~Chapter 3~
A few days after I had the majority of the Grimmerie's spell copied over (most of which I still could not for the life of me understand) I'd deemed myself strong enough to finally venture out of my tower. I wasn't sure if I was ready to risk leaving Kiamo Ko, but at least I could wander around the dusty neglected hallways of the fortress. For one thing, there were lots of ornamentations and tables or something of the sort to prop myself up with if I fell, which I wasn't intending on doing in the first place. I felt that I had given myself sufficient time to rest up and regain my strength (two weeks, in my eyes, was more than a sufficient amount of time) and I was ready for a little more exercise than just pacing my tower. I needed out before I developed claustrophobia from being holed up in one little room for so long.
For another thing, I did not want to risk being recognized by any wandering Ozian (and especially not by the Wizard) when I had not totally banished the dizzy spells I'd been experiencing, as well as the fact that was definitely not up to flying on a half-burnt broomstick I hadn't the slightest idea how to fix. It had seemed like a good scare tactic for terrifying information out of that Dorothy character at the time I set the broom afire, but then that I looked back at it, I regretted ruining my only means of transportation. I passionately hated feeling so vulnerable and wanted to be out executing my revenge on the Wizard sooner rather than later, but common sense ruled this situation, not my now-reckless spirit and fired nerves. When you are widely hated and presumed dead, it's best not to be recognized too soon after "death". In this case, I could make my supposed demise work to my advantage.
Just as I was about to open the door and risk descending the stairs, I paused as I passed my bed. I stared at the items sitting on the shelf near it, and as an afterthought, I took the carefully-folded fringed black-and-red rose scarf from it and knotted it around my waist as I used to do so many years ago before lying down to bed with Fiyero. Once more it was the good luck charm I would carry with me on my perilous undertakings. If someone had told me on the day before Dorothy that I would soon be regarding walking on my own a "perilous undertaking", I would've dismissed the person as a madman.
I leaned my weight on the banister, making sure it was strong enough to rely on to help support me, I swallowed once and began my descent. Slowly I staggered almost drunkenly down the spiraling tower stairs to the main floor of Kiamo Ko. It was quite a nerve-wracking event, and I was eternally relieved afterward that my legs hadn't buckled from under me, as they had so often done while I was pacing the confines of my tower room, and pitched me down the rickety stairwell. The second I reached stable ground I groped my way to a chair and collapsed into it, breathing heavily more from fear than from physical exertion. If the water hadn't killed me, a fall down the tower stairs certainly would, and it would've been so counterproductive to die just as I was beginning to pull my life back together. I laughed at the thought. Surprisingly, I still knew how to laugh. I half expected to regard all things that were once humorous with irrevocable bitterness. I may have turned hardhearted after so many years alone but I wasn't yet so far gone as to not be able to laugh anymore. That was a small relief unto itself.
I stayed in the chair for a few moments longer, until my breathing returned to a normal rate, and I pushed myself back up onto my feet. I decided to stumble my way to the kitchen before going anywhere else, for I had eaten extremely little in the two weeks since I awoke and I was starving. Lack of food had rendered me gaunt, phantasmal, and thinner than I had ever been in my life. I wasn't surprised to see that as I passed a mirror on the wall. My hand had knocked into it while I was leaning partway on the wall as I walked, and I stopped to see just how horrendous I looked. There was an almost transparent look to me, like I was a wraith risen from the grave taken to haunting the dusty halls of Kiamo Ko.
:Gods, Elphaba, you look like hell.: I told myself. I should've guessed I would've looked like this by the way my clothes hung so loosely on my body.
I reached the kitchen after much swaying and dizziness and pushed the door open, about to tear through the contents of the cupboards when I froze suddenly at the sound of familiar chattering.
:I know that chitter – it can't be - :
Slowly I turned my head in the direction of the sound and my weary eyes were amazed and delighted at the sight that met them. There was my little winged snow monkey, my Chistery, sitting among the remains of the vegetables and other food scattered around the room. Overjoyed, I scooped my pet into my arms and kissed his little furry head, ignoring how he made the burns on my arms sting brutally on contact.
"Chistery, I missed you! Where have you been, my little menace?" I laughed as he climbed to my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my head.
"Miss this, kisskiss!" he chattered in my ear before kissing it and finger-grooming my hair, which I had neglected to sweep back from my face. I reached up and stroked his caramel-colored fur, happy again for the first short moment since I had awakened.
A few days after I had the majority of the Grimmerie's spell copied over (most of which I still could not for the life of me understand) I'd deemed myself strong enough to finally venture out of my tower. I wasn't sure if I was ready to risk leaving Kiamo Ko, but at least I could wander around the dusty neglected hallways of the fortress. For one thing, there were lots of ornamentations and tables or something of the sort to prop myself up with if I fell, which I wasn't intending on doing in the first place. I felt that I had given myself sufficient time to rest up and regain my strength (two weeks, in my eyes, was more than a sufficient amount of time) and I was ready for a little more exercise than just pacing my tower. I needed out before I developed claustrophobia from being holed up in one little room for so long.
For another thing, I did not want to risk being recognized by any wandering Ozian (and especially not by the Wizard) when I had not totally banished the dizzy spells I'd been experiencing, as well as the fact that was definitely not up to flying on a half-burnt broomstick I hadn't the slightest idea how to fix. It had seemed like a good scare tactic for terrifying information out of that Dorothy character at the time I set the broom afire, but then that I looked back at it, I regretted ruining my only means of transportation. I passionately hated feeling so vulnerable and wanted to be out executing my revenge on the Wizard sooner rather than later, but common sense ruled this situation, not my now-reckless spirit and fired nerves. When you are widely hated and presumed dead, it's best not to be recognized too soon after "death". In this case, I could make my supposed demise work to my advantage.
Just as I was about to open the door and risk descending the stairs, I paused as I passed my bed. I stared at the items sitting on the shelf near it, and as an afterthought, I took the carefully-folded fringed black-and-red rose scarf from it and knotted it around my waist as I used to do so many years ago before lying down to bed with Fiyero. Once more it was the good luck charm I would carry with me on my perilous undertakings. If someone had told me on the day before Dorothy that I would soon be regarding walking on my own a "perilous undertaking", I would've dismissed the person as a madman.
I leaned my weight on the banister, making sure it was strong enough to rely on to help support me, I swallowed once and began my descent. Slowly I staggered almost drunkenly down the spiraling tower stairs to the main floor of Kiamo Ko. It was quite a nerve-wracking event, and I was eternally relieved afterward that my legs hadn't buckled from under me, as they had so often done while I was pacing the confines of my tower room, and pitched me down the rickety stairwell. The second I reached stable ground I groped my way to a chair and collapsed into it, breathing heavily more from fear than from physical exertion. If the water hadn't killed me, a fall down the tower stairs certainly would, and it would've been so counterproductive to die just as I was beginning to pull my life back together. I laughed at the thought. Surprisingly, I still knew how to laugh. I half expected to regard all things that were once humorous with irrevocable bitterness. I may have turned hardhearted after so many years alone but I wasn't yet so far gone as to not be able to laugh anymore. That was a small relief unto itself.
I stayed in the chair for a few moments longer, until my breathing returned to a normal rate, and I pushed myself back up onto my feet. I decided to stumble my way to the kitchen before going anywhere else, for I had eaten extremely little in the two weeks since I awoke and I was starving. Lack of food had rendered me gaunt, phantasmal, and thinner than I had ever been in my life. I wasn't surprised to see that as I passed a mirror on the wall. My hand had knocked into it while I was leaning partway on the wall as I walked, and I stopped to see just how horrendous I looked. There was an almost transparent look to me, like I was a wraith risen from the grave taken to haunting the dusty halls of Kiamo Ko.
:Gods, Elphaba, you look like hell.: I told myself. I should've guessed I would've looked like this by the way my clothes hung so loosely on my body.
I reached the kitchen after much swaying and dizziness and pushed the door open, about to tear through the contents of the cupboards when I froze suddenly at the sound of familiar chattering.
:I know that chitter – it can't be - :
Slowly I turned my head in the direction of the sound and my weary eyes were amazed and delighted at the sight that met them. There was my little winged snow monkey, my Chistery, sitting among the remains of the vegetables and other food scattered around the room. Overjoyed, I scooped my pet into my arms and kissed his little furry head, ignoring how he made the burns on my arms sting brutally on contact.
"Chistery, I missed you! Where have you been, my little menace?" I laughed as he climbed to my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my head.
"Miss this, kisskiss!" he chattered in my ear before kissing it and finger-grooming my hair, which I had neglected to sweep back from my face. I reached up and stroked his caramel-colored fur, happy again for the first short moment since I had awakened.