A/N: Let's all be honest. We all hated Horrible Morrible. Because she is just a (-Insert expletive here-).

Yes, originally I wanted to kill Liir, but… Yeah, well, Elphie and Glinda wouldn't like it. So hooray for the boy! … And yes… My Idina Menzel feels for this chapter… T_T

Yes, well… So, let's vote who gets more screen time here: Liir or Morrible :D

And yup. Definitely, without a doubt, the longest.

Chapter 12: The Son Of A Witch

The first thing Elphaba saw upon entering the dimly lit throne room was Glinda.

Glinda almost covered in blood.

"Let. Her. Go."

Elphaba was trembling so hard that the words barely formed in her lips.

But her three simple words rang throughout the large hall. It never came to her if it was she had unconsciously raised her voice, or if it was the unmistakable rage subconsciously stimulating her magic, magnifying her voice louder than it used to be.

Liir shuddered. He still hadn't raised his eyes from his mother's shoulder, as if deathly afraid to what caused her to sound so angry.

Elphaba blanched at the sight of her beloved Glinda.

She was suspended in midair, arms stretched widely on either side of her. The long sleeves were so badly torn that Elphaba could see the jagged fabric in detail from where she stood.

Both of her hands were bright red and raw, as if submerged in a boiling pot of water. The arms had large and deep lacerations. Scarlet droplets were freely falling on the marble floor, beginning to form sickening scattered puddles.

The legs suffered almost the same fate. Numerous cuts made the blood seep through dull yellow skirt, blotting the clothing with crimson stains. Her feet showed the same burn signs like the hands.

Her blond head fell to her chest, which was rising and falling rapidly with difficulty; Elphaba could hear her gasp for air. Almost above her head, there was a large gleaming knife seemingly floating in the air. It was smeared with blood.

Standing near Glinda's feet was Morrible, calm and composed with her hands behind her back, with a rather bored look at Elphaba and the child. Some distance behind her stood a dozen of guards, their rifles directed at the newcomers.

Elphaba didn't know what to think, what to do.

Witnessing Glinda hover between life and death once had been an extremely unpleasant experience for her. Seeing her go through it once more made Elphaba curse at how unfair fate is.

Liir finally decided to turn. At first, Elphaba felt him freeze. And then he shivered before he called out, "Mommy?"

At this Morrible quirked an eyebrow, her smirk crawling back to her face.

Glinda didn't raise her head, but she hoarsely answered, "…Liir…? …" Her chest heaved, appearing to be more strained at the excitement upon hearing the voice of her beloved son. "… Is that… Is that you…?"

"Well," Morrible started enthusiastically, clapping her bulbous hands together, "How fascinating this is all turning out to be! Not only Miss Elphaba is here, but also Miss Galinda's young darling!"

Upon hearing that statement, Glinda slowly brought her head up to see if Morrible was mocking her.

Elphaba bit her lips to steady them.

Glinda's face was pink and gleaming with tears and sweat. Her golden curls looked disheveled, though some were plastered to her face. Her whites of her eyes almost matched her uncomely skin color, but the irises, those cobalt blue irises filled with intense agony stood out. She appeared to be silently weeping.

Their eyes met.

Glinda's teary eyes were pleading Elphaba's, wanting for them to understand that she had to leave, to save herself, and to be there for their son.

Elphaba's eyes, in turn, expressed pain, as if wanting nothing more than to take her place.

"Elphie…" the blonde breathed out, "What… doing… doing here… ?... Leave—"

"I've always known you were a slow learner, my dear," Morrible interjected pompously, "Perhaps another?"

"No…" Glinda whimpered weakly, her head slowly lolling from side to side, "Please, not again…"

Morrible glanced at Elphaba, who still looked transfixed at the nightmarish sight. She then flicked her head to Glinda. "Hm. I guess another will do," she said, languidly waving her hand.

Horrified, Elphaba saw the knife automatically lower itself. It disappeared from view. Seconds later, Glinda was screaming agonizingly, as if her heart was being brutally torn from her body. She convulsed violently, thrashing wildly against her invisible bonds. Needless to say, Elphaba knew that the knife was sliding itself down the blonde's back.

Liir threw his hands to his ears, starting to cry silently. "Make it stop, mother," he whispered despairingly, diving for Elphaba's shoulder again.

"STOP!" Elphaba bellowed, starting to lose her mind at the sounds Glinda was making. "YOU HORRIBLE FIEND! STOP THIS INSTANT!"

The knife clattered on the ground. At the same time, all of the guards fainted and dropped on their places.

Morrible's eyes narrowed. "Apparently, you've been enhancing your powers, my dear," she said, letting Glinda retrieve all the air that she lost, "I was planning to make the whole thing last a while—"

"You… You…" Elphaba was so angry that the words she wanted to say were overlapping each other in her mind. "You horrible woman… I'll make you pay for what you're done to her!"

"Tell me something, dear," Morrible said, unfazed with the threat, "Whose child is that… that… That, well, that?"

"She's mean," Liir whispered to Elphaba.

Elphaba glowered menacingly at the rotund woman. "This child," she snapped indignantly, "is my son as well as he's Glinda's."

Morrible cackled. "This is just unlikely, but here it is!" she laughed, "Here is the proof right in front of my eyes. And here I was, thinking that you were the brightest person I've ever taught."

"What do you want?" Elphaba said, looking over at Glinda's limp body in the air, "Why did you have to hurt her?"

"Well, dear, as you may have noticed—if you did notice—the Wizard is off for some shenanigans in the countryside," Morrible droned, as if they were only having a class, "You were too stubborn. We've decided to get you all nice and cozy in a little cell—you can keep that rat with you…" she added, nodding at Liir, who stuck out his tongue at her, "And the only way for you to cooperate with us is that is we harness your gifts. And the only way for that to happen is through persuasion."

At the final word, she jerked her massive head at Glinda.

"To ensure the safety of your friend- though I see now that she's more than a friend," she added, smirking slightly, "You need to perform little tricks for me and the Wizard."

Elphaba's jaw tightened.

"Put her down," she growled threateningly.

Morrible rolled her eyes. "I knew you weren't going to answer directly," she drawled in boredom, snapping her fingers. "You have one minute, Miss Elphaba."

In a snap, the blonde dropped into a crumpled mess on the blood drenched ground, uttering a small yelp as she collided hard with the floor.

"Bitch…" Elphaba muttered indistinctly before rushing over to Glinda's broken form.

Liir slid himself from her arms and fell on his knees next to his mommy. Elphaba followed suite, glaring pointedly at Morrible. Apparently, the cow got the point and distanced herself a bit.

Glinda was still breathing heavily through gritted teeth. She had fallen on her side, and her hair had been strewn across her face. Elphaba had a vantage point view of the massive cut across the back, feeling her anger escalate even further.

"Mommy?" Liir began softly, slightly teary as he gently placed his small hand on Glinda's soft cheek. "Mommy, I'm here…"

"My… son..." Glinda exhaled, bringing her raw hand with difficulty over the one on her face, "You're alive…"

"Mother saved me," Liir said, tucking the golden curls back with his other hand to clear her face.

"Glinda," Elphaba said painfully as she placed a hand on her lover's shoulder.

She saw Glinda's pale lips twitch, as if wanting to smile. "Elphie…" she replied.

The green woman leaned over and gently kissed her on her damp forehead. "I'll get you home. I promise," she whispered tenderly.

"I… I lo… I love you, you… know…?" Glinda breathed, "You… and Liir…"

"And I love you," replied Elphaba.

She then stood up in her towering height, depositing the broom and knapsack from her back. She faced Morrible, who had been avidly watching them for a while.

"Well?" the fat woman drawled, impatiently tapping her foot on the marble floor.

"You have caused enough trouble for a lifetime," Elphaba said, her voice dangerously low. "Tonight, it's just me and you. Take me or leave me, bitch."

"You're a fool, Miss Elphaba," Morrible said in mock sympathy, "I guess, like Miss Galinda, you need to be taught discipline."

"Let's dance, then, Madame Morrible," Elphaba retorted in the same sarcasm.

Vibrant green and red sparks flew across the room as the furious battle raged on.

Liir had been helping Glinda crawl into safety behind a massive pillar supporting the high ceiling, leaving behind a sickening trail of smeared blood on the glossy marble floor.

The throne was busted into thousands of pieces; the mosaic glasses shattered; and chunks of the walls and the ceiling rained down everywhere.

After several minutes, the old woman's stamina was slightly failing her. She ducked for cover behind the Wizard's mechanical head.

"Had enough?" Elphaba taunted, grinning triumphantly.

"You know, Miss Elphaba," Morrible called from her hiding place, starting to smile herself, "I do recall something your father wrote on your medical record back at school…"

Elphaba's grin was wiped from her face.

"Something about your unfortunate allergy to water," the old woman drawled, sensing the change of advantage.

Elphaba truly paled when she heard an almighty groan coming from underneath the floor.

With a deafening crash, a huge water pipe sprouted from the ground like a massive snake. Water furiously gushed onto the floor, quickly spreading into the room faster than wildfire.

Elphaba instinctively backed off, sheer fear in her eyes.

Glinda sensed her distress. Her gaze fell on the broom and the knapsack, which were pushed by the raging current into the other side of the room.

Great… A Summoning charm…

It was the only way, yet the only talent she could do in magic is based on bubbles.

Bubbles… That's it!

With whatever there was left in her strength, she summoned a bubble. She willed it to float across the room. Having reaching its target, Glinda tried to null the inhuman pain mercilessly stabbing her open wounds to concentrate into manipulating the bubble into swallowing the objects. To her delight, it worked! The broom and their knapsack were monotonously zooming back to her.

"That's amazing, mommy!" Liir exclaimed as Glinda made her visceral messenger pop.

Glinda was left drained by the excursion of magic. "She…needs…" she uttered, seeing the world spin around her in dizzying motions.

Liir realized what she was talking about. He grabbed the battered wood. "Mother!" he called.

Elphaba looked over to them, looking lost and utterly terrified. She saw the broom. She understood. She outstretched her hand, and the broom came whizzing to her. She hurriedly mounted it, and launched from the ground in mere seconds before the water reached her feet.

She dodged around the pipes, trying to get a good aim at the cow's head, but it proved to be difficult. The pipe submitted to Morrible's commands, blindly spewing water at her direction.

Finally, Morrible's aim was true. A smaller pipe successfully doused a side of Elphaba's face as she zoomed by.

Elphaba howled, her face sizzling with the searing coolness of the water.

"Elphie…" Glinda breathed, lying almost motionless on the ground submerged underneath two inches deep of water. Her blood clouded the surrounding liquid red.

Liir was devastated at the state of both his parents.

His Mommy Glinda was sprawled rigidly on the ground, and his Mother Elphaba had half of her face being transfigured by water.

Blind anger mired other thoughts in his young mind.

He stepped out into the center of the throne room.

He knew where the mean fat lady was hiding, but he couldn't see her from where he stood. All the attention was focused on Elphaba that the massive piped paid him no attention at all.

There was a ear-splitting crash as Elphaba fell off the broom and rolled on the ankle deep water. He could hear the crisp sounds of sizzling across the room.

He was not going to let anything happen to his mother and mommy…

"Leave my mother ALONE!" Liir bellowed, his voice sounding not entirely his own. Symbols from the Grimmerie floated before his eyes.

He was so angry that he didn't even notice that he was bending the tubes towards the mean fat lady so effortlessly.

Morrible was blank in shock as humongous amount of torrent came washing over her. The current was strong enough, and it gushed out of the windows, bringing Morrible down with them a hundred feet below.

When the first shock of his new discovered ability to do magic, Liir rushed over to his mother.

"Mother?" he called.

Elphaba had been sitting up on a chunk of rock, her hand over one side of her face. "How did you that?" she asked, hissing with the stinging pain.

Liir shrugged. "I dunno," he said nonchalantly as if drowning a fat lady and then sending her to fall to her doom was an everyday work, "I got mad and… well, I have great teachers!"

Elphaba still refused to lower her hand.

"What is it, mother?" Liir asked, scooting closer, but he was mildly affronted when Elphaba slightly turned away.

The child was well aware of the water allergy, and he couldn't see why his mother should shun him for a bad-looking burn.

Elphaba saw the child's disappointment. She sighed, sounding really exhausted. "Liir, my son," she started, "I don't want you to look at me right now. I'm… well, I don't think anything can help my face now…"

Liir had witnessed his parents apply various oils on her mother's burns. They've always worked before. Coming from Elphaba herself made him feel apprehensive with what he might see.

"You're pretty, mother," Liir encouraged whole-heartedly, "You'll always be pretty to me."

Elphaba turned to him, feeling a warm sensation cloak her heart. She trusts her son. His eyes speak the truth themselves. Slowly, she lowered her defenses.

Liir held his breath.

Half of his mother's face was completely marred, damaged beyond repair. Her eyebrow had been completely singed off, and everything on one side was in a shade of bone-chilling light green, and was slightly puffy with the sore of the burn.

Tears were brimming in her eyes as Liir gently slid his small hand down her newly deformed face. They both let out the breath they've been keeping.

"See?" Liir said, smiling as he traced the place where her former eyebrow was found,
"My mother is still pretty."

They went over to Glinda, who was recuperating well on her own. The instant she saw Elphaba's burned face, she wanted to sit up, only to be pushed down by her son and her lover.

"Oh Elphie…" she said sadly, doing the same things Liir had done to the destroyed face, gently running her hand over the rough surface.

"I'm hideous," Elphaba said bitterly despite of her son's testimonial.

Glinda slowly shook her head. "You're beautiful, Elphie," she said gently.

Elphaba looked more pained. "You don't have to lie—"

"I'm not lying," Glinda interrupted, "I'm just looking at things in a different way."

It was the first time the two of them had really kissed in front of Liir. The boy had to pointedly look away to give them a moment.

"Oh, please," Liir groaned after a little while after seeing that his parents were still lip-locked, "Could we just go?"

The two break apart to laugh at him.

Within minutes, the three of them were inside a large bubble Glinda conjured, floating away from the Emerald City.

Elphaba casually leaned against her knapsack as Glinda let her head rest on the green woman's thigh, and Liir hugged his favorite stuffed toy to his chest, watching the city of wonder sink. The green woman and the child had helped in bandaging the blonde's myriads of cuts, so as to relieve her from more pain.

"I'm so proud of you," Glinda said, taking her son's hand, smiling since she can now manage to do so, "You're my brave little man. You're even good at it than me."

Liir blushed at being appraised. "It's nothing, really…" he said in a small voice, answering their flattering smiles.

"You're really our son, Liir," Elphaba confirmed, patting him on the back.

"You know," Glinda said to Elphaba as they watched the gigantic moon loom into the horizon, "The Wizard is not going to be happy to find his palace trashed and Morrible gone. I can't wait for the headline: Two Witches and a Boy Defies the Wizard."

Elphaba smirked down at her, the moon casting jagged shadows on her burnt side, "Has a ring to it," she says jokingly.

"Where are we going now?" Liir inquired, rocking back and forth.

"Home. Wherever that is. As long as we're together," answered Elphaba, "Come here, Liir, and get some sleep, you unknown sorcerer."

Liir giggled with his mommy Glinda, resting on Elphaba's other lap.

"Hey, Glinda."

"Yes, Elphie?"

"You won't leave me, right?"

Memories came rushing back to Glinda, returning her to the moment she had been leaving the Emerald City with Elphaba aboard the broom. It had been a year at most. Maybe even exactly one year ago, she could never confirm. On the same hour as now. She had asked Elphaba a childish question that needed a resolute confirmation.

"I'm here. I'm always here. I will never leave you, my Elphie… I promise." She replied, echoing the same words Elphaba had released. "You, me, and Liir- defying the Wizard, defying all of Oz, and defying gravity."

THE END

A/N: So much for my first attempt of a story here in .
So, if you've read all the way to the end to tolerate my crap, then thank you, thank you all so much XD
You've all been very wonderful.

TRIVIA: Let's play a game. Have you noticed there was a pattern on every title of the story? Chapter One,Chapter 2, Chapter Three, Chapter 4,... and so on. If you've seen it, you're all great observers.

Goodbye and thank you :D
~ Ædelstan