A/N: A shout out to my anonymous reviewer! Glad you liked it. Confirmation is ahead on our Munchkin Leader. Thanks!
Chapter 32
Elphaba was still worrying as the day was slipping away. She and Glinda had dug through Morrible's office, finding multiple books, which they read through. The spell had been found but both women were worried about performing it. Morrible had written notes inside the book that raised legit concerns – What happens if the spell backfires? Who controls the combined power – the person creating the object or the person trying to amplify the object?
There was a knock on Morrible's office door and Glinda bade the person to enter. It was Lieutenant Bayram and, in his hands, he held a piece of paper.
"What have you got there?" The blonde asked.
"Word from the Captain via Bird. He believes they have captured Jinjuria. They intend to send him with some men and some Flying Monkeys to the Emerald City. Fiyero intends to press on through to the capital and see if he can help the Munchkin people," he said.
"Believes?" Elphaba raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that seems odd, doesn't it? There is a little more in the note – Chistery smelled him and said that the only person who could smell so clean after a battle was someone who didn't fight in it. They are confirming with those that had been conscripted against their will. They wanted to know if you had different plans for our Munchkin Leader," Bayram had a confused look on his face.
"Um did you say smell?" Glinda gave him a look.
"Chistery and his fellow Flying Monkeys can smell a lot more than we can. I'm guessing that he had an idea," Elphaba smirked.
"All righty. Any thoughts or are you good with their plan?" Bayram wondered.
"I'd really like confirmation they got him before they divert resources back to the Emerald City," the blonde frowned.
"As would I. I saw this being an issue but at the same time, I had no better idea. Mopsi or Popsi could identify him, but I didn't want to expose them either," Elphaba heaved a sigh.
"Could we send them out there disguised and give them an opportunity to look at the prisoner?" Glinda wondered.
"There is a spell we could use to disguise them, but it has to be reversed within a few hours or it becomes permanent. I've always been concerned to try it," her friend admitted.
"Basically, I could get them out there by bubble, but the return trip would be the issue. Ok… that means I have to go with them. We could then bring Jinjuria back and let Fiyero's troops continue onto help Munchkinland," the blonde said.
"You're not going by yourself. I will go with you and Mopsi and Popsi. That way Jinjuria can't try anything on the trip back. Let me get them and we'll take it from there," Bayram told them. Elphaba wasn't thrilled but she nodded and the Lieutenant took off to find the Munchkins.
Fiyero was in his tent, sitting at his desk, surprised that the Bird they sent had not yet returned to their camp. The sun was going down and there would be no advancing in the dark. He had asked Zetti to bring him an update on their wounded and the wounded Munchkins. He'd only been gone for a couple of minutes when he suddenly reappeared in the Captain's tent.
"Captain… we…" he didn't get any words out as Glinda interrupted him.
"Fiyero," the Vinkun bolted out of his seat, completely surprised that the blonde was there.
"Where is the prisoner? We've got to hurry. I'll explain but let's get that identification done," she said. Fiyero nodded and quickly took her out of the tent where he met Bayram and the two disguised Munchkins. He didn't ask any questions but took them over to the prisoner tent.
Mopsi and Popsi were led into the tent by Lieutenant Zetti. The two looked at the man seated in a chair in front of them, guards surrounded the chained-up man. They nodded at each other before exiting the tent.
"You have him," Mopsi confirmed.
"We'll take him to the Emerald City," Glinda nodded. She quickly explained the next steps and the disguises.
"We need some of the wounded to be transported back with you. Some of these Munchkins won't make it to the morning," Zetti butted into the conversation. Glinda nodded.
"How many?" Bayram asked.
"We've got five. The others have wounds that aren't great, but they are survivable with our team here," the Lieutenant told her.
"Ok. I will take the prisoner back and then come back for the others. That'll give our medical team time to prep. It might take a few trips if they all need to lay down," Glinda figured.
"I don't think some of them are going to be able to wait that long," Zetti admitted.
"If we all die because the bubble pops…" she gave him a look.
"Take the prisoner back first. He's the highest priority. We don't want anyone trying to mount a rescue mission to get him back. Talk to Elphaba. She might have some ideas," Fiyero told them. That was their only course of action and so they got to work.
To Be Continued…
