Chapter 9
The air smells distinctly of rain and wet mud; the lingering effects of the unusual downpour in the middle of summer. Elphaba doesn’t trust it. Glinda hates the rain, she remembers cuddling with the girl whenever it was raining, in Elphaba’s bed in their room back at Shiz. She wonders how the girl is faring now.
“Whatever may be the problem.” Elphaba snaps as the blonde whimpers, muttering under her breath.
Galinda pauses her murmuring to glare at the green girl. “You really are a mean green thing.”
Elphaba rolls her eyes. She supposes she should be used to the girl’s antics by now. “Can you at least turn off the lights?”
“Absolutely not.” Galinda’s voice raises in pitch. Concern creeps into the green girl, but she pushes it away immediately. The blonde is probably just being overdramatic like she always is.
“I’m serious, Galinda. I can’t sleep with the lights on.”
Thunder crackles outside and Galinda draws the blankets closer around herself. The pieces click in Elphaba’s mind. She gazes at the blonde uncertainly, her mind at war with itself.
Why should she care if Galinda is afraid of the rain? It’s not like they’re friends — not even close.
Still, after another crack of thunder and another whimper from the blonde, Elphaba sits up in her bed. “What is your favourite thing about the Gillikins?” She mumbles just loud enough for the other girl to hear.
The girl meets her eyes. “Why, Miss Elphaba, that is the most confusifying question you’ve ever asked me.”
“I don’t know why I even bothered.” Elphaba grumbles, lowering herself back onto her bed as thunder strikes again.
“No wait!” Galinda says. Elphaba pauses. “My favourite thing about the Gillikins…”
Elphaba comes out of the memory with a start, Galinda’s voice still echoing through her head
It’s been a month since she saw her last and Elphaba is no closer to figuring out a way to save her. If you ask Corvex, he’ll tell you she’s more agitated and insufferable than ever.
The Bird, as if on cue, ducks into their little hideout through the small window. “This pesky rain.” He complains, shaking his wings out, a few droplets of water landing on Elphaba’s face.
“Do that somewhere else.” Elphaba grumbles, flipping through the pages of her book.
“You’ve been over that thing a million times. At this point, you might as well just storm the palace.”
The green girl rolls her eyes. “I don’t have the forces. We’ve been over this.”
“And it’s been a month.” Corvex counters. “We’re still nowhere near finding a good plan.”
Elphaba squeezes her eyes shut, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You think I don’t know that? I just can’t risk anything going wrong.”
Corvex’s eyes catch hers when she opens them, dead serious. “Things are already wrong, Elphaba.”
Elphaba’s shoulders slump, her mouth suddenly going dry. “What makes you say that?” She swallows.
The Crow clicks his beak. “Don’t pretend like you don’t know it.” He says, turning his back to the green girl, and hopping off to his corner. “If you don’t take action soon, the consequences may be unimaginable.”
A cold sense of dread fills Elphaba at that. She’d seen Glinda a month ago, a hollow shell of herself. Glinda, no doubt, got in trouble for letting her go. Elphaba, if she’s being completely honest, is afraid of what she’ll find. And it will all be her fault, because she did that to Glinda. She mutilated the girl, left her, and when they were so close once again, she was forced to leave. Again.
What if the process repeats?
Deep down, she knows Corvex is right. She knows if she waits it will only get worse. She also knows she needs a good plan though.
“Help me.” She squeaks.
The Bird raises his head, surprise flickering through his eyes. Then a grin. “I was wondering when you would ask.”
***
There’s a light tapping at his window. Fiyero blearily blinks his eyes open, pushing himself up. It takes him a few moments to make sense of where he is. Once it dawns on him, he rushes to his window, opening the latch to let the Crow in.
“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty.” Corvex quips, regarding him. “Do you always sleep shirtless or are you trying to impress someone?”
Fiyero rolls his eyes at the Bird’s antics. “You think I’m impressive?” He grins.
“Just your abs, pretty boy.” He says. “I’m not here to admire them, though.”
Fiyero immediately stops grinning, rushing over to untie the note on the Bird’s leg. His eyes widen as he scans it.
“This is insane.” He breathes. “She’s insane. It’s too risky.”
“It’s the best plan we have. And it’s the only one she’ll allow.” Corvex says gravely.
“But…” There has to be better plans.
“Fiyero, we don’t have the time nor the luxury to come up with a more elaborate plan than this one.”
Fiyero sighs. “Nothing better?”
“Not that we have the resources for.” Corvex affirms. “She’ll be fine. Just trust her.”
“It’s not Elphaba I don’t trust.” Fiyero mutters.
“Are you in or are you out?”
Fiyero breathes in deeply, remembering that day a month ago, the locked doors, the Wizard and Morrible discussing Glinda as though she’s some sort of object. He lets it out, steeling his nerves as he looks the Crow in its eyes. “I’m in.”
***
Elphaba grunts, her frustration mounting as her Bird companion continues his incessant pacing. “Will you stop!” She snaps.
“Forgive me for being nervous. Are you sure this is the best plan?”
“No one else has to get hurt this way.” Elphaba reassures. “It’s just Fiyero.”
“And a couple other Gale Force soldiers.” The bird clicks his beak in agitation. “I don’t trust them.”
“Me neither, but I trust Fiyero, and I trust that our plan will succeed.”
“You have far more trust than I have to throw around then.”
An amused smile plays on Elphaba's lips. “Which one do you not trust? Fiyero or my plan?”
“Fiyero, definitely.” The Bird chuckles. “All brawn, no brains, that one.”
“He isn’t that bad.” The green girl smiles, relieved at the tension lifting, no matter how little.
Corvex grins. “I suppose.” His grin fades as he spares a glance out the window at the setting sun. “It’s almost time. Are you ready?”
No.
“Yes.”