Thanks again to anyone who read or reviewed the last chapter! This one is a bit exposition dense. I was thinking of splitting it up but ultimately decided not to. Things should start moving a bit more in the next chapter.
Fiyero had no memory of falling asleep, but before he knew it he found himself blinking his eyes open. Still addled by sleep, he wondered why his bed felt so hard and uncomfortable, and why he could not hear Glinda's gentle snores coming from beside him. It took a few moments, but soon the events of the previous day began to filter through the haze clouding his tired mind and he bolted upright.
Everything flooded back to him in an instant. He'd been captured trying to find the Witch's hideout and was imprisoned in her lair with no means of escape. He had no idea as to why the Witch hadn't killed him yet or what her plans for him were. The heavy weight of despair settled back over his shoulders.
Propping himself up on his elbows, Fiyero glanced around the cavern that served as his prison. He hadn't really registered it last night, but he now realized just how small the space actually was. It was just about the length and width of the dining room table they'd had back at the Emerald Palace. It was enough to make Fiyero feel claustrophobic.
Upon further inspection, he noticed a bowl of fruit and a bowl of water sitting in the corner and realized that the Witch must have left them. The fruit had already been sitting for some time, judging by the way it was browning at the edges. Fiyero shuddered involuntarily as he imagined the Witch standing mere inches from him as he slept. He still couldn't fathom why she'd go through the trouble of giving him food. Why should she care if he starved to death?
Another thought struck him. Was the food poisoned? Had she enchanted it to have some strange effect on him after he ate it? He narrowed his eyes at the bowl, weighing his options. He wasn't very hungry now, but he'd have to eat eventually. Would it be better to take his chances with the food or risk starvation? Neither option seemed particularly appealing.
Deciding to leave the fruit alone for the moment, Fiyero stood up on shaky legs. The stray thought came to him that he wished there was a mirror in the cave. He could tell that his clothes were filthy from sleeping on the floor and he assumed his face and hair were a mess as well. He shook his head to dispel the ridiculous notion. His vanity was the least of his concerns right now.
To his surprise, Fiyero found that the heavy stone blocking the entrance to his cell had been moved aside and it appeared that he was free to move into the main section of the cave. As he thought back on the events of the previous day, he recalled the Witch mentioning that she'd allow him such freedom. He filed it away in his mind as yet another decision of hers that made absolutely no sense.
Taking a tentative step forward, Fiyero thrust his arm through the archway as though expecting to receive an electric shock. When none came, he pulled his arm back to his side and stepped out into the living area.
He was relieved to find that the Witch was nowhere in sight. He recalled she'd mentioned that she would only grant him the run of the cave when she was out doing whatever Wicked Witches did for recreation. He wondered what that entailed, and how long she'd be gone.
Fiyero decided it was best not to puzzle over the Witch's comings and goings for the time being. The woman was half insane, and for all he knew there was absolutely no method to her madness. How could he hope to explain the actions of someone who flew around on a cleaning implement and kept the company of rebellious Animals?
Stepping further into the room, Fiyero noted that not much seemed to have changed since the previous day. The only notable difference was the absence of the Witch's cloak, satchel and broomstick. He briefly wondered again where she'd gone off to and found himself hoping that she wouldn't be caught. If she was, he'd be forgotten and left to rot in this Ozforsaken cave. His eyes trailed next to a bucket of what appeared to be fresh water leaning up against the far wall. Fiyero thought back on the rumors about the Witch. Why would she keep water here if it had the power to melt her? Had she brought it here for Fiyero? How had she drawn it without injuring herself?
Fiyero shook his head and turned towards the entrance to the lair, finding himself face to face with the large boulder that blocked the way. He studied it for a moment, assessing whether he had the strength to move it on his own. Deciding he had nothing to lose, Fiyero pressed his hands firmly against the stone and pushed with all his might. His muscles tensed and strained, but his hands kept slipping against the smooth surface. There was no way for him to get a firm grip, and it was far too big for him to simply roll it aside. Defeated, Fiyero gave up and collapsed against the rock, sliding down against it until he slumped to the floor.
From his position, Fiyero took another look around the small room. His eyes were drawn to the glowing orb in the corner, which was the only source of light in the cave. Suddenly fascinated, he stood and moved closer to examine it. He kept a measurable distance between himself and the orb at first, eyeing it warily, but its soft glow seemed harmless enough. After some deliberation, he reached out and brushed the light with his fingers, watching with fascination as they passed right through, leaving no sensation. Fiyero stood there for a few moments, mildly awestruck by the strange light source. He'd never been this close to something so blatantly magical before. Sure, he'd seen Glinda conjure her bubble, but this was in a different category altogether.
Turning from the light, Fiyero focused his attention on the spell book that still lay open on the stone table at the center of the room. The strange book had to be the source of the Witch's power. He'd witnessed it last night when she'd used it to take control of his body. He wondered what was written in there that could allow the Witch to perform such a feat. She clearly wasn't worried about Fiyero attempting to use it, or she wouldn't have left it out in the open.
He crossed the room and crouched down in front of the old book to examine it. He was surprised to find that he didn't recognize the writing on the pages at all. The ancient-looking paper was covered with unfamiliar symbols, all swirling around and continuously rearranging themselves. He wondered what type of language this was, and how the Witch could understand it. He flipped through the pages and found that they were all characterized by the same strange alphabet.
Fiyero quickly lost interest in the odd, unreadable book. He stood and decided to continue his exploration of the Witch's living quarters, though he doubted he would find anything he could use against her. Mad though she was, she seemed intelligent enough not to leave any sort of weapon or aid to his escape within reach. As the thought came to him, his eyes fell again on the bucket of water in the corner. Perhaps she wasn't aware that rumors of her aversion to the substance were well known, or maybe the quantity she'd deigned to leave with him wasn't enough to kill her.
Fiyero decided to keep the idea of using the water against her in his back pocket for now. Any attempts to harm the Witch would have to be made in the small window when the entrance to the cave was open. If he did manage to kill her while the passage was closed, he'd only serve to trap himself here. If he only managed to wound her, then he shuddered to think of the retaliation she would surely visit upon him. He set the thought aside and instead made the dog-eared pile of books across the room his next destination.
There were five books in the small pile, each rather thick and with a well-worn cover. They'd clearly been read and reread several times over. Fiyero plucked a book off the top of the pile and was relieved to find it was written in normal Ozian language. It was a book on the study of Animals, which was all Fiyero could gather from the title. He flipped through the pages with little interest, wrinkling his nose at the pungent smell of musty paper. He was not a particularly well-read man, and the book may as well have been written in the Witch's strange sorcery language for all he could understand of it. He glanced at the titles of the other books, but they all seemed to be on more or less the same subject. It was not quite as exciting a collection as one would expect from the Wicked Witch of the West.
Fiyero was just about to settle himself on one of the Witch's stone seats, when he spied a trace of green out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he noted what appeared to be a bit of green paper sticking out from under a stone to his far right. Fiyero made his way over to it and bent down to have a closer look. He took the corner of the page between his fingers and gave it a sharp tug, but it wouldn't budge from beneath the stone.
His curiosity piqued, Fiyero decided to move the large rock aside and get a better look. Placing his fingers under the stone, he strained his muscles and managed to flip it over, revealing a sort of secret outlet beneath. Inside was a collection of documents that the Witch had apparently wanted to keep hidden, including two more books. One was small and black and well worn, and the other was a good deal larger with a leather cover. There was also a scattering of what appeared to be assorted letters and documents. Fiyero shifted through the small pile and wondered what the Witch had to hide.
The item that stood out the most among the others was a bright green envelope, which Fiyero assumed had drawn his eye to the secret compartment in the first place. Upon further observation, he recognized it as the type of envelope the Wizard used to send official messages. Fiyero wondered why the Witch would have such an item in her possession. Perhaps she had intercepted it, or maybe it contained official orders to stand down from the early days of her reign of terror. Fiyero reached into the envelope and extracted the carefully folded sheet of paper within.
As Fiyero's eyes scanned the brief message, he found it wasn't quite what he'd expected. Instead of a summons for the Witch, it appeared to be an invitation from the Wizard addressed to someone named Elphaba Thropp. The name sounded a bit familiar to Fiyero, though he couldn't put his finger on why. Was this the Witch's real name? He realized that, up until this very moment, he hadn't really considered that the woman could have a title other than 'The Wicked Witch of the West," but he supposed she must have had an identity before that.
Fiyero lowered his eyes back to the page in front of him. Whoever this Elphaba person was, she had been invited to an audience with the Wizard over four years ago to discuss her 'extraordinary achievements in magic and sorcery'. Fiyero blinked at the message, not quite sure what he was reading. If he was understanding correctly, it appeared that the Wizard had actually invited the Witch to the palace at some point in the past, but that didn't make any sense. The Wizard wouldn't put himself in a direct line of fire by inviting the Witch into his very home. Had this been an attempt to lure her in for capture?
"Thought you'd have a bit of fun going through my belongings, did you?" came a menacing voice from behind Fiyero. He gave a start and tossed the letter away instinctively, jumping to his feet to find himself face to face with a particularly angry Wicked Witch of the West.
Fiyero felt his legs turn to jelly as he began to stammer, "I-I-I…." He could think of no sufficient explanation. He hadn't considered the possibility that the Witch might return to the sight of him rifling through her personal effects.
"Get back to your cell," she growled, pointing a finger toward the small cavern in which Fiyero had spent the night. Not daring to disobey, he stumbled back into the small cavern as quickly as his shaky legs would carry him. He caught one last glimpse of the Witch's belongings, still scattered across the floor, before the boulder slammed into place.
Fiyero stood there for a few moments, breathing heavily as the adrenaline drained from his body. Then, slowly, he felt the rusted gears of his mind begin to turn. He knew he wasn't supposed to have seen those papers. He was surprised the Witch had not punished him for going through her things.
His mind drifted back to the letter in the green envelope. Was it true that the Wizard had summoned her to the palace? Had it been an attempt at capture or had this occurred before she'd been labeled the Wicked Witch of the West? Perhaps she had only been known as a promising sorceress at the time and had used this chance to get close to the Wizard. Then, once her assassination attempt had failed, she'd fled on her broomstick and had been on the run since. But if that was the case, then why had she saved the letter?
Fiyero found himself wishing he'd gotten a better look at some of the other papers. A glimpse into the woman's past could serve as valuable intel if he ever managed to escape. Perhaps there was something hidden there that could be used against her. He cursed himself for getting caught. Now that the Witch knew he'd found her hiding place, she would move its contents somewhere else. He wouldn't get a chance like that again.
Fiyero's thoughts were cut short as the makeshift door rolled open and the Witch swept in. He eyed her with suspicion and backed up against the wall as she passed him. She paid no mind to his behavior as she dropped a plate of what looked like plain cheese and bread onto the floor. Fiyero eyed it with distrust. She seemed to take notice of this, along with the fact that the fruit from earlier that morning lay untouched.
"Oh, you're afraid I've poisoned it are you?" she asked, whipping around to face him. Fiyero didn't bother to respond. It was exactly what he'd been thinking. He watched as she took a small piece of cheese from the plate and placed it in her mouth. "There's nothing wrong with it, so I suggest you take your chances. Or you can starve to death. It's of no consequence to me either way."
With that, the Witch stalked from the chamber with the spoiled bowl of fruit, leaving Fiyero alone once more as the rock slid into place behind her. Fiyero watched her go, then turned his attentions back to the plate of food she'd left behind. It was true that by now he was beginning to grow hungry. He hadn't eaten since the previous morning and was not accustomed to missing meals. He removed a piece of cheese from the plate and examined it. It seemed ordinary enough. He took a small nibble from one of the corners and waited. When nothing happened, he popped the remainder of it into his mouth and reached for another.
When he'd finished his rather unexciting meal, Fiyero leaned back against the wall of the cavern and thought over all he'd seen in the past two days. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something he was missing. The Witch was every bit as terrible and menacing as he'd imagined her, but her actions didn't make any logical sense. If she was as cruel and heartless as she was believed to be, why was he fed and reasonably comfortable? He was still pondering the conundrum when his eyes drifted closed and he let sleep take him.
He awoke the next morning to find the Witch already gone. His empty plate had been removed and replaced by a fresh bowl of fruit, and Fiyero was relieved to find that the food from the night before hadn't had any apparent negative effect. It seemed that he could at least eat without concern for his safety.
As he looked around, Fiyero registered with some surprise that the boulder that blocked off his room had once again been rolled back, allowing him access to the main part of the cave. Fiyero stared at the open doorway in disbelief. He'd been sure that the Witch would never let him leave the small room again after what had transpired the previous day.
Fiyero sat up and stretched, then scooted closer to the bowl of fruit and began to eat. Vaguely, he wondered what time of day it was, as there was no way of knowing in the windowless cave. He wondered if he'd ever see sunlight again, or if he was doomed to live out the rest of his days underground.
Even as the thought came to him, Fiyero acknowledged that being imprisoned by the most infamous fugitive in Oz wasn't quite what he would have expected. She hadn't so much as lain a finger on him, even though he'd been hunting her and presumably making her life more difficult for the past two years. She made sure he had adequate food and water, and even allowed him free reign of her living space during the day. He couldn't help feeling like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Was she keeping him in good condition in the hopes of using him for ransom? Fiyero doubted he was important enough for the Wizard to offer anything of value in exchange for his safe return.
Fiyero finished his meal and stood, brushing the pebbles from the green pants of his guard uniform. He tried not to think about how much he wanted a shower and a fresh change of clothes as he wandered back out into the main part of the cavern. His eyes darted around nervously as he crossed the threshold, anxious that the Witch had set some sort of trap. He relaxed when he realized the cavern was quiet and empty. The Witch was gone.
Though he knew it was likely pointless, Fiyero crossed the room and eyed the stone that had hidden the Witch's belongings. He lifted it away and found nothing but an empty compartment beneath, just as he'd expected.
Fiyero straightened up and glanced around the room. He wondered where else the Witch could have hidden her documents, as there didn't seem to be much in the way of storage space. Fiyero assumed there were probably more hidden compartments like the one under the stone, but there was nothing obviously out of place in the room. Without a lead, he wasn't even sure where to start looking. He gave up on the idea for the time being.
He stood in the center of the room pondering what to do with the potentially lengthy stretch of time before him. He'd already explored the small cavern in its entirety yesterday and was coming up short on other ways to keep himself busy. He took a seat on a nearby stone and stared at the wall across from him for several minutes before he began to fidget. He glanced around the room again and realized the Witch's pile of old books was beginning to look appealing.
Fiyero knew that he must be going mad if he was even entertaining the notion of reading for entertainment. He was fairly confident that he'd never read a book of his own volition in his life. Yet boredom won out eventually, and he soon found himself perusing the Witch's small collection once again. He picked up the book on top, the one on Animal rights he'd seen yesterday, and examined the worn cover for a moment. He wasn't too interested in the subject matter, but none of the other options looked much better.
Returning to his stone, he took a seat and simply stared at the book for a moment. How did these things work again? He believed you were supposed to start at the beginning, but that seemed rather boring, so he instead opened the book to a page in the middle and began to read the words with little interest.
While it was slow going at first, Fiyero soon found that he was becoming drawn into what he was reading. Most of what he knew about Animals had come from Ozian sentiment and the information handed down from the Wizard. He'd never really thought more critically about the subject beyond what he'd been told. Yet the book he was reading seemed to paint quite a different picture. It implied that Animals were not, in fact, savage beasts, but rather possessed the same capacity for thought and reason that human beings did. The idea seemed preposterous to Fiyero. If what this book said was true, the Wizard would certainly know about it. The ruler of Oz was practically omniscient. He was also a fair and just leader and wouldn't discriminate against a group who had done nothing wrong. The book was clearly some sort of radical propaganda.
Yet Fiyero kept on reading. The book not only described Animals in a new way, but also gave a bit of insight into their history. It alleged that there was a longstanding tradition of discrimination against them, beginning with the Great Drought. People had blamed the Animals for it, and ever since they'd become the scapegoats for a host of societal problems and civil unrest. Fiyero raised his eyes from the pages, shaking his head. It all seemed too far-fetched to believe. He wasn't about to put much stock in literature he'd found in the possession of the Wicked Witch of the West.
He continued to read on anyway, curious about what other fascinating lies the book contained. As he turned to the next page, a small piece of paper slipped from the book's confines and fluttered to the ground. Fiyero bent over to retrieve it, examining it as he picked it up. It was a small card, with only a few words scribbled on it in an untidy scrawl. It looked like whoever had written the note had trouble operating a pen. It read:
Miss Elphaba,
Thank you for all of your kindness. Remember to never stop speaking out.
Doctor Dillamond
Fiyero stared at the card, puzzled once more. He wondered who this Doctor Dillamond was, and why his note was shoved between the pages of an Animal rights book. That name was there again too. Elphaba. He was convinced by now that this was the Witch's real name, though he still could not reconcile something so ordinary with the evil witch who had imprisoned him. Even if she had been this Elphaba person at some point, she was the Wicked Witch of the West now. That was all that was relevant to Fiyero.
Returning his attention to the card, Fiyero flipped it over to see if anything was written on the back. He was met with the sight of a school crest with the words 'Shiz University' written across it in a neat cursive. Underneath was an address and the words 'Current Headmistress: Madame Morrible'.
This confused Fiyero even further. Why would this Dillamond person have written on the back of a card from Shiz? Had he perhaps been a professor there? His title was 'Doctor' Dillamond, so Fiyero supposed it was plausible. But if this Dillamond character had been the one to present this book to the Witch, did that mean she had attended the university as well?
The notion struck him as ridiculous from the moment it entered his mind. He simply couldn't picture the Wicked Witch of the West sitting in college lectures, jotting down notes like a normal person. And yet it also stood to reason that the Witch had been a relatively normal person before she'd become a fugitive. Why was he so sure that she hadn't attended college?
Fiyero had the sudden realization that he'd never thought of the Witch as an actual person. He'd more pictured her as the personification of pure evil, with all the associated hatred and fear that went with it. While his initial impressions hadn't changed much upon meeting her, he now realized that she was, in fact, a flesh and blood person with her own thoughts and goals and ideas. She had been a person before she'd become the Witch as well. Had she always been evil or had the circumstances of her life brought her to her current state? She had presumably been a child once, with parents and a family just like everyone else.
Fiyero recalled that the Witch at the very least had a sibling. Her sister, the current governor of Munchkinland, was a stern woman who had made her distaste for her sister's actions known from the very beginning. She didn't seem to have any of the Witch's peculiarities, neither the abnormal skin tone nor the magical ability.
Returning his attention back to the Shiz card, he realized that he recognized the name printed next to current headmistress. Madame Morrible had been the headmistress during Glinda's days at Shiz, and she now served as the Wizard's press secretary. She was the one who had made the public announcement after the Wicked Witch of the West's first evil deed. Fiyero wondered if Morrible had known the Wicked Witch as Elphaba at some point.
Fiyero further wondered if Glinda had met the Witch during college. It seemed they'd both attended under the same headmistress, though Fiyero didn't imagine it was likely they'd attended at the same time. He wasn't sure how old the Witch was, but he was fairly certain she was a great deal older than Glinda. He thought to himself that he should check with Glinda when he returned home, before the unpleasant reality that he might never make it back occurred to him.
Fiyero found he was no longer in the mood to read. He slid the note back into the pages of the book and set it on the stone table beside the Witch's spell book. He dropped his chin into his hands for a few moments and stared ahead, his mind working through all that he'd just seen. He realized that over the course of the past three days he'd done more thinking than he'd previously done in his entire life. Oz, he'd voluntarily read a book.
Fiyero was so lost in thought that he started and fell from his seat as the large boulder at the entrance to the cave flew aside. He picked himself up the floor just in time to see a frantic Wicked Witch rush by in a blur of green and black, holding something that Fiyero couldn't identify in her arms. The boulder almost immediately slammed back into place behind her.
Fiyero expected to be shouted at and ordered back into his cavern, but he froze as he realized there was something wrong with the Witch. Her face held none of its usual malice. If anything, she looked terrified.
She turned to Fiyero, as if she'd just noticed him. Her voice was considerably less piercing as she shouted, "You, bring me some water. I need help!"