AN: I love how you all started talking to the cute little review button :').
Ozzie & theotherelphaba11: Yes, it was a Catching Fire reference ^_^. It was accidental at first, but I love CF, so I left it in because I find it so cute.
HollyBush, that actually made me laugh :P. Why do you hate bare feet so much? And yes, I hate typing on my smartphone, too I'll take a laptop over a smartphone anytime.
Chapter 3. Shattered
"So I was thinking…"
"Mmwwwaaaaahhhh."
"Fiyero, cover your mouth with your hand when you yawn. I don't really fancy staring down that big black hole of yours." Someone pinched his side and he shot up.
"I'm awake!" he muttered indignantly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and running his fingers through his bed-hair. "Oz, what time is it? Is that a ghostly thing? To be up at the crack of dawn?"
Elphaba rolled her eyes. "One: I'm not a ghost."
He mumbled something unintelligible.
"Two: It's not the crack of dawn. It's half past seven already."
He moaned. "Half past seven?!"
"And three," she continued, ignoring him, "that's not a 'ghostly' thing, but an Elphaba thing. Ask Galinda."
He took her in drowsily. Her dress didn't look at all like she had slept in it the night before – it looked like she had freshly washed and ironed it and pulled it out of her wardrobe this morning – and her hair fell down her shoulders in soft, silky waves, as if she had just brushed it. She looked far more awake than a person should this time of the day.
"Like I said," she began again, "I was thinking…"
He groaned. "At this hour?"
She glared at him. "Do you want me to punch you?"
"I don't know. Can you punch me?"
"I can touch you," she pointed out. "I think I should be able to punch you, too."
He grimaced. "Alright, alright, I'm awake." He pushed himself into a sitting position, brushing his hair away from his face. "What were you thinking about?"
"Well…" She looked at him. "I was thinking… maybe I can ask the Wizard for help."
He frowned, not understanding. "The Wizard?"
She knocked his head. "Wake up, Fiyero! The Great and Powerful Oz? The man that holds all the power in this land? Our ruler? The man I've been dying to meet since I was a little girl? That Wizard?"
"I know who the Wizard is," he muttered indignantly. "My mind doesn't work that fast this early in the morning, okay? Unlike some of us, I'm usually not up until at least two hours from now."
She smirked. "I'm surprised your mind works at all."
He threw a pillow at her. It hit her and caused her to topple off the couch and onto the floor.
He grinned; then he frowned. "How does that work, anyway?" he asked her curiously. "You're not real, but you can touch things?"
"You tell me." She scrambled to her feet again and hit him with the pillow. "Maybe it has something to do with my magic." She tilted her head a little to the side. "Do you think I could influence that? I mean… that if I focus, I can make objects go right through me, like in ghost stories?"
"I thought you said you weren't a ghost."
She glared her deadliest glare at him. He gulped. "Okay, okay, let's… give that a try?"
She nodded and stepped back. "Throw that pillow at me."
He watched her for a moment as she closed her eyes and scrunched up her nose in concentration. Then he tossed the pillow.
It went right through her and landed on the bed.
She opened one eye. "Did it work?" She took in his wide eyes and his open mouth, then turned around to see the pillow lying behind her, and she grinned. "It worked! Do you think I could walk through walls now?"
He opened and closed his mouth a few times.
She laughed. "Do I make you speechless?" she teased him.
"Every time," he choked out, making her laugh harder. He looked at her. He loved the sound of her laugh.
"Anyway, what I was saying," she said as she took a seat on his bed, crossing her legs, "is that I can transport myself anywhere I want now, right?"
"So you said," he said, leaning back against the couch. "But you've only been transporting yourself between Shiz and the hospital, right?"
She shook her head. "I went to Munchkinland, too," she said, her voice softer. "A few days ago. To… to check on my father."
He grimaced slightly. "Oh."
She looked at him. "He sent Nessa a letter," she said. "I read it when she was asleep. He feels so sorry for his little girl, he wishes he could be there for her but he has important business to attend to, and he hopes she'll be okay."
Fiyero knew. Nessa had told them about that letter. She had been immensely upset that her father would only worry about her when it was her sister that was currently in a coma. Galinda had flushed, but she had later confessed to Fiyero that it didn't surprise her much. Elphaba had told her about her father before and the blonde knew that he didn't care too much about his green daughter.
"I went to see him," Elphaba went on. She let out a soft, hollow laugh. "He already cleared out my room, did you know that? I think he hopes I won't ever wake up again."
He was shocked. "Elphaba!"
"Oh, don't be like that!" She drew her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on top of them. "It's true, after all. He doesn't care one twig about me, Fiyero. I've accepted that a long time ago. I just wish it wouldn't make Nessie so sad."
He couldn't understand how she could be so casual about this; but then again, he had no idea what it was like to grow up with a father that hated you because you were born a different colour.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, but she waved him away.
"Don't be."
They sat in silence for a while. Then he asked, "So what were you saying about the Wizard?"
She started. "Oh, yes! You keep distracting me." She shook her head. "I was saying that I could transport myself to the Emerald City and try to talk to him. I mean, he's the most magical person in Oz, right? If anyone could see me, it'd be him. Beside you, I mean. And… I don't know, maybe he could help me back into my own body, or something."
"Maybe," Fiyero said. "I think it's worth the try, if nothing else."
Elphaba smiled at him. "Exactly."
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Fiyero glanced at the time and cursed. "It's that late already?" He sighed and went to open the door.
Galinda took one look at his sleepy head and started giggling. "I forgot how much of a non-morning person you are. Can I come in?"
"Sure," he said wearily, gesturing for her to enter, which she did.
"Look at her," Elphaba said softly. "So typically Galinda. I can see how sad she is, but she tries to hide it beneath layers of make-up and smiles." She sighed. "I feel guilty."
Fiyero glanced at her quickly. "It's hardly your fault that you're in a coma."
"Mm?" Galinda turned around. "Did you say something, dearest?"
Fiyero shook his head. "I was just saying to myself that I need to shower," he said.
Elphaba sniggered softly. "You always tell yourself out loud that you need to go and shower?"
He glared at her before casting a radiant smile in Galinda's direction. "I'll be right back."
He quickly disappeared into the bathroom and locked the door behind him, letting out a breath. He should be careful with that. It was already becoming so normal for him to see and talk to Elphaba that he hadn't even thought about the fact that Galinda couldn't see or hear her at all.
He turned around and let out a very unmanly shriek.
"Fifi?" Galinda asked anxiously from the other side of the door. "Are you alright in there?"
"F-Fine!" he called back, staring daggers at the green girl smirking at him from across the room. "There's just a… um… spider!"
Elphaba rolled her eyes.
"A spider?" Galinda's voice rose in pitch. "Since when are you afraid of spiders?"
"It startled me, that's all!" he called back. He flushed the toilet. "There! It's gone! I'll be out in a minute!"
"Okay," Galinda replied, sounding slightly dazed.
Fiyero put his hand over his heart. "Sweet Oz, Elphaba!" he hissed. "You're walking into my bathroom now?! I thought I locked the door!"
"You did." She spread her arms. "I can walk through walls. Isn't that amazing? I wish I could study my current form. It would make the most wonderful Science project."
Fiyero glared at her. "It's a bathroom," he stressed. "You don't just walk into a bathroom unannounced! What if I had been naked?"
She rolled her eyes again. "You were only in here for two clock-ticks," she pointed out. "Even you can't undress yourself that quickly."
"'Even me'?" he echoed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
She gave him an innocent smile. "Nothing." She waved at him. "Have fun in class. I'm off to see the Wizard!"
With that, she disappeared again.
"HE'S A FRAUD!"
Fiyero winced and looked to his side. Elphaba came stomping into the classroom, clearly fuming, eyes burning. "Would you believe that?!" she shouted at him. "He's a fraud! The Wizard is a total fake! And Morrible is working with him!"
Fiyero glanced around him at the filled classroom, then back at Elphaba, but she didn't get the hint.
"I never thought this could happen!" She started pacing. "He doesn't have any magic at all! They have a magic book, but that's it, and… and do you know what the worst part is? I heard Morrible say something about me to the Wizard. Me. She was telling him that it's such a shame that the green girl was in a coma, and she hoped I would wake up soon because otherwise she'd have to find herself a new candidate to work for her and the Wizard. And that maybe if I died they could ask Galinda, because she's so gullible and at least she wouldn't question their motives!" She stopped and looked at Fiyero again. "They just wanted to use me!"
Fiyero raised his hand, catching the teacher's attention. "Um… may I go to the bathroom?" he asked sheepishly.
The professor gave him a weird look, but nodded, and Fiyero quickly ran out of the classroom, pulling Elphaba with him into the hallway.
"What happened?" he asked her.
She looked like she was going to explode. "I arrived there, in the Throne Room, and there was no-one to be seen – just this giant mechanical head that was hanging down. Then Morrible came in, which was strange in itself; and she locked the door behind her. Then this man came out from behind that giant head, and Morrible kept on calling him 'Your Ozness'…" She trailed off and shook her head angrily. "I just can't believe it… They said all these things, Fiyero, about me, and… and they had this big magic book, but from what I understand, Morrible can hardly read anything from it and the Wizard can't read it at all. It's a spell book in a lost language. And the Wizard… Fiyero, the Wizard is a fraud. He doesn't have any magical powers at all."
Fiyero touched her arm. "I'm so sorry, Fae."
She sighed, suddenly deflating, and she slumped against the wall. "What am I going to do now?" she whispered. "The Wizard can't help me. No-one can. What if I never wake up again, Fiyero? What if I'm going to be like this forever?"
"Don't talk like that," he said firmly. He placed both his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Fae, you'll be fine. You have to believe that."
She looked up at him, and the look in those large, dark brown eyes broke his heart. On an impulse, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
"It's going to be okay," he whispered. "Really. We'll find a way."
Her voice sounded uncharacteristically small. "How, Fiyero?"
He squeezed her softly, then let go again to look at her. "I don't know," he said. "But we'll figure something out. Okay?"
She nodded, and he smiled at her. "Come on," he said. "I'm done for today. Let's go to my room."
She shook her head. "You're not done for today," she pointed out to him. "You have to go back to class, and if I'm not mistaken, you have another class after this one. I don't want you to skip them. Just go. I'll be fine."
He sighed, but gave in. "Fine. I'll see you tonight, then?"
She nodded. "See you tonight."
He squeezed her hand one last time, then let go and went back into the classroom.
Elphaba turned around and started running until she reached Suicide Canal. Then she picked up a rock and smashed it into the water, screaming in frustration, all her anger and disappointment bubbling to the surface again. The Wizard, the one man she had believed in her entire life, the one person she thought might be able to help her with her current situation, wasn't real. What was she going to do now? She knew as well as Fiyero himself did that the prince could not help her return to her own body, no matter how badly he wanted to. He was helpless when it came to this. They both were.
She kicked another rock into the water, her entire body tense. Her fingertips were tingling and for a brief moment she wondered whether she still had her magic in her current form.
Then the answer came in the form of a tree randomly bursting into flames.
She curled and flexed her fingers and started taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. Students gathered around the tree, whispering, staring and pointing at it.
"It's the ghost!" someone shrieked, and Elphaba recognised the girl as Milla, one of Galinda's friends. "It's the ghost of the Artichoke, coming back to haunt us!"
Elphaba actually laughed at that, even though the sound was hollow and mirthless. They had no idea how right they were.
She picked up another rock and plunged it into the Canal. Immediately the students' attention shifted towards the water.
"It is her!" a boy cried, and they all started talking excitedly at the same time.
Elphaba, however, was staring at the water, then back at the students, and then at the tree.
She had an idea.
"Yero?"
He looked up, flashing her a small, tired smile. "Hey."
She approached cautiously, a hint of pain visible in her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
He shrugged, looking back at the figure in the bed. "I don't know," he replied honestly. "I just… I guess I was hoping for a revelation, or something."
She stood next to him. Together they looked at the lifeless body in the bed.
"With all the crazy stuff that happened to me because of my powers," Elphaba whispered, "I think this tops the list of 'craziest things I've done in my life'."
Fiyero smiled slightly. "Staring down at yourself?"
She shuddered. "I don't really like coming here," she admitted softly. "I want to hear what they say about me, so I eavesdrop on the doctors sometimes, but… but to see myself lying here is like… like looking into my future, or something. Like seeing myself when I'm already dead."
He understood what she meant. The girl in the bed was the same as the girl standing next to him, yet they were so different. "You look that way," he said quietly. "Dead. No offense, or anything…"
She choked out a laugh. "None taken."
"…but you don't look like… you. You're so pale, and… I don't know. It's like you're not really in there anymore."
She waved at herself. "I'm not, remember?"
He grinned. "Good point."
She rolled her eyes and moved to the other side of the bed, studying her own face. "This is so weird," she muttered under her breath. She sat down on the edge of the bed, then lay down, trying to merge with her real body.
Fiyero shuddered. "That must be the creepiest thing I've ever seen," he declared.
She raised her head, making him wince. "Oh, please don't do that," he begged her. "It's like you have two heads now."
She smirked and got up again with a sigh. "Like I said, I'm not getting sucked back into my own body, so do you have any other ideas?"
"Not at the moment," he confessed.
She shook her head slightly. "I'm getting out of here," she said. "I hate being here, and my own dead body isn't going to tell me anything, so…"
"You're not dead!" he protested hotly. "Stop saying that!"
She shrugged. "I might as well be," was all she said before she disappeared on him again.
He sighed, shoulders slumped. Then he rose to his feet and looked down at Elphaba's body in the hospital bed. "You'll be fine again, Fae," he whispered. "You may not believe that, but I do."
He kissed her forehead and left the room.
The cute little review button still likes to be tickled!
...Okay, that was creepy :3. Still, though. I love reviews ^_^.
