Chapter Text
The Grimmerie smelled of old paper and ink and tears.
“Please,” she whispered, almost directly into the book’s pages, as if it would be more likely to listen to her if she bent closer. The Grimmerie was a capricious thing; even though she’d been studying it for months now she still didn’t fully understand it, and she suspected she never would. Sometimes it listened to her and sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes she thought that it got a perverse enjoyment out of watching her pore over its pages until she ended up in tears and resorted to begging.
She remembered how Elphaba had pressed the book into her hands, faith shining in her eyes. Elphaba's faith had been misplaced, she thought bitterly. She had been foolish to think she could ever be a sorceress. She’d been foolish to ever want magic in the first place. She should have learned from Elphaba’s experiences. Magic brought nothing but grief and pain, and it couldn’t help the people who needed it most.
“Please help me save them,” she murmured, her nose almost touching the page. Elphaba flashed through her mind first, of course. Elphaba was never very far from her thoughts. On her better nights, she dreamed about their days at Shiz—how they had spent their afternoons studying in the poppy fields, her head resting on Elphaba’s shoulder. On her worst nights she relived the Melting over and over: the roughness of the closet door under her hands, Elphaba’s screams ringing in her ears, her own screams dying in her throat. She always awoke tangled in her bedsheets, sweat dripping down her forehead. Momsie would have been terribly disappointed—she had always said that proper young ladies didn’t sweat—but it didn't matter. She hadn’t written to her parents in months. There was nothing she could say to them that wouldn’t be a lie.
But she saw the others at night too. She saw the agony in Fiyero’s eyes before they dragged him away, broken apologies falling from his lips. She felt the hands holding her back, preventing her from running to him and throwing herself in front of him, to protect him from the soldiers who were coming to kill him. She had read exactly what they’d done to him: how they’d beaten him to within an inch of his life and then strung him up like a scarecrow, left him to die in that field in Munchkinland. Madame Morrible had left the letter out on her desk, as if she’d known that it would haunt Glinda—as if she’d wanted it to haunt her.
She didn't know how long it had been since she had a full night of sleep.
She thought about Nessa, crushed under the house that Morrible dropped on her. She thought about what she said in the throne room on what should have been her wedding night, the horrendible words that she could never take back. Use her sister. Spread a rumor that she’s in trouble. She’d never meant for them to act on it. But she bore the responsibility for Nessa’s death nonetheless. She felt it like a stain on her heart.
How could she have said that about Nessa, who had never done anything to hurt her? She knew that Nessa hadn’t been the most popular ruler in Munchkinland, but they had been friends once. She still remembered who Nessa had been at Shiz—the wide eyed girl who had danced with Boq at the Ozdust, who had wanted nothing more than to be loved, who had too many adult responsibilities shoved on her shoulders far too soon.
And Boq, whose only crime was falling in love with someone who couldn’t love him back. He wasn't dead, but he might as well have been. She knew this was an uncharitable thing to say, but she thought it nonetheless. He was made out of tin now. He rusted in the sunlight, for Oz’s sake. He said he’s learned to live with his affliction—that’s what he calls it, as if he’d one day find a cure for being made out of tin—but she still found it unbearably sad. He told her what happened, how Nessa and Elphaba cursed him when he tried to leave Munchkinland to interrupt her wedding. She knew he didn't remember the entire story correctly because Elphaba would never hurt him, but she held her tongue because Elphaba told her never to clear her name, even in the smallest of ways. And she promised. She would do anything to keep Elphaba’s dying wish, even if it tore her apart inside.
She even thought of the Wizard, of the crushed look on his face when he realized that he inadvertently killed his own daughter. If she had put the pieces together sooner, if she had told him…would it have changed anything? Maybe not, but maybe it could have. Maybe he would have called off the witch hunt. Maybe Elphaba would still be alive.
All of these lives ruined because of her—the real wicked witch, even though she wore pink and purple tulle. Even though she smiled for the crowds and waved her hand and kissed babies and accepted bouquets of flowers from small children.
She looked out her office window. The sun had long since set over the Emerald City. Oz was peaceful now. Animals roamed the streets without fear; everyone wanted to put the whole sorry affair behind them as soon as possible. Apologies were made. Reconciliations were struck. But she was not peaceful and she suspected she never would be and the passage of time had made her wounds worse, not better.
“Please,” she whispered to the book that was her only salvation, even though she didn't expect it to help her tonight when it had never helped her before. “Please let me save them. All of them. Let them live the lives they wanted. I’ll do anything, give anything.” Even herself, she thought
She would still do anything for Elphaba Thropp. She suspected she always would.
For a long moment nothing happened and she nearly shut the book, ready to return to her cold bed in her empty room. But then the words began to glow and the pages begin to turn, creating a breeze that blew her hair back from her face. The book stopped at a spell about halfway through and she found she could sound out the words, even though she didn't know what they meant. Elphaba never knew what the words meant either, when she read the Grimmerie. She just had to read the spells and hope for the best. So Glinda ran her fingers over the drawing at the bottom of the page—a green circle edged in gold, with little symbols at each of the four corners, like a compass or a clock.
She didn't know what the spell did. She didn't know what it would cost her, though she knew that Grimmerie spells always cost something. She didn't care. Whatever price it demanded, she would pay it.
Glinda began to chant, her voice strong and steady. Her tears littered the page, but they didn't blur the words.
After all, she had nothing left to lose.
Six Years Earlier
A girl that Galinda didn't recognize was sitting in her usual spot at the breakfast table.
Galinda stopped short in the doorway, waiting for someone to say something. But Popsicle didn’t look up from his newspaper and Momsie didn’t look up from her magazine. It was a fashion magazine, of course, one of the twice a year bulletins that the couture houses sent across Oz to advertise their summer and winter collections. Even the stranger was reading a newspaper, carefully arranging it next to her plate so the edges of the pages wouldn’t drag in the butter. “What is this?” Galinda asked. The girl looked so much like her, almost uncannily so. She had to be one of the Upland cousins that Momsie was always talking about but would never allow Galinda to meet, Uncle Everhard’s daughters who were constantly sneaking out to go to parties in Settica and Wittica with unsuitable men. Maybe one of them had finally gotten herself knocked up and had come to provincial Frottica to wait out the remainder of her pregnancy and avoid scandal.
Momsie looked up, pouring herself another glass of lavender lemonade. “What is what, dearest?”
“Her.” She pointed at the stranger, who gracefully set her newspaper aside. Now that they were looking at each other, Galinda could see again just how uncanny the resemblance was. Looking at the stranger was practically like looking in a mirror. A shiver crept down her spine because they practically had the same face: the same dark eyes, the same long and straight hair that fell down their shoulders in exactly the same way, lips that curved the exact same way. They might as well have been twins.
Popsicle’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about, darlingest?”
Galinda blinked once, then twice, but the strange girl was still there. Was she really the only one who could see her? She pointed at the stranger, hoping her finger didn’t shake. “That girl. What is she doing here?”
Momsie and Popsicle exchanged a bewildered look. “That’s your sister, dearest,” Momsie said.
“No it isn’t,” Galinda said automatically, because she was an only child. She had always been an only child. She delighted in being an only child, actually. She relished having her parents’ undivided attention, in getting all the birthday and Lurlinemas presents she wanted because she didn’t have to share them with any siblings.
The crease in Popsicle’s forehead deepened and he set aside his newspaper. “Galinda, are you feeling quite well?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m fine!” she cried. “But this is ridiculous. I would know if I had a sister—”
“A twin sister, to be precise,” the stranger said, turning her attention back to the Foreign Affairs section of the newspaper.
Even worse. “Yes. If I had a twin sister, I would certainly know that.”
“But you do know that,” Momsie said. “The two of you have grown up together. She’s 35 minutes older than you, Galinda. You’ve quite literally never known a world without her.”
“I’ve never met this girl before in my life!” Galinda snapped. She wanted to cry. Was this some kind of sick practical joke? What in Oz was happening?
The stranger stared back at her, utterly nonplussed. “I wouldn’t worry about her, Momsie. She probably just didn’t sleep well last night. I’m sure she’ll be right as rain when we get to Shiz.” Oz, she even sounded like her.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go to Shiz if your sister is sick, Glinda,” Momsie replied.
Galinda’s heart nearly stopped. She had to go to Shiz. If she got to Shiz, she would get to study under Madame Morrible—and everyone said that Madame Morrible was the most important sorceress in Oz. If anyone could teach Galinda how to do real magic, even though she hadn’t previously shown any magical talent, it was Madame Morrible. But Madame Morrible hadn’t responded to her application to join her private Sorcery Seminar and had forgotten to enroll her in class, so Galinda would have to go talk to her in person. She was sure there had just been some sort of processing error, but she wanted to make sure it was resolved before classes began. She didn’t want to miss a single day of Sorcery Seminar. “I’m fine, Momsie. It was just a…prank.” She narrowed her eyes at the stranger, who stared impassively back at her.
Momsie breathed a sigh of relief. “Well I would appreciate it if the two of you could refrain from pulling any more pranks for the rest of the day. We have quite enough going on as it is.”
“I tried to stop her, Momsie,” Glinda said, turning back to her newspaper. Glinda. Just like her name, but without the guh. What a stupid idea. This imposter might have managed to somehow convince Momsie and Popsicle that she was a member of the family, but Galinda knew better. What kind of parents would name their daughters Galinda and Glinda? How was anyone supposed to tell them apart? It made no sense. But Galinda worried that if she said anything else about it, Momsie would make her stay home and Galinda certainly couldn’t allow this imposter to go to school without her. So instead she glared at Glinda throughout breakfast, until Popsicle announced that they needed to be ready to go within the hour if they wanted to arrive at Shiz on time. Galinda watched as the imposter set aside the newspaper and stood up, brushing an invisible crease out of her skirt.
Galinda followed her upstairs, waiting until they were out of earshot of Momsie and Popsicle before she pushed her into the bathroom and closed the door behind them. She used both of her hands to pin Glinda to the back of the door. “What are you doing here?” she hissed. “Because whatever you say, whatever you’ve managed to convince Momsie and Popsicle, I know you’re lying. I know you’re not my sister.”
Now that they were so close together, the similarities between them were almost unnerving. Looking at Glinda’s face was like looking in a mirror. Their noses both turned up slightly at the end, but were both just slightly too big to fit the Gillikinese standard of beauty. They wore their hair in exactly the same way, held in place by the same pink and gold hair clips. Oz they even seemed to breathe the same way, their chests rising and falling in tandem. In fact, the only difference that Galinda could see was that the imposter was ever so slightly thinner than she was, her skin half a shade paler. Galinda wondered if she could take her in a fight. If Momsie and Popsicle wouldn’t believe her, she was going to have to take matters into her own hands.
If Glinda was also disturbed by the similarities between them, it didn’t show on her face. Her glare didn’t change. “You’re right. I’m not your sister. I’m you, from another timeline. But how was I supposed to explain that to our parents?”
Galinda was so surprised she let go of her. Instantly they switched positions; now Glinda was holding her against the bathroom door, one of her arms pressed against Galinda’s throat. When Galinda let out a squeak of protest she tightened her grip, until it was almost difficult for Galinda to pull in a full breath. “Listen to me,” Glinda whispered. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was supposed to be able to take over your body. I wasn’t expecting you to still be here. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised since it seems that all we’re able to do is cause problems for others, isn’t it?” Galinda wanted to retort that if Glinda thought she could just take over her body with no repercussions she was out of her mind, but Glinda’s arm was still pressing into her throat and it felt hard to breathe. She tapped on her arm and Glinda loosened her grip, just a touch. “Here’s how this is going to work,” the imposter continued. “I won’t be here for long. There’s something I need to do. I promise that by the end of the afternoon it’ll be like I was never here at all. And in return, I need you to promise me that you won’t get in the way. Otherwise, I’ll have to stay longer. And I know that neither of us wants that. If I move my arm, do you promise you won’t scream?” Galinda nodded and the imposter released her. She was tempted to scream anyway but she didn’t like the hard look in Glinda’s eyes. She looked like she would genuinely kill her if Galinda put so much as a toe out of line.
“What do you have to do?” Galinda asked.
“It’s none of your business,” Glinda snapped. “But I promise you that if it all goes well, by this evening you—and everyone else—will forget that I ever existed. And that’s what you want, isn’t it?” She pushed past Galinda and stalked down the hallway before Galinda could respond, or even nod.
For a moment Galinda just stared after her, and then turned back to the mirror over the sink. She ran a finger over the bruise that was starting to form on her neck. She would have to cover it with makeup before they left, or Momsie would be beside herself. Her hair was dishevelled; she would have to brush it again before she reached Shiz. Her cheeks were pleasantly flushed and her eyes were even wider than usual.
“What in Oz just happened?” she murmured. But of course, no one answered. If Glinda was telling the truth, the universe was probably just as stunned as she was.
The boat ride to Shiz was highly uncomfortable, at least for Galinda. She spent most of it stewing in silence, watching in disbelief as Momsie and Popsicle laughed with this imposter who clearly wasn’t their daughter. What in Oz had Glinda managed to do? Had she threatened them? But her parents didn’t act like they were being blackmailed. They didn’t seem frightened at all. In fact, the way they treated Glinda—Popsicle squeezing her shoulder when she made a particularly funny joke, Momsie straightening her collar and rubbing an almost invisible speck of dust off of her sleeve—was exactly the way they treated Galinda. It was almost like they were being enchanted.
But Glinda didn’t have magic. Did she?
Galinda began to look at the imposter in a new way. If she really did have magic, maybe she could teach her—or at least put in a good word for her with Madame Morrible. It was really the least that Glinda could do after coming in and making such a mess of everything. Galinda studiously ignored her on the boat ride, preferring to perch on the pile of luggage near the front of the boat and admire the candy colored building of the town of Shiz (not to be confused with the university) that sprouted up around her like mushrooms. The water was clear and sparkling blue and shop owners waved to them as they passed. They were hardly the only ones; the river was crammed with boats full of students heading to school.
As soon as they rounded the bend in the river and the Shiz buildings came into view, Galinda promptly forgot about everything else. Shiz’s golden buildings with their domed roofs were even more impressive than the pictures on the brochures that the Admissions department had sent with her acceptance paperwork. All of the buildings seemed to sparkle and shimmer in the sunlight, and the effect was so lovely that it made Galinda’s breath catch in the back of her throat. She had the distinct sense that the rest of her life was about to begin, on these grounds and in these halls. She saw all of the older students already roaming the grounds in their uniforms, their hands filled with books, and a shiver snaked down her spine. In just a couple of hours, she would be among them.
All of the other notables in Frottica had been surprised to hear that she would be attending Shiz. Most of them had managed to hide their surprise well, but one of her father’s friends had been tactless enough to ask him why he was ‘wasting the money’ to send Galinda to school. “It’s not like she needs to learn anything, with a fortune like hers,” he’d laughed, his elbow jostling against Popsicle’s and nearly upsetting his glass of wine. His face had been ruddy with drink. “Oz, she’s so rich that she’ll never need to have an independent thought. Coupled with a face like that, you’ll have no trouble marrying her off.”
Popsicle had taken an almost imperceptible step away from him. “Galinda quite enjoys having independent thoughts,” he said in a tone that would perhaps have given the other man pause if he hadn’t had quite so much to drink. “And she’s always wanted to go to Shiz. Ever since she was a little girl, it’s been all that she talks about. We’re very proud of her.” The man’s sister had steered him away before he could make any other…unflattering comments. Galinda didn’t think she’d ever loved her father more. He knew that she needed to be more than just a dilettante socialite, at least before she married. She wanted to make something of herself, to finally become a sorceress.
And maybe now, with the imposter’s help, she actually could.
There was a massive traffic jam of boats near the docks and the Uplands had to wait nearly fifteen minutes before their boat hit the edge of the dock with a small thump and Galinda was able to clamber out. The imposter was right behind her. For a moment they both just stood on the dock and stared in awe at the jumble of other students and their families, the porters in striped uniforms navigating the maze of trunks and suitcases that was beginning to form on the pier, the teachers walking around the quad in their swirling robes. Galinda pushed herself onto her toes, hoping to see Madame Morrible, but if the sorceress was there she disappeared quite neatly into the crowd. Behind them, the porters were starting to unload their trunks: light pink for Galinda and light purple for the imposter, both emblazoned with the same golden Gs.
“You’re going to have such a good time!” Popsicle said as he pulled each of them into bone crushing hugs.
“You’ll write, won’t you?” Momsie asked, straightening Glinda’s collar one last time.
“Every week,” the imposter said, hugging Momsie surprisingly tightly. When she pulled away Galinda was surprised to see tears in her eyes, but Glinda turned away so quickly that she couldn’t really tell if they'd been there at all.
“And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Galinda!” Momsie said, pulling her into a hug that made Galinda gasp for breath. “You’ll take care of your sister, won’t you?” she whispered into the top of Galinda’s head. “You know that her health is…delicate.”
Galinda raised an eyebrow. The imposter hadn’t seemed fragile at all when she’d tried to choke her out in the bathroom earlier that morning. But Momsie seemed so worried. “Of course I’ll look after her,” she said. “But we’ll be just fine, Momsie. I’m sure of it.”
“I’m sure you will be too,” Momsie said, but she still sounded uncharacteristically worried. “We’ll just miss you two so much.”
Galinda had to fight the urge not to roll her eyes. How many times had they discussed not being maudlin? The last thing she needed was for everyone’s first encounter with her to be her comforting her mother. “That’s quite enough of that, Momsie. Glinda and I will be fine. Now, it’s time for you to leave.”
Momsie squeezed her hand one last time. “Of course, dearest. You’ll write when you’re settled in, won’t you?”
“Yes, of course.” She began to herd them back towards the docks, as porters unloaded their last few trunks. “Popsicle, board the boat.” She accepted last minute hugs and then waved until they were both safely out of earshot. “They are going to miss me so much,” she muttered, not letting her smile falter.
“You were quite rude to them, you know,” the imposter said. Galinda groaned, because she’d almost managed to forget that her so-called sister was still there. “They were just being kind.”
“They were being embarrassing,” Galinda said, careful not to let her smile drop. “And in any case, I don’t see how it’s any of your business. They’re not your parents.”
“They were. Once,” Glinda said in a wistful sort of way. Galinda didn’t like it one bit.
She grabbed the imposter’s hand. If Glinda was going to force her to keep her secret, she might as well get something out of it. “You’re magic, aren’t you? You ensorcelled our parents.”
“Not quite.” The imposter tried to pull away, but Galinda tightened her grip. She was stronger than most people knew, thanks to all of the swimming and tennis and horseback riding Momsie had forced her to do when she was younger. When she gasped in pain, Galinda pretended not to notice. Maybe she shouldn’t have tried to choke her earlier in the morning.
“If you’re magic, will you put in a good word for me with Madame Morrible before you go? Tell her that I’m a powerful sorceress, just like you are.”
The imposter’s face went pale so quickly that Galinda worried that she was going to faint and Galinda was going to have to catch her. “Don’t go anywhere near Madame Morrible, Galinda,” she hissed. “Not now. Not ever.”
Galinda pursed her lips. “Well, I can hardly do that if I want to be a sorceress, can I?” The imposter really was quite dense, for someone who could clearly do powerful magic.
Glinda’s breathing had started to quicken. “Listen to me, Galinda. You have to stay away from her. She’s not the person you think she is—”
Galinda rolled her eyes. “Fine. Don’t help me.” She finally released the imposter, flexing her fingers and rolling her eyes. “I’ll figure out a way into her Sorcery Seminar with or without you.”
“Why would you even want to be in Sorcery Seminar? You don’t have any aptitude for magic, natural or otherwise.”
Galinda felt a muscle work in her jaw, because the words hurt but she refused to give the imposter the satisfaction of knowing that she was upset, because she’d thought those words herself more times than she wanted to admit. What if she was wasting everyone’s time, including her own? What if she just wasn’t cut out for magic, no matter how badly she wanted it? What if she worked as hard as she could and hoped as hard as she could but it just wasn’t enough? “You don’t know anything about me,” she snapped.
“On the contrary. I know everything about you, Galinda.” The imposter said her name like it was a bad word, something rotten that she had to get out of her mouth.
Luckily she could see Pfannee and ShenShen waving to her from the other end of the dock, so Galinda could just roll her eyes and leave the imposter standing there next to the growing pile of their things. There were approximately a third as many purple trunks as there were pink trunks. With a stab of horror, Galinda wondered if her parents had forced them to room together. She’d been promised a private suite but she didn’t think she could stand having a roommate like Glinda. She flounced off, making sure her cloud of blonde hair hit the imposter as she turned.
She hadn’t been talking to Pfannee and ShenShen long when she heard the crowd of students around her go quiet. But she didn’t hear the footsteps on gravel or the susurrus of rustling skirts until she practically knocked into the person standing behind her, shrieking as she very nearly fell down the stairs.
Then she shrieked again when she realized that the person standing behind her was green. Not like she’d recently taken ill and was going to be sick. Her skin—all that Galinda could see of it at least—was a deep emerald green. Pretty, Galinda thought, and then wondered why she’d thought such a thing in the first place.
But the green girl was scowling at her. Really, actually scowling. Galinda didn’t think that anyone had ever scowled at her before. “I am,” she said. “Let’s get this over with.” She turned to face the student body. “No, I am not seasick. No, I did not eat grass as a child. And yes, I have always been green.”
For a moment, Galinda didn’t know what to say. But everyone was looking at her, so she felt she had to say something. “If your…complexion is something you’re looking to change, then perhaps I can help. I’m here to study sorcery, you know. Perhaps, once I’ve learned some spells, we can discuss resolving your…affliction.”
The strange girl looked at her with steely green eyes. Galinda would have thought they were beautiful if they hadn’t been narrowed in such obvious disdain. “Offering to help someone you don’t know with talents you don’t possess? If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather take my chances.”
Galinda turned away in a huff, Pfannee and ShenShen at her heels, just as she heard another girl call out “Elphaba Thropp!" The green girl turned. She wasn’t wearing a school uniform. Galinda hoped that meant that she wasn’t actually a full time student. She wouldn’t want to run into Elphaba in the hallways or the dining hall.
She happened to glance towards the docks and caught sight of the imposter, still standing near the pier. But something was wrong. Glinda was standing so rigidly that Galinda could practically see the tension in her shoulders. Her eyes were blown wide, like something had frightened her, and she pressed a hand to her chest as if she had to force her lungs to draw in air. Was she really that affected by green skin? Galinda rolled her eyes, watching as the imposter practically bolted away, running surprisingly fast in her high heels. Good riddance, she thought. With any luck, Glinda wouldn’t come back.
Galinda followed Pfannee and Shenshen into the quad, where neat rows of benches had been set up for the beginning of term speeches. As the other students sat down around her, Galinda kept scanning the crowd for Elphaba or the imposter. With any luck, neither of them would show up. A man in a red hat came up and started to speak about the different faculties, but they still weren’t there. Galinda sat up in her seat, feeling a little thrill of satisfaction at the thought that perhaps she would have an absolutely uneventful school year.
But then she saw Elphaba appear in the archway that led to the quad and looked away quickly, thinking most unladylike words. Momsie would be very disappointed.
She tuned back into the speech just in time to hear the words “Our esteemed Dean of Sorcery, Madame Morrible!” Galinda clapped until her hands hurt. There was a sustained round of applause, unlike the scattered bouts of applause that had accompanied the introduction of the other professors. Although magic in Oz was rare, it was prized. And, except for the Wizard, no one in Oz was more magical than Madame Morrible. Galinda sat up straighter, hoping Madame Morrible would be able to pick her out of the crowd. She’d had her gray and pink uniform made especially to make her stand out.
Madame Morrible swept forward, her long cream and red robes billowing out behind her. Her white hair was arranged neatly around her head and rings glittered on her fingers as she took the podium and looked out at them all. “Hello, students,” she said. “And congratulotions on being accepted here at Shiz. We have nothing but the highest of hopes for some of you—”
A flash of movement above her head caught Galinda’s eye. She blinked once, twice, sure she must be seeing things. But no—the stone mural above Madame Morrible’s head, of the Wizard standing in front of the balloon that had brought him to Oz, was moving. She glanced around, but Pfannee and Shenshen were still looking at Madame Morrible in rapt attention. In fact, no one around her seemed to notice anything strange at all.
At first the shift was barely noticeable, but then it became more violent—as if the mural was determined to shake itself free from its perch. It rocked back and forth, slowly at first and then faster, until it came loose from its backing altogether and began to plummet towards the earth.
Straight towards Madame Morrible.
Someone—maybe even Galinda herself—screamed. Madame Morrible broke off midsentence and more students looked up and saw the heavy stone mural plummeting downwards. There were more screams, but Galinda knew with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that it was going to be too little, too late. The rock was hurtling to the earth and there was no time for Madame Morrible to stop it and it was going to fall right on her and crush her and Galinda wished desperately that she had magic so that she could stop it—
But just before the heavy stone could make contact with her, it stopped in midair. Madame Morrible, who had already tensed for impact, looked up. The stone was still hovering above her. The screams died away, to be replaced by whispers instead. For one wild moment Galinda thought she must have cast the spell out of sheer desperation, but then she noticed Elphaba Thropp standing at the back of the quad with her hands raised and her face tense with determination. She didn’t take her eyes off of the mural, her jaw rigid with concentration.
She was keeping the stone upright with nothing but her magic. Galinda’s jaw dropped. She’d never heard of anyone having magic that powerful—apart from Madame Morrible, of course.
Other people had noticed Elphaba’s magic too. The whispers started up again, louder, as Elphaba raised a hand and moved it to the right. The stone mirrored her movement, until she dropped it soundlessly on the edge of the quad where it couldn’t hurt anybody. A long, jagged crack ran through the Wizard’s carved face. For a moment nobody said anything. They all just looked at each other, trying to silently confirm what they had just seen. The oddly defensive girl with the green skin had just used real magic, the kind that had barely been seen in Oz for decades, to perhaps save Madame Morrible’s life.
Madame Morrible recovered quickly, far more quickly than Galinda would have. “Step forward, dearie,” she said, waving her hand. Elphaba took a couple of tentative steps forward, as the crowd shifted to let her through. She seemed to shrink backwards slightly, now that everyone’s eyes were on her. She looked down at the toes of her shiny black boots. “What is your name?”
The girl tried to say something, but it came out unintelligible. She swallowed hard and tried again. “Elphaba. Elphaba Thropp.” There was something about that name that felt familiar, but Galinda couldn’t quite remember why. Surely she and Elphaba had never met before. She would certainly remember meeting someone who was green. Especially someone who was, in all other respects and just if Glinda was being honest with herself, quite pretty.
“Well, Miss Elphaba, that was quite impressive magic,” Madame Morrible purred. Galinda would have killed someone to have Madame Morrible look at her the way she was looking at Elphaba, like she’d stumbled across a treasure she hadn’t even known she was looking for. “How long have you had these abilities?”
Elphaba seemed to shrink on herself under the weight of everyone’s stares. In spite of herself, Galinda almost felt sorry for her. “For as long as I can remember, Madame.”
“How fascinating. Where did you come from, dearie? It’s a wonder that I haven’t heard of you before.” Madame Morrible took a step forward, her heels clicking against the stone dais. “I make a point of being kept apprised of all magical…incidents occurring throughout Oz.” Elphaba didn’t say anything. Galinda watched a muscle work in the base of her delicate throat. “Are you studying Sorcery, dearie?”
“Well, I was planning to study History—”
“Dearie, you simply must join my Sorcery Seminar. It’s the perfect place for your gifts to flourish.”
“Gifts?” Elphaba murmured.
“Of course, dearie. What else could they be?” Madame Morrible asked. She closed the distance between them, her embroidered robes dragging slightly across the ground. One of her hands came to rest on Elphaba’s shoulder. “With powers like these…well, it would be little short of a crime against Oz not to explore them fully.” Elphaba glanced around the quad, like she was looking for someone. “Come and find me after you settle in and I would be happy to enroll you in my class.” She began to walk away, leaving Elphaba stunned and speechless behind her, and Galinda saw her opportunity.
She fell in step next to the sorceress, as conversation began to start up again among the other students. “Madame Morrible, hi.”
Madame Morrible didn’t even look at her. “If this is a question about room assignments—”
“Oh no, thankfully. My parents have promised me a private suite.” At least, Galinda hoped she still had a private suite. Hopefully they wouldn’t make her share a room with the imposter. “My name is Galinda Upland.” She added “Of the upper Uplands,” when the sorceress continued to look at her blankly. “Perhaps you remember my admissions essay? Magic Wands: Need They Have a Point?” Her voice went annoyingly high pitched at the end of the sentence, her nerves leaking out. “I never received my invitation to join Sorcery Seminar. I’m sure there was a mistake, or perhaps the letter got lost in the mail…the bridge next to Wittica was never fully repaired, you know, and so mail can be slow—”
“There was no mistake,” Madame Morrible said. “I never invited you to join.”
Galinda stopped in her tracks and very nearly got left behind, before she hurried to catch up with Madame Morrible, nearly turning her ankle tripping over the turf. Thank Oz Momsie hadn’t let her wear her highest pair of high heels. Surely Galinda had misheard. She’d been proud of her essay. Surely Madame Morrible had recognized its subtle wittiness and Galinda’s very neat handwriting. “Madame Morrible, please wait up—”
But the sorceress didn’t so much as look over her shoulder disdainfully at Galinda. “I’m afraid I don’t teach my seminar every semester, dearie,” she replied. “However, if someone very special were to come along…” Her eyes flickered back to Elphaba, who was talking with a curly haired girl in a wheelchair. Perhaps they were sisters, even though the girl in the chair was a perfectly normal color.
Galinda’s stomach twisted and she stopped in her tracks. She’d wanted to be a sorceress longer than she had wanted anything, since before she knew what wanting even meant. She’d known that she didn’t have much…natural ability, but she’d always figured magic was something that could be taught. Surely she could learn to excel at it.
Surely Madame Morrible would want to teach her.
But Madame Morrible was walking away, not even looking back at her. And in that moment, Galinda felt a swell of something that felt suspiciously like hatred, aimed at Elphaba Thropp.
Undeterred, Galinda decided to follow her. Surely she’d be able to reason with Madame Morrible. She didn’t so much as look at the room assignments that were being unveiled; she already knew she would have her own suite. But there was a problem; now Elphaba and her sister were talking to Miss Coddle, their brows furrowed. Madame Morrible went over to investigate too—probably looking after her star pupil, Galinda thought.
“There must be some mistake,” Elphaba was saying as Galinda drew closer. “We submitted the housing applications months in advance.”
“Yes, well. It seems that your room assignment was…misplaced,” Miss Coddle said, wringing her hands together. “We have assigned Miss Nessarose a room. Not you.”
“Then we can still share—”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Even with the…accommodations for Miss Nessarose’s room, it’s still not big enough for two beds.”
“It’s no matter, dearie.” Madame Morrible turned to the rest of the student body. “Students, who would like to—”
Galinda’s hand was in the air before her mind could catch up.
“Miss Galinda, how good of you,” Madame Morrible said, as Galinda wondered what, in fact, she had signed herself up for. “Miss Elphaba, you can share a room with Miss Galinda.”
Galinda froze. “No. Oh no. Madame Morrible, there’s been a mistake—” But the sorceress turned away, not even listening to her. Galinda turned, accidentally meeting Elphaba’s eyes. She was somewhat gratified to see that her new roommate looked just as disgusted as Galinda felt.
She saw the imposter stagger out from between two buildings. For a moment Galinda thought she was limping, but she was too far away to be sure. She swiped her sleeve across her nose—most unladylike, Galinda thought, and certainly more proof that she wasn’t an Upland—but by the time she made her way over to them she had regained her composure. She looked over the room assignments. There she was, Glinda Upland, in the private suite next to Galinda’s.
Now it was Elphaba’s turn to stare at them. Galinda felt her lips purse. “What?” she snapped. “You’ve never seen identical twins before?” Even though Glinda wasn’t anything of the sort. Just a nuisance. And wasn’t she supposed to be gone by now?
“Galinda!” the imposter hissed. “How rude.” She turned back to Elphaba and gave her a smile that Galinda had never seen her give anyone else. It transformed her entire face, softening all of her hard edges and making her dark eyes shine. “I apologize for my sister’s behavior. I’m Glinda Upland. Without a guh.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Glinda,” Elphaba said. Her face had gone all soft too. When her hand closed around Glinda’s, the imposter seemed to stand a little taller like someone had shot a little current of electricity directly into her veins.
Interesting, Galinda thought.
“I’m Elphaba Thropp,” Elphaba continued. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” the imposter said in a breathy voice that made Galinda want to punch her.
Just then, a woman with long blonde hair braided neatly down her back wearing an impeccably tailored light pink pantsuit walked around the corner and Galinda saw Elphaba’s shoulders sag with relief. “Amsie!” she called, waving her over.
The woman quickened her pace and came over to them. Elphaba’s younger sister, Nessarose, joined them too. “What is it, darlings?” she asked.
“There was a mix up with the rooms,” Nessarose said. “They didn’t have a room for Elphaba.”
The woman’s face fell. “But how can that be? We sent those forms in months ago.”
“That’s what I told them,” Elphaba said. “But they’ve stuck me with her.” She jerked her thumb at Galinda.
“Well, I don’t particularly want you encroaching on my private space either,” Galinda snapped, not to be outdone.
The woman sighed. “Oh dear. I had hoped your first meeting would have gone a little bit better.”
“Well, they aren’t really our cousins,” Nessarose said. “We’re Thropps. Not Uplands.”
Cousins? “What in Oz are you talking about?” Galinda asked. “And who are you?”
Now everyone except for the imposter was looking at her like she’d lost her mind. For once, Glinda looked just as confused. “I’m your aunt, darling,” the woman said.
“We don’t have an aunt,” Galinda said automatically. Well, they did have an aunt—her father’s older sister—but she had died before Galinda was born. Popsicle had never told her why. He didn’t talk about his sister much at all, actually. Galinda had only seen a couple of pictures of her, a pretty girl with Galinda’s hair and eyes.
Come to think of it, this woman looked a lot like the woman in the picture, just twenty years older. She hardly even had any wrinkles.
The woman’s brow furrowed. “Galinda, are you feeling quite well? I’m your aunt Amaryllis. I’ve known you since the day you were born. You always say I’m your favorite aunt—I’m your only aunt too, but that’s beside the point.”
The imposter stepped down, hard, on Galinda’s foot. “You’ll have to excuse her, auntie,” she said through gritted teeth. “I believe Galinda has had a little too much sun today.”
Galinda wasn’t sure who infuriated her more: the imposter or Elphaba.
“How do you know our aunt?” Glinda asked Elphaba.
Elphaba looked down at her (eminently sensible) black boots. Nessarose spoke up instead. “She…raised us.”
Was Galinda supposed to know about this too? She thought she’d remember her nonexistent aunt having a green child.
Her supposed aunt’s cheeks flushed. “Well yes, that’s one word for it. I suspect others would see it more as a kidnapping.”
“We asked you to kidnap us,” Elphaba replied. “That’s not really kidnapping.”
“This is why I couldn’t introduce them to you, you see,” Amaryllis said. “We had to ensure their father didn’t come after them. But now Miss Nessarose is legally an adult, so there’s no worry about that happening.” Galinda exchanged a look with the imposter, who luckily looked just as confused as she felt. “I understand this is a lot to drop on you girls. I wasn’t expecting you to meet each other quite so soon. Perhaps being roommates is a good thing, Elphaba. You’ll be able to get to know the girls better.”
“They’re not our cousins,” Elphaba muttered. She glared at Galinda. Galinda glared right back.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you both,” Nessarose chirped. “I’m Nessarose. But you can call me Nessa.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Nessa,” the imposter said. Galinda didn’t say anything. For the first time she noticed her aunt was wearing the same hat that all the other professors were wearing.
But before she could ask any more questions, the imposter grabbed her elbow and steered her away. “We need to talk,” she said, then raised her voice to say “We’ll be back soon to help unpack, Auntie.” She steered Galinda into a walled garden adjoining the quad.
As soon as she could, Galinda shook herself free. “Since when do we have an aunt? And why are you still here?”
Glinda glared at her. “I don’t know why we have an aunt. This isn’t right. This isn’t what was supposed to happen.” She started to pace, worrying at a loose thread in her uniform jacket.
“I thought you were supposed to be gone by now.”
“I was!” she snapped. “But Elphaba messed everything up. So now I’m stuck here.”
“You’re stuck here,” Galinda repeated, dearly hoping she had simply heard wrong.
Glinda sighed. “Yes. Stuck. I can’t leave until my mission is accomplished.”
“What’s your mission?” She didn’t say anything else. Typical. Galinda looked down and noticed a patch of blood on the imposter’s sleeve, near the cuff. “What is that?” she asked, pointing.
The imposter snatched her arm away. She turned her back on Galinda and started to walk away, her shoulders rigid, holding her elbows against her chest.
“You know, if you’re going to stay here you have to pick a different name!” Galinda called. “You can’t just steal mine. It’s very unkind!”
But if the imposter heard her, she gave no sign.
Galinda sighed. This was already shaping up to be one terror of a year.