(AN: And with that, my laptop has died. But I'll try to keep updating my stories - it will just take a LOT longer.)

(Here is the end of this story which, it seems, was a big failure.)

A Saint's Memorial

Even while Elphaba and Glinda were riding through the Pine Barrens at night, a certain Vinkan prince woke from his coma. Daisy was very excited to see him, but when he asked why his lover and her friend were not there at his bedside vigil, the Munchkin's face became overcast with concern.

"What? What is it?" Fiyero asked. "Where are they?"

Daisy looked rather taken back, as if she was the sole carrier of some great secret that she was now being pressured into telling against her desire. Her foot pushed against the floor absent-mindedly as she kept her eyes down.

"Daisy, tell me where they are."

The middle-aged Munchkin drew out the letter and Fiyero snatched it out of her hand. Upon peeling it open, he noticed the tiny, scrawl of his beloved Elphaba's hand-writing.

"I haven't looked at it, in case you were wondering." Daisy commented, though Fiyero was too wrapped up in the letter to pay much attention to what she was saying.

"Oh sweet Oz!" Fiyero breathed. Without another word, he tossed the letter to the floor and began rummaging around his bed.

"Wait, what are you doing now, wild man?" Daisy asked.

"I'm going after her!" he exclaimed.

"Oh! Then I'm coming with you!"

"No, you can't!"

"I have to see that Glinda gets back safely!" Daisy walked over to their bed and picked u p a medium-sized back-pack, into which she began stuffing clothes.

"Wait! We don't need all this!" Fiyero exclaimed as Daisy stuffed a red-and-black dress into the back-pack.

"This was a gift from the Eminent Thropp!" Daisy exclaimed. "I don't know what rules you Winkes have out west, but here in civilized Munchkinland, we don't return gifts!" She continued packing, sighing and muttering things to herself.

"Are we ready?" Fiyero asked nervously. "Alright! Let's go!"

"Wait, wait, wait, wild man!" Daisy exclaimed. "The stables are this way…" She said, indicating to the hall opposite their room. "Unless you plan on running after her!"

He rolled his eyes and set his foot-steps after the Munchkin-woman, who muttered loud enough for him to hear:

"If it weren't for ol' Daisy Fromica, wild man would run off without his brains one of these days!"

He smiled, knowing just how true her words really were.

The sound of water falling down from the entrance of the tunnel was all the noise that could be heard in this dark cavern beneath the earth. Elphaba was crawling on all fours from the crystal formation – looking like a huge semi-transparent throne of crystals – to where her dear, beloved friend lay. The Sword had vanished, but a dark, crimson stain still covered the lower part of her dress. Elphaba lifted the little blond's head up off the filthy stone floor as she knelt beside her.

"Glinda!" she sobbed. "Oh, Glinda, I'm so sorry!" Elphaba no longer cared that she had to pretend to be allergic to water, or that she was 'the strong one', her heart had been torn out and tears streamed freely down her face.

"Elphie," Glinda sighed feebly. "Don't cry for me…no one…mourns the wicked!"

"Glinda, don't…"

"It's true…" Her breathing was ragged and slow. "I…was the bad witch."

"No, you weren't," Elphaba insisted. "You saved Oz. I'm so proud of you!" The little blond's hand reached up feebly, trying to wipe the tears away from her green friend's face, but she had not the strength. Elphaba's long green fingers closed around the tiny pale-pink hand. It was cold, more so than Glinda had ever been. She lifted the hand up to her face, trying in vain to warm it.

"You've got to hang on!" she insisted. "You've got to keep fighting, Glinda! I need you!"

"Elphie…"

"Yes?"

"I…" she breathed, struggling to stay above the cold that was rising up around her. "I'm…n-n…I'm not…g…g-g…g…"

When she finally got the words out of her lips, a cold sweat ran down Elphaba's face and her eyes doubled in size.

No matter how fast Nessa had been, the unicorns of Oz were faster by far. The rest of the night, Fiyero and Daisy rode atop Bfan. For a steady old beast, he could run fast when the need required it. Now they were galloping hard across the corn-fields of Munchkinland while the night wasted away around them.

By morning's light, they had passed the Pine Barrens and had the Restwater Lake on their left. Though neither of them was willing to attempt it, Fiyero doubted not that, if the need arose, Bfan could run across the water as easily as across land. But this was probably just wishful thinking, or some crazy fantasy brought on by loss of blood or lack of sleep.

When they crossed the Gilikin River at its head, just a few miles north of the Shale Shallows fort, they saw that the garrison had been raised up, as if on the alert. Upon seeing this, and remembering what they had done to him – a simple Vinkan – when they first found him, he decided that getting beat up again wasn't worth it, especially since they were already so close.

"Hyah!" he shouted to Bfan. "Ride on! We're almost there!"

With almost frightening speed, the unicorn shot off between the Kellswater and south-western bank of the Gilikin River. Cries from the fort made them fear that they had been spotted, and Daisy, for one, did not like the idea of getting captured by Gilikin raiders again.

"It's bad enough getting hauled back there at my age," she commented, while holding onto Fiyero's waist for dear life at the back of Bfan. "But those damn tallies just make it worse with all their short jokes and the cruel things they do to their prisoners!"

"I think I'll take your word for it!" Fiyero returned.

After passing the Shallows fort and winding their way southward, with the Gilikin River on the right and the Vinkus River on the left, they were now on their way toward the plateau that once housed the castle of Kiamo Ko. The gray hours of the afternoon were now upon them.

Just then, there was a flash of green fire that shot off into the hills. Upon seeing this, Fiyero kicked Bfan in the flanks and the unicorn shot off faster than before. Night was falling down upon them as they continued on, the land growing steeper and steeper and more rocky and arid.

There was the great hole in the side of the cliffs, still smoldering with green fire. Without another thought, Fiyero threw himself off Bfan's back and started trudging down into the cave.

"Wait a minute, you crazy wild man!" Daisy shouted and she tried to push herself very carefully down off the back of the unicorn. "You can't walk in there without some kind of light!"

"We don't have time for this!" he shouted. "If something's happened to Elp…to Aelphaba and the baby, they may not have time to wait for us! We've got to go now!"

Daisy finally fell down off the side of the unicorn, dusting her skirt off as she pushed herself up onto her feet. She looked a little groggy after the heavy ride, like she had too much to drink.

"We…" she pointed out, raising her finger up. "need…to rest! We're no good to them if we're half dead from exhaustion when we find them!"

Fiyero sighed, then collapsed onto the ground next to the cave entrance, feeling totally defeated. She was right.

Night came at last, during which they made a small fire. Fiyero knew exactly which straw-grasses made the best fires, and Daisy had some skill with making fires and before long, they were warming up next to the vibrant fire.

"We need a torch," she said, while the fire still burned hot. "I don't know about you, wild man, but I can't hold blazing straw-grass in my hand."

Unfortunately, this presented something of a problem. There were no trees past the Vinkus River, only miles of savannah-like grassland. Without wood, they could not have a torch. Fortunately, he had learned some tips of survival from the fellow clansmen of the Arjiki clan. He found the largest straw-grasses on the slope of the hill and tied them together. He then took a piece of cloth from his clothing – and noticed just how ragged they were from such a long journey – and wrapped it around one end. This end he held while he placed the other end into the fire, igniting it among the flames.

"That's a neat trick, wild man." Daisy commented. "But what happens when the flame hits the cloth?"

"Hopefully we won't have to be down there that long." Fiyero stated. "Come on, let's go."

"But it's night-time!"

"That doesn't matter in a cave." Fiyero answered. "Besides…" He pointed to the sky, which was covered with clouds. "I don't think morning would make much of a difference."

Fiyero walked towards the gaping mouth of the cave, while Daisy picked up the back-pack of supplies from off Bfan's back and walked after him as noiselessly as she could.

In the end, the torch burned out before they reached the end of the tunnel, which snaked its way ever downward into the bowels of the earth. The sound of booming echoed from the depths of the tunnel, and Fiyero and Daisy hastened their steps, walking with hands upon the walls like blind men.

At last they came to the exit of the tunnel, into the room that burned with red light. In the center they saw the great crystalline throne, gleaming emptily, before them. It looked empty at first, but as they gazed deeper into it, they thought they could see red eyes looking out at them. Both Fiyero and Daisy jumped back in surprise.

It was then that the Munchkin woman noticed the green woman kneeling over a prone body, and a little beyond it, another one curled up in a ball, quite forgotten, on the other side of the cavern.

"Aelphaba!" she cried out. The voice was loud enough to echo through the whole room, so they all heard it. The green woman turned her face away, then rose up and turned to Daisy.

"What's happened?" she asked.

Elphaba said nothing, but walked almost wearily toward Fiyero. He ran toward her and took her in his arms, feeling her face press against his. She was sobbing quietly into his shoulder.

"Oh no!" Daisy cried out. They turned and saw the little Munchkin now standing over Glinda, trying to shake her awake.

"Leave her alone!" Elphaba returned. "She's dead!"

"No, no! She can't be dead!" Daisy refused to believe it. She knelt at Glinda's side, praying to Lurline that she bring her servant back to life.

Fiyero also looked rather shaken up by the truth.

"Is she really dead?" he whispered.

"I was there with her," Elphaba returned. "To the very end." She bit her lip, trying hard to keep the tears from falling."

"What happened?" Daisy asked. "How did she die?"

Elphaba turned to the little Munchkin woman. Why she was saying this, she did not know. Instinct told her to say nothing, since they were in the past and any interference might ruin time as they knew it. But still the words came out.

"The Chancellor," she began. "He betrayed us all. Glinda sacrificed herself to destroy him." She pointed to the large crystal throne.

"A true servant of Lurline," Daisy pondered. She turned her eyes away and saw the little thing left quite abandoned by the side.

"Are you so grief-stricken," she asked frustrated. "That you can't clothe a poor girl? Oz, you really are helpless without me!" Daisy picked up the nearest thing she could find, the back-pack, and pulled out the red-and-black dress. This she placed over the little thing's body.

Elphaba, meanwhile, was whispering something into Fiyero's ear. He nodded, and remained steadfast while she walked toward the sound of the waterfall.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Daisy queried. "You are insane!"

"What do you mean?" Elphaba asked, not turning her face away from the waterfall curtained tunnel.

"You can't go that way, it's blocked!" she said. "And you're allergic to water!"

"Trust me," Elphaba said. "I'll return." Why in Oz did I say that, she asked herself.

"When?" Daisy returned.

"Not yet" was all that Elphaba said. She stepped into the waterfall and was suddenly lost from view.

Outside the cave, the Gilikin Raiders were encircling the entrance, ready for battle. Behind them, Azalea Thropp led an army of Munchkins. Upon discovering the departure of her guests, she went to get them back, especially the green woman. Once the "tallies" got sight of the Munchkins, they turned their weapons on them.

"Back to the farm, Shorty!" one of the Gilikinese soldiers shouted.

"We've come to rescue our friends!"

"What a coincidence!" Captain Tenmeadows smiled deviously. "We're here to bring back a couple of fugitives. If they're your friends that means you're harboring fugitives from justice!"

"Gilikinese justice is no justice!" another Munchkin shouted.

"And you crossed through Gilikin lands!" Tenmeadows added. "You've as good as declared war!"

"We don't want war," Azalea returned. "Just our friends. Leave us in peace or we will fight!"

The raiders laughed.

"Fight?" Tenmeadows asked. "What fight could a bunch of midgets offer us?"

"That's Munchkins to you, long shanks!" one shouted angrily.

"Why fight?" another raider asked. "We're worth two of them any day!"

"I'll shove those words down your throat!"

"Like you can even reach my throat!"

"Do you need a ladder?"

"Maybe one of your little friends could let you stand on his shoulders, eh?"

The raiders were in stitches with laughter, while the Munchkins were livid at the amount of insults being thrown their way. They were fingering their pitch-forks and hoes, ready to strike without warning or permission.

"Look!" one Gilikin boy with a very high-pitched, nasally voice, cried out, pointing to the cave.

They all turned, and saw a very dejected-looking Munchkin woman walking out, dragging a beautiful, pale Gilikin woman behind her.

"There they are!" Tenmeadows shouted.

"Protect them!"

"They're our prisoners!"

"And under my protection!" Azalea indicated, pointing to herself.

"I don't recognize your authority, traitor!"

"Shut up!"

All eyes turned to the little Munchkin woman standing at the entrance of the cave.

"Can't we all just get along?" she shouted. "Look what Lurline has done for us! She brought us one of her own – the lady Glinda – to bring her grace to all of Oz! She sacrificed herself against a great enemy, greater than any Oz has ever seen…she gave her life for you! All of you: Munchkin and Gilikin alike! You shame Lurline by your bickering!"

Daisy, her eyes dripping with tears, had nothing more to say. Her throat was dry and hoarse from shouting and sobbing all the way through the cave.

Looking upon the poor thing at her feet, the faces of every Munchkin and Gilikin raider fell down to the earth in sadness. A single, pearly tear welled up in Azalea's left eye.

"I think," Azalea stated. "We should bury her somewhere."

"I agree." Captain Tenmeadows said, walking up to Azalea. He was actually an inch or two shorter than she. He knelt before her. "Our fort is but a short distance from this place. Let us take this woman...Glinda...and bury her there, between our two great lands. She will not belong to Munchkinland or Gilikin, but to all of Oz. We will abandon that fort, and make of it a memorial for her."

The Gilikin raiders knelt down before the fallen body, and the Munchkin militia doffed their farmer's caps and hung their heads low.

"So it shall be," Azalea said. She then walked over to the body of Glinda and tried to lift it up off the ground. Seeing that she was struggling, Tenmeadows rose and offered his strength as well. Behind them, humble Daisy Fromica followed on behind, holding the little blond's legs up as the two taller ones carried her down the plateau.

On all sides, she was surrounded by the soldiers of both Munchkinland and Gilikin: united at last. Silent prayers to Lurline were said among them as they carried Glinda's body down the plateau. Once enemies were now united in their common faith of Lurline, and chose to cast aside their weapons and hatred to bury one they both loved. To that fort in the Shale Shallows they went, where they laid Glinda's body in a casket of stone, with her likeness carved upon the sarcophagus. It was abandoned, and no longer would raiders use it to enslave the people of the lower lands. It was given a new name.

The Cloister of St. Glinda.

It was the first step toward unifying Oz. And though that truth would not be realized in a hundred years, or even three hundred years, what it began it eventually saw through. Oz would never be the same again.

Fiyero Tiggular had one last thing to do.

Elphaba had given him instructions, though nothing about Glinda's body had been specified. Daisy was just so inconsolable, that he did not have the heart to tell her no, and let her take the body. She was dead, so what good or ill could she do to the future now? He walked over to the pale figure, wrapped in the red-and-black dress, and picked her up with both hands. He turned his direction toward the waterfall into which Elphaba had vanished. No doubt Daisy would spin fine tales about Elphaba's disappearance to whoever asked.

But now he had to disappear as well. With the little form in his arms, he walked toward the waterfall, feeling the cool water splash down upon both of them. Behind the curtain of water there was a smaller room, shallower and with a lower ceiling. At the farthest end, something loomed, something that was beyond the capabilities of Oz at this time. Clockwork gears ground eternally against each other, steam poured out of the metallic apparatus, shaped like a giant face, and the source of the red light was revealed: two great eyes atop the apparatus. Two metallic wings rested upon a large body with a giant round face of dim glass. Three great hands moved upon the face, with thirteen numeric divisions.

Fiyero was shocked.

Here was the Time Dragon Clock.

Without another thought, he stepped into the opening that appeared in the face.

THE END

(AN: If you were waiting until the end to review, now's your chance)

(I've definitely left a lot of things ambiguous in this story, so please ask. I'm more than willing to reveal [that which I am able to do so]. I'll try to get the next story in the Ozian Adventures series up as soon as possible: it will be entitled The Warrior and the Witch.)

(Please leave your thoughts, reviews, comments, questions, concerns...whatever!)

(Phew! Now that that is done, maybe I can get some other stories completed!)