"Something's wrong!" Elphaba shouted, jolting upright in her bed. Fiyero, being made of straw, didn't need to sleep. He did, however, enjoy lying beside his wife and watching her dream.
"What do you mean something's wrong?" the confused scarecrow inquired.
"Glinda's in danger," the green girl elaborated, her eyes wide with panic.
"How do you know?"
"I don't know I just do," Elphaba explained. "It's just like when I knew Nessa was in danger." Fiyero paled.
"You think she's going to die?" he demanded.
"I don't know," the witch admitted. "But whatever the case I need to get to Glinda."
"I'm coming with you," the scarecrow told her, turning to get the broom.
"No you're not," Elphaba insisted. "It's too dangerous."
"Are you kidding me?" Fiyero scoffed. "I'm one of Oz's heroes and you're a wanted criminal."
"You are not coming," the green girl snapped. "And that's final."
"I'll come after you," the Winkie growled. In response to that Elphaba pressed his arm against the wall and muttered a series of odd words. Suddenly his limb was fixed to the wood. "Elphaba!" Fiyero protested, trying to free himself. "It's much safer for me than for you."
"We don't know that this threat is even human," the witch pointed out. "If there's a fire threatening the Emerald Palace I don't want you anywhere near it." She leaned forward and pressed her lips fervently against his. Then the green girl donned her hat and set off into the night.
***
Glinda's eyelids fluttered as she clawed her way back to consciousness. The first thing she was aware of was the cold penetrating her small body. She shivered and realized that her knees were pressed against the dark stone of a dungeon. Two steel manacles chained the blonde's tiny wrists to a prison wall. Blinking the bleariness from her eyes Glinda was met with a frightening sight. Raeb was perched before her on an unstable looking stool. In his hands he held a wickedly sharp knife. Standing behind him was a woman Glinda had hoped to never see again.
"Madame Morrible?" the petite ruler gasped. "But…what…how did you get out of prison?" As an answer the former headmistress held up a thick leather book. The Grimmerie.
"When Raeb brought this to me it was quite easy to overcome my guards," hissed the menacing woman. "And since you never formally announced by incarceration to the public it didn't seem strange to anyone that the former press secretary was roaming the Emerald Palace."
"You're much too gullible," Raeb snorted, twirling the knife between two fingers. "It was just too simple to get the Grimmerie from you."
"How long have I been asleep?" the blonde witch asked quietly, trying to contain her tears.
"A few hours," the cruel man replied. "It didn't take long to get Morrible here out of jail." Raeb's betrayal sliced into the small girl's heart like a finely honed spear. Anger leapt from the vicious wound.
"So what are you going to do?" Glinda snarled. "Kill me? People won't accept that my death was an accident, they'll investigate. You'll be discovered."
"Oh we don't plan to kill you," Madame Morrible snickered. "All of Oz practically worships the ground you walk on. However your involvement in politics is quite absurd. We plan on handling that ourselves while you return to your job as a figurehead."
"You think I'm going to be your puppet after what you did to Elphie?" shrieked the blonde, tears of rage streaking down her face. "I'm done being a coward. My only goal is to finish Elphaba's work and return Oz to the way it should be."
"We didn't expect you to obey willingly," Raeb explained. "But there is a fairly potent mind control spell in the Grimmerie." Glinda's eyes filled with horrified dread. They were going to use her to undo everything her friend had worked for. They were going to turn her against Elphie. Death would be a better fate.
"Kill me please," the witch begged.
"Sorry," Morrible cackled. "But you're just too valuable." With that she opened the Grimmerie and slowly flipped through the pages. "Ah," the former headmistress exclaimed. "Here it is."
"I thought you said you could only decipherate a few spells," Glinda reminded, trying to stall them.
"I had a lot of time to practice my magic in prison," Madame Morrible informed her snottily. Then the chanting began. The former press secretary's mantra was stiff and labored; it was clear that magic was still difficult for the woman. Still Glinda felt as if claws were scratching at her consciousness, searching for a handhold. Pain ripped through the petite ruler's torso as she tried desperately to resist. Glinda's back arched and a scream tore from her throat.
Tears sprung to her eyes and sweat dewed on her forehead. Shudders ran through the blonde's tortured body. The magic scraping at her mind dug in and squeezed. Glinda wanted so badly to give in, but she could almost hear Elphaba's voice commanding her to do otherwise. Fight Glinda fight! Do you want Morrible to own you? Do you want to be her little puppet? Do you want them to use you to undue everything we've worked so hard for? Gritting her teeth Oz's petite ruler lashed out at the fog invading her thoughts.
But, despite drawing on every reserve of inner strength she possessed, Glinda couldn't stop the magic. Slowly it soaked into her mind and she slumped forward limply. Every semblance of emotion drained from the blonde's eyes as her consciousness was dragged into the darkest cranny of her own thoughts. A sigh escaped Glinda's mouth as she relinquished control. I'm sorry Elphie.
Morrible's chanting ceased when she saw the petite girl's face go blank. "Elphaba will have sensed her friend's distress," the old woman told Raeb. "Take Glinda to her bedroom. Give her instructions to go about her usual business so the witch can see that everything's ok. Tell your men it's time."
"Are you sure this will work?" Raeb wondered nervously. "What if the witch doesn't react as you expected?"
"Don't worry," Madame Morrible chuckled darkly. "She will."
***
Please let her be ok, Elphaba thought desperately as she traveled towards the softly luminous walls of the Emerald Palace, guided by a small prick of premonition. Please let her be alive. Pulling her broom to a halt outside Glinda's balcony the green witch peeked warily inside, dreading what she would see. At first the room appeared vacant and shadowy but then a glimmer of shiny blue fabric caught her eye. The green girl's blonde friend was sitting at her desk, hunched over a pile of official looking documents. Oz's ruler was perfectly safe and working hard for the betterment of her country. Relief ballooned inside Elphaba's heart and a fond smile graced her lips. However, had the witch been able to see Glinda's empty eyes, she might not have been so reassured.
As the relieved witch hovered above her friend's room, the wind gently tugging at her hair, an ice cold ball of dread dropped into the pit of her stomach. Every positive sentiment vanished from her chocolaty eyes as though it had never existed. This premonition wasn't a flicker of uncanny worry but an assault of rock solid panic. Suddenly Elphaba knew with every fiber of her being that Fiyero was in grave danger. Before her brain could even react the green girl was blazing across the night sky towards home, going so fast that the stinging wind drew moisture from her eyes.
Adrenaline flamed through the witch's veins as she approached the forest and glimpsed smoke billowing from the direction of their cabin. Grim certainty that she was too late settled onto Elphaba's shoulders when her fearful eyes landed on the fire viciously destroying the house. "No!" she screamed, the sound tearing painfully out of her strangled throat. "Fiyero!" The flames were extinguished in a flash of green magic, but among the smoldering ruins there was no sign of a scarecrow. Hay was quite flammable.
The green girl collapsed onto the grass beside what had once been a happy place; filled with the promise of a bright future. Now it was a gaping wound of immeasurable grief. Wrapping her arms around her torso the witch curled into a ball on the ground. A keening moan escaped her lips and she shook with unstoppable sobs. I trapped him, Elphaba realized numbly before pain crushed her thoughts away.
Caya found the green girl huddled in the rain after an hour of incessant weeping. Her eyes were red and her hair tangled with forest debris. It was clear what had occurred. "Oh Elphaba!" the Tiger gasped, wrapping her friend in a warm furry hug. "I'm so sorry." However the witch didn't want to be comforted by Caya or any of the Animals in the village. There was only one person Elphaba trusted to hold her when she couldn't be the strong one; there was only one place she could go.
Without explanation the green girl pulled away from her Tiger friend and clumsily wobbled into a standing position. One look at the witch's frenzied eyes told Caya where she planned to go. "No," the worried Animal insisted. "You can't go to Glinda. As much as you need her it just isn't safe." But Elphaba wasn't listening; she was far beyond that. For the second time that day the green witch pointed her broom towards the Emerald City.
Oh snap another cliffhanger…man this is fun to write…
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