Chapter Text
Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West, the green one, was treated as a monster, a villain, her whole life. She was never a witch; just a woman with a heart for animals. Her father, the governor of Munchkinland, treated her like a servant or a burden ever since she was born. Elphaba was born with green skin; many of the nurses, including the governor, were filled with shock and fear. His wife had a look of guilt and fear. He demanded that Dulcibear take Elphaba away from the room; he couldn't even look at her without feeling fear. Dulcibear was the only one who truly loved Elphaba, green skin and all. She raised Elphaba as one of her own.
Soon, the governor and his wife were expecting another child, but the fear that the baby would be green like Elphaba gripped her father. He made his wife chew on milkflowers day and night to make it so their second child was normal. Except, the milkflowers made the baby come too early. Elphaba had gained a little sister named Nessarose, but sadly, her mother never woke up from the delivery. And Nessa's little legs weren't fully formed to the point where she could never walk. Nessa had been in a wheelchair her whole life; Elphaba loved her sister, but he father treated Nessa like she was a treasure while Elphaba was treated like a curse.
As she grew, so did her challenges. Her father enrolled Nessarose in a school called Shiz, but he didn't enroll Elphaba. She went with them to help Nessarose get settled in; Elphaba attracted a lot of attention with her green skin, including a pink, perky blonde named Galinda Upland. Everyone fawned over Galinda like sheep and would always say how good she was. Nessarose was leaving for the orientation, but the governor insisted that Elphaba go join her and make sure she was settled. Elphaba tried to voice her opinion, but her father just told her to stop jabbering and do what he said.
But during one of Elphaba's emotional magic outbursts, she levitated Nessarose away from Miss Coddle, the head Shiztress, and everyone saw her do this. But Madam Morrible, the Dean of Magical Studies, made everyone believe that the whole thing was her. Madam Morrible took Elphaba on as her only student and even convinced the governor to let Elphaba enroll in the school. Miss Morrible made Elphaba a big promise: to meet the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz. She would have to room with Galina in her pirate suite, which was not fun. They both secretly hated each other.
They couldn't stand each other; from Galinda's number of bags, fighting over a desk in class, the whispers, and laughing. But what got Galina the most was watching Elphaba and Madam Morrible talking. During history class with Dr Dillamond, a goat professor was talking about the past when animals could speak or teach at schools. Elphaba answered most of his questions, and she understood Dr Dillamond better than the other students. But when Dr Dillamond flipped his blackboard, the whole class went into whispers and mutters. On the back of the billboard in big red letters was a message, "Animals should be seen and not heard."
Those words struck a cord in Dr. Dillamond; he dismissed the class early, but only Elphaba stayed behind to help him. The two of them became good friends. Later at night, Elphaba was leaving her magic lesson when she saw Dr. Dillamond leaving the school. She followed him and found him in a building talking to other animals; telling them that animals were disappearing and losing the ability to speak. Elphaba entered the house, hoping to get answers about the animals losing their ability to speak or leaving Oz. She could tell that Dr. Dillamond knew more about this, but she didn't push for it.
The next day, a new student, Fiyero, a man who seems to dance through life came to the school. Fiyero had convinced the whole school to sneak out to the Ozdust Ballroom. He met Elphaba on her walk by but she wasn't fangirling over him like everyone else was. Galinda managed to get her flirty claws into Fiyero. She even gave Elphaba a black witches hat that her granny gave her as a gift. When she only did it to humiliate Elphaba at the Ozdust Ballroom. But what shocked Galinda was that Madam Morrible had shown up and gave her a training wand since Elphaba asked her to enroll Galinda in with their lessons.
Galina felt guilt once Elphaba had arrived wearing her best dress and the hat. Everyone muttered, laughed and mocked her when she entered the dance floor. But Elphaba started dancing as if the world was silent but in reality, she was heartbroken. Galinda joined her on the dance floor with Elphaba as a way to make things up to her. The girls ended up getting everyone to do Elphaba's dance which made them become friends. When they returned to the dorm room, Galinda planned to make Elphaba more popular but not as popular as she was. The girls formed a good bond with each other.
Sadly like all good things in Elphaba's life, it was only temporary. Dr. Dillamond was forcefully removed from the school since animals are no longer permitted to teach. A subbsitute was brought in and he brough a terrified lion cub in a cage. Elphaba was the only one in the class who could tell that the lion cub was scared. Before she could even finish her sentence, her powers kicked in. Levitating the poppies she planned to give Dr Dillamond and the pollen spread across the classroom putting everyone except herself and Fiyero to sleep. Fiyero helped free to lion cub and the two of them took him to the forest.
Elphaba could feel her slow burn crush on Fiyero but she knew that Galinda was the girl for him, and not herself. A few days later, Madam Morrible called for Elphaba to come to the quad; the wizard had replied to her letter. Everyone gathered as Elphaba read the letter that the Wizard of Oz was inviting her to the Emerald City to meet him. She was overjoyed; her dream was coming true. The whole school came with her to the train station to wish her good luck. Fiyero and her talked a bit but Galina could tell that Fiyero was liking her more. She even changed her name to Glina in honor of Dr. Dillamond.
Elphaba boarded the train but as it was leaving, she asked Glina to come with her to see the wizard. Glinda didn't want to impose but she jumped onto the train. The train pulled into the Emerald City; both Glinda and Elphaba were in awe of the city. They had a little time to kill before meeting the wizard and they had so much to see in one short day. They both roam the streets of the city, got their nails done, and even watch the theater troupe do a play about the story of the Wizard Of Oz. Soon Glinda and Elphaba reached the palace and were told that the wizard shall see them.
They walked down a long hallway passed the emerald guard, monkeys in armor. They came to a room where they were greeted by a giant mechanical head that scared them. But a little man stepped out from behind the curtain, the wizard of oz himself. Elphaba was stunned to meet him; he showed them a model of all of Oz and even a road he planned to make. The guy was a sentimental man who loved everyone in Oz as his own children. Elphaba told him about her hearts desire; to help the animals. He promised he was gonna help; even Madam Morrible came to see Elphaba's big moment.
They gathered around the Grimmerie, a book of ancient magic and spells that no one but the wizard could read. The book opened for Elphaba, she somehow understood the language. The wizard suggested a spell for his head of the guard, Chistery who longed to fly. Elphaba started chanting a spell but the spell did more harm than good. Chistery was howling in pain as wings and feather sprouted from his back and allover his arms and legs. Glinda, Madam Morrible and the wizard were in awe but Elphaba could see the pain Chistery was in. She asked for a way to reverse the spell but Madam Morrible stated that a spell from the grimmerie can't be reversed.
Elphaba could hear all of theother monkeys howling and screaming in pain from the wings sprouting on their backs. The wizard and Madam Morrible didn't seem to care now that they had their spies in the sky. Elphaba came to a shocking realization; the wizard was behind all of it, turning people against the animals, the animals going missing, the cages, everything. And Madam Morrible knew from the start. The wizard claimed that this was the best way to bring people together; by giving them a common enemy. Elphaba felt her angry bubbling; she figured that the wizard could have made the spies himself.
But when she demanded that he read from the grimmerie, he just looked at her. Elphaba felt her whole world crashing down; the wizard that she heard stories about, was a fake. She realized that the reason why he need the mechanical head, the spies, herself, and an enemy; he had no real power. The wizard tried to buy Elphaba to stay by offering her and Glinda a home here in his palace. Glinda bought into it, but Elphaba refused to serve a horrible man. She took the grimmerie and ran from the wizard's room. Glinda ran after her, but the wizard and Madam Morrible spread lies that Elphaba was the real villain.
Elphaba kept running; everything she was taught, the people she trusted, it was all a lie. She realized that people only wanted her for her power. She found a room that was under construction and shut the door, making sure to barricade the door with a broom. She could hear Madam Morrible announcing to all of Oz that Elphaba was the enemy for mutating the monkeys and stealing the grimmerie. Madam Morrible made it so that everyone believed that she was a monster, a wicked witch. Elphaba realized that her dreams had changed; she was not the same naive girl. She was ready to leave Oz.
Elphaba found a shawl and wrapped it around her body. She then took out the grimmerie and casted the flying spell again. Only she felt no wings form on her body. Instead, the broom she used to block the door came to life. She heard the guards and Glinda coming; without thinking, she jumped out the window but she was falling. She struggled to calm herself until a reflection in one of the buildings windows showed herself as a little girl. Elphaba then managed to grab her broom and then she started to fly. She had done it, she was defying gravity but now all of Oz feared her and claimed that she needs to be destroyed.
Elphaba fled to the forest; she stayed for a few days but she knew that Oz wasn't her home anymore. She found a few animals that still had the power to speak, including to her surprise, Dulcibear. She helped them gather supplies and built a boat. She used the flying spell again on the ship to help transport all of the animals. Soon, they left Oz for good. Elphaba made sure that all of the animals were taken care of. They looked up to her as their leader. After about a few weeks, the boat landed on an uncharted island. A beautiful island that had no civilization. Elphaba knew that right here, this was their new home.
And this was only the beginning.