Emerald Princess

Madame Morrible is taken through the halls of the Emerald Palace in chains. She had been found unconscious surrounded by bound guards after her failed attempt to bring in Elphaba. To say the Wizard wasn’t pleased when he heard about her failing would be an understatement.

Oscar was furious.

The Wizard pacing his study angrily when Morrible is brought in, growling in frustration like a caged tiger.

“Leave.” The Wizard says in a cold and quiet tone to the guards. The men immediately exit to avoid the Wizard’s wrath.

Madame Morrible, though absolutely terrified, manages to appear somewhat calm.

“You Ozness--” She starts in an attempt to defend herself.

“Silence!” The Wizard snarls, suddenly pinning her against the wall with his hands around her neck. “You had one job, to find Elphaba and bring her back. You had her, she was in your grasp!”

The Wizard is absolutely livid. He’s so infuriated that he could snap Morrible’s neck without using magic.

“What. Went. Wrong.” He demands through gritted teeth.

“She-- she had…help!” Morrible gasps, struggling to speak and breath with his tight grip on her windpipes. “F-friends…”

“How could a handful of children evade you and my guards?” the Wizard sneers.

Morrible doesn’t respond. She knows he’s right in his anger. She had had the children tied up and restrained, yet they still got away. A part of her was convinced that fate didn’t want them captured.

“You've failed me,” the Wizard snakes, releasing her neck and walking to his desk. “I warned you what would happen if you failed me.”

“Y-your Ozness-- please…I can bring her back--” Morrible tries to plead for her life as pure and unbridled fear grips her.

“Clearly, you can’t.” the Wizard spits venomously. “You must be punished for your failings.”

The Wizard stands in front of his desk, his back facing the trembling woman. The Grimmerie, which had been lying on his desk, suddenly opened and turned to a page all on its own. The ancient book was responding to its master’s anger and magic.

The page it had turned to was a rather painful one that turned its victims inside out. During his time studying the Grimmerie, the Wizard learned that the Wise Ones had delightfully dark minds due to the amount of dangerous, and in some cases vile, spells in the ancient spell book.

“And I do believe,” the Wizard says in a low and menacing tone as he turns to face Morrible, now holding the Grimmerie as he examines the page presented to him. “You deserve a rather painful punishment.”

Fiyero paces the hall outside the small room they had turned into a makeshift infirmary restlessly. They had arrived back at the castle a few hours ago, Nessa and Fiyero had rushed Boq to the animals and managed to find a black fox who was a doctor. They took their unconscious friend to the infirmary to be treated. Nessa hadn’t left Boq’s side at all.

Elphaba and Glinda sit on the floor, leaning against each other in search of comfort as they watch Fiyero pace with concerned looks.

“When I find that sorceress…” Fiyero growls in anger and worry.

“I’m sure Bick will be alright” Glinda tries to reassure him

“Boq,” Elphaba corrects Glinda gently.

“--Boq,” Glinda then corrects herself, feeling a bit bad for continuously getting his name wrong.

“He got struck by lightning!” Fiyero snaps, overcome with his concern and anger. He takes a deep breath and rubs her hands down his face. “...he might not make it…” he whispers.

“We won't let that happen,” Elphaba says determinedly.

“What could you possibly do?” Fiyero challenges. Elphaba doesn't take offense to his hostility, she knows he's stressed due to the possibility of Boq’s death.

Before Elphaba can respond, the animal doctor opens the door and beacons them inside.

Everyone anxiously enters the room, finding Nessa by Boq’s bedside and clutching his hand tightly.

“How is he?” Fiyero asks anxiously, joining Nessa by Boq’s side.

“Unconscious, but alive.” The doctor responds, trotting up to Boq’s other side.

“Is there anything that can be done?” Elphaba asks quietly.

“I'm afraid not,” the doctor shakes his head with a troubled look, “nothing short of a miracle or magic could stabilize him. It's best to keep him in his coma to keep him alive, but we're just counting down the days till he passes now.”

“No,” Fiyero paces the room anxiously now. “I refuse to accept it. There must be something we can do. Some spell-- or or tonic.”

“None of us have magic,” Elphaba points out.

Glinda suddenly gasps and clutches Elphaba’s hand tightly, startling the green girl.

“Elphie! That’s not exactly true--” Glinda turns the princess to face her, gripping her girlfriend by her shoulders. “My training wand!”

“Right!” Elphaba remembers, then deflates again, “But you left that at Shiz in our dorm, didn’t you? And none of us know how to use it.”

“If anyone would, it’s you,” Glinda looks up at Elphaba with such confidence, “You could do magic once, with a training wand, maybe you could do it again.”

Elphaba pulls away with a worried look as she starts pacing now. Fiyero stops to watch them, along with nessa and the doctor.

“Even if I could do magic with the wand,” Elphaba says anxiously, “I wouldn’t know what to do with it. Boq is on the brink of death, and the only spellbook with strong enough healing magic to save him is….the Grimmerie.” Elphaba huffs and runs a hand through her hair. Her braids were frizzy and needed to be re-done, but that was the least of her worries at the moment.

“So we steal it,” Fiyero says determinedly.

Everyone looks at him like he’s lost his mind.

“Are you brainless?” Elphaba huffs, “That’s not possible. It’s locked tight in the Emerald Palace. My father doesn’t let anyone but him touch it, it’s always in his study anyway--”

“Which is perfect,” Fiyero interrupts with a grin, his eyes lighting up with his idea. “The only person who could get close enough to steal it is you, Elphaba.”

“The Wizard wouldn’t trust her to be anywhere near it,” Nessa speaks up with a frown, “She ran away, remember?”

“Well obviously,” Fiyero huffs, a bit put off by how quickly they turn down his idea. “Which is why Elphaba needs to return willingly, under the guise that she’s learned her lesson.”

“That won’t work,” the princess says like it’s obvious, “I’ve made it pretty clear how I’ll never agree with him or side with him again.”

“Which is why you gotta be really good at acting,” the prince persists, a determined look on his face. “The waterworks, apologies, guilt tripping, all of it. You’re his daughter, he’s going to take you back.”

“But he won’t believe I've changed my ways,” Elphaba says in growing frustration.

“Do you wanna save Boq, or not?” Fiyero snaps.

Glinda choses this point to speak up.

“It’s our best bet,” the blonde says quietly. “We need magic to save Boq. We need the Grimmerie.”

“But we don’t even know if I can read it,” Ephaba says with growing worry and panic now. She doesn’t want to fail and lose Boq.

“We don’t have any other options,” Glinda grabs Elphaba’s hands. “Please Elphie…we have to try.”

Elphaba stares at their intertwined hands, going over their options. Finally, she sighs and nods.

“Alright,” she murmurs, “I’ll do it. For Boq.”

“Thank you,” Fiyero says quietly, his face showing much relief that Elphaba has accepted his idea.

“But we need to get Glinda’s training wand first,” Elphaba says, squaring her shoulders as her mind formulates a plan. “I need to know that I can do magic with it.”

“Right,” Glinda nods and mulls over where it could be. “It’s either in our dorm at Shiz, or at home. Depends if Momsies and Popsicle have gotten my stuff back from the school.”

Elphaba frowns. That makes things harder. She forgot that the school would possibly send Glinda’s belongings back to her home in their long absence. Same with Nessa, Boq, and Fiyero. Then again, the last three were criminals now. Their stuff could’ve just been thrown out.

“Alright…” the princess says slowly. “Which do you think is most likely to have your things?”

“Hmm..” Glinda squints at the floor as she thinks. “Home,” she says finally. “My stuff will be at home.”

“Great,” Fiyero says, looking ready to leave the old castle this instant. “Let’s go get that magic stick.”

“I’m not going,” Nessa says, refusing to move her wheelchair from Boq’s side. “I’m staying with him until he wakes.”

“We understand,” Elphaba says gently, nodding to her friend and walking out the door with Fiyero and Glinda.

Glinda stops, a realization hitting her.

“Elphie, you should stay too…” the blonde says.

“What?” Elphaba frowns and turns around to face her girlfriend. “Why? I’m not letting you go alone--”

“I won’t be alone,” Glinda gently interrupts her, “I’ll have Fiyero. You need to stay safe. You’re the only one who could possibly use the training wand, and get the Grimmerie from the Wizard unharmed.”

“She’s right,” Fieryo says quietly, nodding in agreement. “It’d be best if you stayed.”

“This isn’t up for debate, I’m going,” Elphaba says stubbornly.

“You’re staying,” Glinda says, grabbing Elphaba’s hands. Her tone is pleading. “Please, Elphie. We need you well and whole to save Boq.”

Elphaba slowly caves under Glinda’s pleading tone.

“...what if you get hurt?” the princess whispers anxiously.

“I promise I’ll come back to you in one piece,” Glinda says with a small reassuring smile. The blonde gently cups Elphaba’s face and kisses her forehead.

“I’ll hold you to that,” the green girl murmurs, reluctantly letting go of Glinda’s hands and nodding. “I’ll stay.”

Glinda gives her girlfriend a grateful smile, while Fiyero nods.

“We’ll be back before you know it,” he promises, then leads Glinda down the hall.

“Bye…” Elphaba murmurs quietly with a hint of longing in her voice as they walk away.

“So, you’re from Gillikin, yes?” Fiyero asks as they each ride a horse (the animals volunteered to go) moving through the woods.

“Yes,” Glinda nods, “Frottica, to be exact.”

“Hm,” Fiyero hums, “a marketing town?”

Glinda just nods. Ever since she and Elphaba freed that poor lion cub, Glinda and Fiyero just grew apart. Like a mutual, unsaid breakup. Both were fine with it, though there were awkward moments. They both had come a long way since they first met, after all.

“So,” Fiyero decides to change the subject, “how do you want to go about this? We still don’t technically have an official plan.”

“Oh,” Glinda’s eyes widen briefly as she’s reminded of that small important fact. “Um…I’m not sure exactly. You’re a wanted criminal and I’m supposed to be a missing kidnapee…”

“We’ll just have to sneak about again,” Fiyero offers a cocky grin to try and lighten the somber mood.

Glinda manages a small smile back. “Good thing we have plenty of practice with sneaking around.”

Fiyero barks a laugh. “True that.”

Their horses pull to a stop when they reach the edge of Glinda’s hometown. The two humans climb off their horses.

“Thank you, my friend.” Fiyero pats the neck of his horse. The horse, named Amos, nods.

“Thank you for fighting for us animals,” the majestic creature says in a deep voice. His companion, the mare Glinda had been on, whines in agreement.

“Wait for us here,” Glinda whispers, “If we aren’t back in three days, return to the castle and tell Elphaba what’s happened.”

The two animals nod in agreement and watch as Fiyero and Glinda climb the gates surrounding the town.

The two friends sneak through the back alleys and behind buildings, making their way to the large mansion that serves as Glinda’s family home.

They climb over the fence that surrounds the home, and go through the backyard. Glinda points at a dim window on the top floor.

“That’s my room,” she whispers to not be heard, “My stuff is most likely in there.”

“Right,” Fiyero nods and looks around the backyard, hoping for something they could use to climb. He frowns when he finds nothing useful. “Don’t suppose we could just walk inside?”

“My parents aren’t asleep at this hour,” Glinda shakes her head, “if we don’t want to risk getting caught, we’ll have to wait for them to fall asleep, or we climb the wall.”

“We don’t have time to wait, Boq doesn’t have time to wait.” Fiyero says determinedly and walks up to the brick wall, feeling for some sort of hand or foot grip. “We climb.”

Glinda huffs with a little pout, looking down at her clothes. Though they aren’t the usual nice garments she’s used to wearing, she still doesn’t want to get them dirty or ruin them.

“Do we have to?” She whines quietly, yet follows Fiyero up the wall regardless.

Fiyero reaches the window first and shakes the glass. He grunts and looks down at Glinda.

“It’s locked.”

“Well of course it is,” Glinda rolls her eyes, “My parents wouldn’t leave it open and risk robbers getting in.”

Fiyero exhales through his nose in frustration.

“Do you think you could open it?” he asks, forcing his tone to remain patient.

“Perhaps,” Glinda climbs up and joins fiyero in front of the window. With a free hand, she reaches into her hair and pulls out a bobby pin. Her tongue peaks through her lips as she picks the lock. Glinda smirks at Fiyero when she opens it.

“Nice,” Fiyero grins and slides open the window, “ladies first.”

“You’re too kind,” Glinda purrs jokingly in a posh tone. She pulls herself inside and looks around her dark and dusty room.

Fiyero lands lightly on the ground before her. He looks around as well, raising a brow at the mess. Glinda’s luggage is covered in sheets and dust. There are cobwebs in the corners of the room and a chill from the now open window.

“I haven’t been gone that long,” Glinda browns with furrowed brows, “Why does my room like this?”

“Well…” Fiyero winces as he reveals how long Glinda’s been gone. “You were kept in the Emerald Palace with Elphaba for about 3 months. And we’ve spent the last two on the run, the public thinks you’re some hostage. It’s only natural your parents would assume you’re dead.”

Glinda’s head whips around to look at Fiyero, her eyes wide in shock and horror at the revelation.

“I--I was at the palace for 3 MONTHS?”

Fiyero nods with a sympathetic look.

Overwhelmed by this new information, Glinda slowly sits down on a dusty trunk.

“You uh…doing alright?” Fiyero asks awkwardly, hesitantly sitting next to Glinda.

The blonde only gives a small nod. Though it’s clear she’s not.

“Hey, I know this is a lot to take in,” Fiyero says gently, carefully resting a hand on her shoulder, “But you’ll get through this. We’ll fix everything, then you can live out your happily ever after with Elphaba. But you gotta stay with me to do that.” He grabs her shoulders and turns the blonde to face him. “Glinda, I need you.”

Glinda blinks at him, clearly still in shock. Tears prick the corner of her deep brown eyes.

“Here, focus on my breathing,” Fiyero takes some deep breaths, “Breath with me.”

Gradually, Glinda starts to breathe in beat with Fiyero. She calms down and wipes her eyes.

“Are you alright?” Fiyero asks in a concerned tone.

“N--no,” Glinda whispers, “...But I’m better. Let’s find that wand.”

It takes them about 40 minutes before they finally find the wand stuffed in a trunk full of Glinda’s cosmetics. Fiyero frowns at all the beauty products as he hands Glinda the wand.

“I didn’t realize girls needed this much to get ready.”

“Oh, not all do,” Glinda says dismissively as she tucks the wand securely in her bag. “I’m just high maintenance.”

Fiyero chuckles at her comment and heads to the window. hE turns in confusion when he sees her not with him. Glinda is standing by the door, cracked open. There is a longing look in her eyes. She can hear her parents downstairs talking.

“Glinda?” Fiyero whispers gently, “You coming?”

“Hm?” Glinda blinks and turns to look at him. Snapping out of it, she nods and clears her throat. “Right, yes. Of course.”

Seeing her glance at the door again, Fiyero gently pulls her by the wrist to the window.

“You will see them once we’ve freed Oz from the Wizard’s rule,” he says softly, “but we need you to be present with us to do that.”

“I know,” Glinda whispers. “I just miss them…”

“I miss my family too,” Fiyero admits, “But you can find solace in knowing that they will be in a much safer Oz once we’re done. Then you’ll be able to spend as much time with them as you could possibly desire.”

Glinda hugs Fiyero, a single tear dripping down her cheek. She pulls away with a sniff and wipes the tear off her cheek.

“Let’s go,” she nods with a determined look.

They ran back through town to where they told the horses to wait. Glinda skids to a stop when she sees a newspaper lying on the floor. She frowns when she sees the headline.

“SORCERESS MADAME MORRIBLE EXECUTED FOR TREASON!”

Glinda snatches the paper and stuffs it in her bag. She was caught off guard by the news, and figured Elphaba should know of this. It was a shock, Morrible had always been loyal to the Wizard. Was she really killed for treason? Or something else?

That would be a conversation for another time. Right now, Glinda and Fiyero need to get the wand back to the castle. Then they’d be one step closer to saving Boq.

Elphaba watches the skies over the castle. Dark storm clouds form over the sky, almost green in color. Something was terribly wrong. Something big was coming, and she had a feeling it would change everything.

The sounds of horses whining pulls Elphaba’s attention to below. She sees Fiyero and Glinda returning. And it only took them two days. Maybe, Elphaba allows herself to hope, things would work out this time.