I found a picture of Elphaba pouring molten gold into a mold and saying, "I'M SMELTING!" I still haven't stopped laughing. On that note, with this update we get a new cover photo! I drew it myself :) (with a reference) I'm in the process of drawing something else that I might use at the moment. Also, rating went up one just to be safe.
Several weeks had passed and Biff's ankle was almost healed, meaning Elphaba would no longer be able to visit town to see Dillamond and his wonderful book shop.
Elphaba walked into the church kitchen to find Biff up on his feet, slowly pacing around the bench, testing his weight on his foot.
"Almost healed?" Elphaba asked casually.
Biff jumped slightly, the sudden movement making him wince and lean against the bench, "Y-yes. Thank y-you. I sh-should be fine to w-work b-by tomorrow."
Elphaba nodded, pretending to busy herself at the stove to hide her disappointment. "Good, I was tired of having to do all of your work on top of mine."
Frexspar walked into the kitchen, "Ah, Biff. Good, you're walking. I need the post taken into town."
Elphaba stepped forward and quickly cut in, "Biff's foot still needs a bit of rest, I'll take it in."
Frexspar looked down at her suspiciously while Biff looked at her in shock.
"Alright," conceded Frexspar, slowly, "But hurry back! I feel something isn't right today."
Elphaba ignored his suspicions and hurried into town, heading straight for Dillamond's book shop. She flung the door open to find the old Goat sitting behind the counter, writing feverishly in a small notebook.
"Mr. Dillamond? I've come to say good bye."
Startled the Goat looked up from his notebook, placing his quill into the pot, looking up at her curiously "Good bye? Why, Miss Elphaba? Are you going somewhere?"
"Not really, no. It's just that Biff has gotten back on his feet and this will probably be the last time I am allowed into town for a while."
"I see, it seems Oz is getting less and less, well, colourful these days."
"How do you mean?" Elphaba perched herself rather precariously atop a pile of books beside the counter so she could listen.
"Well, an old Owl friend of mine who lives just a few towns north of here recently sent me a correspondence. He sounded rushed and rather perturbed. In his letter he said that soldiers had begun to arrive in his town and seemed to be preparing for something bad."
"What do you think it was, Mr. Dillamond?"
"Something bad, Miss Elphaba," the old Goat shook his head in bewilderment. "Something bad across all of Munchkinland by the sound of it, possibly all of Oz! It seems someone out there no longer wants Animals speaking out."
Just as the words left his mouth a loud crash resounded from the streets followed by horrified screams and hurried shouting.
"That sounded bad!" Elphaba leapt to her feet and dashed out the door, running towards the commotion, unheeding of Dillamond's cry to wait.
Outside the shop, the main street was filled with confused Munchkinlanders all headed in the same direction, the town square. Elphaba followed after them, arriving to see dozens of soldiers milling around a cluster of large iron cages. Behind the cages was an enormous bonfire being fed torn books and broken furniture by the soldiers.
In the middle of the square stood a raised platform where a bespeckled man with a mustache stood shouting. "The Animals cannot be trusted! We have information from the Wizard incriminating them for treason!"
Munchkinlanders from all over town had gathered and were listening, some nodding in agreement, others confused and scared at this sudden and new development.
Behind her Dillamond, who had nervously followed her out into the street, gave a terrified shout as a group of soldiers converged on him and began leading him to the centre of the square.
In front of his store a soldier was emptying a large canister of liquid into the doorway.
"Mr. Dillamond!" Elphaba ran forward in a frantic attempt to help her friend.
"Stay back, Miss Elphaba! It's alright, I'll be fi-aaaah!" the old Goat's sentence cut off into animalistic bleating as two soldiers lifted him bodily, throwing him into a waiting cage.
"Mr. Dillamond!" Elphaba screamed in panic. The Goat hadn't moved from where he had landed. She charged forward, scrambling through the crowd to reach the cage only to be met with a wall of green coats preventing her advance.
"You! Get her away from here!"
"Yes, sir!" one of the green coats stepped forward, effectively blocking her view of the cage as he grabbed her arms and began leading her away.
"Get off me you-" Elphaba looked up at the soldier to find an unwelcome sight. "You!"
"I have a name, you know," said Fiyero, grinning slightly down at her. His smile quickly disappeared as he realised her state of panic.
"I don't care! I have to help him!" She cried, struggling to free herself from his grasp.
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do."
Elphaba shoved him hard in the chest, finally pulling away to face him, "Then you help him!"
"I can't! I can't go against my orders!" Fiyero pleaded with her.
"Then what good are you!" Angry tears pricked at Elphaba eyes as she glared up at the despondent soldier before her.
Around them the crowds cheered, each Munchkin caught up in the fervour of their united cause against the Animal threat.
"Elphaba!" She heard a more than familiar voice call behind her. Elphaba's turned, only to have her heart sink when she saw Father Frexspar pushing his way through the crowd towards her.
"What in Oz are you doing! You're supposed to be delivering the post, not causing commotions!"
Elphaba cursed under her breath before replying to Frexspar. "I saw smoke and thought someone might need help."
Frexspar's face was stuck halfway between anger and disbelief at her actions. They both knew Elphaba was lying through her teeth. Frexspar quickly glanced around at the crowd, and at Fiyero standing nearby, before turning back to Elphaba. "I'll deal with you when we get back," he growled.
Elphaba knew she should have been frightened by his threat, but she could not shake her thoughts away from the cages that were slowly being filled with the town's Animal population.
Frexspar looked to Fiyero who stood awkwardly to the side, "I'll take it from here."
"Of course, sir." Fiyero reluctantly turned away and pushed through the crowd to his commanding officer.
Up on the platform the man continued to rile the crowd up into a frenzy against the Animals. The more he spoke, the more people joined in, some had even begun to throw pebbles at the caged and shackled Animals.
"Someone has got to stop this!" Elphaba said, the horrible realisation of what was happening hitting her like a ton of bricks.
"Elphaba! Stay back!" Frexspar grabbed her arm and towered over her, his face stoic as he watched the Animals being caged. Elphaba tried to struggle out of Frexspar's firm grasp but he held her tight. "Don't," He warned in a low growl, "there's nothing you can do, girl."
Frexspar seemed strangely protective over Elphaba, which made her think that it was probably hard to be in the company of the same person for almost a decade and not feel some degree of responsibility for them. But that small comfort did nothing to quell Elphaba's rising anxiety for Dillamond. She continued to struggle against Frexspar's hold on her upper arm as she watched more Animals being forced from their homes and workplaces.
"This has to STOP!" The air around Elphaba seemed to pulsate and distort, the fabric of reality echoing out and away from her in waves. Everything slowed and came to a stop, until the whole square stood frozen, trapped in time.
An eerie silence fell over the square all as all movement ceased. Not a single soldier or Munchkin breathed, nor did the wind blow through the crowd. It was as though the town was caught in a painting, each person stolen from their lives and stuck in a single moment for the artist to enjoy. Elphaba would have laughed at some of their comical expressions and poses if she hadn't been so scared.
Elphaba carefully moved away from Frexspar in the direction of the cages where Dillamond and the other Animals were caged. As she moved, she avoided touching any of the townsfolk for fear they might suffer some horrible side effect when and if they returned back to their normal pace.
As she approached the cages, Elphaba was relieved to see that Dillamond had not been affected by the time ripple and was now standing at the bars of his cage, frantically gazing about the square.
"Miss Elphaba!" he called to her as she got nearer. "What have you done?"
"I- I'm not sure! I just wanted to help and-" her voice cut off in a panicked sob.
"It's alright, my dear, I'm fine." Dillamond reached through the bars and touched her hand gently, attempting to reassure her.
"We have to get you out of here!" Elphaba began to pull at the lock, but her efforts were in vain as the lock was too strong.
"No, Miss Elphaba! I'm afraid there's no point. I'm old and I can't run very fast, they'd just catch me again. And the other trapped Animals seem to be under your spell as well."
"My spell?"
Dillamond ignored her question, "You have to leave us."
"But-" Elphaba choked through a sob, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Looking up into his face she noticed a cut high on his forehead and was pulled back, ten years, to the last time someone had reassured her everything would be fine. It hadn't been, and it wouldn't be now. "You're the only friend I've had for such a long time."
The Goat smiled at her sadly through the bars. "I know, my dear. I have very much enjoyed your company as well."
Around them time was beginning to reassert itself, people starting to move at a glacial pace on their original courses.
A sudden urgency lit up in Dillamond's eyes when he realised the spell would not last much longer, "Quickly, before time goes back to normal, I can lend you one last book."
Elphaba shook her head, confused, "A book?"
The Goat nodded, "A very important one. Inside my shop, under the counter, is a loose floorboard. Under it is a box. Take it but do not open it until you are safe and alone where no one can see."
Elphaba turned to look down the street at Dillamond's shop, the flames slowly lapping at the air in their ravenous hunger.
"Please, Elphaba."
Still confused, Elphaba nodded quickly before reaching through the bars and hugging the Goat as best she could. "Alright."
He offered her one last small smile before urging her towards his shop with a gentle push.
Elphaba set off at a run through the crowd and down the street, careful not to bump into any of the people.
Standing before Dillamond's blazing store, Elphaba's knees were struck with a sudden weakness at the prospect of having to brave the flames. She was terrified of fire and had been ever since that fateful night when her life had changed forever. Small fires, like the stove fire, were fine, but large fires like this made her remember everything she tried to forget about her past. No, she could do this. She could do this for her friend.
Elphaba plunged headfirst through the doorway, holding her arms about her face to protect them. The flames may not have been moving but they retained their heat.
Inside the shop the path to the counter had remained blessedly clear and Elphaba scrambled through the orange glow and over scattered volumes to the counter.
Heaving a pile of books out of the way Elphaba crouched down under the counter and poked at the wooden boards. None of them seemed to be giving the slightest sign of movement and she began to panic. The flames may have been moving slowly, but they were still advancing in her direction, seemingly drawn by her fear.
Elphaba panicked and began to bang at the ends of the boards with the heel of her hand. Finally, one of the boards lifted slightly at one end and she grabbed it, sliding the plank section up and throwing it away into the depths of the shop. Beneath it was a surprisingly large hollow in which lay a rectangular box, no larger than the seat of a stool.
Gathering up the box, Elphaba hurried back out the door and onto the street.
Outside time was beginning to move faster again. Elphaba could see people turning their heads and taking slow steps forward as she ran past them back to Frexspar's side, just in time to see the townsfolk return to their fevered rioting. All of them were unaware that anything had happened.
Just found out the "I'M SMELTING!" thing was by my favourite cartoonist. No wonder I thought it was hilarious! Congradulotions to Broadwaygirl21 and FrozenSWLoKfan01 for giving me that correct answer of Always Fair Weather from 1955. For this week: We all know that wonderful musical My Fair Lady, right? Well, what is the name of the play it originated from?