Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Highmuster and Larena Upland had the perfect life. They were adored by the people of Frottica and wider Gillikin alike, had friends who they cherished and a house they’d diligently curated into their ideal family home. So when, after a rather smooth sailing pregnancy, Larena gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby girl, they were convinced they had been blessed by the Unnamed God themself. 

They named her Galinda, in hopes that the Unnamed God would once again cast favour over them and bless her with unrivalled goodness and serenity. 

As she grew, happy and bubbly as a young child should be, they became more and more convinced that the life they were leading had no faults. The village that adored them, were even more fond of their daughter. They cooed and fawned over her when they would stroll down the main street, swinging her back and forth between them, little giggles erupting from the tiny blonde at each repeated up and down. They would be praised for how polite she was, full of pleases and thank yous when she was old enough to have more than ‘mama’ and ‘papa’ in her vocabulary. She made friends wherever she went; the other children were drawn to her and accompanying adults were charmed by her dimpled smile and wobbly curtsy.

Their little girl was the epitome of perfection, and they couldn't be happier.

But of course, every family has their secrets. As Galinda grew older, nearing 9 summers, her parents began noticing their daughter changing in the most peculiar of ways. At first, they’d notice her ears were a little rounder, more pronounced than they’d been when she’d woken up that morning. It wouldn’t last for long, just long enough for a doting parent to notice. Then it was her teeth, her canines just a touch sharper and pronounced than they ought to be. Little peculiarities would appear and disappear with each passing day, never lingering but unsettling nonetheless for a family so used to normal . They reassured Galinda, calming her fears as best they could when something changed a bit too noticeably. Time spent with friends was carefully planned around the peculiar events, both Larena and Highmuster doing all they could to protect their child from the looks and whispers they knew followed in the wake of anything that didn’t quite fit in with predetermined expectations.

They knew there were traces of magic in Larena’s family tree, but it had dwindled down to nothing with each passing generation; that Galinda might be the first to show any sign of magical talent since Larena’s great-great-grandmother had never crossed their minds. 

That is, of course, until the oddities began to escalate with each passing year, building and building, culminating in what the Uplands would swear to be the most traumatic day of their lives so far. 

They’d woken the morning of Galinda’s 12th birthday to singing birds and warm sun bathing the room in a gentle glow. That was the first sign something was wrong. Each year, they had been woken by the sound of an overly excited child, the bed thrown into chaos as she’d leap between them and pull them from their dreams, gleefully announcing that it was finally tomorrow and, more importantly, her birthday. 

The silence that rang loudly throughout the house was worrying, but not too concerning. Galinda had been tired the previous night, exhausted from a day spent bouncing around with her friends playing in the nearby meadows. It was entirely plausible that the young girl was still fast asleep, safely tucked in between the mountain of pillows she insisted were ‘absolutely necessary’, her big brown eyes impossible to say no to. 

Larena led the way as they left their bedroom, passing walls lined with smiling pictures, the couple making their way to the glossy white door at the end of the hall. Tiny pink flowers had been doodled in fine lines, spreading from the base of the door, sprouting upwards as far as the small girl had been able to reach with her outstretched arm. 

When the door handle was slowly turned, the door pushed open slowly, the peaceful morning was shattered in an instant.

Their daughter’s eyes looked back at them from her bed, filled with a terror that similarly flooded her parents' bodies when they caught sight of her. They were her eyes, most assuredly, but the rest of the picture they were looking at was so very not.  

The larger, curved ears they’d seen come and go were pressed down flat. Sharp teeth were gleaming from between curled lips. Claws dug deeper and deeper into the covers beneath paws, tiny holes spreading into longer tears in the soft fabric. A long tail tipped with curled fluff was tucked between back legs. 

The Lion cub that hissed and growled back at them from the foot of the bed was undoubtedly Galinda - a very scared, potentially dangerous Galinda. 

“Galinda?” Larena whispered. She remained still, as unthreatening as possible. Behind her, Highmuster was muttering under his breath, something she couldn’t quite hear, but the steadying hand on her lower back was sure, offering the support she needed.

The cub flinched backwards, hisses trailing off as she stumbled over her paws. Ungainly limbs caught on the covers, sending her flopping down onto her front with a yowl. 

“Oh sweetie,” Larena rushed forward towards the bed, tears falling when her knees hit the floor and the lion scrambled backwards into the pillows. “It’s ok. It’s ok honey, it’s me. It’s Momsie.” 

There was a noticeable tremble rippling through their daughter, shaking and shuddering as dark brown eyes flicked from her mother, to her father, and down to her paws. Her lips uncurled, opening and closing with no sound.

“Can- can you speak? Can you say something for us?” Highmuster had moved slowly to stand behind her, bending down to crouch next to Larena. The cub’s mouth continued to open and close, the distress in her eyes growing as the lack of sound persisted. Eventually, a squeak escaped that quickly turned into a mangled mix of a meow and an indecipherable word. 

Her parents smiled as tears continued to fall, “That’s it, try again sweetie.” Her mom coaxed, resting a hand on the bedspread halfway towards the shaking cub. 

“M-mmm-momsie.” Letters still jumbled, they only just managed to make out what the lion was trying to say.

Larena couldn’t hold back her sob, lifting her spare hand to stifle the sorrowful sound, “Yes, yes honey, it’s me, we’re here.” 

Beside her, Highmuster took steadying breaths, ever the pillar of strength and courage his family needed him to be, “You need to try and calm down Galinda, can you do that for us?”

Their daughter's eyes welled up with tears that would never fall in this form, mouth struggling to form comprehensible words, “H-help.” 

“We’re going to try. We’ll figure this out.” It was a vow, a promise, one he hoped to the Unnamed God he would be able to keep. 

Slowly, Galinda crept forward on her stomach, reaching for the hand still resting on the covers. With a nudge of her nose, Larena slowly lifted her arm, trying to stop the trembling as her fingers brushed over golden fur. 

“We’re here honey, we’ve got you.” 

The family remained locked away in Galinda’s room for the remainder of the day, Larena and Highmuster eventually able to make their way onto the bed with their daughter where she curled up into the smallest ball her new form could make. Her parents continuously stroked calming paths down her back, tension easing when the constant shaking they’d felt at their hands began to slow, gradually easing off as the girl slipped into an uneasy sleep. 

They shared a look, brows pulled into deeply concerned frowns through silent conversations. Their daughter had magic, that much was clear. How it presented however, was not something they’d ever read or heard about, and they both knew they were not equipped to help Galinda as they’d have wanted. 

When the cub gave way to the little girl later that night, it caught them all off guard. Galinda had instantly burst into tears, and was quickly gathered up by her parents, hugged with all the love they could give. 

A part of them hoped that it was a one off, an anomaly, but as more time passed and more mornings were spent with a lion in place of a young girl, they grew weary and reclusive. They didn’t spend as much time outside amidst the cheery villagers, and when they did, those they encountered never failed to comment on the missing smile on Galinda’s face. Life was no longer the blessed existence it once had been, instead, the couple took comfort in each other’s arms as they spent long nights researching and planning and looking for anything that might offer guidance or hope for Galinda. 

With whispers of tensions between Animals and the rest of Oz, they were well aware of the potential danger others becoming aware of this ‘talent’ presented. By the time summer came around the following year, just before Galinda’s 13th birthday, they were at their wits end. They’d tried everything, followed every lead with even a slither of potential. 

The whispers had started slowly at first, rumours of favourable weather sweeping in from nowhere. Then it was Great Winds being halted in their paths, vulnerable villages spared disastrous fates. It came to them through the grapevine, news that the Wizard had taken an advisor, a Sorceress with great power, capable of such magnificent feats, who would be working with him to better the land of Oz. It was this news that led to them reaching out, writing a letter to the woman in hopes that she would hear their plea and offer guidance. 

Dear Madame Morrible, 

We write to you on this splendiferous day hoping this letter reaches you in good health. 

My wife and I have heard word of your thrillifying feats of magic, there is no doubt that rumours of your talents have spread far and wide throughout Oz, and that we are not alone in writing to you as we are. I must plead with you, however, beg if I must, that you continue reading with an open mind. 

You see, my family has been blessed with a child, a beautiful child. She is our light, our hope and our dreams. It is with her in mind, that I find the strength to bury my pride and ask for help. 

Recently, we discovered a talent she possesses that we are most confusified by. There is magic, far back in Larena’s family tree that we thought had long since faded out. It would seem we were incorrect in our belief, as Galinda, our daughter, appears to have… an affinity for it, if you will. 

For the last few years, we have borne witness to her unwittingly exploring this affinity. She is unable to control it, however, and the consequences of this are painful to observe as a parent as it only grows in magnitude. She is scared, as any child would be to not have control of their body, wishing to stay in a form she knows and wants. We have tried to guide her as much as we are able, but neither myself or my wife are knowledgeable in the art of Sorcery. 

It is with this in mind, and the heaviest of hearts, that we must ask you to take on this burden. Her 13th summer is quickly approaching and we fear that she will continue retreating from the bright light we know her to be if we cannot offer hope. 

Please, we beg you, come and meet her. If you are able to teach her, help her learn to control her magic, we would be forever in your debt. 

Yours most sincerely, 

Highmuster and Larena Upland 

(Of the Upper Uplands)

The weeks that followed were tense with anticipation for the couple, one convinced they would hear back, the other trying valiantly to hide their down-trodden spirits from Galinda. The little blonde had grown even quieter, no longer asking to see her friends or venture outside of the grounds surrounding their house. The space she dared to take up seemed to shrink with every passing day; where she once embraced the attention from adults and children around her, now she retreated at so much as a glance from someone other than her parents. Her nanny, Ama Clutch, had tried and failed to get her to talk to her, agreeing with Larena and Highmuster that a leave of absence would be best until the girl was more herself. 

On the day the response was placed into their hands by the cheery courier, Galinda had spent the morning lost in drawings, countless sheets of paper covering seemingly every available surface the girl could reach. Flowers, birds, even some attempts at funny looking hats flowed from pencil to paper, coloured with as much skill as a 12 year old could manage. 

Her parents had watched with sad smiles, before secreting themselves away in Highmuster’s study, taking the morning post with them. 

When his fingers touched a letter with unfamiliar swirling penmanship, he froze. It was swiftly pulled from his hand, his wife far too anxious to wait for him to come back to his senses.

Dear Mr and Mrs Upland (Of the Upper Uplands),

Firstly, may I express my utmost gratitution for the compliments in your letter. It pleases me to hear that word of my achievements has spread so far. 

I am deeply saddened to hear of the struggles your family is going through, and I hope it comes as good news that I will have some time over the coming week to travel to your home and assess the situation in person. Do not fear, magic is a gift and is greatly valued by our Wonderful Wizard; you should not worry for your daughter’s future. The description of the magic she has been displaying intrigues me greatly, and I have no doubt I will be able to offer my assistance after meeting her myself.

Expect my arrival within the next few days, I will set out immediately following the sending of this letter and not be far behind it’s arrival. 

With appreciation, 

Madame Mara Morrible

“You hear that darling, she’s coming!” Larena laughed with excitement as she finished reading over the words in the Sorceress’s letter. Finally, some good news.

“She’s going to help,” Her husband muttered, eyes fixed on the crisply folded leaf of paper from over his wife's shoulder. “She’ll know what to do.” 

“Galinda,” The giddy blonde called out, listening for the tell-tale clip-clop of tiny heels as the girl raced through the halls towards the study. The sound moved closer, each hit getting louder until the door slowly creaked open, a head of golden curls poking through the gap.

“Galinda, sweetie, we have good news.” With a waving hand, the older woman gestured for their daughter to come closer. Standing beside the grand oak desk, Galinda looked up at her parents with tentative hope shining from big brown eyes.

“Someone is coming here, this week, she’s going to help you with your… abilities,” Highmuster said as he rounded the desk and crouched down beside the small girl. Large hands engulfed one of the girls, holding it like a delicate treasure as he whispered into the space between them, “I promise, this is the answer we’ve been looking for.” 

He brought her into his arms, holding her within his warm embrace. The usually calm, reserved man felt Galinda’s shoulders start to shake, rising and falling with gradually growing gasping sobs, “You’ll be ok.” He held her tighter, eyes pricking with tears as his fears warred with this new spark of hope, wishing keeping her in his arms would be enough to keep her safe, “Just keep breathing.” 

Chapter Text

The minutes, hours, and days dragged on for an age following the arrival of the letter from Madame Morrible. They’d remained in the study for the rest of that morning, Highmuster and Galinda curling up in his large high-backed armchair with a book he’d read to her countless times, taking turns reciting the lines that had been memorised long ago. Larena had watched on, head on hand, listening to the pair’s back and forth with glistening eyes. 

In retrospect, it hadn’t taken long for the Sorceress to arrive - as she had stated in her letter it truly was just a few days. For the family however, it felt like time was mocking them. They had the answer within their grasp, yet they couldn’t quite reach it. 

When three uniformed knocks on the large wooden door echoed through the entryway down to where they were dining days later, Galinda had stared, wide-eyed, as her parents lept into action. Her father’s, admittedly not very long, legs whisked him out of the room in wide strides, his wife trailing behind with rapid-fire short steps. 

Galinda followed hesitantly after the excited chatter that burst from her parents as they approached the entrance. She peeked around the corner, shielding her face as the sunlight let in from the opening door blinded her. Peering between her fingers, she saw a silhouette of a woman, perhaps the same height as her mother, framed by their curved doorway. A sweeping cloak draped over the porch leading towards the stairs down to the courtyard. 

“Madame Morrible, I presume? It is an honour,” Her father dipped into a polite bow. “Please, come in.” 

The silhouette’s head gave a slight incline, before she stepped over the threshold into the family home, “The honour is mine.” The latch of the door clicked closed, the sharp sound sending a peculiar sense of foreboding down Galinda’s spine. 

From where she was still hidden, she could see her parents fawn over the woman, gushing over the cut of her cloak, the fine fabric screaming luxury with its golden embroidery. 

“Galinda?” Her momsie called out, catching her eye with a raised eyebrow. Sheepishly, the girl rounded the corner fully, shuffling her feet as she made her way to her parents side. Out of habit, politeness deeply ingrained in her by this point, she dropped into curtsy, lifting the sides of her skirt as she prayed her shaky legs would keep her upright. 

“Such manners,” The woman’s honeyed voice was as refined as her clothing, her words well spoken. 

“Thank you, Madame.” Galinda said quietly as she stood back on nervous feet. The woman in front of her was intimidating in a way she couldn’t quite define, despite her warm tone. 

Dark eyes observed her for a moment that seemed to drag on too long, before turning back to her parents, “Is there somewhere perhaps a bit more comfortable we could use to continue? This will work best if Miss Galinda is at ease.” 

The consideration for their daughter instantly endeared the couple to their new acquaintance.

“Of course,” Her popsicle stepped forward to offer his arm to the woman. “I believe my study would suffice.” He flicked his eyes over to Galinda, asking an unspoken question. She gave a small nod; his study had become a safe space for her in the last year, offering her a quiet place filled with his warm scent where she could hide away in books and drawings. 

“Now,” Madame Morrible began when they were all seated on the antique sofas across from one another. “From your letter I have gathered that Miss Galinda is experiencing some… incidents, with her magic? Some changes to her appearance?”

“Yes, that’s correct,” Her mother replied.

“How long has this been happening?” 

Her parents shared a look, before her father turned back, “A few years now, it started around her 9th summer I believe. Small things at first of course, until this past year.” 

“I see,” The silver-haired woman muttered. “And these changes, how do they present?” 

“It- she’s been… transforming I suppose is the word, into a- a Lion.” 

There was a lengthy pause as all eyes turned to her. Galinda pressed her back further into the soft cushion of the sofa behind her, fingers fidgeting under the intense looks. 

“A Lion you say?” The woman was clearly trying and failing to hide her intrigue. “Miss Galinda, would you be able to demonstrate this… ability?” 

“I-I don’t know how,” Galinda stuttered. 

Her momsie added, “It always seems to happen overnight, she’s never fully transformed when she’s been awake, and the smaller changes happened out of nowhere.” 

“Hmmm,” Madame Morrible hummed. “And how long do these full transformations last?” 

“Well, it varies,” Her father said. “Sometimes an hour, sometimes all morning. It can take a while to get her to calm down, you see.” 

“Understandable,” Standing from the sofa, Madame Morrible stepped around the coffee table until she was directly in front of where Galinda sat. She knelt slowly, holding the girl’s gaze, “My dear, this is not something to be afraid of. You have a gift, one the Wizard would surely see as the most precious of treasures. Such talent in one so young is not to be hidden, it should be celebrated.” 

The smile on the woman’s face was warm, full of praise and admiration. Galinda slowly eased away from trying to merge with the sofa, bolstered by the positive words, “Really?”

“I wouldn’t joke about such things. It’s only a matter of learning to control it, and fortunately, I am able to help in this regard,” She stood, returning to her seat opposite the family. “I would like to take Miss Galinda as my student. I’d work with her to teach her control so that she isn’t afraid of her magic. Who knows, perhaps one day we’ll have a new Witch of the North in her.” 

“Oh, Madame, that would be wonderful! How could we ever thank you enough?” Her momsie exclaimed in excitement. 

A dainty hand raised into the air, “Of course, I would need to take her back with me, to the Emerald City. You understand, I work for the Wizard, and as such must be present in the Palace as often as possible. She can come with me, and once she’s gained some control she can come home.”  

Galinda’s heart stopped. Her parents looked between each other and her, “I don’t want to go.” She blurted out before they had a chance to speak for her. 

Her popsicle sighed, deep and tired, “Galinda,” He started. “You know we’ve tried everything else we could think of. Madame Morrible was our last hope, and she’s offering everything we could’ve wanted.” 

Larena brushed a loose curl behind her ear as she joined in, “It would only be for a while, and then when you come home it’ll be just like it used to be.” 

Tears blurred her vision as she looked between them, pleading with them to not make her go, “But- I, I’ve never been away from home. The Emerald City is so far away.”

“We’ll make sure we come and visit you, we can have even grander shopping trips there and you can give us a tour of all the wonderful architecture you find on your adventures,” Her momsie promised, her voice gradually starting to waver as her blue eyes also filled with tears. “We don’t want you to go either sweetie, but we want you to be happy again. And you’re not happy right now.” 

Galind leapt forward, throwing her arms around her mother’s neck as she buried her face in her shoulder and sobbed. She felt her momsie’s arms wrap around her, swiftly followed by the strong arms of her popsicle as he pulled them both into his embrace. 

“It’ll be ok,” Her father whispered into her hair. “This is for the best.” 

He cleared his throat, slowly pulling back but keeping his hold strong, “Madame Morrible, we would be honoured to take you up on your offer.” 

From over her mothers shoulder, Galinda saw the woman’s lips pull into a wide, full-toothed, smile, “Wonderful.” 

After half-hearted packing and tear-filled goodbyes, Galinda was seated in a rather fancy carriage, Madame Morrible sat primly on the bench across from her. The woman had got her sorted with her luggage stowed away, before closing the carriage door on her with a brief, “One moment dear.” 

Footsteps had faded away as the woman presumably returned to the house where she’d seen her parents standing in the doorway waving goodbye before the sight was cut off by the closed door. 

When the door reopened, her parents were gone, and Galinda felt new tears well up in her eyes.

“None of that dearie, you should be happy to have the chance to see the Wizard.” Madame Morrible said as she tucked a foot behind her other heel, hands neatly resting on her covered knee. 

Galinda sniffled, “I am.” 

“Then no more tears. This is what your parents wanted after all.” 

She tried, really she did, but the thought of her parents back inside the well-loved home was enough to send a single tear dripping down her rosy cheek. 

The trip from Frottica to the Emerald City was long, the sun dipping low in the sky before they’d reached the halfway point. Eventually, Galinda had slowly begun asking questions, ‘what was the Wizard like’, ‘was the palace as big as everyone says’, ‘how much longer was it before they arrived’. Madame Morrible had indulged her curiosity, even when it ramped up to rambling about the architectural differences between the village she’d grown up in and the drawings she’d seen in books of the buildings in the Emerald City. 

When night took over from day, brown eyes began to droop, weighed down by the emotions of the day. It wasn’t the most restful of sleep, curled up on the cushioned bench, but it was sleep nonetheless. 

The following day, after many stops throughout the morning to stretch legs and get some air, the Emerald City appeared on the horizon. Galinda spent the remainder of the trip with her face pressed to the small window, watching as the green towers and shining buildings grew closer and closer, looming spires rising higher into the sky. She took them in with wide eyes, the view more exhilarating than any words had been able to convey. 

The carriage weaved its way through winding streets, passing people draped in all manners of emerald clothing, from three-piece suits to long flowy dresses and everything in between. Before she knew it, the wheels of the carriage were slowing to a stop, the clip-clop of the horses leading the way coming to a halt. 

“Here we are,” Madame Morrible announced as she reached for the handle of the door. It opened up to the most fabulous view she’d even seen. The Palace was like something out of a fairytale, so tall that she had to tilt her head all the way back to see the tips of the tallest towers. The bricks gleamed vibrantly emerald, polished to perfection even amidst the hustle and bustle of the city-goers. Guards stood proud either side of the grand entrance, uniforms free from even the hint of a wrinkle. 

The silver-haired woman gestured to a nearby guard, the man snapping to attention and rushing forward in quick strides. 

“Please find a maid to take Miss Galinda’s luggage to her room.” The guard gave a sharp nod, turning on a foot and marching up the stairs into the Palace. Madame Morrible looked over to the girl, still lost in her awe of the building in front of them, “Let’s head inside dear, there are things I must see to before we meet with the Wizard.”

Rushing to follow, Galinda tried to restrain her excitement as she leapt from the carriage, trotting after the woman’s quick steps. Her smile faltered slightly when they stepped through the doors, finding herself facing what seemed like an army of Monkeys, dressed in guard’s attire and armed with dangerous looking spears. 

“Madame?” She whispered. 

Madame Morrible looked down towards her, “Yes dear?” 

“Why are there so many of them?” Galinda dropped her gaze to the floor, avoiding meeting the eyes of any of the blue-furred Monkeys either side of the hallway. 

“The Monkeys? The Wizard earned their loyalty and ensured they were aligned with his views - there’s a whole troop of them living in the Palace working to keep him safe.”

At the end of the hall, right before they turned towards a spiralling staircase, Galinda caught the gaze of one Monkey standing sentry at a lone doorway. Different coloured eyes, one blue, one green, looked back at her, his gaze startlingly knowing as he followed their steps as Madame Morrible guided her up the stairs, one hand urging her forward as it rested on her shoulder. 

With every hallway they walked down and every corner they turned, Galinda found herself losing track of where they’d come from in the maze inside the Palace. She’d never been good at directions, even in the village she’d spent her whole life in; she knew without a doubt that she would be getting lost frequently over the coming days.

“This will be your room while you’re here, the Wizard chose it for you himself.” The wooden door groaned as it was pushed open. Inside, the light coming in through the window bathed the room in a gentle glow. Against one wall, a large bed sat dressed in soft-looking emerald covers, working with the dark woods to evoke a sense of luxurious elegance that reminded her of the forests she could see in the distance from her bedroom back home. 

“It’s green,” She stated. 

“Did you expect something different?” The other woman asked. 

“Do you think the Wizard might have something more… pink? It’s my favourite colour.” A single dark eyebrow raised at the question, prompting Galinda’s cheeks to flush in embarrassment, “N-Nevermind, the green is lovely.”

As she stepped into the room, Madame Morrible called out from behind her, “The maid will be by shortly with your things, you’re to remain here until I come and collect you again.” The door closed with a boom, leaving her alone for the first time since she woke the previous morning. 

Despite the fancy decorations, the room still had a sense of hollowness, the place unlived in and lonely. It was the opposite of everything she’d grown up with - while here was dark greens and browns, her home was full of bright colours, white used liberally to reflect the light and never let the gloomy days dampen their vibrant outlook on life. 

Away from the excitement of the new environment, Galinda’s awe faded, the overwhelming turn her life had suddenly taken catching up to her. She flopped down in front of the towering windows, letting her mind drift as she observed the people milling about down below. She didn’t notice the door open and close as a maid delivered her bags, too lost in her thoughts, wondering what her parents were doing right now. 

Did they miss her terribly? 

Were they thinking about her too?

As time dragged on, her usually considered posture fell away, the small girl slumping over against the wall as she followed birds gliding in and out between the buildings, swooping and diving through the sky. In a way only a child’s mind could, she imagined what it would feel like to fly, to be weightless and ignore the pull of gravity to fly so high up your hand could touch the clouds. 

Would they be cold? Would they be as soft as they looked? 

A hand on her shoulder pulled her from her daydream, blonde hair whipping across her face as she spun around, “Oh, I’m so sorry. My head was in the clouds.”

“Do try to stay present when you meet the Wizard, he’s a patient man but even he has his limits.” Madame Morrible had shed her long cloak she’d been dressed in earlier, now in a more closely fitted dress that was no less spectacular in design. Long sleeves tapered into points at the backs of her hands, the high collar stiff as it encircled her long neck. The fabric was dark, but shone deep green where the light struck.

Galinda nodded as she rose from the floor, casting one last longing look out the window at the birds still joyfully flitting about.

The halls were no less confusing this time around, each one looking identical to the last. The doors were distinct at least, but close enough in design that Galinda knew she would need a while to memorise what sat behind which one. 

As they walked, the older woman asked more questions following on from the ones she’d asked in Frottica, “How does it feel when you’re in this other form?” 

Galinda’s forehead crinkled as she tried to remember, “I feel small.” 

“And?” The woman pressed for more.

“And… momsie and popsicle are usually there, but I still feel alone, until I turn back. And, and it’s scary, when I wake up like that.”

Madame Morrible let out a thoughtful ‘hmmm’, “But you have full control of the form? Your body does what you want?” 

Galinda nodded, “Yes, other than speaking. That’s hard work.” 

“I can imagine so,” She muttered in thought. “But you can speak?”

“Mhmm, after a couple of tries, I can say short words.” They stepped off the final step of the spiral staircase, back into the hall of Monkeys. Still weary, Galinda kept close to the older woman, her arm brushing against the fabric of her dress as she kept her eyes forward. She noticed pretty quickly that they were aiming for the door the Monkey with the mismatched eyes stood before, those same eyes looking between the approaching pair with a stone-like look. 

“Chistery,” Madame Morrible stiffly greeted. “The Wizard is expecting us.” 

With a thump of the end of his spear against the stone floor, the Monkey - Chistery - stepped to the side to allow them through, his eyes trained on Galinda as she passed. 

The chamber was even grander than the room she’d been given, the cavernous space lined with pillars. At the other end of the room, long draping curtains fell from high up in the vaulted ceiling, grazing the floor. A boom filled the room, jolting Galinda out of her observations. Smoke slid out from under the curtain, slipping down the stairs in front of it to circle their feet where they stood. 

“Your Ozness,” The woman beside her called out. “I have brought Miss Galinda to meet you, as you requested.” 

“Miss Galinda?” A deep, robotic voice rang out around the room. Galinda’s head swivelled round, trying to find the source of the sound. A series of whirs and clicks followed, the voice much less deep when it next spoke, “One moment, I’m just-” A bang, and another click, “- ah, there we go.” The curtains pulled back, revealing a giant bronze head, staring out with gleaming red eyes. It was drooped towards the floor, inanimate as the sound of shuffling feet came closer. A man, dressed in what Galinda could only describe as the most ostentatious emerald suit she’d ever seen, tip-tapped his way out from behind the head, brushing down the lapels of the suit jacket as he approached. 

“A man,” She whispered.

“I’ve been waiting to meet you,” He offered a hand, bending slightly to adjust to her shorter stature. 

“You have?” Galinda asked.

“I have, I-” He frowned. “Hang on, what’s- sorry, do you mind?” He gestured to the side of her head. 

She shook her head frantically, mind instantly filled with a number of things she definitely did not want in her hair. 

His hand brushed back the curls beside her ear, fingers tickling against the curve before he pulled back. Of the many things she’d imagined the man was reaching for, a small, golden coin was not one of them. 

“For you,” He said, dropping the coin into her palm, closing her hand into a fist around it before letting go. She stared, wide-eyed in awe as he stood up fully.

He gestured towards Madame Morrible, “Mara here tells me that you have magic? Well isn’t that something. You know, when I was your age, I wanted nothing more than to be able to do what I can do now.” 

Galinda looked up at him in wonder - this man, so far removed from everything she’d ever known, admired by the whole of Oz, was telling her she was like him . 

“You’re in good hands, I’ll tell you, she really knows her stuff. She’ll have you whipped into shape in no time.” 

“I’d like to start now, if you have no objections your Ozness?” The woman in question stepped forwards, reaching into a hidden pocket in her dress. From it, she pulled a small glass vial filled with a bubbling clear liquid. 

“Please, by all means.” The Wizard waved a hand as he gestured for her to proceed. 

Galinda looked toward the woman whose dark eyes were now on her as she turned to face her, “This is a potion I brewed especially for you, to help with the transformation. I’d like you to drink this, so we can see it for ourselves.”

Dread filled her as she looked between the vial and Madame Morrible, “How long will I be like that?” 

“No longer than usual I would imagine,” The vial was held out in front of her in the centre of a pale hand. “If you want to get control, this is the first step.” 

More than anything, Galinda wished she’d asked for her parents to come with her, if only so she could hold a hand while she reached out to take the vial from the other woman. 

“That’s it,” Madame Morrible urged her on, nodding her head as she removed the cork.

It didn’t smell bad, it didn’t smell of anything at all really, but the bubbles made an audible sound as they reached the surface with a ‘pop’. 

Taking one last deep breath, Galinda raised it to her lips, drinking the potion in one gulp.

For a moment, nothing happened. 

Then it hit.

Her body dropped to the floor, eyes squeezing tightly shut as a scream ripped from her lips.

It felt like she was being torn apart. Blood rushed in her ears as her bones snapped and shifted, her skin stretching and pulling as her whole body broke and reformed. She’d never felt anything like this before. 

When the pain finally stopped, she lay panting and shuddering against the freezing stone. Her nerves were still sparking and her heart felt like it was trying to burst from her chest. 

In between pained breaths, she heard her voice, once comforting, now cold and sharp.

“Oh yes, I think she’s exactly what we were looking for. The perfect spy.” 

The last thing she remembered was the uncomfortable staccato beat of heels making their way towards her before the world faded away.

Chapter Text

When she came back around, Galinda realised, not for the first time, that the world was much taller than it ought to be. The walls towered higher than she could see from her place on the floor, endless in their towering, leading up and up and up until surely only those who could fly could reach the ceiling. 

The familiar, disorientating sensation of her vision being the oddest mix of colours made the drowsy girl grumble with a low groan . The room she was in was dark, only lit by the low light coming in through a cracked window in the wall she was facing. Rain was tapping against the glass, as if knocking and asking to be let in. The occasional lucky drop fell through the crack, a small puddle forming on the floor below.

“Oh good, you’re awake.”

She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, not daring to move a single muscle. None of this was real, she’d wake up any moment now back in her bed in Frottica with her momsie and popsicle about to burst through the door armed with the biggest bear hugs she’d be able to handle. 

“There’s no use pretending dearie, I know you’re not asleep.”

Her wishful bubble was thoroughly popped as she curled up as tightly as she could, trying to form words, “H-hhh-home.” 

“This is your home now,” Galinda heard the click, click, click as Madame Morrible stepped closer, “You should be honoured that the Wizard agrees with me that you’re worthy of joining us here.” The woman’s joints cracked as she crouched down, placing a small bowl of water on the floor in front of Galinda, “Drink, you must be parched.” 

The woman urged her to drink, and with a weary glance up to her face, the cub rolled onto her front and shuffled forwards. The cool water soothed her sore throat, her muscles loosening with relief as she drank, and drank, and drank. 

Thirst quenched, the cub tried words once more, “N-nnot h-hh-” Her loose grasp on speech failed, tumbling into a disjointed yowl.

Madame Morrible tilted her head as she looked down at her, “Come now, you can do better than that.” 

“N-nnn-”

“No?” The woman let out a small, sharp laugh. “No matter, we’ll have plenty of time to practice.” 

The Sorceress stood, and Galinda watched as she turned to take in the dark surroundings, before sighing, “We can’t let you into your room while you’re in this form yet, we don’t want any accidents happening. This is far safer for everyone.” The woman made a sweeping gesture around the room, “Why don’t you turn back and we’ll get you back to that nice, comfortable new room.” 

Dark brown eyes stared up at the woman, confused. Did she forget she had no control over her shifting yet? Wasn’t that the whole reason she came here in the first place?

“Go on. Turn back.” As if it was that simple.

Galinda blinked at her, closing her eyes to try and do something. The more she concentrated on the strangeness of this form, the more panicked she became. The indistinct sounds echoing down the hallway beyond the door were booming in her ears. The smell of damp clinging to the stone bricks all around them was stale and musty, making her stomach turn uncomfortably. She could feel her breaths coming in increasingly rapid, short pants, eyes flying open. She looked wildly around the room for an escape, finding nothing except the closed door that looked far too heavy for her to even attempt to open with unfamiliar limbs.

A sharp pain put a stop to her panic, legs collapsing under her as her nerves lit up in a rolling wave, starting from a single point in the centre of her back, trailing down each paw and to the tip of her tail. Every muscle tensed, her jaw clenched. A pained growl ripped from between grinding teeth as her body burned . It lasted for what felt like a lifetime, every second moving slower than the last. 

Desperate, Galinda forced her jaw to unclench, words scratching painfully as they clawed out of her throat, “Pp-please s-ss-stop!” 

The pain withdrew immediately, “Good! Not what I asked for, but still good.”

Madame Morrible came to stand beside her prone form again, “I don’t want to hurt you dearie, I simply want you to be the best you can be. That starts with being able to shift at will and speak properly in this form,” There was a barely noticeable breeze as the woman turned away from the quivering Lion cub, heading for the door. “I’m just doing what must be done. You’ll thank me one day.” The echoing slam that followed her exit vibrated through the stone Galinda was laying on, ripples splashing in the half full water bowl sitting tauntingly just out of reach. Her throat was once again screaming for relief from the rough noises she’d been making, but Galinda made no attempt to move off of the floor.

She couldn’t. 

Her vision swam through tears she wished would fall. The change in Madame Morrible since she’d taken that potion had her reeling; the two sides of her were conflicting, one hand offering kindness, the other, quick to cause pain. She didn’t want this, she wanted to go back to yesterday, back to her parents and back to the life she knew.

Mercifully, as intense aftershocks took hold, the edges of her vision began to fade back to black. The soft patter of rain against the cracked window lulled her into unconsciousness, the trickle of cool breeze a poor imitation of the comforting strokes of her parents’ warm hands.

The next time she opened her eyes, the world looked right again, and a quick glance down at her hands confirmed she’d shifted back at some point during her brief nap. A plate of food, a simple choice of eggs on toast, sat on the floor beside her. Hesitantly, she reached out, the rumbling in her stomach urging her to take a chance and eat what was obviously intended for her. 

It was cold and the eggs didn’t taste of much, but it was enough to satisfy the growing hunger pains. 

A knock at the door made her jump before her body tensed, the door hinges squeaking as the person on the other side pushed it open.

“Knock knock,” A grey-speckled head of hair popped through the gap between door and doorframe. “I don’t suppose you mind if I come in for a moment?” 

Galinda shook her head. The man had seemed nice enough, even if he hadn’t exactly been innocent in keeping her here. The way he spoke was engaging and she’d never seen magic like his before - although the coin he’d made appear for her was Oz knows where now.

His shoes tapped against the floor as he came closer, hands in his jacket pocket as he took in the dark surroundings, “Well this isn’t the room I had picked out for you.” His light brown eyes looked down at her, head tilting as he held out a hand, “Why don’t we get you back there, this is a bit,” His eyes jumped to the cracked window pane. “A bit too gloomy for my liking.” 

She hesitated.

The Wizard let out a quiet sigh, withdrawing his hand as he adjusted his trousers to crouch down beside her, “I know Mara can be a bit… difficult, at times, but she just wants you to succeed. As do I! I see the strength in you, I want to work with you - be a team.”

“Why?”

“Well-” He shuffled on his feet for balance, “Really, the room I picked out would be much more comfortable than this.” 

Taking the hint, Galinda rose to her knees, wearily taking his hand to stand. The man was tall, impressive in stature and his poise was clearly that of someone who knew they were important. He reminded her of her popsicle, the way he addressed people and captivated their attention so easily. He held onto her smaller hand, leading her from the room, “As I was saying, there’s been some, ah, worrying news from out and about in Oz. We didn’t think too much of it at first, mindless chatter, you know how it is.” They rounded corner after corner, Galinda trying valiantly to find some kind of distinction between each hallway they passed through to no avail. “We know the Animals have been a bit, well, antsy, for a while now, but reports have become more concerning.” The Wizard brought them to a halt outside a door that was somewhat familiar. A warm rush of air greeted them when they entered her room, far more pleasant than the damp chill that seemed to fill the other one, no cracks in windows, furniture and artwork brightening up the dark walls.  

He led her to a small table in the corner of the room, set with teacups resting neatly on their saucers, teaspoons lined up just so , and small bowls of what she assumed was sugar capped with dainty ceramic lids. 

“Tea? Mara is quite taken with it, never lets a meeting begin without a warm cup at the ready.” 

Galinda shook her head, “No thank you, your Ozness.” 

“Oh! Please, call me Oscar,” He reclined in the chair, interlocking his fingers and resting his joined hands over his stomach. “Where was I? Oh yes, reports. There are a few, more vocal, groups of Animals who have somehow got the idea in their heads that Oz would be better without my guidance.” 

Her brows furrowed as she listened - everyone loved the Wizard, why would anyone think they’d be better without him; he’d done magnificent things for all four corners of Oz.

“I know, I’m as shocked as you are,” Oscar said. “I only want what’s best for Oz, and I can’t do that if there are Animals wishing me harm.” 

The more she thought, the more confused Galinda became. She’d always been wary of Animals, simply because they were few and far between back in Frottica and she wasn’t so good with different, at least at first, but she’d never thought they might do something like that. There were stories her parent’s would read to her about them, fairytales that always painted them in a positive light. Surely they wouldn’t have read those books to her if they weren’t respectable Ozians?

“We wouldn’t want harm to come to the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, now would we?” 

Galinda looked up into the Wizard's eyes at the question, slowly shaking her head around her confusion. Nothing made sense - maybe whatever Madame Morrible had done to her earlier had muddled her mind up too much. 

“Good, good. And that’s where you come in! Your talent, your little Lion friend, is something we can definitely use. You’re indispensable.” 

The room fell silent in the wake of Oscar’s words. He watched her as she blinked up at him, unsure what to say to the prideful statement. 

She was spared from further struggles for words by the sound of heeled shoes moving closer in the hallway outside. 

“Perfect timing as usual Madame,” The man said as he rose from his chair. 

Galinda’s heart raced in her chest as the woman looked first at her, before turning and addressing the Wizard, “Your Ozness.” Her body lowered in the barest hint of a curtsey. 

“Well then, I’ll leave you two to it, I’m sure you have much to discuss!” His cheerful tone was in direct contradiction to the feeling rushing through the blonde’s body. His long legs took him swiftly from the bedroom, the door booming closed behind him. The sound echoed in the now silent space as Madame Morrible took his place at the table in front of her. 

“I trust your transformation back was painless?” There was a hint of a smirk tugging at red lips as the woman spoke. 

Galinda nodded. 

“Excellent. Now then, to business,” A hand waved over one of the teacups, steam rising from the small cup as it rapidly filled. Morrible made quick work of adding two heaped spoonfuls of sugar, taking her time stirring as she held eye contact. 

Words tumbled out of Galinda’s mouth before she could stop them, “My parent’s- they’ll come and get me, you can’t keep me here.” 

“Oh no, they won’t.” She tapped the tea spoon against the side of the cup. The clinks hit Galinda’s ears like bullets, hearing still sensitive. “They woke up from a nice nap not long after we left, with no idea who I am or where you are. It’s for everyone’s good really, you’d never be able to achieve all you could if you left in the middle of your training.” The smile on the woman’s face chilled Galinda to the bone. “They’re not coming.”

Tears fell without permission as her breath caught in her throat.

“There’s no need for the dramatics Lion. They weren’t harmed, they simply… forgot.” 

Rivulets continued to flow down her pale cheeks, shallow, gasping breathing inviting in a dizziness that threatened to send her falling off her chair.

The other woman didn’t seem to notice, “Think of it as assurance that you won’t do anything reckless,” She said, lifting the cup to her lips, dark eyes pressing Galinda further back into her chair. “You do as we say, do good for us, and they’ll stay safe. It’s simple.” 

Fighting back growing sobs, Galinda asked, “What do you want me to do?” 

Morrible waved a dismissive hand, “Nothing just yet, you clearly need more training to be useful. Once I’ve got your Lion form in shape you’ll be our spy, I’m sure the Wizard told you about the… situation with the Animals?” 

“He did.”

“Excellent, so you know how important it is that we’re two steps ahead of them.”

The small head nod Galinda gave was half-hearted at best. 

“We won’t go into details right now, there will be plenty of time for that later,” The cup was placed back down on the saucer. “There are, however, some other things that need seeing to.” Madame Morrible reached into a deep pocket in her cloak, pulling out a small box. “You may be saying the right things, but I prefer something a touch more tangible. ” The lid was removed, revealing a black ring the size of a large coin. The edge was embossed with symbols Galinda didn’t recognise, edges catching the low lighting and casting deep shadows over the matt-black darkness of the ring. 

“What’s it for?” 

“Your safety of course,” Long fingers lifted it into the air, holding it between the two of them. “This will allow me to track you should you ever go missing. We wouldn’t want you to get lost now would we?” 

Galinda’s brain was trying and failing to keep up with what the woman was implying. 

“Hold still,” Two words were all the warning she got before her a sharp pain pierced through the top of her right ear. She yelped, hands flying up to cup her stinging ear, only to pull back abruptly when her fingers found something unexpectedly hard. 

It took a moment to notice anything around her, the shock of the onslaught of pain numbing Galinda to the rest of the world. When the room gradually came back into focus, she first registered the calm, content look on the older woman’s face as she took yet another sip of her tea. She had the appearance of someone enjoying a relaxing afternoon in the summer sun, taking in a peaceful view of lush fields or watching butterflies flit about amongst flowers. 

The second thing that registered in between waves of aching pain and confusion, was the ring, once held between thumb and finger before her, was gone. 

With a shaky hand, she reached back towards the hard object she’d felt resting against her ear. As gently as she could, with a single finger tip, she stroked along the curve of the cool metal. Tiny details stood proudly away from the smooth surface, intricate in their design. Symbols. 

Panic took over, and she gave a tug at the ring now piercing through the flat of her ear. Each pull brought another sharp wave of pain, but she couldn’t stop. Her other hand joined the first, turning the ring through the hole that should not be there .

“You won’t be able to remove it.”

She tried, desperately, to find the join in the ring, somewhere to make it open and get it out.  

“Stop,” Morrible’s voice was loud and terse as she leaned over the table. “There’s no way to take it out - magic put it there, only magic can remove it. By all means, keep trying, but you’ll only hurt yourself further.”

Every millimetre of the ring was smooth and unbroken, one continuous piece of metal with no hinge or clasp to be found. Just like Madame Morrible said. 

The sharp pain had retreated, leaving room for the ache of something unnaturally missing. It was a constant, low thrumming kind of pain, begging for relief.

The woman in front of her sighed, reaching across the table with a balled up, damp cloth, “Put this on it, the cold will ease the ache.” With a shaking hand, Galinda took it from her, pressing it cautiously to her throbbing ear. The relief was instant, and she clung to the chill offering a break from the pain.

“You did well, I know that was uncomfortable,” Madame Morrible took another sip of her tea. “Your parents would be proud of how strong you are.”

Her relief disappeared in a breath. Overwhelmed by the reminder, she struck out with a small balled up fist.

The sound of skin hitting skin was dull and muted. Madame Morrible’s head hadn’t moved, the slight reddening of her cheek the only clear sign her ineffective punch had landed. 

“Really?” The syllables were clipped and curt in their delivery, any hint of kindness gone without a trace. Quicker than Galinda could have imagined, the woman struck back, but not with a fist. Her fingers plucked the cloth out of her hand, tossing it to the side, and looped through the centre of her new ear decoration. A single digit hooked around it, a firm tug forcing her forwards. 

She had little choice but to follow, the pain ratcheting higher and higher as the finger tightened its hold. Galinda was leaning over the table, chest pressed flush against the dense wood as Morrible pulled her close to hiss next to her ear, “That was not wise, Lion .” The final word was spat out with such distaste it felt like the cruelest of slurs.

Galinda held her breath, freezing in place as she prayed for the other woman to let go. 

With a final yank, her head was jerked to the side, sending her sprawling to the floor. 

“I can be a tolerant person, but I will not allow disrespect,” She rose from her chair, standing to her full height over Galinda’s tired form. 

“I understand you’re upset, but lashing out at me will do nothing but make things harder for you.” 

The Sorceress left swiftly with little more than a parting word, taking the cooling cloth with her, and leaving Galinda on the floor of her room staring unseeingly up at the ceiling while her newly pierced ear continued to throb steadily.

The dimming sun cast dancing shadows across the walls, and for a moment, Galinda’s mind twisted them into familiar figures moving towards her. She imagined her momsie standing there, arms open waiting for her to run and jump and cling like she so often did. She imagined her popsicle, hand extended, ready for her tiny fingers to wrap around it and hold on tightly so they could face whatever was around the corner together. 

A drifting cloud cut her off from her daydreaming, the room plunging into cold, dim evening light. A tear dripped down from the corner of her eye, landing with a splash on the hard floor.   

The green decor did not help the unfamiliar space feel any more comforting. She wished, not for the first time, that it could be something more like home; the colours she’d spent weeks choosing for her room, or perhaps the warm red of her popsicle’s study. 

Red wasn’t her favourite colour, but the association with her father boosted her opinion of it tenfold. The study had always been that colour, more maroon than scarlet, the furniture never changing. More than anything, she wished she could be curled up with him in that old, worn armchair. 

A much smaller Galinda, barely hip high to her parents’, peeked around the doorframe into the dimly-lit study. Her popsicle was at his desk, nose buried in important looking documents as his eyes flicked back and forth over the words in front of him.

Her feet were cold, her slippers left forgotten beside her bed in her nightmare-fueled panic. The sound of her shuffling feet was enough to pull her ever-attentive father out of his concentration, mirrored brown eyes softening at the sight of the shivering blonde.

“Bad dream?” He knew her well.

Galinda nodded, stepping fully across the threshold. 

“Shall we?” Highmuster nodded towards the armchair standing tall in the corner of the room. 

The little girl flew to her popsicle, leaping into his arms as he stood from his desk-chair. He lifted her up, arms holding her close. He took them over to the chair, settling down with the girl curled up in his lap as he lay soothing strokes to her hair and chased away the lingering threads of her bad dream. 

Galinda could feel his deep voice rumble in his chest, even as he spoke quietly, “Would you like a story?” 

“Yes please.” 

“Let’s see then,” He lifted a hand to stroke his short, wiry beard as he thought, “Once upon a time, there lived a young girl, around your age, who grew up in a small village near a dark, dark forest.” 

The blonde looked up with wide eyes, already captivated, “What was her name?”

“Her name was… why, her name was Glinda.” Galinda giggled at the likeness to her own name - her popsicle was so silly. “Glinda was an adventurous little girl, she loved to explore and play and make friends with all the children in the village. She spent her days in the nearby field twisting daisies into crowns, giving one to everyone she met on her way back home.”

“I like making daisy crowns!” The little girl exclaimed.

Her father chuckled, knowing full well he’d have yet another crown to add to his collection come tomorrow evening, “You’re very good at it.” He said, before continuing. “Well, Glinda was good at it too. But unfortunately, she quickly ran out of daisies in the field, and had to find somewhere else to get them for her crowns. She asked her friends, and her friends asked their parents, and finally, she found someone who knew of another place she could go. There was another field, a meadow even, a little ways into the forest, not too far, but well hidden behind rows and rows of tall trees.”

Galinda settled her head back down on her popsicle’s shoulder, listening intently. 

“The responsible girl she was, Glinda made sure to tell her parent’s where she was going, before setting off to find the meadow. She followed the path, humming her favourite songs as she skipped along. Suddenly, the path disappeared, and she didn’t know which way was the right way anymore. She tried to find it again, but the further she walked, the more lost she became.”

“Oh no,” Galinda whispered, scared for the little girl in the story. 

“Glinda started to panic, but just as she was about to start to cry, a fairy appeared.”

Galinda gasped.

“The fairy asked her what was wrong, why she was so sad. Glinda managed to tell them what happened, explaining that she was lost and didn’t know how to get back home.”

“Did the fairy help?”

“They did,” Her father said. “They listened to Glinda, and told her they would help get her back home safely, and told her the most important thing. Do you know what that was?”

The blonde head against his chest shook. 

“Just keep breathing.” 

The little girl took a quick intake of breath. “ You say that to me ,” Galinda whispered. 

“I most certainly do,” Highmuster smiled down at her. “That’s the most important thing to remember. No matter how hard or scary something is, as long as you just keep on breathing, you’ll be able to work through it. We Arduenna Uplands are made of strong stuff, and proud of it.” 

“What happened next?” 

“Well, the fairy led Glinda through the forest, looking for the way back to the village. After a little bit of walking, they spotted a single picked daisy on the forest floor. It turns out, the daisy crowns Glinda had made that day that she’d been carrying had started to come undone, and had left a trail all the way back home.”

“So she got back to her family?”

“She did. She stayed calm, kept on breathing through her panic, and found the way home.” 

“I like that story.”

“I do too.” He whispered into her hair, hoping that should his little girl ever end up lost, she’d also be able to find her way back home.

Memory clear in her mind, Galinda dragged herself up to wrap her arms around her knees. The sun had finally set, the glow of the moon taking its place playing with the shadows.

“I am Galinda Arduenna Upland of the Upper Uplands. I love my parents. I will find my way back home,” She spoke into the darkened room. Ever her father’s daughter, she clung to the words from his story, to the mantra that had always been whispered with tender care when the world seemed far too big and scary, “Just keep breathing.” 

Chapter Text

~ Five Years Later ~

Dark, tired eyes followed the pair of birds (swallows, if her reading had taught her anything)  that had been flying alongside the train since they’d left the Emerald City. Her keen sight easily kept up with their movements as they raced back and forth beyond the large window. Bird watching had, over time, become less of a sporadic past time and more of an ingrained compulsion that she gave into whenever the opportunity presented itself. Long carriage rides, stretches of time shut away in her room, standing guard in the shadows when Madame Morrible had one of her public speeches - if there was a window or free line of sight, Galinda would find the closest feathered creature and track it like her life depended on it. 

Maybe it wasn’t healthy, even a touch peculiar, but who could blame her when she spent most of her time as a large Cat?

Madame Morrible had tried to curb the obsession, not one to stand for any form of inattentiveness, and she’d succeeded to a point. While her eyes might be fixed on beating wings, Galinda’s sharp ears were always pricked up and listening. 

They’d been on the train for hours now, the sun drifting from East to West as they made the long trip to Shiz. When they’d boarded, Galinda had chosen a long sofa to lay out across, doing her best to curb the urge to fidget and shuffle lest she trigger the other woman’s ire; she’d learnt quickly that it was always best to keep the Sorceress in a good mood, nothing good ever coming from the flickers of tolerance extinguishing. 

She couldn’t, however, stop the quiet beginnings of a growl that escaped when an all encompassing itch rolled through her body, her skin giving a pointless shake as she tried to relieve it. 

“Stop that.” The curt words from the other side of the train carriage cut across the otherwise silent space between them, the woman mercifully still focused on her book.

“Yes, Madame,” Galinda mumbled, stomping down the instincts still screaming at her. She’d found that while she could in fact stay in her Lion form for most of a day now, the longer she held it, the more uncomfortable it became. Not painful, just off. Her skin would itch when she started to push her limit, and her Feline instincts became harder to ignore; a fact that caused her no small amount of shame and embarrassment. She was better than that, better than some Animal.  

They’d been in the room for half an hour, the potion forced into her hand at the closing of the door as hawk-like eyes implored her to drink. It still hurt, she didn’t think she’d ever get used to the cold chill that settled in her stomach as an uncomfortable prelude to the agony that followed. 

She’d been granted a few minutes to collect herself once the world had realigned, heels hitting the stone floor loudly as Madame Morrible circled where she lay.

“Start with your name.” The instruction was firm, but guiding, as was often the way. The woman’s approach to teaching could be considered harsh by some, but the praise and enthusiasm when she succeeded had gradually instilled her with intensely desired warmth that, over time, made the painful methods more bearable.

“G-ga-ggalin-” The final syllable had broken off into the tail end a muted roar. It cut off abruptly when a flash of magic struck her where she lay, setting all her nerves off at once. 

It withdrew, “Again.” 

“G-ggg” A growl tripped her up before the first vowel, the shaking Lion still recovering from the smack of magic. She didn’t have a chance to brace herself before the next shock came.

“Again.” 

A desperate meow came out in place of any Ozian words. A sharp crack rang throughout the room, a pointed sting against her exposed flank had Galinda scrambling backwards. A quick glance down made her heart stop, blonde fur slowly staining a rich, ruby red. 

Madame Morrible stared down at her, one hand falling to her side from where it had been held out towards her in a claw, “Don’t let the beast take over, you are human, hold on to that. ”

Through her fear and burning in her side that had leached deeper into her muscles, Galinda struggled through a few more attempts before a stuttered interpretation of her name tumbled out.

“Good, I knew you had it in you Lion,” Long fingers remained relaxed, the brashness of Madame Morrible’s voice fading into silky smoothness with the affirmation. “Now, your full name.” 

Since then, Madame Morrible had been quick to correct her when hints of Lion slipped through in anything other than her appearance and heightened senses. Her accidents were few and far between now, mostly slipping up when her human-mind was unoccupied and her Lion-mind was active. 

Her training had been grueling, painful work. The potion had been needed for months before Galinda had finally managed to shift on purpose, the forced transformation never becoming any easier. It had been a moment of desperation, body quivering from repeated shocks from Morrible’s magic as she’d remained unchanged in form, knowing she would absolutely not be able to handle the agonising feeling of the potion taking hold on top of what she was already feeling. Gasping for breath between stifled sobs, Galinda had prayed, wished, and pleaded for her magic to listen. 

When seconds passed, then minutes, without further encouragement at the Sorceress’s hand, Galinda dared to open an eye. The mess of colours that greeted her forced the other eye open as her head snapped up from where it lay on the floor, sharp sight taking in the world through the eyes definitely not of a human. 

A sharp clap of hands and an astonished exclamation from Madame Morrible confirmed what she knew to be true; she’d finally done it. 

It had still taken time before it became second nature, the subtle sensation of magic flooding her body as it changed impossibly hard to grasp at first. But bit by bit, she’d earned more of the older woman’s approval, finally finding relief from the harsh lessons in control. The praise she received when she succeeded in a given task was a welcome reprieve from the sting of whatever magic Madame Morrible decided would be effective in helping her achieve the goal set out. 

Of course, that was only the beginning. Once she could transform herself, she then had to learn how to hold the form, only turning back when she wanted to. 

“Begin.” 

Galinda closed her eyes, taking a slow steadying breath as she pulled on the familiar feeling of shifting. Distantly, she was aware of her changing centre of gravity, of the sound of Madame Morrible’s quiet, impatient sighs becoming louder. She counted to 20 before opening her eyes, the wiring of her brain rushing to catch up to the new inputs from the world around her. 

“Good, still slow however. Work on that,” Praise mixed in with an advising command was typical of the woman. “I’ll be back in three hours,” She placed a small clock down on a precariously balanced table. “I expect you to still be in this form when I return.” Morrible left with a click of the door, leaving Galinda alone in the middle of the room.

Three hours was a long time.

So far, the longest she’d managed to stay in her Lion form had been just over two hours, and the shift back had caught her so off guard she’d fallen to the floor and cracked a knee on the stone floor so hard that she’d been limping for a week. 

The blonde Lion paced the room from corner to corner, glancing towards the slowly falling grains of sand trickling down mockingly. She could hear people beyond the window in the streets below. The window still hadn’t been fixed, the break bringing teasing snippets of normal Ozian life into her now tiny world. The people out there seemed happy, laughing and chattering as their voices faded in and out. 

Inside however, Galinda’s pacing had turned to running circuits, anxious energy ramping up as the timer ticked below half way. The steady trickle had started grating on her nerves, a rumble beginning in her chest.

The more time that passed, the worse the agitation became, until she couldn’t take it any more and a paw struck out quick as a flash. The timer hit the floor, glass shattering on impact, pale sand spilling out onto dark stone. 

Frustration rapidly switched to blind panic as Galinda realised what she’d done. Not only had she broken something that belonged to the Sorceress, she also had no idea how much longer she needed to hold this form for. The itching had begun beneath her fur, a subtle nudge that she was already pressed for time. 

There was nothing in the room she could use to clean up, and knowing Morrible would definitely notice the missing timer even if there was, Galinda instead turned her focus to trying to breath through the discomfort and pray she wouldn’t shift back. 

Her pads of her paws grew cold as the breeze from the window brushed over the sweat that gathered there. She could tell she was losing her grasp on her Lion, skin constantly flicking now as the itch persisted. Claws scratched at stone as she tried to hold out just a little bit longer. 

Slowly, she watched as claws and paws lost their fur and grew out into hands, the transformation moving up limbs to reveal cloth-covered arms and legs, the rest of her following after. Galinda stayed there, down on hands and knees, dread and disappointment flooding her in equal parts. 

She didn’t have long to come up with any kind of plan for placating the Sorceress when she returned, the door slamming open as the woman in question strode towards her. Her steps slowed to a considered pace as she no doubt took in the sight of the clearly-human girl down on all fours beside a shattered hourglass. 

“How disappointing,” A wave of her hand had the door slamming closed. “Not only did you fail to make it to three hours, you also decided to destroy my property.”

A high pitched sizzle filled the room, Morrible taking two steps closer, “Consider this a reminder that I will not be disrespected.”

CRACK .

Galinda’s back burned. Her eyes went wide and tears fell silently without having time to pool. Her hands and knees gave out, the girl crashing to the floor. The pile of broken timer beside her face vanished with a wave of Madame Morrible’s hand.

“I know you can do better.” And then she was gone.

She was left alone with her sobbing, breath coming out in ragged gasps. The door creaked and groaned on its hinges as the heavy wooden door was slowly pushed open once more. 

“Oh Cub,” The Wizard muttered as he walked in, rushing to her side. Taking no head to his expensive clothing, he dropped to the floor beside her. He took in the ripped back of her simple white blouse, revealing a line of angry red burns crossing from shoulder to hip. “An accident I’m sure.”

Galinda hiccuped around her sobs, “No, it-”

But Oscar didn’t listen, nodding as he mumbled to himself, “Yes, yes, Mara only does what’s necessary for the good of all of us. I’m sure she had her reasons.” 

Galinda looked up at him hopelessly.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” It was an awkward, painful affair, getting up from the floor. Every movement tugged at the skin around the burn, pulling on already fried nerves. The Wizard looked thoughtful as he glanced down at her, “It, um, it’s probably easiest if I carry you.” 

Eyes still streaming, Galinda gave a quick nod - standing was hard enough, walking would be next to impossible. 

Oscar leant down in towards her, instructing her to loop her arms around his neck, his forearms acting as a seat as he lifted her up from the floor. He took them down from the upper hallway, all the way to the lower kitchen, carefully setting Galinda down on the table in the centre of the room. 

The man moved around the room, pulling this and that out of random cupboards,“Did you know, I came from a world where people didn’t always believe in magic?” He moved back to stand in front of her, placing the items down beside her. He picked up a small glass jar filled with a strange smelling gel. 

“This,” Oscar held up the jar, “is something of my own creation. It will help the burn heal, you’ll just need it applied a couple of times a day for the next week or so and you should be good to go.” He set it back down beside her, “Can you spin around for me?” 

Galinda slowly brought her legs up onto the table, using her hands to turn to face away from the Wizard. 

“I’m going to start now, this will be cold,” She heard the lid of the tub spin as it was removed. The first touch was a shock, Galinda flinching away despite the warning. Fighting to stay still, she allowed Oscar to continue. “Before I came to Oz, I travelled the land showing people the wonder of magic, you know, opening their eyes to new possibilities. I met all sorts of people, young and old, tall and short, believers and non-believers.”

Gradually, the burning at her back cooled as the gel was applied through the torn blouse, Galinda relaxing minute by minute.

“If I’d had you with me then, why, there wouldn’t be a single soul who didn’t believe.”

Looking over her shoulder, Galinda asked, “Really?”

The man’s hair flopped up and down as he nodded, “Oh, people would love us - the Wizard and his Cub. They’d have adored us!”

Galinda frowned, “His Cub?” 

“Well, you know, I’ve always been a… a sentimental man, I’d have loved a daughter but life just, it just didn’t work out that way.”

“Why not?” She’d always thought if people wanted a family, then they would just have one. The villagers in Frottica always seemed to get their happy endings, finding someone to spend their life with and raise happy families.

“I suppose I never found someone to raise a family with. Although, perhaps I could, if you’d like, have a go by myself?” He’d finished with the gel, replacing the lid and coming around the table to meet her gaze.

Galinda didn’t know what to say. She still wanted to go home, she wanted her momsie and popsicle and no one could replace them. But, if Madame Morrible was right, and she was stuck here now… Oscar had shown her nothing but kindness, his words gentle where Morrible’s were sharp as knives. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have, not a replacement, but an additional parent figure in the Wizard. 

“Ok.”

After that, Oscar had made sure he was around when lessons went wrong, or when she simply needed to be comforted by more than Madame Morrible’s occasional warm word. Her longing for her popsicle, or any reminder of him, had eclipsed her feelings for Oscar being complicit in bringing and keeping her in the Emerald City, the softness he showed her proving her loyalty was appreciated and valued. 

The time she’d spent ‘in the field’, as the Wizard had called it, had so far been an odd mix of tasks. It had taken a few years, her 16th summer coming and going, before both Madame Morrible and the Wizard had felt she could be trusted and had the skills needed to be an efficient spy. 

It had started with small things, observing the crowds Madame Morrible often went to address in various parts of Oz - never further north than Shiz, nor south of the Quadling Kells. The break from constant green that filled her vision wherever she went within the Palace was nice, although the time for admiring was brief and often resulted in a firm sting on the nose if her eyes strayed too long. 

The crowds were often mixed, humans and Animals in attendance to listen to the woman speak of the Wizard’s plans and achievements. She was compelling, her voice commanding and leaving no room for question. But sometimes, from where she was tucked away out of sight, Galinda could see the Animals, though few in number, share looks and whispers amongst themselves. She’d listen to their doubts, the way they questioned the ruling of Oz and the fairness of their treatment. It was her job to point these potential uprisers out to Madame Morrible when they regrouped in the privacy of the carriage. The woman would listen, speak in hushed words with the guards just outside of her hearing range, and that would be that; they’d move on to the next village or city, and do it all over again. 

With time, their trust in her skills grew. She was given more freedom, Madame Morrible always quick with a swift tug to remind her of the piercing still securely looped through her ear that would keep her safe should she get lost. They allowed her to follow some of the Animals from the public gatherings to scout potential bases of operations for seeds of rebellion; after spending years practicing following the Monkeys around the Palace without them knowing, Galinda had become quite adept at going unnoticed, even to those with heightened senses.

Those tasks had taken up the majority of the last year, and only a handful of groups had been identified and located. They were the longest she’d been allowed to be away from the Emerald City.

Until now. 

“Do you think she’s ready, your Ozness?” Madame Morrible asked the Wizard from her seat beside him.

“Ready or not, time is ticking, and our little Cub could make a world of difference on this front,” The man at the head of the table had his eyes trained on a stack of reports, details of spikes of Animal rebellion no doubt. 

“But Shiz? You know sh-” The Sorceress began to protest.

The Wizard raised his head, cutting her off, “She will do what she needs to to keep us safe, right Cub?” Two pairs of eyes moved to the Lion, sitting guard to the side of the doorway. 

Giving a single nod, Galinda replied, “Yes, papa.” 

Over the last few years, their tentative paternal relationship had developed with each caring action the Wizard showed her. When he’d gently enquired after her using ‘papa’, she’d been conflicted, worried the distinction might further separate her from her popsicle. She used it hesitantly at first as a result, wanting to make her pseudo-parent happy, until gradually it became second nature.

From her first night in the palace onwards, she made sure she never went to bed without speaking out into the quiet room as if her parents were there. She told them of her day, of the successes she’d had and the adventures she’d been on, brushing over the darker side of her new life. The occasional sketch book the Wizard had given as gifts were filled with their likeness, places she didn’t want to forget, and recounts of memories she’d never allow herself to forget even as details began to fade with the passing weeks, months, years.

The practice eased her guilt, lifting the heavy weight that came with calling a new person ‘papa’.

“Your Ozness-” Madame Morrible tried again.

“Enough, Mara.” He looked towards the Sorceress. “You’ve done a fantastic job training her, look at her!” He waved an enthusiastic hand towards the perfectly poised Lion. “She can do this.” 

When no further protest came, the woman letting out a resigned sigh, the Wizard addressed the Lion, “Galinda,” She held his gaze, full attention turning to the conversation. “There’s a professor at Shiz who we suspect has been involved in harbouring and assisting dangerous criminals.” 

Galinda’s furred forehead crinkled in concern. 

“There’s been rumour amongst the other professors that he’s been spreading anti-Wizard propaganda to students as well,” Madame Morrible added.

“Right, right, that too,” The Wizard nodded absentmindedly, “We can’t remove him from his position without cause, and that’s where you come in,” He leaned back in his chair. “We need you to befriend him, learn exactly what’s been going on, so we can get him out and replace him with someone more, Wizard-friendly.”

“But-” It was Galinda’s turn to be cut off. 

“Now, I know what you’re thinking, ‘but papa, I’m going to be too far away from you, what if something happens’, and don’t worry! I’ll have Chistery stay close and have the guards on high alert,” His warm smile would have been reassuring if that had been her concern. She knew the guard would keep him safe. “I’ll be fine, Cub.”

She was more concerned about the ‘befriending’ part of the task. She’d made friends easily as a child, but that had been as a human, with other humans. She’d observed and tracked Animals, listened to their conversations, but had never been involved in any other than the odd word she’d say in passing to one of the Monkey guards. 

“She’ll need a name, too many eyes will fall on us if she goes by ‘Galinda’.” The older woman pointed out.

“Of course,” Still looking at Galinda, he nodded his head towards her. “I’ll let you choose, anything but ‘Galinda’ will do.”

She already had a name in mind. 

“Are you listening, Lion?” 

Dark eyes snapped to meet the Sorceress’s gaze.

The woman sighed, “Do you need to be reminded of how dangerous daydreaming can be?” 

Galinda recoiled instinctively, shaking her head.

“No? Well then, pay attention,” Her voice hardened with the command.

“Yes, Madame,” She rushed to soothe the faux pas. 

Sharp eyes stared back at her, testing her sincerity. Satisfied, Madame Morrible leaned back in her chair, fingers playing with the handle of her discarded teacup, “I’ll start again, shall I?” 

Galinda gave a quick nod, ensuring her eyes never strayed from the regally dressed woman as she spoke. 

“We’re nearly at Shiz, you know your task, but I must stress the importance of staying focused , ” The last two words were said with a pointed glare. “This is the Wizard’s reign and safety we’re talking about, success here will undoubtedly solidify his standing. I’m sure you will find yourself surrounded by… temptation, but don’t forget, Lion, what should happen if you try anything untoward. ” 

The reminder of her parent’s precarious safety always stole the breath from her lungs and sent a chill rushing down her spine. True to Madame Morrible’s words on her first day in the Palace, her parents’ had never shown up to take her home. Days passed and when summer tumbled into autumn with not even a whisper of anyone knocking at the gates looking for her, she began to lose what little hope she’d tried to cling to. 

“I’ll do good,” She quickly assured, nearly tripping on words in a way she hadn’t in years in her rush.

Madame Morrible smiled, gleaming white teeth shining from between dark lips, “I know you will.” Galinda wasn’t sure whether it was said with the knowledge that Galinda was good at what she’d been trained to do, or whether it was a promise of the unspoken consequences should she fail. She suspected both.

The woman looked away as the train came to a slow stop, finally pulling into the station for them to depart. 

Before Galinda had a chance to get to her feet, dark eyes pinned her in place, “What name did you choose?” 

Matching the gaze, well-loved memory front and centre in her mind, Galinda answered, “Glinda.” 

Chapter Text

Galinda had no idea what she was doing.

The actual job she would be doing as her cover at Shiz had been conveniently brushed over until Madame Morrible had sprung it on her when she’d shown her to her temporary home. The Animal faculty housing was tucked away behind the main campus buildings, out of sight and out of mind for the general populace. The door she’d been led to was short, far shorter than the ones around the main buildings. Sized for an Animal, Galinda thought as she took in the seemingly random heights of the doors along the row of houses. 

The inside was, even with the slight blue-green hue that covered everything in her Lion form, incredibly beige . Not just in colour, but in décor and general atmosphere. There was nothing especially wrong with it, but it was far from homey. The difference from the drench of green that followed her around the Emerald City, however, was a breath of fresh air. 

“I trust this will suffice?” Madame Morrible asked from where she stood just outside the front door. Her face was blocked by the height of the doorframe, but by the folding of her arms and single impatient tap of her foot, Galinda could tell she was in no mood to hear requests or opinions. 

“Of course. Thank you, Madame.”

“Wonderful. There should be appropriate uniform options in the wardrobe, you’ll be working as a caretaker while you’re here, cleaning, running errands etcetera. You start tomorrow. Keep your distance from students when they arrive, get close to Doctor Dillamond. Do not disappoint me, Lion.”

“I won’t,” she promised. 

The Sorceress left without another word, closing the front door and shutting Galinda off from the rest of the world.  

After spending most of the evening pacing around the unfamiliar rooms, adjusting to the scents and sounds around her, Galinda had hesitated before shifting back into her human form. There was a distinct lack of appropriate bedding for someone without fur in the home, only thin blankets draped over the oddly sized mattress in the bedroom. It shouldn’t have come as a shock, they clearly needed her in her Lion form while she was here; what use would her human be in getting close to the Professor? But still, as she pulled her sketchbook out of her luggage bag, she felt a longing for her bed, plush with pillows and a thick duvet she used to block out the green glow each morning back at the Emerald Palace. 

The bite of cold against her bare skin didn’t take long to chase her back into her fur; her fondness for the cold had dwindled down to nothing the longer she spent away from Frottica, her training room at the Palace often being void of warmth in a distinctly odd way. 

The blonde Lion shuffled under the blankets, curling up as tightly as she could to fight off the lingering chill. 

After a typically fitful night, Galinda awoke, as she often did, to the rising sun. Relieved to see she hadn’t shifted back in her sleep, she gave a satisfying stretch of her front legs, extending her claws and letting her jaw open wide with a roaring yawn. 

The uniform that had been left for her was the typical kind of clothing she’d become used to wearing in this form; a shawl type garment, tied at the neck so she could wiggle her head through it, large enough to cover half of her back but not hinder her moments. The Wizard had taken to surprising her with new variations, often different shades of green, that she could wear when traveling or in moments of downtime in the Palace. 

She didn’t dare request it, she didn’t want to hurt the man’s feelings or seem ungrateful, but there was a deep yearning that had never left for something, anything, pink. The clothes Galinda had worn to travel to the Emerald City had become threadbare by the time she outgrew them, the fabric the only thing within those walls that offered her that small piece of home. Everything that had been provided by her new caretakers was some combination of green, black, or gold, never straying from that colour scheme; the complete opposite of what she had known before. 

Shiz was no different in that regard, a strict colour palette obvious with one look into the wardrobe. Deep blue, just a hint of teal, thin edgings of gold and white, a small Shiz logo stitched onto a corner. 

One uniform traded for another. 

The material wasn’t exactly soft, clearly intended to be hard wearing for a physically taxing role. It brushed harshly over her ears, her piercing snagging slightly as she wiggled it on, before settling stiffly over her back. 

Galinda realised, as soon as she stepped out of the small house, that she had no clue what the rules were here. What was the routine? Where did she need to be and when? Did she need to find Madame Morrible? She stood frozen in front of the door, muscles locking up as she shifted through options.

She could follow Madame Morrible’s scent, find her and ask for instructions - this posed the risk of her interrupting the woman’s morning, but it might be what she was expecting and she might actually be waiting for her.

She could wander the campus and just… start cleaning? It would show initiative and that she could manage herself, and thus, this task as a whole. 

Or, she could try and familiarise herself with the campus layout so she didn’t spend weeks getting lost as she had in the Emerald Palace - magic shocks were motivating for learning specific routes between rooms, but they also had a habit of leaving behind trembling muscles that were far less efficient at whatever lesson she’d had that day.

“Excuse me? Are you alright?” Galinda’s head snapped to the side, startled by the sudden intrusion of the deep voice. Beside her stood a smartly dressed Goat, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, coat resting wrinkle-free over his back, fastened with an antique silver clasp. 

She wasn’t ready for this. How do you talk to an Animal? How was she supposed to make him a friend? “Yes, fine.” Her words were clipped, and the Goat was clearly taken aback by the blunt tone. Great start Galinda.

His forehead crinkled as he shuffled on his hooves, “Are you quite sure? You’ve been standing there for some time.” 

“Yes, thank you.” Politeness would help, right? 

He was quiet for a moment. “Well alright then.” He turned to leave, hooves clip-clopping on the cobblestones with the small steps.

“Wait!” She rushed to stop his retreat, turning to follow after him. “I’m sorry, I-I’m new.”

The Goat looked back towards her, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly, “I did presume that to be the case,” He lifted a hoof, extending it towards her. “I’m Doctor Dillamond,” Hesitantly, Galinda placed a paw on his hoof, giving a brief shake before quickly dropping it back to the ground. “And you are?”

“Ga-Glinda, just Glinda.” Her ears twitched at the small mistake, a sharp, niggling voice in the back of mind berating her for the slip up. Do not mess this up.

“Pleased to meet you, just Glinda,” Behind his glasses, she could see his eyes move between her and the houses. “May I be of assistance?” Were Animals usually like this with each other? The Monkeys in the Emerald Palace never really spoke to each other, strict with holding their focus and committed to their posts. The discussions she’d heard between those she’d followed had been hushed and hurried, not polite back and forths. She couldn’t help but be wary of the hidden meaning she was sure was buried somewhere in his words. 

“I-I don’t-” Galinda paused, before sighing in resignation, “yes, actually, that- that would be good… Do you know where Madame Morrible might be?”

Doctor Dillamond tilted his head, “The Dean of Sorcery Studies?” 

Madame Morrible had presumably forgotten to mention what her position was when she worked here, but this Goat sounded sure. “Yes, that’s what she is.” 

That earned her another odd look, before the Goat replied, “I imagine she’s in her quarters at this time, students arrive later today and she likely has much to prepare.”

“Oh.” So she wouldn’t be expecting her, that narrowed her options down a bit, “thank you.” Galinda still had no idea how to decide between the other two choices of course, and she could feel her brain jumping between the two, trying and failing to settle on just one.

Doctor Dillamond stepped in again, unknowingly coming to the rescue, “Would you like me to show you to the staffroom?” 

She couldn’t feel anything other than relief at the decision being taken out of her hand. 

Galinda nodded.

The Goat began walking further down the path, large paws scrambling on cobblestone to follow. They walked at an easy pace, no rush in the Goats trot, “So, Miss Glinda, where have you come from?”

“I-I don’t see why that’s important.” The Wizard and Madame Morrible hadn’t stated what topics were out of bounds for discussion, but Galinda knew talking about the Emerald City or the Wizard with an Animal suspected of being part of looming rebellion was not a good idea. 

“Hmm. I suppose it isn’t, I just don’t see many Lions around these parts.” Her fur bristled. 

Words tumbled out before she could think, “Well I don’t see many Goats around either.” 

To her surprise, Doctor Dillamond merely laughed, “Quite right. My family is far from here.” 

“You don’t want to be with them?” Galinda always struggled with homesickness when she first came to a new place, willingly staying away from family was a very foreign concept. 

The Goat hummed, “I have a purpose to fulfil here. Knowing our history is vital for the future, and educating young minds on the past so that it doesn’t repeat is more important now than ever.” The statement rang true to the information Madame Morrible and the Wizard had been able to give her. Was he really admitting to his guilt already?

She pounced on the lead, “Why go on about the past when you’re here to teach history?” 

“History is our past.” His once deep, warm voice took on an edge, agitation bleeding into his words. He stopped walking, turning to look Galinda in the eye, “I take it seriously, we’re doomed to repeat history if we don’t acknowledge where we’ve been, where we’ve come from. You should take it seriously too Miss Glinda. Things are not what they used to be for us Animals.” They’d stopped just short of what Galinda assumed was the courtyard, standing at the edge of a large, open space in the middle of the campus. It was quiet, with no other human or Animal around to hear their conversation.

Or see Galinda’s poorly covered flinch back at being called an Animal.

She raised a paw to her ear, giving it an itch to hide the way she’d recoiled from the distinction, “What did they used to be?” 

“Better,” was all he said in response, walking over to a nearby door, “But perhaps we shouldn’t discuss this now. Here we are.” He pushed it open, Galinda following behind him. She took in the small clusters of tables and chairs dotted around the room - plenty of seating for humans, nothing that would be comfortable for her to try and fold her large body into. Doctor Dillamond remained by the door as she walked slowly between tables, “I have things to attend to in my classroom, so I’ll leave you here. Will you be ok on your own?”

She stopped near one of the far tables, looking over her shoulder towards the Goat, “Yes, thank you, Doctor Dillamond.” 

He sent her a soft smile, “Please, call me Desmond.” 

Confused beyond belief, Galinda gave a nod, “Desmond.” 

He let the door swing closed behind him, Galinda left once again to her own devices. The whole interaction with Doctor Dillamond - Desmond - had been confusifying. She’d been expecting him to have a more covert approach to communicating, or a tougher persona more suited to dealing with dangerous individuals. The warm and open way he’d answered her questions, while not pushing for information when she hesitated to answer his own, was in direct contradiction of the image she had built up in her head from the information she’d been given. 

There was very obviously something she was missing, and she was determined to figure out what. 

The door swung open again with a rush of wind. Madame Morrible stood just inside the staff room, arms folded, “What are you doing here Lion?”

Galinda rushed forwards to stand in front of the Sorceress,“I-I wasn’t- Doctor Dillamond brought me here, I wasn’t sure where to go. I’m sorry Madame.” She dropped to sit back on her haunches, eyes fixed on the woman’s face.

Madame Morrible’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, “You’ve met him already? Quick work Lion, I’m impressed. Come along.” Her eyes took in the uniform around her neck, “The courtyard needs setting up for the students’ arrival in a few hours, benches need arranging in front of the podium.”

“I’m-I’m sorry, Madame, but, how-” Dark eyes looked down at her paws, and their noticeable lack of thumbs. 

“They’re stacked over by the far wall, we need them in two rows. Find me when you’re done.” The edge of the long, billowy cloak hit Galinda across her nose as Madame Morrible swept back out into the courtyard. 

The benches in question were long and curved in design, carved out of a light coloured wood that translated to a rather heavy seat. Galinda sighed as she looked at the number of benches, stacked in pairs, realising the only way she was doing this was with her back and a lot of tiring work. It was slightly daunting, but she would not disappoint. 

Squaring her shoulders, she shuffled under the first bench, paws on the one below as she braced herself. With a heave, she rose up, lifting the bench with her. She grunted as a ridge beneath the wooden seat pressed sharply into her shoulders, wincing as she pressed up further to lift it clear from the other. Staggering slightly, Galinda moved back to the stone ground, shoulders rolling uncomfortably as the wood pressed down on straining muscles. 

She set the bench down with a clatter, falling to the ground below it as she panted from her efforts and tried to ease the ache from the thinly applied pressure. 

With a pitiful groan and a weary look down the line of stacked seating, Galinda took a deep breath and got back to work. 

A final knock of wood on stone brought an end to the seemingly-never-ending task she’d been given. All the benches were in place, pointing towards the platform at the front of the courtyard as per Madame Morrible’s request. 

Galinda allowed herself a moment to catch her breath, ears pricking as the sound of excited chatter slowly filtered between the surrounding buildings. She’d lost track of time, the clock ticking closer and closer to the arrival time for incoming students without her noticing. 

Pulling herself to her feet, she silently prowled into the shadows out of habit, edging around walls as she scented the air to find Madame Morrible. The trail led her to a nearby spiral staircase. Up she went, following the hallway to a door that had been left slightly ajar. She remembered I can’t use door knobs, Galinda realised as she took in the shiny metal doorknob fixed to the skillfully crafted door. 

She nudged it open further, peering inside tentatively, “Madame Morrible?” She called out. 

“Lion,” The Sorceress looked up from her desk, “I trust you’ve finished setting up?” 

Galinda slipped through the gap, padding over, “Yes, Madame.” 

Madame Morrible nodded, her carefully styled hair barely moving with the action, “Good, I expect the students have started to arrive?” Galinda nodded, “Hmm, I’ll be needed down there momentarily then.” She stacked the papers in front of her, standing from the high back chair, “Make yourself useful while I’m busy, you haven’t forgotten how to observe a crowd have you?”

“Of course not, Madame.” It had been a few months since their last outing that required her to observe from the shadows, but the skills were second nature by this point. 

“Go on then,” She waved a dismissive hand towards her, and Galinda sprang into action. She left the room, pausing when she realised she wouldn’t be able to go back the same way; the staircase led directly into the courtyard where students would no doubt have started gathering. Turning back, she crept further down the hall looking for another way down. 

Still hopeless at navigating new places without scents to follow, she turned back on herself a few times, but eventually found another staircase leading down to the ground floor. With the sun past its highest point, the shadows were in her favour. She leapt through an arched window, hugging the building as she followed the sound of the crowds. 

Bathed in darkness, she lay down between shrubs on the edge of the courtyard and took in the swathes of stripy blue. 

Galinda winced as the speaker above her screeched to life, a woman’s voice instructing the students to officially gather in the quad. The floor below her vibrated gently as numerous feet hit the stone. She watched as they sat on the benches she’d been heaving around not half an hour ago, the happy buzz of unbound excitement making her skin shiver. 

The professor at the podium introduced the staff standing behind him, including Doctor Dillamond, before he moved on to the Sorceress. The easy, serene smile on the woman’s face as she walked through the crowd was the one Galinda often caught sight of when she accompanied her on her travels. She was using the same tone of voice, easily charming and warming the crowd to her with a handful of words. 

The crowd was enchanted, clapping enthusiastically as she finished her speech, nodding to students either side as she moved back down the quad to the spiral staircase. 

Nothing unusual caught Galinda’s attention throughout the welcome speeches, the only Animals present were the ones at the front, clearly behaving appropriately under the intense gaze of so many pupils. 

Keen eyes watched as students began milling about, talking amongst themselves, finding room assignments and slowly drifting out of the crowded space. 

A commotion in the far corner had her head snapping round, pupils constricting as she found the cause. 

Green. 

The same deep, inescapable green that followed her around the Emerald City had, somehow , found her here in human form. She knew skin colour could vary a lot, but she’d never heard of someone being green before. It filled her with a strange, unfounded feeling of anxiety that had her skin shaking in an attempt to get it off .

That anxiety fell away however, when Miss Coddle, the Head Shizstress, took hold of a girl’s wheelchair and began pushing her away from the green girl. Her hands flew out, and the other girl, chair and all, shot up in the air. The meticulously placed benches skidded across the stone floor, one flying up and smashing into the back wall. Clumps of stone tumbled to the floor with a crash, dust rushing into the air. The students still lingering cried out in shock, jumping back out of the path of the heavy wood. The girl in the air stilled, her and her chair slowly falling back down, rolling into the green girl’s hands. 

Everyone stilled. 

“Magic is merely the mind’s attempt to wrap itself around the impossible.” Madame Morrible expertly drew all attention to her as she stepped back into the crowd. “Yes, that was me. To prepare you to expect the unexpected here at Shiz.”

She stepped forward towards the girl who’d let go over the wheelchair and was staring wide-eyed. 

“And speaking of the unexpected.” She was in front of her now, and Galinda watched on with slowly tensing muscles. The fascination in Madame Morrible’s eyes was… not right. It was foreign and out of place, and the practiced smile on her face had melted into something far more genuine than any she had been on the receiving end of.

“What is your name, Miss…” Madame Morrible trailed off in question.

“Elphaba.” The girl rushed to answer.

“Miss Elphaba.” Her smile grew. It was wonky and unpracticed, a far cry from the one she let show for Galinda - it was real. Galinda’s stomach twisted into knots. What was different about this girl? Yes, she clearly had magic, but Galinda could turn into a Lion. “We have a room, a private suite, that you can take for your stay here.” 

She shooed the rest of the students off, dispersing the crowd with ease. They whispered between themselves as they left, casting looks back towards Elphaba as they went.

Galinda stayed low where she was hidden, chin dropping to the floor between her paws as she watched the interaction between low hanging leaves. 

“And you,” The Sorceress addressed Elphaba, “Come with me.”

She seemed hesitant, perhaps confused if the crinking on her forehead was any indication, but she followed with steps gradually growing in confidence. 

“I would like to teach you privately, and take no other students,” was the last thing Galinda heard as Madame Morrible led Elphaba out of the courtyard. Her eyes honed in on a caring hand guiding her by her waist. The impossibly soft looking touch was the last straw for the slowly crumbling Lion. 

It wasn’t fair. 

Had she done something wrong? 

The unease of anxiety rekindled, merging with another feeling Galinda hadn’t felt before. This stranger, someone Madame Morrible clearly didn’t know, had performed one feat of magic, while she did it repeatedly every. single. day.  

Where were her soft touches? 

The woman’s praise was hard earned when she did get it, and while that was often more than enough to soothe the harsh sting of magic needed to pull the best from her, it didn’t help the burning envy that filled her at the way it was given away in response to such little effort from this green girl. 

Galinda, heart aching and overwhelmed with her mess of feelings, dragged her eyes away from where they had disappeared and back to the mess of stone now coating the courtyard floor. 

How am I supposed to clean this up?

Chapter Text

Galinda was in low spirits by the time the sun set, dragging her paws as she silently weaved her way through the hallways of Shiz. Cleaning up the courtyard had been grueling work, dust still lingered deep in her fur, exacerbating the itch she could feel steadily growing. The chunks of stone had been almost impossible to move, but the courtyard had slowly been returned to its pristine state. 

The same could not be said for the wall the bench had been hurled into, however. 

With a rumbling stomach and strong desire for bed, Galinda took the route to Madame Morrible’s office almost on autopilot, her nose guiding her towards the woman’s familiar scent. 

Her office door had been left partially open, the glow from within a strong indication of the Sorceress’s presence.

“Madame Morrible?” Galinda called as she slunk into the dimly lit room.

“You certainly took your time,” The woman didn’t look up from the book in her hand. She was reclined on a plush looking sofa, hair out of its usual faultless style, falling over one shoulder in silvery waves. 

“I’m sorry, Madame, it was-”

“I don’t need your excuses, Lion, I need you to do your job.” 

“Yes, of course,” she shuffled anxiously on her paws, “I’m sorry.” 

“Now then,” The two halves of the book slammed closed as the woman finally looked towards Galinda. “I trust you have something of value to share?”

Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, and had she been human, a flush of embarrassment would have painted her pale skin a brilliant ruby red, “I-I’ve only spoken to him once, but I-I think it went well. H-he mentioned telling students about the past, he must be spreading lies about the Wizard in his lessons.” 

“Hmm, nothing we didn’t already know. I shouldn’t be surprised you’d have nothing useful yet. But I find myself… disappointed.” 

“I’m sorry, Madame, I’ll- I’ll find more, I’ll do better,” she rushed to say. 

“Hmm, yes, do.” Dark eyes held Galinda captive, her tail lowering and posture crumbling under the intense gaze. She didn’t move, even when Madame Morrible finally turned away to leaf through the pages of the book, finding her place to continue reading.

The dismissal was clear, and yet Galinda hesitated to leave. Flashes of the warm smile on Madame Morrible’s face as she’d interacted with Elphaba sprung to mind, stalling any movement of her paws. 

“Why are you still here?” She knew she should have turned tail and ran as the tell tale signs of annoyance bled into the woman’s suspiciously cool voice. 

“Miss Elphaba,” she whispered before she could stop herself. 

She was caught under her stare once more, “What about her?”

“Why her?” Galinda asked quietly, sinking lower to the floor. “I can learn more magic, I can learn sorcery.” 

Madame Morrible barked out a laugh, “No, I don’t think you can.”

“But-”

The Sorceress interrupted with words that cut deeper than her magic ever had, stating matter-of-factly, “Her potential is limitless. You and Miss Elphaba are vastly different in that regard.” 

Galinda’s tail gave a rapid flick before she could stop it, ears pulling back against her head, “But I-I can turn into a Lion .” As if that much wasn’t already obvious. The Sorceress had always made sure to point out the value of her skill, that they trusted her, needed her. 

“Yes, dear, but that’s all you can do. Turn into something else and you might have more promise as a Sorceress. You have your purpose, you’re good at it. Don’t ask for more.”

“If I just tri-”

Madame Morrible’s hand snapped out towards her, grabbing her around her muzzle firmly. Galinda winced as sharp nails dug into her sensitive skin, the piercing pressure forcing her to keep still and pay attention .

“I don’t enjoy being questioned, Lion.” She could feel each individual nail leaving its mark, four just shy of the bridge of her nose, one biting into her soft chin. “You have your use, but a spy is all you’ll ever be. Everything I’ve done, my method of teaching, has been for you, to make you the best at what you do. Are you not grateful?”

Galinda waited to be freed from her hold, knowing she couldn’t move her head without the nails sinking deeper into her skin.

She caught on quickly, however, when Madame Morrible spat out a singular, “well?” and her hand had not moved. 

Fast or slow, Galinda had to choose; which would be less painful? With each tick of the clock, the grip around her muzzle tightened.

Choosing to get it over with and not risk angering Madame Morrible further, Galinda nodded her head twice in quick succession. She closed her eyes against the burning sting that followed. 

“That’s what I thought.” The hand disappeared with one final spike of eye-watering pain. Galinda took a quick step back, nearly tripping over her paws to get further away from the Sorceress. 

“If you want to make me proud, bring me something we can use against the Goat.” 

“I’ll make you proud,” Galinda nodded, backing away further at the second chance of escape. 

“Wonderful,” was the last word she heard from the woman as she slipped back through the door and out into the dark corridor. 

Thankful for her affinity for seeing in the dark, Galinda made her way through the building and out into the fresh air without issue. 

“Miss Glinda?” A deep voice called out as she rounded the corner back to the Animal faculty housing. 

Doctor Dillamond’s glasses reflected the lamp light from the post he was standing beneath, hiding the concerned look in his eyes as he caught sight of the Lion. His ears twitched reflexively when her claws extended as she was caught off guard, scratching across the stone path.

“D-Doctor Dillamond,” Galinda greeted. The doorway to safety, to privacy where she could float away in happy memories, was metres away, just beyond where the Goat stood. 

“Are you alright?” 

She could feel her claws extend further, and fought back a hiss as he slowly came closer. Her body itched, her face ached, and she really just wanted to go to sleep. Doctor Dillamond lifted his nose higher into the air, nose twitching. 

“Miss Glinda, are you bleeding?” The whooshing in her ears got louder. She hadn’t noticed the slowly pooling blood beneath her fur, a tiny pinprick of a cut left behind as a reminder of Madame Morrible’s stern words.

“I- the stone- ” She was far too tired to think of something reasonable. 

Galinda heard him let out a quiet sigh, “Come with me, we’ll get you cleaned up.” 

“No, really, I’m ok.” 

“At least let me take a look?” He lifted a hoof up as if to reach out for her face.

Flinching back, Galinda’s patience snapped, “I don’t need help from you!”

“I see.” His tone lost its calming edge, his words more wary than they had been previously. “Then I’ll bid you goodnight.”

Galinda watched as he started to walk away, the clip-clop of his hooves fading out into the night. 

Closing her eyes, she let out a quiet huff as she tried to claw back control. With one final, longing look towards her tempting door, Galinda took off after the Goat. 

“Doctor Dillamond,” she called out as she passed into the tree line. She could just about hear his footsteps further along the path, stilling as her voice reached him. 

Her quick pace made up the distance quickly, Doctor Dillamond coming into sight, and what could only be his house towards the end of the path. 

“I’m sorry,” she said when she slowed to a stop. “Its- its been a long day, I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.”

The Goat observed her for a moment, taking stock of her no-longer pinprick pupils, neatly settled fur and perked up ears. 

“I also apologise if I overstepped,” he said after a beat. 

Galinda’s body sagged in relief; she couldn’t afford to mess this up. “It’s ok, I am fine though.” 

Doctor Dillamond’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses, but he didn’t protest further. 

“Would you care for a warm drink?” 

Galinda smiled her first real smile of the day.

The atmosphere inside Doctor Dillamond’s house reminded her of her popsicle’s office. It was small, the walls fairly close together, but its personality was huge. Photos littered the walls, bookshelves fit to burst with old looking books, and the mismatched colours of the throws and pillows was odd, but somehow fitting. Obvious care had been taken in the placement of every piece of décor, everything in its place and painting a picture of a caring individual living here. 

It didn’t make sense.

Doctor Dillamond had lit the fire almost as soon as they’d entered, the roaring flames heating up the small space quickly. As the temperature rose, chasing off the chill that had followed them in from the outside, Galinda felt more of her discomfort scurry away. Her skin still itched, and remnants of a sting still poked at her muzzle, but she couldn’t fight against the warm embrace of the living room as she took a seat on one of the chairs. 

The calming scent of herbal tea gradually permeated the room, drifting up from the oddly shaped teacups. The one in front of her looked different to the one Doctor Dillamond had placed on the table beside his seat, the strange handle a slightly different shape and size. 

She leant down towards it, her tongue poking out to lap at the warm drink. 

“Oh,” Doctor Dillamond sounded startled, freezing Galinda in place as her eyes shot over to him. He was looking between her and the mug with a frown, ears twitching for reasons unknown to her, “I-I apologise if the handle isn’t right for your paws, would you like a larger cup?”

“I-excuse me?” She asked.

He gestured to the cup in front of her face, “You shouldn’t need to drink it like that, I would never want a guest to feel uncomfortable. I’m sure I have something better suited.” He rose from his seat with a clatter of hooves, moving back towards the small kitchen area.

“Better suited for what?” Galinda asked as he pottered around, moving cups and mugs out of the way as he searched.

At her question, he looked back over to her, that strange look still somewhere behind his eyes, “For you to pick up the cup.”

“Pick up,” she quietly repeated. “Pick up the cup?”

“Have you not used a cup like this before? How have you been drinking?” He returned to the seating area, a slightly larger cup placed beside hers. Suddenly the strange shape of the handle made sense. While not a particularly good fit, his hoof hooked into the hollow handle, allowing him to lift it clean from the table and pour the tea from one to the other.  

“With my tongue.” She said absentmindedly as her tired mind whirred and clunked, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. There were things that had been made to fit paws, hooves or claws? Was this a new invention? 

“With- ” He cut himself off, pausing again to give her a long, searching look. “I’m sure this will be far more comfortable for you.” Doctor Dillamond nudged the cup closer to her, gesturing for her to try.

Hesitantly, she reached out with a paw. The handle fitted snugly around it, feeling secure without being a tight squeeze. It didn’t feel like it was going to fall when she lifted it from the table, nor did the heat from the liquid inside spread through to the sensitive pads of her paw. Without issue, she managed to get it up to her face, before realising she still didn’t know how to drink like this in this form. Her Lion mouth made it awkward to wrap her lips around the brim as she would as a human, her teeth an additional obstacle she really didn’t need. Instead, she resorted to opening her mouth part way, and slowly tipping some of the tea in. It was awkward and highly embarrassing, but Doctor Dillamond made no comment. 

There was a heavy silence that filled the room as teacups were set down. Galinda’s ear twitched as her skin gave a shudder. 

“How long have you been working here?” She did her best to infuse her voice with curiosity. 

This Animal confused her. He was an exact contradiction to everything she’d been told coming into this. If not for the fact that he’d admitted to telling students about the past as he sees it, she’d assume Madame Morrible and the Wizard had the wrong Animal.  

There were no visible signs of other Animals living in this house from what she could see around her, other than perhaps the odd hint of a scent that did not match the Goats. Where were the fugitives? Where were the criminals ?

“Oh, around 8 years if I’m remembering correctly,” Doctor Dillamond answered, humming in thought. “I’ve been very fortunate.” 

“Fortunate?”

“Hmm, many people wouldn’t allow Animals such a… notable job, nowadays. We’ve lost Animal staff in recent years because of the change in how humans react and respond to us. I used to be far more widely revered, and now my focus is solely the students here, educating them and hoping to make a difference.” The Goat’s voice gradually became more animated as he spoke.

“I’m sure that’s not the reason, maybe the other Animals did something wrong?” She’d heard the Wizard going on and on about the Animals stirring up trouble, causing issues for humans around Oz. 

“I doubt that, Miss Glinda,” Doctor Dillamond countered. “Those who have been looking into their missing friends, those speaking up against human treatment, they’re all slowly being replaced. Friends of mine, kind, caring individuals who had never done anything wrong, suddenly let go or restricted in what they are permitted to do. Some have gone missing themselves. It’s worrying.” 

“There has to be more to it,” Galinda muttered. These were rebels, crooks, dangerous Animals who wanted to see the Wizard dethroned. Right? 

“Perhaps you’ve led an easier life, and have been spared the realities of being an Animal in modern-day Oz,” He spoke slowly, carefully, “Or, maybe not.” He added as an afterthought, eyes flicking to her teacup, before coming up to rest on what looked to be her nose. 

Unsettled and feeling suddenly out of place, Galinda jumped down from her chair, startling Doctor Dillamond.

“I should be going,” she said, walking as calmly as she could to the door. “It’s getting late.”

“Of course,” He stood, nodding his goodbye. “You’re welcome in my home whenever you’d like, Miss Glinda. You’ll always have a friend here, do remember that.” 

Galinda didn’t know what to make of his words, or the solemn tone that coloured them. She nodded once, and made her swift exit back out into the brisk air. 

She barely slept that night. 

In her mind, she could hear the Wizard and Madame Morrible’s words on the dangers the rebel Animals posed to peace around Oz. She could perfectly recount every story she’d been told about how they were trying to turn people against the Wizard, or how they believed they weren’t being treated fairly and were simply being ungrateful. These Animals needed to be reasoned with, talked down, or somehow otherwise convinced that they were mistaken. That’s what she’d been working to help do. All those names, locations, descriptions she’d passed on to Madame Morrible had been individuals she’d saved from leading a life following false beliefs.

She was helping them.

But from what Doctor Dillamond - Desmond - had been saying, it sounded like these ‘corrections’ were far more widespread. She’d never tracked anyone to Shiz before, or to any of the surrounding areas for that matter. Obviously there were efforts going on outside of her involvement to identify and manage seditious Animal activity, surely it was through those that the Animals Desmond mentioned had been found to be doing something untoward?

Galinda knew she couldn’t trust the Goat’s word, with he himself being a target for removal from his position, but there was something about him. His concern seemed genuine, not borne out of spite. 

And he hadn’t once mentioned the Wizard. 

Her head was pounding as she went in circles trying to make things make sense. When sleep claimed her later that night, she found blissful relief from her thoughts, her dreams for once less daunting to face. 

For the rest of the week, Galinda tried not to think about the confusifying conversation. She wandered around the University cleaning up various messes, hauling classroom equipment around, and delivering documents here and there. More importantly, she didn’t bump into Doctor Dillamond even once. 

It wasn’t all easy sailing however. She did her best to ignore the ongoing warmth Madame Morrible seemed to show Elphaba, but it wasn’t always easy. On one notable occasion, Galinda had caught sight of them on one of the upper balconies while she’d been dragging a cart of particularly heavy texts through to one of the classrooms on the opposite side of campus. Laughter, happiness, genuine affection flowed between the two, and with every second that passed, she felt her jealousy of the other girl grow exponentially. 

Much to her frustration, she became far too familiar with Elphaba’s scent, catching it in the still air of Madame Morrible’s classroom and finding notes of the earthy scent floating over to her on a particularly spiteful breeze when she walked by anywhere close to her. 

On one hand, it made it slightly easier to avoid her later in the day when she was already verging on cracking under the sensory overload. 

On the other, she was constantly aware of where the other girl was. She knew when she was sitting on a bench in the small hidden garden, when she was out on the balcony connected to her private room, and, more importantly, she knew when was in the same room as her. 

When she’d been helping out tidy things in the library on a particularly busy day, she’d stiffened and groaned when she’d picked up a scent that was distinctly Elphaba fluttering through the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the green figure taking a seat at one of the far tables, the scratching of a pen against paper adding to the cacophony of noise swimming around the open space. 

It niggled and poked at her brain until, combined with her baseline dislike of this girl, she’d given in to a moment of pettiness. 

Galinda had made her way through the crowd, winding around tables just out of the girl’s sight. It didn’t really matter, considering her eyes had never left her paper, but Galinda kept her steps light, waiting until the last possible moment to dip around the side of the table. When Elphaba’s pen touched down on paper, Galinda’s hips had swung on her next step, hitting against the leg of the table. The result had been instant and gratifying, a startled gasp coming from Elphaba as her pen dragged a firm line across whatever it was she was writing, and by the time she looked up to find the culprit, Galinda had been on the other side of the library with no one the wiser. 

That small win against the girl who seemed to get everything Galinda had strived hard to earn without so much as batting an eye was enough to get her through to the end of the week. 

As the week came to a close, Thursday ticking away steadily into the evening, Galinda dragged herself back towards her home, ready to collapse; she’d never done so much physical activity day after day, and it was showing. Her muscles ached, and her head swam with each missed meal. Her body protested as she leant against the door to push it inwards. 

“You’ve kept me waiting, Lion.” 

Galinda jumped backwards into the wall with a thud at the unexpected voice. The room was mostly dark, a single lamp having been turned on in the far corner. Madame Morrible perched on the edge of one of the chairs beside it, unwilling to recline in something designed so clearly for an Animal . 

“I-I didn’t know you were waiting for me, Madame.” She dragged herself away from the wall, taking careful steps towards the Sorceress. 

“Of course you didn’t,” Her eyes stayed fixed on the Lion, tracking the shiver of her skin with interest, “Needing to shift back are we?” 

Yes, Galinda wanted to say. She’d spent more time as a Lion this week than she ever had previously, and while she knew it would be beneficial to her stamina in the long-term, short-term it was nothing but draining. 

She shook her head instead. 

“Hmm,” The corner of Madame Morrible’s lips twitched upwards for a moment. “I need an update on the Goat. What have you found?”

Everything from her last conversation with Doctor Dillamond rushed back, along with the headache of confusion that had accompanied her twisting thoughts. 

“He- I- I don’t think he’s really… doing anything wrong,” she trailed off, voice no more than a whisper as she offered her opinion. 

“Oh?” Madame Morrible stood from the seat, “You think both myself and the Wizard are wrong ?”

Galinda was quick to shake her head in protest, “N-no! I-he’s, maybe he’s changed?”

“Changed? Animals don’t change, Lion. They’re not intelligent enough for that.” 

“But, he’s a teacher, I think-” she tried, pointlessly, to counter the argument. The fire in the woman’s eyes at her words quickly told her she was wrong to try. 

“A teacher who does not deserve that position, I assure you.” Madame Morrible interrupted, moving to stand over the shorter Lion. “Know your place,” she hissed and reached out to tug at the piercing dangling from her ear, “you’re not here to think, you don’t have the brain for that. You’re here to listen and report back so I can do the thinking.” 

The uncomfortable pull against her ear struck harder than it usually did with images burned into her mind of the caring gestures Madame Morrible offered up without reservation to Elphaba. Once again, she was hit with the disparity, the unfairness that this was necessary for her to earn a hint of the Sorceress’s kindness. 

She sat down on her heels, shifting closer to ease the pressure of the hold. “Forgive me, Madame,” she begged.

Her ear was released. “Better,” she said, a single stroke brushing down the back of Galinda’s head. “But I’m going to need more than that.” Madame Morrible abruptly turned with a swoosh of her cloak as she walked back to the low set door. 

“Come,” she said with a clipped voice, “there’s something I have in mind that I’m sure will… poke the bear, so to speak.”  

Shiz was eerily quiet as Galinda followed Madame Morrible through the campus. She trailed diligently behind the woman, a silent shadow, mindless and unquestioning as she was led wherever Madame Morrible wanted. 

Galinda tried not to wonder about whatever plan she had in mind. No other words had been said once they’d left the house, no further explanation given, and she hadn’t tried to ask. 

Her dark eyes swept back and forth along the path either side of them, senses on high alert in the midst of the unknown, hard-learnt habits crawling to the front of her mind. Madame Morrible led with long strides, moving with swift grace towards the classroom building. With a twist of the door handle, she entered the empty hallway, the sharp strikes of her heels on the floor echoing down the hall as they made their way towards the lone door at the end of the corridor. Arch-like and grand, Galinda absentmindedly admired the craftsmanship that had clearly gone into creating the design. The doorframe appeared to defy gravity with its size, massive stone pieces framing the door with a quiet grandiosity. This was a room intended for someone of importance to teach in.

Madame Morrible pulled a large, old-styled key from the pocket of her cloak, unlocking the door with practiced ease. The inside of the room was as impressive as the entrance. There were scrawled timelines decorating the walls, artwork of what she assumed were important historical figures hung high and proud, and a strange contraption of peddles in the centre of where she guessed Doctor Dillamond stood to teach his students. 

The Sorceress followed in behind Galinda, pushing the door closed with barely a whisper. She strode down the middle of the rows of desks, up to the chalkboards at the front of the classroom. Another timeline had been diligently outlined on the central board, its wiggling line weaving like a snake of white chalk over the surface. Dates and names had been written clearly so even those at the back of the room could see without issue. It was clearly a labour of hard work, and Galinda couldn’t help but wonder how the Goat had managed to make it look so perfect. 

“Clean that off would you, Lion.” 

Galinda pulled her eyes away from the board, “Madame?”

“The board,” Madame Morrible said, waving a hand towards the one Galinda had been admiring.

“But-” A pointed raised brow had her rapidly rethinking her words. “Yes, Madame.”

There was a dusty cloth hanging from the frame of one of the other chalkboards, clearly intended for cleaning the boards after use. Ignoring the uncomfortable sensation of the cloth against her tongue as she held it carefully between her teeth, Galinda quickly realised that her attempts at erasing the timeline from the board were hopeless. With each push forwards to rub at the chalk, the board shifted back on its frame. 

She let out a low grumble as another try was thwarted by the moving surface, looking back towards Madame Morrible with a shame-filled plea for help in her eyes. 

The woman sighed, “Shift back if you must.” 

Galinda’s shame didn’t ease up as she hesitantly changed back into her human form. The relief she felt at the dissipating itch was masked by her embarrassment, the lack of fur making her feel oddly exposed as her cheeks flushed red under the woman's judging glare. 

“Clearly being a Lion isn’t all that.” The snide remark stung; yet another reason Elphaba was far more worthy in Madame Morrible’s eyes - Galinda couldn’t even function properly. 

She turned back to the board with her cheeks aflame, scrubbing hard until it was clear of the chalky design. Her toes ached as she strained to reach the top of the chalkboard, and there was an awkward tickle in her nose from the dust now filling the air. Galinda shuffled on bare feet, placing the cloth down at the base of the board and turning to check for further instructions. 

She shivered, though it had nothing to do with the way her thin top and trousers barely provided warmth from the mild temperature. Instead, it was the look in Madame Morrible’s eyes as she moved to join her where she stood, a small tin of what appeared to be red paint in one hand, and a paintbrush in the other.

“I trust you’ll have no issue using these?” 

Something felt off, wrong , even, as Galinda took the paint and brush from Madame Morrible. 

“W-What am I- What am I painting?” The items felt heavy in her hands.

“A simple fact should suffice.” The Sorceress took a seat at the front desk, leaning back in the chair with her arms and legs crossed. “How about,” she hummed in thought, “‘Animals should be seen and not heard’.” 

For a moment, Galinda couldn’t breathe.

She stared back at the woman, watching the amusement dancing behind her cold stare. 

This felt like crossing a line. Galinda may have only spoken to Doctor Dillamond a couple of times, and technically he was the target of this mission, but this felt… cruel. Nothing he had said so far indicated he was guilty of turning people against the Wizard, nor did he seem the type to get involved with criminals. 

And why did it feel like Madame Morrible was including her in that statement?

She tried to hold back the tremble in her hands as she pried the lid off of the paint. One shaky letter at a time, Galinda painted the words in clumsy handwriting, her brain detaching from what her body was doing. It wandered to the tiny pink flowers she’d spent hours painting along the bottom of her bedroom door, to the many paintings she could remember doing of her momsie and popsicle for holidays and birthdays and just because . Holding a paintbrush again should be like coming home, not like she was setting her memories on fire and watching them burn. 

Her hand dropped back to her side with a final brush against the board. The words stared back at her, taunting and mocking in their vibrancy. 

“I suppose that will do,” Madame Morrible said, coming to stand beside her. “Good work, Lion.”

The usual pleasant feeling she got from the woman’s praise was dulled by the maelstrom of guilt as she thought about Doctor Dillamond reading the words she had painted, in bold, unmissable clarity. 

“You can go back to your rooms now, we’re done here.” 

Turning to leave, eyes fixed on the floor as she passed by the woman, she was stopped in her tracks when the Sorceress spoke up again, “Are you forgetting something?” 

Galinda frowned, looking back around the room to find what she could have missed. “I-I don’t think so?”

Madame Morrible’s eyes gave a pointed sweep down her form, from messy curls to small, pale feet. Realisation dawned on her, and she sank back into her fur without another word. 

“Better.” 

Galinda slipped out of the room, waiting until she’d exited the building before leaning into her sudden desire to run. Back through campus, down the path to the Animal faculty housing, passing by in a blurr through the treeline and deeper and deeper into the forest. 

She veered off from the path, bounding over bushes and ducking under low hanging branches. The world passing by was lost to her, her mind stuck in flight . 

The forest grew thick around her, the gaps between trees becoming thinner and thinner, until she had to slow her pace to squeeze between two trunks. With a grunt, she tumbled into an unexpected clearing. 

It took a moment for her brain to catch up with what she was seeing. The forest had opened up into a circular break in the trees, a small glade of long grass interspersed with wild flowers. Tucked off to the side, a stream broached the treeline, pooling into a pond dotted with the light of hovering fireflies. 

It was quiet, in a far more peaceful way than the kind that accompanied the solitude she was all too familiar with. 

A small patch of white flowers caught her eye, and her legs were moving before she could even blink. She didn’t realise she’d shift back to human until her knees hit the ground and her hand, not paw, reached out and plucked a single daisy. 

The small flower, so light in her hand, felt more precious than any gift the Wizard had ever given her. Tears pooled in her eyes as she picked another, and another, fingers slipping into memorised movements as she worked to craft a small loop of daisies. Wound together, the chain sat neatly in the palm of her hand, tears falling one by one against the tiny white petals. 

For the first time in years, Galinda let herself sob. She choked on her cries, clutching at the flowers as she drew her knees up to her chest, hugging them close as tightly as she could. 

Her tears kept falling even as her sobs turned into gasps for breath. She was exhausted. Physically and emotionally, she had nothing left to give. The ground beneath her was cold and slightly damp, but Galinda couldn’t bring herself to care as she lay down on her side, the ruined daisy chain in pieces on the grass in front of her.

She was lost in the forest. 

Now where was the fairy to take her back home? 

Chapter Text

No fairy had shown up in the night to help guide her back. 

Galinda had drifted into an uneasy sleep, brain running amok and replaying the words she’d painted across black in screaming colour over and over. 

Animals should be seen and not heard.

She woke up shivering, having fallen asleep still slumped over as a human, wholly unequiped for sleeping outside in autumn. The glow of the fireflies had disappeared with the rising sun, the somehow magical ambiance of the glade she’d felt last night muted but still present in the dappled light through the tree canopy. 

Rolling onto her back, Galinda looked through the leaves to the sky beyond, frowning as the position of the sun registered. She scrambled to her feet, shifting as she took her first step back towards the trees. 

She was late . 

And still very lost. 

Backtracking was a hopeless venture, she hadn’t taken in any of her surroundings in her instinct-fueled sprint through the dark, and her scent had barely had time to touch the trees she’d brushed against before she was long gone. 

There was nothing to do but wander through the woods and hope she stumbled on the path she’d abandoned. 

The sun followed her as she walked, slowly this time to allow her scent to settle, shadows of birds above drawing her eye as they played on the trunks of trees and keeping her calm. When the trees began to thin out and give way to the welcome sight of a cobblestone path, Galinda leapt out from the shrubs and bound back towards Shiz. Her shawl was out of place and smelled of forest , but she didn’t have time to go back and switch it for a new one; she was lucky Madame Morrible hadn’t already come looking for her. 

She slowed her pace when the buildings came back into view, along with the crowds of students that had taken days to adjust to. The noise, the scents, the sheer number of them had been overwhelming to be in the midst of initially. 

Galinda’s ears twitched as they picked up the whispered conversation between a group closest to where she was walking. 

“Did you see the look on his face?”

“I know! I mean, really, it was probably just a joke.”

“I don’t know, I know some people who believe stuff like that.”

There was little doubt what they were talking about. Hushed mutterings of Doctor Dillamond’s name were floating around the campus as she walked with stiff steps between buildings. 

He’d seen it.

Waves of guilt washed over her, her paws picking up their pace as she rushed back towards the classroom from last night. Students leapt out of the way with complaints as she tried to weave through the crowd. 

The door was still open from departing students, and Galinda could hear softly spoken words coming from inside. 

Peaking through the gap, confusion and frustration temporarily replaced her guilt. Elphaba was standing at the front of the room, reaching out to take Doctor Dillamond’s hoof as he held it out towards her. There was a small smile on her face that grew as they shook on an unknown agreement. Galinda watched their interaction with a slowly forming frown.

Elphaba turned to leave, hand dropping from Doctor Dillamond’s hoof as she gave him a nod, before heading to the door, and unfortunately, Galinda. Elphaba’s eyes - an unnerving green - met hers through the gap between the doorframe, and her brows scrunched in confusion as she caught sight of the lurking Lion.

“Hello,” she said quietly as she neared. Her voice was surprisingly pleasant when it brushed against her ears, low and smooth and annoyingly calming. 

Galinda hated it. 

She didn’t even blink as the girl pushed the door open further to walk passed her. She watched her walk quietly down the hallway, disappearing around the corner and out of sight. Galinda turned back to the classroom, making her way stiffly to the front. Doctor Dillamond was shuffling things around on his desk, speaking up only once she was beside him.

“She’s a good one, Miss Elphaba.” 

Of all the things… Galinda didn’t want to think about her right now, the writing on the board glaring at her accusingly.

“I wouldn’t know,” she muttered, dragging her eyes back to the Goat.

“She has a kind heart,” His hoofs clacked against the floor as he paused his tidying. “She might make a good friend for you too.”

Galinda doubted that. Her fur bristled slightly at the thought of being friends, having to make small talk, with the girl who seemed to have everything she wanted. 

“I don’t need more friends,” she couldn’t help but huff. 

Doctor Dillamond tilted his head as he looked at her in silence. “You’re a strange Lion, aren’t you Miss Glinda,” he spoke with a hidden meaning that Galinda couldn’t quite work out.

“I guess.” She let her eyes drift away from the knowing brown gaze behind the Goat’s glasses, coming back to the taunting message on the chalkboard. 

“I’m sorry you have to see this.” Doctor Dillamond’s deep voice took on a somber tone, grave and serious as he followed her line of sight.

Her heart jumped, “I-It’s ok, I- can I, let me-” she moved around the desk to stand in front of the board, looking around for the cloth she’d used last night. It was right where she left it, sadly draping off of the self at the bottom of the chalkboard. 

Galinda hesitated, remembering her struggles in her Lion form. She was determined however, and this time reached out with a paw to wiggle the cloth between two toes. It was a clumsy grip, and the board still rocked back with each press against its surface. Her frustration grew as the paint refused to budge. She stood on her back feet, pushing the chalkboard slowly backwards towards the wall until it had nowhere to go. With one paw bracing against the surface, Galinda wiped and wiped at the red words. Some parts smudged, others smeared, but the letters remained clear. 

Her claws poked out with her increasingly frantic efforts.

“Miss Glinda,” Her ears pressed back as claws scraped, lightly at first, along the board’s surface. 

“Glinda,” Louder and louder the scratching became, gradually digging grooves where she repeatedly clawed at. 

She flinched as a hoof came to rest over her paw, holding it still.

“Stop,” Doctor Dillamond’s voice finally registered in her brain as he spoke quietly beside her, “it’s alright.” He moved his hoof back to the ground, and Galinda collapsed back to all fours, the cloth dropping from her paw, discarded without another thought.

She wanted to cry all over again. “I-I can’t, I can’t just leave it there.” 

He shook his head, “You shouldn’t have to clean that.” He cast a single glance back at the words, “I’ll find one of the other caretakers.”

“But-”

“It’s not on you.” 

Yes it is, Galinda wanted to say. 

Madame Morrible’s voice in the back of her mind kept her jaw tightly closed, you know what will happen, Lion.

“Treatment of Animals is getting worse,” Doctor Dillamond sighed. “Come to my house this evening, there are some friends I’d like you to meet.” 

“What friends?” Galinda asked warily. Was he involved with criminals? 

“Animals from around Shiz, in times like these it’s important to support each other.” He looked back at the board. “And after seeing this, I fear it’s more important than ever.” 

“I-” The Goat had already cast doubts on some of the beliefs she had about Animals, her brain was struggling to keep up, and the temptation to lock herself away in her house was strong, consequences be damned. And yet…

“Ok.” 

“Good, that’s good.” Doctor Dillamond nodded with a smile. He glanced over Galinda’s shoulder, “I apologise for cutting this short, I have some assignments to sort through before tomorrow’s class.” He trotted to his desk, moving about papers that Galinda assumed were student assignments. “I will see you this evening.” 

“Right, I- see you this evening.”

Galinda didn’t know if she felt better or worse than she had when she’d first entered the classroom. 

She waited until the sun had set and the path leading into the forest was lit solely by the glow from the lamp lights before daring to make her way towards Doctor Dillamond’s house. Galinda had spent the rest of the day convincing herself that it was a bad idea, that going to meet these friends of his would only make everything that much harder; interacting with one Animal had proven more complicated than she could have thought, what would it be like interacting with a group ? 

But then, she remembered the way Doctor Dillamond had been so patient with her just the other day, showing her a teacup she could hold , forgiving her for her outburst… What if there was more to the Animals than either Madame Morrible or the Wizard knew? What if there was a chance that they were wrong? 

As she reached the small, cosy home tucked away behind the trees, Galinda could hear muffled voices coming from within. Before she could talk herself out of it (again), she raised a paw, and knocked. 

The voices quietened, replaced by the sound of hoofed feet moving around inside. 

“Miss Glinda, come in, come in. Mustn’t linger outside,” Doctor Dillamond said, peering out into the trees. “You never know who may be listening.” 

“Everyone, this is Miss Glinda,” He announced to the room once the door had closed behind them. “Miss Glinda, this is Yuki, Eldora, Ezra, and I’m sure you’ve seen Professor Mombi around campus.”

“Hello,” She muttered, nodding towards the Snow Leopard, the Piebald Deer and the rather small Tamarin Monkey in order as Doctor Dillamond introduced them. She remembered the Shoebill Bird professor from the introductory speeches, but had yet to see them up close.

The looks she was receiving, well, Galinda wasn’t quite sure what to make of them. A mix of curiosity, wariness and more unsettlingly, disgust , stared back at her. 

“What is that?” Yuki hissed. His eyes were honed in on her right ear. 

Her piercing. 

Had Galinda been human, she knew her face would have gone as white as Snow Leopard’s fur. “I-my e-earring,” she stuttered. 

Yuki grumbled, a low growl building in his chest, “Why would you do that?”

“I-” Galinda’s mind went blank, none of her training had covered how to deal with questions like this - no one asked when she was out with Madame Morrible, no one cared. 

“I’m sure Miss Glinda had her reasons, Yuki.”

“It’s dishonourable,” he hissed in retort.

“Enough.” Doctor Dillamond’s raised voice was enough to put an end to Yuki’s digging. He sent her one last, scathing look, before huffing and sinking to lay down along the sofa. Galinda sagged in relief.

“Tea, Miss Glinda?” The Goat asked, back to his usual calm tone. 

Galinda briefly considered saying yes. She might not be able to taste the sweetness of the tea, but the warmth was still pleasing in the way it settled in her stomach. But as she looked from Doctor Dillamond to the other Animals in the room, she gave a small shake of her head; they were already judging her for the piercing, she didn’t need them to see how hopeless she was at using Animal-intended teacups. 

Drinks were placed in front of those who’d asked for them, before Doctor Dillamond cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

“We all know things in Oz have been getting worse for some time now. We Animals are being blamed for everything that goes wrong. We’re being forced from our jobs, told to keep silent. This is much bigger than just some words on a chalkboard.”

The Deer, Eldora, looked around the room, hesitantly adding, “We can still converse in private, thank Oz.”

Her positivity was met with a small shake of Doctor Dillamond’s head, “A dear friend of mine has been speaking out at protests. She recently wrote to me, asking to meet at a café. She said it was urgent.” 

He paused his story, Yuki speaking up as the room fell quiet, “What did she tell you?”

“She never showed, and no one’s seen her since.” 

Eldora nodded her agreement, “Many Animals have gone missing or are actually leaving.” 

Ezra, the small Monkey perched on the table, chirped up , “Yesterday, a Badger acquaintance, a solicitor, was sacked, just for arguing a case.” 

“At least he can still argue,” Doctor Dillamond said gruffly.

“What do you mean?” Yuki’s fur bristled at the implication.

Doctor Dillamond began to list Animals he knew of that were being forbidden to teach, unable to do their jobs, confusifyingly, losing their ability to speak. The more he carried on, the more hazy Galinda’s head became. She could feel a prickle in the back of her mind as she listened to each story, stories that were ringing bells that she didn’t want to acknowledge. The Owl in Munchkin Rock… she’d followed an Owl in that area. The Ox she’d spent hours listening in on, he’d mentioned teaching of some kind hadn’t he? 

Nausea began creeping in with each Animal mentioned. 

A snap of a twig outside the house had her ears pricked and head swivelling, hackles raising at the unexpected intrusion. Around the room, the Animals were frozen. A blink, and they were leaping into action and dashing one by one out of the side door. Galinda moved to follow, only to stop at the creaking of the front door and the sound of Doctor Dillamond’s voice speaking to whoever was on the other side. 

“Miss Elphaba? What are you doing here?” The professor’s voice called out. Galinda tensed. 

“Well, I was just…uh.” Her ears twitched at the girl’s fumbled excuse. 

The Goat shook his head, “It’s alright. Quickly, come inside.” 

Galinda forced her body to remain still; her instincts were shouting at her to hide, to slink low behind the sofa to keep some kind of barrier between her and Elphaba. 

Doctor Dillamond met her wide-eyed gaze. “Don’t be frightened,” he said quietly. “Let me get you some tea,” the Goat nudged Elphaba towards the nearest sofa, the girl slowly lowering herself to the cushions as he moved through the room towards Galinda. “Breathe,” he whispered as he passed by, “she’s a good one.”  

A rush of air flew out of her, her body finally falling back into motion. She took a couple of subtle, big breaths, eyes fixed on Elphaba as she took stock of the room around her. 

“Miss Elphaba, have you been introduced to Miss Glinda?”

“Oh, um, no, I- I don’t think so.” Elphaba looked at her with an awkward smile, “it’s nice to meet you.” 

Galinda’s tail gave an irritated flick.  

“Miss Glinda,” Doctor Dillamond nudged, a hint of the gruffness he’d used to keep Yuki in line slipping into his voice.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” she grumbled. 

A familiar teacup was set on the table beside Elphaba. As she took a slow sip, clearly enjoying the taste and warmth, Galinda indulged the idea of hopping onto the sofa beside her just to see if the nudge would be enough to spill the tea and ruin the girl’s day, just a little bit .  

Her pleasant thoughts were, of course, interrupted by the subject of her wonderfully petty fantasy. The cup was set back down on the table as she spoke, “Doctor Dillamond, what you were saying just now… could that really happen?” She rose from the sofa, looking around at the pictures of Animals he’d mentioned, unsettling depictions of the stories he’d been telling.

The Goat frowned, “It is happening. You’ll find if you make it discouraging enough, you can keep anyone silent.” 

“But if Animals are losing the ability to speak, leaving Oz,” She spun around to meet the Goat’s gaze, “then someone’s got to tell the Wizard.” 

At the mention of the Wizard, Galinda’s ears pricked up. Petty ideas fell away as she listened with growing interest. 

To her dismay, Doctor Dillamond shook his head “Listen to me. You mustn’t tell another soul what you’ve seen and heard here tonight.” 

Elphaba pressed on, “But that’s why we have a Wizard. So nothing bad, nothing truly bad, can happen.” 

“The Wizard doesn’t know about Animals losing their voices,” she interjected quietly. Her ‘papa’ would have told her if something she’d had a hand in was causing something like that, right? 

Two pairs of eyes snapped back to her. 

Shrinking back under their questioning gaze, she muttered, “what?” 

She didn’t like the look of intrigue in Elphaba’s eyes, her head tilting as she looked at her as if she was something worth her fascination. 

“You’ve met the Wizard?”

Galinda gave a slow nod, instantly feeling like she’d said something she definitely shouldn’t have. 

“And you think he would help?” 

The Wizard had been focused on uniting Oz, showing them through magnificent displays and unexplainable feats that he was worthy of the title ‘Wonderful Wizard of Oz’. If he knew Animals were losing their ability to speak, something that had never been heard of before, he’d surely have to do something.

She nodded.

“Perhaps you’re right,” The motivating words seemed to bolster the professor’s resolve, “nothing truly ba-a-a-ad.” He trailed off in a bleat, eyes filling with shock and embarrassment as his glasses tumbled off his face at the unexpected motion. 

The room fell silent.

“Sorry. Bad. I must be- catching a cold.” He mumbled. His words, clearly intended to reassure, had the opposite effect as Galinda observed him with keen eyes - his ears had drooped, front hooves tapping tiny clacks against the wooden floor, and his eyes had locked onto hers. He was worried . 

“Oz bless you, Doctor Dillamond,” Elphaba said quietly, bending down to lift his glasses back to their place on the bridge of his nose. 

“You’d both best be getting back,” He said, dispelling the tension in the room, “take the lamp, and stay with Miss Glinda.”

Galinda’s head whipped around at that, “I’m sorry?” 

“You know your way back, it would be safest for Miss Elphaba to walk back to campus with you.” The Goat said, leaving no room for argument. 

Walking through the forest with her, alone, was the last thing she wanted to do. Holding back her frustrated growls, Galinda left the house behind Elphaba, the girl leading the way with the brightly lit lamp. 

“So, um, how did you meet the Wizard?” 

I should have stayed quiet, she groaned to herself as her brain fumbled for a response. “I’ve, I’ve known him for a few years,” she mumbled, skirting the question with what she hoped was well placed deflection. 

“Does he,” Elphaba hesitated, her steps slowing. Her voice was quiet, “does he really grant your heart’s desire?”

Galinda slowed to a stop. She’d believed that too, once upon a time. 

She’d had another nightmare.

It had started innocently, a quiet day with her momsie and popsicle enjoying the summer sun. The clouds had slowly rolled in, white and fluffy at first, before darkening into a gloomy grey that blocked the light and cast the world into shadow. A flash of lightning, and her parents were gone. Empty space where they’d been stood, watching as Galinda danced around the garden. She’d called out, louder and louder, only to be met with booming silence. 

“It’s no use, Lion.” A sharp voice pierced through the quiet. “They’re gone.”

The world grew around her as human was replaced with Cub, an invisible tether pulling her away from the house and into the forest. Trees turned to mountains, and mountains turned to towering Emerald buildings. 

“You belong here now.” 

Galinda had woken with a jolt, gasping for breath as her chest squeezed . 

She scrambled from the bed, shoving the covers back as she tumbled to the floor. She bolted blindly from the room, heaving the door on its hinged to escape into the stretched out hallway.

“Cub?” A man’s voice called out as she darted passed door after door. “Cub!” He called again when she didn’t stop. 

Her bare feet tripped as a hand reached out for her shoulder. 

“What happened?” Through bleary eyes, Galinda recognised the greying hair and dark eyes of the Wizard. 

Still struggling to catch her breath, Galinda gasped out, “b-bad d-dream.” 

The Wizard bent down beside her, turning her gently with the hand at her shoulder to face him. He sighed as he took in her tear streaked cheeks, “let’s get you back to bed.” 

Galinda wanted to protest, but his guiding hand remained firm on her shoulder as he turned them back down the way she’d come. 

“Do you know why they call me the Wizard?” 

“B-because you can do m-magic?” 

The Wizard chuckled, “Well yes, but also, I can grant your heart’s truest desire.”

Galinda stared up at the man with big, brown eyes as she whispered, “really?”

The Wizard hummed, “really. What’s your heart's desire, Cub? How can I keep the nightmares away?”

“Can you send me home?”

They stopped in the middle of her room, the duvet still mostly off of the bed, pillows thrown on the floor in her rush out of the room. 

“Ah,” he said, pulling his hand back to rub his hands together. “That- that I can’t do.” 

“But that’s my heart’s truest desire,” she said softly. 

The Wizard sighed, “I’m sorry, Cub. I’m only human, we need you here.” 

“But,” Galinda could feel tears welling up again. 

“Anything else,” he bent down again, eye level with her sad gaze, “anything else you want, I will do what I can.” 

“He tries his best.”

Elphaba blinked at her with a deepening frown, “his best?”

“He’s human,” she mumbled, paws pressing on through the forest, “he does what he can.” 

“Right,” she heard Elphaba sigh behind her. They continued trekking through the crowding trees, snapping twigs and rustling leaves filling the silence. The distant sound of hoofbeats barely registered in Galinda’s mind, distracted as she was. Elphaba had passed her, stepping through the foliage and back onto the cobblestone path. 

Sense finally catching up to her, Galinda leapt forward on instinct, pushing Elphaba out of the way of an oncoming Horse and sending her tumbling to the forest floor. The girl grunted as she fell back, hissing as her hands grazed across the cobbles. 

Galinda swiveled to glare up at the rider and Horse duo. A blond man hopped down from the saddle, not taking notice of the scowling Lion as he stepped towards Elphaba. 

“I’m so sorry. We didn’t see you there. You must’ve…” He looked between the two of them, before his eyes stopped on the fallen girl, “blended with the foliage.” There was a slight lopsided quirk to his lips as he finished. 

Galinda clamped her mouth shut to smother the unexpected laugh that bubbled up at the man’s quip, her scowl falling away.

She felt the vibration of Elphaba’s voice flow between where their bodies were still, unfortunately, touching, “Is this how you go through life? Just running amok and trampling anyone in your path?” 

Galinda moved away, standing further off to the side, tempted to back away into the bushes and make a swift retreat before anyone could notice. Elphaba brushed at her dusty dress, rising to her full height in front of the man. 

“No, no. Sometimes I’m asleep.” 

Elphaba scoffed, “Alright, here we go. No, I’m not seasick.” 

His reply was quick, “Neither am I.”

“No, I didn’t eat grass as a child.”

“Oh you didn’t? I did.” 

“And yes, I have always been green.” 

“And the defensiveness, is that a recent development?” 

Galinda watched the back and forth like one of the magic lights Madame Morrible had used to help train her reflexes; following the point of interest with a fixed gaze, ready to react in less than a second. It had been embarrassing, but the Sorceress had assured her it was helping. 

Her ire had slowly melted away, reluctant amusement taking its place as she observed the to and fro. 

The Horse bent his head down towards Galinda, startling her out of her laser-like focus. “I apologise for Fiyero. He can never seem to refrain from teasing a lady.”

“I don’t think I’ve met anyone like him before.” She definitely would have remembered. His care-free air was… different. 

“Quite,” the Horse snorted. “Feldspur,” he introduced himself.

She hesitated, “Glinda.” 

“Hmm.” Elphaba turned to pick up the lantern she’d dropped, looking over to Galinda with a quirked eyebrow, “are you coming?” 

No, Galinda wanted to say, purely out of spite. But the thought of the disapproving look on Doctor Dillamond’s face was, unfortunately, motivating enough to have her back in motion.

“I’m off for some more trampling. May we offer you a ride?”

“No, thanks. Get stuffed.”

Another huff of laughter was smothered, stamped down before it had even considered escaping from her mouth. She’s funny, Galinda could, reluctantly, admit.

They didn’t speak again as they made their way back, nodding their goodbyes at the split in the path towards the main buildings and the Animal housing.

Curling up for what she hoped was a restful night, Galinda drifted off with lingering thoughts of the odd, green girl. 

Who is she? 

Chapter Text

Whatever Galinda thought might happen at a University, it was absolutely not a full blown song and dance number in the middle of the day, in the library of all places. 

Her first impression of the prince had been correct; he didn’t have a care in the world. The students had been buzzing with rumours and speculations around the new arrival, taking guesses at what had brought him to Shiz, what made him leave his previous school, and most frivolously, whether he was single. The whispers had been how she’d learnt his name - Fiyero - and that he would now be attending Shiz, but she hadn’t caught sight of him around campus until her day came to a blissfully early finish and her ears had picked up on the out of place rhythmic footfall. 

Curiosity piqued, Galinda slipped in through the open door, sticking firmly to the back wall to stay out of the way of stray steps; her tail being stepped on was no laughing matter. 

She watched as Fiyero spun and leapt and jumped and pranced from table to table, twirling swooning students and luring the occupants of the library into joining his carefree display. It was another world entirely, like watching a play or having a story play out right in front of her eyes. Galinda could remember when she used to dance around in her bedroom, spinning and spinning until the world was a blur and she couldn’t stand up straight anymore, and, for just a moment, she wondered what it would be like to step into the crowd as a human, take Fiyero’s hand, and dance. To be one of the people with shoulders light and not weighed down by pressures put upon them by others, to be someone free. 

It seemed as though nearly everyone else in the room had the same idea, drawn in by the prince’s charm and easy going nature. Other than Elphaba and the girl in the chair it seemed, still seated at a table on the other side of the room. The curly haired girl however, was at least watching and swaying along, a bright smile on her face as she let herself be swept away into their musical world. Elphaba looked disgruntled, her eyes flicking between what she was attempting to write and the loud ruckus going on mere feet from where she was sitting. 

Galinda’s amusement at the other girl’s irritation almost overshadowed the uneasy feeling growing in her chest the longer she watched the dancing. 

They were hanging off of the ladders around the circular bookcases, Fiyero flipping down to a table, raising his arms as if holding court. “Let’s go down to the Ozdust Ballroom, we’ll meet there later tonight.” 

He grasped the face of a boy with curly ginger hair, someone she’d seen around campus beside a handful of times but never caught the name of. Partner to partner the prince danced, spinning girls in romantic gestures before moving on to the next. As she watched, Galinda couldn’t help but wonder, what would dancing with a partner be like? 

What am I doing? She thought, shaking her head and slipping back along the wall and out into the quad. It was such a pointless notion to miss what could have been, to long for something so far out of reach it was almost laughable. 

Maybe one day, she’d be able to indulge in a flight of fancy, but until then, she had a job to do. 

A job that was made that much harder, by the subject himself.

The more time Galinda spent with Doctor Dillamond, the more confusified she became; he was making her think, which was… admittedly rather worrying. 

And dangerous, if her most recent encounter with Madame Morrible was anything to go off. Raising doubts never seemed to go well, but she’d thought, perhaps this once, she might just have a point. 

After all, mistakes did happen, and if they had her getting close to the wrong Animal and there was someone actually dangerous going by unchecked, wouldn’t they want to know? 

But none of the Animals she’d met had seemed the type to actively wish ill on anyone. Most of them seemed… sweet in fact. 

Galinda was unceremoniously jolted from her thoughts as her head collided with something that definitely hadn’t been in her path before her mind had started to wander.

A thud of a body hitting the ground met her ears before her eyes registered the sight in front of her. 

“Have you been taking lessons from Fiyero?” Elphaba grunted, brushing dirt from her skirt as she pulled herself up off of the floor. 

It took a moment before Galinda was able to speak. Laughter stuck in her throat, refusing to be swallowed down as the girl in front of her huffed and grumbled. “I’m sorry?”

“The trampling,” standing back on two feet, books safely back in her arms, Elphaba scowled down at the Lion.

“This wasn’t my fault,” Galinda denied.

“Well it wasn’t mine, you weren’t watching where you were going.”

The small growl that sounded startled them both, Elphaba taking a firm step away, Galinda’s ears pulling back as her head dipped and muscles tensed. 

“Sorry,” she mumbled. Shame doused any irritation Elphaba’s words had caused, her demeanour switching from fiery Lion to meek Kitten in less than a heartbeat.

“It’s, um, it’s alright,” Elphaba shifted awkwardly on her feet, clutching her books to her chest. Her frown had softened, but she didn’t move any closer. 

Stupid , Galinda chastised, noting the obvious signs of fear. How many times did she need to be told not to let the Lion take over? 

“I’ll watch where I’m going next time,” she muttered, assuaging what guilt she could, “I’m sorry for knocking you over.” Apologies were always the best way to try and smooth things over, Galinda had found.

“I’m sure it was an accident,” Elphaba replied after a moment’s hesitation. 

Elphaba had… forgiven her? Just like that? 

It wasn’t like Doctor Dillamond when she’d apologised to him. Sure he was an Animal, an unknown entity, but he didn’t seem the type to lash out. He felt more like her papa, or her popsicle. Calming. His easy forgiveness hadn’t surprised her. 

But Elphaba had the same kind of magic as Madame Morrible. She’d seen her huff and get irritated and, on that one occasion in the quad that first day she’d arrived, seen her use magic in response to something not going her way . So Galinda had been prepared for a reaction more in line with what she’d expect from the older Sorceress; a sharp retort, or biting dig at how Animalistic she’d behaved. 

Mind blank, words just out of reach, Galinda simply nodded at Elphaba. 

“Right, well, I should, um, get going,” with a slightly uncoordinated wave, the other girl stepped around Galinda to continue on the path back through campus. 

“Bye,” Galinda said distractedly. She kept her eyes forward, using her hearing to track Elphaba as she walked away. 

She didn’t let her muscles relax until the sound of boots on the cobblestones faded out of range. 

That was a mistake.

“You’ve met Miss Elphaba?” The familiar voice of Madame Morrible startled Galinda into her second unintentional growl of the day. The look she received as warning was enough for her to quiet the rumble, but the swishing of her tail was harder to control. Irritated flicks at the unexpected appearance, refusing to settle down. “Control yourself,” the Sorceress hissed under her breath. 

Swallowing, Galinda tucked her tail around her leg, ignoring the strange pulling when instincts tried to tug it free. 

“I- Yes, I’ve met her.” 

The look on Madame Morrible’s face sent shivers down her spine - thoughtful and calculated, like something was brewing behind her eyes. 

“She doesn’t need the distractions,” she eventually said. “I need her focused on her magic, not on befriending the staff.” 

“I- ” She’d hardly call their interactions friendly, but arguing that point would get her nowhere quickly. “Yes, Madame.” 

The Sorceress hummed, “Good.” She looked over Galinda’s head, to what she assumed was the mass of students leaving the library if the sudden influx of noise was any indication. “What do you know about the new addition? The prince from the Vinkus?” 

Following her line of sight, Galinda saw the blond man still in the centre of all the fuss, surrounded by adoring students vying for his attention, “Fiyero?”

“I see you’ve met him too. My, you have been busy.” Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, Galinda couldn’t tell by the unfamiliar lilt to the woman’s voice.

“I- I bumped into him and Feldspur last night, in the forest.”

“Feldspur… the Horse?”

Too much intrigue was bleeding into Madame Morrible’s voice for her liking. Quietly, Galinda answered, “yes.”

“He may be useful to get to know,” Madame Morrible spoke quietly to herself, eyes flicking back to the crowd, “see what he knows, the Vinkus have been particularly… difficult with their support of the Wizard.”

“You- you want me to spy on him too?” Galinda kept her voice low, all too aware that they were outside with students milling about whichever way she looked. 

“We need information, that Horse has it,” an easy statement of facts, “make me proud.” 

Three words, imbued with both threat and promise, and Galinda knew she would have little choice but to follow the part of her brain that wanted nothing more than to do just that. 

“Yes, Madame.” 

As if she didn’t realise the weight of what she’d just said, Madame Morrible moved on with thoughtless ease, “Now, the prince?”

“I don’t, I haven’t heard much,” she’d only met him once, and even then she hadn’t actually introduced herself, “I- I think they’re going to the Ozdust Ballroom tonight?” She didn’t know what that was, but it had sounded like an open invitation to the whole library when he’d sang it loud and clear. 

The Sorceress let out a barely audible scoff, “that’s of little use to me, most students end up there at some point or another… distasteful place if you ask me,” the snide comment had the fur on her back ruffling. “No matter. If the prince is away from the school this evening, it would be the perfect time to visit the Horse.” It wasn’t a question, or a suggestion. It was as gentle an order as the woman would ever give, but there was no doubting it was an order. 

“Of course, Madame.” 

“Wonderful,” she brushed past Galinda, pausing a few steps away, “and Lion?” Dark, stormy eyes met hers as Madame Morrible looked back over her shoulder to her, her voice low when she spoke, “Don’t make me wait long.”

Galinda watched as the swathes of students trickled down from the dorms later that night, giddy and dressed to the nines as they boarded the boats that would take them to the Ozdust. When no sounds remained other than the peaceful melody of wildlife and the wind playfully rustling through leaves, she cast one final look back to where the boats had disappeared, before heading towards the Animal housing.

Separate from the faculty housing, the guest Animal accommodation was down another path, tucked even further back from the main campus. Less like homes, and more like temporary places to sleep, the rooms were dressed in a utilitarian fashion, even more so than the décor Galinda was slowly getting used to in her own rooms. 

“Glinda?” A deep, regal voice called from the far end of the room. It had been set up much like any stable Galinda had seen, with only minor modifications for an Animal. Hay dusted the floor, poking into her paws slightly, but presumably comfortable for someone with hooves. Shelving lined one wall, top to bottom, filled with crockery with odd additions. Teacups of all shapes and sizes, handles for paws, hooves, claws and fingers alike. Strange looking cutlery with hooks and loops that Galinda had never seen before was laid neatly in an open drawer. The dark, midnight blue Horse gave a nudge at the drawer, closing it and hiding the confusifying contents from her eyes. 

“I- Hi,” Galinda greeted, stepping further into the room. 

“What brings you here?” 

“I- ” She really hadn’t thought this through well, “I thought you might like some company?” Her voice curled upwards in question, and the wince that threatened to scrunch up her face was valiantly held back. 

Feldspar gave a short snort, and a beat of one hoof, “Most definitely, Fiyero has been quite busy today I hear.” He gestured for Galinda to step into the… well, it really was much like a horse’s stall. “No surprise really, that one does enjoy charming the masses.”

“I saw him dancing, he was very good.” 

“He should be, he’s been dancing since he was a boy. Always a hop and skip in his step, dancing through life without a care in the world.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Galinda whispered wistfully. 

Feldspur gave her a thoughtful look, “You’d like to dance?”

For one brief moment, Galinda had forgotten she was on four paws, not two feet that would far more easily lend themselves to the graceful moves often seen in dance, “Oh, I- I just think it looks… fun.” 

“Quite so,” the warm, happy tone in the Friesian Horse’s voice gave her pause, “I’ve dabbled, as much as one can with hooves of course.” 

“You can dance?” Galinda blurted out in shock. 

Feldspur snickered, “But of course, I am friends with Fiyero.” 

When Galinda didn’t respond, the Horse tilted his head, “Would you like to try?” 

Dark eyes grew wide, her mouth opening and closing without a sound, before she gave a shaky nod. 

“Alright then, it should be easy enough for you to pick up, I hear Felines are naturally quite graceful.”

She didn’t know how long passed with Feldspur showing her light, prancing movements, stepping from hoof to hoof in graceful leaps around the inside space. He held his body with precision, confident in the steps he took, seemingly moving to a melody only he could hear. Quick steps, slow steps, careful spins; he made it look effortless.

Galinda watched in awe, paws itching to try and match the Horses steps. She knew she could move gracefully, but those skills had always been for purpose, not for frivolous enjoyment. 

“You try it.” The invitation had her moving in a flash, and for the first time in years, Galinda let the heavy burden on her shoulders fall away, just for a moment. Mimicking the steps she’d been shown, the blonde Lion quickly fell into rhythm, paws lifting high, returning to the floor with barely a sound as she moved around the stall. There was the odd misstep here, a stumble there when her paw didn’t quite land where she’d intended, but it didn’t take long before she was a Lion moving as a Horse. 

She felt free. 

“You’re a natural,” Feldspur cheered from the sides as she slowed down. She was panting, and she didn’t care. She was tired, but energised. She never wanted to stop. 

“Thank you,” she breathed as her movements eventually wound down, “thank you for showing me.” 

“It was my pleasure,” the Horse replied from beside her, “if the urge ever strikes you again, consider me a willing dancing partner.” 

Another Animal acting in contradiction to everything she’d been told. Another reason to think.

Don’t think, do your job, Madame Morrible’s voice echoed in her head. Galinda’s smile dulled, but didn’t completely fall, as she asked, “Did you dance a lot back in the Vinkus?” 

“Sometimes, more often than not it’s Fiyero doing the dancing, but on the odd occasion I’ve been known to join in at celebrations.”

“What kind of celebrations?”

“Ah, celebrations of all kinds; birthdays, festivals, the turning of the year, just to name a few. A chance to dress to impress and forget the stresses of the world,” He tilted his head, giving a wink as he said, “and I do so love an excuse to dress up.” 

Based on the colourful, luxurious-looking shawl around the Horse’s neck, Galinda had certainly garnered that impression. His mane was meticulously looked after, long hair smooth and silky with small, intricate braids weaved in with colours to match; colours of the Vinkus if Galinda had to guess.

Just as she was observing him, Galinda caught Feldspur doing the same to her. Her body shrank in on itself slightly as she remembered the uniform shawl that was sitting stiffly over her back. The colours might not be awful , but they did little to express who she was, or at least, who she wanted to portray herself to be.

“I know,” she muttered, “it’s the uniform. I much prefer pink.” Her heart jumped; she hadn’t said that out loud since she’d first been taken to the Emerald Palace.

The Horse’s ears pricked up to attention, eyes bright, “pink you say?” He didn’t elaborate further, simply trotted over to the shelves, pulled open a drawer, and gestured for Galinda to come closer.

The inside of the drawer was a sea of colour. Ribbons, coloured string for braids, various jewels that looked like they’d sit comfortably just about Feldspur’s hooves had been laid out neatly within. 

Galinda looked back up to the Horse, tilting her head in question. 

“Go ahead,” he said with a smile. 

Looking over the ribbons once more, her eyes fell on a small flower, the exact shade of pink she used to run around in day after day back in Frottica, blended with a bright sunshine yellow. It was a pin, a small clasp at the back intended to clip onto a larger piece of clothing. With a careful claw, Galinda lifted it from the drawer to bring it closer to her face. The petals were made from a silky material she hadn’t seen before, slightly shiny and able to hold its form without wilting. 

“An excellent choice,” Feldspur’s deep voice rumbled quietly. 

With a small tremble in her paw, Galinda clipped the flower to the neck of her shawl. 

With that small splash of her favourite colour, Galinda felt more like herself than she had in 5 years.

And she found herself asking, not for the first time since she’d arrived at Shiz, how Animals could be considered so bad, so wrong , when they’d shown her nothing but kindness.

Chapter Text

Galinda couldn’t contain her quiet grumbles as she made her way across campus, through the halls, up the winding staircases, towards the location of her next work assignment. 

She’d been summoned to Head Shizstress Coddle’s office earlier in the day to be informed that there had been an… incident in one of the dorms that would require her attention. Some kind of magical accident that none of the other caretakers wanted to touch. Galinda could put 2 and 2 together; there were only two magic users other than herself at Shiz currently, and one of them had likely not had an accident with magic in decades. 

So Galinda begrudgingly made her way through the school towards the dorm she’d been directed to, doing her utmost to prepare herself to face Elphaba again. 

She hadn’t seen the girl in days, not since she’d inadvertently scared her with an accidental growl that she still felt bad for. But just because she felt guilty, did not mean she liked the girl. A small voice in the back of her mind, easy enough to ignore, had become more of a nuisance since the night they’d properly met at Doctor Dillamond’s house. She’d nearly laughed at Elphaba’s quick quips, had found herself answering questions she most definitely shouldn’t have , and perhaps to an extent, found her approach to interacting with Animals…curious. 

That small, pesky voice just loved to point those things out, even suggesting that, maybe, she was being a touch petty with her disdain. 

Galinda shook that thought out of her head as she approached the door, the delicate engraving on the golden plaque clearly stating ‘Suite 1’. She could hear shuffling on the other side that stilled when she rapped her paw against the wood twice in quick succession. 

Hesitant footsteps made their way closer, bespectacled eyes peering through the gap as the door was pulled open. 

“Miss Glinda?” Elphaba emerged fully, standing up straight when she took note of who had knocked. 

She tried to smooth out her frown, she really did, but she could feel the slight scowl still pulling on her brow, “I was sent to sort out the, um, incident?” She held back the wince at the apathetic tone she could hear coating her words. 

Was it her, or did Elphaba’s cheeks seem a darker green than usual? 

“I- I didn’t think they’d send someone so fast,” Elphaba moved aside, eyes dropping from Galinda’s to stare down at the wooden floorboards with far too much interest. 

“I’m good at my job,” Galinda stated brashly. 

“Oh, I, um, didn’t mean to imply otherwise, I’m sorry if I did.” 

Choosing to remain stubbornly silent, Galinda stepped into the room. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the site of the ‘incident’, widening a touch at the unexpected sight of what once must have been an antique looking wardrobe, now reduced to large splinters spreading out across the floor. Treading carefully, Galinda padded closer, taking in the startlingly efficient destruction. 

“I didn’t mean to,” Elphaba started, followed by a click of a latch, “I- it just happens sometimes, my magic gets away from me and-” 

Turning on her paws, Galinda sent the girl an exasperated look, “you don’t need to explain, it’s my job to clean up, not judge how it happened.” How could she judge when her own accidents could cause equal damage to whatever ‘victim’ was in reach? The dangers of potential accidents had been drilled into her relentlessly; a stray claw, a snap of teeth at the wrong time… she was a creature designed to hunt, and had the tools to do so. 

She got to work, sweeping carefully with her tail, removing the larger chunks of wood with her mouth, mindful of splinters and sharp edges. It was quicker than she’d thought, cleaning up the mess, and Elphaba had even stayed quiet, letting her work in peace. She’d felt her eyes on her of course, following her movements about the room from where she’d sat on the edge of her bed, keeping her distance. 

The room was…nice, if not slightly bereft of decoration. The colours of the furniture were warm and welcoming, the walls neutral but not nearly as washed out as what had been used in her own rooms, and the light shining through partially stained glass windows cast tiny rainbows on the walls and ceiling as the sun moved through the sky. Nothing in the room said ‘Elphaba’, however. Which, Galinda assumed, was a touch strange for a typical adult off on their own for the first time. Books, books and more books were the only decoration she could see. The shelves were littered with the things, small stacks of texts forming a makeshift bedside table, the surface of the desk barely visible under the numerous tomes open and ready to read. 

Was Elphaba trying to start her own library in here? 

To her surprise, she recognised a few titles from the shelves in Madame Morrible’s office back in the Emerald Palace, none of which she’d been granted permission to read; books and claws did not mix well. 

Curiosity got the better of her when Galinda’s eyes fell on the open book beside Elphaba, “What were you doing before it happened?” 

Following her eyes, Elphaba stuttered, “I was- I was trying to practice for Madame Morrible’s Sorcery Seminar… as you can see, I’m not having much luck.” 

Galinda snorted, “clearly.” Her cleaning slowed as she took in the other bits of furniture around the room, all ornate and regal, and the thought of them falling victim to magic gone wrong filled her with an odd sort of sorrow. “It might be best if you find somewhere else to practice,” she looked over just in time to see Elphaba’s head drop, her shoulders curling inwards. That same guilt she’d felt for scaring her roared back to life. “The bits of wood could’ve hurt you,” she finished quietly, pulling back from the snarky dig that had been right on the tip of her tongue. The girl looked so downtrodden, it hurt to look at. 

Green eyes lifted from the bed spread, embarrassment still bleeding into her words when Elphaba asked, “I don’t suppose you know a place?” 

The soft trickle of water mixed with the light buzz of fireflies sounded in her ears as her mind jumped to the hidden glade in the woods; out of the way, secluded from passing students, and, more importantly, plenty of space for magical accidents. 

But still, Galinda hesitated. 

That glade was… personal. She’d let herself be vulnerable there, she’d found a place where she was free to exist in whatever state she needed to be in at that moment. 

And maybe that made it even more perfect for Elphaba. 

She obviously held some shame around her magic, that much was evident in how she’d tried to reason and explain how the accident had happened. The number of times Galinda had apologised for her own magic, her transformations, losing of control… well, she no longer counted. If she’d had somewhere she could freely make mistakes, learn without consequences, maybe she’d be able to do more than just change into a Lion - maybe she’d have been able to be a Sorceress like Elphaba. 

With a sigh, she gave a small nod. 

Elphaba immediately perked up, standing from the bed and approaching Galinda faster than she’d ever done so before. 

It had Galinda backing up into the wall before she could even think about what she was doing. She didn’t hiss, or growl, thankfully, but she knew there must have been a wild look in her eyes by the way Elphaba skidded to a stop, before taking a large step back. 

“I’m sorry, I just got excited,” she apologised, backing up more to give Galinda room to peel herself off of the wall. 

Body stiff and wary, Galinda kept an eye on Elphaba as she moved into more open space, the door placed strategically behind her. 

“There’s a place in the forest,” she said slowly, “it’s hidden, big enough for you to practice without getting hurt if anything… goes wrong.” 

Galinda knew exactly what Elphaba was going to say as soon as her eyes lit up and her lips parted to speak, “Can you show me where it is?”

It took far longer to get through the forest with a human following behind, marking trees along the way so she wouldn’t get lost travelling back and forth. They didn’t speak much as they trudged through the foliage, the occasional question thrown out between them when the wildlife stilled to silence, the lack of sounds to occupy her brain with too much for Galinda. 

To her surprise, Elphaba was proving… not as awful as she’d first thought - or maybe hoped. She didn’t want to like the girl, but to her displeasure she caught her lips curling up into a smile when Elphaba spiralled into a rant about her classes, about the history Doctor Dillamond was covering, about the new challenge her physical education class was providing. An unexpected longing crept in as the picture Elphaba was painting of her life as a student grew sharper, clearer in her mind. What would it be like to experience that for herself? Would she make a good student? Would she like the same things Elphaba did or would she have her own favourite classes?

Not that Madame Morrible would allow her to take traditional classes, but perhaps Doctor Dillamond might…

A bright splash of light through the dense forest pulled her away from her wandering thoughts, “just through here.” She pressed down on the bushes with steady paws, holding them back for Elphaba to wiggle through the trees. 

“It’s beautiful,” the girl said, walking further into the glade. She spun around, taking in the space, from the dash of blue visible through the canopy, to the insects buzzing around the surface of the rippling pond. “How did you find it?”

Galinda didn’t move from the treeline, unexpectedly tense as she watched Elphaba walk around without a second thought. 

“I- I just, stumbled across it,” she mumbled, eyes fixed on the girl as she moved from the pond to the patches of flowers. Her breath froze in her lungs as Elphaba crouched down beside the daisies, running her fingers delicately over the petals. 

“It reminds me of a story my nanny used to tell me,” Elphaba said softly. 

Galinda couldn’t breathe. 

“What story?” She eventually managed to get out in a choked whisper she didn’t think Elphaba would be able to hear. 

But she did.

“About a fairy,” she plucked a daisy, “that lived in the woods. Their family wasn’t kind to them, so they went out into the world by themself, you know, to prove that they didn’t need anyone else to be happy.” Green fingers reached out for another flower, “but, as much as they tried to pretend they were happy alone, they still missed the company.” Another daisy. “One day they found a little girl lost in the woods where they lived. She was upset, as you would be if you were lost like that, but once the fairy managed to calm her down, they helped her find her way back home.” Elphaba rose to her feet, a small chain of daisies dangling from her fingers, “turns out, the little girl had left a trail of daisies behind, so they followed them all the way back. Her parents were so grateful to the fairy, so relieved that their daughter had found someone so brave, that they invited the fairy to stay with them, just for a little while. It didn’t take long for them to become friends.”  

Galinda’s chest ached as she listened, heart clenching as Elphaba walked back towards her.

“And the fairy wasn’t alone anymore,” she finished in a low, soft-spoken voice. “Dulcibear would tell me that when I got sad about… things. She told me that family is who you choose, not always who you’re born to.” 

“I- that-” Galinda choked out.

Elphaba looked down to her where her fingers were toying with the daisy chain, “I’m sorry, that’s a bit, um, a bit heavier than I intended. Thank you for showing me this place, really.” 

“I have to go,” Galinda whispered, stumbling as she stepped backwards into the bushes. She bumped into a tree, air rushing from her lungs as she turned around and bound back through the forest. 

How did Elphaba know about that story? Was it a common one told through Oz? But it wasn’t the same, it was… backwards, the fairy’s story, not Glinda’s. 

Galinda ran until she was back at her house, not caring that it was still the middle of the afternoon and she most likely had other things to be cleaning up around the campus. She curled up under the thin blankets, squeezing her eyes closed and pretending the world beyond her front door didn’t exist.

An uneasy sleep claimed her, images of fairies and daisies playing on a loop behind her eyes.

Night had long since fallen when sleepy eyes opened again. The room was bathed in the warm yellow light from the street lamps coming in through the window, casting tall shadows on the walls.

With a groan, Galinda pulled herself off of the bed, shifting as she did and walking barefoot towards the small kitchen. Her stomach growled as she perused the meager contents of her fridge with despair. 

Food had been a touchy subject over the last few years, her taste buds slowly growing used to the more meat-heavy diet she was fed as a Lion but never quite satisfied with the well-done temperature she’d been forced to endure. She watched as the meat in the pan turned from a ruby red to a deep brown with dissatisfaction, the voice in her head the only reason she’d let it cook well passed what her stomach was craving. 

“Humans don’t eat meat like that,” chased with a stern “don’t let your instincts rule your mind.”

Galinda’s jaw ached from chewing, tempted to switch form to get through it faster. She’d been at Shiz a couple of months, and the number of hours she’d spent as a human was startlingly low. So low that the clothes she’d brought with her to wear in her fur-less form had mostly gone unworn. 

She huddled in one of the awkwardly sized chairs in the thickest jumper she had, swaddled under the blankets as she gazed out of the window up at the stars. 

The door pushing inwards suddenly gave her no time to shift back, startling her out of her starry observations and snapping her back into the room. 

“How do you expect me to feel,” Madame Morrible ducked through the doorway as gracefully as was physically possible, standing to her full height once inside and closing the door with a flick of her wrist, “when I specifically ask you not to make me wait, and yet hear nothing from you in days?” 

It was as loaded a question as any she’d heard.

She knew what Madame Morrible was looking for. Her grovelling apology, any and all information she had spilling from her lips to earn the Sorceress’s forgiveness. However, for the first time, there was a beat of hesitation, and before she knew it, different words, spoken in her own voice, were sounding in her ears.

“I’m sorry Madame, I don’t- no one’s said anything.” 

It wasn’t quite a lie, but Galinda’s tongue felt thick and heavy as she stumbled through the nerve wracking omission of the truth. 

“I find that hard to believe,” the woman stalked closer, reaching out with a hand to take hold of Galinda’s chin. “Are you losing your touch, Lion?” Madame Morrible’s voice was quiet, soft even, as she stared down at her. 

Galinda shook her head against the grip holding her still, “no, really, no one’s said anything.” 

“The Horse?” 

Taught me to dance, but instead she said, “rambled on about dancing and parties, nothing useful.”

“And the Goat?” 

“I haven’t spoken to him in a few days,” Galinda softly confessed. 

“Tell me,” the grip on her chin tightened, “how are you supposed to gather information when you don’t speak with the one who has the information?”

“You- you can’t?”

“Exactly,” without warning, Madame Morrible let go, Galinda stumbling as she tried to find her footing.

The Sorceress gave a sweeping look around the room, before gliding back towards the door. It opened with an unceremonious clatter against the wall as the woman ducked back out into the night.

“This is your last chance, Lion,” the door slammed closed behind her, plunging Galinda back into darkness. 

Frozen in the middle of the room, Galinda didn’t notice how her body began to shiver, the cold seeping in through her clothing and wrapping around her like a blanket. 

She felt more trapped than ever, stuck between her confusion around the Animals and the instinct urge to do as Madame Morrible ordered. Just as her physical form was, her thoughts had been caught in suspension between two worlds, not quite rooted in either, while still existing in both at the same time. 

Drawn back to the bed by the pounding ache quickly growing behind her eyes, Galinda wished more than anything that she could be anywhere but there.

She dreamt of a place far away, somewhere over a distant rainbow where no one could reach her, and she could finally be free.  

Chapter Text

She didn’t have much time, Galinda knew this. 

She knew Madame Morrible was quickly running out of patience with her and her lack of information, and she knew that she really should have done her all to spend as much time with Doctor Dillamond, and perhaps Feldspur, as possible over the following week.

So why then, was she practically stalking Elphaba around campus instead of doing what she should ? 

Like a magnet, Galinda’s eyes had been pulled straight to her when she’d come into view on the steps leading down from the dorm rooms, an unreasonable amount of books clutched in her arms, and a heavy looking bag digging suspiciously into the shoulder of her jacket. Galinda had used the guise of her job to follow the other girl from quad to library, from library to cafeteria, before losing her when she slipped into her first class of the day. 

How was it that this strange human just so happened to know the mirror story to the one she’d used to get through the darkest time of her life? The mirror story that Galinda could tell had left a similar mark on Elphaba as the one her popsicle had used to soothe her as a child had had on her.

There was a rapidly rising desire to ask her, to see if she knew about the side of the story that Galinda knew. It was a confusifying feeling, to want to approach a near-stranger to ask something that might just end up with Elphaba laughing in her face, but still… there were things about her that felt familiar, now that the blind haze of jealousy was starting to lift. The shame that was evident in their encounter in Elphaba’s dorm the previous day was like watching herself retreat after messing up in one of Madame Morrible’s lessons, the way her voice dropped as she told her story was as soothing as her popsicle’s had been, and her magic… as terrifying as it could be, Galinda got the impression Elphaba could one day be as powerful as Madame Morrible. 

It was a dangerous thing, to be curious. 

And Galinda was. 

Shaking her head, she tried to put thoughts of Elphaba out of her mind. It didn’t work, not one bit. Throughout the week, her cleaning and fixing and tidying took Galinda all around campus, and everywhere she went there seemed to be signs of the girl. Her scent was far too noticeable in classrooms she’d been in, the whisper of her name on students’ lips as they gossiped wouldn’t leave her ears alone, and her eyes, despite her best efforts, constantly looked around for dark braids or emerald skin. 

She’d catch a glimpse of her, here and there, often alone, occasionally with the girl in the wheelchair, and on an increasingly frequent basis, Fiyero.

Galinda paused on her way to Doctor Dillamond’s classroom as she stumbled into the pair in question, the prince leaning against a wall, hands in pockets as he smiled down at the frowning girl. But, despite looking like she wasn’t enjoying the conversation, Elphaba stayed. At one point she even laughed.

Fiyero, who Feldspur has spoken so highly of, seemed intensely intrigued by her, his eyes never once straying despite the hustle and bustle of students around them moving from class to class. 

“So you’ll come? Tonight?” She heard him whisper as she got closer, the heavy cart groaning and creaking behind her under the weight of the text books she was supposed to be taking to the Goat’s classroom. “Invite your sister, I’m sure she’d have a great time too.” 

As Galinda watched, Elphaba held herself back from what looked to be an instinctive response, pausing as her eyes fell to the floor, arms tightening around her books.

“Nessa would like that, I think,” if it hadn’t been for her sharpened hearing, Galinda would have missed the mumbled words. Elphaba’s head lifted to look back up at Fiyero, “fine, I’ll come, but only if it’s something Nessa wants to do.” 

Fiyero stood up, moving away from the wall with a wide grin, “excellent, then I suppose I’ll see you later.” Elphaba turned away without another word, but there was a small smile tugging at her lips.

Great, more things to be curious about.

“Ah, I was wondering where you’d got to,” Doctor Dillamond called from the front of the classroom as Galinda huffed and puffed as she finally dragged the cart into the room. “You can leave that there, not to worry. Thank you for bringing them through for me.” 

“You’re welcome,” Galinda replied with a light pant. 

“Come, come, have a rest,” the Goat gestured towards the bench at the front of the room, not really ideal for a Lion but infinitely more comfortable looking than the hard floor. 

“I should probably be getting back,” it was a weak protest, her eyes unable to pull away from the tempting resting place. 

“Nonsense,” he said gently, “I’m sure they can spare you a few moments for a short break.” It really had been a long day, and that bench looked far too appealing to protest much further. 

“I guess,” Galinda mumbled, taking tentative steps further into the room. As soon as she lay down across the padded bench she let out a relieved groan, a deep chuckle sounding from Doctor Dillamond as she melted into the seat. 

“It would appear the rest was needed,” he continued to move around the room, no doubt readying it for the next class, “are they working you too hard, Miss Glinda?” 

“Oh, no, not at all,” she said, “the other caretakers are just… not as strong I suppose, but that’s not a bad thing!” Galinda rushed to get out; bad mouthing her coworkers, however temporary, didn’t sound wise. “It’s easy for me to pull the cart around,” she finished weakly.

Doctor Dillamond just looked at her, eyes full of… something. He was looking at her, but somehow Galinda got the feeling he was looking through her, into her somehow. 

“You’re strong, but that doesn’t mean you should be doing all the heavy lifting,” when he spoke, it was in that familiar, low, soft tone, “the burden should be shared, even if there are those who are used to shouldering it.” 

He was saying one thing, but it felt like he was saying another. It was unnerving enough that Galinda didn’t know how to respond.

The weight of Doctor Dillamond’s gaze lifted, the look behind his eyes pulling back from the intense stare, “everything feels far more achievable when you have people to lean on, as I have often found.” 

“Have you, um, have you… struggled with things?” 

“Oh yes,” he replied, “there have been moments recently where the weight of everything that’s been happening to us Animals has felt like it’s sat solely upon my back. There might be groups of us around Oz fighting back, but here around Shiz, it’s fallen to me.” He looked over to the chalkboard, now devoid of any trace of red paint, “I was helping those who felt like they were at risk, giving them a safe place to recover after particularly bad encounters with some of the more radical humans, doing my best to reassure them, find them somewhere safer to lay roots.” Doctor Dillamond sighed, “it’s been getting worse and worse, and I’m worried things will only continue to get worse. But there have been some individuals who give me hope, who I’ve been able to lean on myself.” 

“Miss Elphaba,” Galinda whispered, remembering the way the Goat had unloaded when Elphaba started showing genuine concern for what was going on. 

“Correct, Miss Elphaba is… different from the other humans.” 

“Because of her skin?”

“Because she has a truly unique outlook on life,” he corrected, “the colour of her skin has led to a life similar to our own, yes. She is different to the other humans and has been treated as such, but she is still human. Her experiences have only solidified her moral compass, and I have no doubt she would do everything within her power to do all she can for the Animals.” 

Galinda looked down at her paws, Animal in all the ways that mattered, yet merely a mask for the human that lay beneath. “You really think she doesn’t mind that Animals are… different?”

“No,” Doctor Dillamond chuckled, “dare I say, I believe she likes that they’re different.” 

More confused than ever, Galinda didn’t respond. Her mind shifted between her interactions with the girl. Not once did Elphaba ever say a word about any of her Animal features; she’d even gone so far as to compare her to Fiyero when she’d accidentally bumped into her earlier in the week.

“It see you’re branching out from the uniform colour palette,” Doctor Dillamond’s voice filtered in through the raging noise in her head, and for a moment it all went quiet. The flower, still pinned to her shawl where it had been all week, filled her with the same joy she’d felt as she’d leapt around with Feldspur whenever she caught sight of it. 

“Yes, it, it was a gift, from Feldspur,” she caught a tug of a smile on Doctor Dillamond’s lips. 

“Ah yes, he’s quite the character,” he chuckled, “and, I’d imagine, a good friend to have.” 

Galinda nodded. 

A friend. 

“Thank you,” she blurted out.

“I’ll admit I’m not quite sure what I’m being thanked for, but you’re welcome.” 

“For being my friend,” Galinda said softly, “thank you for being my friend.”

Doctor Dillamond’s whole being softened at the words, his dark eyes twinkling brightly, “it’s my pleasure, Miss Glinda.”

The rest of the day had continued much the same, task after task being handed to her until it was finally late enough for her to stop .

Before she could even think about returning to her home however, the squeak of a wheel and a hissed, “Elphaba” pulled her attention towards the docks. It looked like a difficult task, manoeuvring a wheelchair into a boat, and the look of relief on Elphaba’s face when Fiyero rounded the corner, jogging to assist, made that clear as day. From her place in the shadows, Galinda watched as the group of students climbed into the boat, one by one after the girl, Nessa (going from what she’d heard Elphaba mumbling earlier) assisted first, followed by the rest. 

Along the riverbank, keeping a safe distance, Galinda followed, crouching in the grass when the boat pulled up to a nearby dock. 

There were people dressed in all sorts of fancy clothes lingering around the entrance to a tunnel that looked like it went deep, deep below the river. Notes of music drifted out of the tunnel, luring the humans down into the depths by the melodic tune - including Elphaba it seemed. For the first time in her stalking, because really, what else could she call it, Galinda felt a wave of fear ripple through her body.

But she’d come this far, and there were enough shadows to hide and disappear into should she need to get away. 

Slowly, she moved. 

Into the tunnel entrance, following the sounds of music, ignoring the humans she moved past as she scoured the crowds for Elphaba. 

One paw touched down on the bottom step, and Galinda froze. The music wasn’t just music , it was coming from actual instruments… being played by Animals. And the humans were dancing with vigor, with such enthusiasm.

As she stared, eyes jumping between each instrument, between each Animal skillfully adding to the music filling the room, a small paw holding a drumstick waved in her direction. Startled, she jerked back at the unexpected acknowledgement, right before a sharp, agonising pain ripped up from the tip of her tail. 

She yowled, spinning round, curling her now free tail protectively around her back leg.

“Watch it,” the human who’d trodden on her tail without a care looked down his nose at her, scowling, opening his mouth to say more at the sight of her claws peaking out, before a dark figure stepped in front of him. 

“Watch where you’re going next time.”

Looking up, Galinda was met with the sight of familiar dark braids, pinned back with two clips she’d never seen the girl wear before. She’d found Elphaba, or, perhaps more accurately, Elphaba had found her. 

“Are you alright?” The sharpness of her words to the man had fallen away, her voice slipping back into her calming tone. 

“Y-yes,” Galinda looked wide eyed around the room, mind in overload from the sudden pain and the cacophony of sounds swimming around her, “where are we?”

“The Ozdust Ballroom,” Elphaba said, the words rolling out slowly, “how did you end up here if you don’t know where it is?” 

“I- went for a walk,” please believe me.

A dark brow lifted, “right. Well, um, would you like to join us?” 

Peering around Elphaba, Galinda could see Fiyero and Nessa talking, hands waving about in animation as they talked about who knows what.

Her mind struggled to wrap itself around the question, what did it mean? Why did she ask? 

“I should be getting back, to my um, walk,” Galinda’s back paw bumped into the stairs as she shuffled backwards, “thank you though.” Before Elphaba could get in another word, Galinda turned and bounded up the stairs, leaving the music, dancing and the curiosity that was Elphaba behind. 

She hadn’t known what she’d been expecting, following the girl like that. It had been foolish, wandering so far from Shiz, following a human she barely knew. 

Galinda ran the whole way back, long bounding strides getting her back to campus quicker than she’d expected. Out of breath, she pushed in on her door, falling into the living space with a heave. Her back paw kicked out, closing the door behind her. 

Her breath froze in her lungs when she looked up to the rest of the room. The fur along her back stood on ends at the look on the Sorceress’s face. 

“Well?” Madame Morrible rose from the chair she’d been perched on, “what do you have for me?”

She should have known.

She was out of time. 

Chapter Text

“Well?” 

Galinda’s chest was still heaving from her run, her eyes wide, mind racing, trying to catch up. 

Echoes of Doctor Dillamond’s voice earlier in the day, recounting his struggles with helping Animals in need, sounded in her ears. She knew that would appease the woman in front of her, knew it would be enough to douse the fire burning in dark eyes.

But could she do it?

What would have been an easy decision just a couple of months ago, suddenly felt like the hardest choice she’d ever had to make. The kindness the Goat had shown her, right from the get-go, the easy offer of friendship, was so far removed from the picture Madame Morrible and The Wizard, her ‘papa’, had painted in her mind that she knew something was off. The lack of mention of the Wizard, Animals disappearing, some losing their ability to speak… it all suggested there was more to the story than what she’d been told, and she couldn’t find it within herself, didn’t want to find it, to give the woman what she wanted. 

Summoning as much bravery as her namesake was known for, Galinda opened her mouth to speak.

“He’s innocent.”

For a moment, the heat behind Madame Morrible’s eyes dimmed. She crossed the room towards Galinda in slow, considered steps. 

One.

Click.

At. 

A.

Time.

Her head tipped to the side, dark eyes staring down at her.

As she held the Sorceress’s gaze, the air in the room thickened, sluggishly pulling in and out of her lungs with every breath. Galinda had felt it before, only once, when she’d foolishly talked back early on in her time in the Palace. It was like the air was turning to water, filling her lungs but lacking what her body needed most. Her breathing grew short, turning to gasps. The corners of her vision started to blur, spots dancing as she kept looking up. 

“Innocent?” 

The word was clipped, as short as the relief an intake of breath gave as the air continued to thicken. 

It took effort she didn’t have, but Galinda gave a weak nod.

“I don’t think so.” 

The world was starting to darken, all the strength draining from her limbs. With a loud crash, her body dropped to the floor. 

“I’m out of patience, Lion,” moments before she slipped into dark unconsciousness, the air thinned, returning to normal. Rolling onto her stomach, she drew in as much as she could, eyes trained on Madame Morrible’s boots as she walked around her.

“See, I think you learnt something,” click, click, click, “something that would give me all the reasoning I need to get rid of that Goat, but for some reason,” the woman slipped out of sight as she moved behind Galinda’s prone form, “you’ve decided you’re on his side.” 

The steps paused for a moment.

“I strongly advise against that.” 

The slow click-clacking continued. “So I’ll ask again,” the steps came to a stop in front of her, “tell me what you know.” 

Her chest seized, as the question was placed before her once more. 

But she knew her response already. 

“I don’t know anything,” Galinda muttered around her quieting gasps.

“Wrong answer,” the shifting of her skirts as Madame Morrible crouched down met her ears, “shift back.” 

Something was wrong.

She’d never been told to shift back mid-punishment before, the woman usually demanding she be in her Lion-form whenever she had to deal with her. 

“Now.”

The moment a human lay in place of Lion, long fingers tangled in her messy curls. Galinda yelped, clawing at the wrist above as she was dragged to the middle of the room. Her shoulder slammed into the floor when she was dropped, aching in protest to the rough treatment. 

“Have we not treated you well?” Madame Morrible asked.

“Y-you have,” the bravery was seeping out of her body the longer she lay there, her fur armour no longer shielding her.

“Have I not taught you everything you needed to know?” 

Galinda closed her eyes as a familiar crackling sound filled the room, “Y-you have.”

“Then why would you betray us like this?” The woman sounded truly hurt, as if the act of rebellion had been something she could never imagine happening. If she so clearly preferred Elphaba, why did Galinda’s actions have such an impact on her? 

“No matter,” the words came before Galinda could try to respond, “there are other ways to get information out of you.”

The crackle got louder.

“I’m sure it won’t take long for you to break.”

The pain was constant. 

Strike after strike rained down on her back, the shirt Galinda was wearing long since split in the wake of the magic wielded like a relentless whip in Madame Morrible’s hand.

“This will stop when you give me what I want,” the Sorceress had hissed after the first strike. 

But Galinda had just grit her teeth, holding back the screams begging to be released. Tears pooled on the floor beneath her, soaking into the mess of blonde surrounding her head in complete disarray. 

Madame Morrible had never gone quite this far before, favouring shocking with magic rather than this.

Another strike.

“Do you really want to protect that Goat this much? ” 

Another strike. 

How had she ended up here? 

Her whole body was shaking, a mix of pain and the chill that had seeped in early on, aided by her uncomfortably clammy skin. 

Over and over Galinda repeated in her mind that she’d made the right choice, that Desmond Dillamond was innocent.  

She kept going, ignoring the biting remarks, doing her best to retreat into her mind. 

And it worked. She imagined returning to the guest housing for another dance with Feldspur, wondering if she might use some of this newfound bravery to ask for another token splash of colour to build on what the flower had started. She imagined making her way down the forest path towards Doctor Dillamond’s house, drawing on whatever courage she could find to ask him to teach her about Animals, Oz, anything . She even imagined returning to the glade, finding Elphaba there sitting cross legged in front of the patch of daisies, joining her to let the day waste away as they made daisy chain after daisy chain. 

Galinda couldn’t decide which she wanted more. 

So she kept going, letting her mind drift. 

Until she no longer could.

The next strike mirrored the last, landing perfectly on the skin still raw and burning from the previous hit, and something inside her broke. 

“Ok,” Galinda finally cried between ragged sobs, “p-please s-stop.”

The crackle didn’t disappear, but no further strike came.

“Speak.”

“H-he’s been helping the other Animals,” short nails clawed at the floor, trying to get away from the fiery pain burning away up and down her back. 

“Which Animals? Helping them how?”

“The ones speaking out. Getting them to s-safety, g-giving them somewhere to stay.”

“Finally,” The woman hissed under her breath, the crackle finally fizzling out as the house plunged back into silence. Her heels clicked sharply against stone once more as she rounded Galinda’s huddled form, lifting the skirts of her dress as she crouched down. 

“You’ve done good. ”

Galinda knew she shouldn’t look up, shouldn’t cling to the praise, shouldn’t lean in to the accompanying touch. But when long fingers started combing through her tangled hair, the softness of the action in such contrast to the pain those same hands had just brought down on her, she couldn’t help the relieved sigh that fell from her lips.

“Sleep now,” it was whispered like magic words, and curled up in the middle of the room, surrounded by the evidence of a torturous evening, Galinda succumbed to the pain, finally slipping into unconsciousness. 

When Galinda came round, the sun was shining brightly through the partially drawn curtains. Madame Morrible was nowhere in sight, and from the feeling of the floor beneath her palm, some measure of cleaning had been done while she wasn’t awake.

A hiss rushed through clenching teeth when she tried to move, back flaring with every twitch of muscle. 

“Quick, you’re missing it!” 

“Missing what?”

“It looks like they’re arresting Doctor Dillamond!” 

The pain disappeared when the voices of rushing students slid under the door. Memories of the previous night flooded back and her whole body went cold. 

She’d told Madame Morrible.

And now apparently, Doctor Dillamond was being arrested. 

Ignoring the sharp pulling at her back as she shifted, Galinda dropped into her Lion form and bolted from the house, thin cuts stinging, hidden beneath her fur as she ran.

She skidded to a halt when she rounded the corner to the quad, finding the commotion the students had been shouting about. 

Four emerald-clad guards flanked Doctor Dillamond, the front two holding on tightly to thick chains looping around his neck and hooves, almost tripping him up as he attempted to keep up with their long strides. 

“You’re not being told the truth!” The Goat called out as he was dragged through the crowd, “don’t listen to them, they-” the butt of a rifle was rammed into his head, quickly putting an end to the desperate words.

“Silence, Animal.” 

Galinda shook her head in disbelief.

What had she done? 

She wanted to help him, to free him from the heavy looking chains, to scare the guards off with a long overdue roar. 

But they had guns, and this was all her fault. 

It might as well have been her who wrapped the chains around him. 

She watched on helplessly as they dragged him to the back of a prison carriage, hauling him in unceremoniously before slamming the doors and blocking him from sight. 

The crowd around her rumbled with shocked whispers and outlandish rumours. Not a single thing they were saying was true, the guesses getting further away from the truth with every word uttered. 

As the carriage began to move, wheels creaking under the added weight, Galinda turned and ran. Back into the forest, through the trees, ignoring each stab of pain as her muscles tensed and relaxed over and over with every long leap. She ignored the sharp jolt when a low lying branch brushed over her tender back. She ignored the way her throat constricted with ramping guilt, unable to comprehend that Doctor Dillamond was gone.

The glade was silent when she stumbled into it, as if all the insects and birds were fast asleep, blissfully ignorant to the impending breakdown. 

She collapsed on her side in a heap beside the pond, replaying her friend being dragged away over and over again behind her eyes. 

If she’d just been a bit stronger… a bit braver, he wouldn’t have been arrested, she might have been able to warn him, get him to leave before something like this could happen again.

The lack of sound was deafeningly loud, which made it all the more startling when her sensitive ears picked up the snap of a twig, followed by the rustle of leaves as something, or someone, brushed past them. Quiet voices, one deeper than the other, volleyed back and forth gradually moving nearer. By the time Galinda realised the voices were in fact headed right for her, it was too late. She rolled onto her front right as two figures, one dressed in black, the other in blue, broke through the treeline. 

“Miss Glinda?” Elphaba took a step towards her, “are you alright?”

“What are you doing here?” Blatantly ignoring the question, Galinda couldn’t help the impatient snap as she rose to her feet. Of all the times she had to bump into the other girl, it had to happen now?

Whether or not the question was answered, Galinda couldn’t say, as her eyes fell down to the small, furry being cradled in Elphaba’s arms. 

A Lion Cub. 

“Why do you have him?” 

“He, well, the um, the new history professor had him,” Elphaba stuttered, her confidence dimming in the face of the clearly agitated Lion, “in a cage.”

“A cage?” 

“A small metal box, but the walls were bars,” immediately Galinda’s mind flashed back to stories the Wizard had told her, of animals in the land he came from being too dangerous to allow free… being kept in metal boxes for their own safety, “he was trembling, I- I had to do something.” 

Fiyero placed a hand on Elphaba’s shoulder, “we thought the forest might be a good place to keep him safe.” 

“The forest?” Mindful of the fearful look in the Cubs eyes, Galinda kept her voice low, “you thought leaving a Cub in the forest, all alone, would be safe? ” 

“Well-” 

“No,” she interrupted, “he’s a baby, he needs his parents.” She stalked closer, “were you even going to try to find his mom?”

“I- well I hadn’t really thought that far,” Fiyero backed up, matching her steps as she cornered him against a tree. 

“Miss Glinda, stop,” Elphaba called from behind her, “we didn’t know what to do, but clearly you do. Can you help?” 

Dark brown eyes dropped down to amber before Galinda looked back to the other girl. The Cub was still obviously trembling, pawing at Elphaba’s arms and starting to struggle against her hold. The moment his paws hit the grass, he ran straight towards her, butting his head against her front leg, burying his face in her fur to hide from the two humans looking down at them. 

He was younger than she’d been when she was taken from her parents, helpless in a way she hadn’t been, and yet he had something she hadn’t had. 

He had her. 

“I’ll figure something out,” Galinda murmured, still gazing down at the Cub. “Do you know his name?” 

“Um, the professor mumbled something about ‘Brrr’ when he was falling asleep?” Fiyero piped up.

“Brrr?” Was that a usual name for a Lion, or was that human-given?

The man shrugged sheepishly, “that’s all I heard, I was a bit preoccupied working out how to break a Lion out of a cage.” 

Galinda sighed. “It’ll do,” carefully, mindful of not tripping over the Cub, Brrr, at her feet, she made her way back to the pond, laying down on her side with a wince; none of her previous corrections from Madame Morrible had hurt for this long before. The tiny Lion leapt on her immediately, cuddling up to her chest as the last of the trembling disappeared.

Tentative footsteps off to the side brought Elphaba closer, the girl kneeling beside her in front of the clear water. “I’m sorry we didn’t think,” she said in a near-whisper. 

“It seems a lot of people don’t when it comes to Animals,” if only she’d learnt more growing up, if she’d asked more questions about the stories her momsie and popsicle told her. Would she have figured the truth out sooner? 

“It sounds like you might, um, might know what he’s going through?” 

Sharp, dark eyes snapped to green, “I know enough to know that he’s terrified right now.” 

“Right,” Galinda could hear Fiyero at the treeline, the back of his blazer scratching against the bark of the tree he leaned against. For someone so loud and boisterous, he was surprisingly quiet. 

“Do you know anything about where he came from?” The Cub was breathing softly against her, his breath ruffling her fur with each exhale. He wasn’t quite asleep, but his eyes drooped further as time ticked on. 

Elphaba shook her head, “we don’t know anything about him, I, um, my magic sort of, acted before the Professor properly mentioned anything about him , rather than the cage.”

Galinda frowned, “what did he say about the cage?”

“He said they were the future,” Galinda’s heart dropped, “cages for all sizes of Animals. I think that’s what they’re doing to the Animals that are going missing.” 

“How do you know?” The hesitation was clear in Elphaba’s eyes, “please, I, I need to know.” 

Elphaba looked down at her hands, toying with one long nail as she spoke, “I had a vision,” her eyes flicked back to Galinda, “that day at Doctor Dillamond’s house, right before he found me outside.”

Visions were not something she’d heard about before, Madame Morrible certainly hadn’t had them before, “what was the vision?”

“It was of Doctor Dillamond,” Galinda’s blood ran cold, “in a cage. He couldn’t talk.” 

“You didn’t mention this,” Fiyero’s voice faded off into the background.

She felt sick. 

Is that where he was being taken? To be locked in a cage? To have his voice stolen from him?

It was too much.

“You should go back to campus.”

Elphaba straightened at the clipped words, “are you sure? You didn’t seem ok when we got here,” the gentle look in Elphaba’s eyes tripled the guilt that was bearing down on her; she didn’t deserve the concern, not after what she did. 

“Go, I’m fine,” please .

“Right,” Elphaba rose, backing away slowly, Fiyero already creeping between the trees, “um, will you let me know he’s ok?” She nodded down to the now dozing Cub. 

Doctor Dillamond had been right, Elphaba really was different. She genuinely cared. “I will,” she mumbled. It hadn’t been Elphaba’s fault she hadn’t known what to do with the Cub. Truth be told, neither did she, but leaving him alone wasn’t an option. 

The glade fell into silence once more as the pair slipped back through the treeline. 

With a sigh, Galinda curled further around the Cub, whispering, “it’ll be ok,” as he snuggled closer, mewing softly in his sleep, “just keep breathing.”

Whether she was saying that to him, or to herself, was irrelevant.

Chapter Text

Don’t wake a sleeping Lion. Galinda could hear the words loud and clear in her mind, like someone had spoken them right next to her ear.

Her memory from her earlier childhood might be somewhat faded, gaps appearing over the years no matter what she did, but she did remember her popsicle whispering those words to her as they snuck passed her napping momsie after a long day of organising the house. It had been said in jest, playful as her popsicle usually was, but as a child she’d taken it to heart. 

And it had stuck. 

She didn’t know how long exactly she’d been in the forest, but her muscles ached from holding still to avoid waking the dozing Cub pressed against her.

He twitched and snuggled in closer, snuffling and chirping in his sleep. 

Galinda had no idea what to do. 

She knew the moment the Cub woke up he would likely tumble right back into his trembling terror, but that temporary fear that she was sure she could settle was nothing compared to what could happen if Madame Morrible were to find them out there. 

The earring, usually easy enough to ignore, was a noticeable weight, growing heavier the longer she stayed so far from campus. 

There had never been any reason for the Sorceress to use the earring to find her before. Galinda had always returned from her missions without delay, and her previous ventures out into the forest hadn’t raised alarms. But this? Galinda could feel the agitation growing the longer they stayed there. 

Madame Morrible finding her was one thing, finding her with a stolen Lion Cub?

Unthinkable. 

So, ignoring her popsicle’s voice in the back of her mind, she slowly began to move. 

“Hey,” Galinda whispered, her front leg lifting to rock the sleeping Cub.

He didn’t move. 

“Wake up,” she tried again, a little louder. 

His nose wrinkled, but his eyes remained closed.

Galinda sighed, already feeling guilty for what she was about to do.

“Wake up,” she called loudly, startling the birds resting in the surrounding trees. Galinda cringed at the cacophony of beating wings rushing away from the unexpected noise, but felt relief sink in when amber eyes blinked, and a small mouth cracked open in a wide yawn. 

“Hello,” she slipped back into a whisper. 

He blinked again, and, as predicted, started to shake. 

“It’s ok,” she rushed to soothe, “you’re safe.” He didn’t respond beyond a slight tilt to his head. 

“Um, the humans from before, they said your name’s Brrr? Is that right?” When did Animals learn to talk? Could he understand her properly? 

A more pronounced tremble, followed by a small nod, answered at least one of her questions. 

So he could understand.

“Pleasure to meet you,” he let out a quiet mew, wobbling as he continued to shake. “We need to get you somewhere safer,” dark eyes left the Cub, warily studying the treeline.

A tug at the neck of her shawl pulled her attention back to Brrr, his paw dropping back down when he found her eyes again. 

“Will you come with me?” She asked. Galinda had no idea what had happened for the Cub to end up in the Professor’s hands, but it almost certainly was not a happy story. Giving him the choice, asking rather than demanding, felt like the least she could do. 

Brrr stood on shaky paws, slowly backing out of her hold. A few steps back, he sat, looking at her expectantly.

“Oh,” she got to her feet as quickly as she could without aggravating her back too much, but she couldn’t hold back the quiet hiss that escaped. “Is that a yes?”

He pounced on her leg, and she flinched. Not that it hurt, he was a fraction of her size, but the abrupt, enthusiastic contact was… new. 

“Right, well, I guess follow me?” Was he going to be ok walking through the dense bits of forest? 

He answered the question for her, brushing against her side as he padded behind her. An odd pressure near the tip of her tail had her yelping, “what are you doing?” Simultaneously, she pulled her tail away before whatever it was could clamp down more. She turned, looking down at the Cub.

As if the answer was obvious, he blinked up at her, wide eyed, mouth still partly open. 

Oh. 

Hesitantly relaxing her tail, she let him continue. Brrr seemed to sense her wariness, moving slowly as he opened his mouth wider, taking her tail gently between his teeth. 

It was Galinda’s turn to blink. That was one way to make sure he didn’t get lost, she supposed. 

Thoroughly baffled and out of her depth, she shook her head and started towards the trees. 

It took far longer than usual, what with Brrr’s small strides and the care she had to take to make sure she didn’t accidentally end up pulling her own tail, but eventually the pale brick unique to Shiz came into view.

She had a plan… of sorts. There was only one Animal left around Shiz that she would trust to have Brrr’s best interest in mind, despite his close association with one of the humans who’d nearly left him in the middle of the forest. 

They hugged the treeline, skirting the edge of the campus until they reached the guest accommodation. With Brrr still holding on to her tail, Galinda slinked around the side of the building. Thankfully, the Horse in question was right where she was hoping he would be. 

“Glinda?” Feldspur questioned, turning his head at the sound of the door opening and closing. His eyes dropped down to the now cowering Cub at her feet, “and Cub?” The shock and confusion was clear in his eyes, “something you want to tell me?”

“I need your help,” she rushed out. 

“Yes, I suspected that much,” he huffed a short laugh, meeting her gaze. With a nod of his head towards Brrr, he asked, “he wouldn’t happen to be the Lion Cub that’s got everyone in a tizzy, would he?”

In a move that once again proved Brrr understood what was going on around him, he shuffled back away from the Horse, hiding between her front legs.

Galinda tried to bend down, a move made awkward by the Cub’s chosen hiding spot. “It’s ok,” she muttered, trying to put as much warmth into her words as possible. How did Doctor Dillamond do it? “He’s a friend,” Brrr still looked wary, but peered around her leg towards Feldspur. Straightening up, she turned back to her friend, “he’s a bit nervous.”

“Understandable,” the Horse nodded, as if the reaction from the Cub was expected. Which, she supposed, it likely was, given the events surrounding his appearance at Shiz.

“I- I can’t keep him with me,” she knew this, but admitting it still wasn’t pleasant. She’d told Elphaba she would figure something out, and here she was passing him along yet again to someone else. But it was for the best, “he needs to get out of Shiz and I’m, I’m not the right person for that.”

Feldspur gave her a long look, “and that’s why you need my help.”

“Yes,” Galinda said in a near-whisper.

“Care to share why you think you’re not suitable for the task? He seems quite taken with you.”

“I’m, I don’t think I’ll be around for much longer,” truly, she didn’t know how long she would be staying at Shiz now that, technically, her mission had been accomplished. Doctor Dillamond had been removed from his position, that was her purpose, the whole reason she’d been brought to the University. 

“Whyever not?”

“There’s no more work for me here.”

“No work for a caretaker?” 

Galinda shook her head, “they have enough staff, they don’t need me.” She could hear the tension bleeding into her words, knowing she couldn’t give more satisfactory answers than that.

And apparently, Feldspur could hear it too, “I apologise if I overstepped.” 

“No, no,” she shook her head, sighing, “I-I’m sorry, I’m just, Doctor Dillamond-” her throat tightened around tears that couldn’t fall.

Feldspur’s eyes grew sad. He must have heard. Gently, he asked, “he was a close friend?”

Galinda nodded. It was all she could do.

“I’m sorry for what happened to him,” the sincerity nearly pushed her over the edge. 

“Me too,” she whispered, her guilt stealing her voice. 

Sensing her reluctance to talk more, Feldspur guided the conversation back to the Lion Cub at hand, “so you need me to help this little one get out of Shiz.” 

Galinda nodded again. 

“Then it shall be done,” his deep voice sounded sure, the tone exactly the reassurance Galinda needed in that moment. The Horse continued, softening once more, “you’re brave for bringing him this far, I’ve heard security running around all afternoon looking for him.”

Fear shot through her, her pupils constricting as her eyes flew to the door, half expecting it to burst open any moment. 

“They’ve already been in here, don’t worry,” Feldspur hurried to pull her back from her panic, before confidently adding, “I’ll keep him safe.”

It would have to be enough. 

“Just…wherever you take him, make sure he’s not alone?” 

Her words made the Horse pause, his ears twitching. Feldspur lowered his head, eyes alarmingly knowing , and he slowly covered the distance between them. A warm, gentle press of his head against her own had her eyes squeezing tightly closed, unable to handle the caring gesture with the weight of what she’d done still bearing down on her. 

After a moment, Feldspur pulled back, standing to his full height. “I will,” he promised.

Pushing down the overwhelming mix of emotions running rampant inside her, Galinda shuffled her paws over the cub to stand beside him, crouching down to meet his eyes. “Feldspur will take care of you,” she told him, “he won’t let the humans get you again, I promise.” 

The Cub moved quickly, throwing himself towards her to rub his head against hers. In a move driven completely by instinct, Galinda reciprocated, rubbing her own head gently against his with a tiny, barely audible hum. 

“Be brave Brrr, and take notes,” she threw a small smile towards the Horse, “he has excellent taste in fashion.”

Brrr gave one last headbutt, before padding over to the Horse, with only a hint of hesitation and one backwards glance that made Galinda’s heart ache.

Feldspur ushered the Cub further into his temporary home, nodding to Galinda as she backed away. 

She’d only known him for a few hours, so why was it so hard to say goodbye?

Galinda’s paws dragged on the floor as she walked slowly back to her housing. The sharp pain along her back had settled to a persistent quiet sting, spiking if she moved the wrong way and making every step feel harder than the last. 

Reaching her door, she cast one look further down the path towards the main campus, briefly questioning whether Madame Morrible expected her to be working today. 

She wouldn’t put it past the woman, but today, Galinda really didn’t care; what more could she do to her at this point?

A paw pressed in on the handle, pushing the wooden door inwards. Her body tensed, half expecting the Sorceress to be on the other side. There was no woman, no weaponised magic hurled her way. There was only the sound of paper scraping along the floor, drawing her attention to a small envelope being pushed along by the bottom of the door. Her name, written in that familiar cursive, filled her with an exhausting sense of trepidation.  

The door swung closed behind her, and she waited for the click of the latch before turning back to a human, holding back a whimper as the skin of her back shifted to fit the new form. The back of her top was still torn and bloody, rough where it had dried and rubbing uncomfortably against her skin, but Galinda put it to the back of her mind as she lifted the envelope, removing the letter inside. 

Lion, 

Your task has been completed, I have enclosed your ticket for the first train back to the Emerald Palace tomorrow morning. I expect you to ensure that you’re on it. 

I will reconvene with you in one week, enjoy the time off. 

M.M.

Tomorrow. Of course, she had been right. Madame Morrible had no use for her at Shiz now. But it was still so soon. She had neither the time nor the energy to find Elphaba before morning, to tell her where Brrr had ended up. Galinda could only hope Feldspur would somehow get the message to her. 

True to the words in the letter, there was indeed a ticket for a train that would take her far away from Shiz. Away from what she’d done, away from the consequences of her actions… away from the people she’d come to care for. Away from Madame Morrible.

But while it was taking her away from so many things, it was also taking her right back to her ‘papa’. The man who was the only one able to give the orders to arrest Animals, the only one who could commission the widespread use of these ‘cages’, things that resembled those from stories he’d told her countless times. 

There were so many questions she wanted, needed , to ask him. She needed answers. 

And she was going to get them.

Chapter Text

Galinda had never noticed the looks before. 

There had never been a time when she’d had to travel anywhere without the ever-watchful Madame Morrible somewhere in the vicinity, and it had always been her Galinda had been aware of. 

She’d never paid enough attention to the other people around them to notice the subtle upturn of noses or the confused disdain when their eyes fell on her. It had been the Animals she was meant to keep an eye on after all. 

So it was a shock when she boarded the train, her luggage in those awful saddlebags that always dug into her sides in the most frustrating way, to find all heads swivelling to watch her every move. 

They don’t want an Animal here. How she had been so oblivious to the growing tensions around her, she didn’t know. They stared, obviously wary of the large Animal moving between the seats on the lower level. 

Galinda had never felt so uncomfortable in her fur before. There was an unsettlingly strong desire to disappear, her already fragile composure wavering as she made her way to the back of the carriage, sinking down on the corner bench.

She’d barely slept the night before, her subconscious loud with accusations, mind racing with questions. She felt unmoored, everything she’d been told in the last five years unraveling from their braided lies.

The only thing that might possibly stand a chance of holding them together were answers. Answers from the man who had taken her under his wing, cared for her in moments of hurt, made her believe he was good . She’d been torn from one father, and now she was facing losing the one who’d tried to take his place. 

Galinda could only hope he wouldn’t fall short when it mattered most.

Amidst the guilt and the hurt, she was still clinging to the innocent hope of a child desperately needing her father - the Wizard was all she had.

“-can’t believe it’s allowed in public.” 

Galinda’s ears swivelled, eyes following and catching sight of a woman glaring down her nose in her direction. 

“Don’t look at me,” she sneered, turning to the well dressed man beside her, “can you believe the audacity?” 

The man turned, taking in Galinda’s curled up form, “not to worry my love,” he smiled lovingly at the woman, “we won’t have to deal with them soon enough.”

Galinda turned away, her ears flattening as she tried to work out what that meant. Wouldn’t have to deal with who? Animals in general? Lions?

Her sluggish brain struggled to work through the tangled mess of thoughts, keeping her eyes fixed on the fields out of the window passing by in a blur. There were no birds, nor Birds, in the sky for her to imagine herself joining, only her faded reflection staring back at her in the glass. 

She tried to tune out the buzz of chatter around her, refusing to acknowledge any more of the occasional snide remarks she could hear mixed in with gossip and banter, interspersed with full bodied laughs and dramatic exclamations. 

It was like being in another world entirely. 

The journey passed by slowly, painfully so, and by the time the train pulled into the Emerald City station Galinda was itching to get out and run. She ignored the cumbersome bags, pushing her legs to move when she finally slipped out of the carriage and set her paws down on the familiar brick of the city. 

Galinda followed the paths on quick moving paws towards the Palace looming high above the rest of the skyline. She’d forgotten how big it was, how much it contrasted the calming curves and bright colours of Shiz. Towering emerald jutted up from the landscape, reaching for the stars, the dark colours making the curves more like the edges of its namesake than anything comforting.

She didn’t stop when the guards standing sentry at the gates looked at her in puzzlement, nor when the Monkeys stood taller when she walked through the entryway towards the staircase. Up, up, up, taking turns without thought, down halls she’d walked countless times, until she stood in front of her bedroom door. 

“Cub?” Galinda turned. The Wizard, dressed in his emerald and gold suit, looking exactly like he had the day she’d left for Shiz. Nothing had changed. 

Yet, everything had. 

“I wondered when you’d get back,” he walked closer, his heeled shoes tap-tapping on the stone floor with his approached, “I’ve missed you.”

Galinda didn’t, couldn’t , say anything.

The Wizard’s grey brows pulled into a frown at her lack of response, “is, ah, something wrong?”

Again, nothing. 

She turned back to the door, opening it with an awkward turn of the handle. Her fur was shed, bag dropped to the floor without thought, and gave into the magnetic pull of her bed. It was every bit as comfortable as she remembered. 

Galinda hated it. 

The tears came without warning, the sting of warmth preceding the first drop, before they began to fall in earnest. 

She could hear the shuffle of shoes near the door, the partly formed words that fell flat. The Wizard didn’t step beyond the threshold, but Galinda could feel him watching her.

“Um, ” He eventually started, “I don’t know what happened,” slow footsteps moved into the room, “but it’ll be ok.” The mattress beside her dipped as the man sat. A large hand settled over her shoulder, warmth seeping through her thin shirt. It should have been comforting. The man was always so warm, chasing away the cold that always seemed to lurk around the Palace. 

The hand stroked up and down her arm as they sat in silence, her soft sobs the only sound in the room. 

The Wizard sighed when she showed no signs of stopping, clutching at her pillow tighter with every tick of the clock. The hand stilled, and then moved to her back. 

Her cries turned to yelps of pain.

Her whole body jerked back out of his reach, the man jumping from the bed, hands raised and eyes wide. “What happened?” He asked. 

“Wh-what always happens,” Galinda gasped out, her chest aching.

The understanding in the man’s eyes broke her heart all over again. 

“I’ll get the ointment,” he nodded, “how bad is it?” The Wizard spoke like it was an everyday occurrence, like it wasn’t unusual to have to tend to wounds caused by a woman under his control. 

He was always eager to clean up the mess, but never once stepped in to stop it happening. And Galinda had never noticed. Or had chosen to ignore it for what it was. 

“I don’t need it,” she hissed. 

The Wizard looked taken aback at the unusual reaction, “it’s not bad?”

Her tears had finally stopped, though she could feel the tracks down her cheeks, “I just don’t need it.” She needed answers.

“You’ve lost me, Cub.” The man looked genuinely confused, the final push she needed.

Galinda moved to her knees, looking up at the Wizard’s face and letting the betrayal flood her features, “you lied to me.” 

He laughed, yet his eyes shifted around the room, avoiding her gaze, “I, ah, don’t know what you’re talking about, I’ve always been honest with you, you know that.”

“Do I?” She pressed, “what’s really happening with the Animals?”

“Which ones?”

“The ones you’re having arrested.” She moved to the edge of the bed. “Locked up.” On her feet, she was far shorter than the Wizard, but she refused to back down. “The ones you had me spying on.” 

“Ah,” he sighed, “those.” The Wizard sat back down on the edge of the bed, patting beside him, “there’s no need to get worked up, sit back down.”

“No,” she shook her head, “just tell me.” 

“You know the Animals are going against me,” he started, “I had to do what was necessary to keep things peaceful.” 

“Peaceful?” She’d heard that so many times, that the work she was doing was to help ‘keep the peace’, to make sure the Wizard’s rule would last. Now, she could laugh at the idea. “The Animals haven’t done anything wrong!”

He held his hands out, doubling down, “they are causing disruption to the peace, questioning my rule-”

“No!” Galinda interrupted. The lies upon lies were slowly shattering what little hope she had. had. The hope that this was all some sort of misunderstanding, that there was something she was missing. All she was hearing were the same words she’d been told time and time again. Lies. “They’re existing, the ones I’ve met have never mentioned you.” 

“Perhaps not directly, but I assure you Cub, this is for the best.”

“The best for who?”

He stood from the bed, slowly approaching her tense form, “for Oz,” another step, looking down at her with Puppy-eyes, “for me,” his hands came up to her shoulders, “for us.” 

Galinda shrugged him off, “it’s not the best for me.” She pushed away the guilt at the hurt that flashed over his face. “Did you know they’re losing their voices?” 

The Wizard dragged a hand down his face, looking as sheepish as she’d ever seen him. 

“That’s, um, an unfortunate side effect.” 

Every word coming out of the Wizard’s mouth felt like a dagger, the budding betrayal blooming into an all consuming wildfire, “of the cages?” She glared with tear-filled eyes, “the cages you made?” 

“Oh,” the man’s eyes dropped to the floor, “I didn’t know you knew about them.”

“I found out at Shiz,” she mumbled. A single tear broke free, tumbling down her cheek, following the almost-dry track until it fell, alone, to the ground, “how could you do that? Why would you do that?”

The Wizard let out a long sigh, crossing the room to look out the tall window to the streets far below, “Oz is different to the land I came from, yes, but in so many ways it’s exactly the same.” He turned, backlit by the evening sun, crossing his arms behind his back, “history, it repeats. It always does, and the people of Oz, well, they need to believe in me as a ruler if I’m going to make this place as great as it can be. When I got here, you wouldn’t remember, but there was discourse, and discontent. The people weren’t happy, so it’s up to me to make sure they are.” 

“But why not the Animals?” They were just as Ozian as the humans.

Two steps were taken, both with a resounding crack of a heel on the floor. The Wizard closed the distance between them, but Galinda felt further away from him than she ever had before. 

“Back where I come from, everybody knows that the best way to bring folks together, is to give them a real good enemy.”

Things fell into place. The changing opinions, the distrust of the Animals, the divide between them and humans growing wider every day… it was all part of the Wizard’s plan. He didn’t see them as part of the land he ruled. He saw their ‘otherness’ and used it against them for his own gain. 

“So, you’re turning the people against the Animals instead of each other,” Galinda spoke the words quietly, a numbness seeping into her body that was more comforting than it had any right to be.  

“You want Oz to succeed, don’t you? You want your papa to succeed, right?”

Galinda shook her head, “not like this. You’re not my papa.” 

“You don’t mean that,” the man reached out with a hand, but she backed up just out of reach. 

“I do,” She’d been doing the man's bidding for years, calling him ‘papa’, caring for him. She had put up with painful lessons, words that cut to the bone, and every piece of her personality being torn away from her. 

And it was all for lies.

She thought of Desmond, unjustly imprisoned, who’d cared for her freely without motive. She thought of Feldspur, who gave her back a piece of herself without hesitation. And she thought of Brrr, innocent and torn from his family before he’d even really begun living. 

“The Animals I’ve met have been nothing but kind. Different doesn’t mean wrong, or that they should be the enemy.”

“I never said it did,” he shook his head, “but you have to understand, they are the logical enemy here.” 

It was Galinda’s turn to shake her head. The Animals weren’t the enemy here.

“The only enemy I see is you.” 

The Wizard paled, the pleading look in his eyes draining, replaced with a flash of hurt. “Well then,” he cleared his throat, “I think this conversion has run its course.” Grey curls flopped half heartedly as the man shook his head. “I’m sorry you feel that way Cub.” When he saw the hard look in Galinda’s dark eyes, he sighed. “I’ll send someone with food.”

“I don’t want it,” her appetite was nonexistent at this point, despite not being able to recall the last time she ate.

“I’ll have it sent anyway.”

The Wizard crossed the room with long strides, fingers curling around the door handle. He looked back with brown eyes, once so full of joy, now flooded with disappointment. 

Galinda met his gaze head on.

“I hope some time will help you see reason,” he turned his back to her as he stepped from the room. “I don’t like doing this Cub, please know that.”

Time did not help Galinda see reason. 

The moment she heard the snick of the lock falling into place, she’d flown across the room and twisted the door handle with all her might. 

It didn’t budge.

The Wizard had locked her in her room, what should be a safe space, twisted into a prison with the turn of a key. 

The bubbling anger raged, eclipsing the stinging betrayal and sending Galinda into a frenzy. She swiped a hand across her vanity, shattering the single vase that had been sitting there empty since she’d left for Shiz. The chair was lifted and flung across the room at the door, no match for the heavy wood as it exploded into pieces. 

The door remained untouched. 

She tried the handle again, twisting and twisting as desperate tears leaked from her already sore eyes. 

“Please,” she called, “let me out.” 

Silence.

Galinda collapsed against the door, sinking to the floor as she pulled her knees up to her chest. She buried her face in her arms, shaking with silent sobs as she was bombarded with memories, each trailed by another heart wrenching revelation. 

When she finally lifted her head, eyes swollen and cheeks flushed, the world beyond her window was dark. Dragging herself up from the ground, she walked with heavy steps towards the bed, hoping sleep would claim her quickly. 

The days that followed were strange. 

Galinda would wake to a meal waiting for her on the small table, but no sign of the person who brought it to her. The Wizard had yet to make another appearance, apparently set on waiting her out in the hopes that she might come round to his way of thinking. 

She would not. 

If the Wizard was willing to lock up the girl he claimed to see as a daughter, what was he willing to do to Animals who dared stand up to him? 

Her mind was running wild, the walls of the room closing in on her the longer she spent trapped. Her form shifted without thought, Lion, back to human, back to Lion, as she paced, and paced and paced. 

She’d tried to throw the weight of her Lion at the door, willing to try anything to break out, only to let out a pained roar when her back protested loudly. The stinging might have stopped, but the ache was still present, and refused to be forgotten. 

The sun had been high in the sky for some time on what must have been her 5th day trapped within the same four walls. There were still no birds around for Galinda to follow with a longing gaze, no swooping wings just beyond her window. Her morning meal had been reluctantly eaten, she’d tried to take her mind off that wretched door by writing, drawing, reading… anything that might distract her brain enough so she didn’t notice the passing of time quite as much. 

It worked, just about. 

There was a soft click as the lock was turned, and Galinda was across the room in a shot. She shifted half way, leaping when the door opened just enough for her form to fly through. The maid fell back in shock, a startled scream tearing from her lips. Behind her, Galinda landed with a grunt, paws hitting the stone hard, skidding into the opposite wall with a dull thud.

“I’m sorry,” Galinda rushed out, before scrambling into a run down the hall away from her room. 

She barely had a plan beyond ‘get away’, running through the Palace without a destination in mind. Galinda turned a corner, raced down the stairs, and found herself eye to eye with the only Monkey she knew the name of.

“Chistery,” she breathed. Galinda had heard the Wizard talking to him, heard him mention him by name to the other guards that roamed the Palace. She knew he was a high ranking guard, leading the other Monkeys as they protected the Wizard. 

But he was also an Animal. 

“I need your help,” she hurried out, “I need to find the Animals the Wizard’s had arrested.” 

What was she doing? 

The mismatched green and brown eyes took her in silently, making her feel oddly exposed. He didn’t speak, but his eyes said plenty. 

Chistery turned, his spear knocking at the stone floor with each step. Galinda followed, paws silent as she was led through the lower floor of the Palace to a corridor she’d never ventured down before. 

The Monkey stopped to the side of an innocuous looking door, bringing his spear down once, twice, before looking at her pointedly. 

“In there?” She took in the door, its blank panes of wood and the plain door handle. It was so different to the rest of the Palace that, despite nothing being wrong with it, it filled Galinda with a sense of dread. 

Chistery nodded, reaching into his uniform to pull out an old key. It fit like a jigsaw into the keyhole, and turned with a rusty creak. The dark staircase beyond did not ease the apprehension Galinda felt clawing at her bones as she peered inside. 

“Are you sure…” she trailed off, her question answered with a single nod from her guide. “Right,” she muttered, slowly entering the darkness one paw at a time. The smell of damp hit her like a brick wall, her steps faltering as she recoiled from the foul smell. 

Galinda’s eyes adjusted to the low light, a tunnel opening up before her when she reached the bottom step. The narrow walls and low ceiling bared down on her as she moved deeper and deeper, the clanging of Chistery’s spear echoing throughout the tunnel. The smell did not let up, becoming almost oppressive the further in she went. It eventually came to an end, and she was once again faced with a door, similar to the one above. With one exception. 

A muted gold ‘Oz’ was fixed to the wood near the bottom, a declaration of ownership, or an admission of guilt staring back at her. 

And this time, she could hear sounds from the room beyond. 

Mangled sounds, a mix of words and animal noises crashing together in a chaotic jumble. 

“Open the door,” Galinda urged Chistery. Again, he said nothing, but moved in front of her armed with the key clutched between his fingers. 

The noise inside hit her like a freight train, her sensitive ears unable to adjust quickly enough to the barrage of sounds. 

Her heart plummeted when she looked inside. 

Cages lined the walls, leading further into the room than Galinda could see. Animals of all species turned to look as the door squeaked on its hinges, some going quiet, others pressing themselves further against the bars of the cages to get closer. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered around the lump in her throat. Galinda felt sick. She’d put some of these Animals here, if not all of them. They were desperately calling out, some still able to form words, misshapen as they were, whilst others were crying out loudly in their animal-like sounds. Hoots, bleats, barks, all of the noises tore into her, and she staggered on her feet through the room. “I’m sorry,” she repeated, taking in the extent of what she was seeing. 

The cages were packed in tightly together, the sides perhaps a paw-width apart. On the doors were heavy-looking padlocks, glinting in the dim light trickling down from the lamps above. 

She couldn’t get them out. 

“Miss Glllllinda,” her eyes shot to the end of the closest line of cages. 

“Doctor Dillamond,” Galinda bolted over, “I’m so sorry,” her voice cracked, “I’ll get you out, I promise.” The Goat’s glasses were nowhere to be seen, his fur bare without his usual cardigan.

“What arrrre you doing here?” His words were broken with a bleat.

“I-” what could she say? She lived here? It was her fault he was in that cage? “I’m going to get you out,” she repeated, looking around for any sign of a key. 

“It’s no use,” he said. The words were spoken with such resignation, like he’d already given up. 

Galinda would not give up.

“No,” she kept looking, “there has to be something in here.” She looked on top of cages, between them, checked behind the door… nothing. 

“They take the keys with them. Like I said” Doctor Dillamond said softly when she padded back in front of his cage, “it’s no use.” 

“Maybe I can get them from the guard,” Galinda muttered to herself, looking back at the door in thought. She could ambush them, she was good at sneaking around. 

“Do you know which guard keeps the keys?” 

Her brief moment of hope died as quickly as it had come. Her head dropped, eyes falling to the floor.

“No,” she muttered. But there might be one person… she lifted her lowered head, meeting Doctor Dillamond’s eyes with determination, “I’ll be back.” 

She uttered quiet reassurances to the other Animals as she passed on her way back to the door, almost missing the Goat calling out, “Where are you going?”

Over her shoulder, Galinda answered, “I’m off to see the Wizard.” 

Chapter Text

Galinda raced through the halls of the Emerald Palace with a single-minded determination.

The image of Doctor Dillamond locked in that cage, of all of the Animals trapped like that, was seared into her brain. She could hear their pleas for help echoing in her frantic footsteps, could see their desperate eyes on the periphery of her vision as the walls around her passed by in a blur. 

The Monkeys standing guard in the entryway looked at her cautiously as she ran through the room. She skidded to a halt when muffled voices filtered through the bottom of the door leading into the Wizard’s chamber, just loud enough for Galinda to make out the sound of Elphaba’s voice. 

“Let me prove myself.”

Questions flooded Galinda’s mind. Why was Elphaba in the Palace? Why was she trying to prove herself? What was she trying to prove?

Galinda slowly pushed the door inwards, slipping through the crack into the shadows lining the walls. 

The scene in front of her filled her with dread. 

She’d been prepared to confront the Wizard, a man who’s response she could at least somewhat predict. She was not prepared for Madame Morrible to arrive, unannounced, back in her life, not even a full week after their last encounter. 

The pair were sharing glances, seemingly considering the request Elphaba had made. 

It didn’t take long for Madame Morrible to sigh, nodding at the girl with a small fond smile.

With a determined step, Elphaba turned her back to the rest of the room, walking up to the solo podium Galinda had never been allowed to approach. She’d felt the magic hovering passively around the book that always sat upon it each time she’d set foot in the chamber, but as Elphaba stood before it, the air shuddered . The wave of magic that rippled through the room had Galinda’s fur standing on end; the image of such a fluffed up Lion would have been comical if anyone had spotted her had it not been for the oppressive blanket of magic that descended on the room’s occupants.

The Grimmerie, that always-out-of-reach book, thudded open, first vertically, then horizontally, opening up to reveal the glowing pages within. 

“Sweet Oz,” Madame Morrible gasped. 

“It opened for her,” the Wizard breathed. 

As Galinda watched, the pages flicked back and forth, an unseen hand rifling through the ancient text until they fluttered to stop. 

“So, which spell are you gonna start with?” The Wizard slowly stepped closer.

“We’ve been working on levitation,” Madame Morrible responded, never once taking her eyes off of the girl illuminated by what Galinda could only assume was the magic of the Grimmerie coming to life. 

“Levitation?” The Wizard asked, “oh. That’s interesting. Do you know that, um, Chistery here…”

Galinda hadn’t registered the Monkey’s presence until the Wizard uttered his name. Off to the side, the guard was clutching tightly to his staff, those wonderfully unique eyes shifting uneasily between the humans in front of him. The Wizard turned, freezing momentarily as he caught sight of Galinda, still tucked away in the shadows. He gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head, before turning away.

“...Have you met, uh, Chistery, the leader of my Emerald Guards?” 

He didn’t look back at her again.

“Pleased to meet you,” Elphaba greeted, her smile genuine and warm in a way that made Galinda’s heart ache. 

“Uh, he’d hate to admit this - does not like talking about himself - but he watches birds so longingly every morning.” 

The words slammed into Galinda hard enough to make her stumble. He wasn’t talking about Chistery. Or maybe he was, she didn’t know the Monkey very well after all. But the Wizard knew her. He’d commented on her staring out of her bedroom window on countless mornings, idly remarking that maybe one he would take her flying in the balloon he’d arrived in.

That had never happened. 

The man bringing that up now, after catching her eye for that brief moment, was surely some sort of message. 

“Birds?” She heard Elphaba whisper, still looking at the shuffling Monkey.

That single word cast a spell on the room, the air coming to life again as the pages of the Grimmerie began to move. 

“How can I help him? I- I don’t…”

“Miss Elphaba, look,” Madame Morrible interrupted. With a long, pointed finger, she gestured to the book. 

Elphaba spun on a heel, head tilting downwards, “are those words?” 

“The lost language,” the Sorceress whispered reverently, “our lost language of spells.” 

Galinda could hear the uncomfortable grunts coming from Chistery, his shoulders drooping. The whole situation felt uncomfortable. There was a growing sense of dread in the pit of her stomach as her dark eyes flicked between the humans, apparently unphased by the impact their words were having on the guard. 

“Don’t be discouraged if you can’t decipher it,” Madame Morrible said. “Dearie, I, myself, can only read a word or two, and that took years.” 

Galinda didn’t know whether to be surprised, or shocked, or impressed when Elphaba paid no mind to the woman. 

“Ah ben tah key,” Elphaba’s voice had lost it’s warm edge, replaced by a monotonous drawl as she stared fixated down at the Grimmerie. 

On and on she read, lost in a trance as the Wizard and Madame Morrible watched in wonder. Galinda, on the other hand, was terrified. She edged closer to Chistery, the Monkey grabbing his chest, obviously in pain. The louder, more frantically Elphaba read, the more pronounced Chistery’s distress became.

His sudden screech as he fell backwards off the small platform they were on snapped Elphaba out of the Grimmerie’s clutch. He let out a pained snarl, pulling himself up, unresponsive as Elphaba called out to him, “Chistery?”

The Monkey lashed out with a clawed hand, dropping his spear with a clatter as he fell back to the floor. 

“It’s just the transition, dearie,” Madame Morrible consoled, pulling her prized student away from the writhing creature.

The sound of tearing fabric joined the distressed cries. Chistery reached for his back, clawing and grasping to try and stop whatever was happening. 

Galinda couldn’t take it any more, “stop it! Whatever you’re doing to him, stop!” She jumped out from the shadows. Three pairs of eyes snapped to her, one quietly enraged, one begging her to retreat, and the other, shocked beyond measure.

Elphaba had whirled round in Madame Morrible’s arms, her striking green gaze piercing through her, “Miss Glinda?”

“Cub, now is not the time,” the Wizard urgently hushed at her. 

Galinda ignored him, racing forward to try and help the Monkey. Blue wings were ripping through his back, tearing up his uniform as he flailed and flung himself around to no avail. 

“Chistery,” she tried to call out, “make it stop!” Her words rumbled with an animalistic roar. She’s never shouted so loudly at Madame Morrible before, and she could see the woman was caught off guard. 

“This is not my doing, Lion,” she hissed. 

“I-I didn’t know- it’s hurting him,” Elphaba sounded close to tears as she pulled away from the Sorceress. 

The Monkey screamed, and screeched, and snarled as two large, brilliant blue wings erupted fully from his back. Feathers rained down on the chamber floor, beautifully silent in their descent despite the horrific scene that brought them to existence. The wings flapped, and up, up, up Chistery started to fly. 

“Glory-osky,” the Wizard watched with awe in his eyes. 

Galinda paced back and forth, eyes fixed on the flying Monkey. The extraordinary feat failed to register in the face of how it had come to be, of the magic that had been thrust upon Chistery without his consent, or even a reasonable warning. With a startled yelp, she leapt back as he crashed back to the hard floor, struggling to rise as pain held him captive. Galinda could see it in his eyes. The eyes she’d looked pleadingly into not long ago, now looking at her for help. 

Help she could not give. 

“He’s in pain,” Elphaba turned back to Madame Morrible, “quick. How do I reverse it?”

“Reverse it?” The woman sounded almost offended. 

“How do I reverse it?!” 

“A spell from the Grimmerie can never be reversed.” The sound of pained screams echoed through the room through the still open doorway. Madame Morrible caught the look in Elphaba’s eyes before Galinda processed what was happening, “Elphaba,” the woman tried to pull green eyes away from the door to little success. “Elphaba.”

But it was useless. 

“No. No!” Elphaba was off like a shot, following the screeches.

Galinda darted after her, her gasp swallowed up by the maelstrom of chaos that had taken over the entryway. All the Monkeys had grown the same wings as Chistery, an ocean of blue feathers filling the grand hall.  The noise was overwhelming, their pain tangible in the howls and snarls.

The awful, chilling laugh that Galinda had heard on only a handful of occasions was an unwelcome addition to the symphony of pain. 

“I knew she had the power, I told you!” 

“It’s just what we hoped for - eyes in the skies.”

“Yes. They’ll make perfect spies.”

Galinda’s body went rigid.

Those words. 

They threw her mind back to the day her fate had been sealed, her own pained screams filling the chamber they’d just left. 

They’d planned this all along. 

“Spies?” Elphaba spun round to face the obviously thrilled duo. As Galinda watched, realisation dawned on the other girl. Her eyes widened, looking back to the Monkeys before she rushed back into the chamber. 

The Wizard and Sorceress were hot on her heels, trailing after with falsely placating words and meaningless reassurances. 

Galinda stooped low as she prowled in behind them. The heat of her anger was burning hotter than it ever had. She was certain, if she were to catch sight of her reflection, her usually dark eyes would be bright and glowing. 

First the dungeon with those wretched cages, innocent lives locked away in the dark, and now this. 

She refused to let anyone else suffer the fate she’d been trapped in for years as their ‘spy’.

“You’re right, that’s a very harsh word,” the Wizard’s eyes flicked to Galinda, just for a moment, his steps faltering at the raging fire in her eyes. “Oh, “scouts”. What about “scouts”? ‘Cause they’re gonna be flying around Oz, reporting back on any seditious Animal activity-”

“Seditious Animal activity? What does that mean? What are you s-” Galinda felt a certain pride as she watched the pieces fall into place for Elphaba. “It’s you,” the girl breathed, “you’re behind all of this.” Elphaba’s voice grew firm, her usually soft gaze hardening second by second, minute by minute. “You’re the reason why people are turning against the Animals. You…it’s all because of you. ” The last word was spat with such vitriol, the sting of betrayal painting the word a harsh red. 

Yes, Galinda wanted to scream, it’s them . 

When green eyes turned to her, accusing in their stare, Galinda felt herself cool. Her ears flattened. 

She’d had a hand in it too, hadn’t she.

“We’re doing this to keep people safe,” Madame Morrible stole Elphaba’s attention, allowing Galinda a brief respite from the guilt, “all of Oz will benefit.” 

“And you’ve known all along, since the day you met me.” As much as Galinda had been jealous of Elphaba when she’d seen the first interaction between the two, she’d never considered that it might have been a ruse.

A near-patronising smile slid its way onto the woman’s lips, “you will benefit, too, dearie. You must trust me-”

“No,” Galinda leapt forward, putting herself between the approaching Sorceress and Elphaba, “don’t trust her.” Dark eyes stayed fixed on the older woman, trying desperately not to cower at the glare sent her way. The guilt had worn away the armour her anger had provided, but still Galinda refused to bow down.

No more. 

“I don’t,” Elphaba spat.

“E-Elphaba,” the Wizard moved forward to try his hand, “you have to understand. When I first got here, well, there was such discourse between the people. And back where I come from-”

“The best way to bring others together,” Galinda stalked towards him, “is to give them an enemy.” She’d heard his speech once, she could at least spare Elphaba from having to hear the tainted lies. “Like I said, the only enemy here is you .”

“Now, now, Cub,” his tone slipped into one he’d used countless times on her before. Filled with pity, verging on condescending. “Is that really necessary?” 

“If you wanted s-spies… why wouldn’t you just make them yourself? You-” Elphaba cut herself off, looking to the Wizard with growing betrayal. Her heels clacked harshly against the floor as she stormed back to the Grimmerie, pulling it from the podium to thrust into the Wizard’s chest. 

“Read it,” she demanded. “Cast a spell. Read it!” 

“Elphaba…” Madame Morrible tried to place a hand on the girl’s shoulder, only to be brushed aside with a snarled ‘don’t’.

“You can’t, can you?” Elphaba looked, and sounded, on the verge of tears as she confronted the Wizard, “can you?”

She snatched the book away from him, back into her arms, the Wizard wincing. 

“That’s why you need all of this,” Elphaba gestured to the eccentric setup the man used, “And you need spies, and-and Animals in cages and an-an enemy. You…” she gasped, “you have no real power.” 

“Exactly,” the Wizard said softly, “that’s why I need you.” If Galinda’s heart hadn’t already been beaten beyond repair, that would have done it in. He needed Elphaba , but not her.  

“Think of your future, dearie,” Madame Morrible added.

“Stay back,” Elphaba growled, brandishing the Grimmerie as a weapon. 

“Run, Elphaba,” Galinda urged. 

Green eyes flicked down to her, indecisive as to whether she should trust the Lion too. 

“Run,” she whispered, placing herself between the girl and the wicked duo once again. 

Elphaba didn’t need to be told again. She turned, bolting for the exit, Grimmerie in hand. 

“How dare you,” Madame Morrible hissed, stepping forward to follow after Elphaba. 

Galinda felt her body tremble, her back still a sore reminder of what the woman in front of her was able, and willing, to do to get her way. 

But she stood strong. 

If she could just keep them busy for long enough, give Elphaba enough time to get out.

The sound of guards flooding the hallways filled her with dread; there was no way the other girl would be able to avoid all of them. With one final glare, resolutely avoiding the Wizard’s disappointed gaze, Galinda turned tail and ran after Elphaba. 

Her claws dug into the stone with each bound, following what she hoped was the direction the other girl had taken. Windows were smashed along the hall, the sound of screeching Monkeys just up ahead. Glass dug into the pads of her paws as she ran, droplets of blood smearing against the polished floors with each step. 

“Let go of me!” Elphaba’s voice rang out from around a corner. Galinda skidded to a halt as she spotted the girl being grabbed and pulled about by a large guard, the man standing far above her height. She pulled at his grasp to little avail. 

Before Galinda could think about what she was doing, she was moving. 

Her paws were taking her closer, closer, closer, not slowing when Elphaba looked towards her with a barely hidden plea in her eyes, not slowing when she felt her lips curl in a growl, teeth bared in preparation. 

Then she jumped. 

Or rather, pounced. 

Her teeth clamped around the guards arm, front paws pushing him down and off of Elphaba, the weight of her Lion form pinning him helplessly to the floor. Her mouth held firm, an unfamiliar metallic taste seeping over her tongue as the guard yelled and screamed trying to pull his arm free. 

With her eyes, she sought out Elphaba. 

The girl was clutching the Grimmerie to her chest, her breaths coming in pants as she backed away slowly, “thank you.” Elphaba kept moving further away, turning only when she got to the next corner, looking back with a look of doubt at the sight of Galinda still pinning the guard to the floor. 

Releasing the man’s arm, just for a moment, Galinda urged, “go,” before snapping her teeth in a blatant threat toward the guard when he tried to wriggle out from underneath her. 

She didn’t look up to see if Elphaba had listened, the slowly retreating footfall was confirmation enough. 

What was she supposed to do now? 

The iron taste coating her tongue sent her stomach rolling with nausea, and the sight of the obviously pained guard further compounded the guilt she was already carrying. 

She’d never so much as nipped at anyone before, let alone bite like that with intent. 

But it had been necessary, right?

Elphaba had been in need, she needed to get out; the Wizard and Madame Morrible would have no doubt kept her in the Palace despite her very obviously not wanting to do so. There was no question in Galinda’s mind that what they had in mind for the girl’s magic would put the already struggling Animals at a further disadvantage. Everything she knew about Elphaba made her certain that the other girl would resist at every turn… and she knew how resisting went. 

The consequences of her own resistance caught up with her all too quickly.

“Big mistake, Lion.” 

The air was stolen from Galinda’s lungs before she could react. She scrambled back away from the guard as she gasped for a single breath. The invisible chokehold Madame Morrible’s magic had was unrelenting, and the air around her refused to move in or out. She slumped to the side, her paws weakly flailing to try and fight off her assailant.

Madame Morrible’s blurry form came into view just as the edges of her vision started to darken.

“If you want to act like an animal, I will treat you like an animal.” 

And her world went black.