All righty my faithful readers….I bring you chapter 20 of 'Darkness of the Night'. This chapter deals with the after fact of Elphaba getting kidnapped by Madam Morrible and you will see the reason behind it, if you hadn't already thought what it is. It will start off with Glinda's part and her dealing with what happened then shifts towards Elphaba and what is going on with her. I will be quiet now and let you read on. Enjoy!

Chapter 20

"Let me go! I need to get her back!" Glinda shouts as she fights against Fiyero's hold on her. He is trying to get the blonde to sit still for some time. She has been like this ever since he, Rain, and Prince came running to the scene when all of them heard her screaming Elphaba's name in anguish. Fiyero brought her back to the compound for her safety when he managed to understand some of the words the blonde was saying through her tears.

"Hey!" Glinda yells when Prince uses his front legs to wrap them around her body to stop her from bolting off to rescue Elphaba from the clutches of the Wizard. Prince tightens his hold on her and pulls her closer to his chest when he feels that she is still trying to fight for freedom. For being as tiny as she is putting up quite the fight and taking more strength then he realizes.

"I know you want to run off and rescue her but what if this is exactly what he wants?" Fiyero points out to her that this could be a trap for the good witch. The Winkie Prince knows if Glinda goes down too then the Animal Resistance will be highly vulnerable to go up in smoke. She is a very big reason why the Resistance has been able to go on for so long. Now that Silver is out of the picture Glinda is only hope left for all the Animals out there. He just hopes that his friend will listen to reason. Rain is observing from the back of the room with Ares sitting next to her. The two Animals are quietly observing the chaos before them. They don't know how to help in this situation so they remain quiet for now.

"I don't care." The blonde whispers with tears slowly rolling down her face as she starts to calm down but the situation starts to really sink in now. She knows this is a lose-lose situation. Even if she gives herself up the Wizard will still kill Elphaba before he kills her. When that happens he will win this war.

Fiyero kneels in front of her while reaching forward until her hands are in his. He has to put his own emotions to the side so he can bring Glinda's feet back to the ground. They need an air tight plan before they can even think of doing a rescue. The Wizard will no doubt be waiting for them.

"Glin, I know you want to run off and rescue Elphaba right now but you can't. You will be playing into his hands and you know Elphaba wouldn't want you to give yourself up." Fiyero starts his speech with passion in his voice. He already lost one of his friends and he sure as hell doesn't want to lose another one. Glinda looks away while closing her eyes. She doesn't want to hear this when deep down she knows it's true. She can hear Elphaba's voice in her head telling her not to give up. A hint of a smile appears on her face when she feels Prince nuzzle her cheek for comfort. It makes her feel better when she has the support of her friends all around her.

"She would be devastated if she lost you again. I promise you we will get her back alive." The Winkie Prince finishes before bringing her hands to his lips to kiss them, earning a deep blue on Glinda's cheeks. He hasn't done that in a very long time. It feels a little weird actually because it's not Elphaba doing this romantic gesture. Rain cocks her head to the side for she doesn't understand why the good witch is blushing so hard. She looks to Ares to see what he thinks but the young Tiger just shrugs his shoulders. He hits her playfully with his tail when all she does is give a snort at his answer.

"I…uh…y-you're right." The good witch manages to get out while removing her hands from his grip. She has lost her train of thought temporally from that gesture. Fiyero clears his throat afterwards as he doesn't know why he did it. He is just glad that she is finally seeing reason to this situation. Glinda gives a sigh as she runs her fingers through her golden mane. She hates to admit it but the Winkie Prince is right. She can't run over there with no plan in her head. The ball is in the Wizard's court, unfortunately. Rain takes a step forward after a few minutes of silence permeates the room. It's time to give her word on all of this.

"I have a plan."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elphaba leans her head back with a frustrated sigh. She can't believe she got captured by Madam Morrible, of all people. She must be losing her edge if she let that old bat catch her that quickly.

"This is some bullshit." She says out loud as she puts her head forward. Her eyes look around the windowless room while clenching and unclenching her hands. It happened so fast from being carried away by Morrible then she found herself being forced into the chair with her hands tied behind her back to keep her from using her magic to escape. The green woman blows through her lips with exasperation. This is clearly a trap for Glinda. Why would Morrible just take her when she could have killed them both right then and there? It would have made sense to her. It would kill two birds with one stone. The Wizard must want to do the deed himself, the bastard

"Please Glinda, don't come. Don't do it." She whispers to herself, hoping that her lover doesn't rush off to the Emerald City to rescue her. It will do them no good if Glinda is killed. She knows how important she is to the Animal Resistance and so does the Wizard. That's why he must be doing this. The green woman squints her eyes when the room is filled with a harsh light. Her eyes sting with pain as she has been in the dark for quite some time. While her eyes adjust to the quick change in light she listens to footsteps walking towards her.

"Elphaba, my dear welcome back. I do wish it was under better circumstances." Oscar says while twirling his emerald staff between his fingers. Elphaba watches him warily with each footstep he makes towards her. If he thinks he can make some kind of deal with her then the Wizard can kiss her ass. She will not make any type of deal with him especially if says that she and Glinda will live if she tries to have her wife end the Animal Resistance fight against him.

"I'll say so too. You should be in this chair with Glinda standing before you." She replies smartly with her fingers wiggling slightly to get some feeling back into them. The ropes are tied just a bit too tight for her liking. Oscar gives a soft chuckle as a smirk appears on his face while he sits on the edge of the table that is in the room. She still has that spunk in her after all these years.

"Still haven't lost that sharp tongue I see."

He takes the tip of his cane and slides it under the green chin to lift up her head so he can see her face in the light. There is some familiar about the fire in those soulful, brown eyes. Oscar feels like he is looking in a mirror.

"I only bring it out to special assholes." She snaps before moving her head away from the cane. An amused laugh escapes from his thin lips. She has that spunk that he finds refreshing in this dull place. He had such high hopes for her and now here they are fighting against each other when it should have been with each other. Oscar gives an internal sigh. Oh well, times have changed and he will get what he wants from her.
"I'm on that list for sure right?" He asks nonchalantly while putting his cane across his lap. Elphaba's lip twitch with her teeth gritting in anger at this man before her. It's all his fault that Glinda nearly died, that Silver was killed, and that they are in this whole mess in the first place.

"Of course, you're on the top of the list." She shoots back while cocking her head to the side slightly. There is a mutual silence between the two of them. The green woman is watching his finger tap his cane before looking to him. She is wondering why he is here. What is he trying to gain from their conversation? Is he trying to make a deal? If so she already knows what she is going to say to him. Oscar is quiet for a few more seconds before he inhales to speak.

"Elphaba, I have a proposition…."
"Whatever it is, my answer is no." The green woman interrupts him before he could finish his sentence. There is no way in hell will she ever make a deal with him. She will never give her family and friends just to keep herself alive. He grips the cane in a hard way and twists his hands around it. He should have known he would have met resistance with her but he still has to try.

"You don't want to hear what I have to say?" Oscars asks while trying to keep his voice even at the insubordination Elphaba is giving him. He doesn't much care for it. She gives a snort before looking him in the eyes.

"I know you will say if I have Glinda and the Animal Resistance give up you will let us all live when really you will kill us all in the end."

Elphaba gives a loud grunt while her head snaps towards the left when the Wizard connects his cane to the right side of her face. She spits out the blood filling her mouth. She feels the cut on her bottom lip. That was a good hit. The green woman looks to him with a deep chuckle.

"I see I'm not the only one with a temper." The raven haired beauty responds to the hit he gave her. Oscar runs his fingers through his hair before he gets off the table and slowly walks towards her. He needs to regain his cool since it has been made clear that Elphaba isn't in a compromising mood. He will continue on with his original plan. When he is close enough he reaches for her shirt and yanks her forward, earning a wince from her when the ropes tighten even more on her wrists.

"If that how you feel then you will be executed in front of all the people in the Emerald City. Is that what you want?" The Wizard asks through his teeth. He thought he could get through to her by saying he would spare them all if the Animal Resistance gives up but she seems very willingly to die for a bunch of filthy Animals and Glinda. Elphaba gives a smirk.

"Of course." She answers truthfully before spitting more of her blood onto him. Fire flares up in his eyes at the gesture. That has to be the most disrespectful thing done to him. He back hands her hard across the face again. The green woman just laughs at the hit.

"I can't wait to end your life, you bitch." Oscar hisses to her while wiping the blood off his face. She is getting under his skin very easily. Maybe he will make her death an agonizing one. Elphaba licks her heavily bleeding cut with a smirk. She knows what effect she is having on him and she is enjoying every second of it. Her eyes watch him walk away from her to head out of the room. He has had enough of her for right now.

"I look forward to it." She replies with her eyes still trained on him. She just had to have the last word in. The Wizard pauses at the door with his hand hovering just above the door knob. She is asking for a beating by his hands. If somebody isn't intimidated by him in their first meeting he will usually beat them until they have the fear of God in him. He doesn't know why he is trying to make the exception with her.

"I thought you were leaving."

Upon hearing this being said snarkly to him Oscar made up his mind. He turns back towards her with a smirk.
"I decided to stay a bit longer in here." The Wizard replies calmly while slowly walking towards her with the emerald cane held tightly in his hands. It's time to show her why he is the most feared person in all of Oz.

Thus endeth the chapter. Poor Elphaba is about to get a beating by the Wizard and will be executed in front of the people of Oz. Things are not looking too good for her right now. LuciferOfTheSouthPole gave me an idea so there will be one more special character appearance in the next chapter. Won't say who! I will update on Sunday then I won't be able to update for about a week because I will on vacation in Disneyworld! That way you won't have to be waiting over two weeks for an update. Well, I will stop yapping now. I will see you all on Sunday! Till then!

DWK