Emerald Princess

Elphaba walks through the campus, crossing a stone bridge over the small man-made stream that runs through campus. As she walks a group of students greet her with smiles. Confused by the sudden lack of malice, Elphaba manages only a small smile that looks more like a grimace.

She pauses at the other end of the bridge, looking into the water. With a contemplative expression, she tries to toss her hair again like how Galinda showed her.

“Ah, You’ve been Galinda-fied.”

The green princess startles and turns around to see an amused Fiyero. She frowns at him, and before she can make a snappy retort, the bell rings and she rushes off to class.

(Montage time)

At lunch, Elphaba enters the dining room. At a large round table in the corner, she sees Galinda, Fiyero, Boq, and Nessa all sitting together. Without missing a beat, they all make room for her as soon as they see her. With a small, almost nervous smile, Elphaba joins them. Galinda scoots closer to her green friend and links her arm with the princess.’

That evening, the five friends all sit around a fire near the edge of campus. Like before, Galinda is sitting next to Elphaba, while Boq stays close to Nessa. Nessa helps Boq make a smore, though he ends up getting an insane amount of marshmallow on his nose. Elphaba and Galinda laugh until they cry, while Fiyero chuckles and helps Boq clean his face.

The next day, Boq is holding Nessa’s hand and leading her through throngs of students. Fiyero is pushing her wheelchair at such a fast pace that the paralyzed girl laughs with joy. Elohaba runs after, but pauses when she sees Galinda lagging behind. Noticing that the blonde’s heels are slowing her down. Elphaba promptly picks her roommate up bridal style and runs after their friends with surprising ease. Galinda’s face is beet red the whole time.

The next day the five friends enter the woods, Boq leading them to a secluded area. The others look at Boq in confusion, wondering why he brought them there. The Munchkin pulls out an axe, startling everyone, before he uses the axe to chop down the rest of a dead tree. The tree falls to reveal a beautiful clearing with a clear water pond. Galinda gasps and grabs Elphaba’s hand, pulling the green girl into the clearing. Fiyero follows Nessa and Boq, wrapping his arms around the Munchkin boy’s shoulders in appreciation for revealing the beautiful hideout.

Later that same day they all return to the library, covered in leaves and twigs. Nessa, Elphaba, and Boq all try to study while Galinda reads a large tome that hides a beauty magazine. Fiyero falls asleep, his head resting on the table.

At the end of the day, they all lie in a poppy field watching the sun set.

(End Montage)

Elphaba enters Dr. Dillamond’s classroom after Galinda and Fiyero. She goes up to the professor while her other two friends find their seats.

“Doctor Dillamond,” the princess says, holding some flowers. “I picked some poppies for you--”

“I’m sorry Miss Elphaba, not now.” The goat sys urgently, nodding to her seat. Elphaba sits down with a look of confusion as the professor addresses the whole class. “Please, everyone, take your seats, I’ve something to say, and very little time.”

The students all quickly hush and find their seats, surprised by the goat’s urgency.

“My dear students, this is my last day here at Shiz.” he continued. “You see, Animals-- are no longer permitted to teach.”

Elphaba shoots to her feet with an outraged look. “What?!”

“It’s alright, Miss Elphaba... I’ll be alright.” the professor says in an attempt to calm her.

There’s a blasting whistle that interrupts everyone. The classroom doors burst open and in enters Miss Coddle and two uniformed guards.

“Students, remain calm, please, there’s no cause for alarm--” Miss Coddle tries to ease the students' startled reaction.

“What is this, what’s happening?” Elphaba demands, her eyes narrowing almost dangerously.

“Don’t worry! They can take away my job, but I shall continue speaking out!” Dr. Dillamond tries to comfort Elphaba as the guards approach him and restrain him.

“Come on, Goat.” the first guard says gruffly.

Elphaba rushes up to try and help her friend, but Miss Coddle restrains her.

“You can’t permit this!” Elphaba gasps and angrily tries to get past the plump woman.

“Miss Elphaba, I’m afraid it’s out of our hands.” the Shiz president tries to soothe the princess. But Elphaba pulls away.

“But--”

“Listen to me--” Dr. Dillamond calls desperately, looking at Elphaba as he tries to resist the guards. “You’re not being told the whole story!”

The goat’s glasses fall to the ground. The second guard crushes the spectacles as they harshly pull Dr. Dillamond away.

The room sits in silence as Elphaba stands there, absolutely infuriated.

“Are we all just going to sit here, in silence?!” she shouts angrily.

“That’s quite enough, princess. Take your seat.” Miss Coddle says in a patronizingly sweet tone.

Elphaba glares at the Shiz President, before slowly returning to her seat. Galinda places a comforting hand on Elphaba’s shoulder. Elphaba tightly clenched the poppies in her hand, the ones meant for Dr. Dillamond.

“Students, your new history professor has prepared a special presentation!” Miss Coddle says, clapping her hands to get the students’ attention.

A human male enters the room with a square package covered in a cloth. He sweeps aside everything on the desk, including Dr. Dillamond’s old poppies, and places the cage on the desk. He turns around and addresses the class.

“Good afternoon, students.” the man, Professor Nikidik, says.

“Good afternoon!” Miss Coddle prompts the students in an annoyingly cheerful tone. Elphaba would like nothing more than to punch the woman.

“Good afternoon,” the students repeat, lacking all enthusiasm.

“In times such as these, it behooves us all, not merely to study the past, but to look to the future…” The professor says, pulling the cloth off the package with a flourish. It’s a cage with a small, scared lion cub.

“This is called-- a “cage.”” Professor Nikidik says proudly.

Elphaba’s face twists in disgust and horror as the students around coo at the small creature. Galinda frowns, feeling a pang of sympathy for the poor, scared creature.

“This remarkable innovation is for the good of all Oz (made by our own Wizard), as well as for the Animal’s own good. You see--”

Elphaba stands with an infuriated look, interrupting the new professor. “If it’s so good, why is he trembling?” She demands loudly.

“He’s just excited to be here!” Nikidik says defensively.

“Bullshit,” Elphaba hisses under her breath.

“One benefit of caging an animal this young is: he will likely never learn to speak!” The professor continues as if he hadn’t heard Elphaba’s harsh whisper.

“Oh no…” Elphaba whispers in horror.

“Now, the dimensions of the cage will vary, depending on the animal. But here is the basic design…”

Elphaba tunes out the professor’s words, looking around the classroom. She’s repulsed by her fellow students as they watch the new professor speak with wide eyes, taking notes.

“Can you imagine a world where animals are kept in cages, and never speak?!” Elphaba whispers harshly, looking at Galinda. “We have to do something!”

“Like what?” Galinda frowns, clearly wanting to help the cub like Elphaba.

“We’ll break him out,” Elphaba says with a steely gaze. “Tonight.”

That night, Galinda and Elphaba sneak through campus and into the history room. The little lion cub is still in the cage, curled in a small ball and trembling in fear.

“It’s alright,” Elphaba soothes quietly, crouching in front of the cage and opening the cage. “We’re here to get you out.”

“Hurry, Elphie!” Galinda whispers, “Before someone comes.”

Elphaba gently cradles the lion cub and rushes with Galinda out of the campus. They run into the woods until they’re far enough away.

“Here is good,” Elphaba whispers, stopping by a stream and gently placing the cub down. The little lion laps eagerly at the water of the stream.

Galinda kneels down on the ground next to Elphaba.

“I can’t believe this,” Galinda whispers sadly. “The animals don’t deserve this.”

Elphaba nods in agreement.

“It’s wrong.” She whispers. There is a troubled look on the princess’ face. “I…I can’t believe my father is allowing this. Is the cause of this.”

Galinda wraps an arm around her friend’s shoulders, trying to provide comfort. The lion cub slowly wanders around, sniffing what he sees. He slowly starts to relax, now realizing he’s safe.

“I’m sorry,” Galinda murmurs.

“Don’t be.” Elphaba whispers and shakes her head in frustration. “I can’t believe I was foolish enough to think he was actually trying to help Oz.”

Galinda stays silent, knowing that Elphaba just needs someone to listen.

“I need to talk to him.” Elphaba says firmly. “I need to see my father in person. I need to get him to see reason.”

“Would he actually listen?” Galinda asks quietly with a concerned frown.

“I don’t know.” Elphaba says quietly, “But if he’s likely to listen to anyone, it’d be me.”

Within a few days, Elphaba manages to get a train to stop by Shiz and take her home early. She sent her father a letter, lying and saying she was homesick and wanted to visit for the weekend. The Wizard, of course, had been overjoyed at the prospect of seeing his daughter sooner than expected.

Elphaba stands at the platform of the train station, waiting. The guards she was sent with all stand in the background, keeping an eye on the princess. Galinda stands next to Elphaba. Gray clouds fill the sky, thunder rumbles in the distance.

“Are you sure you’ve got this?” Galinda asks anxiously.

“Yes,” Elphaba whispers, holding Galinda’s hand. “He’s my father. I should have no reason to fear him.”

Galinda looks at Elphaba with a small frown, then speaks to try and lighten the mood. “I don’t know what we’ll do without you for these next few days.”

“Galinda--” Elphaba starts, though she doesn’t know what to say to the girl she’s come to cherish.

“No,” Galinda shakes her head. “Don’t call me that. In honor of Dr. Dillamond’s unfair termination, I’ll be changing my name to…Glinda.”

Elphaba looks at Galinda -- Glinda -- in surprise.

“You’re changing your name?”

“Yes,” Glinda nods with a sincere look. “To show my support for the animals.”

Elphaba smiles softly at her friend. “That’s very honorable of you.” She says quietly.

Glinda smiles at Elphaba as the train reaches the station.

“Elphaba boards the train and pauses. She turns to Glinda and holds out her green hand to the blonde.

“Come with me,” she says quietly yet urgently as the train slowly starts moving.

“What?” Glinda gasps, walking forward to keep up with Elphaba. “Elphie--”

“Please!” the princess says, “you should join me.”

“I couldn’t possibly intrude on your moment with your father-- I’m coming.” Glinda quickly decides and grabs Elphaba’s hand. The green girl pulls her onto the train just as it leaves the platform. The force of which she yanks the blonde on causes the two girls to topple over, Glinda now accidentally straddling Elphaba.

Both girls blush at the sudden and intimate position. Glinda quickly rolls off Elphaba. The blonde stands and offers a hand to the princess, helping the girl up.

“Off to see the Wizard,” Elphaba jokes with a small smile, looking at the girl she loves.

“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Glinda responds with a smile of her own.

The ride to the Emerald City is roughly 30 or so minutes. When they get there, there are Emerald Guards waiting to take Elphaba to the palace. They startle at first when they see Glinda, but seeing how the princess links arms with the blonde, they let her pass.

The guards lead the two girls inside the Emerald Palace and to the large room where the Wizard’s automan head is, where he usually greets visitors. They walk past the hall filled with the winged monkeys. All of which bow their heads to Elphaba as she passes.

The princess feels a pang of sympathy for them. She remembers the day her father casted the spell, subjecting the silent creatures to unbearable pain just to further his agenda. Though the Wizard had tried to comfort his daughter, Elphaba always had a feeling he wasn’t being entirely truthful.

Which is exactly why she’s here to confront him.

The guards leave them alone in the room, and soon enough Elphaba hears the telltale signs of the giant robotic head coming to life. The large bronze head emerges from the curtains and speaks in its low and menacing voice.

“Who has come to see me?” the head says. Glinda squeaks fearfully and tightly grips Elphaba’s arm, petrified.

Elphaba suddenly realizes that Glinda has never seen this before, and therefore isn’t used to the giant head like Elphaba is.

“It’s me, father.” the 16 year old says calmly, resting her hand on Glinda’s wrist comfortingly.

“Elphaba?” Comes the, now normal, voice of her father. The head turns off and her father, the Wizard, emerges from behind the curtain with a bright smile. He walks cheerfully up to his daughter and kisses her forehead. “Forgive me, it is quite difficult for me to see from back there. I’m so glad you’re back, my lovely emerald. The palace has been just too quiet without you.”

Despite the undesirable circumstances that have led to Elphaba’s early visit, she can’t help but smile at her father’s affection. A part of her, and a rather large one at that, seriously hopes that this is all just a misunderstanding and that the Wizard has nothing to do with the animal oppression all throughout Oz.

“It’s good to see you as well, father.” Elphaba says quietly.

The Wizard notices Elphaba’s quiet tone, and not her usual more cheerful demeanor when with him. He frowns briefly, but quickly masks it when he finally notices Elphaba.

“Oh? And who’s this?” He asks curiously, looking at the blonde and offering a kind smile to help put her at ease.

“Father, this is Ga-- I mean, Glinda.” Elphaba says, quickly correcting herself when she almost uses Glinda’s old name. It’ll take a bit for her to get used to it. “My best friend.”

The Wizard doesn’t miss the small blush on both girl’s cheeks as Elphaba introduces Glinda. A small knowing smile appears on his face.

“Lovely to meet you, Miss Glinda.” The Wizard says kindly to the blonde.

“It’s n-nice to meet you too, your Ozness.” Glinda stammers, a bit star struck to be meeting the literal Wizard of Oz.

Nodding, the Wizard turns back to Elphaba and wraps an arm around her shoulders, his expression tender and loving. It’s clear he is overjoyed to be with his daughter again.

“I must say, when you sent that letter requesting to visit so soon, I was quite perplexed.” The Wizard remarks as he gently pulls his little emerald away from Glinda. “I thought you were planning to wait for your first break.”

“I initially was…” Elphaba agrees, reluctantly letting go of Glinda’s arm. “But something urgent was brought to my attention, and I had to speak with you in person.”

Glinda quietly stands in the background as the father-daughter duo talk.

“Oh?” the Wizard says curiously, though he already knows what this is about. “What is it, my dear?”

Elphab takes a deep breath, gathering her courage before she speaks. The princess shoots a brief, anxious glance at Glinda. The blonde nods encouragingly.

“It’s about…” Elphaba says hesitantly. “The treatment of the animals in Oz.”

A brief, imperceptible, dark look crosses the Wizard’s facial features. But he quickly hides it.

“What of them?” Oscar keeps his tone light and curious, as to not draw suspicion.

“Father it’s unfair how severely they’re oppressed--” Elphaba starts, but is cut off by the Wizard’s chuckle. It sounds both amused yet slightly sinister.

“Dear, did you come all this way here to tell me about some pests?” the Wizard questions with a raised brow.

“Pests?” Elphaba repeats the word quietly, her brows furrowing as Oscar continues.

“The animals of Oz are being treated as I see fit.” the Wizard says in a deceptively soothing tone, gently tilting Elphaba’s chin so she looks up at him. “You know I’ve only ever wanted what’s best for the people of Oz, my emerald.”

The princess frowns and pulls away from Oscar, putting some distance between them. This time, she doesn’t miss the displeased look that crosses his features as Elphaba backs away from him.

“How could being oppressed possibly be for the benefit of Oz?” Elphaba demands. “Especially for our animal citizens?”

“Well, dear,” the Wizard chuckles. “They’re hardly our citizens. Indentured subjects would be a more fitting term.”

“So slaves?” Elphaba questions in a cold tone. She’s now accepted the fact that her father did indeed know what was happening to the animals all along. That it was his idea. His doing.

The Wizard frowns and shakes his head.

“Now that’s a harsh term,” he chides. “And really, it is their place. Animals are below us, creatures created to serve us. Humans are simply the superior species.”

The Wizard steps forward to rest his hand on his daughter’s shoulder, but Elphaba recoils and steps away again.

“Elphaba,” the Wizard sighs, his tone growing impatient. “I’ve always done what’s best for us. Trust me, my love, this is a good thing.”

“How can enslaving your subjects be a good thing?!” Elphaba snaps in anger. She’s frustrated and hurt. Unable to believe that the man she’s looked up to all her life, has decived her.

Instead of responding to her question, Oscar merely sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“I see that school has only made you more rebellious.” He sighs and looks back at her. His gaze is now cold and firm.

“You won’t be returning to Shiz.” he decides. “You’ll be staying here. Your mind has been poisoned against me and I can’t have that.”

“What?” Elphaba whispers in growing dread and horror. “Father you can’t--”

“Oh, I very well can.” The Wizard snaps, finally losing his patience. “I allowed you to attend Shiz because I thought it would make you happy, but it only troubled you and led you to doubt me.”

He steps toward her with a more menacing expression, his facade of the benevolent ruler that he always had in place when Elphaba was present drops. “You’re mine, my daughter. I will do what is best for you, whether you agree with me or not.”

His gaze softens when he sees Elphaba’s eyes wide with hurt and slight fear.

“But, you can keep your…” he pauses, not really sure what to address Glinda as. Elphaba had introduced the blonde as her friend, but the Wizard could easily tell that both girls’ wanted more with each other. “...friend.”

Glinda watches on with eyes wide, full of horror and confusion. She gazes at the green girl with growing worry.

Instead of responding to the Wizard, Elphaba glances anxiously at Glinda and comes to a split second decision.

“No.” She whispers, and bolts for the door. Her hand reaches for Glinda. Not needing any convincing, Glinda rushes after Elphaba, intertwining their hands.

The Wizard snarls in frustration.

“After them!” He roars to his winged monkeys. The creatures immediately chase after Elphaba and Glinda.

Elphaba leads them through the palace, desperately avoiding the monkeys and guards. They reach the basement of the Emerald palace. Elphaba locks the door with an old broom, while Glinda lights a spare torch on the wall. The blonde gasps as she looks around the room, drawing Elphaba’s attention.

Her eyes widen in horror as she sees. Around the room are cages. All meant for a different type of animal. Elphaba quickly comes to regret her decision to come back here. Her father never planned on hearing her out about the animals. And now, he would never let her leave the Emerald palace again. All because she dared to question him.

What’s worse, she’s dragged Glinda in this mess.

“I’m so sorry.” Elphaba whispers, looking at her friend.

“It’ll be alright,” Glinda says quietly, grabbing Elphaba’s hand. “We just need to stick together.”

Both girls jump at the loud bang on the door. The guards were just outside the basement. It was only a matter of time before they got in. They were trapped.