Disclaimer: It seems I do not own Wicked or any of the fabulous characters. Nor do I own any of the ideas that come from L.F. Baum's Oz Books.
Author's Note: Oh boy…I know, I know…It's been forever. Send me hates mail…Maybe it'll get my lazy ass in gear. Anyway, I've been cooking up some crazy ideas and as of yet I haven't been able to figure a way to go about constructing them, BUT now I have. -happy dance- Sorry for the delay. Hopefully chapters will be more fast coming. P Reviews are greatly, greatly appreciated and please provide your input to what you want to happen. You never know what I might ad it. XD
Chapter 6: Just a Spell
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"Turns out Morrible was causing mischief behind our backs…"
Sharp nails rapped against the Quoxwood desk in almost an eerie fashion. The poor girl had shrunk back into the chair, eyes locked on the head mistress' fingers. She swallowed hard. What could Morrible want? She hadn't done anything wrong…right? Sabriel was just about ready to rip her hair out from the tension building in the room when Madame Morrible decided to grace the girl with her voice.
"I have received news from your father…""Lovely…I'm going home for sure. Damn it!" Sabriel growled in her mind, physically clenching her teeth so they ground together in a most unpleasant fashion.
"He wishes for you to return home. That is, to preach with him in Quadling Country," Morrible continued, her eyes boring into the girl's very being. Sabriel ached to yell at Morrible how it was unfair and she deserved to be here a hell of a lot more than Nessarose, but she would not permit herself to talk.
"I was under the impression though, that you enjoyed being here at Shiz,"
Wasn't that true. Sabriel nodded gently. "I've always wanted to attend a school outside of Munchkinland or Quadling Country. Shiz is a dream come true," she told Horrible Morrible, but her words were forced and she tried down to maintain eye contact for too long. A wicked grin appeared on the fish-like woman's lips. This couldn't be good…
"I have a proposition for you Miss Sabriel," Morrible said, smirking at the girl as she spoke. "I will tell your father I would like you to stay at Shiz…that is if you do something for me,"Sabriel raised a brow, sitting up straighter in her chair. "Like what?" she asked suspiciously.
"Just a simple thing. It appears I need a student to do a bit of work for me, but it is top secret, you see. If you agree, I will except you to accept a spell placed over you to keep you from spilling the information," she continued. Morrible was trying to gauge Sabriel's reaction, but the girl appeared stone faced. "Otherwise, you'll be shipped off to your father…."
Her voice trailed off almost in a taunting way. The very sound of the old woman's voice made Sabriel's skin crawl and she was supposed to work for such a vile creature? Though her mind screamed no, she resisted. Being sent back to her father meant more preaching…more down grading…more hell. All she had to do was help out Horrible Morrible and she'd never have to return to her father. But her mind kept coming back to the spell. Sabriel knew better than to dabble in evil magic, which she was sure Morrible planned to use.
"Think about it my darling," Madame Morrible cooed, before shooing the girl off.
Walking down the hall, Sabriel dung her hands into her pockets. Her chewed her lip in a nervous manner. She was so close to staying…just a spell…just a spell away.
X
Elphaba couldn't take much more of this. Galinda was driving her absolutely insane. Night and day she raved about the Winkie Prince. Fiyero this…Fiyero that…It was enough for anyone to go crazy. The green decided to put a stop to it. Plus, the aching feeling in her gut whenever Galinda talked about Fiyero was starting to make her sick.
She had concluded that the hellish fire that burning within her stomach at the mention of Fiyero's name was nothing more than loathing. For Galinda and for Fiyero. Though, she had to admit that pink socialite had grown on her. Even in their state of ignoring each other, Elphaba found some of Galinda's girlish qualities endearing.
But the fact was, Elphaba needed to get Galinda to stop fawning over Fiyero. It was interrupting her studies….
X
"Good excuse,"
"Quiet Sabriel!" Elphaba scowled her chuckling sister.
X
Now all she had to do was find Miss Upland.
X
When Galinda came skipping down the hallway with a gigantic grin on her lips, Sabriel nearly laughed. The girl had such a far-off look in her eyes, it seemed she might fall over any second. Without paying attention, Galinda continued along only to collide with Sabriel's shoulder.
"Whoa there," Sabriel said. Her hand clamped around Galinda's arm just in time to keep the girl found falling. She tugged the girl into a stand position.
"You alright there Miss Galinda?"
Her blue eyes blinked a few times before focusing on Sabriel face. With an embarrassed smile, Galinda hung her head and laughed nervously. Seeing she was okay, Sabriel released the girl's arm.
"I'm sorry…I was just day dreaming I suppose," Galinda said, chancing a glance up at the girl. Sabriel shrugged indifferently.
"It's okay," she assured, as Galinda tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear.
Though they hardly knew each other, Sabriel knew that Galinda knew a thing or two about magic. Maybe the Queen Bee of the social crowd could give her some insight.
"What has you looking so happy this afternoon?" Sabriel asked with a genuine smile.
"Oh!" Galinda exclaimed, the question catching her by surprise. She nervously smoothed out her light blue skirt. Sabriel did ask and she did need to tell someone before she burst. Beaming, Galinda looked up at Sabriel.
"Oh Sabriel," she squealed, not even realizing she had dropped the honorific, "Fiyero has just asked me to accompany him to the Ozdust Ball!"
By this point Galinda was literally bouncing. Raising a brow in an amused fashion, Sabriel surveyed the smiling girl.
"That's wonderful Galinda. I am happy for you," she replied. Rubbing the back of her neck nervously, Sabriel glanced to the floor.
"I was actually wondering…uhm…if you could help me out with something,"
Galinda sobered a bit, tilting her head to one side just slightly and looking at the girl quizzically. She was pondering what in Oz Sabriel would need her help with. Possibly a make-over!
"What is it?" Galinda asked, touching the girl's forearm reassuringly and giving her a true smile.
The Thropp sister shifted uneasily between her feet. Why was Galinda being so nice? It was little unnerving. "Well you see…. I was hoping you could give me a little insight on spells," Sabriel finally said, locking her gaze with Galinda's.
The blonde's eyes immediately lit up. Magic was obviously something that perked her interest. Smiling brightly, Galinda offered her arm to the girl. "I'd love to help. Let's walk," she said.
For a few long moments, Sabriel just stared at the proffered arm. With a sigh, she finally linked arms with Galinda and the shorter girl proceeded to lead her down the hallway with a grin.
"So what seems to be the problem?" Galinda asked, glancing up at Sabriel as they exited the building.
"Well you see," Sabriel started, finally starting to feel comfortable with Galinda on her arm, though her other hand was buried in her pocket yet again. "A friend of mine has a father who doesn't actually want her to be at Shiz and wrote to Morrible about it. He's decided to send her home to…uh…Vinkus…but she really don't want to go. So Morrible offered to write to her father if she agreed to help her out, but Morrible demands that she put a spell on….my friend…so that she will keep the work top secret," Sabriel explained.
Galinda listened, though looked of skeptically every time Sabriel mentioned 'her friend'. She nodded slightly, not exactly finding the idea comforting. Morrible putting a spell on anything couldn't be good.
"So you…I mean, your friend is wondering about this spell?" Galinda asked. Sabriel nodded her response.
For a time, the small girl was quiet. Her brows were furrowed in concentration as she thought and Sabriel couldn't help finding it the tiniest bit amusing. She stared down at the girl the whole time.
"Well," Galinda finally began, "I'd say that anything to do with Horrible Morrible can't be good,"
"Shh…Galinda keep your voice down," Sabriel scolded with a grin, causing the other girl to giggle slightly.
"What I meant to say was, it wouldn't be good to accept such a proposal unless the person knows exactly what the spell entails. And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Madame Morrible lied about the spell's real effects," Galinda explained after she had sobered.
Sabriel considered this for a few long seconds. She hadn't even realized Galinda had lead them into the beautiful gardens of Shiz. "But she really, really doesn't want to go back…" she said after a moment, staring off into the sky.
The girl watched Sabriel for a moment, looking at her with sympathy. It was obvious she was talking about herself and Galinda could see why she didn't want to return after the way she saw how Sabriel's father treated her and Elphaba.
"Elphaba wouldn't approve of any deal made with Morrible," Galinda mentioned. Not realizing that she was blowing her cover, Sabriel nodded.
"You're right…"
The two walked in a peacefully thoughtful silence until Galinda broke it. "Would you really let Madame Morrible cast a spell on you?"
"I-I don't know,"
X
Peeking out the window of her and Galinda's shared bedroom, Elphaba surveyed what she could of the Shiz campus. The entrance to Crage Hall was just to the left and the front gates just to the right. Students were milling around and….
Galinda was on Sabriel's arm.
Elphaba's eyes nearly popped out of her head at the sight. She leaned further out the open window in an attempt to see better. That couldn't possibly be her sister walking with Galinda Upland.
And there the fire was. Burning in her stomach like rain did to her skin. Glaring, she pulled the window shut, succeeding in drawing a large crash. Something was wrong. It had to be a joke. That's it! Galinda was playing a cruel joke on her sister.
With that thought in mind, Elphaba stormed off to stop it.
X
Sabriel paced outside Madame Morrible's office. Her arms were folded behind her back as she debated whether to enter and sign her death sentence. Just moments ago she was walking with Galinda through the gardens and now, here she stood.
Swallowing hard, she reached for the door. Just as she was about to turn the brass knob, a voice drew her attention.
"What are you going to do?" Galinda asked, standing not even two feet away from the girl. Turning, Sabriel shrugged.
"I really don't know yet," she replied.
The two looked at each other for a long moment. Stepping forward, Galinda suddenly drew the girl into a hug. Sabriel's first reaction was to tense, but with Galinda seeming not to care, she eventually relaxed in the embrace. She gently returned the hug.
"Best of luck," Galinda offered, pulling back just enough to look at the girl. Sabriel nodded her thanks before disappearing into the Head Mistress' office.
"What is she doing in there?" Elphaba asked, nearly causing Galinda to jump out of her skin. The green girl completely forgot about her plan to foil Galinda's plans to play a prank on Sabriel. By that point, Galinda had whirled around and had a hand pressed to her heart.
"Elphaba, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"
X
She had just sunk into the chair opposite Morrible's and the woman was giving her a crazy grin that made her want to throw up.
"So, my darling, what have to decided?""Madame Morrible, I'd like to…."