to smile or laugh about.
"Well, at least I tried . . ." she said, once again trying to suppress giggles. "Come on. We should probably talk about something." She took a towel and wiped the flour from her face and dress, took his hand, and led him out to the back garden.
"Listen, I need to know something. I know you have come this far with me, but something tells me that I am going to have to go save Mom and Aunt Elphaba. Ali won't rest a minute until she finds them, and, to be frank, I won't either. I want to know if you are going to stay here or come." Fae decided that eloquent words weren't needed here. This was Blaise. Being blunt worked best.
His eyes didn't hesitate, and neither did his speech. "I am coming with you. There is no need to even ask. You say the word, and I'm there." Blaise was not the eloquent kind of guy. Say what you mean and be done with it. And though he usually kept the emotions to himself, with Fae, he let his guard down.
They stood there in each other's arms. Somehow, they knew trouble was on the horizon. But if they faced it together, nothing could go wrong. Or could it?