A/N: Yes, the line was 'this is all smoke and guesswork'. Brownie points go to elphabathedelirious32 for knowing that and reviewing every single chapter!
Disclaimer: I've come up with enough creative disclaimers for now. My Ultimate Disclaimer Creator has gone on a temporary vacation. So now I'll just settle with: not mine.
It rose in front of us, like one enormous, looming emerald. It was simply beautiful. I gasped in surprise. Celina looked around, puzzled.
"So where's the Wizard's palace?" She asked.
"That big palace." I said, pointing to the tallest building in the city. It was obvious, but I tried not to sound to annoyed. She didn't hear a hint of annoyance in my voice, apparently, because she happily jumped in the air, and pulled me along with her as she began skipping towards the palace. I ran along with her, the wind rushing by my ears, blowing my hair behind me. And even though I closed my eyes for only a bit, I soon felt myself collide with someone else. The impact knocked the wind out of me, and for a moment I lay on the asphalt, attempting to gather air into my screaming lungs. When I opened my eyes, I saw two people leaning over me. Celina, looking worried, and the Vinkus boy. I quickly scrambled up, startling them. I addressed the Vinkus boy.
"What are you doing here?" Then I remembered the spell. But apparently, it had worn off, because he spoke back to me.
"Qor and his friends wandered off to some place called the Philosophy Club, and I lost them. By the way, I could ask you the same thing."
"We're going to see the Wiza-" Celina started, but I stopped her by bringing my foot down on hers. She yelped in pain, but the boy had guessed where we were going.
"I'd like to come, if you'd let me." He said, but I flared up.
"How could we let you? We don't even know your name!" I said, wondering why I was so secretive about visiting the Wizard. He looked mortified, but only slightly.
"I'm Yero." He said. How convenient. I remembered someone named Fiyero from somewhere, but only vaguely. But he was supposed to be dead! Well, I was supposed to be dead, too. Gravely, and rather reluctantly, I introduced myself and my lovely, blushing friend.
"I'm Elphaba, and this is Celina. Fine, you can come, but you have to agree to let me put a spell on you as well as me and Celina. Don't worry, it's harmless." I said, taking the Grimmerie--how'd I know that?--out of my pocket. He looked tense.
"What does it do?"
"It makes you spurt blood out of your gludius maximus." I said, sighing exasperatedly. "It makes you invisible to the human eye, except to other people using the spell. So will you-"
"Alright." He agreed, and I led them both to the space between to buildings, covered with graffiti of sorts. I chanted the spell again, and his eyes widened with wonder. I tucked the Grimmerie back into its rightful place, and beckoned to Celina and Yero to follow me. We trudged towards the palace, taking in every beautiful building. I was amazed at this freedom, with no one staring at me, judging me at first glance. It was wonderful. I wish I was always this free.
We got there surprisingly quickly, and as I was determinedly stomping up the emerald stairs, I tripped over something and hit my chin on the stair. Mumbling angrily, I rose and saw what I had tripped over was a broom. Liir's broom, in fact! But how had it gotten here of all places? But I picked it up all the same, and Celina and Yero didn't ask me anything about it. We strode up to the guard, who didn't see us. I realized I couldn't open the door just like that. He'd grab us, and we'd all be dragged off to Southstairs. I wonder how the guard didn't see the broom. Perhaps he was looking elsewhere. So I motioned to the two to follow me around the palace. There must be another entrance! I paced all around it and didn't find anything. I was getting a bit hysteric when I saw a trap door on the side of the castle. It blended in, so I hadn't seen it the first time. I opened it with an almost inaudible creak. Almost being the key word. The guards heard. Spears on the ready, they stomped out onto our side as Yero was climbing in. He shut the trapdoor with a small thump and locked it. It hadn't been locked before, luckily. We quickly got up and ambled down the winding hall, then up the giant staircase. It was eerie, how the whole place was empty. As I was looking around me, I tripped over a chipped part of the staircase, and as I exasperatedly closed my eyes, preparing for the blow of the ball, I felt a couple of strong arms grab me around the waist. I opened my eyes and saw Yero grinning behind me. I sighed, but happily.
"Thanks." I whispered, and continued up the stairs. I was tripping a lot today. How queer. We finally reached the landing where the Wizard was. It was obvious, because there was a humongous set of double doors that were labeled: THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE OZ. How astoundingly secretive. We stomped down the hall, and as we pushed the doors open, I felt the spell wearing off. I could see my arm, then Yero's, then Celina's, then more and more of our bodies until we were completely visible. What a terrible time for the spell to wear off. Oh, well. At least we arrived. The Wizard wasn't prepared. He was actually an old man. He was bustling about a couple of Squirrels in a cage. I felt myself flare up. Squirrels? In a cage? He didn't see me, so I decided the best way to announce my arrival was to startle him.
"What is going on here?" I said, raising my voice with every syllable. The words rang through the room, echoing, bouncing off the emerald and the glass. The 'Wizard' jumped and whipped around, his mouth widening in horror.
"Elphaba? But you're dead . . .you couldn't be here, that annoying little farm girl melted you! When I came back, you weren't here. . .how can you be here?" He prattled on. He was clearly scared.
"I'm everything but dead, as you can see. And now I can see that you are still as wicked as you ever were!" I yelled, all of it coming back to me. The first visit to the Wizard, the Resistance, the mauntery, the Vinkus, the. . .the death. I sank to my knees, pictures of my other life swirling around me, giving me a pounding headache. I grabbed my head just as Yero rushed to my side.
"Fabala, come on, are you alright? Come on. . ." He attempted to pick me up, but I wrenched away. I wasn't that helpless. I turned around to face him.
"It's Elphaba now. Now that I've found out!" I whirled around, back to face the Wizard, who had gathered himself. As I made to stomp towards him, he yelled,
"GUARDS!" The guards--the Gale Force--rushed in, and saw me and my comrades. It was obvious what the Wizard had called them in here for. As they ran towards us across the wide hall--thankfully, it was enormous--as I grabbed the broom and got on it.
"Get on!" I said to Celina and Yero. Celina was horror struck.
"Fab-Elphaba, I can't. I'm sorry, but I hope you'll be happy that you're doing this. I hope you'll be really happy." She said sadly, and I realized how much it hurt her not to go. But she couldn't. I was the one who had brought her into this anyway. I looked down at her as Yero got on and grabbed hold of me; he wasn't used to flying on a broom.
"You too. I hope what you pursue brings you bliss. I hope you're happy in the end, my first, and except for a recent change," I looked around at Yero and smiled, "my only friend." As I rose in the air, the Gale Force grabbed Celina. Angrily, I yelled down at them, "NO! She's not the one you want, it's me! Me!" I cackled, and it rang through the room. As I rose higher and I higher, I was pleased to see them let go of Celina and stupidly jump up to try to catch me. "Good-bye Celina! I assure you, we'll meet again!" I yelled, my voice fading as I burst out the window on my broom--yes, my broom!--and the rain stopped. There was a rainbow in the sky, a multicoloured semi-circle encircling the Emerald City. As I rose above the place, I imagined myself as a speck of land, sent flying up by the turbulent air. I hovered like that for a moment, Yero's warm skin against my freezing vertigris, and then wheeled around and zoomed away towards the abandoned corn exchange, the place that was so familiar to me.