Chapter 8

It had been about fifteen minutes after Ella departed that Elphaba was finally able to calm down. The words still stung but she had a better idea of where they were coming from. Ella was just upset and probably didn't mean what she had said. The green woman dried the tears from her eyes before getting up to go back inside. She wasn't going to chase down Ella and demand an apology. That would do nothing. She would wait for the girl to come to her and apologize on her own time. Or at least, Elphaba hoped that she would apologize. The green woman rounded the corner not really looked where she was going. She bumped into a figure and had to fight to stay upright.

"I'm so sorry." Elphaba called out still looking towards her own two feet to remain standing. Once she was sure she wouldn't fall she looked up to see whom she had run into. Blue eyes stared back at her with confusion. "Glinda…hey." Elphaba trailed off as she sniffled a little. She hoped the blonde wouldn't be able to tell she had been crying. She was wrong.

"What's wrong? Did I hit you that hard?" Glinda joked bleakly not really sure why the green woman looked upset. "If you're wondering, no I didn't run into you on purpose."

Elphaba huffed, it was one thing to accidentally run into someone and apologize and it was another for that accident to turn into another reason for the two of them to fight. "I didn't think that you did mean to run into me." The green woman offered harshly.

The blonde glared at Elphaba for a moment longer than needed. She could see that the woman was upset but honestly she didn't really care for the reason. She decided to ignore the blotchy green marks she saw on her wife's face. It was none of her business anymore what made Elphaba upset or not.

"Have you seen Ella?" Glinda sighed as she looked around the corner looking for her daughter. That had been the reason that she was walking around the castle. "She missed dinner."

Elphaba looked towards the ground. She didn't know where Ella was but she felt responsible for her not being at dinner. "I don't think she was in the mood for dinner." The green woman offered up. "She didn't seem in such a great mood earlier."

Glinda's eyebrows rose at this statement. Ella never missed dinner. That was one thing she had never grown out of since infancy, her appetite. "What do you mean she wasn't in a good mood? What did you do to her?" Glinda accused before getting all the facts. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for a response from the green woman.

Elphaba felt offended that Glinda would think she would purposefully upset their child. Although it shouldn't surprise the green woman, not much did any more. "I didn't upset her. Our divorce upset her. And why the hell are you even talking to me? Why don't you find Ella and ask her yourself." Elphaba started to walk past the blonde. She was irritated that all the Upland women decided to go against her today. Rowena and Kiora were the only ones that seemed to be happy around their mother today.

"Don't walk away from me." Glinda yelled after Elphaba as she rounded the next corner.

"Why shouldn't I? You are so good at walking away from me." Elphaba yelled back as she picked up speed. She couldn't deal with this right not. She was already emotionally raw from what Ella had said to her earlier.

"Elphaba. Stop this instant." Glinda had caught up to the raven-haired woman and grabbed onto her arm. Elphaba turned immediately and gave Glinda a death glare.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Elphaba shot daggers with her eyes as she shook her arm out of Glinda's grasp. "Did you not hurt me enough earlier this morning?"

Glinda's resolve faltered as she heard the hurt behind Elphaba's voice. "Elphaba, please just tell me what Ella said to you." The blonde sighed as she tried the high ground approach. Yes she was angry with Elphaba but staying angry would get her nowhere right now.

Elphaba shook her head. "What does it matter to you?" Her shoulders slumped slightly.

"I need to know how upset she was." Glinda's reason was sound and Elphaba couldn't argue that had the roles been reversed she would want to know what happened as well.

Elphaba looked around to make sure no one could hear them. She wasn't sure why but she didn't want anyone else knowing what a failure her daughter thought she was. She began to recount the story to the shock and awe of Glinda.

"She said what?" Glinda's voice raised an octave as she heard Elphaba recount her tale of what happened. She didn't think that Ella would ever be capable of saying those things. Ella was always so sweet and happy.

The green woman looked away once she finished her story. She couldn't look into Glinda's eyes afraid of what she might find there.

Glinda moved her hand up to her temple where a small headache had begun to take hold. A part of her didn't want to believe Elphaba but why would she lie about something like this? "I guess I should go find Ella and talk to her." She rubbed at her head hoping to ease the oncoming tension.

Elphaba felt guilty even though she knew this wasn't all her fault. "I'm sorry Glinda." She apologized not really knowing why.

"Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later." The blonde removed her hand from her temple and placed them back by her sides. She sighed heavily as she thought about what she would say to Ella when she found her.

"I guess." Elphaba agreed verbally but didn't really agree mentally. Ella had never spoken that harshly to her parents, either one. "Do you think we should let her cool off any come to us or should we go find her?" Elphaba offered.

"Oh, so now you are asking my opinion on parenting." Glinda couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a jab at the green woman.

Elphaba sighed. Could they not do anything civil anymore? "Glinda, just don't. We need to focus on Ella right now and not make this about the two of us." Elphaba decided to volunteer some information she hadn't before. "Do you want to know where Ella told me she learned to fight and yell? She told me she learned it from us Glin. She learned to be so harsh listening to us."

The blonde immediately softened upon hearing this. Had Ella really learned to fight from her parents? That was something they never intentionally taught her but had all these years added up to a life lesson they weren't willing to teach? She suddenly felt a pang of guilt as she looked upon Elphaba. Had they really harmed their children so much along the way?

"Look I didn't tell you that to make you feel guilty." Elphaba could see the guilt in Glinda's eyes. "I only told you so that we can move past this and try to work together."

Glinda nodded her head in understanding and swallowed her pride. Elphaba was right, they needed to focus on Ella and not themselves. "So what do you think we should do?" Glinda honestly asked the green woman's opinion.

"I was giving her time to cool off but if you want to look for her then I support that too." Elphaba offered up a reasonable response. She then glanced down and saw that the two had been arguing for longer than she thought. It was nearing time for the girls to get ready for bed. "Maybe we should try to look for her though. It is almost eight thirty and she should probably eat something before bed."

Glinda agreed that this was the best idea and so the two decided to split up to find their daughter wherever she might be hiding this time.

XXX

The air smelled of rusting copper pipes and dirty water. The temperature in the room was also not very pleasant. At nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit it would cause anyone to sweat. And that is just what it was doing to the three occupants that resided in the 10x10 room surrounded by cement on three sides and one long narrowing tunnel on the other. It looked like part of an underwater drainage system.

"What now?" A female voice could be heard echoing throughout the tunnel. She surveyed the passed out girl on the ground and a sinister smile rose on her face. She almost sounded excited about what was going to come next.

"Well we've had our fun for the past few years." The man known as Dexter began to pace while looking down at the unconscious girl. "Who would have known that their family bond was so strong that even our strongest spells could barely break them apart." The man looked disgusted as he thought back to all the missed opportunities over the years. Ever since his and Astor's father had been killed because of Glinda and Elphaba he had been trying to get back at them. He wanted to cause them as much pain and suffering as humanly possible. He and Astor had begun to stalk the family nearly three years ago to the day. It disgusted him to see the royal family of Oz so happy and in love.

Astor too thought back to all the times they had tried to influence the Thropp-Upland family and were thwarted. They weren't stupid enough three years ago to try a down right physical attack. Everyone knew how powerful Elphaba was and feared her. They had bided their time with little spells along the way. What better way to destroy someone then first destroy them emotionally and then destroy them physically when they are too weak to fight back. They wanted to leave Elphaba with nothing to fight for. Another smile flickered on Astor's face. The Thropp-Upland family would pay. They would pay for what happened to their father.

Dexter walked over to where Ella lay and began to nudge the girl with his dusty shoe. "How long does that potion last?" He kicked a little harder eliciting a groan from the child. She was currently in the fetal position.

"I don't know. I've never had to use it before." Astor replied as she too went over to inspect the child. "It shouldn't last too much longer though. What do you plan to do to her once she wakes up?"

"Give her hell." Dexter replied as he walked away from her towards the other side of the room. He was sweating profusely and the only form of comfort was a small fan on that side. He hated being here but where else was he going to stow the child? Everyone is Oz would be looking for her once her parents realized she had been kidnapped. The thought frightened Dexter but it also filled some kind of sick desire he had. He had watched from the sidelines long enough. If he couldn't emotionally destroy the family then he would watch as the loss of a daughter tore them apart.