Content Advisory: Prejudice (towards fictional group— "Animals"), Animal Cruelty/Minor Injury, Fire/Arson, Weapon Use
✉ Chapter Twenty-Four: Paper Trail ✉
"Password."
"Seriously?"
"Password."
"I created this place."
"Password."
"…No more candy."
A surly looking Stag opened the door and admitted the cloaked woman who removed the hood from over her head.
"You passed the test," Elphaba nodded approvingly. "Never admit anyone without a password, not even me. Take your break soon, okay? I'll cover for you."
The Stag simply nodded and Elphaba raised her eyebrows expectantly.
"Yes, Madame Witch," he granted in a raspy voice.
"Getting stronger every day," she assured him. "You must accept every chance to speak."
"Yes, Madame Witch."
She unhooked her cloak and hung it up before advancing further into the dingy inn that served as their headquarters. She graciously accepted a mug of coffee over the pub counter and strode over to the wall to peruse the sketches of missing Animals. Her green fingertips brushed over the sketch of a bespectacled Goat and she permitted herself a single heavy-hearted sigh before turning back to business.
"Attention!" Elphaba alerted the Animals currently present in their hideout. "It's time for recitations."
Scattered groans throughout the pub and Elphaba gave them a sharp look.
"Or perhaps you'd prefer to lose your voices?" she challenged. "The Wizard is counting on your apathy. We cannot relax now simply because we're tired."
She grabbed a book at random off the wall and opened it only to quickly snap it shut.
"Perhaps a book with less salacious illustrations."
There were a few laughs and calls of protest as she reshelved that one and selected another. She settled herself on a bench and cracked the book open, bringing the pages close to her face to squint at them.
"You need glasses!" one Animal yelled.
"I had glasses," Elphaba sighed. "They slipped off somewhere over The Great Gillikin Forest if anyone cares to look for them."
A kind Hedgehog named Jerusha moved a light to shine directly over Elphaba's shoulder to aid her in reading.
"How do you manage to read that spell book of yours?"
"With great difficulty. Now if I'm reading this right this is a story about a…" she squinted. "Prince. It's about…a prince."
She leaned back expressionlessly and pursed her lips at the page.
"Yes, well…I think that you're all quite familiar enough with recitation time to carry on without me," she muttered thickly, handing the book over to Jerusha.
There was a sudden screech and crashing sound from just outside and Animals darted towards the windows to peek at the commotion.
"There's a Monkey outside!"
"A Monkey?"
"Yes, one of the dreadful winged ones!"
Elphaba rushed towards the windows, weaving through the Animals to look outside. Crash landed on the lawn was indeed a winged Monkey from The Wizard's palace and, by the look of it, he was injured. Elphaba turned to the pub and held her hands up for silence.
"We're letting him in," she said.
"He's from The Wizard's palace! A spy!"
"He's a victim!" Elphaba insisted. "Just like us."
"He doesn't know the password!"
"He cannot speak a password! Be thankful that you're not so far gone!"
"He may not speak but he can listen. He can take word back to the palace."
"That's a risk we have to take."
Elphaba sidestepped the Stag and ran into the clearing, approaching the grounded Monkey. She got low to the ground and extended a gracious hand to him.
"Hello. Do you remember me?" she asked softly. The Monkey tilted his head to the side, regarding The Witch with curiosity and recognition. "I see you're hurt. Let me help you. May I help you?"
The Monkey hesitantly accepted her hand and Elphaba assisted him into their hideaway.
"Prepare the healing quarters," Elphaba instructed the wary Animals. "Do as I say."
Elphaba and the other healers lay the Monkey out who, despite his inability to speak, seemed to accept their care with tentative trust.
"It's a hideous deformity," a matronly Cow tutted. "Unnatural."
"It isn't his fault!" Elphaba scolded. "This was done to him, to all of them."
"Well go on then. Perform your magical cure," the Cow sneered. "The sooner he leaves this place the better."
"Magic cannot cure anybody," Elphaba explained through her teeth. She found the source of the injury in the Monkey's wing and placed her hand over the area. She closed her eyes and exhaled, guiding restorative energy into the area of harm. "It merely speeds the healing process. They feel the pain all the same."
When things were in a stable place Elphaba dismissed the other healers and sat beside the Monkey.
"Don't let ignorant statements like that get to you…I mean I always do, but you shouldn't," she instructed. "You seem so familiar to me. Can you tell me your name?"
The Monkey stared back silently, but his eyes were filled with understanding. He screeched weakly and his hand adjusted the collar of his jacket. Elphaba examined the collar to find some fine embroidery on the side.
"Chistery…" she read slowly. "Of course…of course, you're Chistery! Oh, Chistery. I remember you."
Chistery nodded his head in excitement to hear his name and Elphaba laughed.
"How good it is to see a familiar face! Chistery, I'm going to help you. I promise," she murmured. "We're going to make things right."
Elphaba strode back into the taverns and requested the attention from the tavern keeper.
"I need to research our newspaper archives."
"Which province?"
"The Emerald City."
Elphaba accepted a large stack of newspapers and sat it on a central coffee table as the Animals recited prose aloud to keep their speech sharp.
"Change of material," Elphaba announced. "For recitations tonight we'll be reading from newspapers. Everyone take one. Look for any information about events at The Wizard's palace."
"Why?" Jerusha asked.
"It's our next mission. What happened to those Monkeys is my fault, and we're not going to let The Wizard manipulate them any longer."
"Isn't housing one risky enough?!" a Gazelle protested.
"My companions, these Monkeys may hold the key to the big stir we've been waiting for! We've been making private progress within our ranks, yes, but what's the good of doing good if it isn't big?!"
There was some hemming and hawing and Elphaba sighed tiredly.
"Regardless, help me comb the papers. Aloud, please. Read aloud," Elphaba instructed.
She settled in a chair and picked up her own newspaper as the Animals took turns sharing current events in The Emerald City.
"City wide fair announced for the summer…"
"New research on Wicked Witch claims that she has an extra eye that always remains awake…"
"Would that I did…" Elphaba smirked. Shout outs amused her.
"Glinda the Good and Captain Fiyero Tigelaar to celebrate engagement in grand ball at Wizard's Palace…"
"What?" Elphaba looked up and snatched the paper in question.
"Oh, yeah. The papers are obsessed with these people."
"Mine is just an article predicting their wedding cake flavor."
Elphaba's stomach plummeted as her eyes fell upon a smiling Glinda and Fiyero on the front page. Her vision glanced over Fiyero's face for a clock-tick, only a clock-tick, but the damage was done. She dropped the paper with a wheezing exhale as if it'd scorched her and she abruptly stood.
"Burn that," she muttered in a low tone.
"But—"
"I said burn it!"
Elphaba stormed around the corner into the hallway and stalked towards the cheap rented room she inhabited. She slammed the door and leaned her back against it, clutching her hands over her chest and squeezing her eyes shut as she waited for the episode to pass. This wouldn't be an easy storm to weather, though, not after seeing his picture.
Not after seeing his eyes.
"Oz almighty, woman. After all these years?" Elphaba said with a tortured groan.
Unfeeling, the masses called her. Pitiless, heartless, cold. If only they were right…Elphaba wished that they were right. The alternative, the reality in which she lived, was excruciating. Unfeeling, they said! Elphaba felt things to the point of agony. Doubt, grief, longing—
Oz, the longing! Ceaseless longing that robbed Elphaba of any peace. A knife that twisted at even the most miniscule of reminders. Reminders of the life she'd forfeited, the price she'd paid…and the prince she'd lost.
Elphaba opened her eyes and her vision focused on her broom in the corner. If she left now maybe she could still—
Before she was wise to her own actions, Elphaba lunged for her broom with a spontaneous sprint, but the moment her hand gripped the handle she tossed it away with a hiss.
"No!" she scolded herself. "You mustn't. You can't."
What good could going to him do now? It'd be far too little…and far too late.
Elphaba felt shaky and sick as she changed course towards her bag to seek her consolation. She rummaged through the few belongings she had, shifting The Grimmerie and her mother's green bottle aside, until her fingers brushed over the treasure she sought.
A letter in an envelope, fondly preserved despite its wears and creases, still sporting that partial tear down the middle from when Pfannee had lunged for it that day outside her dorm. Elphaba's thumb brushed over the folded, weakened tape. She hadn't had the bravery to look at it when she'd first peeled it off of her door the night after the OzDust, but ever since she rediscovered it crunched and forgotten at the bottom of her bag, hardly a day had passed where she hadn't read it.
She cherished the letter for what it was. The last part of him that belonged to her.
Dear Fae,
I know that you're scared but you aren't alone in this. I'll wait for you. When you're ready, come find me.
Love, Yero
Elphaba walked numbly to the humble desk in the corner of her room and procured a piece of parchment. She had the ritual down pat. She'd scribble the salutation and then she'd stare, envisioning the pages upon pages of words she could write if she'd only give herself the permission. But in the end, she'd only ever write down a single phrase. The phrase she'd come so close to saying before she left on the train. The only phrase that mattered in the end.
Dearest Yero,
I love you.
Forever yours, Fae
Elphaba folded her confession and pressed a parting kiss to the parchment before doing as she always did. She stepped towards her private fireplace and tossed it into the flames. Countless copies of the same letter had been thrust into campfires, gas lanterns, and fireplaces all over Oz, burning away any paper trail of Elphaba's heart.
Elphaba awoke to the smell of smoke.
In a few hazy moments before gaining full alertness she wondered if the burning smell was coming from her letting rising from the ashes to haunt her. When the situation sunk in she grabbed her broom and bag to flee. She felt the wood of the door with her hand before bursting into the hallway. Chaos and screams abounded as Animals scrambled to grab their belongings.
"Leave them!" Elphaba coughed. "Get outside!"
Missing posters smoldered at the edges as smoke clogged the tavern. Upon the table still lay the newspaper from the night before, flames curling at the corners of Fiyero and Glinda's shining faces. Elphaba's lungs burned as she threw a hand towards the entrance to magically break the hinge off the door to provide them exit. She ushered the Animal inhabitants out first before following them onto the lawn. She registered a clock-tick too late that they'd been smoked out right into the waiting trap of The Wizard's guard.
"The Witch! There she is!"
"Madame, get out of here!" Jerusha squeaked as the guards rushed the unsuspecting Animals.
Elphaba mounted her broom and kicked off the ground to hover in the air, but before she could flee into the night, a pained screech gave her pause.
"I've got The Wizard's Monkey!" a guard yelled, roughly dragging Chistery out of the building by his injured wing. "The one we tracked!"
"Stop! Stop it!" Elphaba snarled. "Don't hurt him!"
"Why? He's served his purpose!"
The guard continued to cruelly tug at Chistery's wing.
"Looks like this one's defective, Lieutenant. Shall we put it out of its misery? The Wizard has plenty more like it."
"No!" Elphaba screamed, her feet touching back to earth as she scrambled to Chistery's side. "Don't touch him!"
"Or what?!"
Elphaba suddenly heard scattered clicks of rifles held at the ready and she could feel them pointed straight at her. She turned and weaponized her broom handle, holding it out in a defensive manner as she stared down the many barrels.
Her eyes flickered towards the faces of the scared Animals she'd sworn to help. What a mess she had gotten them in. They'd been right to be wary of bringing Chistery in, but Elphaba had insisted. Now because of her actions, no matter how good intentioned, their headquarters had been destroyed and dozens of Animals were displaced and endangered.
Her eyes then shifted to the Wizard's guard, analyzing their uniforms with a sudden forbidden thought. Their Captain was not among them, perhaps off celebrating his engagement? No, their Captain was not present…but he was sure to be alerted if The Witch was caught.
"Alright then. Let's not beat around the bush," Elphaba said, advancing a steady step towards the rifles. Several men visibly shuddered. She held up her hands in serene surrender. "I'm the one you want."
"No, don't!" Jerusha called out.
"Take me, but leave everyone else alone."
"We don't take orders from witches!" the Lieutenant spat on the ground towards her feet.
"The moment I take to the sky your chances of catching me are gone. What's going to please The Wizard more? A bunch of Animals and a defective Monkey or Oz's greatest nemesis?" Elphaba curtsied.
She casually tossed her broom towards the guards who scattered away from it in fear. The Lieutenant cleared his throat and nodded towards a guard who tripped over himself to grab it.
"Well?" Elphaba tapped her foot. "Do we have a deal? If you leave the rest you can take me. You won't find another bargain like this one."
The guards glanced towards each other.
"So do we just…uh…"
"Yes. This is the part where you seize me," Elphaba guided them tiredly.
"Right—uh—seize her!" the Lieutenant commanded.
Guards grabbed Elphaba roughly by the arms and a few of the Animals behind her gasped.
"Rebuild, companions," Elphaba instructed calmly. "You know what to do."
Elphaba heard snivels and distressed noises as she left them behind. Chistery was released and shoved back towards the group who accepted him with open arms. The Monkey turned and waved to Elphaba with sad, scared eyes and she nodded back to him.
The guards gave her a strong yank and began dragging her through the underbrush of the forest.
"This'll take a while on foot," Elphaba said in a bored tone. "Does anyone have games to pass the time? I usually play 'how many Wizard guards can I pass without them noticing me.' I'm good, too."
"Silence, witch!" the Lieutenant growled.
"Say, didn't we go to college together?" Elphaba recognized the Lieutenant with a snort. "You tried to throw water on me in the quad. Good times. It's Fox, right? Jozsef Fox? Or should I say Lieutenant Fox? Good to see you're moving on up in the world."
"I said s-silence."
Elphaba peered to the side and regarded the guard who'd grabbed her broom marching tensely alongside her.
"Careful with her." Elphaba winked towards her broom which began smacking the guard around with its handle. "She's temperamental."
The journey to The Emerald City was as dull as Elphaba predicted so she passed the time counting all of the ways she could easily escape. The guards were incompetent to the point of hilarity and by the time they reached the dungeon of The Wizard's palace it was thanks to Elphaba's kindness in purposely overlooking her obvious options for escape.
By the time she was thrust into a dimly lit cell in The Wizard's dungeon, she'd already concocted her exit plan. The guards had confiscated her broom and bag and set it just out of reach outside the bars, perhaps attempting to be sadistic, but had not counted on her ability to summon things with magic.
Yes, she would escape The Wizard's palace, but not until her agenda had been met. She'd made a promise to Chistery to make things right, and she was going to make things right. For him, and for the other Monkeys. The Wizard's guard had merely escorted her precisely where she needed to be.
As she assessed her cell, she reminded herself of her mantra, the one she'd repeated to herself during the trip.
I am here to free the Monkeys. That's all I'm here for. I am here to free the Monkeys. That's all I'm here for.
There were times she even believed it, too.
There was a loud click and Elphaba's smugness gave way to dread as she realized that the dungeon lights were going off one by one. She felt terror shiver up her spine and she knelt by the door of her cell, extending her hand throughout the bars to summon her bag across the floor for her emergency matches. It was easy for her to feel high and mighty in the light, but darkness put a wrench in her plans. Before she reached her bag, however, the lights stopped turning out. One lantern remained courteously lit above her cot.
"Oh, thank Oz."
However, her edge was not altogether relieved as the circumference beyond her cell remained in total darkness. She scurried towards her cot so that she may bask in the feeble illumination above it, praying that it'd only hold out, until she heard sudden footsteps bounding down the stairs amidst overlapping voices.
"Alone! Obey my orders! I said I'd see her alone!" a voice commanded.
Elphaba stood on the cot, adjusted her hat, and mustered her imposing pose as the footsteps drew nearer. When the sound of the footsteps stopped in front of her cell, she squinted through the shadows in efforts to see which guard was paying her a visit. Not another sound was made, that is, until a voice called for her from the dark.
"Fae?"
