A/N: A shout out to my anonymous reviewer and James Birdsong! Glad you liked it. Thanks so much! :)
Chapter 7
"What do you suppose we could offer him?" Fiyero wondered from his seat behind Glinda's desk as he and Elphaba waited for Brrr to arrive in Glinda's office. Regrettably, her notes, while helpful for the meeting that they hoped to hold tomorrow, they made no indication that Brrr had wanted to talk to her.
"He got elected to the position – maybe he thinks there is corruption in his office?" Elphaba suggested. She was sitting in a comfortable chair near the office window. The day had turned sour as the rain beat down. There was a knock on the door and Fiyero called for the person to enter.
"May I present Lord-Mayor of Shiz Brrr, King of Forest," Sergeant Schultz asked the two.
"Of course. Please see him in with all haste," Fiyero nodded. His Prince training was kicking in again and Elphaba left her comfortable chair and made her way back towards Glinda's desk.
"Your Highness," Elphaba bowed as the Lion entered the room.
"You hardly need to bow, Miss Elphaba. It should be I who should be bowing, the same for Prince Fiyero," Brrr bowed his head before taking a seat next to the green woman. The Lion looked much more distinguished than the last time they had met. He now donned a suit coat, vest, dress shirt and pants complete with bowtie and a set of bifocal glasses.
"I did not wish to suggest it but…" Elphaba stopped herself.
"That you know me from before?" Brrr asked.
"Well before our last meeting in fact. I did not bring it up because we were trying to save the Farhidi children. There were bigger things at play," she said.
"Indeed. I am that cub you saved. It took me a moment to get there myself, but I knew that I had to sit down with you two when I found what I've found," Brrr told them. Elphaba reached over and put a hand on his paw. The Lion smiled. He could tell that she was extremely glad that he was there in front of her. It was the same for him because he did not know what would have happened to him had she and Fiyero not acted.
"I cannot believe it. I am so glad you are with us today," Fiyero smiled.
"It is meant to be a happy reunion, and I hate to ruin it but…" the Lion paused.
"Something is wrong in the Gillikin?" Elphaba asked.
"I have found the Clock of the Time Dragon," he told them.
"I thought it remained hidden until someone needed to use it," the green woman was confused.
"Indeed, that is how it was supposed to be. Though I imagine that this is the work of Ugabu before you encountered her," Brrr admitted.
"The Munchkins were looking for it. No wonder they didn't find it if it is in the Gillikin," Fiyero said.
"Yes, I imagine they weren't keen on moving into the Gillikin, given the situation. The Clock is in a cave in the Great Gillikin Forest. More specifically, it's in the Forest of the Northern Bears. Mr. Boss is buried there," Brrr told them.
"Someone came to you and told you all of this?" Fiyero raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. Since the Munchkins were looking for it, I put a call out to my most trusted Winged Animals and they found some Bats who confirmed what they saw," the Lion explained.
"They couldn't know what Ugabu looked like," Elphaba said.
"No, but they watched a magical woman move the incredibly heavy object with a spell. She put it in the cave and then sealed it up. What I can't figure is why she just didn't destroy the thing," Brrr shook his head.
"How did Mr. Boss die?" Fiyero wanted to know.
"That is unclear, but Ugabu took the time to give him a legit burial, so my guess is that he meant something to her," the Lion said.
"That might have been the catalyst that started it all. It's possible Mombey went to the Clock and when Mr. Boss got in her way or made a move to not let her near it, she got rid of him. She killed poor Old Man Nezih just so she could use his farmhouse," Elphaba said.
"Could be. Still why wouldn't Ugabu destroy the clock?" Fiyero wondered.
"That I cannot say. My question to you is what do we do with it? The Animals that have given me the information have sworn themselves to secrecy. The Bears do not want people coming up there looking for it either," Brrr said.
"Right now, how many people or Animals, outside of us, know what we know?" Fiyero asked.
"Two Bats, a Bird, and the Leader of the Northern Bears, Nanuq, know the exact location. My Winged Animal Corp knows I was asking about it so I'm sure they heard rumors but that is all," he told them.
"Ok, we need to think about this. It may be best to let sleeping dogs lie. If Ugabu sealed it up and no one except maybe Elphaba can unseal it, then there isn't much to worry about," Fiyero figured.
"We never got a straight answer out of the Munchkins as to why they were looking for it, but I assumed that they wanted to see what stood in their way. It can only provide prophecies, right? We don't have to worry about it causing destruction or anything," Elphaba said.
"Mr. Boss always said it only showed you the truth. How do we know that Ugabu didn't mess with it? Otherwise, why save it? Maybe she's hoping we open the cave?" Brrr wondered.
"Exactly why we leave it closed until we can sort out what the Munchkins were really after. Mombey put the idea in their heads and if the Clock told her of her death, you would have thought Mombey would have destroyed it," Fiyero said.
"I'll dig into the books. Maybe the Grimmerie knows something we don't," Elphaba promised.
"Good. I'm glad we talked," Brrr said. That's when there was a knock on the door. Fiyero gave the green woman a look and she shrugged. Sergeant Schultz knew not to disturb them, so the Vinkun called for the door to be opened.
"We have a bit of a situation, sir," Schultz told him.
"What kind of situation?" Fiyero asked.
"A Fevzi and Sarah are here, insisting they see Miss Elphaba," he said.
"By themselves?" Fiyero was concerned that the two made the trip alone.
"Yes, sir," Schultz confirmed.
"That can't be good," Elphaba said before quickly leaving her chair and following the Sergeant.
To Be Continued…