17. Moral Ambiguities
"Ladies and gentlemen," Cashel announced, "please welcome the final twelve contestants of the Miss Emerald competition. From Munchkinland, Miss Nessarose Thropp and Miss Macy Lezwis!"
Macy walked on in her little black dress, blowing kisses and waving at the audience. Nessa wheeled herself after the other girl, nodding and smiling.
"From Quadling Country, Miss Micaela Kaunis and Miss Karise Fennows!"
Karise marched, rather than walked, onto the stage in her golden heels and banana-lemon cake dress, waving half-heartedly. Micaela beamed as she followed her in a much more dignified manner.
"From the Glikkus, Miss Caila Westin and Miss Umbia Zespri!"
Caila smiled demurely as she walked, Umbia right beside her. The caramel-skinned girl looked much more uncomfortable than her paler counterpart, but she, too, managed a smile and a little wave.
"From Gillikin, Miss Lunare Kaiara and Miss Glinda Upland!"
This duo was quite entertaining to watch, because it looked like Lunare and Glinda were competing with one another for who was the most charming as they walked onto the stage. Lunare, like Macy, blew kisses at the audience. Glinda twirled a blonde curl around her fingers and gave the people a beaming smile. Lunare giggled and swished her hips as she walked. Glinda tried to make eye contact with as many people as she could and gave them little waves that looked almost seductive.
Once the two had finally made their way to the centre of the stage and had joined the line of other girls already standing there, Cashel announced, "From the Vinkus, Miss Faye Alis and Miss Saraphina Bulok!"
Both of them looked poised and elegant as they walked across the stage, smiling and waving, but not acting like complete idiots as some of the others had.
"And finally, from the Emerald City, Miss Nathalinia Hearst and Miss Elphaba Thropp!"
Elphaba took a deep breath, suddenly feeling nauseous; and Nathalinia, picking up on it, reached out to lace her fingers through Elphaba's and squeeze her hand reassuringly. Elphaba gave her a grateful smile, which the dark-skinned girl returned; and the two of them walked onto the stage together.
The sudden light when they stepped out from between the dark curtains on the side of the stage was blinding and the noise ear-shattering. Elphaba squinted against the bright lights, slowly coming to notice the people in front of her. It looked like an ocean of people, standing on the floor below the stage, sitting on chairs on the sides and at the back, the floor going up so everyone could see the stage well. They were all clapping and cheering for the twelve contestants.
Ten thousand people.
Her nausea returned and judging from the baffled look on Nathalinia's face, she was a little unprepared for this, too. They kept holding hands as they walked over to the other contestants. Nathalinia waved, but Elphaba was too dumbstruck to be able to focus on anything else than just moving one high-heeled foot in front of the other.
"My sweet, sweet girls," Reven said, smiling at least as brightly as most of the contestants. "Here you are. You made it this far and during the past month, you've been proving yourselves to the public. You've attended several events, presented your skills and charities, taken tests and interviews, and held your heads high when faced with the press and the cameras. I think I speak for all of Oz when I tell you that we are very proud of you."
The audience cheered again – loudly. It was all rather overwhelming to Elphaba, although some of the other girls were obviously basking in the attention.
"Tell me, Miss Caila," Reven said, stepping up beside Caila. "Which part of the competition so far did you like best?"
She thought about that for a moment. "Presenting my talent," she finally decided. "I loved sharing my passion for archery with the rest of Oz."
Reven nodded, moving on. "What about you, Miss Faye?" she asked.
Faye smiled, not at all looking bothered anymore by her earlier fight with Lunare. "Oh, I think for me it would be a tie between the presentation of talents and the ball," she said with a giggle. "Then again, I got to dance during both, so that's probably why. I love to dance!"
"The ball was rather wonderful, wasn't it?" Reven agreed. "Miss Elphaba, was that your favourite part of the competition, too?"
Elphaba shook her head. "Not quite," she said with the tiniest hint of a smirk. "My favourite part was the intelligence test."
Reven laughed. "Well, that's certainly different – although with a score such as the one you got, we can't blame you!" The audience applauded in agreement.
Cashel moved in as well now. "How do you think your life will change if you win the title, Miss Lunare?"
"Oh," Lunare gushed, "it would most definitely be the biggest achievement of my entire life! I couldn't dream of anything I want more in the world!"
"That's a clear answer," Cashel said into the camera with a chuckle. "Miss Umbia – why do you think you have what it takes to be Miss Emerald?"
Umbia looked startled to be singled out, but she replied nonetheless, after a thoughtful pause. "I think… I think I'm probably not the most obvious choice," she said slowly. "There are girls here who are prettier and more talented than me, and almost all these girls are better in the spotlight than I am. But… it does make me unique, doesn't it? Maybe the people at home like the fact that I'm quiet and a little shy in comparison with the other girls."
Cashel smiled at her encouragingly. "Maybe they do, Miss Umbia. Maybe they do."
"Miss Nessarose," Reven continued. "Do you think the fact that you are in a chair diminishes your chances in the competition?"
Elphaba could tell that her sister felt a little indignant at the question, but she did a wonderful job keeping her face neutral. "I don't know," she said, smiling politely. "I can only hope the people of Oz have been able to look past my chair and see me for who I really am."
The two hosts moved away from the girls and Cashel turned back to the audience and the cameras.
"As these girls were each trying to prove to the people that they are deserving of the title of Miss Emerald," Cashel said solemnly, "the viewers at home have voted for their favourites based on your performances on TV last month. Tonight, we must start this spectacular semi-final with an elimination of half of all the girls standing before us tonight."
This time, the audience booed.
"These twelve girls are all wonderful, talented, and worthy of the title; but there can only be one Miss Emerald!" Raven sang. She handed half of the pile of flashcards she was holding to Cashel and then cleared her throat. "I am sorry, girls, but six of you will have to leave us again right away."
Cashel moved to the other end of the line. "Once more, a huge applause for these twelve beauties!"
Cheers. Clapping. Some people even stomped their feet.
"And now, let's not put this off any longer." Reven looked solemnly into the camera. "We will now announce, in completely random order, the names of the girls who did not make the top 6."
The cheerful music changed and became ominous, the lights on the stage dimming. Each girl was now standing in a small, circular pool of light.
Cashel looked at the audience and then turned to face the girls. "The first girl who will notbe joining the rest of the semi-final today is…"
A few beats of silence.
"Caila Westin."
Caila's light went out, leaving her in the dark, but not before Elphaba could see the crestfallen look on her face. The audience booed in disappointment.
Reven looked at the girls now. "The second girl who has not made it to the top 6 is…"
Again, silence.
"Karise Fennows."
This time, too, there were some boos from the audience as Karise's form went dark; but Elphaba grinned a little at the way Karise's shoulders slumped in relief. She looked decidedly happy about being eliminated and as if she read Elphaba's mind, she glanced over at the green girl and pretended to wipe some sweat from her forehead. Elphaba, still grinning, shook her head, and Karise grinned back and raised both thumbs at the dark-haired witch.
"The third girl," Cashel said, "who has not gotten enough votes from the viewers is… Macy Lezwis."
Macy looked positively outraged at that. "That's not fair!" she cried, even as her light went out. "I did everything right! I'm the perfect Miss Emerald!"
"Miss Macy," said Reven disapprovingly. "Please calm down or I will have to ask you to leave the stage."
Macy clenched her jaw and didn't say anything else, but she still looked like she was fuming.
"The fourth girl not in the top 6 is…" Reven looked up from her card. "Umbia Zespri."
More boos. Especially after Umbia's little speech just now, Elphaba suspected people must like her. She liked Umbia, too, and she felt a little bad for her. Thankfully, Umbia herself didn't seem too sad – just resigned.
"The fifth girl who has to leave the competition at this point is…"
It was like everyone was holding their breath. With only two more eliminations, the girls all knew there was a big chance they had made it, but they could still get sent home now. Well, all of them except for Elphaba, of course.
"…Lunare Kaiara."
Lunare, too, looked very angry at that. The light above her head went out and she seemed about ready to explode, although she, at least, had the grace to not start complaining about her elimination on the stage in front of ten thousand people. Her anger, however, intensified visibly when Cashel announced the final eliminated candidate.
"Micaela Kaunis."
Micaela definitely looked disappointed as she came to stand in the dark as well.
"This means our six semi-final candidates are as follows!" Reven chirped. "From the Emerald City, Nathalinia Hearst and Elphaba Thropp!"
"From Gillikin, Glinda Upland!"
"From the Vinkus, Faye Alis and Saraphina Bulok!"
"And from Munchkinland, Nessarose Thropp!"
The hosts babbled on after that, informing the viewers there would be a commercial break now; but by the time the cameras were turned off, Lunare was already stomping off the stage.
"Miss Lunare!" Reven cried, following her. The other girls, as well as Cashel, trailed behind her.
The moment they reached the dressing room, Lunare whirled around, her eyes spitting fire.
"How is it that I have been eliminated while she," she pointed at Faye, "is still in the competition?!"
Reven looked baffled. "Because the viewers gave her more votes, Miss Lunare. You know how it works, don't you?"
"She doesn't deserve to be here!" Lunare hissed.
"Excuse me?!" Faye demanded hotly, but before she and Lunare could get into another fight, Macy was speaking up.
"This whole thing is rigged," she declared.
Everyone fell silent and Reven and Cashel gaped at her.
"Excuse me?" Reven asked.
"There is no way," Macy said, "no way at all, that the cripple and the vegetable made the cut and Lunare, Micaela, and I didn't. It's just not possible."
Elphaba stepped forward, clenching her fists. "Don't you dare talk about my sister that way."
Macy laughed. "What are you going to do about it?" she challenged.
Elphaba, her gaze icy, held out a hand and muttered a spell under her breath, despite Glinda and Nessarose's hisses of "Elphie!". Macy suddenly stiffened, unable to move anything except for her eyes, and the dark-haired witch smirked.
"You were saying?" she asked sweetly.
"Miss Elphaba!" Cashel cried in utter shock. Reven had fainted on the floor. Most of the other girls backed away from Elphaba fearfully, although Umbia seemed awed and Karise looked slightly impressed as well.
"It's only temporary," Elphaba assured the host, but he angrily waved his hands at her.
"Undo this right now! The commercial break is almost over – this isn't the way proper young ladies should behave! Help me!" he called over his shoulder at a security guard standing there.
The man came over and Cashel pointed at Lunare. "Keep a close eye on her. Don't let her leave this room. In fact," he said, "don't let any of the eliminated contestants leave this room for the duration of the live show. Miss Elphaba, undo whatever you did to Miss Macy instantly or you will be disqualified on the spot!"
Elphaba sighed, but chanted the counter-spell, making Macy able to move again. The moment she realised she could, she glared at Elphaba, pointing.
"You'll pay for this," she hissed. "Wait until you're up on that stage again next week, greenie. Just wait for it. I'll make you pay!"
Before Elphaba could react to that threat in any way, Cashel was already ushering her and the other girls back onto the stage, at the same time fanning Reven, who was slowly regaining consciousness. It was a flurry of panic and activity for a while, but by the time the commercial break ended, the six remaining contestants were all sitting on stools on the stage, looking perfect and smiling sweetly; and Cashel and Reven, although slightly pale and the tiniest bit dishevelled, beamed at the cameras and continued the show as if nothing of importance had occurred.