Chapter 4.
Author's note: I'm so sorry it's taken this long for an update (and I apologise for the way this chapter flows... eh, writer's block). My old laptop died and took all my notes with it, so yes, that's been fun. Hope you enjoy!
"But surely the curse was on the land of Oz, not on her." - Gregory Maguire, "Wicked"
The first few minutes spent trudging (or wheeling) along the corridors passed in something of a blur for Nessarose. Elphaba could feel the strange air of meek curiosity and nervousness radiating from her. She'd be able to sense that from a mile off, were she ever dropped into a situation that called for sharp senses and nothing else. She swept along, gripping the chair, hawk-like eyes taking everything in as she went. Upon entering the vast main hall in all it's structural magnificence, the sisters were met with a large gaggle of girls, each whooping and tittering louder than the last bunch. It made Elphaba's temples throb, and her face contort slightly with irritation and unease.
"Should we join them?" asked the younger of the two, craning her neck and twisting in her seat with discomfort. Elphaba smirked - a more satisfying expression - and settled a stiff hand on her sister's shoulder. "And risk being trampled in the herd of rabid girls as they graze? If you insist."
"Elphaba." Nessa shot her a warning glare, though contradicted altogether by the smile she bit back. The exasperation in her voice was too obvious, though. But it was all so simple - The green girl had no wish to draw too much attention to herself or her younger, porcelain skinned counterpart. Nessarose could wish for normality all she wanted, but all the attention in the world wouldn't be enough for her, Elphaba knew. She would always need more than she could give. No one could see past the painful tangle of calves settled into the footrests of her wheelchair, just as no one could see past her own verdigris. People only pitied, feared or ridiculed. It was something they couldn't escape. But Elphaba had to try, for she had promised her father, and she had promised Nessa.
Things would just have to change.
Elphaba snapped back to attention when the drone of giggling students died down, only to be drowned out by a voice from the center of the room that could have rattled the rafters with it's sheer volume and intensity.
"Welcome, welcome! I am Madame Morrible, Headmistress here at Shiz University," she began, in a booming tone that rendered each student as silent as a rock. Elphaba could only look on as the Headmistress gave her speech, in awe, more than anything else. This was like nothing she had seen before. She was draped in an extravagant outfit which was covered in so many frills and useless veils that she looked like some sort of sea creature, beached and flopping around under its own authority. Elphaba listened, regardless, until the woman commanded that everyone collect their room assignments, and the green girl leaned around her sister.
"I'll handle this, Nessa."
Elphaba was to be placed with her sister, of course. She had to look after her. Who else would do it? She had done it all her life, and was certainly not about to leave her with any old stranger. Failure was absolutely not an option this time, she feared.
The squeals and jeers flared up again, and suddenly Elphaba's vision was engulfed in something bubbly and blonde, that bounced up and down repeatedly with an arm thrashing about in an annoying manner.
"And you are...?" Morrible had asked, unimpressed. The jumping blonde stopped in her tracks and gave a blinding smile. "I am Galinda Upland. Of the Upper Uplands," she started with a high pitched giggle, and Elphaba fought the urge to cover her own ears.
This was all too much.
Surely it wasn't such a huge task to recieve a room key and leave this Ozforsaken room in favour of some peace and a good book? Even taking care of Nessarose was much less stressful than this... if father wasn't around to shoot down every good deed, anyway. Elphaba rolled her eyes, opting to ignore the whines and giggles coming from Galinda and her groupies, and steered her sister's chair forward. The crowd dispersed, letting them through with ease. The stares didn't go amiss, but would they ever?
"Excuse me, Madame, we haven't recieved our room allocation-"
"Oh! You must be Nessarose Thropp. What a tragically beautiful face you have, my dear."
Elphaba grimaced, not phased in the slightest by being passed over in favour of her much more preferable sister, but sickened instead as Morrible fussed over Nessa with obvious pity and falsely endearing compliments. She strode behind the large woman, sucking in air through her nostrils and suddenly batting her on the shoulder to regain her attention. The ear-splitting screech she recieved in return was not something she had anticipated from a grown woman, but it couldn't be helped. "I am Elphaba Thropp, the other daughter," she claimed, looking down her nose at Morrible. "I'm beautifully tragic."
The heavily powdered face of the Headmistress almost cracked in two as she waddled backwards, trying to recover from the shock, it seemed. "Yes, well... I'm sure you're very... bright. In any case, Miss Nessarose will share my rooms, where I can assist her as needed. Do not fret!"
Elphaba froze then, her head whipping around to look at her sister with a strange feeling of panic - it was written all over her face, and she was sure Nessarose could read it perfectly. "Madame- I've always looked after my sister-"
The words died on her tongue as her hand was caught in a firm grasp, and forced into a pale, manicured one. "You see, you can share with Miss Galinda!"
"What?!"
"No!"
Both girls wrenched themselves apart violently, and watched as Madame Morrible wandered off to attend to the other students. Amidst the chaos and wails of annoyance from Galinda, the fragile girl in the chair began to move away, glancing over her shoulder and uttering: "I'll be alright, Elphaba..." Her smile of reassurance was not convincing in the slightest. Elphaba made to reach for her sister, but it was of no use.
"Wait, I promised father-"
'I've already failed you, Nessa...'
Elphaba suddenly felt her hands beginning to shake. No, no, she had held herself together so well, everything was going as well as it could until now. She watched Galinda stomp her pretty little heels on the floor in a petulant display for her friends, and back to Nessa as another student took hold of the handles of her chair and began to wheel her away... Then something inside her snapped, and all her discipline melted away in an instant.
"Let her go!"
The young Thropp was quite literally seeing red, and it shook her very senses into a temporary state of shock. Seconds felt like a lifetime. She could feel what was happening, as the pulsating force of burning energy - magic, even - throbbed in her fingertips and almost exploded upon contact with the air.
"Elphaba!"
The green girl in question jumped, her heart lurching at the sudden screech from her sister, and her vision finally cleared. Nessarose's wheelchair had taken on a life of it's own, careening about the place, smoking at the wheels. Elphaba stood, still, hands outstretched and paralysed and unable to do anything but stare until Nessa rolled to a halt beside her. Safe, and unhurt. Elphaba's chest heaved with the weight of her magical exposure and the guilt, oh the guilt.
Everyone's eyes were on her, she realised. Of course, why wouldn't they be? If only father could see me now, she thought bitterly - poisoning the very existence she had fallen into with this ungodly talent or curse she had always been unable to surpress.
Suddenly her sharp eyes fell on Nessarose. The one she'd promised to look after, as it was her duty and she was bound by blood... and she was looking at her with such anger, embarassment... it stung much more than the sniggers and gasps of disgust and outrage from the other students. Even the esteemed Madame Morrible was evidently surprised, her overly exaggerated eyebrows almost disappearing under her ridiculous hairline.
'How did you do that?'
'How did she do that?!'
The words, the utters of horror and excitement and everything in between were lost to Elphaba. She could only lift her chin and stride forward. None of these people knew her. They couldn't see past the green, the awkward rigidity of her tall figure as she tried to catch her breath. The ignorant fools who only followed like sheep and had no sense of their own selves.
Then there was Nessarose - the pious, the pitied. The tragically beautiful one who knew her sister better than she cared to admit. Elphaba would have to have been an idiot to think otherwise.
'Elphaba, you promised things would be different here...'
She whirled around, her face contorted in shame and Oz knew what else. Fear of her consequences? No, she knew what she had done. The fear that her father had been right, that she wasn't worthy of being in this place of grandeur with her sister, that she wasn't worthy of anything... that was real, as real as the glasses perched on her nose. But she had failed Nessa once again, and she knew she could prove herself if only she tried. She would have to learn to control her strange quirks, then perhaps the unbearable guilt would vanish. And maybe... just maybe, the answer was right before her eyes, in the form of a large woman who bore a strange resemblance to a heavily decorated fish.
Taking a deep breath, Elphaba addressed Morrible, for it would do her no good to approach the others. Never in front of Nessa.
"Something- something just comes over me sometimes," she started, her voice low and urgent with the desire for control of the situation. "It's something I can't quite explain. But I will try to control myself..." Morrible stepped back, her face screwed up in distaste as the green girl moved toward her.
Elphaba ignored the gesture, ignored the squeals and shrill squawks of Galinda and her followers and turned to drop to her knees beside Nessarose's wheelchair. She lightly gripped the younger Thropp's forearm, looking her in the eyes with some intense need for forgiveness.
"Nessa, I'm sorry... it won't happen again."
"You said you would control it." There it was, the cutting edge of disappointment in Nessarose's voice, but she gripped Elphaba's hand with reassurance all the same. The green girl's brow furrowed in concern, and she made to respond when she felt herself being guided away from her sister, being forced to stand upright. She stiffened instinctively at the contact, and came face to face with Morrible - a jarring sight if ever there was one.
"Never apologise for talent!" Boomed Morrible. "Listen, dearie. Have you ever considered a career in sorcery?"
"No, not really." It was true, she hadn't considered anything beyond the craving for knowledge that compelled her to attend this school in the first place.
"Then you shall sign up for my sorcery tutorial, and I will take no other students," Morrible demanded, ignoring Galinda's cries of outrage and her dramatic slither of an exit from the hall.
Elphaba was overcome with a fogginess inside her head, an unpleasant feeling of taking on too much all at once, that she was not familiar with. Everything around her faded away into nothingness; even her sister. She nodded, frowning in her rigid way, and Morrible's words went right over her head. Yes, sorcery, how grand, when her only interests lay with the life sciences. She couldn't quite believe her ears though, at the Head's next claim.
"Perhaps... even The Wizard would be interested to hear of your talents."
Elphaba was stunned. What would she have to offer? Her penchant for sorcery was only a nuisance, yet her jaw almost dropped all the same.
"The Wizard...?"