Chapter 7.
A/N Thanks to those who reviewed, favourited and alerted :) It truly makes my day.
He knew it was crazy.
A gypsy.
A fortune teller.
A charlatan.
But still...one of his men had come forward, afraid to be laughed at but determined to say his bit. His wife had been to the fortune teller, and had come back with predictions. They had come true, she swore and the woman had simply known things she couldn't have known about. The men had scoffed at it, laughed and ordered another beer, joking about what predictions they'd certainly get to hear, were they ever to go. Fiyero'd snarled at them, asking if the fortune teller had also predicted that they were about to lose their jobs. But, in the back of his head...he'd wondered.
This wasn't the first time, of course, that he'd heard about fortune tellers in the city. There were always people who claimed to have powers they didn't have. It was all show. A way to make a living. He'd never once bothered with any of them.
But lately...he was losing hope. He wouldn't give up, he would never give up. He couldn't. But he was losing hope. And he needed something. He needed to try everything. Needed to, so he would never have to wonder.
So the story about this woman, this witch that could tell the future, that could look into your soul and tell the truth, was not new, was not different.
But he was.
So now...here he was.
He couldn't believe it himself, but here he was.
About to pay a gypsy for his fortune. He knew he was taking a risk. If his men found out...he'd never hear the end of it. He'd definitely would never be taken seriously again. Of course, he could claim he'd do anything to find the Wicked Witch of the West, ( which was true, albeit for different reasons..)..no one would dare argue with that...
Not that it mattered. He was convinced she knew nothing, anyway. If she did, she would have come forward with the information a long time ago, to collect the reward the Wizard was giving out for The Wicked Witch, alive or dead. She hadn't. No one had. So she knew nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Still, he stepped inside.
The woman was old. Creepy, yes, but maybe only because he wanted her to be. She looked at him with apprehension, but amusement as well. As if...well...as if she knew why he was there.
Fiyero noticed there was nothing there to enhance the magical effects. No heavy curtains, no glowing orbs, no scarfs, trinkets or other artifacts that would help create a magical atmosphere. There was a table with two chairs, one of which she occupied. A small, very small window in the back, the rest of them boarded up from the outside. Very little light, but she'd lit a few candles, which made shadows play around her form and made him unable to properly see the rest of the room.
She smiled a crooked, but not unkind, smile and motioned to the remaining chair.
"The Captain of the Gale Force...I would not have believed it if I hadn't known already.." she sniggered, a dry , strange, rusty sound in the back of her throat.
He hesitated, not sure he wanted to sit down, make this real. As if sitting down would mean that he chose to be here, to believe her. That he was actually doing this.
"You would like me to tell you your fortune, Captain? Most would be surprised. Do you not have all the fortune there is?"
He threw a look in her direction, sharp as daggers. He hadn't come to be mocked by this woman.
"If you are who you claim to be, what you claim to be...should you not know why I am here?"
He was in no mood for games. He felt ridiculous. Stupid. He hadn't felt like that in a long time. Uncomfortable, yes. But not stupid. But he couldn't walk away, because what if she did know? What if she really did know?
"I do." The grin faded from her face. "But you would be a fool to believe I would tell you what you wish to know."
He wanted scoff, to brush it aside, but he could feel the hope fluttering...rearing its head. What if...?
He forced himself to look her in the eye.
"So you do know? Where she is?"
She merely looked at him. No muscle moved, nothing in her face changed. He had his answer then.
"Where is she?" He all but growled the words, trying to stop his heart from exploding.
"Captain. I am not sure what it is you want. You are not ..what I expected you to be. There is good in you. I would advise you to stop this goose chase. Return to your betrothed."
"She's not my betrothed."
"It won't be long before she is. Stick to your safety, Captain."
"Where is she?"
"Captain."
Her demeanor was calm. Her voice steady.
His wasn't.
"If you know all you say you know. If you are...then you know I am not who I claim to be."
His voice strained, resembled a whisper more than anything else. He was reaching his breaking point. The mere fact that he was here, having this conversation was proof enough.
"I don't..." He spoke carefully, not wanting to leave any doubt about his intentions but not wanting to give himself away yet.
"I do not wish her harm."
She wanted to smile at that, but fought it.
"I believe that. That is why I say these things to you. You play a dangerous game, Captain. A risky one. But as long as you steer clear of her...the risks can be overlooked. Were you to find her, however.."
She didn't finish that sentence, but let the silence stretch. She'd made her point.
"I want to find her."
He was so tired. He didn't care about any risks anymore. He didn't care if his men were about to find him here and hear all this. He'd be hanged for treason, and he wouldn't care as long as he found her first.
"I need to find her."
He dragged his gaze back up to hers, let her see his soul. Begged her, with his eyes, to see who he was, what he wanted. To help him. He knew he was falling apart, that he was pleading, begging, this...this maybe-witch to help him do what he shouldn't. He was too exhausted to give a damn.
"Please. If you know where she is, if you can help me find her...you know I wouldn't …...hurt her. I won't ever hurt her."
She cocked her head and stared at him in wonder. She had many questions, but she'd only need an answer to a few of them.
"I do wonder, Captain. I have for some time. I have watched as you blundered time and time again and I wondered if our Captain of the Gale Force was either incredibly stupid, or remarkably clever. I suppose I know the answer to that particular question now."
"Yeah? Which one is it?"
His voice lacked power, volume, confidence.
"Both, I fear. " There was no smile to soften her words, or the look in her eyes as she forced him to look back.
"Your coming here could be explained away. The masses will gladly believe what you tell them. If you're convincing enough. But what would you do, Captain, if you found her. Have you paused to consider this matter?"
"I..." He hadn't. He'd thought of, dreamed of, a million scenario's in which he found her and saved her and they'd ...well...
"There you have your answer, Captain. There is no way to come out of this unscathed. Not for any of you."
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, pinched the bridge of his nose, unsure of how to make himself clear.
"I don't need to make it out of this unscathed. I just need to find her. You don't understand how long, how hard, I have searched for her. What I would do..."
"What is that? What would you do?" This was mere curiosity from her side. But he didn't know that.
"Why have you searched the way you have? Do you have an honest answer to any of these questions? You are a boy, nothing more. You have not thought this through. You didn't get your way and here you are, begging for what you want. But why do you want what you want? Answer me that, and I will consider."
He was still for a moment, contemplating how honest he should be.
"I...I want to find her, because..." He was unsure how much to tell this strange woman. Unsure of how much she knew, how much he wanted her to know. But...if it was an honest chance at seeing Elphaba...if it was his only chance...
"Because I have to tell her...because I need to tell her what I should have told her before she left me three years ago...only I didn't know then. I was a boy back then and everything you just accused me of but I am no longer..."
He squared his shoulders and opted for the truth, plain and simple.
"I need to find her because she belongs with me. She belongs with me and I belong with her." He looked the old woman in the eye then. "I love her, and I need to tell her that."
She wanted smiled at that and allowed the corner of her mouth to rise. "A good enough reason, foolish as it may be. Love, you say...and yes, I know you mean it. I suppose that makes you no longer a boy indeed. I won't stop to question your upcoming engagement to Miss Glinda here. It is not to me you owe the answers. I can not, however, dear Captain, tell you the whereabouts of Miss Thropp."
Fiyero didn't ask her what she meant about his engagement. He wasn't planning on proposing, but he also knew that Glinda had a way of making things happen and so this woman might not be altogether wrong in her prediction. He did stop to notice that she called Elphaba 'Miss Thropp.' She was obviously on Elphaba's side.
"But..."
"I must be in touch with her first, you understand. It would not do for me to be handing out business cards."
"You.." He was nearly speechless. With anger, confusion, hope. And he didn't know at the moment which was stronger. "You know her? You talk to her?"
She cocked her head again and observed him but with pity visible in her eyes this time. She saw his desperation, not because of any powers she might have, but because he didn't hide it any longer.
"Barely, and not often. Our paths have crossed, because I made them cross. Not being able to hide from the truth has made me unable to stand by the Wizard and refuse her what she needs and gets so little off."
He felt relief, that at least she wasn't completely alone, but anger and bitterness too, at the unfairness of it all. Of everything. Of not seeing her when other people had. That she'd sought out people, kept in touch with at least one, and it wasn't him.
"Is she...how is she?"
"You will see for yourself, I suppose, at some point. She is alive, Captain, and too cunning for your Wizard's army, you can be sure of that."
He smiled at that. "I know."
Then frowned again, as the reality of him having to leave without getting what he wanted sank in.
"Now what? I will not walk away from here, not knowing whether or not I will see her. I have to find her and I will not stop."
"Go back to your palace, Captain. Contemplate what you are about to do. Deeply and carefully. And come back in three days, if you still wish to. I will speak to her. If she is willing to speak to you, you will in three days."
Willing to speak to him...
"But..."
"Please, Captain. I urge you to do this. If you are willing to do as you say...prepare for that then. Leave things in a proper order. Consider Miss Glinda in all this. I doubt she would take it well, were you to leave tonight and not come back."
Unfortunately, he saw the logic in that. He held up a hand to stop her, as he saw her rise from the chair. Clearly, their conversation was coming to a quick end.
"Don't...don't tell her everything I've told you...I .."
She neatly put the chair back in its place. She looked at him as she put on a shawl.
"Those things are not for me to pass on, Master Tiggular. I will tell her only what is necessary. Come back in three days. You have waited for three years, surely, you can wait for three more days?"
She'd stopped calling him Captain. It helped.
"What if..." He hesitated at that. He didn't want to think about what he was about to say. "What if she doesn't want to see me?"
The woman smiled at that and for a moment, Fiyero felt as though she knew a lot more than she let on. And, for the first time, as if she was on his side.
"You wouldn't have come here, Mr Tiggular, if you truly thought she wouldn't."
He wasn't so sure about that yet, and he opened his mouth to say so, but he wasn't fast enough. She smiled again, as if she'd heard him.
"And you would not still have been here, if I thought she wouldn't."
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