A/N: I'm back! Sorry that I left you guys in a sort-of cliffhanger in the last chapter. I was actually working on a new story but I put it on hold just to finish this and the other story I have. Now, let us roll into chapter, shall we? Also, I got the novel for Wicked; Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West! Yay!
Fae'sFlower: Thank you! Who else would be responsible? You're more worried about Elphaba's reaction? I think you should be more worry about her life because Elphaba just attack Jo in front of her! XD And Wendigos are super strong!
The Truth About Them
The moment she heard the women in the area scream with the horrifying screech of a Wendigo ripping across the halls, Adette knew that Wendy had revealed her true identity as a cannibalistic monster. At first, she didn't bother with it since she's already seen her face and she was preoccupied with the gasping Jo but when she heard the bang followed by a yelp of pain she had to turn around to look at what's happening.
When Adette met Wendy, she never thought of her as a monster like all those books made the Wendigos out.
But when she saw Wendy, her hood down to reveal her skeletal and grotesque face, holding Elphaba up against a column with her hand raise to strike her, she knew that information came from somewhere.
"Elphie!" Galinda screamed when she saw her friend get slammed into a column by something. She had previously thought the boy's bouncer was just some highly trained, female fighter. The idea of the bouncer actually being some ugly monster was far from her mind but now she was terrified for her friend when the monster raises its hand that's covered in dangerously sharp claws to hit her with.
Madame Morrible, however, was quick to react. "Don't just stand there!" She shrieked at the jaw-dropped guards, making them all jump out of their trances. "Shoot the monster dead! Save your princess!"
Realizing that they didn't have time to gawk at the creature before them, the guards took out their guns and aimed it at the enraged Wendigo.
Adette saw this quickly. Oh no...
"Fire!" A guard shouted.
BANG!
The princess of Vinkus winced when the shots were fired and hit Wendy straight in the back. She watched as the Wendigo freeze from attacking the Princess of Oz but she knew that was it. If anything, she should prepare herself to not move since a Wendigo's skin is like armor so bullets won't do anything to Wendy. They'll just make her madder than she already was.
And it turns out she was right; Wendy slowly turned her head in the creepiest fashion that made everyone take a step back but Adette knew better and stood still. Moving back only gave away everyone's position since Adette watched Wendy's milky eyes flicker over to where the guards stood.
Wendy suddenly tossed Elphaba aside like she was a crumbled piece of paper - which she probably was compared to a Wendigo's strength - and everyone watched as the Princess collided in a nearby column with the sickening sounds of screaming and a crunch originating from her. They knew that as she fell to the ground with a small cry she must have broken something from the collision.
But they didn't have time to dwell on that since an ear-splitting scream made them remember that a monster was standing before them and it does not look very happy.
"Fire again!" The same guard shouted, he and the rest positioning their guns at the angered humanoid.
"Wait, don't-!" Adette tried to warn them, but it was too late.
The guards fired once again and the bullets do end up hitting Wendy with full force that made her stumble back a few inches. Everyone was quick to realize, however, that the bullets had bounced off her skin like she was rubber and watch as they fall seemly harmless to the ground. Wendy was looking down at the places where they shot her before she whipped her head up and screamed at the guards who agitated her further.
"Quick, fire-!"
The guard yelped when his gun was suddenly ripped out from his hands like he didn't even have a proper grip on it in the first place. He looked up to only see his favorite gun getting snapped in half by the monster before it tossed it aside like it was nothing. His eyes brimmed with tears, his grandfather got him that gun!
Before he could turn his attention towards the monster to give it a piece of his mind, the monster had grabbed him by his coat and lifted him off the ground with ease. He screamed as the monster roared in his face, letting him inhale the horrible scent of death enemies and get a close look at her sharp and grotesque teeth.
"Oh my Oz!" He yelled before Wendy swiped her claws across his chest, leaving five long gashes that were already dripping in blood. The sight of red made Galinda scream once again.
Once she was done with the limp guard, Wendy tossed him aside like she did with Elphaba before she turned her attention to the other guards, each of them moving as far away as they could from her. But what they don't realize that moving was only giving her their location and she intends to use that to her advantage. After all, somebody needs to pay for Jo's suffering.
"Wendy, stop!"
The Wendigo whipped her head in the direction of the noise and shrieked at them. Who dares disturbed her when she's getting justice?
"Wendy, please. They're not worth it."
It was those words that finally calmed her down. Even though they weren't from the voice that she loved so much, it was still a voice that didn't fill her with annoyance when some stranger would try to do the same thing. She saw Adette's figure standing up straight from previously bending down to something, but what she couldn't figure out.
"Come on, Wendy," Adette said gently, seeing that the Wendigo has finally calmed down. "You got more things to worried about than these doofuses."
Just when she stopped talking, Wendy saw something shift near the young princess. It was a figure she recognized so well and he was up against the wall, gasping from the pain he was in.
All rage that hadn't left her mind yet was now gone as Wendy made her way over to her boy's side. She cupped his clammy cheek in hope it would get a reaction that was away from the pain. Her hopes were dashed when he didn't even lean into her hand. He wasn't responding to anything. That wasn't good. He needs his medication. Now.
"Has this happened before?" She heard Adette's voice right next to her. But the Wendigo hardly flinched when she nodded her head.
There was a pause. "I take it you know what to do?"
Another nod.
Wendy then noticed a shift in her vision from the corner of her eyes. "I'll leave it to you, then."
Wendy looked towards the direction where she believed Adette was and gave the young princess the best grateful look for her understanding that she could give her. But she didn't wait around to see if Adette saw it since she had more important matters; taking away Jo's pain. She lifted the trembling boy into her arms with little ease before she positioned Jo on her back like she was giving him a piggyback ride. A horrible, dreadful piggyback ride that was far from fun.
She was about to make a leap to their room when she hears the sounds of unfamiliar footsteps coming her way.
Oh, for Oz's sake!
Wendy whipped her head in the direction of the footsteps to give the people a warning screech before she leaped to the ceiling.
Everyone but Adette could only stare in horror as they watched the seemly humanoid creature crawled away upside down from the ceiling like a spider at inhuman speed.
"Okay!" Galinda said in a high-pitched voice after a while. "This is all just a horrible dream. I'm gonna wake up to a nice and fuzzy bed while pretending that I did not see Lurline's most hideousus creation ever!" She turned her attention to the gaping onlookers with a slightly crazed look in her eyes. "Please tell me that I did not just see that! Please tell that was just some really skinny person and not a horrible monster!"
"Well, maybe if I wasn't sitting here with my arm broken by said horrible monster then I guess this would be all just horrible dream made up by our cruel imagination." Elphaba's sarcastic comment reminded them of the people who were seriously injured by the monster and they quickly let go of their doubt of a monster that's supposed to be in fairytales was just here.
"Elphaba!" The Wizard cried as he and Galinda hurried over to the green girl, who was clutching her right arm. "Are you okay?! We need to get you to the doctors!"
"I can get there myself!" Elphaba snapped when the two tried to help her up. "It was just my arm that thing broke, not my leg nor my pain. Besides, I think he got the worse of it than I did." She used her head to gesture in the direction of the heavily wounded guard, who was flanked by his comrades as they did their best to stop the bleeding.
"What in the world was that thing?" Baxianna whispered to her husband as she took in the sight of the wounded guard in horror. Never before has she seen wounds like that from any type of animal.
"I do not know, my dear," Marillot wrap his arm around his wife's shoulder when he saw the injuries as well. "But whatever it is, it must be stopped."
Seeing his little cousin trying to sneak off out of the corner of his eyes, Fiyero could feel a smirk forming his lips as he thought back to the way Adette addressed that thing. "Why don't we ask little Adette?" He took great pleasure on seeing his cousin whipping around to stare at him with eyes full of distress. "I mean, it looks like she's well in cahoots with that monster."
Some part of Adette really wished Wendy had stayed so she can ask the Wendigo to wipe that hideous smirk off Fiyero's face.
"Adette," the young princess stiffens underneath her uncle's stern gaze. "Have you known there was a monster living underneath this roof for a long while?"
To be completely honest, Adette had only known that Wendy was actually a humanoid cannibal a few days ago. "Yes," she decided to answer that because she knew she couldn't lie about this since everyone practically saw her talking to Wendy right in front of them.
"Then I assume you know what type of creature this thing is?"
Adette did her best not to snap when Marillot called her new friend a "thing". "Yes, Uncle."
"Would you like to share some information on how to kill it?"
The thought of seeing Jo's horrified face as he watched the person he was so close to going up in flames as his screams of anguished mixed in with Wendy's horrible human cries of pain as the flames eat her away sent horrible shivers done her spine. Adette would never let something as awful happen to the two of them. Even if the lives of her family were at stake if Wendy was ever set off again.
"Even if I did," she began hotly, making her uncle step back in shock at her boldness. "Why should I tell you?"
"That thing nearly killed the princess!" Adette nearly jumped out of her skin when that creepy fish lady suddenly shoves herself right into her face but Adette stood her ground. "Are you saying that the life of that despicable thing is worth more than your own Princess?!"
"First off, that thing had a name," Adette said with much sass as she could muster. "Second, it was the Princess's own fault for provoking her. She was just trying to protect Jo!"
"Really? Then why did she attack that guard when he didn't do anything to the kid?" Fiyero asked skeptically, but he jumped when his cousin shot him an icy glare.
"You stay out of this," she growls before she turns her attention back to Morrible. "Like I said, it was the guard's own fault. They definitely saw that their guns did nothing to her but they decided to ignore their most logical instincts and continue to make her angrier than she already was."
"I have to admit, the beast was pretty angry when we shot at it and they did nothing." One of the guards who wasn't injured piped up.
However, Madame Morrible paid him no mind as her glare hardens in front of the young princess. "Well, if you won't tell us how to kill that monster then I'll just look it up and kill it myself!" With that, the old fish turned and began to head in the direction of the library.
Adette gasps, if Morrible was able to get her hands on one book about Wendigos then Wendy's immortal life would become numbered. She couldn't let that happened. The princess immediately runs in front of the Press Secretary and spreads her arms out as if it was going to block her.
"If you think I'm going to let murder someone for just trying to protect somebody she loves then you got another thing coming!" Despite her fierce words, Adette was far from confident that she could stop the Press Secretary directly. She may have been trained to defend herself but she doubts that punches would be able to stop a magical blast.
Thankfully, it didn't seem like she would be doing anything since the Wizard was the one to put a stop to this commotion. "Stop!"
Everyone flinched when the ruler of Oz raise his voice, most knowing he was usually a calm man. They all look over to see their ruler staring at them all with a stern look.
"Now, I know you're all afraid, but now is not the time to panic," he said with a voice that was fit for a leader - but that voice only made his daughter roll her eyes. "Madame Morrible, I do not want you to give out any executions without my permission. I hope this doesn't happen again," the fish lady gave Adette a glare but she didn't say anything. "Now, I will find Jo and have a conversation with him and Wendy," he gave Adette a look to let her know that he views Wendy human like the rest of them. "On what has happened and see if where we will go from there."
A large amount of weight was lifted off of Adette's shoulders. She was thanking Lurline above for letting the Wizard be a reasonable man. If he weren't then she could only imagine Wendy and Jo being forced to leave Oz because they were being hunted for Wendy attacking the princess. She didn't even want to think about her life now if Jo - and Wendy, of course - wasn't in it.
She was about to make her way towards the twosome's shared room - she figured she should go and check on Jo while letting Wendy, who was still probably paranoid after that incident with the Princess, know that the Wizard was going to come visit them so that the Wendigo doesn't accidently rip the Wizard's head off, literally - when she felt a bump underneath her boots. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Adette looks down to see what she stepped on before her breath hitches in her throat.
It was that covered book she saw Jo holding before he dropped it when he was confronting Elphaba.
Everything ached. At first, he thought it was just his stomach but then Jo realize he was aching everywhere. He hadn't felt this bad since he accidently left one of his episodes unchecked for a whole day which forced him to go to a hospital - Wendy didn't like that trip at all. Jo didn't want to open his eyes because he could imagine the bright light hurting him. But he knew he had to get up at some point if he wants to get Wendy's hot and stinky breath away from his face.
He groans and tries to turn away from the smell. "Wendy, I told you not to stick your face at me when it smells like the Animal Master's wet socks," Jo says with a sore throat. "Even you can agree with me on that."
For the most part, Jo was suspecting a sarcastic remark like, Very funny, Jo. He really didn't expect to feel Wendy's bony arms wrap around and lift him off the mattress he was lying on. His eyes popped open when he heard the Wendigo's rapidly beating heart pounding behind the leathery, cold skin. The only time something like that happened was the night of the incident and Wendy had every right to be worried then. Why was she so worried now, though?
Suddenly, everything came back to him in a flash; getting his novel done, watching the Princess of Oz abusing one of her servants, confronting her about her behaviors, the memories of Glikkun's Ardor flashing through his head before he felt an episode coming at him unexpectedly, then he heard the screams of the Princess and the cry of a Wendigo which was when his vision blacked out.
His blood turned cold. Oz did Wendy...?
"Wendy, please tell me you were wearing your mask when we left." Jo said slowly, silently praying to whatever entity out there that the Wendigo would say 'yes' and they wouldn't have to worry too much. However, his prayers weren't answered since Wendy went silent.
That was her way of saying: No.
"Oh my Oz, Wendy!" Jo cried as he forced himself out of Wendy's grip - he was slightly grateful that the Wendigo lets him - and ran his fingers through his mess of a hair. "What are we going to do?! Why did you even leave your mask behind?!"
There was a shriek of protest from Wendy, I forgot it! Or something like that.
"Okay," Jo took a deep breath to calm himself down, panicking won't get him anywhere, "Okay, maybe we can work something out. We'll just explain to Colpin that we can't live in Oz anymore with a bounty on our heads. I'm sure he will understand why we need to go through the Impassable Desert just to leave Oz. Although, we might need to do something about your reaction to extreme heat-"
Wendy rolls her eyes, and he calls her the paranoid one?
Knock. Knock. Knock.
In a blink of an eye, Wendy was already at the door with her claws ready to strike the person who would dare disturb Jo.
"Wendy?" The Wendigo immediately softens when she hears Adette's soft voice. "It's me, Adette. Is it alright if I can come in?"
Wendy didn't even hesitate to unlock the door - after all, Adette never gave her a reason to rip her apart - and open it for the young princess. Adette actually looked surprised that the humanoid would actually let her after her tantrum a few hours ago. Still, she took this as her chance to let herself in before Wendy could grow impatient and shove the door in her face.
Her icy blue eyes land on Jo, who was busy covering himself with the blanket and trying to avoid her gaze, and her face broke into a smile. "Jo!" She quickly runs over to his side. "Are you okay? Last time I saw you, you were unconscious."
"I'm fine," the boy sighed before he gave her a wary smile. "Let me guess; the Wizard's already calling for our heads because Wendy tore his daughter's arm off and you're planning on sneaking us out of here before the guards show up?"
Adette laughed despite knowing that Jo was very serious. "First," she held up one finger. "Wendy actually didn't tear her arm off, she actually broke it while injuring one of the Gale Force guards along the way. Second," she held up her second finger. "You and Wendy don't have to leave Oz because the Wizard's coming over to talk to you."
Jo blinks at her. "Excuse me - what?"
"Well, let's just say that you and Wendy are very lucky that the Wizard is a reasonable man, Jo. He understands that Elphaba was the one who started things when she hurt you and it provoked her. Also with the guard, they were the ones who ticked her off more by shooting bullets at her even when they figured out it didn't work the first time." She shrugged.
Jo was still trying to process everything at once; so, they were not in trouble?
"So, the Wizard's just coming to talk to me about Wendy, right?" He asked to make sure he's got everything in place. "That's it?"
"That's it," Adette confirmed and Jo could feel all the weight was lifted off his shoulders.
Suddenly, Adette looked like a little sheepish - the complete contrast to her nonchalant mood. "Also, I ran into Colpin on the way here."
Jo froze when he heard his official caretaker's name. Why would Colpin want to talk to Adette about?
"Apparently, he heard Wendy screaming when she attacked the Princess," Adette explains. "He came to find the Wizard to not let you or Wendy be executed for attacking the Princess. Don't worry, I told him everything was fine. But, then I asked him what the Glikkun's Ardor meant."
His heart skipped a bit. Col, no...
"He told me that it was a brothel that his older brother used to run," Adette said the words that fulfilled Jo's immediate dread. "He also told me about how he and his brother found you in a nearby pond, barely a few hours old and they took you in. But, his brother had other plans for you. He... He..." Jo's fear only grew when Adette couldn't even finish her sentence. "...He made you a prostitute when you were three-years-old."
Like that, Jo had lost whatever hope he had to be with Adette. She knew the truth about him and now she wants nothing to do with him anymore. He could already hear whatever voice Wendy had left was yelling at him to pull himself together and remain optimistic but he refused to even look at the Wendigo because her face will look just like the voice in his head. Besides, Jo knew that this will be one of the times where Wendy was wrong about something. Adette won't want anything to do with a boy who had to give himself up to other people for money. Oz, even he couldn't bare to look himself in the mirror sometimes.
So imagine his surprise when he heard the princess's next words: "Is that why you won't kiss me?"
Jo's startled dark eyes looked up to see a look he would never imagine on someone's face when they found he was a prostitute at a very young age; kindness and sympathy. He was so used to adults giving him looks of disgust and calling him awful names that would make Wendy want to strip their skin off, piece by piece - the worst part is that he can even imagine it - and he was always ready for them. Sure, his affection - was he at the stage to even call it affection?- for Adette may have removed some of it but he was still prepared for it.
But he never expected that question to pop up.
His response wasn't even intelligent. "Ohuh?"
Wendy rolls her eyes once again, guess she really is the romantic one out of their unlikely twosome - Oz knows that if she were still human, her response to the obvious hint that her love interest gives her would be absolute excitement. Then again, this was Jo she was talking about. Even the Wendigo side agrees!
Adette had to admit, that noise did sound kind of cute but she didn't let it distract her from the seriousness of the situation. "Jo," she sighs. "All this time, I thought the reason why you were so afraid of kissing me was because of those stupid boy hormones," Adette sniffed a little at her ridiculous thoughts. "But all this time, you were genuinely afraid of kissing girls and... I am so sorry for making you relive those horrible memories! I had no idea how terrified you must have felt whenever I try to kiss you. I promise I won't ever do something like that again!"
The next thing Jo knew Adette was crying. Actual watery tears were dripping down her face all because she was ashamed of herself for causing him pain that had happened in the past.
Jo won't lie; he is afraid of letting people touch him after being a prostitute for a few years - the only reason why he was okay with Wendy touching him was that she wasn't all human anymore, so her skin reminded him of dry, rubbery leather and not those addictive soft skin that had so many ill-intentions for him. But, it wasn't just his scars from prostitution that made him afraid to kiss Adette and he knew he should tell her.
How else was he going to get Wendy to stop giving him that look that said, You better say something or else I'm going to come after you!
"It's not just that, Adette," he admits, making the princess look up at him in confusion. "Yeah, I'm scared of being touch and intimacy and all of that. But, the other reason why I was so afraid of kissing you was because I thought you could do better than me."
Adette couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What?"
"Adette, do you have any idea what royalty and nobles think about those who are in lower-class? Especially a prostitute? They'll never allow it and I know that would not only break your heart but cause you so much trouble with the people of Vinkus. I just couldn't let you go through that when your cousin was already causing enough problems for you."
She became silent after that. Jo was beginning to worry because the face she was using was also the same type of face Wendy would use to hide her emotions.
Then she reaches up and whacks his head.
"Um... OW!" Jo yells after a few seconds of stun silence. "Adette, may I remind who's also in the room with us and she might not react very well to see people hitting me after I wake up from an episode?!"
"Oh, I'm a hundred percent sure Wendy's going to agree with me for slapping some sense back into your head!" There was a chirp to confirm Adette's proclamation. "Jo, do you really think I care about what the people of Vinkus think about me? They already started talking about me a long time ago; when my cousin started his stupid Dancing-Through-Life phase and when I cut my hair and started to wear shirts and pants instead of dresses! So what if I'm falling in love with a former male prostitute? Let me tell you one thing Jo; I don't care what you are. If I can be okay with Wendy being a Wendigo then I can be okay with you being a former prostitute."
Her words left Jo totally speechless; how else was he suppose to react when he was so used to the cold remarks? He was about to say something when Adette cut him off.
"So what do you say, Jo? Do you want to go on a date with me after your talk with the Wizard?"
Now Jo really didn't know what to say. He could see Wendy was bouncing in excitement like she already knew the answer to this question and was waiting for him to say. Some part of him wanted to be mean to Wendy and say "no" but he found himself unable to actually say that word to Adette. He could still hear the voices telling him that he should say "no" to that but his heart eventually won over his head. Besides, he couldn't stand Wendy giving him the silent treatment.
"Adette, I would like to go on a date with you."
The princess's excited smile didn't exactly match Wendy's loud shriek of triumphant. The next thing the two knew they were lifted off the bed by a pair of bony arms and were pressed up against something cold and dry with something loud bumping behind them. They stood still as Wendy rub her saliva-covered chin on their heads.
"But no kisses or cuddles, please," Jo whispers to her and Adette quickly nods. She can understand why Jo wasn't ready for those types of intimacy yet.
They remained in the Wendigo's arms for a while as they waited for Wendy to finally calm down.
"You know, I never really imagine Wendy a hugger," Adette admits after a moment. "I always thought of her as the type of person that gives you tough love."
"She does both," Jo explains. "Most of the time she's a tough lover but she does like to give hugs. Well, only to me usually but I guess she likes you enough to give you a hug." His words were enough to make Adette laugh and he found himself smiling as well. He could probably get used to this now it's not just him and Wendy anymore.
Knock. Knock.
Before they could even blink, they were suddenly dropped onto the bed and the heard the sounds of the door opening, followed by a loud roar from Wendy and a familiar aged voice screaming for his life.
"Oh, Wendy! Wendy! Calm down, it's me! The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"
The children's blood freezes when they heard that title and whip their heads to see Wendy holding the said Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the air by his trenchcoat. What really scared them was Wendy's free hand with the sharp claws out and ready to strike Oz's most important figure right there and then.
Another cliffhanger. I think it's clear that Wendy isn't liking the Diggs family extremely well. XD But hey, Jo and Adette are finally together!