After the End

lrhaboggle I know the ending of the last one wasn't exactly your favourite. But what if I told you nothing was the same afterwards? Would you still believe me? This one's for you. I sincerely hope it answers all your questions about the ending of The Apotheosis.
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Elphaba locked the door of the room she was living in. It used to be her mother's, and she knew it. Just then, though, it wasn't the memories that mattered. She just wanted to escape from everything. It had been three years since the matter of Dorothy, and nothing was the same. Even if everyone tried to persuade her otherwise. She had lost almost everything. She hated hiding away like this, but no-one understood.

She leant on the door and slipped off the long black gloves she had worn all the time since the Incident. Her physical scars had since faded, but the mental ones? Those would take time. Hell and Oz, perhaps they would never leave her.

But her scars weren't the only reason why she wore the gloves to begin with. For, whenever she took them off, she felt the increasingly familiar hum of her magic under her skin. Somehow, her magic had started to spiral out of control since the Incident, and she used her gloves as a way to rein it in. And not just her magic; in a twisted, symbolic way, it also helped her hold back her emotions. To create a facade of stone to shield herself from the world- just as the gloves shielded her scarred hands.

For her, the scars were not a matter of pride. They were a constant reminder of her helplessness, and of everything she had lost. Something had died inside her that day, and since then, grief and guilt had been her only true, constant companions. If she could, she disappear completely, so that she didn't have to face her regret anymore.

Colwen Grounds was stifling for her; at least that's what she felt ever since she had set foot in the house. At least that was something that made her like her mother. She couldn't really go outdoors, not when everyone believed her dead. So she chose the closest possible option. She sighed softly as she went over to the window and curled up on the window seat. She looked out at the fields, which seemed to stretch almost endlessly in her field of vision.

In an odd way, it reminded her of her old life. It made her think of the Emerald City, and of Shiz; the only places where she had really ever felt at home. She felt a single tear roll down her cheek. She felt the pain. But, as she brushed away the tears, she knew that denial was of no use. She looked out sadly as she ran her hands through her hair.

And she realised that Frex had been right. She was an aberration. If she had been like everyone else, she would've died that day. She wouldn't have to live like this- like a snail, holed up and hidden inside her shell.

What was she, really? Was she even human? Or was she just an alien stuck in human flesh? Why was she cursed to be so different? She felt confused and lost; even more so than before. She had hidden her innermost self behind walls. No, not just walls- she had ensconced herself inside an impregnable stone fortress. And now those walls had fallen away; all that was left was a flood of questions.

She was still searching, but for what? A purpose? A life? Did she even have one? She felt so helpless and exposed, as though she was stuck in a reality she didn't want.

She heard the familiar knocking at the door. It could only be her sister or Glinda; and strangely enough, she could confide in neither. She went to the door and laid her hand on the panelling. She was tempted to open it, but at the same time, couldn't quite muster up the courage to do so. She pressed closer to the door, and heard Glinda sing softly,

"Elphie?

Please I know you're in there

People are asking where you've been