InsaneJournal

Who: Elena and Elphie
What: A sudden return to Kansas
When: BACKDATED to the night the AU plot ended
Where: Some unpopulated area of Lawrence, possibly a park or undeveloped spot of land
Warnings: References to torture, bleeding torture victim, possibly some language.




Elphaba didn't know how much more torture she could take. Every day her body was torn, wounds from the previous day being viciously reopened and aggravated. The pain was all consuming, flooding nearly everything else from her mind. Her thoughts were non-existent now, her ability to focus nearly shattered. It was all she could do to just stare at the ceiling. The Gale Force knew what they were doing, and they were exceptional at it. Even clinging to her love was starting to get very difficult to achieve. They were stripping everything away from her little by little. Elphaba needed to get out of there, to escape, but what could she do? She didn't have the strength to cast any spells and she was certain she couldn't walk under her own power either. So she was trapped, doomed to die one way or another in that dark dungeon.

The only thing she thought could save her would be if she were pulled back to Kansas, or back to her own Oz. She seriously hoped either of those scenarios would happen sooner rather than later. The witch didn't want Morrible getting what she wanted, but even Elphaba had a limit of just how much she could take. Elphaba closed her eyes, desperately keeping her tears at bay. A scream of pain broke the silence as the torturer tore into her again. Her body convulsed, recoiling from the pain, trying desperately to free itself with its waning strength. Elphaba had never felt so exhausted before in her life. It was hard to just keep herself conscious most times now. Perhaps if she just let herself slip unconscious then she wouldn't feel any of this pain anymore.

And then it happened.

Suddenly it felt as though her ankles and wrists were free of the iron shackles that had held her to that table for what seemed like years. She realized she was lying on something softer than the table that was drenched with her own blood. She opened her eyes, her vision blurry at first, but as it cleared she realized she was outside. Elphaba laid there, trying to make some sort of sense of her surroundings. There was a tree a couple feet to her right. And something was poking her in the back. Using whatever strength she had left, Elphaba forced herself to sit up. She looked behind her and saw there was a bush there, a branch of it had been poking her in the back.

"What the..." She muttered, feeling confused. Though she wasn't sure if she was dreaming, hallucinating or dead. No, she wasn't dead because she hurt too much for that. A hallucination? Perhaps. Or was this actually happening? It was difficult to say. Deciding to push her luck, the survival instinct kicked in and Elphaba struggled to get to her feet. It was long and difficult and very painful, but Elphaba was determined to get as far away as she could. She didn't want the Gale Force showing up and dragging her back to that dungeon. But the instant she was on her feet, her weak legs gave out and she collapsed in a heap on the ground with a whimper of pain.

It was then that Elphaba started whimpering, letting her pain actually show. Tears filled her eyes but didn't fall yet. Her black dress was little more than rags now from all the cuts and tears it carried. It was a miracle the fabric even still clung to Elphaba's body. Her long dark hair was tangled and had dried blood in it. Her skin was a horrific blend of emerald green and ruby red, with the ruby red being the more dominant color.

"Help me," she whimpered softly, her voice hoarse from screaming. She couldn't move, couldn't get away. Her only hope was that some benevolent soul was nearby and would help her. Elphaba didn't even have the energy to cast the spell to change her skin color. All she could do was hope whoever found her wouldn't be horrified by the green skin and would just help her. "Please Oz, help me..."