A/N: Got this chapter done! Here's some more bonding for you lovely people to catch a break from that bad Elphaba encounter.
James Birdsong: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Fae'sFlower: Oh, you have no idea. ;) I think you and I can both agree that Elphaba's too stubborn for her own good. It will be a long before she apologizes to Jo. Especially with all the things that I have planned. Ehehehe...
The Winter Date
Despite their harsh encounter with Princess of Oz, Jo was suddenly very excited the moment they entered the snow-covered gardens. Wendy found this strange since it would usually take longer for Jo to calm down after a near-panic attack like that. However, all thoughts of getting answers left her mind when Jo threw a snowball at her face.
The game was on.
Jo didn't exactly grow up playing normal snowball since Wendy would always beat him at that - apparently, a Wendigo's aim was extraordinary compared to a normal humans, despite their sight being based only on movement - so they decided to create their own version of snowball fights; Jo would hide behind a snow fort that was already built up from the falling snow and hide from Wendy for about thirty minutes - that was their longest game. The only thing Jo could do to Wendy was throw snowballs at her to try and give her a clue to where he was or throw her off his trail.
Right now they were only five minutes into the game and Wendy wasn't anywhere close to finding Jo. The young boy that it would be a smart move to hide behind a fort that was close to Wendy's starting point. Once Wendy would come to a decision on something, she will stick to it until someone gives her a good enough reason otherwise. But then, Wendy's hubris was hard to break from time to time.
Jo was just glad that a Wendigo's vision was based on movement otherwise, Wendy would have found him a long time ago since they were basically in her element. Her cold, icy element.
As he sat still with his back against the snow while Wendy's shrieks to get him to flinch enters his ears, Jo took the moment to think about his encounter with the Princess. He couldn't exactly blame her reaction - Oz, he almost reacted the same way with Wendy when she would tried to comfort him a few times before that incident. But it still didn't change the fact Jo was fearing for his life at that point. Which was why he wanted to so badly play this game.
He wanted to learn to put things behind him. That way they can never bothered him again. If Wendy - a human turned blind monster after resorting to cannibalism which caused her to lose almost all of her memories as human - was able to let the past go and not let it bother her for the rest of her immortal life, Jo decided he should try Wendy's way of thinking. Even though, his life was probably limited compared to Wendy's.
"Hey, Jo!"
The voice had brought him out of his thoughts so suddenly Jo couldn't help but jumped when Adette suddenly became in front of him.
"Adette!" He gasps out, putting a hand on his beating heart. "Don't scare me like that!"
The young princess just laughed at his reaction. "Sorry, couldn't help myself!" Her icy blue eyes are then turned to something that was over Jo's fort. "Hey, why is Wendy coming over here with a tree branch?"
Jo froze. Oz, he moved when Adette startled him. Thus, giving Wendy his location.
He didn't have time to answer Adette when a pile of snow was suddenly dropped on top of him. He yelped when someone of it actually got under his clothes.
"Seriously, Wendy?!" The boy cried, but the female humanoid paid him no mind since she was too busy laughing at the noise he made with Adette following shortly after. "Yeah, you girls are real mature!"
"Sorry Jo," Adette was out of breath the moment she calmed down for a moment. She gave a quick wave to the hooded female. "Hey, Wendy!"
Wendy greeted her by shrieking, but Adette didn't seemed to mind as she turned her attention back to Jo. "So, you wanna tell me why you're hiding behind a pile a snow while Wendy's off somewhere else?"
Jo had already brushed the snow off when he stood up. "It's a game we came up with when I was little. I would hide and pelt Wendy with snowballs while she tries to find me and get revenge. It's kind of like our own version of a snowball fight."
"How come you never played regular snow-?" Adette was cut off when a snowball came out of nowhere and struck her face. Jo laughed when the girl's eyes became as wide as saucers.
"I think that answers your question," he couldn't hold in his chuckled anymore when Wendy threw more snowballs at Adette after making them at inhuman speed. Adette kept on protesting but she was cut off when each snowball struck her.
"Wendy!"
Pow!
"I swear-"
Pow!
"I'm gonna get-!"
Pow!
"You!"
Pow!
When it seemed like Wendy had enough and was probably laughing at her idea of how Adette looked like after pelting her multiple snowballs, Adette took this as her chance to make her own snowball and throw it at the Wendigo.
Wendy barely tilted her head to the side as the snowball flew past her.
Jo had to put his hands over his mouth to hold in his laughter when he saw the awestruck expression on Adette's face.
"I am never having a snowball fight with Wendy ever again." She said simply.
Jo would have agreed with her if he wasn't so happy that he was no longer a victim that came to Wendy's deadly snowball skills.
After the whole snowball incident the three of them decided to go on a walk together in the gardens. Well, Jo and Adette were actually walking together. Wendy was a few feet ahead on them, trying to find any frozen fish inside the ice that was once a flowing stream. When the two children would walk ahead of her in the middle of picking the ice with her nails she would abandoned it and resume her position in front of them.
"Again, why is she...?" Adette asked after watching Wendy pick at the ice for a few minutes.
"She's trying to get something to eat," Jo said before he added. "And before you ask, the cold doesn't bothered her. She practically loves it. You should see her in Glikkus during the summer, she wouldn't go anywhere unless I managed to drag her around if she's tired enough."
Adette gave him a ghost of a smile before she turned her attention back to Wendy, noting the way Wendy was on all fours as she moved around the ice like she was a predator searching for her prey. When she saw Wendy rose with one hand off the ice and her back arched, she knew her suspicions were confirmed.
"What is she?" Jo stopped walking and turned his head towards Adette with a confused look on his face.
"That's kind of a blunt way of saying that, don't you think?" He laughed it off, something he would normally do when he's nervous. "She's not Glikkun if that's what you're asking. To be honest, I have no idea where she's-"
"That's not what I'm asking," when Jo showed he had no idea of what she was asking Adette decided to say the one thing that made his heart stop. "I know she's not human."
The raven-haired boy gaped at her. "H-How?"
"You really think I didn't noticed the signs?" She asked rhetorically. "I mean; the way she would jerk her head when she hears loud noises like a bird? The fact she had to used grunts and screeches to communicate? Walking around on all fours like a four-legged animal?" She laughed a little. "I'm not like my family, Jo. If you were afraid that I would judge Wendy because she was some sort of rare-type of Animal, I wouldn't! I'm not that simple-minded like my cousin."
Jo sighed. He knew that one person would eventually figure out that Wendy wasn't human - not anymore, at least - but he did feel slightly thankfully that it was Adette that figured it out. Well, most of it.
"She's not an Animal, Adette." He said softly.
His words made Adette's eyebrow furrowed. "Wait... If she's not an Animal, then what is she?"
"She..." Jo spared a glance at Wendy, who had stopped her hunt and was staring up at their conversation before she nods her head to let Jo know it was alright to tell the Princess. "She's a Wendigo."
Jo decided to stay silent after that to let that sink in. Wendy had made her way up from the stream and placed her right next to Jo, waiting for the Princess to respond.
Finally, she did. "I read about those..." she murmurs. "Aren't they humans that turned into monsters after-"
"Resorting to cannibalism." Jo finished with her. Adette gave him a small smirk of amusement when he did that before her eyes trailed off to Wendy's form with eyes of uncertainty.
Not that Jo could blame her, though. The act of cannibalism was an unspeakable act that was hardly spoken of throughout Oz. If somewhere were even accused of eating another human they will be killed on right on the spot. No trial. No jail time. Not even time at the Southstairs. Just a quick death by the hands of the Gale Force the moment they found the cannibal within their sights. From what Jo had heard there's been a handful amount of deaths in Oz from being accused of cannibalism. Although, Jo had figured out all of those charges were false after reading a braille history paper on one of the deaths and their pictures.
They were killed seven days after being accused of cannibalism.
It only takes up to four or at least twelve days after eating someone that a human can fully transform into a Wendigo. That picture of the dead man before his body was disposed of showed no signs of fanged teeth or his skin being pulled in tightly.
Guess Oz will always be oblivious to the real evidence to who committed cannibalism and the real dangers it will lead. While Jo may love Wendy more than anything, he knew it was better to not have too many Wendigos running in Oz. Ozma knows they wouldn't last a month if Wendigos were actually common.
It was only a few seconds later that Adette finally voiced her thoughts out loud. Although, it was something neither Jo or Wendy expected.
"Can I... Can I look at her?"
Jo knew what she meant and turned to Wendy to see what she wanted but the Wendigo was already reaching up for the hood. She was always straight to the point.
To be honest, Adette knew Jo wasn't lying since it made sense on how someone as skinny as Wendy would be able to lift a grown man without any problems at all, and Jo wasn't those types of boys who would lie like that. Still, it would be nice to see things herself.
But the moment when Wendy took down her head and two, long-point gray ears emerged from the sides of her head, Adette knew that Jo was fully telling the truth.
Wendy had taken off her mask at that point and her milky eyes were staring right at Adette, but they weren't entirely focused on her. Despite knowing this may be Jo's chance of true love, Wendy was alright if Adette decided to scream and never want anything to do with her again. After all, she was so used to it even before she met Jo and his happiness will always go first above her own prideful needs.
She was actually geinuly surprised when she saw Adette's glowing figure reaching out to her face. Then her figure disappeared, meaning that Adette must stop moving.
"C-Can I, Wendy...?"
Wendy didn't think she should say anything. She just nods her head to let the young girl know it was okay and that she wouldn't attack her if she did touch her.
When Adette placed her hands on Wendy's hallowed-in face she somewhat suspected that her skin would feel like any other human; have their own hard spots in a few places but generally soft in their own way. She was actually surprised to find that Wendy's glossy skin was like rubber. It almost made her want to pull it lightly like she used to do with the clay she used to play with as a light girl but she quickly realized that her skin was tight in place. Like there was no fat underneath that clammy, rubber skin.
She then remembered something from the book she read; a Wendigo's appearance is based on their never-ending desire for food.
And it made sense, Adette could see all the things that showed how Wendy was once human; her nose retained a normal, button-shaped that only a few had with those genetics, and while her eyes may flicker like an animal trying to take in their surroundings, Adette could see that the eyes in front of her were just the milky-white color of someone who was blind and trying to see the world the best they can. While her face may be hallowed in to make it look she was just bones underneath that leathery skin, she did actually looked a little human. If it weren't for the fact that her lips, eyebrows, and eyelids were ripped out by frostbite, her whole skin being this icy gray, or the fact her whole body had grown from its original length Adette could see how Wendy would really look as a human.
Someone who had become completely skeletal while losing her sight at the same time in her desperate attempt to end her overwhelming desire for nourishment.
But Adette didn't let these thoughts out. From the way Wendy took off her disguise with no hesitation, her appearance didn't bother her at all. She didn't care what she looked to other people because she's probably used to it for too many years.
Instead, a small smirk formed on her lips. "She feels like my great grandmother on her 100th birthday."
This actually made Jo laugh a little while Wendy gave her an impassive look. "Yeah, I can agree with that," Jo said. "Believe it or not, she's actually around a hundred and fifty years old. She's practically old enough to be a grandma's grandma."
Wendy had hit him on the head at that. Not the same type of hit she would use to knock someone's head clean off, but hard enough to get him to shut up.
Adette couldn't help it but her laugh escapes her throat the moment she saw the two's faces.
It was only an hour latter that Jo and Adette couldn't stay in the cold anymore so the three of them immediately went to the closest room they could reach in the snow-covered gardens. But when Jo looked up after Wendy closed the door behind them, he knew this wasn't any room he's been to during his stay at the Emerald Palace.
The room was mostly long like a gallery in a museum. The entire walls were covered in painting of historical figures that Jo was able to recognized from a few braille books that he's read but some he couldn't. There were even a few pedestals that were model after some of them. It did feel a little dark since there was hardly any windows. All in all, the entire room had this gloomy atmosphere to it.
"What is this place?" Jo asked as he takes a few steps. "I don't think I've been in this part of the Palace yet."
Adette gave him a shy smile before he could even notice and walked right up to his side. "This, just so happens to the Halls of Ozian History. There isn't a historical figure; royalty or a peasant, young or old, popular or unknown that hasn't been recorded in these halls. I can already bet you by the end of this month my cousin is gonna be in this hall for being; The Stupidest King Oz Has Ever Had."
Jo had to admit he did find that funny, but he didn't say anything since it would be kind of mean for him - even though he was still pretty upset with The Emerald's Cove and the whole Wedding fiasco. So, he decided to let his laugh out when he saw Wendy had found a mirror a bit further up the room. He didn't even questioned how she got so far in the room without any of them noticing since he was too busy laughing at Wendy, who making weird gestures in the mirror.
Even after all these years, Wendy could never figure out that the moving-figure that's copying her every move in front of her was actually her reflection.
"So, is there anything about the Tiggular history that doesn't involve your cousin doing stupid?" Jo was actually surprised that the humor Adette had put in the air suddenly disappeared when a frown was placed on the princess's face.
"There is one," she said, her voice barely above whisper as she made her way down the room before stopping at a certain painting. Jo tried to share a look with Wendy, but she was obvious to everything around her since she was still going on about that mirror. After shaking his head at his friend's ridiculous display, Jo went right to Adette's side to look at the picture before them.
The painting was a picture of six women standing within the throne room of - which Jo assumed - Adurin Iir. Well, maybe he shouldn't say women since two of the females - the ones wearing purple and blue dresses - looked more like teenagers than the rest of them. He had to guess that the one in red, who is standing in the middle of them all with this stiff but kind and regal face, was the oldest of them all. The ones wearing orange, yellow, and green dresses were possibly somewhere in the middle.
"The one in red," Adette's voice shook him out of gaze. "That was Sarima Tiggular. She was Queen of Vinkus long before the Wizard came. Also, my great-great aunt. This picture was taken with her five sisters a few months after her official coronation."
Jo could tell there was something more going. "Did something happened to her?"
His words seem to shake Adette out of whatever gaze that took hold of her when she stared up at the picture of her late grandaunt. "Right, sorry," she laughed a little before her face got serious again. "Around a hundred years ago, there was a mining accident in Vinkus. Aunt Sarima was there to supervised the site, but then the mines suddenly became unstable and they collapsed. She fell into a deep part of the mines, along with one of her guards. They never found the bodies. Just a toe, but that's it."
The entire thing left Jo speechless. He couldn't imagine what kind of chaos Vinkus must have been under since the disappearance of their Queen. Not to mention her sisters. To lose their sister like that and never finding her body could never make them feel truly at peace. He couldn't even imagine if he suddenly woke up and Wendy was no longer by his side.
"I'm so sorry," he said eventually. "So, is that really all they found? No bones?"
"Nothing." She shrugged. "Just a single toe. But, to me, the worst part was that they never officially closed the case unless they found a body. How in Oz's name were they going to find a body if they refused to search any further?! Sure, I get that they were dangerous and they were probably looking out for themselves, but they shouldn't make promises they couldn't keep! H-How could they do that to Sarima's sisters-?!"
She stopped when she noticed Jo smirking at her when she began to ramble off. She gave him a bashful smile. "S-Sorry about that."
"Hey, it's okay," he waved it off. "She must have been a really good person if the idea of how people handled her death bothers you."
Adette chuckled. "Well, she was actually pretty egotistic from all the Sisters' journals that I've read. If she wanted to get a law that was made by her to pass through, then she won't stop until it's done. Then she would always go and brag to her sisters on how she was the fanciest princess. But, all in all, she was a really good queen and sister; always looking for others, being there just to let people vent out their frustrations, and always knowing what to say to get people back on track. I even got my tribal tattoos in honor of her."
She rolled up her sleeves and held out her wrists for Jo to see. Each wrist had a black vine cuffed around them almost like a bracelet. Jo looked back up to the picture and saw the same exact tattoo on Sarima but it was on her exposed neck.
"I have to admit, yours really does look like hers-" Jo cut himself off before he could say anymore when he suddenly took a closer look on the tattoo of Adette's ancestor.
The tattoo started along the left side of her jawline before it made its way down her neck like a spiral, and Jo was willing to bet that it ended somewhere along her spine. On the area where he could see the tattoo were five black leaves being sprouted from the same black vine.
The weird part was that he know someone with the same tattoo on their neck and that's-
"Are you okay, Jo?" Adette's voice managed to shake him out of his trance as he turned his head to stare at a pair of concerned, blue eyes. "You've been staring at the picture for a long time, is there something bothering you?"
Jo tried to keep his gaze away from the frozen blue eyes that were staring down at him. "I'm good. Just trying to process this whole thing."
Thankfully, Adette bought at as a ghost of a smile played her lips. "Yeah, I was pretty much in denial too when I found out about Sarima. But, I think wherever she is, she's finally happy with her sisters."
It took all of Jo's willpower to not say what he really wanted.
"Anyway, we should probably get going," Adette said after a bit. "My aunt is probably already having the guards searching the ground for me." She started to walk towards the door at the end of room before she turned back to see Jo not following her. "Are you coming?"
Jo spared one last glance at the portrait - trying his best not to shiver when he saw those frozen orbs again - before he quickly followed Adette out the door. He stopped in the doorway, however, when he noticed Wendy wasn't following them. The boy looked over and found the Wendigo still in front of that dang mirror.
He was about to call her out when he hesitated, the image of Sarima's eyes were still bothering him. However, he shook his head out of that. "Wendy, how many times are we gonna have to go through with this? The moving thing that has your shape is your reflection. You've been staring at thing for almost five minutes!"
Wendy had stopped her weird gestures as she slowly turned her head to face his direction. Even though he wasn't normally afraid of Wendy's creepy moments he couldn't help but gulp when he took the sight of her milky white eyes. Still, he didn't say anything as he watched Wendy turn back to the mirror.
Then she punched it.
The mirror gave a loud crack the moment Wendy's fist made contact with it before shards of glass fell down right on her feet. But the glass didn't even scrape her skin as she watched in awe that the thing in front of her was, indeed, her reflection from a mirror.
Jo could feel his shoulders slumping as that nervous feeling left his body. Wendy will always be Wendy no matter what. And punching her reflection to figure out it was actually a mirror in front of her was definitely something that Wendy would do.
It was like that night of The Emerald's Cove all over again where Jo had to walk Adette back to her room. Only this time he brought Wendy with him - who was now free to show her Wendigo side to Adette but crawling along the walls, "Like a spider", Adette had compared. Things suddenly became awkward again as what happened in this exact spot played through their heads.
"I had fun today," Adette spoke after a moment of silence. "We would always get snow days back in Vinkus, but it was never really fun when you don't have someone to play with since your stupid brother and your equally stupid cousin doesn't allow you to join any games."
"I had fun, too," Jo agreed. "I mean, I love going out in the snow with Wendy since we get the same amount, but it always gets boring when your only partner just likes to pelt you with snow." He earned himself a smack on the head from said Wendigo.
Adette laughed a little before she got serious again. "Also, I want to say; thank you." Upon seeing their confused faces, she continues. "For letting know about Wendy. I get that hiding a cannibal isn't easy and I just feel grateful that you trust me enough to tell me about that. So, thank you."
"For the record, Wendy stopped eating humans when she met me," Jo pointed out. "But, yeah. I also wanted to thank you for telling me about Sarima. I mean, it's probably already in every history book regarding Vinkus. But," he spared a quick glance at Wendy. "I still feel honored since this was your family you were talking about."
Adette gave him a shy smile. "Well, the only boy that I ever really talk to about Sarima was my brother. But I guess you can imagine how that conversation since-"
"He passed out after drinking ten cups." They both finished together, making them both laugh.
Wendy couldn't but roll her eyes; they definitely belong together if they're finishing each other's sentences.
The two lapsed into silence after that, both not breaking eye contact as they stare into each others' eyes. Before Jo knew it, Adette was suddenly leaning towards him with her eyes closed and her lips pouted once again.
He considered staying there and give Adette a chance to kiss him when the voices came back.
You're not that boy.
You're not that boy.
You're not that boy!
Not that boy!
"Anyway!" Jo squawked loudly, making both females jump. "We should get going! I got stuff to work on and Wendy needs tapestries to make. See you later!"
He disappeared in a blink of an eye as he ran down the hall - even Wendy didn't noticed he disappeared from her field vision until she heard his footsteps leaving. Adette could feel herself sighing in disappointment. She could understand that it must be Jo's weird boy nerves that were making him nervous about kissing her, but still. Not to mentioned she felt there was something more going on but she just couldn't figure it out.
She looked up when she felt a large hand rub her head to see two milky eyes staring down at her with this look that said: Don't worry, I'll get him for you.
Even though she was probably wrong on that translation, Adette smiled nonetheless since she recognized the look that Wendy was giving her was one of comfort. "Thank you, Wendy."
The Wendigo rubbed her head for the final time before she turned and followed the path she saw Jo could through. Adette let Wendy go off on her own for a moment before she went into her room.
Things in this chapter are dwelling down from all that commotion in the last chapter. But things will pick up in the next chapter! This chapter was the calm before the small storm appears.
But, we learned some things in this chapter so keep an eye out on them in the future!
Hope you had a great weekend!