hi peoples! erm... as for the not updating, i'm REALLY sorry. camp, ya know... well, i do believe that it's time for another disclaimer... i, unfortunately do not own any of these characters. Except for Naytala and the mysterious Master. sigh
Shiz:
Glinda could barely take it. Madame Morrible had forced her to meet in her office along with a brooding Nessarose. She recalled the terrible meeting:
"I have received a letter from the Wizard, Miss Arduenna, concerning your… disappearance." She had said. "It is strictly against school rules to go off campus without a permit signed by me, but seeing as how the Wizard has turned all of his attention to you as his assistant, and eventual successor, I will let this slide. But only once." She paused. "Now, I understand that the elder Thropp sister, how might I say this… flew off the handle? It is my analysis that Miss Elphaba is certifiably insane due to her manner of protest to the Wizard's wonderful regime policies. The Wizard's people are looking for her, not to hurt her or arrest her, no. However, since you two seem to know her best, I believe that you will be key in the investigation."
"And what, may I ask, will the Wizard's men do with Elphaba once they have her if they aren't going to detain her.?" Glinda inquired smoothly, her paranoia beating out the trust she once had for the government.
"I truthfully do not know. I've been told to send word to everyone that Miss Elphaba is crazy and that nothing she says should be taken to mind or believed at all. Now. Do you girls have any ideas on where Elphaba might be?" She directed her Carp-like gaze toward Glinda.
"I'm afraid not" Glinda responded, refusing to rat out her best friend. Nessa nodded in agreement.
Morrible sighed dramatically. She looked like she was gulping for air. "Very well. If you DO remember anything that might help the Wizard's investigation, just stop by my office, anytime. You are dismissed."
Even the Headmistress, who only a few weeks ago had been praising Elphaba, was calling her insane. But she's not! Glinda thought furiously. If anything, she's more clearheaded than any of us. Nessa had even believed the propaganda. She refused to listen to any conversation that had to do with Elphaba.
"She's your sister!" Glinda had exclaimed once. Nessa looked at her darkly.
"I have no sister." She replied. "A sister wouldn't abandon the other to gallivant about the Emerald City." She wheeled her self away and wouldn't speak to Glinda for the next few days, which suited her just fine.
The once people-loving Glinda spent her time away from people, shut away in her room. Every so often her old friends Milla and Shen-shen would try to pry her from her books and homework, but with no avail. People were beginning to worry about her and the campus nurse suggested that she be put into therapy. She refused to go.
There was a knock on the door. Glinda sighed heavily, slamming her textbook on the desk. She lumbered toward the door.
"Boq! What a surprise." She stared at the Munchkin boy in the doorway. He was wearing a simple white shirt and nice pants.
"Well, I've been worried about you." He said truly concerned. "We all have. You haven't been out to lunch with us almost since you got back from…" He stopped. He knew that the Emerald City was a tender spot for Glinda.
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm fine." She said quickly. Boq looked unconvinced.
"So, are you doing anything this afternoon?" He asked. There was an adorable hopefulness in his sparkling blue eyes. Glinda couldn't help but smile. Thinking back, this was the first unforced smile she had on her face since Elphaba had gone.
"No, actually." She replied. "Why do you ask?" Boq smiled back at her.
"You owe me a date." He pulled a small bouquet of pink roses from behind his back and handed them to her. Glinda could feel her heart melting in her chest, and a sappy grin forming on her face.
"Boq, you shouldn't have!" She squeaked.
There's the Glinda I know and miss. Boq thought to himself.
"Oh! Come in, come in." She said, leading him into the room. "I'll be back in a minute"
Boq watched her disappear into another room. He sat down on a bed and looked around. He could see an obvious difference between two halves of the room. The side he was on was simple, neat, and fairly empty. The other side was a carnival of colors, shapes, and small messes. He suddenly found himself feeling very sorry for Glinda. It was easier for the rest of them to get used to Elphaba's disappearance, but Glinda had to deal with it all of the time. Every time she was in class, and every time she was in her dorm there were reminders that the quirky green girl they'd come to love was gone.
Glinda rushed back into the room. She froze when she saw Boq sitting on the plain, unused bed.
"Stand up!" She said urgently. Boq stared at her confused. "Quickly! Stand up!" She repeated rushing towards the bed. Boq jumped up and continued to stare at her. She went into a frenzy over the sheets, making sure there were no wrinkles. She was muttering desperately under her breath about how Elphaba always had her bed made perfectly.
"Glinda?" He said quietly, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Glinda, stop. You'll upset yourself more."
She turned to him, her blue eyes wide with distress. He sat her down on her own bed and knelt before her, taking her hands.
"Glinda, this is what I'm talking about. You're worrying me and it really hurts to see you like this." He paused. "I know that there's nothing I can do to replace Elphie, but is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"
Glinda closed her eyes. " I want to feel needed" She whispered. She opened her eyes again to find Boq sitting next to her. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to dump my problems on you, I just—"
"Shh. I know." He said. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and kissed her.
The Emerald City:
Elphaba and Naytala trekked back to the hidden Resistance headquarters. It was getting dark and the streets were bare. Both were still wearing their dark hoods. Elphaba tried to glance under the hood of the other girl with no avail. She was surprised that Naytala could even see with the hood over her eyes.
"How can you see like that?" Elphaba asked breaking the silence. Naytala shrugged.
"I could ask the same of you." She said pointedly. She twisted her mouth, as if she were confused. "Are you sure you're up to this initiation? You look sick."
"I'm perfectly fine."
"Well, if you feel the need to vomit, do me a favor and turn the other way" Naytala said callously. Elphaba ground her teeth. These green jokes are really getting old, she thought to herself. And she doesn't even know I'm actually green.
They reached the grafittied wall and opened the hidden door. Instead of being pitch dark like their earlier visit, the lights were brighter, but cast long, dark shadows everywhere. There were groups of people clustered in the hall, slowly lumbering toward the main room.
"If you want that hood to be of some use, keep your head down" Naytala hissed at Elphaba. Elphaba did as she was advised and pulled her hood lower over her face.
"What" Elphaba began, "Exactly is going on here?"
"Initiation."
"Hazing?"
"No. Just a few tests." Naytala answered.
"Hazing." Elphaba repeated.
"Call it what you want, but you still have to go through with it." She said coldly. "Now , do you see the man at the podium? Go talk to him."
"Is he the 'Master'?" Elphaba asked. Naytala didn't answer. She gently pushed Elphaba toward the podium and disappeared into the crowd. Before stepping up to the podium, Elphaba looked around. The 'room' wasn't much of a room at all. It was more of a large cave. Even the so-called podium was carved from stone. Behind it was a flag. It resembled the Emerald City regal flags, but instead of having a green background, there was a black one, and instead of having a red cross, there was a green one.
"Excuse me" A voice called behind her. "Are you Fae?"
She turned around to face the figure swathed in burgundy robes. She recognized the voice as the mysterious 'Master'. She nodded.
"Very good then. I assume that you want to know what is going to happen tonight." He said. She waited for him to continue. "We usually have a series of tests that we have new members complete before they are accepted as part of the Resistance, but seeing as our organization has become a bit busy and short-handed in the past few weeks, you will only have one. This test must be completed in two weeks. Have you heard the news of the green woman who stole the Wizard's spell book, the Grimmerie?"
"Who hasn't?"
"Right. Find her." He said firmly. "The last we heard, she was still hanging around the Emerald City. Check around the slums. Do you think that you can handle this?"
"It's possible" She chose her words carefully. "When I do find her, what should I do?" She felt odd talking about herself in the third person, but she didn't want to turn herself into the group before finding out what they wanted with her.
"Bring her here. She could be valuable to our cause. Naytala will be assisting you, but she has her own project to attend to. If you have any other questions, find her. You may leave"
She nodded and turned to leave. This was going to be a bit difficult. She didn't bother looking for Naytala. If she wants to find me, she can just barge into my house again. She glanced quickly around at the other members of the Resistance. She couldn't see any faces. Just cloaks, hoods, scarves, and the occasional mask.
Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a trace of blue diamonds. She whipped around, scoring odd looks (or what seemed like them) from the disguised figures. There were no diamonds in sight. Ugh! Could this get any harder for me? She thought with angst. She walked briskly out of the cave, back into the cold, grey streets. She hobbled deliberately back to the corn exchange. She slammed the door behind her and let out a heavy sigh.
"What in Oz's name do these people want with me? First the Wizard turns out to be a dictatorial bastard who more than likely wants me dead for taking some book, now a cultish anarchist group is looking for me to do who knows what." She closed her eyes tightly and pressed her fists to her forehead. What have I gotten myself into? She heard a noise behind the door and froze.
"Who's there?" She demanded in a low voice, walking briskly to the door, ready to swing it open wide.
"The better question is, who's in there?" Naytala's voice answered, kicking the door open. She looked ready to pounce on someone. "Fae?" She asked slowly.
"Who else?" Elphaba snapped. "Now, was that really necessary, putting a crack in my door?"
Naytala ignored her. "I came to discuss your project, but from what I heard, it sounds like you already completed it. Now where is she?"
"Who?" Elphaba tried to cover.
"The green girl. Are you slow?" Naytala began searching the room.
"There's no one else here." Elphaba assured her.
"That's what you say." She continued to turn the place upside down searching for 'the green girl'. She was about to turn over the coffee table, on top of which were Elphaba's most prized possessions.
"STOP!" Elphaba yelled. Naytala turned and stared at her. A malicious smile played across her lips.
"Tell me where she is and I will"
Elphaba took in a deep breath. "On one condition: You don't turn her in until she knows exactly what the Resistance wants with her and what they'll do with her if she joins."
Naytala glared at her. "Fine."
"Promise it"
"I promise already!" She said irritated.
Elphaba sighed and removed her hood. Naytala didn't react.
"Can't you see?" Elphaba exclaimed.
"You took off your hood. Is that supposed to mean something?" She replied.
"Take a closer look."
Naytala move forward slightly and frowned. She muttered something to herself and took off her own hood. Her eyes widened and she gasped.
"You? The whole time…shit" Her eyes flashed yellowish even in the dark room. They seemed to have their own little glow to them. Elphaba squinted at her. There's something strange about her eyes… She noted. Something familiar.
Naytala caught her staring and threw her hood back on. "What?" She snapped. She sighed. "We'll talk about your dilemma tomorrow. But I'm telling you, there isn't much that the group wants from you but to help overthrow the Wizard. It's mostly the book that we want to see."
"What's so important about the book?"
"Well… We don't quite know. That's why we need to see it." She replied slowly. "But there are stories about the Grimmerie. They say that it holds countless ancient spells. The problem is, it's protected by magic. Only a few people can read it."
"What if no one can read it?"
"Ye of little faith…" Naytala smirked. "We'll find someone."
Elphaba looked at her questioningly.
"Don't worry about it now. We'll have a nice long conversation about everything tomorrow." She said as she let herself out the door.
As Elphaba heard the outside door close, she flopped down on her bedroll. She waited for drowsiness to take over, but it didn't. She cast a sidelong glance at the coffee table and the things on it. I'm not going to let her use those as a threat again… She got up and gathered everything in her arms, setting them in front of the trunk beside the bedroll. Carefully, she opened the trunk. Inside there were a few scarves. She picked up a scarf, feeling the softness of the fabric, seeing the beautiful simplicity of it. She wrapped the scarves carefully around her mother's little green bottle, so it wouldn't break or crack, and placed it in the trunk. Beside that, she put the books, both the Grimmerie and 'Kumbricia's book' (as she had come to call it). She looked at the last item remaining. The looking glass from Turtle Heart.
She recalled gazing into it as a child for hours at a time. It dawned on her that she didn't remember why it intrigued her so, since she'd shut it away the day Turtle Heart was killed. Her reflection had always bothered her, so, what did she find so captivating in THIS looking glass? She sat upon her bedroll, gazing into the lightly scratched, smudged surface. Her reflection looked back at her, almost scrutinizing. Her dark hair was pulled into a loose braid that fell over her shoulder, and worry lines were forming on her young face. Her sharp nose fit her chiseled face gracefully. She scoffed. Perhaps if I were of normal color, I might actually look okay. She brought her gaze up until she was looking straight into her own eyes. Determination, confusion, and blankness. That's what was there, but what she saw was a stupid girl who ran away from a life full of opportunities to live in the slums working for an anarchist group. Damn it. I wish I knew what's been happening at Shiz without me.
Slowly, the shadows in the reflection began to take over the rest of the picture. Another picture formed in its place. There was Glinda, sitting at her desk, mumbling to herself while staring intently at a book. Was she…studying? There must be some mistake. Elphaba thought to herself. Glinda doesn't study. She tried to fit the pieces together. Maybe that's why I loved this mirror so much. It showed me what I wanted to see. So maybe…hmm. Boq. She thought, hoping that another image would appear. It did. She saw her Munchkin friend lying lazily on a bed, talking to an unseen person. She squinted. That's Glinda's bed. She realized. The frame zoomed out to reveal the two images she just saw simultaneously. Not in a million years could that happen. Only in one of my crazy warped dreams would Glinda let Boq into her room AND be studying at the same time. She smirked. She was beginning to like this little game. She decided that she'd 'check up' on people at Shiz to see what this 'magic' mirror would conjure up to ease her mind. Um…She thought for a moment, the grinned almost maliciously. Avaric. The picture rearranged itself so that she saw Avaric sitting at one of the tables in the courtyard surrounded by a group of girls that Elphaba had labeled as 'easy', early on in the year. Well that wasn't as entertaining as I thought it would be. That's just to be expected of Avaric…Oh well, Nessarose. The picture changed again. She saw Nessa in her wheelchair, being pushed by Nanny. They were in front of the only church within walking distance of Shiz. Elphaba rolled her eyes at this. Little Nessarose, ever Frex's religious puppet. She paused in her thinking. Fiyero. Once again, the images faded out to reveal another. She saw him sitting at a desk, a frustrated look on his face. He crinkled the sheet of paper in front of him into a ball and threw it over his shoulder. Elphaba smiled. He slammed his pencil on the table with an exasperated sigh. He reached into a drawer and pulled something out, just as the picture started to fade back to her own reflection.
Elphaba found herself disappointed when the looking glass stopped showing the little movies of her friends. She tucked the small mirror into her cloak. She noticed the bright moon peeking through the skylight. She heard the clock tower chime the hour. Two in the morning. Had she really been up that long staring at Turtle Heart's trinket? She sighed, laying her head down upon the pillow on the bed. She fell asleep almost immediately, dreaming of her friends back at school.
Astronomically-sized thank yous go to Annibelle White, Tristessa the Crazy Emo of the South, and Azulah Lilavati Wallace (but not so much to her, since she didn't REALLY read) for looking over this before I posted. I owe you!
I'd also like to thank the people who actually review, because reviews make me happy, even if they're criticism (well, constructive)