debut: Elphaba

[no_good_deed]

"Fiyero?"

The word echoed around the room in a wholly unsettling way - this was not Kiamo Ko, nor was it any place Elphaba had ever seen before in her life. It had the cold, unsettling feel of some of the clockwork alleys she had peeked down in the Emerald City, but there was nothing green here. Well, except for her.

Pacing solved nothing, nor did her attempts to force her way past the invisible door trapping her inside. The words that usually sprang more or less fully-formed to her lips were shy here, refusing to issue forth no matter how hard she probed for them, and eventually she had to concede defeat. Tucking her knees to her chest she sat and waited, a deep and unsettling gnawing in the pit of her stomach. This had to be the work of the Wizard, she just knew it.

***

When she was suddenly transported out of the cell Elphaba thought at first that perhaps Glinda had found her, rescued her, but there was no sign of the bubbly blonde in the wide-open room where she was. More chicanery from the Wizard, then, most likely.

She hadn't gotten far in her investigations before a noise to one side startled her, and she turned to glare in its general direction, wary of tricks and illusions.

"Show yourself," she said flatly. "I know you're there."

Comments

[salsacaliente]

So this appeared to be where the accommodation was. Elphaba made her way down the long corridor - a few rooms seemed to open with coaxing (that is to say, having their button panel prodded and poked), though the majority were locked and gave only an indignant beep at such ministrations. At length, she reached one that at first beeped, and then slid open to reveal a young woman standing on the other side.

"Yeah?" she said at first in a bored tone of greeting, before seeming to register who was standing before her, eyes widening. She took a step back.

"You have to be frickin' kidding me - Elphaba? Seriously?"

[no_good_deed]

The witch took a sizeable step backwards herself, arms crossing over her chest defensively. "Who are you?" she demanded. "And how do you know who I am?" A few people seemed to know of Oz, and one even of her by reputation, but no one had volunteered her name so readily thus far - and now she was suspicious.

The girl was grinning from ear to ear now, clearly delighted. "Girl, you are like my idol - seriously, I would never have admitted to it in school because Rachel Broadway Berry and Kurt Hopeful Hummel were all over Wicked like a nasty itchy rash, but if there was one person I could have made a wish to appear in this freakshow of a place, you would be it. You're a legend."

Elphaba blinked. A legend? Someone's idol? She'd never heard terms like that applied to herself before and for a moment she felt a heady rush. Then she remembered reality and frowned, shaking her head in confusion. "I don't understand. Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

"Oh, okay, right, right, so we're all from different universes and we're all like fictional stuff in other people's universes. So for me you're a character in a Broadway show, except here you're just as real as I am. Apparently," the other woman said with a roll of her eyes and a wave of her hand. "Anyway. I'm Santana."

"What's a broadway show?"

"Oh, like, a musical? It's a story, on stage, like, a play. But with songs in. Do you... remember breaking into song on a semi-regular basis?" Santana cleared her throat and fired out a couple of lines:

It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity...

"No. There's no way you could... that's impossible." The green woman looked almost frightened now, though Santana could tell she was desperately trying to hide that fact from her. "You're saying someone's made a... a play of my life?"

Santana made a face, tipping her head from side to side. "... Not exactly. But close enough. Not in your world, though, so it's not like people in Oz are going to see it."

"They tell enough stories about me there," Elphaba said bitterly, "I doubt it could be any worse." Of course the propaganda about her would have spread to other worlds - she didn't know why she felt so surprised. Or disappointed.

"Oh, they're assholes, don't worry about them. You're totally misunderstood. I can relate."

The witch eyed the girl up and down - she looked as normal as any Munchkinlander, making her claim difficult to believe. "You can?"

"Sure. I mean, I wasn't quite elevated to public enemy number one status, but I was misunderstood in my own little way," Santana said, leaning against the door frame. "Though I'm pretty sure having magic would've taken the sting out a little," she added with a smirk.

"Magic only makes people fear you more," Elphaba snapped, not appreciating the girl's glib attitude. "It's hardly a blessing."

"Sure, fair enough, I guess in your case it wasn't much of a perk," Santana mused.

"It doesn't matter here anyway - all magic is dampened."

"Oh, huh. Right, yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Elphaba furrowed her brow. "You didn't know?"

"Hm? Oh sure, but I didn't know how it would work for you - I mean, you have spells and stuff, right? So..." Santana trailed off with a shrug.

"Right." There was a long, almost deliberately awkward pause before Elphaba spoke again. "I should go. I've obviously interrupted you in your... home."

"Oh, any time, seriously," Santana said. Then, after a slight hesitation. "You need a hand? You looking for a room?"

"I don't know which of these are taken. It's like Shiz all over again..." Elphaba blinked. "There aren't roommates, are there?"

"Hah, no, although... mm, nevermind, c'mon, I'll help you find a free one - I'd say stay around here but some new kid just moved in opposite me..."