ElphabaFae

Elphaba was getting beyond aggravated at this point. Fiyero recognized this and went to the opposite side of the room. the others just stood there waiting while Elphaba took deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down.

"yes, all of you need to be green. the more of me there are, the less likely I am to be killed," Elphaba said as calmly as she could. unfortunately, the others didn't exactly like this answer.

"Wait, the less likely YOU are to be killed? you mean you are willing to have us killed instead of yourself? are you crazy? do you think we are just going to put ourselves in harms way for you? we didn't even know you existed up until today," Shoshana said.

"Hello, water allergy," Elphaba said, "all of Oz believes that I can be killed with water, which is true. how ever, if you are hit with it, the green will just wash off, won't it? so really, I am the only one in harms way here."

"How can you be so sure they will use water?" Megan asked, trying to calm Shoshana down at the same time.

"Because they think thats the only way to really kill me. they think I can't be killed by normal methods," Elphaba said. she was making this up. she hoped the actresses would fall for it. she looked around her, and saw the actresses exchanging nervous glances.

"I still don't know about this," Shoshana said.

beautifullywicked

Annaleigh was still looking at the bubble strangely trying to decide if it was safe, "I'm still not so sure about this..." she said letting out a nervous giggle.

Elphaba turned around, "You've got to!" she said getting angry, "Or else we won't be able to do anything and this is for your own good... remember?"

Annaleigh looked around at everyone.

Stephanie quietly said to Fiyero, Kerry and Elise, "I'll be right back," as she walked over to where Annaleigh and the bubble were, "Hey." she said to her friend.

"Wha- oh hey." Annaleigh replied half smiling.

"You can do this!" Stephanie said, "Yes I know it's a bubble, and yes I know bubble's pop, but I would trust her on this one... " then she added quietly, "and yes I know, that Elphaba gets a little well say... she over reacts but I would trust her on this one..."

Annaleigh looked at Stephanie a little more confidently, "You sure..."

"I'm Positive." she sang, which made Annaleigh laugh.

"Okay," she said nodding and getting in, "so how do we get this thing to the Emerald City?"

There was a pause and POP she was gone.

Elphaba raised her eyebrows, "Well, I didn't know it would quite work like that, but it still worked."

"Okay, so back to the "Elphaba's" Eden said, "what exactly are you needing us to do anyway?"

"Be a distraction."

"You mean like bait?" Shoshana said.

"Well... not exactly." Elphaba said, "but if you really want me to put it that way, yes."

Shoshana just stared at her in shock.

"If nobody else can do it... I can" a voice said.

Elphaba whirled around to see who the speaker was. It was Elise.

"What!?" Kerry said looking at her, "No! No, no, no, no! I won't allow it!" she said shaking her head.

Elise sighed, "I mean, I'm stuck here anyway... aren't I?" she asked Elphaba, "you said something about minors not being able to return... right?"

"Yes... but even I won't allow that." Elphaba said.

"But somebody has to do it!" Elise continued.

"But that somebody is not going to be you!" Kerry exclaimed, "you could be killed!"

"Ok, calm down everyone," Teal said, "how about we just wait 'till we hear something back from Annaleigh, and then we'll decide."

Everyone seemed to agree with that... for now.

elphie&nessa

"Whoa!" Annaleigh exclaimed as she sped across a sea of green in the bubble Elphaba had conjured. It was not as smooth as the one at the Gershwin, she thought. However, as soon as she started to get used to it, the bubble began to descend, causing a shaky Annaleigh to grip the sides of it for dear life.

After a rough landing, Annaleigh cautiously stepped out of the bubble in front of a large, green castle. Around her, people, who she assumed were actual Ozians, began to form a circle around her, gawking open mouthed and pointing.

"Miss Glinda!" Several people shouted at once, while others simply ran up to her and bowed at her feet. Annaleigh was very confused.

"Um..hello! Everyone…" Annaleigh struggled for the next thing to say. How would the real Glinda act? "I would love to stay and chat, yes, but I um, have a very important meeting with the, um, Wizard? So if you would all be so kind as to keep moving along, I shall…remember it the next time we meet." As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew she hadn't said the right thing. What Good Witch tells her people to go away?

"Well, I mean…I'm very busy, and…" Think, Annaleigh, she told herself. "I…I have to go." Now that she had blown that, she blushed as she quickly made her way through the crowd of people to the door of the castle. After sending a silent prayer that the door would be open, she tried the handle, and to her surprised, opened the door without a problem.

After turning around to give everyone a smile and one last wave, to which the crowd applauded, she shut the door behind her, only to discover another door, this time without a handle. There was, however, a door knocker. Annaleigh went to reach for it, but stopped herself. What was she going to say? What was she even here for? Elphaba never covered any of that before zapping her out of…wherever she had been. She was supposed to find out what his plan was, a plan for…what? Annaleigh didn't want to, but it looked like she'd just have to wing it.

She grabbed the knocker and slammed it against the door three times. Her stomach churned.

"Who's there?" came a voice, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Uh…I'm Galinda Upland, of the Upper Uplands," she said, saying the first thing that came into her mind.

"Who?" came the voice again?

"Oh..um…blue dress," she muttered to herself. "Glinda the Good. I need to speak to-"

Annaleigh was cut short as the doors opened to reveal a long, rather dark hallway. No one spoke, including the mysterious voice. Unsure of what to do, she began to slowly walk down the hall as the doors she just came through closed again. Lanterns that Annaleigh had failed to notice before lit themselves along the walls, providing light for her to navigate through the twisting hall.

After walking for what seemed forever, Annaleigh reached yet another set of doors. As she approached them, they opened automatically. When she looked inside, she gasped. It was…stunning. And green. The walls were made out of green crystals, and a green chandelier hung from the extremely high ceiling.

She cautiously stepped into the room. As soon as she was inside, the back wall rotated 180 degrees to reveal a rather large head. It was just like in the musical. After staring at it for a few moments in complete awe, a stout man walked out from behind it. He smiled as he motioned for Annaleigh to come to him, and reached out for her hand. Annaleigh shakily offered her hand to him, and shook it.

"How good it is to see you, Miss Glinda. Although to be completely honest, I wasn't so sure you'd respond to my letter. I know your thing is 'doing good'", he said, making air quotes with his hands. Annaleigh was very confused. What was he talking about?

"Oh, well, your Ozness," she said slowly, as he beamed at what she assumed was his name. "I guess it's time for me to stray from my usual routine of things…?" She hoped she sounded convincing. The Wizard didn't seem to notice.

"Yes well, like I wrote to you, it would be one thing had those people gotten their facts straight and made Elphaba like she really is, evil. But, I will not tolerate anyone thinking I am anything other than I am. I'm the Wonderful Wizard of Oz! Wonderful. Now of course I do realize that blowing up Earth isn't exactly wonderful-for them, anyhow, but really, I don't see any other choice."

Annaleigh's jaw dropped to the floor. She was hoping she had misheard the Wizard. "Blow up the Earth? Don't you think that's a bit extreme?" she said, trying not to lose her self-control.

"Not at all, Miss Glinda. You see, they must pay for what they portray. Especially all those people who actually pretend to be us."

"But they don't know that Oz really exists," she argued, lying through her teeth. "They can't help it. I don't think they all deserve to…explode. Maybe we could just-"

"We could just what?" he asked, a sharp tone in his voice now. He did not appreciate being argued with. "And Miss Glinda…you look different. What did-"

Annaleigh had all of a sudden wished Ana was with her. She wasn't very quick on her feet. "Oh you know, plastic surgery. Does wonders! Now if you'll excuse me, I should be going. Left my bubble unattended. If there's anything I can do, let me know!" Annaleigh half spoke, half yelled to the Wizard as she turned around and ran as fast as her dress would let her out the doors before he could realize she was an imposter. The Wizard stood in the doorway confused.

"Well that was short," he muttered to himself. "Go find the Grimmerie! It's what I'll use to destroy the Earth!" he yelled after her. He let out an almost manic laugh before the doors closed, once again concealing his chambers.

Annaleigh was still charging full speed down the corridor in which she came, muttering to herself. "Ohhhh crap, this is not good. We're all gonna die. Elphaba is going to flip out. That is, if I can ever get back to where she is. Ohhhh crap."

She reached the set of doors in which the mysterious voice came from in record time. They opened for her, and she burst through the next set out into the Emerald City.

The crowd had dispersed, leaving her bubble hanging about a foot above Annaleigh's head. "Great. We're all going to die, and I have to catch my bubble."

The short woman hopped up and down several times, tried calling it, and even did her little gesture that she did during the show, trying to get it to lower with no luck. Running out of ideas, she had one last thought. Stepping about 20 feet away from the bubble, she started to run, hoping a running start would help her jump higher. As she jumped, her right hand managed to grab a hold on the bottom of the bubble. Hanging on for dear life, she grabbed on with her left hand just in time as the bubble, as if it had a mind of its own, began to move back in the direction that Annaleigh came from.

Terrified as she dangled from the bubble, she flew over buildings and trees. Leaving the green city behind, Annaleigh saw more and more trees and less and less buildings. Her arms were beginning to hurt and she was losing circulation in her fingers from gripping so hard when she saw a dark-looking castle in the distance. Without giving her enough time to even consider what it might be, the bubble popped, and both it and Annaleigh disappeared.

However, seconds later they appeared again, this time in the room she originally started in. Annaleigh landed in a heap as the bubble disappeared and she dropped to the floor. Stephanie ran over to her and helped her get up.

"Annaleigh! Annaleigh, are you alright? Here, lets brush you off…" Stephanie said.

Elphaba looked in Annaleigh's direction, picking herself off the floor where she had been studying one of the pages in the Grimmerie. All of the Elphabas, real and fake, plus Megan and Elise, circled around Annaleigh, waiting for her to speak.

"Yeah, yeah…I'm fine." she whispered, a little shook up.

"So," Dee prodded, "What did the Wizard say?"

(again, thanks for the comments, and I do admit that we were a little slow on getting the plot going, but it will pick up some speed soonish. :) )