The Space Between: Beginnings

25. Things Go Downhill

"I'm back!" Maleficent exclaimed, tossing her staff from one hand to the other as she stepped ahead. Elphaba cringed briefly, reminded of the action Glinda had done with her wand barely minutes ago.

But it was Mal who stepped forward, with Fairy Godmother's wand in her hand, as she asked, "Mother? What are you doing here? Go back, please!"

"Oh, indeed? You tell a good joke, lassie. Surrender the wand, now!" Maleficent sneered.

"No!" Elphaba shouted, shoving Mal out of the way. "I warn you, Maleficent, you take another step-"

"Oh, just shut up," Maleficent scoffed. "Now I can see where my daughter got her awful sense of humour from."

"I'm warning you, Maleficent, harm me all you want. But if you dare to lay a finger on the children," Elphaba began, only to be cut off by Maleficent sneering, "Oh, indeed? Well, then, show me what you can do!"

"Don't make me, please," Elphaba pleaded. "Just calm down-"

"Says who? The witch who tried to kill a child over a pair of shoes?" Maleficent sneered, with a short cackle.

Elphaba scoffed as she folded her arms over her chest, "Well, atleast I wasn't cursing babies because I wasn't invited to some cultish social gathering."

"What? How dare you!" Maleficent growled, twirling her staff as she charged at Elphaba.

Elphaba merely scoffed and said, "Well, it's true. Your not being invited to the christening was your own fault. Not Aurora's. If you hadn't gone down the path of darkness, maybe all of this would never have happened. I, on the other hand, only took that path when I was pushed over my breaking point. And that came only after my sister died. Or I thought she did. She is still on the Isle, and we've patched up. Your words don't mean anything to me anymore. I have defied sick, tyrannical regimes before, and I'm prepared to do it all over again."

"Indeed?" Maleficent sneered, her eyes turning bright green as she calmed down. Elphaba let out a scream of pain as she collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest. She looked up at Maleficent, tears beginning to sting the corners of her eyes, and asked, in a faint voice, "What...what have you done?"

"Oh, it's nothing, really. I'm just helping you find who you were always meant to be," Maleficent replied, in a mock-reassuring tone.

"What? No!" Mal screamed. "You can't do this, mom!"

"Don't you tell me what I can or can't do, missy. As my daughter, you have to obey me. And I'm sure Elphaba would agree, too."

"Oh, she's right, dear," they heard Elphaba say, in a strangely warped voice, devoid of all warmth. "You have to be careful who you trust."

"Mom?" Rain asked, brokenly, looking up at her mother as Liir supported her from behind. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her mother...completely warped, and, for want of a better word, utterly evil.

Elphaba's skin seemed to be growing a brighter green than usual, with a few streaks in the same glowing colour running through her hair. As she looked up at the gang, her eyes were a putrid neon green instead of their usual warm brown. But the most unnerving thing was her smirk. True, Elphaba was prone to smirking, even normally, but this wasn't normal. It seemed deranged and psychotic, so much so, that it warped her very features.

Like patted Rain on the shoulder and asked, "Are you okay?"

Rain turned around and grinned, saying, "Yeah? I'm fine."

"You're not. I can sense it. You don't have to lie to me," Liir replied, hugging her gently as she broke down and let the tears fall.

Maleficent looked at Mal and said, smoothly, "You'll be next, dearie. If you don't comply. Give me the wand, now!"

Mal looked at Ben, blinking tears out of her eyes. Ben smiled, as if to tell her, whatever you do, we'll always be with you.

Mal took a deep breath and walked towards her mother. She closed her eyes tight as Maleficent greedily took the wand from her hand. As she turned around, she saw Liir comforting Rain. Liir extended a hand towards her. She hesitantly grabbed it, only to be pulled into a hug with the other two. Ben joined them, gently holding Mal's shoulders, as she broke down completely.
***
A week had passed since the incident at Ben's coronation. Mal and her mother shared the throne, and they had brought down the barrier, and called over more villains to form a "court" of sorts. From a distance, it seemed perfect for her mother, but for Mal herself, something was missing.

Maybe it was the light and happiness, the true freedom she had experienced in Auradon. All the royals and their descendants had been imprisoned, and Mal herself had no idea where. And the worst part wasn't the fact that Elphaba was essentially being controlled by Maleficent, but the fact that she had forced her own daughter to act as Mal's handmaiden.

Rain, who had been a fierce, fiery, confident, defiant girl, who had never shrunk from speaking out, had been reduced to a glorified servant. And not just that, Elphaba had threatened her with being locked up, with no-one for company, if she as much as dared to put a toe out of line.

True, all six of them had been close to Elphaba in one way or another, but the betrayal had hit Rain the hardest. She was broken so utterly and completely that she had gone from her passionate yet sweet and friendly self to an emotionally shut off, shy, quiet person who seemed completely foreign to Mal. It was as if she had no self left.

Evie and Jay seemed to be fine, in a way. They seemed to be happy that Mal was still herself. It seemed as though they were least bothered about what became of Rain. Liir seemed to be going through some kind of separation anxiety. In his words, Rain was with them, but somehow, she wasn't his sister anymore. And Carlos was trying so hard to reach out to her, to get her to open up again, but with each attempt, she seemed to be going farther back into her shell.

Rain was curled up in a ball in her room. She had never felt more alone in her entire life. It was as if her relationship with Elphaba had regressed to the way it had been when she was four. And it was so hard to adjust to that change. She heard a knock at the door and snapped, "Liir, just go. I don't want to talk right now."

"It's just me," Carlos said, gently, adjusting Dude in his arms as the  mutt whimpered. "Dude has been worried about you. So have we all. Can I just come in?"

"If you really want to. But you won't like what you see. I'm not that girl anymore," Rain replied, her voice uncharacteristically soft.

Carlos walked in and sat down beside her. He placed one arm over her shoulders and said, soothingly, "It's gonna be fine. Your mom will snap back soon, I know it. She's already trying to resist. Mal is still with us, and so is Cassie."

"What can Cassie do about this, Carlos?" Rain asked, brokenly. "She can't get me out of this situation!"

"There's no harm in trying, is there? Maybe she can't get you out of this, but perhaps she could teach you how to cope," Carlos replied, smiling gently as he let Dude down on to the bed.

Rain relaxed a bit as the mutt edged closer to her and whimpered. She smiled a bit as she extended her hand towards Dude. He sniffed her hand and climbed into her arms, snuggling close to her. Her smile widened a bit as she scratched him between the ears, and he kept barking in the most adorable way possible. Carlos tightened his grip on her shoulder as he noticed the mirror on the opposite wall. He whispered, "Look at the mirror."

"What?" Rain asked, perplexed.

"Just do it. You know what I see? A strong, confident, beautiful young woman who shouldn't have to wait in the wings for anyone's story, for her time to shine."

Rain looked up. For a moment, she felt as though she could see what Carlos was talking about. Sure, she was still wearing the lavender and mint green dress she wore as Mal's lady-in-waiting, and her hair was still in the proper bun she had been wearing it in for the past seven days. But a couple of rebellious curls seemed to have escaped, framing her face. And, in fact, a bit of the fire in her eyes had begun to return, something she thought she would never have again.

She chuckled and turned to Carlos. She poked him on the nose and said, teasingly, "Oh look, you're here too!"