Elphaba gripped the Grimmerie tightly, waiting for Dr. Dillamond to finish writing the directions to his old friend's house.
After Dr. Dillamond finally consented that he wouldn't be completely safe with Elphaba staying there, he persuaded her to let him recommend some people to stay with, who would be happy to have her. She didn't trust them, but she did trust Dr. Dillamond, so she agreed to take his help.
"When you get there, keep your skin covered. Hand them this letter," he gave her a folded note, "and don't say anything. They won't trust you until they've read this. This is how you get there," he handed her another folded note, "and be careful."
"Thank you," she whispered.
He nodded. "If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to come here. If you ever can, send word. Even if it's just that you're alive."
She nodded this time, and he pulled her into an awkward hug. She hugged him back this time, and it struck her suddenly that he was more of a father to her than her own, Frex. The thought brought no emotion.
That night, Elphaba left the house of her former teacher. Again, she carried her things, not wanting to bring alarm by riding her broomstick – she wasn't very good at it, anyway. She plodded along nervously, consulting the directions every time she got to a new intersection. Up ahead, she could see the next spot where the cobblestone roads crossed, marked by a post with a flyer on it. She stopped before she got there, looking at the directions again. She was to go to the left this time. She was heading further away from Munchkinland, further from where the poor lived and closer to where the rich lived. She put the directions back in her pocket – she found that the blanket Glinda wrapped around her seemed almost to change…she didn't know it had had a pocket yesterday.
She stopped at the post, tentatively looking down both ways of the street. Seeing no one, she glanced at the flyer, then did a double-take as she read the words. Moving back a few feet, she read the flyer, her lips parted.
WANTED! WICKED WITCH!
Wanted for spreading lies and mutilating Animals. REWARD!
The flyer was accompanied by a sketch of herself (it didn't look much like her, she observed, but it didn't have to; the skin was green, that's all one needed to know) and another flyer underneath – safety tips. She licked her lips. Tips on how to be safe from her. She took a deep breath and nodded her head slightly to herself. She had a small urge to rip the signs down, but left them both untouched. Not looking at the flyers again, she continued walking.
…
When she got there, she gazed up at the house. It was a bright shade of fuschia, and everything about the house seemed to smile. Morning would be dawning soon, and so Elphaba quickly walked through the small, tiny yard that accompanied the other houses in the small cul-de-sac (all painted another bright shade) and to the front door. Before knocking, she arranged her hair more in front of her face, and brought the hat down. She carefully wrapped her arms in her cape and held the note with it. She hesitated a moment, then knocked quickly on the door, and then put her arm back inside her cape, looking down, her heart beating furiously.
It was awhile before they answered the door – clearly, she had woken them up. Elphaba did not look to see who opened the door, but thrust the arm carrying the note out to them. Whoever it was grabbed it, and she heard a rustle of paper. She heard a gasp, and felt someone brush the hair away from her face, and lift her chin up. She looked into the face of a Munchkin – not a short Munchkin, but she could tell that she was one. The woman took her hand out from underneath her chin and her jaw dropped in a comical way upon seeing her skin, but she quickly clamped her mouth together again. She looked at the note again in disbelief, and then back at Elphaba. Elphaba stood quietly, looking at the woman calmly.
"Well," the woman breathed quickly. Her eyes were open wide, and her eyes didn't leave Elphaba's face. "Come in, come in."
Elphaba nodded her head in thanks and moved quickly past the woman. The woman closed the door and the two sized each other up. The woman wasn't quite as tall as Elphaba was, Elphaba noticed (with a sharp pang) that she was about as tall as Glinda. She had mousy brown hair that ended in a short bob above her shoulders, and she was slightly plump. Her features were not unattractive, and kind wrinkles crowned her eyes. She looked to be about forty.
She looked up and down at Elphaba with sympathy. "You look to be barely twenty years old," she said sadly. "How old are you, dear?"
"Nineteen," Elphaba answered her.
The woman's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, dear," she murmured. Elphaba noticed that she clearly believed every word of whatever Dr. Dillamond had written – Elphaba herself didn't know what was in the note, she hadn't read it. "What's your name? Your…real name?" the Munchkin woman asked Elphaba.
Elphaba hesitated a moment, remembering the flyers. They were calling her a "Wicked Witch" now. She felt a twinge of regret at the words.
"Elphaba," she told her.
Again, the woman looked to be about ready to cry. Elphaba had never encountered someone so empathetic.
"I'm Cirnella," the Munchkin woman responded. She consulted the note once again. "You were once a student of Dillamond's?"
"Yes," Elphaba nodded. "Before…"
Cirnella waved her hand. "I know. He's told me all about it. I know what the Wizard is up to as well as you and he do, and I despise it as well."
Elphaba felt relief at these words, but felt the need to explain herself. "I didn't really mutilate…well, I mean, I did, but I didn't mean to do anything…"
"And you also aren't spreading lies." Cirnella nodded and tapped the note. "I wasn't sure I believed what they have been telling us about you anyway, knowing what the Wizard was up to. Not all of us are brainwashed by the Wizard, dearie." A thought struck her. "Oh, you must be so tired! I'm sorry, let me look around here…"
Elphaba felt herself smile a little. Cirnella hurried about her living room, looking for blankets and pillows, which gave Elphaba an opportunity to look at the house. It was sizably bigger than Dr. Dillamond's was, and much more colorful. It had lots of furniture and decorations in the room – not to the point of being cramped, but just enough to feel cozy. Elphaba saw a hallway leading to a kitchen to the right, and there were stairs leading upwards, also. Cirnella, huffing, stood up after finding spare blankets in a cupboard. She crossed and handed them to Elphaba – after Elphaba set her broom and Grimmerie on the table. "I'd give you the bed," she apologized, "but my husband's still in it."
Elphaba grew tense.
"Oh, not to worry, dearest," she told her, as if reading Elphaba's mind, "He's as much against the Wizard as I am."
"And is he against me?"
The thought came out without thinking it over first, but she was glad she said it. Cirnella looked taken aback, and was clearly concocting a lie. Elphaba smiled regretfully and looked down. Her silence clearly meant that he was, in fact, against Elphaba. "I should probably go…" Elphaba started, but Cirnella would have nothing of it.
"No, I'll show him the note before you're even awake in the morning. He'll understand, believe me, dear. It'll be all right." She patted Elphaba on the shoulder. "Now you get a good night's rest here, and I'll take care of everything."
She was treating Elphaba like a child, but Elphaba wasn't certain that she minded. Numbly, she said good night – and thank you – to Cirnella, and made herself a bed on the couch. She hadn't laid down for more than a minute before falling asleep.
…
When she awoke the next morning, barely four hours later, she could hear sounds coming from the kitchen – clearly Cirnella was awake. She instinctively reached for her glasses, but then realized she had none anymore. Quickly, she sat up and folded the blankets she had used to sleep on, then stumbled blurrily into the kitchen.
It wasn't Cirnella. It was a man – her husband, Elphaba guessed – that was somewhat tall (perhaps as tall as Elphaba) with dark brown hair. Elphaba froze for a moment, not sure of what to do, but before she could decide, the man turned around. For a moment, they stared at each other in fear and disbelief, but then the man grabbed a knife and pointed it at her.
"Stay back!" he shouted. She fell back a few steps and pressed herself into their counter, terrified. "Cirnella!" he shouted, still pointing a knife at Elphaba. Elphaba shrunk back as far as she could, knowing she should explain, but the words couldn't come. "Cirnella! Get out of the house and alert the Gale Force immediately!" he yelled, panicking.
Elphaba breathed shallowly, and he advanced towards her, still protecting himself with a knife. Her heart beat quickly, and she finally found words. "Stop!" she cried. "Dr. Dillamond sent me here, I spoke to your wife last night!"
He stopped where he was, but didn't put the knife down. "Dr. Dillamond?"
"Yes! Really, you must believe me, the Wizard has been lying about me! Your wife has a note from Dr. Dillamond, please believe me!" she exclaimed.
They both heard a commotion, and Cirnella raced into the kitchen to find a frightened Elphaba and her even more frightened husband brandishing a knife. "Kint, no!" Cirnella shouted.
Kint looked at Cirnella with a wide-eyed expression. "Put the knife down!" Cirnella told her husband firmly.
He did, slowly, and Elphaba let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She let go of the counter she had been gripping. Cirnella went to her side and put a protective arm around Elphaba's shoulders. "This is Elphaba," she told Kint. "Dr. Dillamond sent her here."
"So…"
"So the Wizard was lying about her! He lies about everything else, why shouldn't he!"
Kint looked foolish. "I am so sorry," he told her. He held his hand out, and Elphaba realized in a moment that he meant to shake hands. She took it numbly, and noticed that both of their hands were still trembling. They both laughed quickly – not happy ones, but the laugh that comes after something terrifying is over.
He took his hand back after shaking hers and scratched his head. "Gee, I am really sorry…"
"It's okay," she replied softly. It wasn't, though. It really wasn't. The experience was terrifying, and not one that she expected to have. It was as if…it was as if it was the third sign that all of this was real. The first was the newspaper. The second was the flyers. And now this…it really was real, and it frightened her.
Cirnella joined Elphaba on the couch that night, where Elphaba had spent pretty much the whole day. "Are you staying any longer?" Cirnella asked. "You're welcome to, of course, but Dr. Dillamond said you probably wouldn't…"
Elphaba shook her head. "I'm leaving tonight."
Cirnella nodded, and Elphaba detected a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Well, dearie, I expected as much. He put in his note to me who you are to stay with, and I'll go write directions out now."
…
That night, as Elphaba stood with her book and broom, Cirnella gave her the instructions, her eyes filled with tears. She hugged Elphaba, and kissed her on the cheek. "Oh, dear, and you're so young!" she sobbed.
Kint stood slightly back. He had avoided Elphaba that day. "They're good people," he told Elphaba. "They'll take care of you."
Elphaba nodded, and as she dropped her broom to shake Kint's hand, she wondered how much longer her being passed around from household to household could go on – a thought that made the Grimmerie glow with anticipation.
…
A/N: Hope you all liked it! I'm not certain if I did or not.
Thanks to my reviewers! Lyndalion16: Thanks! I shall I shall!
PinkElphaba: That's crazy! Great minds do think alike! Lol, oh well, guess the plot wasn't as original as I imagined it was…
Blufair: Thanks so much! Dr. Dillamond will come back in the fic, too. And OMG! "Elphaba doesn't seem to be quite herself right now, but I think that makes sense. She's probably in shock now that the realization of what she's gotten herself into is sinking in." That's exactly it! I didn't have the words, but that's exactly what's happening! Thanks for describing that.
Oh yes, and Cirnella is pronounced Kearn-EL-ah.
Also, thanks to littlesoprano for putting me on her favorites list. : ) To the rest of you forty eight people out there who hit on my story, review if you would! Thanks so much, all!