Chapter 11: Dies Irae

The day was drawing close, sooner than anyone had expected. The Wizard's offer had been rejected, and he wasted no time in setting the day for execution. Justice in the Emerald City was often displayed in the city square, the same square where just days ago, the Festival of Fools had bathed it in multicolor light. Now the stage had been converted; a pyre now stood in the center, piercing above the thatched roofs and brick-lined business. Soldiers worked throughout the night, surrounding the pyre with layers of wood. It didn't take long for someone to see, and a whisper shot through the city like lightning.

For at dawn, a gypsy was going to burn.

"You have to do something!"

Glinda sat on the balcony, staring down onto the city. For the past few hours, she watched the pyre become larger and larger, and more and more people had begun to crowd around, waiting for the show. In a matter of hours, maybe less, her friend, her only friend, would be burned alive.

"There's nothing I can do." Glinda had sat there on that balcony in total silence, after spending most of the night combing through the Grimmerie. She had studied the book only in her lessons, and despite all her might, she could not find something that could help her. Even if something could, she didn't have the knowledge to read and translate it. After many frustrating hours of reading and rereading, she had thrown the Grimmerie across the room with a howl and every bit of strength she could muster. Glinda had done her share of crying since then, and, screaming, sobbing, and pleading, but now there was nothing left. She could feel nothing other than the torturous emptiness that made her heart feel like it was made of stone. She hadn't even acknowledged her maids, who, with no soldiers around to watch them, had raced into her room to plead with her.

"But you can!" Azra cried. "You have magic! You can help! You can do it because you're Glinda!"

"I can't help," replied the blonde. "I'm the one that started this. If I wouldn't have snuck out in the first place, none of this would have happened. I only make things worse."

"Glinda, no," Victoria had stepped onto the balcony, and placed her hand on Glinda's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault".

In one fluid motion, Glinda slapped Victoria's kind hand off of her shoulder and jumped up, the seething, furious anger emanating from her tiny form.

"You're a liar!" she growled, a pale finger pointing sharply at her maid. "It is my fault! I ruined everything! And it's because…"

The blonde stopped, feeling hot, hotter than she had ever felt in her. Her rage felt wild inside her, like a cannon ready to fire, and she aimed it at the three women who up until recently, had been the only kind contact of friendship she had.

"It's because of YOU!" she snarled in her own realization. "YOU all encouraged me to leave. YOU encouraged me to go out! If you wouldn't have given me the idea, I would have never bothered and NONE of this would have happened! IT's YOUR FAULT!"

Glinda didn't even see the elderly woman approach her until she felt the sharp sting of a slap across the face.

"That's ENOUGH Glinda," Laverne said sternly. "You didn't belong here in this prison. Yes, we believed you should go out. Yes, we did encourage you. But as you said, you are not a little girl anymore and you made your own choices. It's not your fault that these things happened, nor ours. You need to get yourself together because right now, there is nothing the three of us can do to help, or we will be snuffed out just as fast as your green friend. The choice to do something is absolutely and solely in your hands."

At this point, Glinda, tired and horrified and grieving and overwhelmed, could only laugh.

"Right, me. I'm the only one. Because if I remember correctly, the last few attempts have not been very successful. I go to the festival, I get attacked. I try to help Fiyero, and I get us captured by the gypsies. I try to help Elphaba's people, and I lead my father right to their hiding place! I befriend Elphaba, and now she's going to die. I'm useless! I can't do anything to help! I'm useless! I might as well be one of the statues in the grand hallway!"

Glinda's breath caught in her throat, half way between a snigger and a sob.

"Just go," she said, voice cracking. "Just leave me alone. If I have to watch my friend die, I want to be alone."

The three maids could only look at each other in silence, and with a nod to each other, they departed. Only Laverne stayed back in the doorway just a moment, her eyes catching the silhouette of the young woman curled up against the railing of the balcony.

"You know, Ms. Glinda, I have to say, I thought you were stronger than this."

The bedroom door closed with a bang. Glinda laid her forehead against the cold stone, trying to deep breath through the intense waves of sadness that had were washing over her. With her anger fading, along with the intense heat crawling over her skin, she felt very cold, and also very small. She must have also felt very tired, because suddenly there was light, and a commotion coming from the city. She sat up, rubbing a very sore spot on her forehead that had remained pressed against the balcony.

In horror, she realized there was a figure, green skinned and clothed in the beige garment of a prisoner, tied to the stake. A large cage, large enough to hold a bear, was nearby, and even from that high of a distance Glinda could tell that it was Captain Fiyero himself, forced to watch his love burn alive behind a set of bars.

I can't help them. I can't do anything. I only make things worse.

A crowd had gathered for this execution, as they did for all executions. However, maybe because of anti-gypsy sentiment, or maybe because she was green, the crowd was larger and rowdier than Glinda had ever seen. The noise of the crowd could not cover a wail, a wail of anger and sorrow, that floated along the air above the river and into Glinda's ear. She could hear Fiyero's heart breaking from hundreds of miles above.

I can't. I can't. I can't save them.

Glinda saw her father, the man she had loved for so many years but had now come to hate, standing on the stage, the same stage where he first laid eyes on Elphaba.

" Citizens of the Emerald City!" his amplified rose rang over the crowd. "The prisoner has been found guilty of entering the city illegally, stabbing a Gale Force soldier, kidnapping, public displays of lewdness, and witchcraft! The sentence is death!"

Glinda felt her heart squeeze inside her chest. Every emotion she could feel at that moment hit her all at once: sorrow, fury, anger, disappointment, rage, betrayal, and helplessness. The emotion was so overwhelming that she stopped breathing, and after several moments, started to see blackness over coming her vision. She felt herself wavering, until the static shot through her core and sent everything back into blinding focus. She sat up sharply, the hair on her arms standing straight up. She swore that even the hair on her head was standing straight up!

While Glinda had used her magic before, she never really felt like she could control it, like it was hers. Until, now, that is, as she felt her magic ripple under skin, she let it settle into her bones, into the deepest part of herself. She wasn't weak, she wasn't helpless. Yes, she was scared, but for the very first time, she felt the magic become part of her. It belonged to her, and she was powerful.

The walked up to Elphaba, and whispered something in her ear. He jumped back with a start, and then turned away from Elphaba. Glinda figured that, knowing Elphaba, she probably spit on him, which was well deserved.

"For the justice of the realm and the salvation of our dear city, it is my duty to send this demon back to hell where she belongs!"

The Wizard, with wide, powerful steps, thundered across the stage and snatched a burning torch from one of the Gale Force soldiers, and with no hesitation, lit the pyre.

"ELPHABA!" Glinda screamed. "ELPHABA! NO!"

And in this moment, Glinda finally came to the intense realization that she indeed was the only one who could save Elphaba.

With every ounce of bravery that she had, She pulled herself up onto the balcony, standing high above the city that used to be a dream. This would give any normal person vertigo and a very intense fear of falling, but not Glinda. She held out her arms, closed her eyes, and the let the heat take her over. She pictured the square in her mind's eye, and just as the smell of smoke filled her nostrils, she jumped.

When Glinda's feet touched the ground again, she was face-to-face with not only the entire city, but her father.

Mouth open and contorted, he could only point and utter one word:

"HOW?"

Glinda wanted to take him down with every fiber of her being, but at that point, he was not a priority. The smoke smacked her in the face, causing her to choke. The flames had already multiplied, whipping themselves into a frenzy, a bonfire so large that Glinda could no longer see Elphaba. Glinda put her hands up to the sky and started chanting. When she learned it, it was just enough to create a small amount of wind. Madame Morrible tested her by making her snuff out a candle. It took a few tries, but she remembered how excited she was when it worked and how proud Morrible was of her.

The wind she created now was much stronger, swirling the smoke into a thick, black tornado. She shot the tornado out behind her, causing the crowd to topple backwards and hit the ground. Now that she had a better view of the flames, she sent a blast towards the wood, sending the flaming pieces into the sky. The citizens screamed at seeing the burning wood hurling towards them, and took off as fast as they could. The Wizard must have also high-tailed it out of there, for her was no where to be seen. With a flick of her wrist, the door of Fiyero's prison flew open, and in a heartbeat he was on top of what was left of the pyre and untying Elphaba.

"We need to get her out of here!" cried Fiyero. He emerged from the pile, Elphaba unmoving in his arms. The flames had not got close enough to do more than burn the edges of her dress, but her green skin was covered by a layer of black, and she lay limp against Fiyero's chest.

"Captain!" Avaric was on the stage, with a small band of soldiers behind him. "Captain Fiyero, we need you! We need to hold off the Wizard's allies so we can capture him!"

"Capture?" said Glinda and Fiyero at the same time.

"The Wizard is a traitor to his people," replied Avaric. "He is using us for his own person and perverted bidding. The Gale Force is meant to serve the city, not one master! We've broken off into our own faction and we're going to take the Wizard ourselves. Once we annoucne the truth, the people will decide his fate."

Fiyero looked down at Elphaba, who had coughed slightly and curled into him. He stared her for a moment, and then made intense eye contact with Glinda. With his sadness showing in his gaze, se opened his embrace, leaning the injured gypsy towards the blonde.

"Take her," he said softly. "Take her somewhere safe and care for her. Please."

Glindafelt her throat tighten as she nodded, and Fiyero passed the green girl into her arms. Before he fully let go, he ran his hand down Elphaba's cheek and gently placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I love you, Elphaba. I always will."

Elphaba fell into a violent fit, her whole body convulsing with each haggard cough from her smoke-filled lungs. Glinda held her tighter and shut her eyes, with the last burst of magical energy she had, returned the two of them to the same balcony where their friendship fully formed. Just days ago, Glinda had shown Elphaba the view from there for the first time. Now, she held her friend as she straddled life and death.