Disclaimer: Es ist nicht meine. Het is neit mijn. And yea, those are the only languages I know...
From the celebration, Elphaba headed back towards her little flat. She wasn't exactly looking forward to arriving, however; after all that she had just seen, she figured that being alone would only deepen the pit in her heart. The extent of her loneliness hadn't been made apparent until today, it seemed.
Elphaba was half-wondering, and even half-hoping that Skyla would have invaded her place while she had been absent. No such luck. Don't hope, Elphaba. People'll only let you down, she scolded herself as she let herself in. Lonely. Just as she had left it.
At least, that's how it appeared with the shades drawn. Pulling them back, Elphaba saw Rivka step out of the musty darkness. Elphaba did all she could to keep her face blank. She jumped a little -just a little- though, she admitted.
"Don't look so surprised to see me, Fae," came Rivka's shy, soft, teasing voice. Even though Elphaba had only heard her speak on rare occasion, she knew enough to know that Rivka's voice did not fit in personality with her body.
"I knew that you'd be here," she replied, trying to appear unfazed. Of course, though, it wasn't working. Rivka only came to visit Elphaba when there was something rather important to be discussed. Usually, its importance made Elphaba shudder.
"Of course you did. Are you going to offer me a seat?"
The green girl sighed and rolled her eyes, but offered the other girl a chair. "I don't see the need for formalities. You're going to blow me away with some big, philosophical news that I can't possibly comprehend. Am I right?"
"I suppose you are," replied Rivka nonchalantly, leaning back into her chair. Elphaba winced as she heard the threads beginning to tear away.
"Well," said Elphaba after a moment of silence, "go on."
"You know that Lurlinemas is in a week, don't you?"
"Yes, I do, thank you very much. But you know that I'm an atheist. I'm not a pseudo-atheist, either; I don't celebrate. At all."
Rivka shrugged. "I was just -"
"Don't. Don't procrastinate. Just say what you came here to say what you came here to say and leave."
"Why such hospitality, Fae?" inquired Rivka, more in teasing Elphaba than offended.
Elphaba replied by giving Rivka a hateful glare. The short brunette only beamed. Which only made Elphaba more mad.
"Fine. Well, you know that the New Years comes right after Lurlinemas, don't you? Your atheism doesn't prevent you from knowing that, does it?" Rivka didn't wait for Elphaba to reply, but went on. "Hurry up with this, Fae. You can't wait any longer. Don't dawdle on an old one-night stand."
"It wasn't a one-night stand," muttered Elphaba, starting to really seethe.
Rivka waved her off. "Whatever it was - you have to just get it over with. Otherwise…" Rivka stopped here, seemingly unable to go on.
"Otherwise..what?"
The brunette shook her head and looked away. "What I was going to say seems a little ineffectual now that I'm sitting here before you. Oh, damn this to hell. I'm just going to come right out and say. Please excuse my bluntness, though - Fae, if the year is over, even by a day, and Tiggular isn't dead, you will be. The stalling in a cessation of a mission…they'll think that you're in espionage. For the Wizard."
Elphaba's mouth fell open. "I'm no spy!"
Rivka only shrugged. "Well, it doesn't really matter now, does it? If you screw up, they'll lynch you."
Elphaba's jaw clenched. She hadn't been listening when Rivka had told her that she'd be dead. "What?" Maybe she had heard wrong; maybe her mind was playing tricks on her again; maybe she really was going crazy.
"Yes, dearie, they'll kill you. It's unfortunate, but these things will happen."
"I didn't sign up for this sort of thing! I'm not obligated to do this," she cried, but Elphaba still fell to her knees, seemingly weighted down by the suffering that she seemed to carry around by her 'black hole' of a heart.
"Don't have a breakdown, now," said Rivka sarcastically.
"Would you believe me if I told you that I seldom fall to pieces anymore?"
"I didn't know that you ever did. You seem so…so..strong." Rivka noticed how odd and foreign the words sounded coming out of her mouth, because she stood up. "I have to go."
"Glad to have your company, Rivka. Come back anytime you wish," Elphaba said, dryly and still in shock. She watched without interest as Rivka walked towards the door.
The small girl grinned toothily before opening the door. "It's kill or be killed in this…jungle," she stated as she swung the door back.
Elphaba managed to get back to her feet. "..And we obviously love the punning of where I live." She frowned then, her green lips forming a perfect arch over her sharp chin. "I don't know too much about wisdom without being jaded. So please, for your sake, don't waste your words on my pathetic being."
Rivka appeared to think for a moment, then said, "War is the science of destruction. I can tell by your eyes that this is war to you. What'll you do now, Fae? A few words of wisdom can't hurt you, can they?" Without another word, the thin brunette had walked out the door and was pushing herself through the crowded Emerald City streets.
Elphaba shut the door and leaned against it. "Kill or be killed." She nervously cracked her knuckles. How would she be able to do either?
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"Alright," stated Skyla two days later, "I've got the best plan. EVER!"
"If it involves killing Fiyero, it sucks."
"Oh, Fae! Stop being so depressed - or, go slit your wrists with that knife over there. Put yourself out of your misery."
Elphaba didn't move.
"That's what I thought."
The green girl glared at Skyla. "You mock my pain."
"Yes, and I will begin to salt your wounds if you don't shut up."
"Fine." Elphaba leaned back into the wall and closed her eyes, pricking her ears in a way. "Tell me your fantabulous plan."
"Well, it's only mediocre compared to the real extent of my genius-"
Elphaba scoffed.
Skyla glared at her. "Anyways - I think that you should go to the palace. Talk to the Wizard. Cause a commotion. Do what comes natural."
"Gee, thanks."
"Welcome. If you screw up majorly, the Gale Force is bound to come rushing to aid the Wiz. Accompanied by:" She stopped, waiting for Elphaba to finish for her.
"Accompanied by Fiyero." She gulped.
"Get him alone. Then," she slid her finger over throat, making her eyes bulge in mock horror, "slit his throat!"
Elphaba winced. "Do you know how vague and disturbing your plan is, Skyla?"
"Quite? Just fill in the blank spots. You've got imagination."
Elphaba banged her head against the wall, wincing again. "Shouldn't your 'genius' already done that for me?"
"Shut up. I just came up with it a minute ago."
"Assuming that your genius doesn't exist-"
"Look - I'm just trying to help." Skyla began her routine of pouting.
"Stop. Stop. I know you're trying to help…but if-"
Skyla put her hand up. "I don't want to hear it. Not now. Later."
"Like, when he's dead?"
"So you're going to do it then?"
Elphaba averted her eyes for a moment. This required major thought on her part. Finally, relenting, she sighed. "Yes."
Skyla exploded into a ball of pent-up excitement. "Yes! So you've got a brain in your thick skull after all!"
Elphaba let out a slight snort, pathetically attempting to match Skyla's enthusiasm. Forget regret. Life's overrated anyway.
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On the next overcast day, three days after Elphaba had met with Skyla, she fished out her nearly (but not really) forgotten broom out of her nearly useless closet in her flat.
Elphaba couldn't help but stare at it for the longest time. Remembering the tension and thrill that had come with the broom that last time, she wondered what would come this time: Liberation and an attempted suicide? Sweet revelation? Or something else? Elphaba decided that she didn't care. Come what may.
All she had to do now was figure out how she was going to do this: get into the Wizard's office, that is. Elphaba looked down when her fingers started to complain from her deathgrip. The Broom. Duh. She smiled then, her white pearls of teeth making a stunning contrast with her emerald skin and raven hair. She was beautiful. She had just never seen it. Scare them, she thought. Even if it's just a little.
It was only dusk, but the sky was darker than the usual purples and yellows. The streets weren't completely empty, nor were the as full as they usually were for the week of Lurline. Perfect.
As suavely as a tigress hunting her prey in the Thousand Year Grasslands, Elphaba climbed to the roof of her flat. She smiled down at the people in the streets; to them she must've looked like a suicidal maniac.
Not knowing whether or not that the Broom was still enchanted from last time, Elphaba softly said the words - for luck. Patting her cloak to make sure that the Grimmerie was still where she had put it. It was. Taking a deep breath of cool air, Elphaba swung her leg over the handle and pushed off the roof into the air.
The Broom performed a drop off the roof, then rose into the air. This being only her second time in flight, Elphaba had no sense of steering. So, instead she closed her eyes and let her broom do all of the work. It seemed experienced enough.
The exhilaration of flight was more than Elphaba could've ever imagined. Her entire…being was sent flying headfirst into a tunnel of grandeur, of which she could not tell up from down. For a moment, in her excitement, Elphaba almost forgot where she was headed, and why.
For the first time since she could remember, something about her felt beautiful. Oh so beautiful.