Morrible sat on the throne, her fingers drumming one of the ornately decorated arms not so much impatiently as contemplatively. Nevin had never used this room and, from the look of things, neither had Glinda. Not past getting rid of the mechanical contraption that used to dominate the space. And she couldn't understand why. This had always been one of her favorite rooms at the palace. Maybe that was because she spent so much time here conspiring with the Wizard.

A wistful grin played across her lips. Oh how she missed him. He may have seemed like nothing more than a pawn for the Merchant's Council to some, but she knew the truth. He proved to have a backbone the day he came to Shiz and approached her about keeping an eye out for someone who could read the Grimmerie. It didn't hurt that he offered to share the spoils if they found a way to harness the power of the ancient text to dismantle the council and rule Oz without their interference. And they would have succeeded if not for Elphaba. It figured the only person who could read the Grimmerie would have a conscience and decide to run away with the book when she realized the Wizard wanted her for purely selfish reasons.

Of course at the time the Wizard didn't realize he was the girl's father. Once everyone thought the Witch was dead and Glinda revealed the truth he turned into nothing more than a quivering mass of grief and regret over what he did to her. It made her sick to think about it. Her son was lying in his room right now in a comatose state he would never wake from but you didn't see her becoming despondent or carrying on the way he had. Then again she was the one who slipped Nevin the living death potion in the first place. But it was the principle of the matter. If you wanted something bad enough you did whatever it took to accomplish it. And she had.

She was the sole ruler of Oz. Thanks to Nevin the council was wrapped around her little finger. She didn't have to answer to anyone.

Her grin became a full fledged smile. Yes, she was finally where she belonged. And she had no intention of ever losing the power she now wielded. They would have to cart away her cold, dead carcass before that happened.

"Madame?"

Her head snapped up when she heard the voice. The sergeant who had served as Nevin's second in command was standing there, head bowed in anticipation of her acknowledging his presence.

"Yes?"

"I…" The man swallowed hard as he looked up at her, quickly diverting his eyes when he realized she was staring directly at him. "I have news of the mounted troops you requested."

Morrible resisted the urge to laugh at his reaction to her. "Well, out with it."

"Oh." His face flushed. "I…" He fumbled with a piece of paper in his hand before holding it out to her.

"Do I look like I'm in the mood to read?" She snapped. "Just tell me what it says."

"All right." The sergeant nervously cleared his throat as he unfolded the message. "They are less than two hours away from Upland Manor and will report in again once they reach their destination."

"Excellent." Morrible's smile stayed in place. Perhaps luck would be on her side and the officers would get there before Elphaba and Glinda had a chance to reclaim the Grimmerie.

The new palace doctor had just made the announcement that Nevin would probably never wake up again when a message arrived from Nevin's contact bearing the news that the Grimmerie was hidden in Glinda's room at Upland Manor. She took a moment to appreciate the fact that the blonde was smart enough to hide it somewhere other than the palace before she ordered mounted troops be sent to the Uplands immediately.

And maybe all the time she spent studying ancient languages in Southstairs would help her unlock the secrets of the book for herself. If not, at least Thropp wouldn't get her hands on it again.

"Where's Captain Nevin? I have an urgent message for him."

She looked up again to see a disheveled, breathless man talking to the sergeant. "Who in Oz are you?"

"A soldier, ma'am." He was little more than a boy, but he wasn't afraid to look her in the eye. "Part of the force Captain Nevin sent to kill the Wicked Witch and rescue Lady Glinda. I have what I guess you could call a progress report for him."

Morrible's nostrils flared at the mention of her son's misguided plan. "Proceed."

"Sorry ma'am, but my orders are to report directly to Captain Nevin."

"The captain is sick." The sergeant informed him. "But this is Morrible, his co-ruler."

"Oh." The boy looked impressed. "Then I guess I can tell you."

"How kind of you." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Hurry up, I don't have all day!"

The sergeant almost jumped out of his skin but her outburst didn't seem to affect the boy in the least. "No one knows how, but one minute we were leading a charge into the cavern where the Witch had Lady Glinda and the next we were on the practice fields on the other side of the city."

Morrible frowned. "Explainify yourself more clearly."

"It's just like I said. One second we were there," he pointed at a spot in the air with his finger, "and the next we were way over here," he pointed to another spot several feet from the first one. "I was sent ahead to report what happened."

"How many men were there?"

"Fifty. But only forty-nine of us made it back. Our lieutenant wasn't with us when we attacked."

"And how far away was the cavern?"

"Not too far." The boy answered. "Ten, maybe fifteen miles from the city limits. It took us so long to get there because of all the flooding from the rains. There's only one road in and part of it washed out so we had to…"

"And where are these practice fields you were referring to?"

"Twenty miles in the other direction. I would have been here sooner, but we didn't have any horses so I had to run and…"

She tuned him out, her mind occupied with something much more pressing. How was it possible for Elphaba to transport a whole Gale Force squadron from the cavern to the practice fields the boy was talking about? Even the most seasoned sorceresses or witches had a hard time performing that kind of transportation spell, let alone someone as young as Thropp. Maybe she had help. Certainly not from Glinda. She herself had seen how weak the blonde's powers were when she didn't have her precious wand. That's why she took it upon herself to destroy the hideous thing when she came across it in her search of Glinda's rooms.

It had to be the other witch then. The one the tin man described to Nevin. And things had just gotten a lot more interesting if she was powerful enough to help Thropp with a spell like the boy was describing.

She glared at the two men before her when she realized they were still there. "Get out of my sight!"

The younger man looked confused by her reaction so the sergeant gripped his arm and pulled him out of the room. The instant the door shut Morrible was on her feet pacing. She needed the Grimmerie now more than ever. She couldn't leave her fate in the hands of the Gale Force troops she had sent. No, she had to fight fire with fire.

She was going to Upland Manor to get the book herself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is crazy." Fiyero shook his head. "No, crazy doesn't even begin to cover it."

Elphaba sighed. "Yero…"

"Don't even try to make this make sense, Fae, because even someone as smart as you can't do it."

"Keep your voice down." Lion warned him.

"What?" Fiyero gave the cat a look. "All I'm saying is you've all survived two Gale Force attacks by sticking together and now you want to split up?"

"It's not so much that we want to split up," Glinda corrected him, "as we need to."

Fiyero narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Didn't we just go over this?" Elphaba was getting impatient.

Glinda put her hand on her love's arm in an attempt to keep her calm. "Because Betak wants to take Milynn to Munchkinland to be buried and we need to go to Upland Manor to get the Grimmerie."

"And you can't do one and then the other because…" Fiyero waited for someone to fill in the blank.

"They're both time sensitive." Breena finally spoke up, not looking at any of them as she watched Betak wrapping Milynn in blankets for their journey. "Munchkins, especially older ones like Betak, believe that the dead need to be laid to rest within twenty-four hours of their death or their souls can't move on to the afterlife. And we need to get to the Grimmerie before Nevin and Morrible. Leto…" She clinched her jaw as his name passed her lips. "He was here when Glinda told us where it was hidden. We don't have any way of knowing if he got that information to Nevin or not."

"How could he?" Fiyero shrugged. "It was pouring outside and…"

"That's not the point." Elphaba spoke over him. "We can't afford to let the Grimmerie fall into Morrible's hands."

Glinda nodded. "And we can't deny Betak's request."

Lion nodded too. "So we have to split up."

Fiyero sighed. "It still doesn't make sense to me."

"Well it does to the rest of us so you're just going to have to deal with it." Breena glanced at Elphaba. "She's almost done. I need to go hitch the horses to the wagon."

Elphaba turned on the scarecrow as Breena walked away. "Damn it, Fiyero! You couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? You just had to keep pushing!"

"Wha…"

"Like she wasn't upset enough already."

"I…"

"Shut up!"

Fiyero looked confused as she stormed after her cousin. "What did I do?"

"You're an ass." Lion answered.

"Are you kidding me?" Fiyero looked to Glinda for some kind of guidance when Lion went to be with Betak.

"He's right. You were being an ass." The blonde agreed but stayed where she was. "Do you honestly think Elphie doesn't want to be with Breena right now? They're family, Fiyero. But they both realize they're doing what they have to do. Why can't that be enough for you?"

"I…"

Glinda raised her hand to silence him. "That was a rhetorical question."

He shook his head again as she followed Elphaba. "I think ass was a little harsh."

Elphaba was calling him a few other choice words as she left the cavern. Why did he have to keep harping on the fact they were splitting up? Why couldn't he just take their decision for what it was and leave them alone? Didn't he realize how hard this was? Couldn't he see it was eating her up inside?

She frowned when she saw one horse hitched to the wagon but no sign of Breena or the other horse.

"Elphie?" Glinda's heart broke at the look on the green woman's face. "Come here, my love."

Elphaba didn't have to be told twice. She put herself in the blonde's arms, burying her face against her shoulder. "I don't know if I can do this."

"We don't have to." Glinda held her close for a while before saying, "We can still go to Munchkinland."

"No you can't." Breena walked by them with the errant horse in tow.

"Bree?" Elphaba lifted her head when she heard her cousin's voice.

"I know you said Morrible couldn't read the Grimmerie before, but she was strong enough to pull a house from another dimension without it. I'd hate to see what she could do on the off chance she learned the language of the book. And I want to go with you to make sure she doesn't get anywhere near it, I really do, but I can't." She worked as she talked, trying to keep her hands busy. "Betak has been there for me too many times for me to let her down now. And…" She swallowed hard, tears swimming in her eyes. "I loved Milynn. I need to honor that by being there for her too."

"Breena." Glinda whispered her name, knowing exactly what it felt like to lose your best friend.

"Please don't, Glinda." Breena finished with the horse. "Let's just get ready to go so everyone can… can…" A lone salt drop careened down her cheek. "Damn it!" She wiped at it angrily. "I'm so tired of crying!" She shook her head as Elphaba started toward her. "Elly, you heard what I just said to Glinda."

"Yes I did, but I can't just stand there and watch while you're hurting Bree."

"But…"

"You wouldn't if it was me. So just be quiet and come here." Elphaba pulled her into a hug.

It only took Breena a moment to melt into the embrace. "This isn't how it was supposed to be, Elly."

"I know." Elphaba shut her eyes, glad Bree was accepting her affection but wishing there was more she could do for her.

Glinda swallowed a lump in her throat as she watched their interaction. She wanted to share her suspicions with them in the worst way, but now was hardly the time or the place. Everyone's emotions were too raw for something like that.

"Fiyero's right." The sound of Elphaba's voice broke the silence that had fallen over them. "We should stay together."

"No." Breena pulled back to look at her. "We're both doing what we have to do. We might not like it, but that's the way it is. And it's not like we'll be apart for very long. You two are just going to go to Upland Manor, grab the book and then join us in Munchkinland. No stops along the way for a quickie or anything, right?"

"Breena!" Elphaba blushed.

"Sorry." Breena grinned. "We were getting a little too serious there for a second."

Elphaba shook her head but returned the grin. "And we couldn't have that, could we?"

"Of course not." Breena pulled out of her cousin's arms. "Thanks, Elly."

"For what?"

"Being you."

"Who else would I be?"

"You could…" The sparkle left Breena's eyes and her face fell as she looked toward the cavern.

Elphaba followed her gaze to see Lion walking toward them with Milynn's shrouded body cradled in his arms. She instinctively reached over and grabbed Breena's hand.

"We're ready." Betak announced as she followed him toward the wagon, Fiyero trailing behind her.

Breena squeezed Elphaba's hand. "Promise me you'll take care of yourselves."

"We will." Elphaba nodded.

Breena held her gaze a moment longer before going to help Lion put Milynn in the wagon.

"I'll try to keep her out of trouble, but I can't make any promises." Betak stopped in front of her. "Be careful."

Elphaba gladly accepted the old woman's hug. "We will be."

Fiyero gave Glinda a baleful look. "Am I forgiven enough to say goodbye?"

"I wasn't mad at you, Fiyero." Glinda pointed out. "Frustrated maybe, but not mad." She put her arms around him. "We'll see you soon."

"You promise?"

"She promises." Elphaba answered for her as she joined them.

"Fae…"

"Let it go, Yero. I have." She gave him a hug. "Be safe."

"You too."

"Come on straw head." Lion called to him from the back of the wagon as he and Breena helped Betak in. "I'd come down there and say goodbye, but it's really more of a see you soon, so what's the point?"

Glinda gave him a half smile. "Take care of them."

"I will." He nodded.

"I'll be back." Breena grabbed Elphaba's broom from where it was leaning against the wagon, passing Fiyero as she went back to Elphaba and Glinda. "Your personal version of a carriage."

Elphaba took the broom. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Breena put her arms around her. "Hurry."

"We will." Elphaba held her with her free arm.

Breena turned to Glinda as the blonde sniffled. "Come here." She pulled her into the embrace. "Watch each other's backs." Breena gave them one last squeeze. "And no crash landing in the Upland's tomatoes."

Elphaba watched her climb into the front of the wagon. "Let's go."

Glinda eyed the broom wearily as she wiped tears from her cheeks. "Are you sure this thing is safe?"

"Absolutely." Elphaba straddled the handle. "Just get behind me and hold on tight. We'll be there before you know it."

"If you say so." Glinda put herself into position behind her love. "How do you… Oh!" She squealed as Elphaba pushed off from the ground and they started to move upward.

Elphaba couldn't help but grin. "What were you saying?"

"Nothing." Glinda plastered herself against Elphie's back.

"See you in Munchkinland." Breena called from the driver's seat of the wagon.

Elphaba waved.

Glinda tightened her grip around the green woman's waist. "Can you please keep both hands on the broomstick?"

Elphie chuckled as they climbed higher and started in the opposite direction as the wagon. "What are you so afraid of?"

"I hate heights."

"This from the girl who flies around Oz in a bubble?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"It surrounds me."

"It's a bubble. It could pop any time, then what would you do?"

"Great." Glinda growled. "I guess I'll be walking from now on."

Elphaba grinned again and opened her mouth to reply when a face filled her mind.

Morrible sneering.

Glinda frowned when she felt her lover tense. "Elphie?"

Breena glaring.

"What's wrong?"

Another woman watching, mesmerized, as the two witches faced off.

"Can you hear me?"

Morrible sidestepping a spell.

"Elphaba Thropp, answer me!"

Breena trying to help the other woman up.

"Elphie, please." Glinda started to panic as the broom veered haphazardly from side to side.

Morrible gesturing with her hands, hitting Breena with some sort of spell that hurled her across the room.

"Elphie!"

Breena staggering to her feet only to be hit again.

Glinda shook Elphie. "Snap out of it!"

Morrible laughing as she threw her hands forward, trapping Breena in a whirlwind that crashed through a wall and kept on going until it was out of sight.

"Elphie?" Glinda tightened her grip when Elphaba went limp. "Elphie?!" She swallowed hard as the broom hurtled toward the ground. "Great Oz!

She buried her head against Elphaba's back, one thought going through her mind as the earth rushed toward them… They weren't anywhere near her parent's vegetable garden.