A/N: A massive thanks to all those who reviewed! Sorry over the little mistake with Galinda in the last chapter, you are all correct, she is indeed from Gillikin, not Munchkinland! Thanks for pointing it out, guys! I've only read up to page 158 of the book, so it's not exactly clear in my mind just yet.

Compass Point

3.

"Glinda?"

Galinda came to herself slowly. Her entire body ached to the core, her very bones seeming bruised. She heard a groan, and realised it was her own voice. She was lying on something hard and uncomfortable, and something…no, someone…was patting her gingerly on the cheek.

"Glinda, wake up."

The voice was familiar, and yet not. She couldn't put a face to it. But oooooh, she hurt. This was utterly horrible. And she didn't really feel like waking up, but the voice sounded distressed, so she probably should. Drawing in a deep breath, she wiggled her fingers, and then her wrist, using her hands to push herself slowly upwards, eyes still clenched tightly closed.

Feeling the blood rush from her head, she was caught in a dizzy spell, and reeled. A cold hand loosely clasped her neck, holding her upright while it passed, but moved away the moment Galinda lifted her head and peeled her eyes open.

She was immediately assaulted by dim yet blinding light to her sore eyes, and snapped them shut again, reaching up shaking hands to bury her fingers in the hair at her temple and hold her head up. Moaning quietly, she drew her knees up with some difficulty and waited for the ground to stop spinning.

"Ow, my head…scratch that, my everything. Ugh."

She could smell flowers. Poppies, she thought. And an odd, musty smell from the person beside her. She knew that smell. It was the smell that lingered on the sheets in her dorm room; the one she tried to banish through the use of copious perfumes and scented oils to no avail.

Peeking her eyes open once again, she could just make out the outline of an unmistakable green face and a blur of black. She groaned, not from pain, but from annoyance.

"Oh, it's you. So you ended up in this place too, I take it? This is all your fault, I hope you realise."

Elphaba, for that was surely who it was, said nothing. Galinda huffed, and brushed the hair from her face, wincing when her fingers caught in some tangles. Oh, what a wretched situation to find oneself in! Stuck in some foreign place with nobody but the person you despise most in the world for company. Great. This was just her luck, she supposed.

Drawn out of her anger by Elphaba's uncharacteristic silence, Galinda blinked several times to clear her vision, and perceived the familiar emerald-coloured face staring at her with an unreadable expression. Something like…shock. Trepidation. Regret? Surely not.

Uncomfortable under the intensity of her companion's gaze, Galinda shifted skittishly, averting her eyes to stare at the brightly coloured yellow bricks upon which she was seated.

"Well, aren't you going to defend yourself?"

Still, Elphaba remained silent, unmoving. Galinda grew steadily more ill at ease, and concerned, despite herself.

"Okay, now you're starting to disturb me. Say something. Anything. Hello? Don't make me address you by name, we both hate having to raise ourselves to that level of communication."

This seemed to snap Elphaba out of whatever odd turn she had been entrenched in. She sat back on her heels, looking over Galinda's clothes with an odd expression on her face. Several times, she opened her mouth to speak, then seemed to think better of it. Finally, she spoke.

"Glinda? You are Glinda, aren't you?"

Galinda gave her an incredulous, affronted look.

"Not you as well! It's G-A-linda. Ga-linda. Is it really so difficult? And…wait." She blinked, suddenly noticing the strange clothes and hat Elphaba had on "What are you wearing!"

Elphaba was dressed entirely in black. The conventional masculine boots were just as odd as ever, but her dress seemed far too elaborate for anything she would normally wear. It had patterns woven into the material, and shaped sleeves and layers to the skirt. And that HAT! Could anything be more ugly and conspicuous?

Actually…there was something very off here. Extremely, in fact. Elphaba seemed…different. Not just her clothing. Her manner of speech was more defined, her features harder to read, more controlled. She just seemed…different. Older, if that was possible.

"I…I think that we are both wildly mistaken." Elphaba eventually spluttered out, shaking her head "This is entirely impossible. You can't be…but you are Gl…Galinda? From Gillikin?"

Galinda stared long and hard at Elphaba for several moments.

"Have you been knocked silly by the fall, or something?"

She concluded, finding this the only logical explanation. Then again…who knew? Perhaps she had landed in a world where green-skinned people were common, and she had simply met a look-alike. But she was sure this was her roommate. Whether she liked it or not, she knew the girl, and this was either Elphaba or an uncannily similar clone.

"You misunderstand me." Possibly-Elphaba-but-possibly-not said, sighing in frustration "I am not the person I think that you think I am. I think. Wait…no. This is so confusing…"

Galinda blinked, and absently rubbed her temple, feeling a headache coming on.

"Could you repeat that? Because I didn't understand a word."

Possibly-Elphaba rolled her eyes and smoothed her skirt, the very picture of patronising patience.

"Now there's a novelty." She muttered, in the sarcastic tone only Elphaba could ever posses, and Galinda glared at her, climbing to her feet and placing her hands on her hips, exclaiming:

"You ARE Elphaba! That was a cruel, mean, horrible trick, you…you…you TOAD! Sometimes I wonder what prevents me from-"

"Your heels."

Galinda was halted mid-ramble by this observation. She blinked, looking down to see Possibly-now-almost-definitely-Elphaba eying her shoes with vague disgust.

"Excuse me?" She spluttered, feeling a veil of confusion fog up her brain. Perhaps the fall had knocked her harder than she had thought. Her vision swam, and she felt a hand on her elbow guide her back to the ground rather gracelessly. Maybe she was lying unconscious in the classroom at Shiz and this was merely some dream brought on my momentary madness.

Almost-definitely-Elphaba gave her a concerned look, before elaborating on her point.

"Your heels are what prevent you from carrying out whatever painful fate you intend to inflict upon me. It's a marvel you can even stand in those things. And what on earth is that brown stuff on the side?"

Finding it difficult to fully comprehend the implications of this statement, as Elphaba should know full well how the 'icky brown stuff' came to be there considering she was the cause of it, Galinda made a strangled noise of frustration and beat a fist against the road instead of attempting to understand.

"You are utterly infuriating!"

Her hand immediately welled up with pain at such rough treatment, and she cradled it to her chest, feeling suddenly faint and nauseous. Possibly-Elphaba regarded her with a calculating look, before shrugging unconcernedly.

"So I've been told. Could you stop hyperventilating for approximately forty seconds so I can ask you a serious question?"

Galinda's outrage peaked beyond ridiculous levels, and she scowled at her tormentor.

"I'm not hyperventilating! I am panicking in a dignified manner."

Possibly-Elphaba raised a dark eyebrow in scepticism.

"And this is…what? More classy?"

"YES!"

Galinda all but shrieked in hysteria, tapping her feet against the bricks of the road and whimpering quietly, suddenly aware that she was rocking from side to side. Possibly-Elphaba sat down carefully beside her, tucking her skirts neatly beneath her knees, adjusted her hat, then clasped her hands in her lap. Galinda stopped in her emotional exposition for a moment to watch curiously as Possibly-Elphaba drew her back up straight and closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

"What…what are you doing?"

She asked, her companion's odd behaviour making her feel wary. She shuffled a little away from her, self-consciously aware that apart from this girl who may or may not be her roommate, she was entirely alone.

"I'm waiting for you to be calm. I've been on the road for a long, long while and it's more comfortable for me to sit like this. Or are you ready to talk now?"

Galinda looked her over. This was not Elphaba. She was alike to her, strikingly so, but she possessed a maturity, patience and sobriety about her that Elphaba's fiery, passionate nature could never hope to achieve. No. No matter how much she resembled Elphaba, this girl…no, this woman…was a complete stranger.

"You're really not Elphaba?" She said, quietly, feeling suddenly shy and self aware. The woman smiled gently in sympathy, and shook her head slowly, and Galinda's conviction to the misplacement of her identity was reinforced tenfold. Elphaba spent her time in frowns and seclusion; Galinda had never seen her genuinely smile.

"I am not the person you think I am, no. Now. If you would be so kind as to enlighten me as to how you came to be here?"

Despite having only just met the lady, Galinda felt inexplicably comfortable with her now. She couldn't explain it. She seemed a reasonable sort of person, and no matter her odd appearance, Galinda was convinced that she would not hurt her.

Reluctant to recount the rather odd chain of events which led to her being here, Galinda considered the most concise way to explain.

"Long story short…a cat fight and some pixie dust." The woman gave her an enquiring look, and feeling light-headed again, Galinda smiled and blurted out "I like what you've done with your hair, by the way. Not so sure about the clothes. You could do with a little more colour in there."

The woman laughed softly, giving her an almost fond, reminiscent look. She frowned. That was odd. Instead of dwelling on the fact, Galinda did what she always did when faced with a problem: consult any fashion problems in the immediate vicinity. The upper layer of the woman's dark hair was pulled back into a loose but tidy half-bun, leaving the rest to spill over her shoulders and back. Galinda wondered if Elphaba's hair could do the same, then smiled wryly to herself. She doubted she'd ever find out. Like she'd ever want to touch Elphaba's hair, anyway.

All that black, however, was hardly a cheerful appearance to look at. It was immensely depressing, in fact.

"Black is a colour." The woman returned, giving her a shocked expression of false hurt, but her smile betrayed her amusement. Galinda was struck with sudden inspiration.

"No, it's the absence of colour, or, more specifically, the absence of light, which is the absence of colour."

The woman blinked in surprise, and laughed again, looking genuinely surprised.

"Behold, the remnants of a brain beneath the platinum façade! By the way, I think your hair would look better with more curls. Just a thought."

Galinda reached up a hand to touch her wavy blonde locks, rather tangled and all together undesirable at the moment, and imagined how it would be for them to be tightly curled. She wrinkled her nose in indecision.

"You think so? I have wondered, but- wait a minute!" She felt a stab of suspicion, coming back to herself, and her bizarre situation "If you're really not Elphaba, which I find difficult to believe because just how many green people are there in the world, then why in Oz's name are you talking to me?"

The woman cleared her throat and looked at Galinda with a piercing gaze.

"I found you unconscious in the middle of the road and I am using the art of general conversation to ascertain whether you gained severe head injuries or whether you are just mentally limited."

"Oh." Galinda felt a pang of despair, the full reality of her position sinking in. This world was too large, this situation too great for her. Her eyes burnt and she sniffed, shivering, feeling suddenly frightened.

"I want to go home." She murmured, then flushed in embarrassment at her childishness. She twisted her hands in her lap, bowing her head and desperately willing the tears away. The woman hesitated, then lifted her hand and laid it consolingly on Galinda's shoulder.

"I may be able to help you. Maybe. But first…how old are you? And where have you come from?"

Galinda hastily wiped her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. This was hardly the time or the place to lose control of herself.

"I'm nineteen. And as you seem to already know, I'm from Gillikin. But I was at my University, I mean, at Shiz, if that's what you mean." She looked nervously around at the landscape, the unfamiliar fields and the road, and the sky, darkened in such a way that she had never seen in Oz.

"Am I even in Oz anymore?" She murmured, so quietly she wondered if the woman had even heard it. Apparently, she had.

"Yes, you are. But not the Oz you know, I am almost certain of that."

Galinda decided to simply accept this, as she felt too weary to bother going into hysterics any longer. She didn't have the energy. Turning to her strange companion, she paused for a moment, and sighed.

"And who are you, exactly?"

The woman gasped in a sharp breath, but quickly covered it with a cough. Galinda resigned herself to the fact that she would probably never fully understand her strange companion.

"You may call me Fabala. I am the former Witch of the West." Fabala said, a little stiffly. Galinda, however, was too excited at hearing the mention of magic to be concerned.

"You know sorcery? Wait…" her eyes widened in sudden fear "you're not a wicked witch, are you? You're not evil?"

Fabala's eyes glimmered suddenly darker, seeming immeasurably old, and sad. Galinda immediately regretted she had said such a silly thing. But Fabala did not seem angry at her impertinence, instead tilting her head to stare up at the sky, seemingly lost in thought.

"How does one define evil? Evil is in the eye of the beholder. To the fly and the coward, the spider is evil. To itself, the spider is merely surviving. Where is the sense in that?"

Shifting uncomfortably, Galinda's mouth once more ran away with itself:

"I hate spiders." She muttered sullenly, shuddering at the thought.

"I figured you would." Fabala said, amused, but…bitter. Wistful, somehow. Galinda found she could not ignore this latest strange statement. Feeling compelled to express her confusion, she blurted out:

"There is something…wrong about you. You know something. You knew my name. Lurline, maybe you even know why I came here. How? Surely it is not your magical powers alone. You say I am in Oz, yet not the Oz I know. You speak in riddles. And why should you help me, anyway? I don't even know you."

Breathing heavily after her outburst, she found herself once again glaring suspiciously at this woman who she had already shared laughter and tears with. Perhaps people bonded quickly under extreme stress. Or perhaps, as she suspected, there was something more to all of this.

"I am sorry, but I cannot tell you anymore than I have told you already." Fabala said, with genuine regret "There is too much at stake. Safe to say I am obligated to help you, for reasons I cannot disclose. I can get you home. But it may take some time. And you will have to trust me."

Galinda smiled bitterly, throwing her hands up into the air in exasperation.

"Trust you? I barely know you! We met fifteen minutes ago!"

Fabala shrugged and rolled her shoulders, wincing slightly.

"You are hardly in a position to be worrying about that; face it. You're in a foreign place, you're alone, and I think you may have mild concussion. You know nothing of this place, and believe me, it is extremely dangerous, especially for you. Right now, I'm your best bet for survival."

Galinda pouted at the inescapable logic of this conclusion, and crossed her arms sulkily over her chest, shooting a sideways glance at Fabala.

"I think I would have almost preferred Elphaba finding me than you. And that's saying something."

Fabala jerked suddenly, but her features betrayed no emotion. Galinda filed the thought away for later perusal, deciding she would keenly observe her companion from now on. It wasn't like she had anything better to do, anyway.

"You wish to find this Elphaba?"

Galinda sighed resignedly, thinking of her aggravatingly stoic roommate. She would love to leave the sulky hussy here and let her fend for herself, she truly would, but she had a feeling she may be here for some time. It would make her feel better to have someone familiar, if not in the least desirable, with her.

"Oh…I suppose I must. She's the only person I can really trust if she is here, although don't think I'm happy about any of this, because I most certainly am not."

Fabala nodded, rising slowly to her feet and retrieving a broomstick Galinda had not noticed before from the ground.

"I too seem to have misplaced my comrade, my travelling partner, so we shall search together. That is, if you don't still consider me evil and therefore expect me to strip you of your valuables and sacrifice you to some hairy God."

Fabala quipped jokingly, or at least Galinda hoped she did. She gave her a disturbed look.

"Are you?"

Fabala looked mortally offended.

"No! I only worship well-shaven Gods." She said with mock-snobbishness, raising her nose high into the air. Galinda laughed nervously, but kept her distance nonetheless.

"That's cruel. You're being very mean to me." She said, reproachfully. Fabala raised her eyebrows in question as she adjusted her travelling cloak about her shoulders.

"Is that an acceptance?"

Fabala asked. Galinda sighed, and rose painfully and reluctantly to her feet, wincing a little at the protest from her still bruised body. Finally standing relatively steadily, she drew herself up and looked Fabala in the eye.

"Fine. I don't like this, and I don't trust you as far as I could throw you, which is a negative distance considering the fact I can probably barely lift you. But yes. I accept."

It was a lie. Not about the lifting, because Galinda had never lifted anything heavier than a hairbrush in her life, but the statement that she did not trust her companion. Because she did, despite herself, and it was that which frightened her. A cold wind blew across their path, and she shivered, wrapping her arms tightly around herself for warmth.

"Well, you are pretty weedy, for someone of your build."

Fabala observed bluntly, and Galinda caught sight of the smallest of smiles curling her lips as she turned away and began to walk. Incensed, Galinda could only throw her hands into the air once again and stomp after, ignoring the way her heels dug into her feet.

"I'm not sure which is worse, being stuck in this Hell of a place or being stuck in this Hell of a place with you."

Fabala only laughed and increased her pace, so that Galinda had to practically skip to keep up. The sky overhead seemed to darken, the air to thicken, and she could just feel the rain coming on. After a few minutes of silence, amused on Fabala's part, infuriated on Galinda's, Oz's newest drop-in came up with an incredibly mature response to her humiliation:

"I've just decided I detest you." She muttered, entirely oblivious to how Fabala stiffened.

"It wouldn't be the first time." The former not-so-wicked Witch of the West responded in a whisper, but Galinda, too absorbed in her own troubles, didn't hear her.

A/N: Sorry for the lack of plot development so far! In the next chapter the four should meet up and things should get going, but I needed them all to meet separately first.

Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas!