Content Advisory: Canonical Character Death, Grief/Trauma, Violence/Weapon Use

CHAPTER SIX: THE VESSEL

Scattered shrieks from the Munchkins began to peter out as the revelers hid themselves from The Wicked Witch of the West.

Elphaba ripped her eyes away from Glinda and slowly turned to face the fallen house. Carnage awaited her eyes. Horrors. Elphaba, her spine straight and tall, ghosted silently towards it. Jagged boards splintered out from its bottom but it remained otherwise intact. Miraculously so. Suspiciously so.

But that was not the horror.

Sticking straight out from beneath the house in perfect alignment were a pair of legs. On them were a pair of striped stockings…and a pair of jeweled shoes. The heels still glinted in the winter sun, dazzling in their beauty even after their wearer had perished.

Elphaba wasn't sure she'd have believed it if she hadn't seen it for herself. Even now her mind fought against the truth that she was seeing with her own eyes. The truth that her baby sister, her Nessarose, was dead.

Most sincerely dead.

She could feel all of Munchkinland's eyes on the back of her head. Waiting. Waiting to see what she'd do. Elphaba was waiting to see what she'd do too. In the end she turned back towards Glinda and the farmgirl and she asked a question.

"Who killed my sister?"

The farm girl started to sputter out a string of nervous words but Elphaba picked up very few of them. The girl was competing with a sustained ringing in Elphaba's ears. Eventually, one phrase took hold.

"It was an accident!"

"An accident?" Elphaba repeated, her eyes wide and unblinking. "I can cause accidents too."

The ringing intensified in Elphaba's ears and her vision blurred at the edges. She could feel her mouth moving, producing words she couldn't hear. She talked, Glinda talked, the farm girl talked, but heaven knows anything that was said. Elphaba's mind, utterly blackened, was not retaining a thing.

Only Nessarose's stockings. Only Nessarose's shoes. Her favorite stockings. Her favorite shoes.

"Be gone!" Glinda's voice broke through, swishing her wrist to shoo at Elphaba. "Before someone drops a house on you!"

In a blink Elphaba was charging through stalks of corn, beating them away with her hand as she fled the scene through the field. She walked aimlessly until she bent over to be suddenly sick.

"Nessie…" Elphaba coughed. "Nessie, Nessa. Nessa girl."

She quickened her step, blindly running further through the corn. Her breath coming in hoarse wheezes, until she came into an open patch within the field near an empty scarecrow post.

Nessarose's stockings. Nessarose's shoes.

Elphaba doubled over again but her body produced no more sickness, nor tears, nor sound. Her mouth was open in a silent scream as her mind tried to bury what she'd seen.

Her favorite stockings. Her favorite—

"Elphie."

Elphaba straightened and turned, her blurred vision sharpening on the sparkling mass that was Glinda the Good. She was very out of place, a ballgown against the backdrop of farmland. The confusion of seeing something so uncanny momentarily distracted Elphaba from her suctioning grief.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry for giving her the shoes."

Elphaba blinked.

"What?"

"Dorothy. The little girl. I'm sorry I gave her those shoes," Glinda said curtly. "I confess that I made the decision in a particularly petty moment. I shall henceforth strive to make goodlier decisions."

Elphaba stared at her, blown away.

"Shoes?" Elphaba hissed. "You think that I'm mad about the shoes?"

"You certainly didn't seem happy—"

"The shoes?! The sh—fuck the shoes, Glinda!" Elphaba shouted aggressively.

"Well there's no need for such crass language! I've said my apology now I'll leave you to do…" Glinda wrinkled her nose. "Whatever it is you do now."

"I heard you, you know," Elphaba said, pointing towards town. "I heard you making your precious little announcement to the Munchkins!"

"I had nothing to do with their private festivations."

"Nothing to do—Glinda you were practically conducting them in song!"

"I was in town when it happened! They pushed me to make an address—"

"Yes. You just happened to be in town," Elphaba glared. "What a beautiful coincidence."

"It was! I was observing The Lullaby League as part of my apprenticeship circuit—"

"Lullaby League? Apprenticeship—do you hear yourself?! What kind of hollow life do you lead?"

"I hope you weren't suggesting that I had anything to do with this, Elphie. I am just as confusified as you are!"

"There was nothing natural about that cyclone, Glinda!"

"Well, I could just as easily point the finger at you! You're the one always making unnatural things happen out of the blue," Glinda wiggled her fingers. "After all, you were also nearby."

"Why would I cause this?! Why would I want to harm my sister?!"

"Well, why would I?! I was fond of Nessarose, Elphie, you know I was."

"The papers have been denouncing her almost as much as me these days. Isn't that your foray? You're a mouthpiece for The Wizard but at least you're a pretty one."

"That's not fair," Glinda shook her head. "I do more. I do plenty!"

"You float about in that ridiculous bubble of yours and push this good this, evil that narrative. Take a guess as to who that is benefitting. It's certainly not the Animals. It's certainlynot me!"

"You can take care of yourself by yourself, Elphie. You've always done well at that. Oh! Why, I'd almost forgotten!" Glinda gasped. "You're not by yourself anymore. Or at least…that's what I thought."

Glinda made a show of looking behind Elphaba and all around the cornfield.

"How funny…" Glinda shrugged innocently. "I don't see Fiyero anywhere. Push him away already?"

"My relationship with Fiyero is none of your concern."

"He was my fiancé, Elphie! It's pretty damn well my concern!"

"Well there are more important concerns to worry about."

"Oh, yes. The ever-focused Elphie. Never making time for any sort of feelings," Glinda glared. "You know, I pity Fiyero. He has his work cut out for him. Sometimes it's hard to imagine you have any feelings at all!"

"You shut your mouth," Elphaba hissed, her cape swooping behind her as she advanced several steps on Glinda. "You know nothing about me."

"You know, I actually agree with you! I know nothing about you because you've never cared to share. Our entire relationship I've been trying to get you to open up but you keep all of your secrets tucked nice and neat under that hat of yours, don't you?" Glinda said. "You never confide with anyone!"

"Is this because I didn't want to tell you a secret after the OzDust?"

"This is because you flew off into the sunset—a literal sunset—with my fiancé!"

"Well he's not your fiancé anymore!" Elphaba yelled in a great burst. "He's not yours, Glinda! He's mine. And you know something? He's been mine all along."

"That's not true," Glinda said, though her voice lacked conviction.

"Isn't it? Well that's what you've accused us of, anyway. You've got everything worked out in that beautiful blonde head. That he and I had some great conspiracy, some great affair. It doesn't matter if it's the truth or not. Haven't you heard? The truth doesn't matter these days so long as everyone can agree!"

"Enough, Elphie!" Glinda stamped her foot. "I don't want to hear it."

"Oh! You don't want to hear it?" Elphaba sneered. "I'm sorry, isn't this what you've been begging for? You said it yourself, you live off of secrets. Gossip. Don't tell me you changed your ways now."

Glinda turned her head to avert her gaze.

"You say I never share?" Elphaba pestered. "I'll share with you, Glinda. What would you like to hear first? Do you want to hear the things he told me? Do you want to hear all of the ways he touched me?"

"Stop it."

"We made love that very same night, you know. It was the first thing we did. Why…I'd wager that Fiyero was inside me before you even took your makeup off that evening!"

Glinda's hand swiped across Elphaba's face in a stinging slap. Elphaba covered her cheek with her hand before a high-pitched cackle exploded past her lips.

"There we go, Glinda. I must have been mistaken. You've got some fight left in you after all!"

"Well go on then!" Glinda challenged. "Fight back!"

"Oh, now that just wouldn't be fair," Elphaba said in a condescending tone. "I could actually hurt you."

"Hurt me?" Glinda said in a small voice. Elphaba watched Glinda's face as it reddened and tensed. "Hurt me?"

"Okay—" Elphaba appealed.

"All you've done is hurt me!"

Without thinking, Glinda stepped forward and gave Elphaba a hard shove. Elphaba stumbled backwards a few steps, admittedly surprised by Glinda's strength.

"Okay, that's enough," Elphaba put up her hands. Glinda's hissy fit was funny but enough was enough. "Cool off."

"For years you've done nothing but hurt me! And I am so tired. I am so tired of being hurt. You left me, Elphie!" Glinda shouted.

Elphaba blinked, faintly surprised over Glinda's emotional response.

"Glinda—"

"But I still had Fiyero," Glinda continued over her. "At least I still had Fiyero. Now he's left me and you two have each other and who do I have? Nobody!"

Glinda charged towards Elphaba who staggered backwards, caught off guard by Glinda's sudden speed.

"Nobody!"

"Glinda, stop it—"

"Nobody!

Glinda stamped her foot in Elphaba's direction and Elphaba, unusually disoriented, tumbled backwards onto the ground. She looked up to see Glinda lift her wand as if to strike her with a spell.

"Let's see if I can hurt you half as much as you've hurt me!"

Elphaba flinched and held up her hands to defend herself.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Elphaba begged. "Glinda, please!"

"Why should I? Huh?!" Glinda pestered, raising the wand higher. "Why should I stop?!"

"Because I'm pregnant!"

Under usual circumstances, Elphaba never would have cowered before Glinda, but the confession burst from her in a garbled string of panic all the same. Slowly, she uncovered her eyes and looked up at Glinda whose mouth was hanging open. Glinda let out a tiny squeak and, forgetting that she was holding her wand, clapped both hands over her mouth leaving her wand to fall sideways to the ground. She dropped to her knees beside Elphaba, her skirts pooling out all around her, and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Truly, Elphie? Are you telling the truth?"

Elphaba cautiously sat up from her defensive position, wary of Glinda's sudden change.

"Yes…" she said. "Unfortunately yes."

"Oh!" Glinda yelped, her face going on a journey through many different phases. "Oh. Oh…oh."

"Oh, indeed."

"Oh, Elphie!"

Glinda lunged forward and collected Elphaba into a crushing hug. Elphaba's eyes widened, confused, and she hesitantly patted Glinda's back.

"Oh Elphie, I have a thousand questions!" Glinda said, swaying her side to side in the hug. "Oh goodness. How are—are you—when did—oh where do I begin?!"

"I've been wondering the exact same thing."

Glinda pulled away and took Elphaba's hands in her own, patting them energetically.

"Oh, Elphie. Oh, I don't believe this. You must be feeling so many things all at once," Glinda said before gasping in realization. "Oh. Wait."

"What?"

"I knew it!" Glinda squealed. "I knew your boobs looked bigger."

Elphaba crossed her arms over her chest, flushing suddenly.

"Glinda!"

"It's true! Oh, I am kicking myself that I didn't see it before. I usually have a seventh sense for these things."

"Don't you mean sixth?"

"No, silly. That's my sense of style," Glinda tossed her curls.

"Oh, of course."

"Then there's Fiyero. Oh, that Fiyero! I oughta wallop him for his part in all of this! Wait—it is Fiyero's, right? Of course it is. It's not like you've slept with multiple men in the woods."

"It's his," Elphaba confirmed. "It's mine. It's…a mess. Glinda it's all been such a mess."

"Yes. I suppose it's not ideal."

"Ideal?" Elphaba laughed harshly. She got to her feet and began pacing. "It's a death sentence."

Glinda stood.

"You don't know that," Glinda said, also standing. "Mind you, it was terrifically irresponsible of you both do not get me wrong. But…Elphie," Glinda said earnestly. "Perhaps this is a gift."

"This is no gift," Elphaba said firmly. "This is no blessing, in disguise or otherwise."

"You can't mean that. Not really," Glinda shook her head. "Just think about it. Elphie…there's going to be a child."

Elphaba stopped pacing and closed her eyes.

"I know there's going to be a child, Glinda. And what in Oz am I to do with it?" Elphaba said. "I can't grow anything, I can't nurture anything, I can't take care of anything. Even in the best of times I could only ever take care of myself."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is. You even said so yourself."

"Your nature is sweeter than you think, Elphie—"

"Glinda…" Elphaba warned.

"I mean just think of how you much you doted upon Nessa—"

"Nessa is in the ground."

Glinda's face fell into a morose expression.

"I know. I know that."

Elphaba pinched her lips and shook her head. Nessarose's stockings. Nessarose's sh—

"You and Fiyero both," Elphaba growled before she could further spiral. "Always bringing up Nessa. If Nessa is my track record for looking after someone I've done a very poor job indeed."

Elphaba turned her back to Glinda and closed her eyes. She silently lingered there for some time. Glinda let her.

"She asked me not to leave, you know," Elphaba at last spoke up in a small voice.

"What?"

"Nessa. She asked me not to leave. Elphaba, please. Don't leave me," Elphaba quoted dejectedly. "That's what she said. Her last words to me, in fact."

"Elphie…"

"And do you know what I did? I left," Elphaba said. "She was frantic. She was terrified. She was angry and hurt and scared and I left."

"But what about all the times that you were there for her—"

"What does that matter if I failed her at the end?! My last words to her were in anger, Glinda. I can never, ever change that," Elphaba said in a strained voice. "I can never take that back."

"I wasn't there but I know how…" Glinda paused, trying to find a kind word. "Delicate she'd become as of late—"

"Delicate," Elphaba snorted. "You can say it, Glinda. Nessa was completely losing her grip. And take one guess whose fault that is."

"If you're going to say you—"

"Of course, me!" Elphaba said. "Glinda, since the day she was born it's been my job to look after my sister."

"That should never have fallen to you."

"But it did. She was mine, Glinda. Nessa was mine," Elphaba insisted. "And now she's gone."

Glinda stepped forward as if to hug Elphaba but Elphaba stepped backwards.

"Don't. Don't embrace me, Glinda. Because would you like to know why I left her?" Elphaba said, looking Glinda square in the eye. "To find Fiyero."

Glinda's face fell slowly. She said nothing.

"Yes. It was just before the engagement ball. Nessa knew too, she had my number. I said I was going for the Monkeys—and I was…but not really. Not entirely. I wanted to find Fiyero. To tell him that I…"

Elphaba trailed off and shook her head.

"And it was a wicked thing for me to do, Glinda. To you. To try my hand at some last-ditch effort to get Fiyero—"

"An effort that worked," Glinda reminded her with some cynicism.

"At the time, maybe!" Elphaba laughed harshly. "But now? Now? Oz, Glinda. I'm blowing it. I'm completely blowing it! I hardly let him look at me let alone touch me. I pick fights with him, I'm impatient, I'm distant…and now this?" Elphaba gestured weakly to her stomach. "I've trapped him, Glinda. Fiyero's trapped with me."

"I doubt he sees it that way…"

"And now just look at me!" Elphaba smacked her forehead. "Blabbering to you about Fiyero and I's relationship as if I have any right. How obtuse can I be? Sometimes I even surprise myself."

"I cannot say it's the easiest thing to hear," Glinda said tightly. "It's hard not to feel cross over the whole matter."

"Well if I could give him back to you I would."

"Give him back?" Glinda scoffed. "He's not a pair of shoes you can return to the boutique, Elphie!"

"What I'm saying is if I could repair the pain I've caused I would!" Elphaba insisted. "If I could choose for you and him to go off together and forget me I would."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Would you be happy?"

"That does not matter."

"Well it matters to me. Do you not remember what my wish for you was before we parted?" Glinda stepped forward and caressed Elphaba's cheek. "I wanted you to be happy. And I still do, you know," Glinda continued softly, stroking Elphaba's cheek with her thumb. "Despite how much I miss Fiyero…despite how much I miss you…I want you to be happy, Elphie. Truly."

Weakened by Glinda's affection, Elphaba covered her hand with her own.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Glinda."

"Well…between the two of us you've taken on the lion's share of pain," Glinda said tragically. "It was about time I had a taste of some."

"And how's it taste?" Elphaba asked.

"Bitter."

Despite it all, Elphaba chuckled grimly. Glinda lowered her hand from Elphaba's face and gave her a long look.

"Do you love each other, Elphie?"

Elphaba's heart jolted over Glinda's outright question.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you and Fiyero in love?" Glinda repeated. "Do you love each other?"

"I…" Elphaba trailed off before shrugging defeatedly. "I only know how I feel, Glinda. His intentions towards me are terribly…unclear. Heaven knows what he'd have chosen if I hadn't fallen pregnant. But now that this baby is in the picture…well. You know Fiyero."

"Yes…" Glinda said with a thoughtful nod. "I do know Fiyero."

"But give it time, Glinda," Elphaba said grimly. "Just give it time."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I mean that in a matter of weeks I've lost you, I've lost Nessa, and I am well on my way to losing Fiyero too," Elphaba said achingly. "Perhaps this is Oz's way of fast tracking me to my end. Making sure I'm well and truly alone before it finishes me off for good."

"Elphie…you haven't—"

"Do not say that I haven't lost you," Elphaba interrupted firmly. "I'm no fool. You have every reason to hate me, Glinda. I would hate me too."

"But I don't."

"Well I think you should! Oz—we're smacking and shoving each other. We're fighting over the same boy like a couple of college girls—no. Worse. Even then we weren't this bad!"

"I think there's just a lot of feelings between us," Glinda acknowledged softly. "Strong feelings. Both good and bad."

Elphaba lifted her eyes to Glinda's and they maintained a meaningful gaze.

"If I am allowed to ask you anything, and I know that I have no right to…Glinda. Please," Elphaba said seriously. "Do not tell anyone about my pregnancy. It cannot get out."

"Of course I won't! I won't tell a soul," Glinda said at once. "And don't you worry, Elphie. I'll make sure that nothing…" Glinda's face changed as if she'd just remembered something. "Bad happens."

"Glinda?"

"Oh dear. Oh no."

"What is it?"

"Elphie, you have to get out of here."

"What do you mean?"

Glinda scurried towards the broom and Elphaba frowned as she thrust it into her hands.

"Glinda—"

"No time to explain. Go, Elphie. Go now! Poof away or fly! Fly far. Out of Munchkinland."

"But I can't," Elphaba said on instinct. "I can't go!"

"Why not?!"

"I can't go without Fiyero!"

It was no sooner that Elphaba completed her sentence that she was sieged and forcefully grabbed by a number of guards. Unable to react quickly enough, she dropped her broom and a guard snatched it and threw it out of reach before aiming the barrel of his gun at her face. Elphaba struggled against their hold and their grips brutally tightened.

"Wait! Unhand her!" Glinda yelped as the guards manhandled Elphaba. "Please! Please handle her more gently."

Elphaba shot a pleading, panicked look at Glinda. She urgently mouthed the word 'don't' and Glinda covered her mouth with her hands.

"She's a master manipulator, Your Goodness," The Captain explained. "I'm not sure what she told you but you cannot trust a word she says. Don't worry! You're safe now. We'll handle The Witch in the way she deserves."

"You'll let The Witch go this instant."

All eyes turned towards the western corner of the cornfield where the former Captain of the Guard stood with his rifle poised and aimed directly at Elphaba's captors.

"Fiyero," Glinda said.

"Fiyero," Elphaba said.

Fiyero didn't look at them. His teeth were clenched so tightly Elphaba could see his jaw trembling.

"Let her go."

Several guns clicked as the guards who were not actively restraining Elphaba turned their weapons towards Fiyero.

"No!" Elphaba shouted hoarsely, thrashing more insistently against the guards.

"Silence, Witch!"

"Yero!"

The guards roughly forced Elphaba to her knees. The guard in back took a fistful of her hair by the roots and Elphaba grunted as they yanked it backwards. Neck exposed as her face craned towards the sky, Elphaba felt the cool sliver of a blade against her throat. Glinda gasped.

"I said silence," the guard hissed in Elphaba's ear.

"Unhand her!" Fiyero growled. "Unhand her or I'll kill you where you stand!"

To the untrained ear Fiyero sounded quite menacing, but Elphaba swore she detected the faintest tremor in his voice. The guard holding the blade chuckled nastily, clearly enjoying his moment of power.

"Hear that, Witch? Your prince thinks he's going to save you," the guard sneered. "But we know something you don't know. In all the time that he was our Captain? He never once shot his gun."

A loud gunshot popped and whizzed past the guard's ear. Glinda shrieked.

"You think I won't? You think I won't?!" Fiyero shouted. "I've only been waiting for something worth pulling the trigger over. This is it."

Elphaba closed her eyes, her lips trembling. She resisted the urge to shout. To tell Fiyero to run. To stop this madness and save himself. She could not bear to witness where this was all headed.

She could not bear to watch him die.

"Let her go," Fiyero repeated.

"You disgust me!" a guard seethed. "You nasty traitor!"

Fiyero shot the gun again, this time into the air.

"You've got one more chance," Fiyero warned. He turned his gun towards Glinda who paled and calmly held up her hands. "Or the next bullet is reserved for her."

A tense silence followed. Elphaba swallowed, bracing for something to happen, before she felt the blade lift from her throat. The guard holding her hair released her with a strong shove and she fell forwards onto her hands and knees. Fiyero took an instinctive step towards Elphaba, as if to help her up, but thought better of it and returned the gun towards Glinda before he could lose the upper hand.

"Go on, Elphaba. Get out of here."

He bent down, grabbed her discarded broom, and tossed it to her.

"No," Elphaba shook her head fiercely. "I won't. Not without you."

"Go where we talked about. Okay?" Fiyero said seriously.

"You fool," Elphaba choked. "Why have you done this?! Why have you done this?!"

"Go where we talked about," he repeated.

Elphaba looked to Glinda who gave a very subtle nod. Elphaba swallowed tightly, clenching her broom and hat in either fist before returning her gaze to Fiyero.

"Yero—"

"Go there. Stay safe," Fiyero urged. "Swear to it, Elphaba."

Their eyes met and Elphaba felt her throat constrict. Fiyero's eyes were pleading—pleading with her. She did not want to look away. Her brain seemed to be snapshotting Fiyero's expression, his eyes, as if it knew that this moment would become a pivotal memory that she'd return to for all time.

The last time she'd ever see him.

"I swear," Elphaba heard herself say.

"Go."

Elphaba's thoughts and actions began fiercely battling. Her mind screamed to hold her ground, to stay with Fiyero, but instead her feet fled her away on speedy steps. She kicked off from the ground and boarded her broom, taking flight to leave the cornfield behind her. Winter wind burned her eyes as she burst over the cornfield, over the Yellow Brick Road, over the trees, and away from Fiyero.

Further and further and further from Fiyero. Fiyero. Fiyer—

A guttural scream ripped from Elphaba's throat as she tore across the sky. It rattled through her chords until straining out from lack of breath. Then, she screamed again.

A rallying screech sounded, as if in reply, and Elphaba looked down to see Chistery soaring beneath her. More screeches followed and scores of Monkeys burst upwards from the forest below to join Elphaba in her flight. The troop surrounded her, matching her speed, all while empathetically echoing their leader's screams in a chaotic chorus.

What a terror it must have caused, Elphaba had a moment of lucidity to think, for the Ozians below to see their Wicked Witch and her Monkeys hellishly screaming as they sped across the sky.

"Fiyero…" Elphaba choked when her screams ran dry. "Fiyero!"

They'd kill him. They'd kill him. What was she doing?! She had to go back! To save him, to die with him, anything but leave him alone.

Like she'd left Nessarose.

Elphaba jerked the broom handle and attempted to turn herself around. But instead the broom, taking control, whirled her around in a complete circle and accelerated her back towards its original course.

"Come on!" Elphaba said through gritted teeth. "Turn, you fiendish thing!"

But it seemed that now even her broom was acting against her will in the best interest of another.

How quickly nature took its hold on people. How quickly people fell victim to its primal plans. Elphaba knew from whence these new motivations came. It was why Glinda winced over the guard's hostility. It was Fiyero's reason to pull the trigger. It was even why Elphaba, with suffocating reluctance, was now speeding towards the western sky instead of back towards her lover.

Perhaps Glinda was right after all. Perhaps the baby was a bitter blessing. For Elphaba now stood to benefit from the protective instincts of others right down to the Monkeys who guarded all sides of her in flight. Where would Elphaba be now had everyone acted only to protect her?

Regardless of what Elphaba would have chosen, regardless of the cost, only one thing was for certain.

Fiyero's child would end the day unharmed…and with it its grudging vessel.