Hello, everyone! Now, about the first Nia, congratulations to Elphaba'sGirl, The Wizard Of Wicked and woodland59 for guessing correctly, but Elphaba'sGirl was first, therefore, she is the winner of the one-shot prompt choice. CONGRATULATIONS! The names of the generals are elements on the Periodic Table. What? I take Chemistry in school this year. What did you expect?
I'mFlyingHighDefyingGravity: You don't want an angry Elphaba on your case, especially if you're her daughter.
Ultimate Queen of Cliffies: Hmm… a Hans? Yes, I believe I am. And yes, I'm mean. I'm very, very mean. I'm the Wicked Queen of Referencing. That's my new nickname!
From now on, you all may call me 'Your Majesty'. BOW DOWN BEFORE THE QUEEN! Go on, do it! Also, I changed my profile pic, since I'm now a Queen.
"Are you sure about this, Your Highness?" General Vanadium asked Fiyero as they walked down the hallway.
Fiyero took a deep breath. "Yes. We must protect Lanie, no matter what the costs. She's my daughter, General. I can't let anything happen to her. I would never be able to forgive myself. And neither would my wife."
"Understood, Your Highness. Consider it done," Vanadium bowed, hurrying down the hallway to carry out the Crowned Prince's request.
"Yero?" Elphaba whispered, standing in the doorway of their room.
Fiyero walked over to his wife and pulled her into his arms. "Hi."
"Yero –"
"Don't worry, Fae. Everything's fine. I just spoke with General Vanadium. He's carrying out the orders right now."
"I heard," Elphaba nodded. "I just wanted to know if you've seen Lanie."
"EEP!" a voice shrieked, causing Elphaba to jump and stiffen in Fiyero's arms. Galinda ran down the hall, a letter in her hands. "Fifi! Elphie! Guess what!"
Elphaba relaxed, hearing the bubble blonde approaching them. "What?"
"Elenus is coming over! And he has something to tell me!" Galinda chirped, jumping up and down like a six year old on a sugar rush.
"Glin, calm down. You sound higher then a kite on helium," Elphaba said, a small smile tugging on the ends of her lips.
"Oh, Elphie," Galinda sighed. "This is so Ozmazifying! Do you think he'll propose?"
"I –"
"Don't answer that!" Galinda said, not wanting Elphaba to jinx anything.
"Okay," Elphaba smiled. "Have you seen Lanie?"
"She locked herself in her room and she refuses to come out. What happened?"
"She and Fae clashed… again," Fiyero said, sending his wife a pointed look.
"I know you're giving me a pointed look, Yero," Elphaba smiled.
Fiyero and Galinda's mouths dropped open, wondering how Elphaba knew that.
"And close your mouths. You'll catch flies."
Fiyero and Galinda stuttered. Elphaba smirked as she lifted her hand to Fiyero's chin and closed his mouth for him. "That's better."
"Should I try and talk to her?" Galinda offered, finding her voice.
"Would you?" Elphaba asked.
"Of course," the blonde said, skipping down the hall and turning to the corner to the younger princess's room.
"Lanie?" Galinda asked, knocking on the door.
"Go away!" Lanie yelled from the other side.
"Lanie, it's me. Aunt Galinda."
Galinda heard footsteps coming from the other side and soon, the door opened, revealing Lanie. Her eyes were red and puffy and tears were still streaming down her face.
"May I come in?" Galinda asked gently.
Lanie nodded and allowed the blonde to enter the room. Galinda smiled and closed the door behind her. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"No," Lanie whispered, slumping back into her bed.
"It's okay, because I already know," Galinda said, sitting down next to her.
Lanie looked up at her godmother, shocked.
"I know how you're feeling, and I understand how upset you must be feeling."
"It's just a boy. I don't see what the problem is. I've never had any friends, and now that I have one, I have to give him up. It's just not fair!"
"I know, sweetie. I know," Galinda smiled, rubbing circles on Lanie's back.
"And now she's keeping me a prisoner in the castle. I can't take it anymore! I'm not a baby!"
Lanie was near hysterics and Galinda didn't know what to do. She kept rubbing circles on her back, trying to calm her down.
"Sweetie, your mother really loves you and just wants to protect you," Galinda whispered, kissing Lanie's forehead.
The princess didn't respond as she continued to sob. Galinda sighed. She didn't know what else to say to make Lanie feel better. Thankfully, the teenager calmed down after a few minutes. She had cried herself to sleep. Placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, Galinda helped Lanie under the covers.
"Fresh dreams," she whispered, tiptoeing out of the room and closing the door behind her.
"How is she?" Fiyero asked, seeing the blonde coming out of the room.
"She's asleep. Poor girl," Galinda whispered.
"She can cry all she wants. My decision is final," Elphaba said, her jaw set.
"Elphie, maybe you should reconsider. I mean, not allowing her outside sounds a little… harsh," Fiyero said as gently as possible.
"No, Yero. She disobeyed me and she needs to be punished."
"And this is how you're punishing her? By placing her under house arrest?"
"It's the only way to make sure she stays safe." Elphaba stood up. "I'm going upstairs to lie down." Galinda and Fiyero watched in silence as Elphaba felt her way to the stairs. Finding the handrail, she ascended the staircase and walked to the bedroom.
"There's no changing her mind now," Fiyero muttered.
"You know how Elphie gets. Once she sets her mind on something, it will take a miracle to change it."
"So true," Fiyero muttered, slumping down onto the couch.
Lanie sat up in her bed, whimpering. It was the middle of the night. She felt so alone. She longed to be with Arlis, but she knew it was no use. Her mother had requested their best guards be placed on what she called 'Lanie Watch'. She hated her mother for doing this to her. She hated being cooped up inside all the time. Biting down on her lip, she slipped out of bed and walked towards the window. Being as sneaky as possible, she climbed down the vine outside her window. Not making a sound and staying close to the wall, she made her way to the forest. The sound of footsteps reached her ears and she turned to her right. One of the guards was walking towards her, his flashlight scanning the area. Thinking quickly, she ducked behind a large bush until the light past. Once it did, she continued her journey to the forest.
"Arlis?" she whispered, nearing their special meeting place.
Arlis, who was sitting in front of the rock, looked up. Instead of smiling, his gaze grew hard.
"Arlie, what's wrong?" Lanie asked, sitting next to him.
Arlis jumped up. "Don't call me 'Arlie'," he hissed.
"W-What?"
"You heard what I said!"
"What's gotten in to you?"
"This is goodbye."
"What are you talking about?"
"Arlie!" a new voice called. Lanie and Arlis looked up to see another girl with long, light brown hair, tan skin and a black dress, running towards them. Arlis took her hand and kissed it, pretending that Lanie wasn't standing there. The girl giggled as Arlis pulled her in for a deep kiss. Lanie's eyes widened. What was Arlis doing?
"Who's this?" the girl asked, looked Lanie over.
"Lanie," Arlis muttered hatefully.
"Oh, your Lanie," the girl said, almost as hatefully as Arlis.
"Arlis, what is going on?" Lanie demanded.
"This is Gyra. My girlfriend," Arlis said, wrapping his arms around Gyra's waist.
Lanie looked beyond shocked. "G-Girlfriend? What are you doing?"
"Look, it's been fun being with you, but it's been two weeks. Our deal was that we would meet here every night. When you didn't come, I moved on. End of story."
"Arlis, I'm sorry. I tried to come. Really I did, but –"
"Save it. I'm not going to hear any more of your excuses. Goodbye, Khylana," Arlis whispered, walking away and taking Gyra with him.
Lanie ran back to the castle in tears. Arlis looked over his shoulder and sighed. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"You've played your part well. Now, take your hands off me," Gyra hissed, pulling away from Arlis.
"Was that really necessary?" Arlis asked, a look of pure hurt washing over his face.
"Look," Gyra whispered dangerously, pointing a sharp fingernail at Arlis' chest. "You know as well as I do what will happen if things don't go as planned."
"I don't want to hurt her."
"What about the people we love?" Gyra asked. "You knew from the beginning that you really couldn't be with her. She's the enemy! She's going to be destroyed."
"We really don't have to do this," Arlis pleaded. "There must be another way."
"Do you want me to tell the generals you think this? Do you want to spend another night being whipped and thrown in a lightless cell without food or water again?"
Arlis fell silent. He really didn't want to replay that horrible memory. "No," he whispered.
"Good. Then keep your mouth shut and do as you're told," Gyra said, pulling on his arm and dragging him away.
"Lanie?" Galinda asked the next morning, knocking on the princess' door. Opening it, she found Lanie with her face buried in her pillow, crying her eyes out. "What's wrong?" she asked, sitting next to her.
Lanie sniffed and sat up. "Are all boys stupid?"
"Do I have to kill someone?" Galinda asked as she started to take off one of her pink, stiletto heels.
"Aunt Galinda –"
"Because I will kill someone if I have to."
"I was just asking."
"No, seriously, who do I have to kill? What's his name?"
"Arlis," Lanie whispered.
Galinda slowly lowered her hand. "Oh. What happened?"
"H-He l-left me. Because I couldn't meet him. This is all Mama's fault! If she hadn't –"
"Maybe it's for the best," Galinda whispered.
Lanie stared at her. "For. The. Best?"
Galinda gulped, realizing that she shouldn't have said that. "Maybe he's not the boy you think he is."
"How can you say that? He was the best thing that's ever happened to me! He's the only friend I ever had!"
Galinda could tell Lanie was enraged. Taking a step back, she tried to calm her down. "Lanie…"
And then, it happened. Lanie released her magic. Lighting danced everywhere. Thunder boomed. The windows opened and shut. The wind howled. Galinda looked around, petrified.
"Lanie, calm down," Galinda said, approaching the young girl.
"Don't touch me!" Lanie shouted, her eyes glowing a bright shade of red. "Get out!"
"Lanie…"
"Get. Out."
"Lanie, please listen to me."
"GET. OUT!"
Galinda yelped as she bolted out of the room. Elphaba opened the door and walked towards the sound of Galinda's scream.
"Galinda, are you alright?" Elphaba asked, hearing the blonde's heels approaching her.
"Yup, Lanie is definitely your daughter. She has your hair, your eyes, and your temper."
"What did she do?"
"She released her magic. Elphie, you need to fix this. I don't care how you do it, just do it!" Galinda said, stomping off.
Elphaba sighed. She didn't know how she was going to get through to her daughter. She wasn't going to change her mind. Lanie would just have to deal with it.
Well, I have to live up to my new name, now don't I? I DON'T SEE YOU ALL BOWING DOWN! DO IT NOW! Favorite lines?
Also, please check out my new story, 'Vinkun Princess'. It's a new twist on things. Fiyero and Elphaba are brother and sister. The first chapter is happy, but it will get a little (and by 'a little', I mean 'very') angsty. Check it out!
Reviews (on 'Vinkun Princess' and this chapter) would be extremely amazing!
Also, I got 'higher then a kite on helium' from Megan. Megan, if you're reading this, yes, I used it; no, I'm not changing it; and no, I will not submit my fanfictions for the Creative Writing class.
Until the next chapter,
Queen Nia the First, your Wicked Queen of Referencing