Thank you all for sticking with this and for your kind words and reactions! This chapter is a but shorter than the others, but trust me, it'll be worth it for what is coming next...
Warnings: bullying, cussing, military
Given Ameya's disagreement with the Headmaster a few nights prior, she made the executive decision that she and Elphaba return to the school that next day.
The only issue was the Nessa was still confused, and they could not leave her alone.
So Ameya and Elphaba did what anyone would do: they shaved Kistosen's head, dyed his facial hair black, and shaved his beard into a mustache. After a few hours, Elphaba had successfully taught him how to speak with a Quadling accent, something she had picked up from her favorite teacher.
"You think I'm passable?" Kistosen asked, sinking his teeth into the syllables the way Elphaba instructed.
"I think so. And remember Cato," Elphaba said, raising her eyebrows. "If anyone comes to the door, you are a 45 year old servant from Quox, and there is no one here. Right?"
Kistosen nodded.
The next morning, both Ameya and Elphaba rose and left for school. Elphaba had managed to convince Nessa to trust the new 'servant' the night before.
"What happened to your arm?" Yurik asked within twelve seconds of the first bell ringing.
"I slipped in the mud and tried to catch myself, which I failed to do," Ameya lied easily. "Now, if you'll open your books to page 56, we will began discussing the heart. Yes, Master Yurik?"
"I have a two more questions," Yurik said.
Ameya closed her eyes for a moment as she sighed.
"What are they, Master Yurik?"
"Do you know where Miss Nessarose is?"
"I am 5 feet 4 inches tall. And as to where Miss Nessarose is, I believe she is ill. But even if she weren't, given that you deserted her at the gala dinner to be a waiter, I would expect she would not want to be anywhere near you."
The class all turned towards Yurik. Elphaba suppressed a grin as his face grew red hot.
"And your second question, Master Yurik?" Ameya asked, her eyebrows raised.
"Yes. Can you please explain gravity for me?" Yurik grumbled.
"We will cover gravity later in the year," Ameya said, turning back to the board.
But then she turned back, her face light with frustration. She caught eye contact with Elphaba, who shook her head. Ameya gave her a look.
"Miss Elphaba. Will you please come here?"
Elphaba gritted her teeth and made her way to the front of the room. She tried her best to ignore Quilla's gleeful expression.
Ameya handed her the chalk.
"Why me?" Elphaba muttered, her voice so low only Ameya could hear it.
"You have the best handwriting in the class. Trust me. I know."
Elphaba sighed, and took the chalk from the board. Ameya began dictating notes about the heart, but every few minutes a pencil would drop. And then more and more, students dropped their pens and pencils until finally Ameya grabbed her ruler and whacked it on the table.
"ENOUGH. You want to learn gravity? Fine. I will teach you gravity," she said, seething. Angrily, she flipped through the pages of her notes, tore one out, and handed it to Elphaba. "Elphaba. Draw this."
Ten minutes later, Elphaba had filled the entire board with complex diagrams and notes. Some of the symbols she wrote did not even look like letters or numbers. And all the while, Ameya had been explaining about this information that the Wizard had brought with him about some man named Isaac and an apple and something called force and something called 'Greek'.
"Class dismissed," she shouted, slamming the ruler down on her desk. The students stared wide eyed. "You heard me. Get out."
This spooked the students up and on their feet. Unlike other days, they were all completely silent.
Elphaba put the chalk down and turned towards her desk.
"Elphaba. Thank you. I'm sorry I..." Ameya asked, but Elphaba had already disappeared out into the hall and into the crowd of students.
"Well, if it isn't the sugar snap pea party for one," Quilla jeered as she slid onto the bench next to Elphaba.
Elphaba opened her mouth as if to speak, but instead silently stood. She turned on her heel, and exited back towards the cafeteria.
"Hey! Come back here!" Quilla shouted.
In one spectacular motion, Quilla leaped out from the bench and flew towards Elphaba, but instead of tackling her, she grabbed the back of Elphaba's school blazer. Elphaba toppled backwards into a pile of fresh mud. Her lunch tray landed with a thud next to her.
Quilla sneered, her dark eyes alight with vindictive glee. Retira, always by her side, stood shocked.
"I... Why did you...?" Elphaba spluttered.
She tried to stand, but slipped again, this time landing face down. All the while, Quilla stood convulsing with laughter. Around her, a crowd was forming.
A tall boy with dirty blonde hair, of who Elphaba believed to be named Julian, pushed his way through the crowd. He grabbed Elphaba by the hand and pulled her to her feet.
"Move," he called to the crowd. Quilla, Retira, and half the crowd followed them in.
Elphaba followed him, though not by choice. She tried hard to wipe off the mud from her glasses, but as her hand too was spattered with mud, it didn't work.
"Here you go," he said, opening a door and pushing her in. It took a few moments to realize that it was not the bathroom.
"Let me out!" Elphaba shouted, banging on the closet door. "Let me out of here!"
Laughter erupted outside the door. The bell rang, and footsteps retreated.
She tried to bang the door and shout repeatedly, but before long she gave up and collapsed on the floor.
A few hours later, just as she was dozing, the lock clicked.
"I'm here to let you out. Quilla's orders," Julian explained, looking everywhere but at her.
"Let me guess. She ordered you to drag me into as well?"Elphaba asked. Julian nodded. "What did she promise you for doing so?"
"She said she'd stop making jokes about me in the hallway," he muttered.
Elphaba stood, dusting off some the now-dried mud.
"You know, Julian, I didn't know she bothered you too. But you know what? If I were mad at her and you were the one covered in mud, I wouldn't lock you in a closet."
Ameya sat in the parlor, listening through the pounding storm for the door.
"Can I get you anything, sister?" Kistosen asked, carrying a tray of sandwiches to be delivered to Nessa's room.
Ameya was watching the fire, absentmindedly wiggling her fingers. She shook her head. But she jumped up at the sound she had been waiting for.
"Elphaba, where have you-" Ameya started, but then she froze at the sight of her green niece.
"Am I allowed inside?" Elphaba asked.
"Uh, yes. But you need to tell me what happened first."
"I got- I fell in some mud, got locked in a closet for four hours, and then I missed the carriage home and walked for... What time is it?" Ephaba explained bored.
Ameya glanced back at the clock.
"6:30."
"Two hours in the pouring rain. Now I'm wet and disgruntled. And hungry," Elphaba finished.
Ameya stepped back to let her in.
"Wait here," Ameya ordered. She disappeared for a moment, before returning with a stack of towels tucked under her left arm.
Elphaba pulled off her boots and stockings before taking the towels from her aunt.
"Did this have anything to do with Quilla Aspool?" Ameya asked, her eyes narrowed.
"Quite a bit to do with her, but I do not wish to speak of it right now. I'm really hun- Oh, perfect."
Elphaba took a sandwich off the plate Kistosen held as he appeared next to his sister and began to eat.
"Noted. But I will need more information soon. Well, when you are dry and fed, you are set to spend time with Nessarose this evening," Ameya said. Elphaba nodded.
A few minutes later, she had dressed in a clean sweater, skirt, and stockings and was pushing open the door of Nessa's room.
"Miss Nessarose? Are... are you okay?" Elphaba whispered.
Nessa was curled up in the fetal position with her back to the door. She shrugged.
"Did something happen? Do you want pain medicine?"
"No," Nessa mumbled.
"Than can you please tell me what is wrong?" Elphaba asked, taking her seat next to Nessa's bed.
Nessa sat up to adjust her legs.
"Do they even know?" Nessa mumbled.
"Who? Know what?"
"My... my family. Do they even know that I am here? Have... have they been notified? Do-do I even have a family?" Nessa asked, watching her hands.
"Uh, uh... Yes. Of course. They have been notified. It's just that... Well, they're a bit far and it takes a while to travel..." Elphaba lied.
"But it has been weeks," Nessa stated. Tears began to fall from her eyes.
"I can... Uh, I need to go get Dr. Thropp."
Elphaba turned and went out into the hall. Ameya happened to be passing from the kitchen to the parlor, and Elphaba effectively waved her down.
"What's wrong?" Ameya queried.
"Nessa. Uh, I don't know what to say to her..." Elphaba explained.
"Is there something wrong, Miss Nessarose?" Ameya asked as she stepped into the room.
As Nessa explained her troubles to Ameya, Elphaba paced back and forth. Each step she took grew heavier until she couldn't take anymore.
"I can't do this anymore!" Elphaba shouted. Nessa and Ameya froze, both staring directly at her.
"Elphaba..."
"I am going to go against everything Dr. Thropp told me. You," she pointed at Nessa. "You have remembered every fucking detail about yourself except your family. Well, you know what? Your family has been here the entire time. She is your aunt, the servant who just brought you food is your uncle, and I am your older sister.
"Want me to prove it? Fine. You are Nessarose Melena Thropp, named for our great-great-aunt and our mother. You were born on the 21st night of December 1883. I am Elphaba Ameya Thropp, named for Saint Aelphaba and our aunt. Her," she pointed at Ameya before continuing.
"I was born on the 14th of December in 1882. You are exactly one year and one week younger than me. You were born at 7 1/2 months due to the milkflowers that our father force fed our mother to ensure that you would not be green. They did not want you to be a disgrace to the family the way I was. The way I am. So, you came early, and I am sorry, because if it weren't for me... Everything is... Everything is..."
Elphaba stopped to wipe her eyes and catch her breath before finishing.
"I told you before. It is very lonely to be green. People don't give you the time of day. They push you in the mud and then lock you in a closet. They call you the name of every fucking vegetable in Oz. But the real curse of being green, the thing that can be good or bad, is that no one, under any circumstances, will ever forget you."
There was only one place Ameya could think to look for Elphaba.
Though she had to catch her breath every hundred stairs, she did finally manage to make it up the 418 steps of the eastern most turret of the mansion.
"Elphaba," Ameya whispered into the darkness of the turret.
"Go away."
"Elphaba, I am sorry that I had to do that to you, but... but she needed to remember on her own. I am very sorry it hurt you so much, but... but you shouldn't have exploded."
"No, of course not. I should just sit there, making up lies to feed her. But... but Ameya... She is all I have. And I feel terrible because I argued with her about it before this happened. I... I never thought she could actually forget who I am. I... I cannot imagine ever losing Nessa, but... but I think this hurts almost the same," Elphaba said.
"I shouldn't have put you in that situation. It was asking too much of you. And I am sorry. On the bright side though, she was able to make sense of it. It actually helped," Ameya whispered, sitting down next to Elphaba.
"I'm glad," Elphaba muttered. "Now I get to tell her how this happened."
But Ameya wasn't listening. As soon as she had set down next to Elphaba, she had stood again.
She stepped up to the window that faced out over the Corn Basket. Dozens, no hundreds of tiny balls of light were advancing their way forward through the distant farmlands.
She waved Elphaba quiet, leaning in towards the window to listen.
Drum beats. Faint, but clearly distinguishable,
"I think we might have bigger problems than that at present."