'NOT IN OZ ANYMORE'

HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO CRY BUT NO TEARS CAME OUT, so you just stare blankly into space whilst feeling your heart break into pieces?

Glinda had never experienced that before. In the past whenever she was even remotely upset friends and family had instantly surround her, prepared to shower her in love and affection. Now, she had no such comforts, as she lay in an unfamiliar bed. Even the silky duvet and plush cushions, which under any other circumstances would have had her gushing, offered no consolation. Her eyes were unblinking and her eye bags sunken in, a stark contrast to the radiant glow she usually displayed.

The girl felt so unbelievably, unbearably alone.

After Elphaba fled, Madame Morrible had held her close and guided her through the elegant halls of the emerald castle, whispering sweet promises of prosperity and power into her ear all the way, like a serpent luring in its prey.

A mere few hours ago that may have worked, but now? Now that she knew of the horrors, the secrets, and the lies that lay behind closed doors? Now she wasn't so sure.

Elphaba, her Elphaba, had been stripped of rights and forced to flee. All because she stood up for what she believed in, because she had a sense of morals. Glinda used to think she had morals too, used to think of herself as kind. But if she were so kind then why did she remain within these walls, why stay here after all that these people put her best friend through?

After everything Elphaba had done for her, from giving her a chance to see the wizard, to convincing Morrible to give her a wand-.

Oh, that was right.

She has a wand.

What if she could perform a spell, some sort of transportation spell to take herself and Elphaba to safety? Granted the last time she tried to use her wand it ended in failure, but that didn't mean it wasn't worth a try.

Right?

»--•--«

It was official, the wand didn't work.

If it had before it definitely didn't anymore, not now that it had been thrown into a wall, stomped on, hit against a desk, and bitten.

Needless to say, it had been a waste of time.

"Stupid wand," Glinda complained, waving her arms around in frustration, "Stupid Wizard, stupid morrible, stupid- ugh," she cut herself off, letting out a groan as she thrust her arms downwards.

Imagine her surprise when a single bubble floated out of the wand.

"What in the name of Oz?" She blinked a few times before rubbing her eyes, almost certain that she must be hallucinating. Glancing around in slight confusion, Glinda slowly approached the lone bubble, reaching out towards it and gently tapping it. It burst upon contact, wetting her finger slightly, but also confirming that it was in fact real.

She had been trying for hours to cast a spell, with no luck. So what was it she had done differently this time?

Cautiously, she repeated her previous actions, thrusting her arms downwards, whilst once again letting out a groan.

Nothing.

Maybe it wasn't about what she said, but about what she had been thinking? When the bubble appeared her thoughts had been consumed by images of Elphaba, by how scared and alone she must be, and how important it was for her to escape the castle so they could be reunited.

She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing in on all these thoughts whilst waving her arm around. Upon opening her eyes, she let out a shriek as she once again came face to face with a bubble, this one significantly bigger than the last.

It was taller than her, wider too. Probably large enough to hold a few people.

With that thought in mind she glanced towards the door, double checking that nobody had intruded, before once again approaching the bubble.

Taking a deep breath, and shaking her shoulders slightly as though to prepare herself, she bent her knees and ran full speed towards it.

A terrible idea, she knew, but one which worked out for the best as the bubble absorbed her inside of it. It felt as though her body was being pushed through jelly, and her entire figure began to feel cold. It was a bone chilling cold, one which froze her very core.

Choosing to persevere, she kept pushing through until she was fully inside, only for the bubble to then start its path towards the very closed window.

"Oh god," she said when she realised what was happening, "Oh god! Oh god!" she kept repeating whilst desperately banging on the bubble in an attempt to escape, she already looked horrendous as it was, she didn't need to add more injuries from being crushed against a wall.

A few seconds passed and she gave up, now only centimetres from the wall. Fearing the worst, she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact.
Only the impact..never came?

Peeking one eye open, she let out an ear-piercing shriek after making the disturbing discovery that she was flying. She was literally in the air, if the bubble broke she would surely die.

"Don't look down Glinda, don't look down." she repeated trying to force herself to look up, "Oh who am I kidding." she sighed, her gaze shifting towards her feet, another scream tearing its way out of her throat upon realising just how high up she was.

She could see the entirety of Oz, every little street, building, village, she could see it all and the fear quickly turned into awe.

It was whilst admiring the view that she spotted a certain green witch soaring through the sky, causing her to squeal excitedly and jump up and down as she pointed toward her, shouting Elphaba's name.

However, she then came to the realisation that she had no idea how to steer the bubble.

Her first idea was to do the same thing she had done to conjure it, close her eyes, wave her wand around, and hope for the best. Unfortunately, it seemed that luck wasn't on her side, by the time she opened her eyes nothing had changed.

"Umm, Mr. Bubble, Sir? Would it be possible to go a little more to the north?" she tried. Still nothing. If anything the bubble had began drifting in the opposite direction, more towards the south.

"Wha- I asked politely and everything!" she complained, becoming increasingly frustrated by the bubble moving further away from Oz, and more importantly further away from Elphaba.

"Hey, wait, no!" she whined, "This is the complete opposite of what i said, you have no sense of direction!"

Suddenly, the bubble wasn't slowly drifting anymore, instead going full speed in the wrong direction. She flew over the entirety of Oz, and all the surrounding kingdoms, in about two seconds and it didn't stop there.

The bubble kept going, her begs and pleas falling upon death ears. After about a minute of hyper speed, the bubble came to a sudden stop. Sending her face first into the other side of it, and causing her to let out a groan of pain.

"Woah.." Looking around she was met with swirling hazes of purple and blue, small stars dotted throughout.

All at once, several different portals opened up. Each one leading to different locations.

Some appeared to lead to hilltop landscapes, others to lands of fire and ash.

Agonisingly slowly, the bubble drifted towards one. This one in particular seemed horrifying.

Not because it was filled with lava like some others, though in her mind it was equally as bad. No, this portal led to a pitch black forest, one which was unfamiliar and daunting.

Not to mention the fact she was wearing brand new heels.

The bubble didn't seem to concern itself with that too much though. For the moment it passed the portals border she was dropped onto the mud, the bubble disappearing not a moment later.

"I have a feeling i'm not in Oz anymore."

A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS!! a bit of a short chapter but i wanted to get something out as a holiday treat<3

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!

Words: 1379
Originally published: December 25th 2024