"Class, please take your seats." said the class instructor, Professor Goban. Elphaba and Galinda sat next to each other and Fiyero walked in late, grabbing the last seat available which was next to Elphaba. He smiled at her and mouthed 'hello' as he sat down. Elphaba smiled as she got her pencil and notebook out. Galinda watched the exchange then she smiled and waved slightly at Fiyero who smiled back which made Galinda feel better. Halfway through class, there was a loud bang as the large oak doors slammed open. Everyone swiveled in their seats to see who came. It was a tall man, wearing a long coat that suggested wealth or the level of a mayor perhaps and about 8 showy rings. Madame Morrible followed behind the man, saying something about, 'let's now deal with this during class,' or 'Not now sir!'. But the man was taking none of it. He looked angry—no—furious and he was storming towards one person in particular, paying no attention to the rest of the class. Elphaba, who was so engrossed in her studies hadn't looked up when the door banged open, so she was taken off guard when a large hand grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her up roughly, knocking her notebook to the ground. She gasped in surprise. The class was silent as they watched. Professor Goban seemed utterly shocked; he wasn't used to people interrupting his lectures.
"Father stop! Let go of me!" hissed Elphaba, struggling to tear her wrist away, but it was useless against his hold, "Please! What are you doing?!"
"Taking you out of Shiz." he growled, dragging her towards the door.
"No!" said Elphaba, managing to pull away from him in her anger.
"What was that?" he said, his voice low and menacing.
"No." repeated Elphaba defiantly. He reached back and struck her hard with the back of his hand across her face. She was thrown to the ground on her hands and knees. The class gasped. Blood began to drip from the scar he'd made on her face. She tried to get up, but he put his foot on her back, forcing her to stay on her hands and knees.
"Father, please!" Elphaba pleaded. She never thought her father would actually hit her in public, but there he was, doing it now, in front of her class mates.
"No! No daughter of mine is taking sorcery!" he spat, "You are a devil child, attacking teachers, and what not."
"It was an accident!" Elphaba cried as her blood stained the floor.
"Yes, that's what you are, an accident!" her father yelled, "Why do you want to stay here anyway? You have no friends! You are green and wicked and I am ashamed to call you my daughter. I can't imagine anyone would ever call you a friend."
"Please, stop." Elphaba said quietly.
"You can prove me wrong if any one of these people come forward to help you, and claim you as a friend. I doubt they will." he hissed. Elphaba listened for someone coming towards her, but she didn't hear anything, not a single footstep. What was she expecting? She closed her eyes, dreading the silence.
"Just as I thought." said her father, "Not a single friend." he kicked her hard and she fell to the ground, crying out in pain. Suddenly she heard the footsteps. Her father looked up. Two people were suddenly by Elphaba.
"Are you okay?" they asked. It was Galinda and Fiyero. Elphaba's heart filled with happiness. They looked behind her at her father.
"We are her friends." they said. Her father threw his head back and laughed.
"I'd be ashamed."
"Well, we aren't." said Fiyero. Elphaba was about to stand up when her father grabbed her by her arm and pulled her up roughly. Then he slammed her against the wall.
"You devil child, you stole a lion and attacked a teacher, using some curse put upon you." he said, slapping her so that she fell again, making a cut on the other side of her face this time.
"Sir, please, could you not!" cried Madame Morrible rushing forward; she had seen enough of this abuse.
"Stay away, this is between my daughter and me." he said.
"Sir! Can't you see you are hurting her?!" cried Galinda.
"That was the point." he growled, glaring at Elphaba, who was sprawled across the floor, "Wickedness must be punished!"
"But she's not wicked!" Fiyero yelled. He hated to see Elphaba's own father treat her so. He had wondered what her father was like, now he knew.
"What are you? The accomplice in her crimes?" said Frex. Fiyero glared at him. Frex leaned down and grabbed Elphaba wrist and pulled her up roughly, then he took her by the neck and held her to the wall, her feet dangling above the ground.
"I can't—can't breathe!" Elphaba gasped as her father stared at her with pitiless, cold eyes.
"Let go of her!" Galinda yelled as tears sprung to her eyes.
"Sir! Release Miss Elphaba!" said Madame Morrible sharply. Frex looked at her and then let go of Elphaba, who fell to the floor, gasping for breath on her hands and knees.
"Come, we are going now." said Frex. He leaned down to grab Elphaba, but she lurched away.
"Don't touch me!" she hissed. Frex was taken aback at first, then he snapped out of it and grabbed her wrist. He twisted it sharply. Elphaba cried out and he painfully pulled on her twisted arm. He opened the door and shoved her out, she fell and he quickly yanked her back up, and then slammed the door behind them. The sound of the door slamming echoed in the large hall and the silence that followed was of shock and disbelief. They could hear the yells that Frex was directing at his daughter as he yelled his threats. They heard him slap her many times, and each time, Galinda and Fiyero flinched. Then they heard Elphaba's blood curling scream and then there was an unearthly silence. Then there was Frex yelling at her to get up. Without thinking, Fiyero ran to the door, running outside. Galinda followed. The class listened, then they heard Galinda.
"OH MY OZ! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
The class hurried to the open door to see what happened. Some people screamed and others gasped when they saw Elphaba lying unconscious on the floor, blood dripping from her side where a knife had gone through her skin. Fiyero and Galinda were knelt down by Elphaba. Tears streamed down Galinda's face and Fiyero carefully pulled the knife out of Elphaba's body.
"You stabbed your daughter?!" yelled Fiyero. Madame Morrible's mouth was still open in silent horror as she stared at the pool of blood Elphaba was lying in.
"What? No, of course not, she tripped and fell into the armor." said Frex, pointing to a suit of armor, covered in Elphaba's blood.
"She tripped, or you pushed her?!" Fiyero yelled.
"Sir, I think you should leave now." said Galinda quietly, brushing a few tears away.
"No, I'm taking my daughter home, she can't get away without facing the consequences." said Frex, as though Elphaba's injury was nothing and that there was still room for punishment.
"We have to get her to the infirmary." muttered Fiyero. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around Elphaba's bloody form and lifted her. She was surprisingly light and easy to carry. Fiyero stared at her lovingly and stroked her hair.
"Hey! What're you doing?!" said Frex, "She'll stop bleeding eventually, no need to go to the school's hospital." said Frex, stepping towards Fiyero. Fiyero took a step back.
"I'm taking her to the infirmary!" he nearly growled. Frex stared at him. Before he could say another word, Fiyero was half-way down the hall, carrying Elphaba. Galinda was soon beside Fiyero, looking at Elphaba with nothing but concern. She turned to glare at Elphaba's father.
"You should be ashamed of yourself sir!" she shrieked as she took Elphaba's limp hand in hers.
"I quite agree!" snapped Morrible, finally coming to her senses.
"As if I give a damn what a friend of Elphaba's thinks." said Frex waving hand in disgust at Galinda, "Or some woman sorceress going against the rules of the unnamed God, the woman teaching my daughter how to commit sin."
"I beg to differ, but sorcery is far from sin!" Morrible said, pursing her lips, she wasn't used to being insulted (As she was the head mistress), at least not to her face.
As Fiyero and Galinda reached the end of the hall, they could still Frex and Morrible yelling at each other. Tears still streamed down Galinda's cheeks, and Fiyero was fighting to keep his back.
"That's—that's just so horrible! How could he do that to his daughter?!" Galinda exclaimed all of a sudden, a new rush of sobs falling down her cheeks.
"Cruelty, her father is just cruel." said Fiyero grimly as Galinda opened the door to the infirmary for him.
"MY OZ!" one of the nurses gasped, "What has happened?!" they cried catching sight of Elphaba's bloody form in Fiyero's arms.
"Her father paid her a visit." said Fiyero, laying Elphaba down on a free bed.
"And he did this to her?!" one cried, rushing to Elphaba's side. They hurriedly began bustling about, cleaning up the blood and then they began stitching her together.
"Will she be alright?" asked Fiyero, he sat down in a chair. Galinda shakily sat down in another.
"She should be fine." said a nurse.
20 minutes later, the nurses were done stitching Elphaba's cuts.
"She's lost an awful amount of blood." one of them said, "But I imagine she'll be fine. She might not wake up for a while though." Then she left, muttering something about a horrible father.
Several hours later, Elphaba woke up. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw Fiyero standing over her. She gasped and tried to sit up, but he pushed her back down.
"Rest." he said.
"Fiyero!" said Elphaba, "You—you came; you said I was your...friend."
"You are my friend Elphaba." said Fiyero, he wanted to add more, but knew he shouldn't.
"And Galinda, she came too." said Elphaba, peering past Fiyero at a sleeping blonde in one of the lobby chairs. She smiled softly. Fiyero nodded.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"I'm fine." said Elphaba, sitting up suddenly. Then she noticed the blood covering Fiyero's shirt, "Fiyero! Are you ok? What happened to you?" she asked.
"I'm fine, this is your blood." he said. He wanted to reach out and hold her, but he didn't want to cross the line.
"My blood?" said Elphaba, "Why do you have my blood on you?"
"Well, after your father stabbed you, I picked you up and brought you to the infirmary." he said.
"Oh, thank you." Elphaba said quietly, "That was nice."
"I can't believe your own father would do that to you." said Fiyero, his eyes filled with pain as he remembered what her father had done to her.
"Oh, he—he didn't stab me, I fell." said Elphaba. Fiyero stared at her, was she really going to defend this man who had treated her so cruelly?
"Elphaba, you could not have fallen so hard as to be stabbed through the flesh by that knife. Your father very clearly shoved you." said Fiyero.
"No, no he didn't, I tripped and fell." said Elphaba quietly, her eyes betrayed her words though as she clearly remembered her father shoving her into the armor. Fiyero was about to protest when the doors to the infirmary slammed open, and Frex stormed in, followed by Madame Morrible and two other people that looked of high importance.
"Elphaba!" Frex yelled, "I want you to tell these people that I did not push you into that damn armor." Elphaba stared at him, she knew she had to lie.
"He—he didn't push me, I fell." she said, keeping her eyes down.
"Ha! See!" said Frex, turning to point at Madame Morrible and the officials, "I would never do that to my own daughter." Elphaba stared at him, she knew that he would, that he did, and this was not the worst he had ever done. She wanted to tell everyone it wasn't true, that he did indeed push her, but she didn't, she knew what was best for her, and Nessa.
"Elphaba, please," began Madame Morrible, "Tell us the truth."
"I am, I just fell, he didn't push me." said Elphaba, "This isn't his fault."
"Elphaba, please." said Fiyero, he knew the truth; he could see it in Elphaba's eyes.
"What do you know? You weren't there!" Elphaba snapped at him. Fiyero looked at her and sighed, there was nothing he could do. He stared at her with pleading eyes, she looked away quickly.
"Elphaba, tell them I would never hurt or abuse you!" ordered Frex.
"My—father would never hurt or abuse me." repeated Elphaba. Fiyero glared at Frex, he couldn't believe he was making Elphaba do this.
"Very well, come to me when you're ready to tell the truth." said Madame Morrible, she left then, the other officials following behind, staring at Elphaba with sympathy. Frex grabbed Elphaba's wrist and twisted it. Elphaba cried out in pain.
"Work on those lies." he spat, "That wasn't nearly convincing enough!" Frex let go of her wrist and slapped her.
"Sir, let her be!" said Fiyero, shoving Frex's hand away.
"You don't breathe a word of any of this." said Frex.
"And if I do?" Fiyero challenged. Elphaba stared at him in horror, he noticed out of the corner of his eye.
"You'd be putting Elphaba through a lot of pain." said Frex threateningly, grabbing Elphaba's wrist and twisting it sharply, she winced and he laughed at her, "I have to go now, so I trust you will keep your word." Frex smiled as he saw Fiyero's face pale at his words. When he was gone, Fiyero looked at Elphaba in horror.
"Would he really hurt you?" Fiyero managed to choke out.
"Please," Elphaba whispered, a tear streaked down her cheek, "Please, just...don't tell anybody."
Fiyero nodded solemnly, "I won't." he promised, then he stared in astonishment as the skin under Elphaba's tear began to burn. She quickly wiped away the moisture with the sheet.
"Damn tears, they burn like fire!" she cried.
"Elphaba, are you allergic to water?" he asked, it sounded, stupid, but that's what it looked like.
"Yes." said Elphaba, "I think I'll go to sleep now, I'm tired." Fiyero nodded as she drifted into sleep. He watched her sleep; it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever witnessed. She breathed softly and relaxed after a while. Hesitantly, he leaned over and held her hand, then he heard the squeak of the chair next to him and Galinda woke up looking flustered as she yawned and rubbed at her eyes. She quickly stopped when she realized she still had on mascara.
"Fiyero dearest," she said groggily, still seaming a little asleep, "Why are we in the infirmary?"
"Elphaba." said Fiyero. Those words brought Galinda back to the present day and time. She bolted up and walked over to Elphaba and held her hand tightly.
"Is she alright?" asked Galinda quietly.
"The nurse said she was going to be fine I think, she got some stitches and she woke up a while ago." said Fiyero, "Madame Morrible and two other officials were just here...so was he father."
"That disgusting man, are you actually telling me he came to see if she was alright?" asked Galinda.
"No, he didn't give a damn about her welfare," said Fiyero, the disgust seething through his words, "He just wanted to make sure that the officials and Morrible believed him when he said that he'd never abused her and that he didn't push her into that armor back there."
"Well, that's quite impossible, because we all know he abused her, and of course he pushed her into that armor!" said Galinda, "At least his in jail now, where he belongs!"
"Actually, he's not in jail," said Fiyero.
"Fiyero dearest, I'm not sure I know what you mean." said Galinda, turning from Elphaba to look at him.
"Well, the officials needed Elphaba to tell them herself that he beat her and did that to her, but..." Fiyero trailed off.
"What?! Why wouldn't Elphaba tell them?" said Galinda.
"Her father wouldn't let her, I don't really know why she didn't tell. After the officials left, he told her she could do a better job of lying and he slapped her. He told me if I told anyone, he'd..." Fiyero trailed off, remembering his words.
"He'd what?" said Galinda, not quite sure she wanted to hear.
"He said if I told anyone...I'd—I'd be putting Elphaba through a lot of pain." said Fiyero, putting his face in his hands. Galinda looked off into space as her lips formed a silent 'oh'. Elphaba's father truly was cruel. Just then, Nessa wheeled herself in, unaccompanied for once.
"Elphaba?" she said, "Is my sister ok?"
"She's healing." said Fiyero.
"What happened?" asked Nessa, wheeling herself over to Elphaba, "Did father come?" Fiyero stared at Nessa, this seemed the obvious answer to her, he wondered how often these sorts of things had happened to Elphaba back at her home. The thought made a shiver run through his spine.
"Yes, your father did indeed come." said Fiyero shuddering at the memory.
"Whatever for?" asked Nessa, taking her sisters hand.
"She used magic to save an innocent Lion Cub and he just blew up and yelled at her for taking sorcery or something along those line." said Fiyero. Nessa immediately dropped her sister's hand and wheeled back.
"She has sinned." said Nessa coldly. Fiyero stared at her in shock.
"Come again?" he said, he couldn't be sure he heard her right. After everything Elphaba had been through, care was the one emotion not shining in Nessa's eyes, the dominating emotion was hate.
"She has sinned." said Nessa, "Like the devil and all those who burn in hell."