"Elphaba, wait, can we talk about this?" Fiyero asked, following her path around the room as she began hastily repacking the contents of her satchel.
"Talk about what, Fiyero?" she asked, whipping around to face him. "You saw the note. That was not written in a normal frame of mind. Glinda is in trouble, and we need to help her."
Elphaba was practically frantic, and Fiyero took a step forward and placed his hands on her shoulders. He held her gaze, willing her to see reason. "The note said 'stay away'. That is the exact opposite of what you're suggesting right now!"
"She wouldn't have written that unless there was some sort of danger to stay away from," Elphaba insisted, taking a step backwards to free herself from his grasp. "We should never have let her go back on her own. What if the Wizard and Morrible have decided she's too much of a liability?"
"And what if this is a trap?" Fiyero countered. "What if the Wizard and Morrible wrote that note in the first place and it's all another ploy to lure you back to the Emerald City?"
Elphaba shook her head stubbornly. "That was Glinda's handwriting."
"Okay, so what if they forced her to write it?" Fiyero asked, voice rising slightly in pitch. "We can't just go flying in there with no idea of what we're walking into. Can't we try talking to Chistery again?"
They had questioned the Monkey once he'd recovered from his chaotic arrival, but he'd been too shaken for coherent speech. He'd only managed to choke out the word "Glinda", before he'd retreated to the roof and had refused to say anything further.
"Chistery is clearly upset by whatever happened. Pushing him now could lead to regression in the little progress he's made, and we don't have time to sit around waiting for him to recover," Elphaba said. She turned and snatched her broomstick from the bed and then turned back to face Fiyero. "You don't have to come with me, but you can't stop me," she said defiantly.
Fiyero knew she was right, but he was desperate for her to heed his warnings. He had a really bad feeling about the entire situation and a rising terror that, should Elphaba run off now, he might never see her again. He stepped forward and placed his hand over hers where she was clutching the handle of the broomstick.
"Please, just take a second to think about this," he begged. "Shouldn't we at least write to my parents and your sister? Let them know where we're going in case something happens? What was the point of garnering their support, of trying to help the Animals, if we go and throw it all away now?"
Fiyero knew it was a dirty move, but mentioning the Animals seemed to have just the sort of effect he'd intended. Elphaba's shoulders slumped, and she relaxed her grip on the broom handle ever so slightly.
Relieved that he finally seemed to be getting through to her, Fiyero went on, "I'm not saying we shouldn't go and help Glinda. I just think we need to take a step back and come up with some sort of plan."
"And what if Glinda is being imprisoned or tortured while we spend time coming up with this plan?" Elphaba asked.
"Glinda is tougher than she looks," Fiyero insisted, "and we'll be more use to her if we have some semblance of an idea where we're going. If we have to spend time searching the entire palace, there's a much higher chance we'll be caught."
Elphaba seemed to begrudgingly acknowledge the truth of his words. "So what do you suggest we do then?" she asked, making no attempt to mask her frustration.
"Let's send word to my parents and your sister first. Then, I know you said you don't want to burden Chistery, but I really think we should see if he can point us in the right direction." As Elphaba opened her mouth to protest, he continued, "He doesn't need to speak. I can draw up some blueprints of the Emerald Palace. Maybe he'll be able to give us an idea of where to start."
Elphaba snapped her mouth closed, apparently unable to find an argument with Fiyero's plan. "Fine," she said. "I'll write a note to Nessa, and you take care of your parents, but I want to leave before the sun is up." The 'with or without you' was left unspoken.
Fiyero sighed and nodded, supposing it was the best he was going to get. He crossed the room to the desk and hastily penned the letter to his parents, informing them of the situation with Glinda and letting them know that he and Elphaba would be traveling to the Emerald City to investigate. He felt a twinge of guilt for doing something so reckless when he'd only just begun to earn their trust again, but there was no helping it now.
When that was finished, he grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and began a rough sketch of the Emerald Palace from memory. Even after living there for two years, he wasn't aware of every redundant sitting room and parlor, but he had at least a general idea of the layout. When he was satisfied with his work, he glanced up to see Elphaba folding her own letter over by the nightstand.
Without a word, Elphaba crossed the room to the open window, leaned out, and whistled. A pair of Monkeys came swooping into the tower a moment later. Fiyero handed his letter to Elphaba as she addressed the Monkeys. "Please take this letter to the governor of Munchkinland, and this one to the king and queen of the Vinkus," she instructed them, handing each a letter in turn.
The two Monkeys nodded silently, but Elphaba didn't bother to protest at their lack of speech as they turned and departed out the window. She watched them disappear into the distance, then turned to Fiyero and said, "Happy now?"
"Immensely," he deadpanned, rolling up his map of the Emerald Palace.
They ascended back to the roof, sidestepping the guards in the hallway. They found Chistery perched in the corner, being doted on by a few other concerned Monkeys. "How are you feeling?" Elphaba asked as they approached. He gave them a small, tired smile, but said nothing.
There was a pause, and then Fiyero unfurled the map and spread it out on the ground. "Would you be able to help us figure out where Glinda is being held?" he asked gently. Chistery leaned forward to study the paper with interest, then he met Fiyero's eyes with a shy nod.
Encouraged, Fiyero pointed to the dungeon where the human prisoners were kept first. He was mildly surprised when the Monkey shook his head emphatically. Next, he pointed to the Animal dungeons but received the same response. Puzzled, he turned the map around and slid it towards Chistery. The Monkey studied it for a moment longer, and then pointed to a room on the third floor.
Fiyero furrowed his brow as Elphaba turned to look at him expectantly. Chistery had pointed to the bedroom that Glinda and Fiyero had shared for the better part of two years.
"Well, that doesn't make any sense," Elphaba said as Fiyero explained the location to her. She turned back to Chistery. "You're sure that's where she is?"
"Yes," he managed with a short nod.
Fiyero turned to Elphaba. "What do you think it means?"
Elphaba folded her arms across her chest and said, "I'm not sure, but at least we know where to start looking. The question is how we're going to make our way into Glinda the Good's personal quarters without being stopped by the guards."
"Can you teleport us in?" Fiyero asked.
Elphaba thought it over for a moment and then responded, "I don't think so. I've never been to that part of the palace. I could probably get us into the general vicinity, but we could just as easily appear in a hallway full of guards."
Fiyero nodded and continued to study the map in front of him. "It would be risky to try to fly in on broomstick. The guards would be bound to notice us if we got that close to the palace, even under the cover of darkness."
"Perhaps I could cast a spell to render the guards on the outside temporarily unconscious," she said pensively.
"Would you be able to enchant that many at once?" Fiyero asked. "There are usually about twenty men on the perimeter at a given time."
"The spell itself won't be a problem, but it's risky if anyone from the palace steps outside and sees the unconscious guards. It's why it was safer to use Glinda as a distraction when we freed the Monkeys. My magic can't reach everyone inside the palace, especially if I can't see them," she answered.
Fiyero thought over their options again. "I think that may still be our best bet. We only need to go unnoticed long enough to slip in through Glinda's window. Even if someone notices the spell afterwards, it buys us time while they sound the alarm and search for us. I don't think we'd have a better bet trying to get all the way to the third floor on foot."
Elphaba nodded her agreement, seemingly happy to at least have settled on a plan. "Are you ready?" she asked, untucking her broomstick from under her arm to hold it out in front of her.
"Shouldn't we wait? The sun will be up in a few hours. By the time we even get close to the Emerald City it'll be broad daylight," Fiyero said.
Elphaba shook her head. "It's too dangerous to travel during the day. It's safer if we get in range of the city now and then find somewhere to hide out until nightfall."
Fiyero didn't bother to argue. Elphaba was the expert on such matters. Instead, he simply heaved a sigh and climbed onto the broomstick behind her.
"Stay out of trouble," she said with one last look towards the Monkeys, and then they were off.
They flew for the last few hours until dawn, and the Emerald City skyline had just begun to appear on the horizon when they touched down to wait out the daylight. Fiyero briefed Elphaba on his map of the Emerald palace and then they took turns dozing in the shade of a grove of thick-trunked trees. The moment the sky began to darken, they resumed their journey.
They touched down again outside the city gates. There were too many Ozians still out and about in the early evening to risk flying over the entire city on broomstick. Instead, Elphaba removed her cloak and wrapped it around her head to hide her face, and the two crept their way up to the palace along the city's back alleys.
The Emerald Palace loomed over them in the darkness as they poked their heads out of a side street a short distance from the palace gates. "Okay, it should be a straight shot from here," Fiyero said, pointing towards a window on the third floor. "The window may be locked. Will that be a problem?"
Elphaba shook her head and then, satisfied that they were alone, pulled the cloak down and away from her face. She took a quick survey of the guards that were visible from their current vantage, and then began to chant. The four men on the main entrance wavered on their feet, before each of them toppled over in turn and slumped to the ground. Hopefully the spell would have the same effect on the guards around the periphery.
Her spell in place, Elphaba removed her broomstick from where she'd been partially concealing it under the hem of her cloak. The two of them mounted silently and then shot towards the third floor of the palace like an arrow from a bow. The window flew open before them, but their momentum was too great as their feet hit the carpeted floor within. They pitched forward and fell from the broomstick, each rolling to a stop at the foot of a massive canopy bed.
"Who's there?" came a voice from above them. Elphaba and Fiyero looked up just in time to see a confused Glinda poke her head over the side of the bed, her sleep mask still resting on her forehead. At the sight of them, her expression grew cross.
"What are you two doing here?" she demanded in a frustrated whisper.
Elphaba stood up, fixed her rumpled dress, and then quickly crossed the room to close the window. "We got your letter," she whispered as she turned to face Glinda.
"The letter that said 'stay away'?" Glinda half-whispered back. Fiyero shot Elphaba a pointed look.
"What's going on Glinda? Chistery came back completely shaken and couldn't tell us anything. Your letter was hardly helpful for details," Elphaba huffed.
Glinda placed her hands on her hips, still kneeling at the edge of her bed. "Well, I'm sorry that I didn't have time to write a novel with the guards nearly on top of me. I was barely able to get Chistery out with any type of correspondence at all. Luckily the guards are still somewhat endeared to me. I convinced them to let him go on the grounds that he was simply confused and looking to revisit his old home." she said. Noticing the blank looks on Elphaba and Fiyero's faces, she sighed and sat back against the covers to elaborate.
"Three days ago, the Gale Force brought in a group of Animal prisoners. The Lion was among them," she ignored the looks of surprise on her friends' faces and continued. "I happened to be passing through the entrance hall while they were being marched in and the Lion spotted me. He started shouting and flailing and generally making a scene. I couldn't do anything to help him then, so I tried to play it off as though he was confused and unstable. I thought I was rather convincing, but apparently it still raised alarm bells. That night I snuck down to the dungeons to see him, but the guards were already waiting for me."
She paused to let all of this sink in before she went on. "You were right about the fact that Morrible and The Wizard couldn't just turn on me outright. The people adore me, you see," she said, pausing to toss her hair before she continued. "So they've placed me under house arrest instead. They still parade me out to make speeches and public appearances, but other than that I've been trapped in here. There are four armed guards right outside the door."
At this Elphaba's eyes flew to the doorway, clearly cognizant of the noise from their recent crash landing. At the look on her face, Glinda said, "I tried casting a spell to mute anything that goes on in here from the outside. It seems to have done the job well enough, but I would still keep your voices down. Oz knows I never had your talent for sorcery."
"Why haven't you tried to escape?" Elphaba asked.
"And how would I do that?" Glinda huffed. "There are guards on my room at all times and I'm surrounded whenever I'm allowed to step foot outside. My bubble is too large to fit through the window, and I'm not exactly built to scale a three-story building."
Elphaba didn't seem to have a rebuttal to this. "Why would you tell us to stay away if you were in trouble?"
Glinda rolled her eyes. "Because I knew you'd come flying in here just like this and put all of us in danger. I considered not writing anything at all, but I thought complete silence would be even worse. Apparently, I overestimated your ability to take a hint."
At the look on Elphaba's face, Fiyero stepped in and said, "Well, we're here now. What can we do to help?"
"You can turn around and go back the way you came," Glinda said. "I can manage on my own for now."
"And what if the Wizard and Morrible change their mind about you and decide you're no longer useful? It's not as though they haven't done it before," Elphaba countered.
"And who's going to keep an eye on the goings on in the Emerald City? Weren't you just asking for my help spying on The Wizard while you two relocate the Animals?" Glinda asked.
"Inside information isn't worth your life," Elphaba argued. "And besides, you're hardly of any use under house arrest."
When Glinda remained silent, Fiyero added, "We've already come all this way. Let us get you out of here."
Glinda still seemed torn. She glanced back and forth between her friends and the door to her room a few times, before she finally squared her shoulder and asked, "Alright then, what did you have in mind?"