A/N: I'm back! I'm so sorry for such a long hiatus but now I'm back and we're going to see the aftermath of last chapter.

Fae'sFlower: Yes, that was the Wendigo from Chapter 7. And that man, well, we'll see him again. You're right, Elphaba does play a part in all of this. In fact, she's the one who set all of this into motion.

The Attempt

Elphaba couldn't believe that her father actually had the nerve to make her stay outside in freezing blizzard - granted, she had plenty of warm clothing - to wait for her cousin-in-law and her ridiculous duo of friends so she could apologize for something that she had every right to do. Her father shouldn't have made her felt like she was being replaced with a male child from his world. Besides, if the boy thought it would be a good idea to run off into the storm just because he was upset that the work he was given to by her father then it shows her what kind of person he was.

That was why she didn't even bother with pleasantries when the three of them came back, with an extra person.

"There you are," she says immediately after they appeared in her sight. "You got everyone worried because a certain person decided he was too good to stay where-"

She was cut off when that thing bump passed her, carrying the subject of the matter in its arms into the Palace without a word.

Elphaba turned to Adette and shook her head. "I really don't know what you see in him when he has that thing hovering over his shoulder."

To her surprise, Adette gave her a look that practically invented the expression 'if looks could kill'. "You disgust me," the young princess spat before she quickly followed after the two into the palace. Thus, leaving Elphaba alone in the snow with the stranger.

She looked at the stranger, already disinterested at his haggard appearance. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Someone who's not supposed to be picking up the pieces of your ridiculous mistakes," Elphaba was immediately taken back by the man's sudden bluntness. "Those kids would have gotten killed tonight if I hadn't been there. Now, I don't know what's got you in such a bad mood, Your Highness, but I say suck it up and learn to care about your subjects for once in your miserable, rotten life."

Elphaba's face was stoic through the whole thing. "I suggest you get off these grounds," she begins, her voice free of any emotion. "Or else the guards will be here and they don't like to see their princess being hassled."

The man scoffed before he disappeared into the blizzard, leaving Elphaba to her thoughts. What did that old guy mean when the kids were almost killed? The worst thing that could have happened to them was that they'd freeze to death out here. The old guy was probably losing his mind as the years went by, that's it. These kids weren't in any danger and she wasn't the cause of it. That's the way it was.

When Elphaba made her way into the palace she could have sworn she heard the old man's voice whispering in the wind. "Just why did you chase after those kids when you knew I was following you, Matchitisiw?"

Jo was crying.

Jo was crying.

Wendy hated when Jo cried because he should have no reason to cry. He should be happy. But fate was cruel to both of them once again by having the princess rip up all of Jo's hard work like it was nothing. Her little boy didn't deserve all the hatred that's been dumping on him the moment he was born. She deserved all that hatred. She's the one who ate a human and turned into this horrible monster!

But Jo... Jo's innocent. Why must the world hurt an innocent boy like Jo?

She kept a grip on Jo when he started to squirm, possibly realizing she's bringing him back to their room. The place where his ruined dreams are. She hated that she had to bring him there but he's almost as cold as her and that didn't sit well with her. Besides, this place was a huge maze and her eyesight was horrible. The only place she had a specific memory of was the path to their room.

The moment she stepped into the room where the destroyed pages were Jo immediately began to flail his arms around, hitting her chest despite knowing that it will do nothing to her. He didn't care, he just didn't want to be in this room. But Wendy had no other place to go to so this was the best option.

The best horrible option.

"No!" she hears Jo gasp from his crying as she lays him down on his bed. She made a move to put the blankets over him - she knows that humans aren't immune to the cold like her - but was stopped when Jo threw his arm out and push her own gigantic one away.

"Go away!"

Normally Wendy would have just fought against being pushed away but this was Jo; he's never done anything to try and harm her. If she weren't a powerful cannibal she probably would have fallen against at the amount of strength he was displaying. It shook her to the core of how distraught Jo was to actually hit her despite knowing it wouldn't do anything.

Shaking her head to get out of her shock, Wendy once again tries to put the blanket on him only to be pushed away again.

"Please, go away! Wendy!"

His cries broke her icy heart. Why her little boy? Why? Why must he be the one that gets hurt in this cruel world? She's tried so hard to protect him from the darkness of this world but those efforts were in complete vain. Now her boy's broken. Broken like the night where she thought she had killed all the evil in this world.

She was still naïve.

"Wendy?"

The voice was soft, barely above a whisper. At the volume of Jo's screams, a normal human wouldn't be able to hear it. Thanks to her enchanted abilities, she's able to hear Adette's whisper from behind her.

She turns her head to see the girl's crouching figure on the ground, picking something up from the ground. It only took seconds for Wendy to realize that she's picking up the destroyed pieces of Jo's memoir so that Jo doesn't have to see his ruined dreams in front of him anymore. Why didn't she think of that before she brought him into the room?

Wendy quickly joins Adette in picking up the papers. However, due to her lack of sight, it was difficult. Thankfully, Adette understood the situation and took the pieces that she did found and put it in the bag for her.

When they were done Jo was still crying.

"I think we should give him some time," Adette whispers. Wendy didn't want to agree but she didn't know what to do; the only time she's Jo like this was the days after she rescued him from that horrible monster, but even then he was never crying like this. It's horrible, she didn't even want to see this. But this is her boy...

Feeling Adette tug on her hand, Wendy let the girl lead her away from the room, her eyes never leaving her boy's crying form until they turn a corner.

Her mind became blank at this point; she didn't acknowledge Adette seemly dragging her anywhere, she didn't care about the high-pitched screams of maids when they caught sight of her gruesome face, she didn't even flinch when. For once in her life, she didn't think about anything. Not even her never-ending desire food has crossed her mind.

Maybe she's broken too...

"Here," she looks up to see mug being placed in front of her face. Hm? When did Adette make something? Then again, where are they?

"Jo mentioned that you like butterbeer," hearing her boy's name quickly ruined her curiosity. "I just thought you might need it, I thought about giving you water but I think you might need something stronger."

Besides, you need something else to drink other than that plain lake water. Jo had told her when he introduced her to butterbeer. The only reason why she even likes butterbeer now because of Jo's persistence that she even tried it.

Realizing that Adette is still holding the mug in front of her Wendy gently takes it from the princess. She didn't make a move to drink it, though. She just kept her two large hands around the small mug.

Suddenly, she felt the cool feeling of butterbeer drip down from her hands. What's going on?

"Wendy, you're trembling."

What? But she's always has a steady grip.

Then a voice entered her head.

Cry! Cry, you monster!

It wasn't one of the two voices. No, they're just as confused as she is. Cry? What did that voice mean by that?

Suddenly, she could feel her heart constricting. It's beating so loudly for her sensitive ears to hear and she could almost feel pain from it. Pain that's reached her heart and her head. What's happening?

A brief flash of her old life suddenly appeared in her mind; wet, salty water dripping down her cheeks. Stinging her eyes as they fell.

She knows what she's trying to do; she's trying to cry.

But she can't cry. She can't cry because she's not human anymore. Wendigo's don't cry.

But Wendy wishes she could.

When Jo opened his eyes he felt nothing. Nothing but an empty hole in his chest that's only getting bigger as the seconds past. He expected Wendy to be by his side but to his surprise, she wasn't anywhere in the room.

You told her to leave, remember? A voice snarls in his head, making Jo close his eyes as the memory forms in his head. She's only doing what you asked her to do.

She did that, didn't she? No matter how hurt she might be by some of the things he had said, she will do anything to make him feel better. But then he remembered her face moments before she left the room and the expression he had never expected to see on her face; hopelessness. Complete and utter hopelessness. Here he was, falling apart at the seems and Wendy had no idea what to do.

That's because you wouldn't let her help you, the voice snarls once again. After everything she's done for you, you repay her by pushing her away?! You don't deserve her!

It's right. Jo didn't deserve someone like Wendy to care about him. He didn't deserve, Wendy, Adette, his birth mother, or even his own dreams. He's just a nobody. A stupid, pathetic nobody that even his own horrible excuse-for-a-mother didn't even want. He wanted everything to stop. He wants it all to end.

I can help you with that.

A glass suddenly broke.

"I'm sure he'll like it, Wendy," Adette begins as she and the Wendigo walked down the hallway to Jo's room, each of them holding a mug in their hands. "I get that Wendigo's don't like warm stuff but hot chocolate always helps us, humans, it's what makes me feel better after I get into arguments with my brother."

Wendy didn't say anything, not like the princess expected her to. Moments ago the Wendigo was trembling like she was having a mini seizure. If Adette didn't realize that Wendy was trying to cry she would have called the doctors. Adette had tried to give her a hug but it did nothing. Believing it was time to see Jo again, Adette made some hot choco for the boy and now they were walking to the room.

"Wendy," Adette begins, looking at the Wendigo earnestly. "I understand that you don't know what to do right now but all I can say is that you should be there for Jo. Remind him that he isn't alone and everything will be okay in the end.

The Wendigo nodded but that was it. Adette wondered if Wendy was even paying attention to her.

But she let the subject drop once they reached the door.

"Jo?" she asks softly, slowly opening the door. "Are you awake?"

No reply.

When the door opened wider, Adette and Wendy poke their heads.

What they found inside made them drop their mugs in horror, the objects breaking upon impact and spilling their contents over their feet.

But they didn't care.

Jo was lying on his bed, right underneath a shattered window. He was unconscious and he was breathing, but barely. There was a sharp glass shard next to his outstretched hand and his bed was stained with blood coming from his wrists.

And here comes the pitchforks.