Stolen Broomsticks (Pre-Wonderful, mild Gelphie friendship, featuring Broomstick, the Wizard)
Elphaba steals a quiet moment of recollection in the Wizard's all-too-familiar throne room…before said Wizard steals something far more precious to her.
I took one step.
Two steps.
…three steps into the room, placing my feet with enough feather-light care to rival walking on ice. One could never be too cautious. I knew that all too well.
The throne room was bathed in darkness, a great echoing cathedral of a space…silent as the grave. His mechanical head loomed in front of me upon its throne. Lifeless. A golden skull. The whole place was lit by moonlight only, stealing in through the few open windows.
Déjà vu – swooping déjà vu washed over me. Cursed was identical. Exactly the same. Not one single detail out of place, even after all these years. I could almost feel her trembling hand around mine, feel the warmth of her sweaty palm…the heavy weight of my bag against one hip, chock-full of Animal rights bills…the green glasses in my pocket, leftover from our one short day in a city I had, over these past few years, grown to loathe…so…much…
I shook my head, banishing the thoughts. Now was not the time. I tiptoed towards the head and around the back, peering for any sign of him. Nothing. No one. Just a battered pair of goggles and a half-drunk mug of coffee. right, then…it was time to find those monkeys.
A very faint hum of music drifted from outside one of half-open windows. Trumpets, and a drum or two. A could that be about? I hesitated – then leant Broomstick up against the back of the Ozhead. He bristled a few indignant twigs.
"Don't be ridiculous," I muttered, turning away. "I wouldn't leave you in this place if you begged." He whacked the hem of my dress playfully in response. "Quit that." Another whack. I almost grinned. "Now you're just being childish."
I scrambled up onto the window sill and peered through the misted glass, searching for the source of the noise. The music had stopped – yes, a fanfare, that was what it must have been – and silence had fallen again. I squinted – Oz-damnit, it was times like these that I missed my glasses more than ever – wondering, hoping that maybe…just maybe she would be there, maybe I would get a glimpse of her out in those courtly gardens, enjoying the ball, maybe…that fanfare had been for her.
The silence was thick all about me. A blanket of stillness. Almost comforting. Utter…peace. I let my eyes flicker shut, revelling in the rare moment…
"I KNEW YOU'D BE BACK."
I jolted out of my trance with a stifled shout –toppling backwards off the sill and stumbling to the , Elphaba. Just brilliant.
Scrambling up, I whirled on my heel to see…to see…
…he hadn't changed either…
A mere few feet from me stood what a good three-quarters of this Oz-damned city deemed the Wizard, leaning against the side of his mechanical head as though it were an everyday occurrence for him to find his self-proclaimed mortal enemy crouched on the floor before him, glaring daggers. He smiled down at me in a mild, familiar way that made my skin crawl. The memories that smile dredged up…
His hair was shadowed with streaks of iron, and his eyes quite not as bright as the last time we had met…but every other detail, down to the last button on that ridiculous striped coat, was the same.
I balled my hands into fists, reaching out for the none-existent handle of Broomstick – Oz-damnit, where was he?! My eyes darted – his did too, following my stricken gaze. He glanced from me to Broomstick, who was playing 'normal' and failing dismally as always – and dived at the same moment I did. He was closer.
"Don't you dare -!" I hissed as his wrinkled hands whipped twisting, struggling Broomstick away behind him "Give him back -!"
"Him?" he wheezed, holding onto Broomstick with all of his strength; his tone was touched with amusement and creaking with age just as I remembered it, rusty at the edges. "Him -? Dear me, Elphaba –"
I was practically snarling. "Let him go!"
"Elphaba," he sighed, swinging Broomstick out of reach. "Please, just hear me out – let's talk about this for a – oh!"
He stumbled, clutching one hand to his temples in pain as I let loose a jinx…
…but kept hold of Broomstick.
"Elphaba."