Uncle Fiyero looked at me and asked, "So did those kids call you Angel, Elphaba?" I smiled and said, "That's my nickname. I named myself Angel. I mean I like look like a mini-angel." He nodded and then Glinda said, "Fiyero, I need to talk to you." He went inside and Auntie Elphaba joined me.
"Hey, Angel," she said, casually. I smiled at her and said, "Hi, Auntie Elphaba." She looked at me and asked, "Why did those kids call you Angel? That's not your name. It's Elphaba, like me." I sighed and said, "Angel—that's my nickname. I named myself Angel. I mean, I do look like a mini-angel, with my wings and all." Elphaba nodded and stated, "There's more. Something you're not telling me."
I gulped and said, "Wanna fly around for a bit?" She nodded and we both took off and began to fly. I bit my lip and whispered, "The School was terrible. It was a prison and a place of death. I was alone. I was scared. I was a kid. I wanted to get out of there. I was two when I first fled and first became Angel. I never want to go back again." Aunt Elphaba bit her lip and shivered in terror. "What did they do to you?" I sighed and said, "They put me in a cage. Hurt me. Did bad things to me. They made me run and jump and swallow radioactive dye so they could study my circulation. They made me run a maze. They tried to kill me, hundreds of times, but failed every time. They were cruel to me, but I fought back. I bit one really mean whitecoat—that's what we called the scientists there—Reilly and he hit me. I had a bruise on the side of my face for like a month." Aunt Elphaba stared at me and horror, and thought, and I thought I had it bad with Frexspar hating me. "Why did this Frexspar hate you?" I asked. She stared at me. "I am a weird little kid, just not in the way you're thinking. I can read minds." I informed my aunt. She smiled and we swiftly returned to the palace, staying hidden and out of sight.