Disclaimer: I only own the plot. All other rights belong to Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and Gregory Maguire.

Notice: This is the last day before Spring Break ends, so updates are probably going to slow down from here. Just wanted to let you guys know.

A/N: So, this chapter is fairly dark. I'm not really going to say much else; I'll let the chapter speak for itself. Thanks to everyone that reviewed!

The two were still for a split second, frozen in time. Elphaba was floating outside of the window, her body paralyzed from an overwhelming sense of dread and fear quickly working its way through her body. She could hear her heart pound in her chest, and everything stood still for just a moment. Fiyero suddenly leapt out of bed, and she willed her body to move, but the captain was faster. Grabbing her arm through the crack, he jerked her through. He moved his face dangerously close to hers.

"And just what do you think you're doing, Witch?" he hissed, his voice full of anger and malice. Forcing herself to remain composed at the sight of him saying that, Elphaba scowled at him.

"What does it matter to you, Captain?" she mocked, making him grab the collar of her dress and lift her up forcibly. By this time, Galinda had woken up as well.

"Fifi?" she asked groggily, wiping her eyes and yawning. "What's going-" she opened her eyes before she could complete her question, freezing when she saw Elphaba. The young witch cursed mentally, and the blonde jumped out of bed like Fiyero did, narrowing her eyes to the point that they looked like slits.

"You!" she breathed pointedly, storming over to her. "What are you doing here?" she asked threateningly. Elphaba felt a pang at that, suddenly finding herself with the desire to be with them again, to have someone to lean on… No! she berated herself. They're better off without me, she reasoned. Throughout this little exchange, she had somehow managed to maintain a stoic expression, angering the two political figures standing before her.

"Hey," Fiyero said through gritted teeth. "She asked you a question." Elphaba turned her head toward him, putting an imaginary veil over her face so as not to betray any emotions.

"I heard," she stated flatly, saying nothing more. His eyes narrowed.

"Fine, then. If you're not going to tell us willingly, then I guess we'll just have to force the answer out of you instead," he threatened, smirking as he said the last part. Though she kept her emotions hidden well externally, internally, she was bombarded with raw fear as she realized what that meant. Before she could fully process the implications of what he said, however, it was too late. "Guards!" the captain yelled, dropping her on the floor. Instantly, Gale Force soldiers rushed into the room and, upon seeing the Wicked Witch, ran toward her and lifted her up by her hands. "Take her to Southstairs," Fiyero ordered, and the soldiers complied, exiting the room with the witch in tow.

"Get in there, Witch," one of the soldiers commanded as they quite literally threw her into the cell. She turned her head around, glaring at the group of men. The one that she assumed to be the highest ranking of the group—the same one that had just spoken to her—merely laughed in response. "You think you're so powerful, Witch?" he asked, returning her glare with one of his own. He smirked, holding up an old book that they had confiscated from her: the Grimmerie. "Without this," he began, pointing at the book, "you are nothing." With that, the group turned away from her and began heading up the spiraling stairs to the entrance of the prison, leaving Elphaba to her own devices. She walked to the corner of her cell and sat down, thinking about what had just transpired. As much as she didn't want to admit it, that guard was right. Sure, she had powers that she could use on her own, but those were extremely unpredictable; she couldn't control what they did or when they were released. She needed that book to be able to really do anything. As she was thinking, she didn't notice her eyelids beginning to fall, and before hardly any time had passed, Elphaba was asleep.

When Elphaba woke up, she didn't know where she was. She was standing in a wide grassy section between two strips of pavement leading into large buildings. There were people moving all about, carrying various materials such as books and binders. Taking a good look at her surroundings, it hit her like a ton of bricks: this was Shiz University.

"If this is Shiz," she muttered to herself, "then why aren't the students gawking at me?" She looked around for another few seconds before something—or, rather, someone—caught her attention: a young, petite blonde running toward her with a huge smile plastered on her face. Elphaba smiled herself at the sight and quirked an eyebrow at her. "Oz, Galinda, what's got you all excited?" she asked when the blonde got to her.

"Oh, Elphie! Ok, so, long story short: I met this boy in class today, right? Well, we started talking about how boring the class is, and then, he asked me if I had any plans for tonight, so I told him 'no', and then we started talking again, and-"

"Galinda," Elphaba interrupted. "You're rambling." Galinda flushed slightly.

"Oh, right, sorry. Anyway, he asked me to go to a party tonight, and guess what?" Elphaba groaned internally as she "guessed what". "You're coming with me!" Galinda did a ridiculous little dance in her excitement, and Elphaba couldn't help but chuckle.

"Galinda, you know I don't do parties," she said. Galinda looked at her pleadingly.

"Oh, please, Elphie? Come on! It'll be fun!"

"Really, it's ok." Galinda looked at her with an angry look in her face.

"Oh, I see. You think that you can do whatever you want, and it'll be okay, huh?" she accused. Elphaba looked at her in surprise, her lips parted slightly.

"What? I was just saying-"

"Don't hand me any of that, Witch!" Suddenly, her surroundings changed. She was now back in the bedroom of the Grand Vizier and the Captain of the Guard. Elphaba instinctively took a step back, dumbfounded. Galinda was still looking at her, rage clearly visible in her eyes. "You think that you can make any decision you want without consequence, is that right? Have you ever considered what your actions would do to other people?!" Elphaba could feel tears pricking at her eyes, but she wiped them away as she allowed anger to overtake her.

"No, I haven't, and do you know why?" she shouted. "I've been alone all of my life! My mother? Dead. My father? He hates me! My sister? She loves me to a degree, sure, but she's only ever seen me as a servant." She shut her eyes, trying to avoid looking at Galinda as much as possible. "Excuse me if I don't know what it feels like to matter to other people," she said, her voice lowered to a near whisper. When she opened her eyes again, all she saw was black.

When Elphaba truly woke up, she was being yelled at.

"Get up, Witch!" a man shouted. Slightly disoriented from her dream, it took a moment to register that the person shouting at her was a guard standing in front of her cell. He was accompanied by several other guards. They unlocked the cell door and went in, forcibly grabbing her wrists and lifting her up. They chained her hands together behind her back. "You have been summoned to the Throne Room," the same man as before said with a smirk. They shoved her out of the cell, and they began walking toward the palace.

When they got to the Throne Room, there were four people standing there, all of whom she recognized. Sitting in the throne in the back of the room was the one and only Wizard of Oz. On his left was Madame Morrible, and on his right were Galinda and Fiyero. Madame Morrible smiled sinisterly as she noticed Elphaba and the guards.

"Ah, the Wicked Witch of the West," she said. "What a pleasant surprise." Elphaba scowled at the old woman before focusing on the two people standing together on the other side of the Wizard. Both of them were wearing stern expressions, and Elphaba could've sworn she saw a trace of amusement in Fiyero's eyes as he watched her be forced into the center of the room. She looked at the Wizard with an apathetic expression as he spoke.

"Witch," he began, making Elphaba cringe inwardly. "I've heard you were found sneaking around Master Fiyero and Lady Galinda's room last night. While I have no reason to doubt their word, I am still required to ask: is that true?" he questioned. Elphaba responded by staring at him with a blank look in her face. After a few moments, he grew irritated. "Answer me!" he demanded. When still no response came, he looked at Fiyero and nodded. Fiyero nodded back and withdrew a long, fibrous object from one of the pouches on his belt. A whip, Elphaba thought. As Fiyero walked toward her, she kept her eyes fixed on him, glaring. When he was finally standing next to her with a dark look in his eyes, he raised the whip.

She could hear the air whistling as the whip was brought down, but nothing could've prepared her for the pain. A crack sounded as it made contact with her skin, and a sharp, stinging pain spread across her back, and it didn't take long for the sensation of a warm, wet, sticky substance rolling down her back to appear. The whip was brought down again, and she had to bite back tears this time; she refused to let them have the satisfaction of seeing her cry. A male voice cut through the air.

"Will you tell us now?" the man standing next to her asked calmly. That was all it took for memories to resurface of her time at Shiz. They had been such good friends back then. What happened? I happened, she reminded herself. Fiyero, receiving no response, brought the whip down again. Hard. "Listen to me!" he shouted angrily as Elphaba struggled to shut out her pain, both physical and mental. "Unless you enjoy the idea of having your back torn open, I suggest you answer, Witch!" The amount of hatred carried in the last word resonated in Elphaba, breaking down the barrier between her conscious mind and her memories. Everything flooded back in vivid detail, and she couldn't help but long to feel at home again, like she had at Shiz.

Crack. The whip was brought down again. Fiyero yelled something, but she was too busy living in her memories to understand it.

Crack. Everything that had happened so far hit her like a wall. Everyone she had ever known always ended up changed in some way. Because of me.

Crack. Trying to keep from crying, she failed to notice the strange sensation welling up in the pit of her stomach.

Crack. The sensation became stronger, spreading throughout her entire body. It was only then that she realized what it was. Her eyes widened in horror.

Crack. She tried to stop it, but to no avail.

Crack. It was threatening to spill out of her now, yet she still was attempting to somehow tame it, to stop it before-

Crack.

A strong, invisible shockwave emanated from the green girl, sending everyone that was standing near her flying into the walls. Everyone within the room was at the very least knocked to the ground, and some were rendered unconscious. Elphaba looked around, seeing what she had done, and she sprung to her feet despite her back's protests. She froze when she turned toward the throne. There, slumped on the floor, was the unmoving form of Galinda.

No… She took a step back reflexively as she continued to stare at her, checking for any signs of motion. Her eyes welled up with tears once more when nothing happened. Backing away towards the window on the side of the room, she was so distraught that she didn't notice a certain soldier moving to pick up his gun. She didn't notice when that gun was pointed in her direction. The only thing she noticed was a piercing pain in her abdomen as a gunshot echoed throughout the room.

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