Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

As soon as Elliott twigged what Fia was doing writing things down, he started helping her, particularly with the Attili runes. Fia was excellent at copying them when he wrote out the word first, a skill he knew would come from her background in magic where runes were a crucial part of warding and spell casting and in some cases were almost as powerful as the words they represented. The runes she'd inked on her own body were a testament to her skills at drawing them, but the Attilian ones were deceptively tricky to grasp draw their obvious angular geometric shapes and Elliott would rather she do them until perfect than letting her get away with a set that was sort of right, but not quite. There was a method to drawing each letter (a bit like with Asian scripts of Earth). Fia was indeed proving an impressively fast learner and he had no qualms with answering her questions. If the two of them could get the basics of letters, numbers and script nailed over the next few days then when Fia did return to her own timeline she'd have an excellent foundation to build on when she picked up lessons with her Elliott.

John nodded in agreement having been thinking along similar lines himself. "That she is." Fia evidently had a knack for learning languages, she was picking it up far faster than he did (though there was a high chance that was down to the fact that when he was being taught neither he nor Elliott spoke enough of the other's language to be fully understood when giving advice, corrections and tips). But either way it just drove home the point he made earlier that Fia shouldn't have taken the lazy way out, it was inevitable as she got older that it would become harder to learn new things. "They work well together." Seeing the two of them getting on and bonding brought a half smile to his face. It could be said that John judged people on how they worked and acted around his adoptive kid, and right now Fia was ticking all the right boxes.

A short while later the others from the forge made their way into the kitchen for a well earned drink, each of them taking their favourite mug from the cupboard. Without even looking up from making her own drink, Cal took Simeon's mug from his outstretched hand and used her powers to heat up the milk inside. Once it was at a suitable temperature she passed it back to the apprentice who then added the chocolate powder, stirring with one scale covered finger, sucking off the liquid when he was done. "Drinks anybody?" Cliff asked as she put hearing aids back in (she tended to take them off when she stayed in the main forge area for prolonged periods of time as sometimes the scraping of the hammers and tools against the metal resulted in an unpleasant high-pitched feedback loop).

 

[MzHyde]

Fia was grateful when Elliott would help her write them out so she could copy, and once in a while she could be heard audibly expressing how she now she gets it with an 'ohhh I see!' or an 'ohh okay! I get it' mixed with the odd question of 'like this?' or a frustrated 'nope.. Still not right.. I will get this' until she finally did. She loved learning Elliott and she was glad that she could see he was being impressed with her quick learning ability, smiling and clearly enjoying her time with her brother. She was also determined to get this work nailed over the next few days so she could go back to her time's Elliott and continue the work, whilst probably shocking him that she even knew as much as she did. She knew that was going to be an interesting story to tell or come up with about how she knew this much without possibly saying 'I may have time travelled to your trial days in Sttil and had you teach me in the forge where Cal works'.

Kay nodded at John's words, especially when he commented on how well they were working together, glancing at the two of them and smiling. "they really do. She's really taking everything he's saying on board. It's nice to see, she clearly idolises him" she replied, hurt at the point when Cal and Cliff and the others all came into the area to make drinks, seeing Cal effortlessly take Simeon's mug and heat up the milk before handing it back to him, whilst Cliff asked if any of them wanted anything. "please, whatever there is will do me, as long a sits hot" she smiled and half chuckled. "me please!" Fia spoke up without looking up from what she was doing.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"The idolising bit was pretty damn obvious before this" John replied before conceding and adding "but yeah, it is nice to see" in a slightly quieter tone. Chas, like Kay also noticed the way in which Cal effortlessly helped with the heating up of the milk, having seen her do it with coffee before. Both John and Chas declined the offer of a drink. "Well, since coffees out, hot chocolate will have to do, but luckily there's a tonne of the stuff around here as these two" she indicated Dan and Simeon"have such massive sweet tooths." Cal prepped the milk the same way, added the powder then gave the mugs to her wife to bring into the kitchen. "I'll give you lot spoons, you probably don't want to do Simeon's method of stirring." Cal told Fia and Kay as she passed over their drinks, a slight teasing edge in her tone which made it clear that Simeon's finger stirring method was something they regularly poked some good-hearted fun at it in the forge.

As there wasn't enough space for everybody to sit down at the table the others settled for leaning against the wall. Simeon took the day's paper and began flicking through it awkwardly, holding his mug of hot chocolate in his other hand the whole time. Like Chas before him he stopped first at the article about the murals, his eyes flicking briefly over to Elliott, evidently comparing the design to the real person. It really was a good representation of him, which had Cal and Jay convinced that somebody had acquired a photo of what Elliott looked like now as a reference (the real question was whether it had been acquired before Elliott left Earth or after, the murals had begun to appear only a day or two after Elliott left Earth, suggesting that this movement had been planned in advance. When he reached the second article, Simeon turned the corner of the page over obscuring his brother's face before reading the article. It was halfway through reading it that he made the connection between the singer in the photograph and the girl who visited earlier at which point he turned to Dan for a further explanation (which the blacksmith gave him).

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded in agreemtn, as she too had seen moments of how much Fia idolised Elliott before this point, but there was just seething about what they were witnessing in the here and now that seemed to show it so much more to her. Even though John said the next bit quieter, she did still hear him and smiled, "indeed it is" she replied. At the mention of there being a ton of hot chocolate available due to the sweet tooth of Dan and Simeon, Kay had to smirk and half snigger, whilst gesturing with a simple nod that hot chocolate was perfectly fine with her and she knew it would be with Fia as well.

Hearing that it was hot chocolate on offer, Fia just grinned as she learned, letting Cal and Cliff make the drinks before bringing them over whilst making the dog about Simeon's choice of stirring. "not particularly no" Fia sniggered before thanking Cal for the drink as she took a moment to look up and take the mug from her. She sipped the drink after blowing on it momentarily, getting a closed mouthed content smile on her face as she went back to learning with her brother, being completely engrossed in what she was doing. Kay noticed Simeon doing the comparison glances between the paper and Elliott and could figure out what it was he was reading in the process, still remembering the day that her and John saw the first mural and how it captured both of them and made them have an in depth talk about what it meant.

 

[_gallifrog_]

With so many people drinking hot chocolate in such a small room, the usual smell of ash, fire and molten metal was overwhelmed and subdued by the smell of chocolate. The drinks were utterly decadent, it was clear that Dan didn't skimp on the quality of the hot chocolate powder he bought and cal didn't hold back on the mount of powder she put in (internally justifying it by saying after the whole thing of Rinaa upping and leaving they could do with a treat). Neither Dan not Simeon bothered to refute the sweet-tooth comment (inferring from the smirk Cal gave them as to what she was saying about them) choosing instead to sip their own hot chocolates. The two of them were the reason why the forge always had a broad selection of chocolate and biscuits available, but if you wanted crisps you'd have to bring your own.

With everybody now in the one room, it wasn't long before the topic of conversation turned towards the meetings earlier as both Dan and Simeon wanted the run down on what had happened. They would have asked earlier had it not been for the untimely arrival of Blue and the fallout from that. John and Chas were unashamedly listening to this conversation, to the point that Cliff began translating to English for the benefit of the Earth group. Shortly after that Elliott paused his teaching of Fia to offer his own thoughts and insights on how their morning went. The one thing he had picked up was the complete and utter lack of reaction to his scar, usually there was some reaction of surprise, disgust or intrigue (sometimes hidden, though mostly not), but among this legal team there was nothing, suggesting that his mugshot had become quite notorious by now. The overall reaction was one of cautious positivity, nobody wanted to jinx it, but at the same time, this was the most positive things had looked since Elliott had left Earth.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay was pretty sure that this was possibly some of the best hot chocolate she had ever tried, yet she also was thinking it could be her hormones making her think such a thing. The feel of the warm mug in her grip felt calming and comforting, accepting the excuse of them needing it after Rinaa's departure as a valid one. She listened to the conversation going on between the others just like John and Chas did, thankful for Cliff translating for them. Just as everyone else did, she wanted to know more about the meetings and how they went so to hear some news finally was of some relief.

Fia was almost getting to a point where she needed a short break from learning Attili, going over what she had so far learned in her head whilst using the moment to sip her own hot chocolate and listening to the chatter baout the meetings before being glad that Elliott made the break appear properly by giving his own remarks and information on what was said. "it's reassuring to hear that it's not just us lot thinking there's a positive light on this whole thing and it is really there" Fia remarked, not wanting to say it out loud but there was a niggling feeling in her mind the last couple of days that maybe there was something negative on it, and they were possibly just wishing too hard for it going their way. Like it felt it was being too good to be true, but that was just who she was. She was usually the very happy go lucky girl who always saw the positive in things, but with the way she was brought up there was always that inner voice in her head that tried to bring her down.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"That it really, really is." Elliott agreed, leaning over in his chair to accept a mug of hot chocolate from Cal. One inhale and one mouthful was all he needed to confirm that his earlier nostalgic thoughts about the delectable smell had been completely justified. Not only was this exactly the same powder his family used to drink when he was younger, but it was also made the same way his parents used to make it (they used to claim they had some kind of secret recipe, but it couldn't be that secret if Cal could now make it). He refrained from letting out a loud moan of satisfaction instead continuing with his earlier sentence. "I spent most of the morning trying to look somewhat cool and professional about the whole thing and not like I was turning mental cartwheels in joy." "You didn't do that great job at keeping your face neutral." Cal remarked. "None of us three did, let's be honest Jay was the only one who had a good poker face in either meeting. She looked like some kind of stone statue."

John and Chas could picture that stony look on Jay all to well. They'd seen her act expressionless and detached before, her eyes faded to a dead, dull grey- almost like those of a shark. Both were hesitant about saying that things were going well, knowing just how easily things could turn bad, especially John who was the far more negatively biased of the two. It was more than likely from him that Fia had acquired the internal negative voice. "None of us are exactly good judge of whether this is goin' well or not though." John interjected with a slight sigh. "We're all too biased and too emotionally invested in this to see how this will really shape out." "Sadly true, that's why I've been trying to get opinions from people who live off-world or aren't directly involved with this case, but it's getting a helluva lot harder. This case is monumental and therefore attracting attention from all corners, the eyes of the this corner of the universe are quite literally on us. No matter what happens here, we'll have lit the spark for change somewhere. Which is a victory I'll take, even though I want far, far more out of this."

 

[MzHyde]

With Elliott agreeing with Fia, she felt glad that she wasn't fully understanding incorrectly, and in fact reading what was being said correctly. She continued listening as Elliott carried on with what he was wanting to say, smirking when Cal told him he wasn't being that good at keeping his reactions and emotions in check thinking it was so typical of Elliott. She also could easily see how Jay would have been the only one who truly kept a impressive poker face during those meetings, being completely unreadable, as she knew even in her time just how convincingly stoic and unreadable Jay could make her face. The fact that neither John or Chas were willing to say too much on the hopeful edge that they seemed to be getting didn't go amiss on Fia, knowing that John at least was probably thinking similar thoughts to the ones she had previously had.

John's words about them all being too biased and emotionally invested in the case hit hard on Fia, but not in the way one would think. It hit hard in the manner that brought home the seriousness of the case on their hands and just what was truly at stake for them all and most importantly, Elliott. She knew he was right deep down, and was glad that it was Cal who replied to his words, nodding in both agreement and understanding at her words. "I think we all want far more out of this on some level or another, you, Ell and John mostly, but like you say, knowing there is so many that are on our side over this whole fiasco is something to hang onto and not let go of." Kay then chimed up. Yet again her realist brain kicking in whilst not losing that grasp of hope that they all had the last couple of days.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John had spent a considerable amount of time thinking about what would happen after the trial was over. He knew that everybody in their core group (everybody except Dan who didn't know Rinaa's true identity) had some idea of just how much they stood to lose if Elliott was to die during the trial- not only did they lose a brother/ son/ sibling/ godkid/ person they really loved, it damned him to life a being little more than a puppet, Kay and Fia to a world where they perverting everything the phoenix was supposed to stand for, Jay to lifetime of heartbreak and of exile, not wanting to be on earth, but being bound by duty and oath to a planet she didn't want to be one and to people she didn't want anything to do with and Chas to a life of being the peacemaker in a feud he wanted nothing to do with. And to top it all off both planets would be destroyed before Fia reached twenty-four. But John didn't think that it had actually sunk in for any of them, they knew the theory, but fundamentally didn't understand just how bad this reality would be for all of them, or how scarily possible it was such a thing would happen. No matter how much of a realistic stance they claimed to have on it, they were all biased towards a positive outcome as they didn't even want to begin to imagine what their lives would be like if it went wrong. they could all claim they wouldn't make the same mistakes as their alternates, but John knew for a fact he would go into the same depressive self-destructive spiral his alternate did if Elliott were to die. And if he'd make the same mistakes, how could any of the others claim not to?

"You both make valid points, which I fully intend to cling onto." Elliott replied after Cal and Kay had finished her piece. His sister's point was something he could get on board with, as much as he wanted to make peace with this part of his life, a part of his life that had been holding him back for so many years, if his actions meant somebody else could get the closure and the justice he never could, that was an important victory. All great changes started with one person, and he couldn't help but have this niggling feeling that for oppressed magic users he could be that person- after all he was already the image of the cause. He knew that everybody else in the room knew just how genuinely shocked and touched he'd been by the immense support his case and cause had been getting over the past few weeks. He'd come back with a sort of one man crusade in mind, but to know that he wasn't alone this time round meant far more to him than he could express in words. "That's probably the biggest difference between this time and last time.... besides my age of course. It can't be swept under the rug this time and that we can all say for certain."

 

[MzHyde]

When it came to the more disastrous way things could very well go, neither Kay or Fia wanted to think about it, even though both had spent enough time on their own, doing exactly that. The idea of corrupting what her kind stood for, disappointing her mother's memory and ruining everything that she was to survive for, plagued Kay's mind daily. It terrified her endlessly, to the point that when she found out it was either her alternate self or Fia's alternate self that attacked and tried to kill Rinaa, it made her sick quite literally and really did bring home what they stood to lose. She just didn't like mentioning it because having the very words escaping her lips wad too much to take and accept. Fia also had known in some ways, longer than the rest of them thanks to those private moments with Rinaa and getting said information out of her or the alternate Jay that one time, whilst just like Kay, she didn't want to solely focus on that side of reality because she didn't want to think of herself being that horrific of a person.

Both girls knew deep down they couldn't say they wouldn't become that other version of themselves, just like no one else could say they wouldn't, but that didn't stop them not wanting to become that and would fight tooth and nail to try and fight that version of themselves. Neither wanted to ruin everyone's lives, especially John's by making him nothing more than a puppet bound by an bond older than they could comprehend. Yet both also knew it had sunk in what they stood to lose, even if they didn't bring it up openly to everyone. They both listened to what Elliott said in response to Kay and Cal's words, nodding in response, knowing that if any of them had a right to feel hopeful whilst being realistic, it was Elliott himself. "agreed, we just need to continue taking each day as it comes whilst we still got these four days. Then as the trial happens, just continue to take it as it goes on." Fia commented, yet again showing her mature side and sounding a lot older than she actually was. Her unspoken bit however was 'there's too much to lose if this goes wrong and if it does, we need to fight to not become those monstrous people'. Fia having decided over the last few days that if she became that monster, she'd rather just die herself or move somewhere so far away, she couldn't hurt her parents or other family members anymore than they would be. She just refused to say her decisions to anyone, knowing it was better if no one knew.

 

[_gallifrog_]

There was a round of nods at Fia's words, followed by two slightly late ones from Dan and Simeon who were relying on Cliff to translate for them. The doctor had taken to signing the translation, knowing that both men were proficient in the language, Dan having learned it when Cliff began to become a regular fixture at the forge, and Simeon having learned it because it was now, so long as Cal worked in teh forge, Dan had made it mandatory for any other permanent or semi-permanent worker to have a grasp on the basics of sign language.

"Technically it's three days til it starts now." Elliott replied with a smile. He wasn't finding fault with Fia's logic, just making what he felt was a valid correction. He, Cal, Cliff and Jay had made a pact that they wouldn't pull an all-nighter tonight or tomorrow night when it came to prepping for the trial. The hope was that by getting a full night of sleep both those days they'd be less stressed and more level headed on the final two days. "And it's starting at some stupidly early hour of the morning too, which means we have to all be there even earlier." "Though the abnormally early start is something the lawyer friend we" Cal gestured at herself, her wife and her brother, then shook her hand in a circular motion to convey 'and Jay wherever she is at this moment'"met earlier is taking as a sign that they expect this to be a long and gruelling court case. Which suggests that it will be a fair fight, we're not just going to be dismissed."

There were more nods, then Cliff spoke up, for the first time in a while, her translating and relaying duties having kept her too busy to properly butt in apart from expressing her agreement or adding a slight correction or additional fact to Cal and Elliott's accounts. "Dan says he isn't trying to get rid of ye and you're perfectly welcome to stay here as long as you like, but it's just that the rains stopped for now and if you want to get home dry, now would be a good time to make a swift exit."

 

[MzHyde]

When Fia said her spiel, she was tempted at one point to say 'or more like three days' but for some reason she didn't, and yet here she was getting corrected by Elliott making her think that she should have said it, but she didn't feel embarrassed or ashamed for the correction, instead just smiling and nodding at Elliott's correction. She knew however on the whole that she said all the right things when everyone nodded in agreement, feeling glad that her words were always listened to, and she was never seen as just a kid trying to come out with sentences to feel apart of it all. Hearing that it was starting at a stupidly early hour wasn't entirely surprising, considering the sheer depth of the trial at hand, with both Kay and Fia fully willing to get up whenever they'd need to be to get to the court on time. As Cliff spoke up bafter all this time due to signing for Dan and Simeon, both Kay and Fia nodded at the suggestion.

"sounds like a good idea to do if you ask me. Makes sense to go now whilst it's dry rather than get drenched yet again" Kay agreed, totally seeing Dan's point of view with the suggestion he gave to Cliff to translate for them all. "I'm happy to go now too" Fia replied, grabbing her work sheets that she wrote her Attili lesson on so she could use them to practice in her own time, folding them up and shoving them in her jeans pockets as she stood up from the chair so she could access her pockets properly. She knew her coat was on a hanger by the main door when they came in so she would just grab it on the way out, whereas Kay still had her coat on the back of her chair. Kay waited for the others to all agree to go back before standing up, grabbing her coat and putting it on before heading back to the apartment with everyone who was to go with them.

 

[_gallifrog_]

There was a brief silence after Cliff's translation as everybody strained their ears listening for the sound of rain bouncing off the roof (the forge kitchen had no windows). There was none, Dan was right, at some point during their conversation the rain had stopped. "I'm all in favour, havin' just properly dried meself out, I'm in no mood to get drenched again." John declared, getting out of the chair and swinging on his coat in one fluid motion. "I'm all in favour of Dan's plan. best to go while we can." "The rain was one thing I didn't miss when living on Earth. One reminder was enough for me today." Elliott agreed, pulling on his own coat. Technically it wasn't his own coat, he didn't bring a hooded coat with him when he left Earth. Instead he'd commandeered the spare unisex rain mac Cal and Cliff had in their apartment. It certainly wasn't the most flattering looking garment, but it kept him dry and that was the important part. Cliff shook her head in amusement as their group made their way to the forge door, pulling on and zipping up their coats as they went. "That's not even real rain" she teased, giving a hug to Dan before leaving. Cal just rolled her eyes "ignore her, she just wants to go on one of her rants about how the rain on her planet is sooooo much worse than the rain here."

Simeon joined them for part of the walk back as he lived in roughly the same direction as Cal and Cliff did. Before parting ways he, Cal and Cliff exchanged some words, evidently about what had happened earlier. Fia, Kay and Chas didn't need to understand any Attili to know the expression of somebody was claiming to be fine so that they could go home, have a small breakdown to get their emotions out of their system and then move on. Cal and Cliff let him, and when asked by Chas (who did it tactfully) if it was a good idea to let him go alone in that state, they explained explained that he had two people back home who really loved him and would be able to help it through it better than they could. Back in the apartment they were greeted by the sight of Jay, who'd arrived back some time before they did judging by how dry her hair and clothes were. She had stretched out on the couch, had a laptop on outstretched legs, a box of take-away on the table along with some kind of alcohol. She had headphones on and up until then had engrossed herself in organising and sifting through files as well as reading as many as possible. There were no visible injuries, which Cliff took as a sign she hadn't got into a bar fight and/or pissed off everybody in the nearby vicinity. She looked up at their arrival and slowly slid the headphones down around her neck. "Been at the forge I take it?"

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia knew the look on Simeon's face all too well, they'd had their fair share of moments of having that exact look on their faces themselves after all, yet hearing he had two people at his home that could help better than nay of them could was of some relief to them both as they continued their way back to the apartment.

Back at the apartment and seeing Jay looking remarkably dry, headphones on, alcohol nearby and a laptop on her lap, both girls summarised she had indeed been home for a while and unscathed. At her acknowledgment of the group's return, both girls nodded with a brief "yeah" as they headed toward the other couch as they undid their coats and pulled them off. Before she sat down, Fia offered to take Kay's coat for her to the bedroom as she wanted to put hers away herself, which Kay thanked her kid for and sat down, letting Fia do just that. "how you holding up?" Kay asked Jay, unable to stop her glance from going to the alcohol on the table and then back at Jay. Fia as promised, took the coats to the bedrooms, hanging Kay's up on the back of the door on one of the hooks before doing the same thing in the room she was taking up, kicked off her boots and then returning to the main room to everyone else. Fia made a point to sit next to Elliott for a change as she usually sat next to John or Kay and she was enjoying her time with her brother, and that's where she stayed all night until it was she found it time to call it a night.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Nobody bothered to ask how Jay knew they'd been in the forge. The smell of smoke and ash clinging to them all was a dead giveaway. And even if they hadn't absorbed the smell of ash and smoke, there was very few places they could all go and hang out in for such a long time. Jay could see exactly where Kay's eyes and train of thought was going and almost replied with 'I'm doing better than Rinaa probably is', but stopped herself at the last moment instead giving a sort of shrug and a more honest, less bitchy answer. "You mean am I going to go completely off the rails? Answer I'm not, it would take witnessing the death to do that, but I'm going to be prickly and probably hungover tomorrow. This stuff" she picked up the bottle beside her and took a swig to indicate what she was talking about "is particularly potent and illegal on certain planets where the inhabitants have little or no metabolism for alcohol. Luckily I don't suffer from that, the exact opposite is the case." Jay swung herself round into a more normal seating position to make room for the others who wanted to sit on the couch.

The group only ended up staying up for another forty of fifty minutes, using the time to fill in Jay on what she'd missed at the second meeting, while Jay filled them in what she'd found out. Once the initial emotional tempest had subdued she made her way to one of the space-port bars as they were in her opinion the place to go to find out public opinion and gossip. It seemed that all eyes would be on this monumental case, and from the large number of people she'd talked to, most were on Elliott's side, another thing that suggested they could afford to be slightly optimistic about the outcome.

The next three days were taken up in a flurry of preparations- various legal meetings, trawling through the translated files for anything that might have been missed the first time around etc... At the same time as they refreshed Elliott's knowledge of how the Attilian court system worked (at twelve he hadn't been particularly interested in how it worked) Cal and Cliff also got the Earth based group up to speed on how the entire Attilian judicial system worked (it was vastly different to Earth's) as well as giving them a brief run down of all the key players. Over those next three days John's insomnia subsided only slightly, just enough that he could crash on the bed he he was sharing with Kay and get about two hours of sleep a night (he never went to bed with her, and was never there when she woke up, but she'd be able to tell that he had actually been there for a brief period). Both Jay and Elliott dyed their hair again, Elliott going back to the red tips (which was his favourite style), while Jay went fully black haired even dying her eyebrows to match. She'd changed her plan for breaking into the court building from doing so heist style in the middle of the night to simply slipping into the off-limits area unnoticed during one of the court recesses where the building would be thronged with people. The change in hair colour was to make her more forgettable, what was one black-haired woman among so many dark eyed Devra? The night before the trial started Cliff forced those who needed eight hours of sleep to bed extra early to counteract the early start they had the next day.

 

[MzHyde]

The first night after regrouping with Jay, Kay slept horrendously. The dredging up of the past brought all those memories back to the surface and the nightmares plagued her. She woke up a couple of times when John wasn't in the room, making her curse her timing for waking from said nightmares. Eventually she got back to sleep and managed to sleep right through, albeit it still being disrupted in her dreams. Over the next couple of nights her sleep started to improve and the nightmares subsided, making her wonder if John's insomnia that was subsiding and the evidence of him at least getting some sleep in the bed next to her was in any way part of the reason or if she was just thinking of any idea possible, instead of facing what was probably the actual truth-she just was getting better at not having nightmares carry through for days on end. As the days went on and herself, Fia, John and Chas all listened up and learned about the Attili judicial system and how it worked (which made Fia's mind want to explode at some parts), Kay and Fia finally got enough of an understanding on what to expect, whilst noting how Elliott and Jay dyed their hair, and Fia going over the Attili language notes and such, making sure to not forget what she learned.

Fia was glad to see the iconic (in her eyes) red tips back in her brother's hair, always having just known him with it and felt it was just him. Jay's change of hair colour took both Fia and Kay a little bit of getting used to as as with a lot of people due black hair was so stark a colour, it took a few days sometimes to really let the kind acknowledge it wad the same person under the black hair. Eventually they did get used to it however and never thought anything of it, understanding why Jay chose Black to dye her hair, with what she was planning. When it came to the night before the trial neither Fia or Kay complained about the enforcing of going to bed early to guarantee an full eight hours of sleep, willingly going to bed at the command, saying their goodnight to those who were staying up and off they went. Fia found herself laying awake for a little bit out of nerves for her brother and the whole trial, whilst Kay too was the same, but due to her pregnancy, Kay managed to fall asleep before Fia did.

By the morning, Fia woke up gladly as her alarm went off that she set sometime the night before, and getting up. The nerves on behalf of her brother was still there but she knew as family, she had to be strong and positive minded to successfully help. She grabbed her bag and rummaged through trying to find something that was relatively smarter than her ripped jeans and was clean, before getting dressed. Back in the other room Kay was up around the same time as Fia, stretching her legs and arms as she yawned before sitting up, getting up and grabbing some clothes she deemed appropriate for the court. It wasn't much of a change from her usual style, mostly a change of a top to make it look like it was smarter, even if it was still an pregnancy friendly outfit, getting dressed and pulling on her usual chunky combat boots.

Spoiler: Outfits

Kay just has her normal boots on and not the shoes in the picture.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Like Fia, John and Chas also considered the red tips to be Elliott's iconic look. Red had been Elliott's favourite colour as a kid (and still was), and therefore it had been the first colour he'd ever chosen to dye his hair (that first self dye job had been atrocious and the photos of it were used by John when he wanted to really embarrass Elliott). Seeing Jay with fully black hair was a shock to everybody's system, not just to Fia and Kay as it so dramatically altered her appearance. The others had only known her with fully blue hair or with the black-blue streaked mix she used on Earth to make it seem like her hair was natural black dyed blue and not the other way round. Learning about a justice system that was so completely different and far more complex (and maybe even better than the one on Earth provided it was used right) than the one they'd all grown up learning was mind-bending as the four couldn't help but compare it to the one they knew back home. One thing they did learn was that only one of the judges and jury members tasked with making the final decision was a Devra from Attil, the rest were from various nearby planets and systems. It was hoped by having this kind of racial, species based and planet based diversity that the verdict would be far, far fairer and less likely to be swayed by the biases of Attil. Jay also gave herself a bit of a refresher course on how the system worked, before turning her attention to the bundle of information Dakkon had forwarded on about the court building.

John attempted to go to sleep that night, for once heading to be and the same time, genuinely trying to get some kind of rest, knowing it would do him good and that he needed to be as rested as possible before the trial. But ultimately he failed at that. His brain just wouldn't shut down, continuously going over everything he'd learned these past few days and trying in vain to predict how things would pan out for them, whether Elliott would live through it, whether the verdict would go in their favour or not. Eventually he just gave up and went for a smoke and a walk round the city, hoping maybe that would tire him out.

The next morning they all congregated in the kitchen. John was wearing the exact same outfit as he usually did, to the surprise of nobody, though he had smartened himself up somewhat by shaving and actually brushing his hair. Chas was wearing a formal shirt as opposed to his usual t-shirt and jacket combo. Cal, under the firm belief that the court building was going to be freezing, had opted for a dark burgundy polo neck. Elliott was wearing the suit he'd worn for Cal's wedding (minus the jacket as he felt no need to be that formal). Cliff had gone for something somewhat brighter, the professional-looking light grey and pale blue shirt/blazer combination she wore whenever her presence was required at a medical conference. Nobody was allowed to wear armour in the court rooms (unless they were there in an official capacity) which meant Jay had to wear normal clothes. In the end she'd settled for a very simple outfit, plain trousers and a button up shirt in a charcoal grey colour that complimented her eyes. She pulled it off well, but more importantly, it was a very forgettable outfit.

Spoiler: Jay's outfit

Jay's outfit is kinda like this, but the shirt is a charcoal colour

 

[MzHyde]

It didn't take long for either Kay or Fia to finish getting ready and come out around the same time as everyone else, noting that it seemed everyone was dressed relatively more smart than they normally would which just added to how seriously everyone was taking this. Kay knew John tried all he could to fall asleep the night before, she was just drifting off when he gave up and went out for the nightly walk and knew it was best to just leave him to do it alone. The one person she was more surprised about seeing smartly dressed out of the group was indeed Jay as it seemed the furthest from her normal attire compared to everyone else. Though Kay also knew before she was even pregnant, her current choices of attire were very different to her normal choices, especially what she was wearing when John and Chas first found her. So she couldn't find herself remarking on anything any of them were wearing for that sole reason.

In the kitchen, both Fia and Kay made sure to eat something just like everyone else, knowing that if it was going to be pai fully long trial, Kay most of all would need to eat before they go so she didn't end up feeling sick or faint in the court and needing to be taken out. The last thing she wanted to be was a liability and a diatraction from everything else going on and risk missing something incredibly important. "when have we gotta leave?" Fia asked, using her fingers to get rid of one last little knot in the end of her hair as she ate a little. With it removed, she found herself playing the bottom hemline of her top that was under her jacket out of nervousness. Now it was the important day, a lot of the hope and positivity they had been focusing on was diminishing thanks to her fear of losing her brother.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The room was full of nervous energy and Fia was far from the only one exhibiting some kid of nervous tic. John was chewing at the side of his nails unconsciously, and as soon as he realised what he was doing he'd stop, only to start up again a few minutes later. Cal was twisting her wedding ring and engagement ring around her finger (a tic all bar Elliott and Fia would recognise from their first night on Attil where she confessed to having a fiancé that she hadn't told her brother about). Chas was tapping his fingers against his leg (usually he'd be tapping them against the steering wheel of his cab). Jay's tic was a little different, it was more of a compulsion than a tic to be precise- she was carefully and methodically filing her nails and had been doing so for at least the past forty-five minutes (she'd started with her toe nails and was now on to her finger nails).

All followed Cliff's advice of eating something, the first day of the trial was going to be the longest of that there was no doubt and nobody wanted to either a) pass out during it or b) have their stomach rumbling so loudly that everybody in the courtroom could hear it. (Though Cliff was bringing along some cereal bar things with non-crinkly wrappers to the trial just in case somebody did get really starving). They all ate, even though nobody was actually in the mood for eating, Elliott actually thought he was going to get sick with the nerves churning in his stomach (though he'd checked in the mirror and confirmed he wasn't actually looking pale or peaky, so the feelings of sickness were purely psychological as Cliff had suspected all along). It was Elliott who answered, checking his watch before speaking (which, along withe everybody else's had been synchronised with the clock in the courts). "About ten minutes or so, we're taking the train and I believe Dan's going to meeting us at the station, obviously he's coming along as many days as he can." "Yeah" Cal confirmed with a nod "he's drafted in some extra people to help out at the forge, keep things ticking over, so he can be there at the trial. They're all reliable people, in case you were wondering, he's hired them all before on a temporary basis. Simeon will also be there what days he can, again for moral support. But he has to work round his family commitments and his partner's work shifts, which obviously take priority. He said he'll try be there for some of today though."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay found that eating breakfast helped her stop resorting to her nervous tic of pressing her thumbnail into her palm so hard it left imprints, but the moment she had finished eating, it had started up and she was even twisting her thumb into her palm for extra pressure. She was well of noticing everyone's nervous tics and actions in the room, knowing that none of them were alone in this feeling anxiety for what was about to go down for day one. She also put herself into the mindset of if the rest of them who weren't Elliott were feeling this amount of anxiety for the trial, then it must be so much worse for Elliott himself. She felt like the silence was ironically deafening in the room do when Fia was the first to speak up by asking how much longer they had to wait before leaving, she was actually thankful for her daughter speaking.

Hearing that they only had ten minutes more before they really needed to leave made Fia nod, before she heard what Cal had to say, thinking it was incredible that even Simeon was going to try and come along for moral support, but not surprised that Dan would be making an effort to come along either. "that's something and really nice of Simeon too" she replied, forcing herself to put her top hemline down and stop playing with it. She noted a it of everyone, she felt Kay's was a bit more concerning as in her timeline she remembered a couple of times Kay had drawn blood from digging so hard, so she reached over and grabbed her mum's hand to stop her. Kay just let her kid take her hand, thinking Fia needed it and not because she was stopping her from her nervous tic.

 

[_gallifrog_]

It was surprising to nobody that Dan would be coming along. Even if he absolutely hated all of the earth group, they all saw him and knew him as the kind of person who'd go along to give Cal moral support anyway. Simeon coming along was more of a surprise however. The fact that Cal had separated his family commitments and his partner's work shifts gave credibility to Fia's idea that there was a young kid in the apprentices life. "I didn't know that about Simeon." Elliott told his sister who gave a sort of half shrug. "How were you to know? You only met him for the second time the other day. And besides, he only told me this yesterday, so I didn't know it either. He's a good kid that one, he does care about this trial and it's outcome, even though it doesn't really personally affect him."

John's attention was not on Fia, or even on Kay as they sat in the kitchen eating, but not tasting what they were putting in their mouths. Had John's food been replaced with cardboard or packing Styrofoam he probably wouldn't have noticed, that's how completely focused his attentions and worries were on Elliott. He was however aware of focused he was and some part of him was saying he should probably be worried about how his daughter and Kay were taking the whole situation, but he honestly couldn't bring himself to care about them (or anybody who wasn't Elliott) at this moment in time. Out of the three- Elliott, Fia and Kay- he'd known Elliott for the longest, had been through the most with him and was naturally closer to him both emotionally and physically.

After another five minutes or so of awkward conversation they decided to just bite the bullet and leave- Cal, Jay, Cliff and Elliott all taking either paper copies of files with them or a laptop. Jay also took with her a non-descript black backpack which contained the various things she would need for her break in (all of which looked perfectly normal if you didn't know that the person carrying them was a trained assassin and warrior). She hadn't decided whether she would break in on the first day or if she'd just get to know the layout of the building a bit more, so she decided to be prepared for both. Before leaving, Jay also took the opportunity to ink up some of the sub dermal tattoos on her forearms. The base town was quiet, but not deserted as the group made their way to the train station. Most people were coming into the town after a night shift as opposed to heading out of it and Cliff broke away from their group for a minute to talk to a group of doctors and nurses she knew (at least that's what John and Chas assumed their occupations were based on the fact that they were wearing scrubs), nodding at their wishes of good luck before rejoining the group (and Dan) on the platform.

 

[MzHyde]

Neither woman held it against John for only focusing on Elliott, it was a given that he would be this way and they'd just be a blur in the background. It was a bit harder for Fia to digest than Kay as she was so used to being treated equally in her time and so had to keep mentally reminding herself that this wasn't her time's John and thus didn't have entire right to think any differently. She also knew in comparison he hadn't known Kay nearly as long as he knew Elliott and that Kay would be alot more understanding over this. Fia was right with that assumption, Kay had indeed accepted the fact that until this trial was over, she would just be a shadow in John's mind and that had to be okay with her. There were bigger things to deal with than her emotions toward the man.

When they all decided to leave for the station, both women walked with everyone, as they noted who Cliff briefly went off to talk with before coming back to them all. Fia found herself walking beside Elliott, her protective mess of him not straying, but she was also terrified if she wasn't right next to him, she'd lose him. Whereas Kay just walked silently with John and Chas, soon meeting Dan at the platform they all needed. She wanted nothing more than to try and reassure John, but she didn't think she'd get anywhere so kept to her silent strategy for now. She felt useless, and worried about the trial and Elliott, finding that the guy had grown on her early on, and she still swore that if she was to be with John, she accepted Elliott as a sort of step kid and more importantly a friend as well.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Kay was right in thinking there was absolutely nothing that could be done to reassure John or make him less stressed at this moment. Even their bond wasn't powerful enough to do anything, and more than likely any attempts to use the bond to reassure him would result in the other person's mind being flooded with the sheer volume of thoughts and worries in John's head at this moment in time. Chas knew there was nothing that could be done, he'd tried all kinds of things when they were younger, but the best thing to do, as cruel as it was, was to let John stew in his own thoughts. Only John could work through the mess in his mind. Dan didn't say much, aside from a greeting, sensing that any conversation that would be started would just end up far more awkward than the silence they were currently standing in. There was a strange sort of unity in this silence, a sense that they were all in this together.

The main city as all of the Earth group knew, having all made the journey on foot at some point during their stay on Attil, was a long walk on foot, almost equally as far from the base town as the university town and campus wast. By train the journey took just under fifteen minutes. The train they were on was another decommissioned military vehicle (having been replaced by a more efficient, better armoured troop train), though like the one Fia and Rinaa had travelled on a few days prior, the inside had been stripped out and replaced with chairs that were actually comfortable. According to Cal, Cliff, Dan and Jay, these trains would originally have had hard, uncomfortable bench seating running down the length of either side of the carriage with a long storage rack running down the middle for stowing kitbags, weapons and whatever else might be needed.

The court they were heading to wasn't just any old common or garden court, it was actually the home to the highest level of the Attilian judicial system- the Supreme Global Court of Attil. All the most serious and high profile cases were tried here, usually relating to abuse of power by governments/major multi-planetary corporations/extremely high profile individuals. Many of the cases tried here involved activities that hadn't even taken place on Attil, but were tried there anyway as it provided a neutral venue as well as being home to one of the most sophisticated justice systems in the world. Things had gone so badly wrong for Elliott as a kid precisely because the Attilian justice system wasn't involved in his outing as being a magic user. The building was massive and imposing, taking up an entire city block, combining various architectural styles. It looked like pieces had been made by 17 different architects then crammed together into one building. Carved above the main entrance was the symbol for justice written in Old Attili (as opposed to modern Attili which Fia was learning). They however didn't go in the main way, Elliott wanting to avoid the media circus sure to be outside (and all the others agreeing with him). Instead they went down into one of the underground tunnels that lead to the court.

Spoiler: Supreme Global court building description

I didn't give much description of the court building earlier in the RP, this is the best one I did give, so it's pretty open to interpretation, feel free to go utterly wild in how you interpret it's appearance
It's one of those buildings where anything really goes

"You do? What is it then?" "Yeah, I do know it, it's on Attil and I've been there before as a kid actually, on one of those educational school trips." He pulled a face as he said that, clearly this was a trip he hadn't enjoyed. "It's not an amphitheatre, it's actually the courtroom of the Attilian Supreme Global Court, which just so happens to be in the city I grew up in, pretty sure I pointed it out to you that day we did the walk down memory lane John." "Yeeeeah, I do remember that building. Really massive, like you can't miss it, seems to take up a whole city block, super pompous with statues and architecture, a mix of both traditional buildings and this massive stonking modern extension?" He asked, knowing that when he was in town with Kay, she had made a comment on it

 

[MzHyde]

If it wasn't for Chas having warned Kay once before at some point about what to do when John got in these moments, she wouldn't have felt utterly awful about ignoring how he was being. But with Chas' previous talks about it was perfectly okay to do such a thing and in the long run John would actually be grateful for not being approached in such a way. On the train Kay was only slightly surprised at how comfortable the train seats were as every other mode of transport they had taken so far on their trip to Attil had been incredibly comfortable. They were certainly more comfortable than trains on Earth in her eyes, especially American transport that still had hard plastic seating for the most part, which she was reminded of when Cal, Cliff and Dan brought up how this seating used to be.

When they arrived at the court Kay and Fia had to refrain from letting their Jaws drop at the sheer height and width of the building. The architectural work and vision of whoever designed the building was quite frankly both a genius and a madman in Kay's mind and she could only imagine what the original sketches and blueprints must look like of the building. She could respect the sheer work of the building, of the pillars and statues that adorned the outside, the very grabdure of the place reminding her of the old buildings of Rome or somewhere sacred in Greece. The grand staircase that would she presumed to take you into the front entrance, but she respected and agreed that going in the front way would be a terrible idea. She kept staring at the fine details in the stone work as they walked round the building to one of the underground tunnels that was their chosen route inside.

Fia thought similar as they walked round the building to avoid the mass gatherings of press or anyone else that would undoubtedly be at the front. She noticed how the Attili scripture on the building was not the same as what she was being taught and now knew, finding it fascinating and similar to Earth buildings of great importance having Latin mottos engraved into the walls above the entrance doors. If she didn't know it was a court building, she could have sworn it was another amptheatre in Attilfrom its design, size and style it had. She too found it reminded her of the old Greek buildings of worship to the likes of Zeus before refocusing her attention to the direction they were going in and headed to the way in of Elliott's choice. If they were walking by for any other reason than going in for the most important trial of any of their lives, she probably would have spent quite some time walking round and taking photos.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Despite having seen the building before John and Chas were still momentarily stunned by just how big and bold it was. The building should have been a monstrosity with it's mishmash of architectural styles and building materials, but somehow it managed to be one cohesive, imposing building. It looked to John like the building representation of somebody either having an identity crisis or suffering from multiple personality disorder. It's sheer size was justified by the fact that it was the highest court on the whole planet, and depending on circumstances, the highest in the star system that contained Attil. Both men could see elements that reminded them of the iconic Greek and Roman temples- columns reaching towards the sky, statues representing various figures from Attilian mythology, the use of silvery-white stone to build the facing (stone which had not come from the surrounding mountains). John also saw other architectural features that reminded him of South American or Asian temples. While the Greeks and Romans favoured lines and geometric shapes, these other peoples favoured circular and curved forms. There were also elements of what he considered to be Gothic style around the windows. There were also other bits of polished glass and gleaning metal that wouldn't have looked out of place on a skyscraper or spaceship. Even Cal who'd seen it her whole life was momentarily stunned by it. It was so brash and bold, yet that made it beautiful.

Compared to the court building, the tunnels seemed dank, dingy and just plain boring. The entrance door that cliff heaved open was thick and chunky, like something on a nuclear fallout shelter. Cliff and Cal had mentioned these tunnels before, they had been built to allow an escape route for citizens of both the town and the university should the area ever be bombed. In theory there were enough food and resources that the inhabitants could live underground and begin to grow the food they needed to survive. Thankfully there had never been any need for such drastic measures to be implemented. They tunnels were dry, which was a surprise to John as nearly every tunnel he'd ever been in contained some form of water (or tried to flood while he was still in it. The passage way was lit by strip lights in the floor and ceiling and was wide enough for two vehicles to pass side by side. There were doors at sporadic intervals leading either to the surface or to underground store rooms. They weren't the only ones choosing to enter by the back way, almost all the court officials, lawyers, experts, jury members, judges and other court staff were choosing to do so. Nobody wanted to be involved with the media circus outside. No reporters would be allowed in the court during the duration of the trial as due to the high profiles of some of people involved, having the press in the court ran the risk of confidential information being leaked. Each set of people- the defence, the prosecution and the judicial officials- were given a different time to arrive at the court to minimise the risk of a) any fighting or b) any fair play. The judicial officials were the last to arrive, while Elliott's team was to be the first.

Due to it's size, the building of the Supreme Global Court of Attil had one of the biggest courtrooms any of them had seen in their entire lives. It was a semi-circular room, with the main seating shaped and raised like that of an ancient amphitheatre. The judges, jury and officials would all sit on a raised platform where the arena would be if it was an amphitheatre. The seats were split into three areas- the prosecution on the left, the defence on the right and everybody else in the middle. Currently they were deactivated, but the during the trial there would be a force-field separating the three groups from each other. The designs on the walls was a complete contrast with the architectural chaos of the outside of the building, the walls were plain, the only decoration or ornamentation being right above the judicial platform- the same sentences in old Attili that were carved on the outside of the building.