The room used for the meeting place was small, overcrowded, under-lit, and smelled. However, Elphaba barely noticed any of this as she made her way through the hordes of people. She had had no idea that this many people actually belonged to the cause, but she shrugged it off. Only more to bring down the Wizard's tyranny.

"Fae! There you are!" Skyla cried, grabbing Elphaba's thin wrist.

She scowled and jerked her hand away. Touching did not go under Elphaba's list marked 'Favorites'. "Skyla, touch me and die."

Skyla only smiled. "Touchy tonight, are we?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "I didn't know this many people belonged."

"Apparently so. I didn't know either, so don't worry. This must be really big, whatever it is."

"How many people is this going to take?" asked Elphaba, conspicuously hunting for more information.

Skyla shrugged. "Despite me being the Leader's messenger and what not, I know little more than you do. I'm not as trusted as you think I am."

"Of course you're not," Elphaba replied dubiously.

"Quiet!" a man called as he stepped in front of the room, lighting a second candle. He handed the candle to Skyla, who shrouded it protectively with her pale hand. The combination of the two lit candles cast eerie shadows across the old walls, giving the hint that the inhabitants were giants, rather than people. Elphaba frowned, Nessarose had been afraid of candle shadows as a child.

"Sweet rapture, it ends here tonight," he started, making Elphaba shiver. She couldn't explain why, but these meetings always gave her the creeps. "I've word that a new soul has taken work at the palace. Under the oath of the Wizard. You'll notice that I've used the word 'oath' as a double-meaning, as I feel terribly sorry for him. As I was saying, he's a threat to us and the cause, and he needs to be murdered. I don't care how, and I don't care where, just have it done before the year clocks out."

"What's his name?" called a man from the back.

The man looked a Elphaba, an evil glint in his eye. Elphaba felt her heart drop. "The new Captain of the Guard. His name is Fiyero Tiggular," he replied, his eyes never leaving Elphaba's.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her hand flew to her throat, she was choking on her own saliva! Skyla hit her on the back when she began to wildly cough and sputter. "Are you alright?"

"And Fae," the man continued, barely acknowledging her near-death experience, "I want you to be the one to do it. You've done a good job so far, you deserve this one. You've proved your worth."

Groans and sighs filled the quiet room. But Elphaba was trapped within her own existence, waiting for someone to pop out of an unlit corner and tell her that it was all a cruel joke. Yes, everything in her life was a joke. Her even existence was a joke, a mistake even.

"Me?" she managed in a scratchy, throaty voice. "You want me?" She knew that she sounded pathetic, but she was busy worrying about the sad existence of her life. It was definitely not cakes and ale.

He nodded. He then began to talk about other missions and such. But Elphaba didn't bother to stay and listen. She stood and grabbed Skyla's wrist, dragging her outside.

"Ugh! What is wrong with you, Fae?" Skyla cried in a whisper-yell when Elphaba pushed her into an alley.

"Skyla," Elphaba cried, matching tones with Skyla, "I can't do this!" She winced slightly at the word 'can't'. It was so unlike her to say 'can't' when she was talking about her self. Ever haughty and disaffected Elphaba Thropp. It seemed to eternally be her curse.

"What? I thought you wanted more than blackmail! I purposefully told the Leader to assign you to this-"

"WHAT? You did what? You influenced him, didn't you? I can get my own missions without your help, Skyla! Especially this one..I don't want this!" she cried, sighing and leaning against a wall.

Skyla folded her arms across her chest. "And why not, Miss Fae?"

"I…I know..knew Fiyero. I went to school with him."

"So?"

"I see I'll be getting no empathy from you," replied Skyla dryly.

"I had no idea that empathy was an emotion that affected you. I'll put on my empathy face. Now, what makes him so special that you can't assassin him? A one night stand? He works for the Wizard, remember?"

"That's still not very empathetic. But….I've been with this cult since I came here two and a half years ago, and he's the only one I've thought of." Elphaba averted her eyes from Skyla's. It was a strange feeling for her to be pouring her heart out.

"Oooh, it seems our egotistical has a heart after all! It's too late now, though, Fae. You can't bale out."

Elphaba stood and raised her head indignantly. "No. I don't have a heart. I don't have a soul." She pointed at her face then. "These colors don't."

"That's better," replied Skyla. "I always said that when life give you lemons-"

"Throw them back at life and tell it to make its own damn lemonade."

Skyla nodded slowly. "Right. Now that we're both on the same page, you've got to do this. You can't quit now, Fae, we need you in our group."

And even though Elphaba's heart told her not to, she nodded her head in appeasement.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

"Are you feeling better? I noticed you choking earlier?"

"I'm fine, really. Now, about this mission-"

"Don't worry, I've a file on Tiggular right here," he said, leaning over and coming back up with a slim book. "Here," he said, handing it to her.

Elphaba took a deep breath, opening the book. The front page contained random facts about Fiyero. Elphaba felt her throat start to close up again.

"He's become quite the hero since he took the 'role'. This will not be easy. We're all counting on you, Fae."

Oh great, she thought, as if killing my heartthrob wasn't bad enough. "I know. I'll do good," she replied, her voice staying surprisingly calm.

"Good. Then you may go."

Glad I have your permission.

Elphaba tucked the booklet into her cloak, walking out into the cool night air. "Oh, sweet Oz, what have I done?" she whispered, seemingly asking her breath clouds. No answer. "What help are you," she muttered.

Reaching her destination rather quickly, Elphaba locked her front door behind her and pulled out the dusty Grimmerie. She had almost completely forgotten about this book, like she had almost completely forgotten Shiz. But yet, it still lingered in the dark inner-depths of her complex mind.

She ran her long, green fingers over the cover, creating the form of them in the dust that had settled on the cover. She didn't know what had made her think of this book at this time, but she decided to keep it out.

The green woman sucked in another deep breath. How was she going to do this? She had less than a month to complete her duty, and she wasn't sure she could.

Now review, before I have to beat you with a wicker chair.