Kidnapping

[Gayelette Keats]

Gayelette, arriving at Shiz just after midnight, carefully crept to Gale tower, wrapped in a dark cloak, pulled tight around her and up over her head. She silently tiptoed up the staircase and around the hallway, looking for Kay's door. She knew it had been the room next to hers...well, when she had been banished to this tower, that was. She concentrated, focusing all her energy: magical and nonmagical into making the doorknob not make a sound. She laid a hand on it and felt it start to warm. She closed her eyes, and gently turned it little by little, hearing not a peep come from it. It felt like hours turning, though it was only moments, and finally it turned as far as Gayelette could push it, so she began to apply pressure to the door, using the same force and concentration to make the opening as soundless as the turning. Again, nothing came out, only the gentle wind blowing in from the cracked window filled the room.

The moonlight cascaded over the bed, and while Gayelette expected to see only sleeping beauty, her eyes fell on the blonde in her virginal white nightgown, wrapped in the arms of her brother, clad in blue silk pajamas. She sighed inwardly. Why did Tristan have to get in the way? Why did he like that little twit? Her face flushed with anger. She loved her brother, but he was in her way. She couldn't get caught. She couldn't back out. And she couldn't hurt her brother...could she? After all, he'd been the one person who never spoke against her. Sure, he'd never spoken up for her, but never against her either. They were twins, unspeakably intertwined. To kill him would be to kill a part of herself. Moreover, she'd never killed a soul before. Could her own flesh and blood be her first?

[Tristan Keats]

Tristan stirred, feeling something amiss in the room. To his surprise his sister was standing in front of him. "Gayelette!" he exclaimed, sitting straight up. He didn't know whether to jump to his feet and hug her, or stay there and protect Kay from her. She had been cleared of all the charges, but something felt strange. There was something wicked in the air. So he stayed seated by his beloved, gripper her wrist, looking her in the eyes.

"Everyone's worried about you! They think you're possessed and that you'd been kidnapped. Did you escape? Are you alright? Mom and Dad will be so happy to know you're safe. Come, we'll go together..." he offered, still not moving, still not trusting her.

[Gayelette Keats]

"You're prattling nonsense, Tristan," she replied, shaking her head, walking toward him in a sort of mystical, ethereal way. "This is a dream. I'm not here. I am talking to you, of course. I'm using magic..." she smiled at him, waving her hand. "can't you tell dream from reality? I'm merely using magic to communicate with you. I do miss you dearly, brother. I'd like to see you again...but I'm not sure if that will ever happen. I'm comfortable here. I'm safe. I'm being fed and clothed and housed which is far more than anyone was willing to help me with before...tossing me away for a month in that dungeon. Tell Dad i'm glad he's alive. And tell mom thanks for nothing!" She had glided her way to the bed, almost touching Kay. Only his hand around her wrist stood in her way. She could grab her and run. Tristan would be caught off guard, and she knew a spell to use...which she hoped to Oz would work....to confuse him, stun him momentarily, if only she could get her hands on Kay.

[Kay]

And just then the sleeping beauty stirred. She pulled Tristin's arm around her, still in the throws of dreamland. Softly her eyelids fluttered, and opened, dreamily. At the sight of the spectre before her her eyes widened, and she seemed to be frozen. Slowly, her hand started to drift up to the bubble necklace around her neck - the one that would summon her mother...

[Gayelette Keats]

Gayelette had done as much study as she could, and she hoped she'd read the confusion spell correctly, "Ah meh, tah meh, ee ley ah tehm." She chanted again and again under her breath, taking another step toward them, feeling herself become lighter somehow. It felt almost as if she were a ghost, floating, then she noticed her robes illuminating. She'd done something, even if it was wrong. "There's no need to be alarmed, Kay. This is a dream. I came to speak to you to give you both a message..."

[Kay]

"C...can you do that?" she whispered. "Wh...what do you want?" her hand was moving more slowly, but was still moving towards the bubble necklace.

[Gayelette Keats]

"I've come to tell you that you're in danger and the only way to be safe is to follow exactly what I say. I'm not here to hurt you. But I need you to come down with me and let me give something to you. Once you have it, you'll wake up with it, and it will protect you..." she sounded convincing.

[Kay]

Kay looked at Tristan for help. "What is it? Why can't you show us here? Why would you want to help us?"

[Skylar Evring]

Skylar walked down the corridor as quietly and quickly as possible, which was made difficult by the foul mood he was in. He had to find that book... the one that held the secrets of how to travel to other worlds by performing a reverse summoning. He didn't care if it was a dark book, he wasn't about to do anything wicked with it. Furthermore, the way Ellie had looked at him bothered him... as if he was some kind of villain. He was nothing of the sort, just an explorer who wanted to broaden his horizons. If she and Glinda had such a big problem with him using the book, then they should have just sent him with their own power. Skylar suspected that he knew the truth, however -- Glinda probably didn't even know how to send him to Dorothy's world. Did that mean she felt threatened by the book's power? He smirked. Miss Perfect wasn't so perfect after all.

All throughout this, he never once stopped to consider how odd his thoughts and behavior were as of late. If he had, he might have noticed the dark taint the book had put on his heart. Instead, he merely continued to blame everyone else, all the while scheming to figure out how to get the Darke Artes book back for himself. He had just broken into Glinda's office -- going magically undetected thanks to an artifact he had stolen from one of the sorcery classrooms -- looking for the book, but had found nothing. If it wasn't at Shiz, then where could it be? In Ozma's throne room or something like that? He would never find it in that case... the mere through infuriated him. Defeated, he had begun to return to his room, but in his distracted state of mind he ended up in the girl's wing of his dormitory.

As soon as he realized his mistake, he began to go back the right way, but something caught his eye. The shadowy hem of a robe had swished around a corner at the last second. Was someone sneaking around besides him at this ungodly hour? A thought struck him -- perhaps it was Ellie, come to move the book from its hiding place. Eagerly, he crept forward, seeking out the intruder.

However, it seemed that the person had gone in the room he knew to be Kay Upland's. Everyone knew of her... even he, being a new student, would have found it difficult not to notice the mobs of people that seemed to follow her wherever she went. He couldn't have cared less, but Kay also happened to be his roommate's girlfriend... which meant that any time Kay came to visit their room, the crowds followed, if from a distance. How could someone even function like that? Skylar was generally a very friendly person... although lately it seemed that he had grown a bit more antisocial, since around the time that he had found the Darke Artes book. Perhaps it was just a case of the freshman blues...

Skylar didn't dare go anywhere near Kay's door, merely staying behind and listening. A muffled conversation suddenly began. He recognized Tristan's voice, as well as Kay's, but there was a third voice that wasn't so familiar. From muffled pieces of the conversation, it suddenly hit him. His eyes widened in surprise. Was this Gayelette, Tristan's missing twin sister? The one that Ellie had referred to as becoming "wicked".

Then again... Ellie seemed to think a lot of people were wicked, he reminded himself bitterly.

Intrigued, Skylar continued to listen, wondering if anything interesting might show up. Maybe she might be able to help him find the book, even if no one else would...

[Nessarose Thropp]

Nessarose watched the entire scene with satisfaction. Gayelette was playing her role perfectly... the perfect puppet, even if she didn't realize it. Ozma wasn't quite so corruptible, so Nessarose had been forced to take full control... but with Gayelette, she was able to make her think that she was in control of her own actions. Meanwhile, Nessarose practically mouthed several of the words for her.

Gazing on Kay in person for the first time, Nessarose found herself feeling an odd mixture of bitterness, jealousy, and... sympathy. Had she felt anything like that in recent years? Perhaps it was because she knew that Kay was Boq's daughter... even if she was created by magic.

What a laugh. A child created by magic... that would be the way that Galinda would handle things. Always so selfish, never thinking about others... just doing whatever she wanted to get her way.

Kay would be so much better off with a new mother... but that was a thought that Nessarose kept to herself.

She paused, sensing the presence of another being nearby. But this was not someone like Glinda, Elphaba, or either of the two other "Good Witches" she had been hearing so much about. This person's soul seemed much more like Gayelette's... perhaps good to begin with, but tainted with dark thoughts. Nessarose smiled inwardly. She wouldn't alert Gayelette of his presence for now, but perhaps he could prove useful once her work here was done.

[Ellie Baum]

Ellie coudn't sleep. She sensed that something was wrong. She had been wandering around campus, and had found herself moving, almost involuntarily towards Gale tower. She made her way up, stopping on Kay's hallway. She heard voices, and moved closer, her ruby slippers twinkling in the twilight. But notice of everything else vanished when she saw the spectre facing her - it was the same being she had seen in the jail. If she had been thinking more clearly, she would have known that this was Nessarose, but she was so shocked - the air almost leaving her body by the way this woman looked at her - at once knowningly, and pittyingly whith a strong desire for...what? SOMETHING. Something about Ellie. Ellie was scared, but rooted to the spot.

[Nessarose Thropp]

Nessa tensed as yet another presence filled the space outside the room, and immediately felt irritated. Why on earth were so many people wandering about? It seemed highly unlikely that all of them had legitimate reasons for being up at this late hour. At first her annoyance was so intense that she didn't notice the odd familiarity that the spirit possessed.

There's no time, Nessarose hissed to Gayelette's mind, as if it was still Gayelette thinking the thoughts. There are people nearby... this complicates things too much. I have to take Kay quickly!

Nearly taking Gayelette under her full control (but not completely, lest she notice something was amiss or lose consciousness), Nessarose used Gayelette's magic to encase Kay in a ruby-red bubble. The impenetrable bubble floated into the air, trailing behind Gayelette as if on an invisible leash. Despite how much Nessarose despised Glinda, she couldn't help but feeling slight affection for Kay. After all, it wasn't Boq's fault that he had been seduced by that glittery blonde wench. Why, if this child was truly the result of love, then it shouldn't really be Glinda's child at all. It would be far more fitting for Nessarose to raise her with her one true love...

Turning, she faced the doorway, but immediately froze.

It was as if she was staring into a mirror... a mirror that showed her what she had looked like when she had been alive... albeit younger and without her handicap. The long brown hair, the wide, wondering eyes... right down to the Ruby Slippers on her feet. Nessarose narrowed her eyes slightly. This must be Elphaba's daughter, then... Ellie, the one she knew had taken her place as the Witch of the East. The resemblance was striking. As bitter as she felt towards everyone these days... Nessarose somehow was unable to feel the same way about her niece. It would have been like hating herself.

Remembering where she was and who she was supposed to be acting like, Nessarose's sympathetic expression switched to a glare.

"Move, Ellie," she said angrily in Gayelette's voice. Contacting Ellie could come later. For now... they didn't need to be delayed any longer lest her plans go completely astray.

Remembering the presence she had felt earlier, she looked to the left of the doorway and saw a young man standing nearby, shocked at having been discovered. Nessarose's eyes widened as she realized why his soul had seemed so similar to Gayelette's. It had been tainted, it was true... but now Nessa recognized the exact nature of the taint. He had come in contact with the book, the one sought by Ian and the one that Nessarose needed if she was ever to truly return to life. It contained a spell, she knew, that could do just that.

All she needed was a proper body, she thought while eyeing Ellie. Yes... that might work even better than Gayelette. But for now, the young, manipulated witch was the perfect tool. Gathering up Gayelette's magic, she flung a blast of wind at Ellie, knocking her off her feet. It wasn't enough to harm her, but it would give them the time necessary to escape.

[Ellie Baum]

Ellie saw Nessarose exit the room as a seporate entity. Most people couldn't see her, but somehow, they seemed to be connected in a way. Without warning, Ellie felt a blast, and flew off her feet, backwards, hitting the floor, dazed, and dizzy.

[Kay]

Kay cried out - terrified when the ruby bubble encapsolated her. But she couldn't break through. She desperately grabbed hold of her necklace, hoping that it would bring her mother...

[Skylar Evring]

Skylar nearly jumped as he realized that Ellie had come down the hallway, but didn't seem to have noticed him standing there when she arrived. He very nearly demanded to know where the book was, but stopped himself -- that would have just been stupid, as it would have let her know that he was still looking for it. Regardless, he didn't get a chance to, for he was nearly knocked out of the way as Gayelette came barreling out of the bedroom. He noticed her resemblance to her twin brother, and yet she was surprisingly pretty... this hadn't been quite what he had expecting when he heard of the "wicked" daughter of the Glinda-clone, Claire Keats.

"Uh... er... hi," Skylar said quickly, his skin turning a deeper shade of red than it already was. What was he supposed to say? This entire situation was getting confused very quickly. His eyes widened as he saw that Gayelette seemed to have sealed Kay inside of a magical bubble. That didn't seem exactly ethical... and yet he felt an odd sense of satisfaction as he watched Ellie knocked backwards by Gayelette's magical attack. That would teach her to judge. Why should he do the same?

Surely this girl had a valid enough reason for doing what she was doing... just as he did. That didn't make either of them wicked, did it?

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed Gayelette by the wrist and pulled her down the corridor.

"This way," he said hurriedly. "I know a shortcut!" Considering that Ellie had been knocked flat on her back, they should have enough time to get away safely, assuming there were no further interruptions. At the same time, he couldn't help but to wonder what he was getting himself into...