❛ if you ever ask me that question again, you will not wake up the following morning. ❜ - Elphy to Shell, au where she isnt fuckin d ea d
Shell squinted a bit, trying to see if she was bluffing or not. But she wasn’t as far as he could tell. Either that or she had the best pokerface in the universe. “Fair enough. Will you answer me one thing though? Aren’t you supposed to be dead? Also, how are you not?”
“I typically do involve innocents in my ruling but we had an agreement, so I’ll personally be taking you to your son,” he said, standing up and smoothing out his waistcoat, motioning for one of the guards to come with him just in case. “I can’t believe you actually gave it off to someone who can’t even use it.”
Elphaba didn’t respond, only folding her hands in front of her and following. Her skirts created a nice circle of fabric, keeping a small radius covered as she walked. A bee slipped out buzzing into a room they passed. At this point she spoke. “Life is more important than power, Shell. I doubt you will learn this. However, you will see it firsthand with this war you’ve chosen to create.”
“Is that a threat,” he asked, stopping dead in his tracks. “Maybe I won’t take you to see your son, then. Maybe I’ll just keep him and toss him back and forth between prisons. I was doing this out of the goodness of my heart, but since you seem to think there’s none of that, why not prove you right,” he said, the guard raising his weapon at Elphaba, waiting for an order. “You don’t know how this war will end, I wouldn’t be talking about things I know nothing about if I were you.”
“It wasn’t a threat and you know it.” She scowled, paying the guard no mind as she focused on her younger brother. “But there is no good in taking an innocent child to get at his mother. It is below you, not as my brother but as a Thropp. And for what little there was it was the only thing I expected you to know.” She took a step forward. “If you wish to create such heartache then strike me down in this hallway. I will not live a new life controlled by fear. Not again.”
“It is very much beneath me and in those prisons he’d be in, I’d make sure he was treated well. He’s treated well here too, just like a day camp, but it was the only way to contact you again, seeing as you pride yourself on being untraceable these days,” he said, leading her into a back room that was nothing like a jail cell at all but rather just a nicely decorated room, Liir on the floor drawing with crayons as the guard told to watch him was complimenting the drawing, telling him how good it looked. “See? No harm has come to the child. He’s just a boy, I wouldn’t punish him for no other reason being his mother’s son.”
“Liir-” El breathed out, falling to her knees and gathering the child against her. It was a rare sign of affection, one of relief as she kissed his head. She kissed his head as shaky hands caressed his hair.
“Mama, I drew a picture,” the little boy said, not understanding why his mother was so relieved to see him. Shell just sort of stood watching, wishing to himself that he had had a parent who cared about him as much as his sister seemed to care about his nephew. Maybe if he did, things would have been different.
“I noticed.” She murmured with a soft chuckle. She sat back to look at his drawing, complimenting certain features. Setting the drawing aside she gently cupped his face. “How was your stay? They weren’t rough with you were they?”
“Not at all, mama! They gave me sliced apple for a snack and some juice and mr. guard here was telling me stories and I had a lot of fun! Mr. Shell was even worried about giving me anything like peanut butter because he was worried I was allergic to it! They let me make a pillow fort too!”
“Good. Im glad. It sounds…like you had fun.” She stood. “Give us a moment, dear.” She motioned for Shell to follow her at of the room, gathering her words carefully.
Shell nodded and went out into the hallway with her, closing the door behind him. “See, I’m not a monster. He’s a little boy, what did you expect me to do? Plus, he’s quite the little charmer.”
“It is a well known fact that the old emperor left with the book, Shell. What was the point of this?” She lifted an eyebrow, a classin but quizzical look taking her face. It wasn’t very often she referred back to her younger mannerisms.
“I wanted to meet him. I knew if I asked you, you wouldn’t let me so I made a plan. I was hanging out with him a lot. I only stopped because I had a meeting and then after that you were there so I couldn’t go back to playing with him and listening to him tell stories.”
“This is why I dont don’t let family around him! Stunts like this!” El crossed her arms, glaring at him. “If you weren’t so nosey and cobdescending and simply asked to meet your nephew I would have complied. You coukd obviously find me the first time, you could manage a second without a flair for the dramatic.”
“I must be related to you then if I have a flair for dramatics,” he said with a grin. “Really though, may I see him again sometime? He’s a good boy, I’d like to hear what else comes out of his mouth, he’s honestly hilarious. I’m usually not too big of a fan of children but Liir has moxie and humor and at one point while he was there he asked me if I had ever eaten a spider and sounded extremely disappointed when I said I hadn’t.”
“He’s..muchblike his father when he was younger. Full of curiosity.” Her gaze lowered, asmall frown overtaking her. “You may. But he will not come back here. I do not want him to walk these tainted halls. He’s a sebsitive boy.”
“Okay. Where would you like me to visit him then? Also when’s his birthday, I just met him today but I’ve come to the conclusion that I want to get him gifts if it’s alright with you, his mother. He’s a cute little boy and I want to give him something fun that he could enjoy.”
“Evenings. I want him to focus on his lessons during the day. His birthday is..” She paused, pondering the question. “I..I don’t remember..” This seemed to upset her now that she was asked. She had always given him gifts when she found things, never a specific date. There was the possibility she spoiled him of course but he was all she had.
“Alright, I’ll inform you when I plan on coming over, though I’d like to know where I’m coming over to,” he said, having had wanted a specific date but now feeling more at peace with the idea of giving him gifts whenever and however often he wanted.
Fabala faltered, unsure if she was ready to give away where she had been hiding all those years. “..The Observatory..in the Wilds.” After the loss of her lover and his child bride she had found little solace in the castle, moving her lab to her own Observatory. No one bothered her, and she no longer bothered them.
“Well, I’ll send word that I’m coming before I do and I’ll only come by in the evenings so the little gentleman can focus on his studies, I trust you’re teaching him to be a bright, powerful magic user. I know you think my words come cheap in regarding affection, but I do have a soft spot for your boy. He’s a good child.”
She shrunk at the idea pf teaching her son magic. His father didn't have the knack for it like she did and it frightened her to let him become like her. "Of course."


















