Chapter 20

"What did I say? We've given her brain trauma!" Fiyero was immensely upset. Elphaba knew that it wasn't good but right now they had other concerns like where exactly was the King and how long did they really feel comfortable leaving Chistery in charge of the Wizard. The magical cell should hold him but deep down, the green girl kept worrying.

"Yero, let's try something first," his wife suggested.

"Yeah, why don't we start with, do you recognize the man standing in front of you? His name is Fiyero, he is your son," Glinda spoke to the Queen. The Queen gave the blonde a look but she studied Fiyero's face for a moment or two and then smiled.

"Fiyero!" She quickly pulled him into a hug.

"I'm glad you're safe mom," he squeezed her tight.

"Your Majesty, do you know where your husband is?" Elphaba asked, hoping there was an answer and that perhaps the mention of the people most close to her would job her memory. Adalet let go of Fiyero and pulled Elphaba into a hug which shocked the latter to no end.

"Elphaba," she was definitely remembering because she let go of the green girl and then pulled the blonde in for a hug.

"Glinda. It is very good to see you all. Though where we are and why we're here is still eluding me," Adalet said.

"Do you remember leaving the Emerald City to chase down the King?" Elphaba wanted to know.

"Yes. I never caught up to him. A man emerged from the forest, he somehow took control of Chistery and his fellow Monkeys and then that's all I remember," the Queen admitted.

"That man was the Wizard. It seems he did not leave Oz after all and that Morrible somehow transferred his powers to him, which is why he could do what he did," Her daughter-in-law explained.

"No. I don't believe it was Morrible," Adalet told them. Glinda raised an eyebrow before asking,

"How do you figure, you Majesty? He said he was struck by lightning and everyone knows that Morrible had control of the weather." The blonde wasn't trying to be rude but it seemed like just when they had something figured out, things kept getting turned upside down.

"My mother was the Witch of the South. If he was hit by lightning in the Vinkus, it was probably her," the Queen said simply.

"How could that be mom? Grandma died fifteen years ago," Fiyero was thoroughly confused.

"Sweetie, we told you that to keep you safe. You see your Grandma foretold of Morrible and the Wizard and just what they would do once they had power over all of Oz. She led a band of mystical creatures into the woods to protect them. I haven't heard from her in about ten years but my guess is that she's still very much alive or at least the spells that she cast are," Adalet told them.

"How…? Why…?" Fiyero couldn't believe that his mother and father had been keeping such secrets. Before anyone could say anything else, Avantador called from outside.

"Get out here!" He was usually much more polite so whatever was happening must be big. Quickly the group exited the cabin and went to their new dragon friend. They didn't see anything and gave him a concerned look.

"Don't you feel it?" He asked. It was then that Elphaba understood what he meant. The magical fields around them were being disrupted.

"That feeling is back," she said referring to the ominous feeling she'd had once they crossed into the woods. She looked to Glinda who was beginning to feel it too.

"What's going on?" The blonde was suddenly nervous.

"I told you that she was still alive," Adalet told them and they all looked at her before a cackle in the skies above distracted them.

"What have we got here?" A voice boomed from the tops of the trees.

"Mother!" Adalet called out to the voice, hoping that she would reveal herself to the group.

"Daughter?" The question sounded as if the person on the other end wanted to believe what she said was true yet she doubted it.

"Please come down. My husband is missing and the fate of Oz is at stake!" Adalet pleaded with the still unseen figure. Then the trees moved and from them came a large Griffon. Elphaba and Glinda's mouth hung open for a moment or two. They had been told that the Griffon was extinct.

The magnificent creature landed near Avantador and let its rider climb down. For a woman who should have been close to eighty, she was amazingly spry. Elphaba still couldn't shake the evil feelings she was having and wondered how the story the Queen told and the woman standing before them, could be the nice person that she supposedly was. Then as if the elderly woman had been reading her mind, she snapped her fingers and the feeling was gone.

"I am Burcin, the Witch of the South. You Miss Elphaba are a woman I have wanted to meet," she bowed slightly.

"How'd you…" the green girl started.

"I am more powerful than you realize child. Though perhaps I do not give you enough credit. After all, you rid Oz of Morrible and you've managed to capture the Wizard," by this time even Avantador had his mouth hanging open.

"And you've brought a dragon. Very impressive," the Witch smiled.

"We're here regarding the King and the Wizard," Elphaba shifted the focus for their trip.

"The Wizard has magical powers. I gave them to him, albeit temporarily. He was to complete his task and then they would leave him. He has not completed it and my guess is that he won't without some assistance," Burcin narrowed her eyes.

"What was his task?" Fiyero was already not liking where this was heading. He didn't know his grandmother very much and so he was still concerned about what she might do.

"Why rid Oz of Elphaba of course, by any means necessary," she said simply.

To Be Continued…