The top step creaked. He had to remember that. And the third step up from the middle. That one creaked too. The main staircase was not, technically, supposed to be used by servants. But Buttons had watched the Stepsister's carriage pull out of the drive ten minutes ago. And, he thought gallantly, it was worth the danger of being caught just to see Cinderella again.

Cinderella's tower bedroom could be found towards the back of the house. But to reach it, Buttons would have to pass…her room. The Baronesses' room was perhaps the largest of them all. It took up three whole windows along the third floor, and looked out over the manor grounds. Buttons had never been inside to clean, and neither had Cinders. He shuddered at the thought of the state it must be in.

And that was why, as he tip-toed down the corridor, Buttons knew he mustn't-

The door was open. The door was never open. But now, today, the Baronesses' door was open. It opened onto darkness. And in the darkness, something stirred.

Terrified, Buttons froze.

Then, as if all of Button's nightmares had culminated into one horrible moment, a voice came from the darkness. It was hoarse; barely more than a whisper, but dreadfully sharp.

"Not that I have any objections to unexpected company, not even yours, but do you ever come this way, Boq?" it asked

Buttons very almost turned and fled right there and then.

"I suppose that's an answer for both of us," continued the voice, trite and unsympathetic, "The door is open, and the door is never open, and here you are. And that, unfortunately, is progress." There was the sound of bed sheets rustling. Buttons drew back, half-mesmerised by the grave voice. Never in his life had he heard something so….Not-nice!

"And as you are here, silent skulking shadow or not, you beg the question: has something else broken? I can't say I'd expect it of you to remember, but any loose cog is as good as another. Even if you aren't my first choice of company. We make do with what we have." The voice softened slightly, "Are there strange dreams you can't explain? Does your name feel off to you? Does the world feel as if you could just…peel it away? "

Buttons peered into the gloom. He could see nothing beyond the gentle circle of light from the lamps behind him. The room was dark. As dark as pitch. Buttons straightened his spine, puffing out his chest. His lip wobbled, but he had had enough of this. E-enough of today.

"Go away!" he said, with as much nerve as he could muster, "Y-you're just an evil old hag, a-and I don't like you!"

There was silence from beyond the doorway.

"And how often have you said that?" came the voice. "How often have you thought it, Boq? Have we ever actually spoken?"

Buttons paused. Of course they had! How else-

His blood ran cold. No. No he hadn't. He'd seen the sisters, he'd spoken to the other servants. But the Baroness? Buttons took a tentative step towards the door. Never.

First the first time in his life, Buttons felt overtaken with curiosity. It was a terrified kind of wonder; nightmarish and just wrong. But it was almost overpowering. He felt as if he'd woken up somewhere unfamiliar; like those dreams where everything was very almost the same, but…not. It itched.

Buttons paused, then he took another step into the room.

Inside, it was still dark, almost impossibly dark. Buttons could make out the dim shapes of a bed, a boudoir, a towering wardrobe. And on the bed…someone. But nothing else. The thick velvet curtains blocked out any light. Despite himself, Buttons strained to see further.

Had…had he even seen Baroness Hardup before? Had anyone stopped to ask Buttons this question, he would have immediately answered yes. How silly it was to work for someone all these years and…and…never…

The truth, bright and clear and horrible, danced before his brain. But that…that wasn't right at all! Buttons had worked for the Hardup family for all long as he could remember! How could he not have seen-

Buttons raised a hand to touch his head. These….these didn't feel like questions he was supposed to ask. None of this felt at all like things he was supposed to be doing. The room had started to spin. Buttons felt sick.

"W-what are you doing?" he whispered.

"Nothing." Came the soft reply. "I'm just sitting here, Boq. You're doing it all yourself."

"Please stop calling me that."

"Why, does it frighten you?"

"…Yes!"

"Good."

The girl in the bed sat up slowly. Sharp brown eyes peered out through curtains of thick black hair. Although her voice was soft, her mouth had twisted into a look Buttons couldn't quite read. It might have been contempt, or it could have been dislike. But at some strange angles, it looked almost like victory.

"Fear is good. You're not supposed to feel fear. Be afraid Boq!"

"Come on!" she whispered, her gaze intense and unblinking. Her lips twitched. "I haven't been stuck here in this wretched bed for you to bow to the story, Boq. If you of all people can see how wrong this all is, then think, for God's sake! Think!"

Despite his unwillingness to agree, Buttons thought. And the more he thought, the stranger he felt.

Buttons felt suddenly as if somebody had a tight hold of his collar and was tugging him backwards. The feeling had always been there, he realised; a kind of sharp heaviness about his neck. But never before had Buttons paid attention to it. And, to his own surprise, he found himself fighting to pull forward. Buttons had never fought against a single decision in all his life. But here he was, standing in the bedroom of his Mistress, struggling to rid himself of something he had never before considered a problem. It was a small thought, but in moments it seemed to dominate all others.

Buttons closed his eyes tight, the realisation becoming a sharp pain at the back of his temple. None of this was right. None of it! There were too many holes, too many happy coincidences, too many things that had never made sense. Buttons' world was falling apart around him, and all he could do was hold on tight and whimper. There was something else beyond it, behind the thick curtain of bright simplicity. Another past, another Buttons, another-

And suddenly, there it was.

He opened his eyes. The room was still dark, but he stared into it with new sight.

"….Miss Elphaba?" he whispered.

The girl on the bed smiled thinly. "Welcome back to the world, Boq."

Boq caught himself heavily on the edge of a cabinet. His head spun. He remembered the book. He…Oh Oz…he remembered the feeling of magic as it jerked him sharply forwards. He remembered Elphaba. He remembered Fiyero. He remembered-

"Galinda!"

He turned sharply. The corridor was just a few steps away. He had to-

"They'll stop you."

Boq froze.

"They'll stop you," Elphaba repeated. "If you go against routine, they'll stop you."

For a moment Boq almost asked who 'they' were. Then he remembered the walled garden. The Stepsisters. Their unnatural proximity to him after he'd missed his usual appointment with Cinderella. Boq shivered. Even with his memories returned, he didn't recognise them.

"Wha-…Who are they?" he whispered.

"I don't know." Elphaba admitted softly. "But they've kept me in here for months. They've kept you away from me too, I'll bet."

Boq thought of his reluctance to use the main stairs, to pass Elphaba's door, and nodded wordlessly.

"And they'll keep me here if I try to leave. But you, Boq, you can go wherever you like, as long as you act like Buttons. You'll have to work for me."

"But how do you know you can't-"

"Do you honestly think you were my first choice? I've been trying to find Galinda!" Elphaba's nostrils flared, and Boq decided that swallowing his protests was probably the better option. "No. Something's keeping her away from me. Keeping her in the story more than any of us. I can't reach her at all" She sat up straighter, slim fingers picking at the bed sheets. "We have to find out who did this to us. I'm not sitting in this bed for the rest of my life!"

Boq hesitated.

"I…I don't remember what happened." He admitted, after a time. "Not…not exactly. Not as much as you. Just-"

"That blinding light, and the book." Elphaba murmured. Her face had disappeared behind the curtain of hair again. Boq could only guess at her expression. "It seems somebody is hiding a lot more from us than we think-"

There was a sound. It was a far off sound, muffled by the thick curtains, but it grew louder with each passing moment. The sound of heavy carriage wheels on gravel. Boq froze. A chill terror swept down his spine. The Sisters were back!

"Go, you fool!" hissed Elphaba, drawing the sheets around herself. "Before they catch you in here! Go! And find Galinda! If things have started happening out of routine, maybe we can break everyone out of this!"

As Boq stumbled from the room, pale with terror, he heard Elphaba's voice call out to him again.

"Look after her, Boq." She said, "Try to make her remember. She may act brainless, but there's thought in there somewhere, I know there is!"