Chapter 1: Bloody Nails and Dry Hearts
IMPORTANT: I plan on trying to update this story at least once a week for all of those who are wondering if this story is just going to die it's not. I hope all of you will stay with me for this tale to unfold.
Author's note: Okay so this is, I know I keep saying this but, this is my first ever Fanfic so please no hate I just have a story in my heart I want to tell! As for the actually important notes Glinda and Elphaba are 30ish and Estella is 10. Enjoy! To all you who have followed my story or liked it thank you! I was so nervous to post this and your support makes me feel more confident in posting more.
It was early in the morning. The bright sun was only a small ring on the surface of the horizon making look like the entire world was on fire. It was early spring but Elphaba could not be sure so it could have been winter for all she knew. Unfortunately though there was no rest for the wicked and she had to get to her special meeting place with her fellow conspirators.
She threw a black, simple blouse with a long skirt that stopped at her knees and boots started. With a smirk she slide on her gloves and flexed her fingers remembering the Lurlinemas that Glinda had knitted them for her. She took in a deep breath letting her lungs up with the thin mountain air. Before leaving the room she back tracked for a moment to peck her blonde lover on the forehead as she had made a habit of doing so every morning. The slumbering woman shifted in her slumber and remained fast asleep.
Elphaba exited the room in stiff strides and mentally slipped into the persona of the witch. It took only a dozen or so tocks to make her was through the small cottage. She tried to muffle her steps as she moved past their daughter's room but her thick black boots still created small, dull thuds against the dusty wooden planks of the floor.
The main living room she had entered from the thin hallway was divided with on side holding a simple circular table with three stools around it. It also had a few cabinets and served as a kitchen of sorts though held no stove but instead had a chimney for cooking in the corner. To the opposite side there was a dingy carpet that was an old quilt with faded purples and greens with a soft blue border. Surrounding it was a low table that only came to the gaunt woman's knees and a rocking chair. She smiled a bit as she looked at the small bookshelf to the wall adorn with various books; some for her and some for Estella who had taken to reading like Elphaba.
Though Elphaba had only been in the cramped living room she could see a presence outside her spotty window. Knowing it was odd for anyone to be around lurking outside her home at such a time she assumed the worse. 'The Wizard could have found her' was the conclusion she had found. It was not back up well but she would rather be safe and a worries fool than dead.
She pulled out the Grimmerie from the top of the wobbly book shelf and made her way to the door in a rush hoping to surprise them before her stirring was noticed. She flung open the door in her cone shaped hat with its long rim tilted up to reveal her piercing brown eyes and sharp features. Crouching with Elphaba's broom between her legs was Estella with her head turned to look at her mother glaring at her. Her eyes were wide and filled with anxiousness.
Estella was only ten at the moment and was a thin and stick like girl, rather similar to the witch in that way, and she had shoulder-length black hair that was parted to the right. The hair was silky and stayed flat at the top and at her ears it became curly. She was wearing a loose powder blue tunic and brown pants and a back shoulder bag bulging from its contents. For a silent moment the both of them stood locked in eye contact with Estella in fear and Elphaba in disbelief.
"Why are you here," the witch finally asked in a cold tone. Estella jumped like a deer being spotted by a hunter and then looked to the ground then up.
"Come on broom fly," she muttered under her breath. Elphaba was a handful of feet away from her daughter so she couldn't hear her and barely saw her lips moving so it seemed like she said nothing. This made the broom sudden ascent seemed even more random as it shakily rose into the air. Elphaba rushed over to Estella and tried to grab her but the moment she stepped forward the broom only went faster. Before the small girl could believe that her feet were off the ground at all she was already several feet in the air. The Wicked Witch threw up her arms to grab and pull down the pale child.
"Get down here now!" she yelled and Estella just looked down at her and her fear filled face shifted to a mild confidence in the form of a soft smirk. She took in a deep breath and stared hard at her with bubbling excitement and need for a rebellious streak she had been denied for so long. Estella had usually followed the rules and normally would have been down on the ground listening to her mother's ranting by now but there she was high in the sky. "Where do you think you're going?" Elphaba continued to scream as the small girl flew away a few feet in front of her so she could see past the mountains they were on.
Estella had been unable to her the witch's scolding as the resounding noise of her own heartbeat pounded in her ears as she looked out to the world in front of her. Being even higher than usual made the world seem even small and when she could see there was more she wondered how much more, more there was out there. She was literally pulled back to reality by Elphaba casting a spell to roughly force the broom back to her. The broom bucked and jumped as the power pulled at it making Estella lose balance and she gripped on digging her stubby nails into the wood and giving her splinters that made her bite her lip in pain.
Roughly the Elphaba ripped her off the broom and she fell to the ground on her back. Estella looked up- her brief moment of confidence blown away and her eyes once again widened in fear.
"I just wanted to see the world," she muttered in a shaky voice and her vision became blurred with tears.
"The world is not worth seeing," Elphaba replied and hopped on the broom and began flying off before Estella could get another word in. It had occurred to the green woman she was too hard on the younger girl but she was also aware she did not have the faintest idea of how else to act. Perhaps she was just like her father in not showing enough love to her daughter. The mere mention of her father made her scowl. She was not, she could not be her father but still how was someone who was never been loved by her family truly and could not love them either be the kind of mother a child needs. This was why she more often than not came home when the girl was already asleep so she may avoid bothersome reminders of what a not motherly woman she was.
Estella stayed back against the kicked up grass and dirt that had been tossed about by her and Elphaba had been walking. She looked up to the sky and focused on the shapes of the clouds and was remained of how mere moments ago she was up there. She picked herself up and spent the rest of the time before Glinda woke up sitting on the edge of the mountain top staring out as the sun rose. The navy blue sky slowly turned violet then orange and red near the horizon. Her nails still hurt from splinters the broom gave her but she tried to ignore it and dove into her thoughts.
This had been her first act of disobeying her mother in a big way. There had been times when she had refused to eat dinner or stayed up past her bedtime but never had she been so bad that her mother had resorted to her magic. Why even was desire to travel past this lonely mountain so bad? She grimaced and pulling blades of grass from their home in the dirt and released them into the air and let the morning breeze carry them away. Her tears began to trickle down the side of her face as she was faced with the realization that Elphaba did not care about of there. She had thrown her to the ground and flew off without another word. Did she even care if Estella was hurt? She was hurt she thought as she inspected the dried blood under her nails she had avoided all morning.
The rest of the time between her thoughts and Glinda finally waking up was filled with the sound of Estella's tears ringing through the crisp morning air. When Glinda looked into her daughter's room and saw she was not there she looked around and then frantically ran out of the humble cottage in search for the little girl only to find her sitting on the porch with puffy eye and a bitter expression. "Are you alright Estella?" she asked wondering why she looked so bad and unhappy. Estella only looked up at her and ran straight into her arms. They embraced for a while as the sun slowly climbed into the sky.