AN: I have some messages for you.

Vinkunwildflowerqueen: Thank you so much for still reading. (And for not wanting to kill me.)

Before I say anything else, read Elphaba'sGirl's review to March of the Maddy Hunters:

"I trust Maddy.
I elect to be her bodyguard!
(Hey, in a world where we've already murdered Frex like three times, we've got to have a little respect for our leader!)"

Don't you agree with that? [Please agree with that...]

Because... well...

To the ones that want to kill me: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME.

To the ones that want to protect me: I really hope you won't change your mind and join the Maddy Hunters after all after this chapter.

Here it goes.

Chapter 32. Gone forever more

"What are we going to do?" Galinda asked in a high voice, clearly panicking. "Where could she have taken her?"

"The underwater cave?" Fiyero suggested, looking at Aurya, but the mermaid shook her head.

"Too obvious," she said. "Morrible is smart – she must know I would go straight to you, and she would know that you, Fiyero, would remember those caves. I think she found herself a better hiding place. Somewhere she thinks we'll never look."

"How did she even get to Elphaba?" Cohvu wanted to know.

Aurya sighed. "Morrible pretended to be me," she said quietly. "She can take many different forms – she made herself look like me, to trick Elphaba."

Galinda suddenly looked frightened. "So… Morrible could make herself look like any of us?" she asked in a small voice. She looked around her, suddenly suspicious, eyeing her friends up and down. She narrowed her eyes at Cohvu. "You're not her, are you?"

Cohvu sighed. "Galinda, I –"

"You're her!" Galinda screeched. "The real Cohvu always calls me Glin, not Galinda! You're Morrible!"

"Glin –"

"Shut up, you evil fishwoman!" Galinda started hitting her boyfriend with her purse. "Stay away from me! You evil creep, what have you done to Elphie?"

"Galinda," Cohvu tried, dodging her attempts to smack him across the head with that Oz-forsaken purse. "I'm not – ouch – it's me – oomph – Galinda!"

Lori grabbed the blonde girl and gently pulled her away. "Now don't panic, Galinda," she told the girl calmly. "Morrible is not here."

"She's not?" Galinda blinked and looked at Cohvu. She pointed one finger at him accusingly. "Then who are you?"

Cohvu stared at her as if she had gone crazy. "Cohvu?" he said drily. "You know, your boyfriend? The one you just tried to beat to pulp with your purse?"

Galinda blanched. "Oh, Coco!" she wailed, flinging her arms around him and kissing his face everywhere. "I'm so sorry!"

"Can we stop this nonsense and focus on finding Elphaba?" Fiyero snapped, earning him a glare from Galinda and a disapproving look from his mother.

"We have to go back underwater," Cohvu said, immediately serious again. "Maybe we can find clues or something, or perhaps someone saw them going…"

"I think that's the best idea we've heard so far," Aurya agreed. She looked at the others. "Are you all coming?"

"Of course," said Lori, and Hamold nodded.

"She's our daughter," he said simply. "Perhaps not by blood, but we love her. Letting her go so that she could fulfil her duties as a Crown Princess was one thing, but now she's in danger. There's no way in Oz we're just staying here and wait for something to happen."

Fiyero surprised his father by suddenly wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug, then doing the same to Lori. "You're amazing."

Lori smiled a bit sadly at him. "Prepare yourself for the worst, though, Yero," she warned her son. "We're all going to try our best to find and save Elphaba, but…"

"…we might not be able to," Fiyero finished. "I know."

Cohvu eyed him suspiciously. "Why do you seem a little bit too calm over this?"

Fiyero sighed. "I'm trying not to panic here, okay?" he said a bit irritably. "Can we go now? The more time we waste by just standing here and talking, the bigger the chance gets that something happens to Fae."

"He's right." Aurya beckoned the others. "Come on. There's no time to lose."

They made their way outside and onto the beach, and Aurya turned around. "Now," she began. "I'm going to cast that breathing spell on all of you and then we can –" She suddenly cut herself off. "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Galinda demanded.

Aurya shook her head. "Never mind," she said. "I just thought I heard…"

Then they all heard it. A maniacal cackle.

"Morrible," Aurya whispered, and Fiyero whirled around.

"It comes from the gardens!" he said, and before anyone could stop him, he bolted.

The others followed him as he ran back to the castle, then burst into the castle gardens, looking around him wildly. Cohvu suddenly pointed at something. "There!"

This time, it was Galinda who reacted first, and she shot forward. When she saw what was in front of her, however, her heart seemed to stop for a moment.

Morrible was there, standing on the grass with a smug expression on her face. She was standing right next to the pond Avaric had tried to drop Elphaba into; and about three metres dangling above the pond was a cage, held up in the air by some kind of magical construction Morrible had come up with.

And in that cage, still in mermaid form and magically gagged, was Elphaba.

Galinda could hear Fiyero drawing in his breath sharply, and Aurya whispered to Cohvu, her voice trembling a little, "That's not salt water… is it?"

Cohvu wordlessly shook his head, and Lori said softly, "No, it's not. It's fresh water."

"If Morrible drops that cage…" Hamold began, but Galinda cut him off sharply.

"We won't let her."

Morrible grinned at them. "Well, well," she said. "Took you long enough to get here. Good to see you again, dearies."

"What do you want?" Galinda demanded in a high voice.

Morrible cackled. "Oh, I already got what I wanted," she hissed, casting a smug glance in Elphaba's direction. "It was surprisingly easy, you know that? Take on a different form, swim into the palace, ask Miss Elphaba to come with me, and walk back out again. The guards even called me 'Your Highness'!" She threw her head back, laughing. "All I had to do then was knock out dear Miss Elphaba here and take her away!"

She looked at Elphaba. "I told you I could shapeshift, dearie," she said, clearly amused. "You should have paid more attention."

Elphaba wriggled and there was not a doubt in Cohvu's mind that she would be screaming obscenities at the old hag right now, had she not been gagged. He looked at Aurya, who was watching all this with a concerned look on her face. "Can't you do something?" he whispered. "Cast a spell, maybe?"

"Maybe," Aurya said softly. "But you need to distract her first. If she catches me chanting, who knows what she'll do to Elphaba?"

Cohvu nodded and yelled, "Hey, big fish-face!"

Morrible narrowed her eyes at him.

"We get it," Cohvu said. "It was easy to kidnap Elphaba, you're proud of yourself, blah blah blah. Now could you perhaps tell us why we are here?"

Morrible grinned widely. "You," she said, reaching out her hand, magic crackling around her fingers, "are here so that I can break Miss Elphaba before I kill her."

Aurya finished her spell, but Morrible suddenly held up one hand and caught the magic the mermaid had sent her way. She shook her head. "Oh, dearie," she chuckled. "You could never beat me! I'm one step ahead of you!"

Her eyes were gleaming and she pointed at Elphaba. "Now she could beat me," she said. "She's so much stronger than you ever were, Aurya. Not only is she a mermaid, but she is a child from both the sea and the land, below and above. She is so much more than just a mermaid – she has magic of her own, magic no mermaid has ever displayed before."

She smirked at Elphaba. "She could beat me," she chuckled, "which is why she is currently gagged and locked up in a cage." She cocked her head a little to the side. "You know," she said, "I learnt how to extract magic from my victims. I cast this tiny little spell that allows me to take in the magic that drains from my victims as I kill them. You have so many powers, Elphaba, but you have no idea what to do with them. I am an experienced sorceress. Imagine what I could do with all that power!"

She sneered contemptuously at Elphaba. "You can't save yourself now, dearie. And more importantly…" She extended one hand and suddenly Cohvu was lifted a metre into the air, trampling with his legs helplessly.

"…you can't save your friends, either," Morrible finished.

Meanwhile, Aurya was chanting under her breath. She locked eyes with Elphaba and the green girl nodded, recognising what her aunt was trying to do.

Morrible set Cohvu back down onto his feet and sent a wave of electric magic in Elphaba's direction, causing her to cry out through her gag in pain. Morrible laughed again.

"No!" Fiyero suddenly shouted, and before any of them could do anything, he had launched himself at Morrible, jumping onto her back and pulling at her hair. Morrible hissed in annoyance and caught him in a magic beam, now raising him into the air, only much higher than she had done with Cohvu before.

"You're a good place to start," she said smugly. "The boyfriend. How adorable." She looked at Elphaba. "Tell me, dearie – how high do you think I should put him in the air before I drop him?" She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Would ten metre kill him? Or should I go for twenty, just in case?"

Elphaba was clearly fuming with rage by now, but there was nothing she could do.

Cohvu stepped forward, ready to attack Morrible; but then she suddenly made a hand gesture and Elphaba's cage dropped about a metre. Galinda, Cohvu, Lori and Hamold gasped in unison. Aurya kept on chanting. She could see that Elphaba was afraid, but she gritted her teeth and stayed still.

"Don't fight me, Cohvu," Morrible hissed at the boy. "Take one more step and I drop her into the water."

She cackled. "Have you ever seen a mermaid burning to death in fresh water?" she asked in amusement. "It's quite the sight, I can tell you."

Meanwhile, Aurya had finished her spell, and Elphaba found herself free from the gag. She looked at Aurya, who nodded encouragingly; and then she started chanting under her breath. Aurya's magic may not be strong enough to defeat Morrible, but hers was; and she would defeat Morrible if it was the last thing she'd ever do.

"Now," Morrible said casually, "let's see how you react if I killed your dear little boyfr- NO!" she screamed when she suddenly realised that not only was Elphaba not gagged anymore; she was chanting the words to a spell.

"Elphie!" Galinda squeaked in panic. Morrible let Fiyero go, who dropped to the ground – luckily, he hadn't been up that high yet, so the fall didn't kill him; just knocked the air out of him for a moment. He raised his head just in time, however, to see Morrible gesturing frantically towards the cage with Elphaba in it.

And the next moment he knew, at the same moment that Elphaba finished the spell, a flash of magic left Morrible's fingers. He saw Elphaba's eyes growing wide and he heard the scream that left Galinda's lips, as well as the desperate howl that Fiyero produced.

Then the bottom of the cage fell away like a trapdoor, and Elphaba plunged down into the pond full of fresh water.

Fiyero tried to catch her. Of course he did. He jumped forward immediately, but unlike last time, he didn't reach her in time. This time, he was too late.

The moment she hit the water, he jumped into it as well. He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her back to the surface, pushing her into the grass and climbing out after her. Aurya and Lori were by his side in a clock-tick, while the rest stayed back, Galinda crying hysterically and burying her face in Cohvu's shoulder.

Aurya cast a quick glance over her shoulder at Morrible, and she was glad to see that at least Elphaba's spell had worked. There, in the grass, on the spot where Morrible had been standing not a minute ago, was a fish thrashing around.

Morrible was defeated, but Aurya feared that it would cost them Elphaba.

Fiyero felt his stomach twist upon merely looking at Elphaba. He reached out to touch her, but stopped himself when he realised that there was not one part of her body that wasn't covered in burns and blisters. Her skin made a sickening sizzling sound and she was gasping for breath. She was conscious, but that was the only positive thing that could be said about her current situation.

"Fae," Fiyero whispered, gingerly touching her raven hair – the only part of her that wasn't burnt. Even her fishtail had blisters all over it. A few tears leaked from his eyes and he took a deep, shuddering breath.

She forced her eyes open to look at him, and he could see the pain she was suffering. Lori was looking over Fiyero's shoulder. "Sweetheart?" she asked, her eyes dark with concern. "Are you with us?"

"Yes." Elphaba was breathing heavily, but she focused her gaze on Lori. "For now, anyway."

"Don't talk like that," Aurya told her sternly, and Elphaba raised her gaze to look at her aunt.

"You of all people know what this feels like," she croaked. "Imagine fresh water burning your entire body, Aurya."

A flash of pain crossed Aurya's face as she did just that, and she met Elphaba's eyes.

"You know…" Elphaba closed her eyes for a moment, gritting her teeth in pain. "You know as well as I do that I'm not going to survive this."

Fiyero's eyes filled with tears all over again. "Don't talk like that," he begged her.

Lori reached out to take her son's hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "Don't worry," she said to Elphaba. "Just hold on a little longer, sweetheart. Hamold is getting help."

Elphaba's eyes found Fiyero's. "I love you," she whispered.

He shook his head, still crying. "Don't say that," he whispered and his voice broke. "You'll be fine, Fae. Just… just hang on."

She tried to raise her arm, to reach out for Fiyero, but she found that she couldn't – she was in too much pain. She looked up at him again, her vision blurring – and it wasn't just because of the tears that filled them.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, gasping for air. "Yero… I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't be," he said, his voice sounding a bit stronger now. "Don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for, Fae." He leant down and pressed a kiss to her hair. "I love you," he whispered. "I love you. Just hold on, Fae. Please… for me."

"Elphaba?" Aurya asked anxiously. "Listen to him, Fabala. Stay with us. Come on."

Elphaba had closed her eyes and Lori looked at her, her eyes filled with sadness. "Oh, sweetheart…" she whispered.

Fiyero gently stroked her hair. "Fae?" When she didn't respond, he pressed another kiss to her hair. "Come on, a chroí, you can do this."

"Fiyero…" Lori said softly. The tone of her voice made the prince look up, and his stomach clenched when he saw the look on her face.

"She's not breathing," said Lori.

Fiyero blinked. He pulled away to look down at Elphaba, and he saw that his mother was right. Her chest wasn't rising and falling. Not a single breath passed her lips.

"No! Elphie!" Galinda pushed her way towards her friend, falling down on her knees next to the green girl. "Do something!" she screeched at Aurya, tears streaming down her face. "You're a mermaid, you have magic! Can't you do something?"

Aurya shook her head shakily. "I can't even heal wounds," she whispered. "Let alone bring people back to life. Galinda, Fiyero… I'm sorry." She pressed her fingers to Elphaba's neck, searching for a heartbeat, but there was none. She pressed a kiss to her niece's forehead. "Fabala…" She wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "I'm so sorry…"

Lori tentatively touched her son's shoulder. He was sitting still, completely stiff and unmoving, his hands clenched to fists and his gaze fixed on Elphaba's face. "Fiyero?" Lori asked softly.

He turned to her then, and the look on his face broke her heart. He was looking at her with huge blue eyes filled with tears and pain, reminding her so much of the little boy he had once been.

She didn't say anything; she just opened her arms, and he flung himself at her, clinging to her and sobbing his heart out into her shoulder. Cohvu sat down next to Galinda and wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her, while Hamold knelt down beside Aurya, placing one consoling hand on her shoulder as they all looked at Elphaba. Lori and Hamold's daughter. Cohvu and Galinda's best friend. Aurya's niece. The love of Fiyero's life.

She was gone.

...Yeah, I'm gonna go in hiding now.

Fun fact: I'm leaving for London tomorrow, to go and see Wicked, so you might not get another update on this until after this weekend. Oops. *smirk*