Chapter 3: Follow Me Down

Glinda ran, faster than she had ever ran in her entire life. She used her invisibility to her advantage, not caring if she bumped into or practically ran over the castle staff that constantly seemed to be in her way. She gave the guards at the Southstairs entrance a good shove (more for revenge and less for practicality), and her feet found the same path they did before. This time, she didn't care that she could hear her feet echoing through the Southstairs. The chill still sank into her skin, but at the moment, Glinda could feel nothing. She didn't have a care for the sounds or the chill or anything around her. All she cared about was that she was going to free Elphaba.

Once she hit the bottom of the stairs, just about at the same spot where she frozen in fear the last time, and took a second to catch her breath. She reached into her dress to make sure the spell was still there. She pulled the paper into her hands and gently unfolded it, but then jumped as she felt an electric current zap her right hand. She dropped the spell to the ground and shook her hand, cursing at whatever just happened. She only stopped cursing when she noticed that the torn page was moving. It wriggled around, uncurling itself and straightening out the folds from where Glinda had crumpled it in her hand. Once it looked like new, the Grimmerie itself materialized around it, adding the page back into its proper spot before closing with a loud thud.

Glinda stood still, wide eyed and perplexed.

But….but I left the book up there on purpose. I didn't want to take the entire thing with me.

The book wiggled, rotating slightly so that it seemed to be facing Glinda.

Well….. Glinda reached down, picking up the book in hands that were now starting to tremble. The book thinks I need the rest of it. This means that there are more ways to get Elphie out!….or it could mean that something very bad is going to happen and I might need something in it…

Glinda shook her head, erasing the negative thoughts that had started to flood her mind.

Stop it, stop it. You have the ability. You've practiced this over and over. You now have the most powerful spell book in all of Oz. There is nothing stopping you from saving Elphaba. Get it together and get going.

Glinda stood, facing the same hallway that she had been too afraid to travel down the last time. Instead of fear, Glinda was overwhelmed with a wild rush of anger and adrenaline. That night had played over and over in her head, both in waking times and in her nightmares. In her nightmares, she was aware of all of her senses, and she would get to this point in the hallway and try to run down, but her feet would sink deep into the ground. Identical uniformed men would walk past her, not noticing, going into Elphaba's cell one and a time, followed by horrific, ear-piercing screams. Glinda would try harder and harder to free herself, but the more she struggled, the more she sank into the ground. She would struggle until the Southstairs sucked her underneath, seeing nothing but darkness but still being able to hear her friend's screams of pain. She would then wake up crying, covered in a cold sweat.

Glinda brushed a stray blonde curl from her face and gripped the book against her. That was not going to happen this time. She would succeed.

Glinda shot through the hallway until she came to where she saw the soldiers standing the first time. She turned, looking into the barred doorway of the cell in front of her. She tilted her head, trying to decipher the cell in the dim torchlight. She saw what looked to be a dirty mattress on the ground and a bowl, but nothing else other than shadow. She exhaled in a sharp huff, frustrated. They must have moved her.

She turned, almost ready to look somewhere else, when the faintest of sounds caught her ear. It was barely audible, but it sounded like the shuffle of movement across the floor. Glinda turned back and took a step towards the cell door. She stepped closer and closer until her face was pressed up between in the bars. She noticed a dark lump on the ground, something that could almost be mistaken for part of the shadows. She waited on baited breath, listening. She heard the sound again, and the lump moved. It wasn't until she saw the small flash of an emerald green hand that she finally realized what it was.

"Elphie!"

The green hand froze in midair, and the lump shifted again.

"Elphie!" Glinda called into the darkness. "Elphie, it's me! It's Glinda! I've come for you!"

"Glin?" A quiet, raspy voice emerged from the darkness. Another shift and a pool of black cascaded sideways from the shadow, revealing a green cheek and a brown eye to the torchlight.

"Yes, it's me!" Glinda smiled, relieved. Her Elphie was alive. Glinda closed her eyes for a moment and muttered the spell; within a few seconds, she was fully visible again.

"It's me, it's Glinda. I've been trying to get down here for weeks. I kept getting caught. Morrible has me trapped upstairs. But I figured out how to be invisbiel. I'm here, and now we can go!"

"Go?" Elphaba pulled herself upright as best she could but stopped halfway, hissing in pain. "Go where?"

"Out of here!" exclaimed Glinda. "I found a spell that will take us somewhere else. I don't know where it is exactly, but I've seen it. I've felt it. It's a big city, but it's not here. It might not even be in Oz, which is actually better. I've been studying so hard, Elphie. You'd be so proud. I can make fire just like you used to do in our dorm, I can make myself invisible, and now I've found a way to get us somewhere safe. We can be free!"

"Free?" Elphaba let out a short cackle, and then caught herself, coughing. "You think that I can just walk out of here?"

"Well no, silly," said Glinda, a nervous laugh permeating her voice. "I'll have to break you out and conjure the portal. Then we can go."

Elphaba was still leaning forward, both hands placed upon the ground. She took a breath, and then finally pushed herself up into a sitting position, a whimper escaping her throat. Glinda's face fell. Something was not right.

"Elphie…"

Elphaba slid over to the right, the torchlight bathing over her and putting her entire self into Glinda's line of vision. Glinda gasped and pulled her hands to her mouth in horror, almost dropping the Grimmerie to the ground. Elphaba had always been thin, but now she was gaunt, emerald skin pulled taut over bone. Her left eye was swollen almost completely shut, with bruises marring the skin along her nose and jaw. Her black dress was in tatters, covering barely anything and giving her no modesty. It revealed a host of injuries in varied healing stages, purple bruises and pink marks and bright red slashes covering the emerald. She stared directly into Glinda's eyes with a haunted look, the spark that made her infamous now shut out and dead. There was nothing in her eyes but pure pain.

Glinda felt the tears form almost immediately, escaping down her porcelain cheeks before she even had the chance to react. A sob caught in her chest, threatening to push its way out. She held her breath, trying to keep herself together.

"I'm going to get you out of here," she said, her words choking in her throat. "I'm going to save you."

"You can't save me," said Elphaba flatly. "There's nothing left of me to save."

"Of course there is," replied Glinda. "You're here and you're alive and I'm here and I'm going to get you out."

"There's no point, Glinda," said Elphaba, her eyes flickering to the floor. "They've broken me, destroyed me. I'm nothing now."

Glinda desperately clutched the book. "That's not true, Elphie. It's simply not true."

Elphaba's head whipped up, her face now consumed with fire.

"It is Glinda," she spat. "Everything I had has been taken. My father, my sister, my love, my cause, my freedom…even my body is something that can be taken. It's all gone. I have nothing left."

Glinda sniffed, her heart crushing with sorrow inside her chest.

"But…you have me. You've always had me."

Glina gasped, gagging, the sob finally breaking through. She folded over, her chest heaving and the sobs she had been trying to keep releasing themselves in a fury.

"I tried Elphie…I came back for you," she said between her cries. "I did everything I could. I spied. I flirted with guards and I let them say horrible things about you while I smiled and nodded so I could find out if you were alive and when you were left alone. I got all the way down here last time, but there were so many guards and I heard everything and I got so scared…but please don't think I abandoned you. I didn't leave you, I promise. I tried. I tried. "

Elphaba's face softened. "Glin…"

Glinda stood up and sniffed, quickly wiping her face on her sleeve.

"But I'm here now. I have the Grimmerie, and I have a spell that will get us out of Oz for good. I'm taking you with me."

Elphaba suddenly looked very sad. "Glin…I…I can't. There's no use."

Glinda angrily stomped her foot. "Elphaba Thropp, you stubborn fool, I am rescuing you and that's final!"

Something that looked like a smile crossed Elphaba's face. "You're still the same Glinda I remember. But I'm not the Elphaba you knew. She's gone. You don't want…this."

"Of course I do! Elphie you… you can't just give up now. I'm here!"

"It doesn't matter!" Elphaba snapped. She froze for a moment and then placed her own hand over her mouth, her chest heaving through the shreds of her dress. "Don't you understand, Glinda? There's nothing left of me!" Glinda could barely breath as she watched the silvery cascades begin to trail down Elphaba's battered face. "Do you have any idea what's happened to me? Every part of me has been beaten and bruised and destroyed. I'm nothing, just a body to be hurt or to be…used." She choked on the final word, Glinda's tears turning silent as the green girl's sobs took over. "I can't do this anymore, Glin. I can't keep living in this sea of pain and torment." Elphaba looked at Glinda, bloodshot brown eyes meeting sapphire. "Go, Glinda. Go through your portal. Get out of Oz, and take that cursed book with you. You've always deserved more than this. You are too good and too kind for this wretched place. Go and be free. Just…."

She paused and took a breath.

"Just don't forget me, please."

A clang broke through the air, bouncing off the walls and trailing down the hallway. Glinda felt her magic spark inside her, and she was suddenly filled with resolve. She dropped down and placed the book on the ground, furiously flipping until she found the right page.

"There's no time. I'm conjuring this portal right now." She found Elphaba's face again, her stern expression boring into her friend. "You may think there is nothing left of you but I still see the same woman who I have cared for and loved since Shiz. I'm taking you with me."

The clanging grew louder, now accompanied by footsteps and shouts. The Gale Force was coming. Glinda put both hands down on the page and, just like before, carefully and eloquently chanted the spell upon it. Just when she thought the Gale Force was going to be right upon them, the wall behind her began to swirl and spiral until it seemed that the brick was melting into a counterclockwise spinning circle. Elphaba's eyes widened.

"Sweet Oz, Glin, you're incredible."

Glinda beamed, and for one short moment was proud of herself.

"Now, let's get this lock."

She had barely raised her hands to the lock when the Gale Force was suddenly visible.

"There she is! Glinda the Good has betrayed us! She's stolen the Grimmerie and is freeing the witch!"

The vortex swirled even faster, the center starting to pull towards the edges, revealing a night sky. Glinda grabbed the lock in panic and began shaking it, too scared and wild to even attempt the spell.

"I won't leave you, Elphie!" she cried, rattling the handle as hard as she could. "I won't leave you here to die!"

Somehow, despite her injuries, Elphaba was on her feet. She stood on the other side of the bars, mere inches from her friend. She reached out, placing her hand on top of Glinda's trembling one.

"Take the book and go," Elphaba said calmly. "If Morrible doesn't have the Grimmerie, she'll lose control over the Wizard and Oz. You'll help everyone, Glin. You'll help free Oz, and you'll be free. You can do all of the good that I was never able to."

Glinda shuddered, the soldier's coming closer by the second. "But I can't leave you."

An emerald hand reached through the bars and gently caressed Glinda's cheek.

"Take the book. Help Oz. Be free. There is nothing I want more than for you to be free, Glinda."

The soldiers were now almost upon Glinda. Elphaba removed her hand from Glinda's face.

"RUN GLINDA!" she shouted. "TAKE THE GRIMMERIE AND RUN! GO!"

Glinda grabbed the book from the ground. The portal had opened even more. It was no longer raining in that world, but it was nighttime. Street lamps illuminated the sidewalk, a few birds flittering by as the wind gently brushed a few bushes.

Out of nowhere Glinda stumbled, feeling as though something was grabbing onto her. The swirling cloud from the vortex had reached out, wrapping itself around her. It was pulling her in, whether she liked it or not.

"ELPHIE!"

"I told you, Glin. You need to be free from this hell. You don't deserve to suffer like I did."

"Elphie, I won't go without you!"

Elphaba was not afraid, or sad, but was smiling at her.

"I love you, Glin."

Glinda was yanked her backwards into the vortex. She felt the wind touching her back as the prison began to blur. The guards were there now, trying to grab at her, but they couldn't reach.

"I love you Elphie. More than anything."

When Glinda's vision cleared, she found herself on the same sidewalk that she had been viewing from the other side. She spun around, looking for the portal, but it had closed itself up. She was in this world fully now. She turned her head, taking in the all of the surroundings. She was on the sidewalk with the bushes that she saw many times, but she hadn't realized it was in the very middle of a city. Towering buildings stretched into the sky around her, dark gray and rectangular and formidable. Some of the buildings were covered in flashing lights and signs in a language was familiar yet hard to understand. There was a road in front of her, and she was stunned by the strange metal vehicles that were flying past her. They were almost like train cars, but much, much smaller and they seemed to move at their own accord. They moved too fast for her to focus on, but she believed that they contained only one or two people in each. There was a building to her left with a marquee, lit up with yellow bulbs. She assumed it to be a theatre, because it reminded her so much of the theatres back home. Across the sidewalk and the road seemed to be a park, but it was the strangest park Glinda had ever seen. It had a few trees but was mostly brick, with a tall waterfall marking the center. Instead of plants and benches, the park was adorned with giant statues that looked like eyeballs. They gave Glinda the creeps. She didn't know where she was, but she knew this wasn't Oz. This was somewhere else entirely.

"THERE SHE IS!"

Glinda flung around, fear flooding her system and terror taking hold as she saw Gale Force soldiers running towards her.

NO! she thought frantically. NO! How can this be? How did they get here? How did they find me!

Glinda didn't get the chance to move before the Grimmerie began to squirm, writhing and shoving against her until she had choice but to let it go. She dropped the book, but instead of hitting the ground, it hovered in mid air before vanishing before her eyes. Without the Grimmerie and with the Gale Force on her tail, Glinda had no choice but to turn and run.

She had no idea where she was going. She had no idea how the Gale Force could have managed to follow her here. She had no idea why the Grimmerie vanished, or where it could have went.

All she knew was that everything was lost. No one could help her now.

At least, that's what she thought.

The Grimmerie, however, had a plan of its own.