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Elphaba’s first memory is reading the words of the Grimmerie.
Her father, The Wizard, was astonished by her power and sat her down to share a secret she was sworn to keep with her life.
His magic was passed down to her and he could no longer read the Grimmerie. Its power had chosen Elphaba, his blood successor, his heir.
But the people could not know that she had this power. If they did, they would target her, try to use her for her magic, and powerless, there would be nothing her father could do to protect her.
The people of Oz needed someone to look to, to guide them, to inspire hope.
And Elphaba? She was just one girl. She wasn’t like her father, effortlessly charismatic and extroverted with a silver tongue and the perfect words for every occasion. The source of wisdom for Oz, its benevolent and all powerful wizard. She couldn’t be that. Not now. Maybe not ever.
So, they spun a ruse. Her father pretended he still had his power and she performed the magic for him, and in return he kept her safe, kept her away from the prying eyes of the cruel world. They would never understand her, with the magic she could never reveal and… her green skin.
Father told her that her green skin was a gift. She was an embodiment of the Emerald City, her greenness marking her for as special, as chosen.
Which is why she would never survive out there. Because just seeing her green skin would signify her power, and people fear what they don’t understand and what they can’t control.
Elphaba isn’t some poor maiden locked in a tower. Their home with its winding halls and many rooms was like a city of its own.
She was able to hide her true skin with a temporary charm, but it only worked for a passing glance. If you look too hard, if you pay too much attention, you’ll see something isn’t right about her looks.
She hungers for connection. For someone to know her and for her to know them as well.
There’s a girl who she saw pass through the Emerald City in a yellow dress, so different than the sea of green that she’s accustomed to, with the most beautiful smile that reached her beautiful eyes, and Elphaba knew from that moment that she was smitten.
The girl in the yellow dress was with a boy in blue. He had a charming grin and mischievous eyes. When they kissed, they melted in each other’s embraces, pulling away but never quite pulling away from the other’s touch, hands always intertwined or his arm looped around her waist. Elphaba was smitten with him too.
Yellow and blue. Blue and yellow. Not green but the two colors that make it.
But Elphaba will never get to speak to the girl in the yellow dress and the boy in blue.
She doesn’t know how she could fit with them. Green, green, green.