Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

When Cal opened the heavy entrance door to the tunnels and let them all walk in and through to gain access to the court, Kay was always surprised at how dry they were. Like John, she was used to the damp and dank tunnels of London, finding that the only available to sit and shelter from the cold wet London weather was the cold wet patch in an underground tunnel. These tunnels even smelled better than the ones on Earth, finding it was a pleasant surprise that she didn't have cover her nose to try and mask the smell like back home. She could see exactly how they could be used as underground cover if there was ever a need for it and how one could sufficiently survive down here for quite some time before life got ridiculously hard. As they walked through and got into the main court, seeing how each section for each side was divided up, Kay's first thought was 'dayum! Earth could learn a lot from this place!' as she looked around, quietly whistling her impressed reaction as she gazed at the set up.

Fia had a similar reaction to everything she was seeing, as for the tunnels she didn't have anything to really compare it to as she hadn't made a point to spend any significant time in them, as no job she's secretly taken or taken with her John resorted to needing the tunnel system of London. The actual court however blew her mind completely and utterly. This was like nothing else she had ever seen before which wasn't exactly surprising as she'd never been allowed to go anywhere that meant seeing any kind of grand building, with the except of possibly the London museums with her aunt Sam for educational purposes. "this is insane, it's stunning but insane" Fia quietly commented to their group, noticing how the same scripture was carved into the walls inside as well as outside, "anyone know what the scripture says?" she then asked, mostly aiming it at Cal, Cliff, Elliott and Dan, knowing if anyone in their group would know it, it'd be one of them.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John, Chas and Jay's jaws all dropped upon entering the courtroom. Despite seeing how massive the Supreme Global court was from the outside, somehow they hadn't made the leap that the court room itself would be so big. Chas had seen the inside before during one of his nights where he saw all kinds of fragments from all the possible timelines, but seeing it in a fragment didn't do the place justice. "Blooody Hells, go big or go home doesn't quite cover this place does it?" John asked rhetorically, for once not even bothering to hide the utter awe in his voice. "This is..." Chas trailed off "well I don't have enough words to explain it really." While the others all stood still, Jay made her way to the centre of the raised stage, turning in all full circle once she got there to take in all of the room. She had never seen the inside of the court before in person, only heard about it from other. She let out a low whistle as she turned round. "If I was ever to get court-martialled, I'd SO want it to happen here" she declared. "I'd heard about this place, but seeing it in person is quite something else." It was clear that Jay wasn't actually talking to anybody in particular and didn't actually want a response, she was just thinking out loud.

Cal, Cliff and Elliott all chuckled in amusement at the reactions of the others. "That's everybody's first reaction upon seeing this place for the first time., it was definitely mine. It still boggles the mind though, even after coming here on so many times." "Our school took all the students here on an educational trip every year." Cal explained, not wanting anybody to think that her wife had been in court for legal reasons that many times. This was for all of them, their first time in the court for a case. "Not while court was in session obviously." "The trips were interesting at first but hearing the same facts year after year? It gets boring." Elliott added, remembering how, when he was younger he thought the amphitheatre like seating would make for an excellent place to play some form of hide and seek of capture the flag style game. He was bowled over by it's sheer everything after seeing it again for the first time in twelve years. Nothing had really changed since his last school trip.

John shrugged in response to Fia's question, not having the slightest idea what the three sentences meant. He hadn't learned old Attili as Elliott didn't know it. In fact most Devra and non-Devra inhabitants on Attil only knew select words and phrases from Old Attili. Like with Latin and Ancient Greek on Earth, it was an almost extinct language with only specialist historians and scholars being fluent in the language. "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength?" He suggested with a smirk, which prompted Elliott to roll his eyes, turning towards Cal and Cliff, seeing their utterly confused looks. "Ignore him, he's trying to be funny and failing. Those bits are a the three mottos I guess you'd call them by which civilisation is run by in this really, really dystopian novel called 1984 that's really well known back home. But to answer your question Fia, yes, we all know what it means. Every Attili citizen knows it, along with those who've lived on the planet at least six months. For me, it was one of those facts I learned on the school trip here." "Same for us." Cliff agreed, speaking also for Cal. "It's part of a very famous epic poem written in Old Attili" he proceeded to then recite the lines engraved in massive letters above the judicial dais. Old Attili sounded far harsher on his tongue than modern Attili, but it had the same flowing rhythm. He then translated it to English, making it clear that lines didn't translate anywhere near as well to English as they did to modern Attili, but the general gist was that it was praising truth, honour and justice (three pillars which society rested on), saying that without them the world would fall to chaos, but to uphold them was next to the divine.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia and Kay smirked slightly at Jay's reaction to the courtroom, noting how both Kay and Jay went for the low whistle which in some weird sense, amused Fia, taking it as amusing because both their names were only one letter different. It was a far stretch reason but it was the only one she could think of to why she would smirk at the realisation. Both Kay and Fia nodded at Cliff's words, seeing how such a building could still baffle the mind even after all these years as neither woman thought they'd forget this building any time soon. If Cal hadn't of clarified what Cliff meant by being here many times, they would have just assumed her medical expertise would have been needed for cases and that would have been why she was here so much, but Cal's explanation made perfect sense also. Fia could also see how Elliott would have thought the trips got boring year after year if they were learning the same thing every single time.

At John's guess of what the Attili said, Elliott wasn't the only who rolled his eyes, so did Fia. She let Elliott explain to Cal and Cliff why they weren't amused by his words, before listening to the rest of Elliott's words that were aimed at her, nodding as he explained what it said in both the old native language and English. The first couple of words took Fia by surprise by just how much more harsh it sounded on Elliott's tongue, but she got passed the surprise just as quickly. "huh.. Interesting" she simply replied. "seems no matter where you are similar values are thought of highly in such places" Kay remarked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John smirked slightly when Elliott declared the school trips to have been very boring for him. Teenage John had found educational trips mind-numbingly boring, and more often than not didn't go, choosing instead to mooch around the estate looking for trouble or causing trouble. He knew Elliott had been a better student than him (though that was hardly a difficult thing to do, anybody who actually stayed awake in lessons was automatically a better student than John) and Elliott had ranked slightly higher than the class average. Elliott was a good learner, but had no real passion for the majority of school subjects, his passions lying in art and magic more than they did in sciences, maths or history. Outside of art, geography had been Elliott's favourite subject as a kid as it covered both Attilian geography and the geography of other planets.

Like Fia, John was also surprised by how harsh and guttural sounding Old Attili was compared to modern Attili. The only word he recognised was the Old Attili word for justice (which he'd found out the pronunciation of shortly after they realised the murals were indeed about Elliott). "It makes sense to put that on the court buildings" Chas replied once Elliott gave his slightly clunky translation. The Old Attili saying certainly made more sense to him than the phrase 'justice is blind' that was so often touted around on Earth (if he was being honest he'd never really understood it at all). "I can confirm it's a similar situation back on my home planet, the ideals of justice, honour and truth are remarkably universal when it comes to judicial systems, along with things like loyalty, courage and the ability to speak truth to power." "They're all powerful virtues that's for sure." Cal agreed as they began taking their seats. Elliott would have to do no speaking today, so he had no need to sit in the front row of the seats, and joined the others in what were their designated seats a few rows back behind various legal people, their files and laptops. "It's the same values that are emphasised and taken incredibly seriously in Isogrii culture, though your loyalty, along with all those other virtues you mentioned Cliff are towards the tribe and the peoples, as opposed to everybody you meet. You treat innocents and those who haven't done wrong with said virtues, but those who are your mark or have committed horrific crimes or those who have wronged the Isogrii they lose the right to that kind of treatment." Jay added, taking her seat next to Elliott, knowing that the place she needed to be at was Elliott's left side, just as John's place was at Elliott's right hand side.

After their section was filled the force-field was activated and then tested by a dark blue clad court official, who according to Dan were all force-field sensitives/force-field manipulators and if the field was to fail for whatever reason, it would be up to them to use their abilities to either repair the shield or create a new one.
There was a low buzz of chatter in the room and a palpable nervous energy, even with just their section filled, and this feeling was amplified as the rest of the people began to arrive. With their section filled the rest of court gradually began to fill up, with the defence team arriving from the other side of the room and all others, mainly witnesses, experts and specialists who were going to be called on by both sides arrived through a door in the top level of the amphitheatre and sat in the middle section. Casting his eyes over to the middle section as it filled up, it soon became clear there was something very odd about the people arriving, well over half of them had face paint/war paint on their faces. A single line running diagonally across their left eye.

 

[MzHyde]

When it came to learning, Fia grew up strongly believing she got her want to learn from her mother and Elliott, knowing all too well that unless it was something to do with magic, she definitely wouldn't have got it from John. She was also of the mindset that despite how frustrating it was to be home schooled her entire 'school years', she had an amazing teacher in Sam, as alternate Kay had always said Sam was the smarter one out of the two of them when it came to certain subjects like maths, whereas Kay was sufficient in teaching English and English literature, but Sam always took the lead in the teaching to which Kay always made sure Sam was paid for and made aware how grateful they were for the help.

Both Kay and Fia agreed with Chas that it made perfect sense to have such sayings and mottos on a building that was designed for political and legal gatherings/meetings, knowing it was just the same on Earth so to hear it was also similar on Cliff's home planet didn't come as a surprise. They both then let Jay say her piece, easily believing that if any tribe or nation would take any kind of virtues as seriously and literally, it would be the Isogrii, basing on what they had all been already told by either Jay or Rinaa. They then both walked up to their seating and sat down, Kay then sitting next to John and Fia then next to Kay. They both felt like that was their rightful place, just as Jay and John felt their place should be either side of Elliott.

Both of them kept looking around as people filed in from every side, filling up the amptheatre seating before seeing the forcefield go up around them to section off their area from the others, finding it all fascinating in a bizarre manner that even the people who were just sitting in on the trial got sectioned apart and not just the people actually on trial. Elliott wasn't the only one who noticed the group walking in with war paint streaked across their face diagonally across their left eyes. Fia then leaned across slightly over Kay so Kay, John and Elliott could all hear her as well as Cal and Cliff. "it's like the murals, think they're all part of the movement?" she asked in a slightly hushed tone, already thinking that had to be it herself, but was curious for their opinions as well. "I think so kiddo" Kay replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

For Jay, having everybody sectioned apart during trials made perfect sense, it was the way she'd grown up seeing it done. She'd seen first hand what could happen when opposing sides of any kind came in too close contact. With tensions running as high as they were in this court room, both sides determined to dig their heels in and persist until the bitter end to get their case heard, all it would take for one person to lose their cool was was a few select insults and jabs and once one person lost control it would be all too easy for a riot to break out. Those who weren't on a particular side were placed in the middle to act as a buffer between the two sides. In order for one side to attach the other they'd have to first go through the very people that might be ale to secure them a successful outcome in the case. The force-fields served a similar purpose, again putting a physical barrier between the groups, and also protecting anybody should such a fight break out.

When John saw the first person with paint he'd dismissed it as some kind of cultural thing, (a tribal symbol, like Jay's warrior marks maybe, but on a far smaller scale) as the person in question was clearly not Devra- lacking the distinctive golden eyes. But when more and more people began showing up with the same line on their face, he sat up straighter and began paying attention, nudging Elliott to get his attention (an unnecessary gesture as Elliott had already seen them and was drawing his own conclusions). "It can't be a coincidence" he agreed, speaking quietly and leaning in so the others could hear him "their marks are almost exactly the same length and in exactly the same position as my scar, look, it's even going across the eyelids like mine does. This must be something to do with the 'second phase' there were rumours about." He made airquotes around the phrase 'second phase' as up until last night they'd seen no sign of it, and believed it to just be people getting over-excited.

A few second later Jay leaned over, holding out her phone. Open on screen was one of the largest deep web sites used by the members of the movement. Earlier that morning somebody had posted about marking up to show your support for Elliott's side (which had been dubbed the forces of justice by somebody). Once everybody had seen it she flipped to another site, and another, and another. Each site she flicked to showed the same message, posted at the same time, by one of three accounts. "That's EXACTLY what's going on."

 

[MzHyde]

Hearing Elliott agree that it can't be an coincidence, made Fia feel like she wasn't going completely insane by coming to that conclusion, especially when he pointed out the fact that the marking was exactly the same length and going over their eyelids just like Elliott's did. When he mentioned about the second phase that they had previously seen posted about, Fia had almost forgotten about it until it was yet again brought up, nodding thinking it made sense if it was the second phase. She looked at what Jay was showing her and everyone else as Jay flicked through many sites all telling people to go to the trial with the marking.

Kay also looked, finding herself glancing from the site pages to the group and back to the site pages again, letting it sink in that yes, this truly was happening and it just had to be the second phase. "well it certainly makes a statement that's for sure and definitely makes them stand out. It's a brilliant idea for a silent protest" Kay spoke in a hushed tone after Jay took her phone back and confirmed that their suspicions are exactly correct. Fia nodded in agreement at what Kay said, knowing that if it was just one or two people that came in with it, she would have mentally just brushed it off like John would have done, but seeing a whole group with the same marking, and knowing her brother's scar incredibly well, she knew it had to be about him. She felt some kind of solidarity and comfort in seeing all the people being so open with their support for her brother, whilst feeling their little group and weird family weren't truly alone in this now they could see the faces of Elliott's supporters for themselves.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John and Chas all but forgotten about the rumoured second phase, as had Cal and Cliff. None of them would ever have considered representing and replicating Elliott's scar in such a way as viable action to take to raise awareness and promoting a feeling of unity, but to see it playing out in front of them was something else entirely. Elliott's scar was iconic by now, originally having been a negative memory of how his father had nearly tried to kill him and how badly the planet had failed him, the justice movement had transformed the scar into something else entirely, something more than just positive. It was a striking effect. Elliott's scar was prominent, but the face paint replicas were even more prominent. "That's extraordinarily clever, it's a striking look, and easy to understand. It's also a non-violent way of getting the message across." "It's a bloody strong look alright. Both in terms a' meaning and how the real one came into existence." "It's incredibly clever, I wish we'd thought of it to be honest." Cal agreed, from her position on Jay's other side. "Non-violent but effective seeming to the method that this whole movement seems to be founded on."

Looking at the posts on Jay's phone and seeing the sheer number of people in the neighbouring section bearing the face paint mark mark Elliott once again found himself overwhelmed by the show of support. The people in the next section over were veritable strangers to him, yet they'd made their stance clear in such a prominent way. The legal team in their section of the court room had evidently come to the same conclusion as John and co and had started applying their own 'scars' (quite a few using lipstick as they didn't have war paint or face paint to hand). They were Elliott's team after all and to not have the 'scar' was like waving a big flag saying 'we don't believe in this guy's cause'.

Elliott was slightly choked up by such a visible show of support, it was really hitting home the sheer number of people on his side. As a kid he'd only really had Cal, but now not only did he still have Cal, but he had a new found family and extended family through Cal's marriage to Cliff. Jay could sense Elliott was getting choked up but didn't say anything, just put the phone (which was on silent) back in her pocket, then took his hand in hers. "This really is..." Elliott paused, unable to express how much it all meant to him either in English of in Attili. "Well, you know what I'm thinking, it's the same as you guys are." "Yeah we get it." Jay told him softly before reaching into her bag and pulling out a slightly battered circular tin. Opening it revealed dark war paint- a dark blue-black colour. "Good thing I prepared for all eventualities and thought to pack this then."

 

[MzHyde]

To Fia and Kay, it was the fact that it was non violent that made it stand out oh so much more. It made it more striking, more serious and overall more incredible. It said everything without actually any words being said, and neither could expect Elliott to react in any other manner. It was even getting to them a little bit, making them well and truly speechless apart from what they both had already said. It only became more incredible when Elliott's team started doing the same thing and putting the mark on themselves, both also agreeing with Cal by simply nodding that they wished they came up with the idea, Fia even more so than Kay. If Fia was closer to Elliott (which by this stage she wished she was) she would have leaned into Elliott and hugged him from the side, but let Jay do the comforting support instead as it was all she could do.

Kay and Fia both saw Jay dig through her bag and pull out a tin, revealing it to be war paint, making both of them smirk seeing that once again Jay had proved that she really did think for every eventuality. "I really shouldn't be surprised by you Jay, and yet you surprise me once again" Fia smirked, more than willing to join in in marking her face to be part of the movement, even if no one else in their group did. She was proud of her brother and she would gladly show everyone that, even if in this instance to most people she had to pretend he wasn't her brother, but just someone who was in her life. So she gestured for Jay to hand over the tin when she was ready to so she could mark her own face, knowing she had a mirror app on her phone to use to get it perfectly right. Kay also was willing to mark her face in solidarity when she was offered the tin.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal and Cliff openly gaped at the sight of the tin, seriously wondering if Jay had actually known about the second phase in advance but hadn't told them. Elliott chuckled slightly when Jay produced a old tin of war paint from her backpack, he'd known Jay long enough to know that when given given the opportunity she would plan for everything, while somehow keeping the bag light enough that she could run, fight and do parkour easily while wearing it. "Of course you have some on you" he murmured fondly, squeezing the assassin's hand in a silent thank.

"Why on Attill d'you have that on you?" John asked. "It's useful in more ways than one" Jay replied, passing the tin over to the others "If you take a big handful of it and slap it on a security camera it's excellent for covering up the lens and blocking the view. Though I'd only recommend doing it if you don't have somebody hacking the feeds as a camera going black is a good indicator that something is wrong. A good dollop over a low or medium tech thermal sensors will also stop'em from being able to detect your body heat as you pass it." Seeing the looks of interest and 'oooh I might actually use that trick some time Jay smirked slightly. "You can have that trick of the trade for free."

John was obviously more than willing to mark himself up. He was Elliott's adopted father after all, and if he didn't mark up it would not only be an incredibly cruel blow, but it would make the others in the court think he didn't give two jots about the amazing man next to him. With the aid of his phone and a couple of glances at Elliott John carefully replicated the path of the scar before passing the tin on. The war paint was cold to the touch and thicker than he expected, which made Jay's earlier comments about using it to block cameras make more sense. Once the two women had finished with the tin it was Chas' turn and like those before him he also used his phone as a mirror. Jay was the only one not to use the mirror. Instead she scrutinised Elliott's face for about a minute then scooped some of the paint up on her finger, closed her left eye and in one swift motion swiped right down her face with with the paint. A line formed from mid-way up her forehead to just above her cheek bone, a not quite perfect replica, but very damn close one of the path Elliott's scar.

 

[MzHyde]

As Jay explained her reasonings for having war paint on her and today of all days, Fia and Kay listened with interest as Fia took the tin from John when he was done, and with her phone's mirror app marked her face with the dark black/blue paint knowing how Elliott's scar goes without needing to look at her brother, making sure it neatly done so she didn't get it in her eye, but trailed off just like a scar would be on the ends, before passing it over to Kay, and holding the mirror on her phone up for her Kay in the process and so forth, as Kay gave the tin to Chas. Kay found bizarrely that marking her face with some form of paint reminded her of her younger years when her and Sam did some kind of outdoor event (one she couldn't remember exactly what it was but knew Sam would remember) and she got absolutely covered in various multicoloured powders and paints. It made her realise how long it had been since she last did such an action and that despite how dark her past was, there were some hilarious times.

Fia wasn't surprised that Jay didn't need to consult Elliott's face as reference for doing the scar, and even though it wasn't perfectly done, it was damn close. Seeing their whole group also marked up in solidarity made Fia and Kay feel so proud of the whole group and empowered by the meaning of the cause. Neither were surprised that Jay knew of other uses for war paint either, having now just used it themselves, suddenly fully understanding why it'd be good for things that weren't a person's skin. Fia couldn't help but think 'United we stand' seeing them all with a replica of Elliott's scar, knowing that for them, this was just another act and example of how strong they were all together as a family.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Despite having seen Elliott's scar almost every day for a solid eight years (once he'd turned twenty Elliott had started to travel, staying away from the apartment for longer and longer periods of time) John still had an irrational feeling that if he didn't look at Elliott's scar he'd balls it up. Once everybody was marked up, they couldn't help but look at each other and grin broadly. There was a certain childish playful element to marking themselves like this, but it was all but overwhelmed by the feeling of unity and solidarity that they truly were all in it together. Elliott was the only one who didn't mark up, as he had the real, original scar and covering it up would be in his opinion a confusing contradiction. But had things been reversed and it was somebody else bearing the scar (Cal for instance) he would have marked up in a heartbeat.

The night before Cal and Cliff had drilled court room etiquette into everybody's heads and as soon as the judges panel arrived and were settled, they too went over the rules of behaviour. All phones had to be turned on silent or off altogether and you certainly weren't allowed to answer your phone in the court building. All weapons were to be left outside the courtroom and anybody with powers was prohibited from using them in the court room (and if they did use them, well the were already in court and it would be all too easy to sentence them there and then for breach of code. There was to be no filming or recording outside of official and approved ones. Any classified information shared within this court had to stay within this court, and if something classified was shared they'd all have to sign non-disclosure agreements (which Elliott said was the equivalent of the Official Secrets Act). The no eating rule was slightly more lax, you could nibble on a snack, so long as it wasn't noisy or crinkly and you did it discreetly. The same applied to drinking and to talking, low whispers were allowed among watchers, but no louder. The majority of the proceedings would be conducted through Attili, with the exceptions being certain witnesses and experts from off-world who didn't speak the language.

As Cal, Jay and Cliff had warned them, the initial stages of the trial were incredibly boring to listen to and to watch as both sides argued over what exactly they believed the direction of the trial should be. It was also arguably the most important part of the trial as Elliott's team needed to make it clear from the start that this wasn't just about getting justice for Elliott's personal experiences, but also for various other magic users on Attil. Both sides were incredibly well prepared, but to jay it seemed as if their side had a slight advantage, as the defence side had not been expecting the sheer level of tenacity and preparation. She, Elliott, John, Cal and Cliff were all right on the edges of their seats, not wanting to miss anything.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia and Kay saw no issues with the court etiquette or rules that were set in place when everyone important entered the room. They both had in their heads that it'd be of the strictest level, especially as it was such a high level case to begin with. A lot of the rules they saw similarities to Earth high case trials, so neither of them got surprised or shocked to hear any of the rules, actually finding them more than reasonable to abide by. When it came to the powers rule in parotuclar, neither of them saw it ever being a problem as both had a good enough control of their fire ability to not accidentally get themselves caught out, charged and thrown in jail. If this had happened before Kay had a better bond with Fee, it might have been a slightly different story and it may have then given Kay slight anxiety and made her beg Fee to never get over emotional at anything that would be said, so she wouldn't be the one getting into trouble.

As it all started, Fia found herself sitting forward by leaning forward, having her elbows on her knees, chin in her hands. She managed to remain like that for a good forty minutes before she felt she had to sit back a bit as her elbows were digging into her knees too hard by that point, and thus making her knees go numb. Kay sat back properly the whole time, only ever switching from being cross legged to not cross legged every once in a while as she listened to everything being said, seeing for herself just prepared Elliott's team truly were. Some aspects were indeed boring and long, but she continued to listen even though for the most part she couldn't understand it (she was picking up the odd word here and there after listening to Elliott teach Fia Attili, and having heard John and Chas speak Attili). This court case was testing Fia in her memory when it came to the language, finding that she was picking up a lot more words than she thought she would. She only ever whispered the odd question to John about what was said if she didn't quite catch the full pronunciation of certain words.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John had no intention of breaking any of the many rules of court, as he actually agreed with them and understood why they were necessary. Using powers in public was second nature to most on Attil, and the range of powers was simply vast. He had no intentions of drawing attention to himself by using magic, no wanting to jeopardise the momentous change in the rights of magic users that was being proposed and fought for. He certainly didn't want to give the opposing side any form of 'mages are all loose cannons, just look at this uncivilised oik' ammunition. Dan was of the same opinion, though with his magic runes appearing to be counter-banded (and Fia's being completely covered up by her outfit) none of them were considered threats in that regard. There was a certain irony in the fact that Jay was just as dangerous with her abilities as she was about them. The only power she possessed couldn't be weaponised, her timeline sensitivity was ironically more likely to harm her than it was anybody else. Her other power was a healing one, but as she'd explained one night, it was faulty and temperamental, having never fully recovered after her brother's death.

Although John had been first almost bored to tears and then driven almost to the point of frustration when they were having the Attilian justice system, key players in this trial and a long list of legal terms drilled into their heads, he had to admit that it really was paying off now. He wasn't following everything- the legal language used at this part of the trail was ridiculously complex- but he was understanding far more than he thought he would (and wasn't as bored as he thought he'd be). It was clear that these people were top of their field and top of their game. He was seriously impressed by the tenacity of Elliott's team in particular, their level of preparation, coherence and organisation suggested that they had been prepping ever since Elliott was back on planet, and having a trial date thrown at them out of nowhere wasn't an obstacle at all, but a sort of relief that finally they got to take action. Elliott's thoughts were along similar lines, and he had the utmost respect and awe for his legal team. In his mind they were the real heroes of this cause, he was just the bloke that happened to show up at the right time to become the public face of the cause. Neither he nor Jay let go of the other's hand during the morning segment of the trial, they were in it together.

 

[MzHyde]

Elliott and Jay never letting go of the other's hand didn't go amiss on Fia throughout the whole trial. It was such a usual thing for her to see, that it was nice to see it happening in this time and that it wasn't something that only started happening much later on. Yet her main focus was well and truly on the trial and how seemingly effortless Elliott's team seemed to be handling the whole thing. It was incredible to watch and almost inspiring to see his team never backing down and always managing to come out with a counter perfectly that in Fia's eyes, it would be hard to fight what they were saying, even though it was happening. Even if it was being spoken in English, some of the legal jargon would have bored her, but she wanted to try and absorb as much as she could so she wasn't the typical teenager who didn't understand what was going on.

Kay did her best to get a grip on what was being spoken about, finding herself trying to put two and two together and make four, though she was impressed that Fia got some of what being said and telling her some of the bits she understood, to keep Kay in the loop. As the trial went on, Kay was making a mental note of how long they were sat watching rhd trial for, noting that hour after hour was passing by, making her question how these lawyers and their teams could have such stamina to keep going the way they were. It was highly admirable in her eyes, and thought the same thing as Elliott about how his team was the real heroes here. Eventually she sighed with relief when a break was being called, feeling like her mind was going to burst with just how much was discussed.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Even though they'd been warned that this trial was going to be a marathon, John and Chas weren't expecting it to on as long as it did without stopping. John had actually attended some criminal trials before this one (though not because he was being prosecuted like most people might expect, he didn't actually have a criminal record as he'd never been caught, but there was a file on him at the Met, containing the barest of information and a note stating that anybody asking after John Constantine was to be directed to DS Aisha Bukhari). The most noticeable had been in relation to the apartment inferno that killed his father (it was ruled as a tragic accident in the end). On Earth it seemed to him like the court was breaking for lunch or deliberation every half hour or so. This was most definitely not the situation in the Attilian courts.

There was a visible sigh of relief across the courtroom when a break was called with the legal types looking most pleased. Glancing at his watch John was astounded by just how much time had passed. "Bloody Hells, I know you lot said it was going to be long but..." "Yeah, it's full on and heavy. You can see why most people have immense respect for lawyers. It takes a certain type of person to be able to argue, stay logical and stay relevant over such long periods of time." "Hence why a lot of politicians from these parts have some kind of law background." Elliott added, letting go of Jay's hand so he could stretch out his arms properly and loosen up his shoulders again. "You don't fuck around with these high-level lawyers." Jay agreed, running a hand up her face and through her hair, no trace of piss-taking in her voice.

"I vote we go get lunch now. It'll be another similarly long session in the afternoon and we've got an hour and a half." Cliff declared as she stood up, watching as the others began to file out of the court room. "I'm bloody starving, so I agree." John was first to reply, despite having eaten as large a breakfast as he could managed he was ravenous now. "I'm also in favour of that." "As am I." "Same here, you got anywhere in mind?" Cal asked her wife, who nodded, giving the name of a small place about a ten minute walk from the courts. "They won't be mobbed at this time and they're a bit out of the way so we don't run the risk of running into a mob of lawyers."

 

[MzHyde]

As John, Cal, Jay and Elliott all spoke about the lengths these trials go to after John's initial remark, Fia and Kay both found themselves needing to stretch both arms and legs out in front of them as they remained seated before relaxing again, wondering what the plan of action is going to be whilst everyone has a break. Both of them were like John and feeling rather hungry by this point, but refrained from commenting on it for now as Jay finished saying what she had to. They could really see why you wouldn't mess these professionals about in the slightest as both sides were so on the ball with what they had to say, neither backing down in the slightest and reminding Kay of the saying 'got their grips onto it like a bulldog', meaning neither will let go or let anything slide without a bloody strong fight.

The moment Cliff said to everyone about going for something to eat, Kay and Fia both gave eager nods (Fia more so) of agreement whilst John expressed his agreement a lot more vocally, with Elliott and Chas doing so also. "don't mind where we go as long as we eat something" Fia commented with a close mouthed grin. "agreed, if we actually get to eat without being mobbed, I'm good for going anywhere relatively close by" Kay added, standing up and really feeling just how stiff her legs had gotten from sitting down for so long. She managed to refrain from groaning in complaint but it did show in her eyes if one were to recognise it. Fia stood up also, instantly shoving her hands partially into her jacket pockets, bring more than ready to head out, get some fresh air and eat.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff wasn't surprised that everybody was ravenous, she herself was also starving. If their group was mentally exhausted and physically starving after just sitting and watching, she dreaded to think how the legal teams were feeling after the morning session spent explaining, arguing and counter-arguing while pacing, getting up and down out of seats and trying not to make an idiot of themselves either withe their words or their actions. "Well that's that settled." Cliff declared as they all heaved themselves out of their seats and joined the others filing out of the court room. They exited by the same door they had come in, which meant they were leaving with their legal team (another one of the numerous measures being taken to ensure a physical fights wouldn't break out between the two sides). Cal, Cliff and Elliott exchanged some brief words with some specific people before leaving the building.

They left by the tunnel, re-emerging above ground in a different section of the city two blocks away from the court building. The building could still be seen, rising above the roofs of the nearby buildings, the metallic, multi-textured tiles gleaming in the sunlight. Cliff led the way to her chosen restaurant, a small place, tucked at the end of a street with a second-hand bookshop on one side and a small park. The term park was an exaggeration, it was more of a small grassy square containing a few low bushes and a pair of the blue trees John liked so much. There were a selection of patrons already there, but none appeared to any of the lawyers from the trial. As the weather was nice Cal decided they should avail of the fact this restaurant had a roof terrace so they could soak in some of the sun after spending so much time indoors in the courtroom.

 

[MzHyde]

With everyone decided that food was by far the best option they dlhad right now, Kay and Fia followed everyone out of their seats and out the way they came in earlier on. As they walked back through the tunnels (which both knew it was the right thing to do, now there were so many more people around), Fia could feel her stomach trying to grumble from the hunger but it wasn't loud and she was thankful for it as she didn't want to teased for having a loud grumbly stomach, like when John found it hysterical when Kay's stomach growled loudly one time.

Reaching the outside world once more, the feel of fresh air hitting their faces was a welcome sensation, noting how it was a different area than before and followed Cliff to leading the way to the chosen eatery for the day. Getting there, both girls saw the miniature park, Fia being highly amused by the blue trees not realising that they fascinated and amused John in the same way. Kay on the other hand noticed the second hand book shop, the visual of such a place making her feel slightly home sick for the first proper time, as such stores always held so many memories for her. Getting to the restaurant, neither her or Fia had issues about making the most of the roof terrace to eat, as neither wanted to remain cooped up inside four walls for this lunch break. So they followed everyone else upstairs when they could get in, sitting down when it was okay to do so and enjoyed the air.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Seeing the blue trees John once again smirked, there was just something so brilliantly amusing about them in his mind. He wasn't sure why or how but somehow they managed to be the right combination of nature and art and resonated with some part of his soul. As a young kid he'd been drawn to the freedom that art provided, being able to take simple materials and make whatever you wanted with them (not that he actually possessed any particular talent in the area, he was pretty average in that regard). But as he got older that childish wonder and enthusiasm was lost and beaten out of him as the reality of how shit his life was came and slapped him in the face. Instead his energy was channelled either into acting out or into magic. Without consciously knowing he was doing so, he picked the seat that afforded him the best view of the trees.

Thanks to her lessons from Elliott, Fia would now be able to understand a decent chunk of the menu. Elliott had deemed understanding the words for food to be one of the most essential things to know in a language, there was no use in being able to talk about politics if you couldn't figure out what food was what. Their lesson had ended up getting very side tracked as Elliott ended up looking up pictures of various Attilian dishes to show Fia, as they didn't have a proper Earth equivalent. Once Jay saw what they were doing she came over and suggested a couple more exotic dishes to look up, which Elliott willingly did. The restaurant was one of those places that did a bit of everything, having no particular theme food wise. Service was also prompt, only taking about fifteen minutes to assemble their massive order (including all the various side dishes and dips).

 

[MzHyde]

As they all sat down Fia made an effort to sit next to Elliott because she k ew this would be a good time to practice what she had learned from Elliott as she looked at the menu, whilst continuing to learn from him at the same time. In her eyes, if she was going to seriously learn a new language then she shouldn't ever stop, making any moment a moment to learn. She didn't mind that her lessons got side tracked as she would never complain talking about food, as she really did love her food. As Elliott started showing her the pictures of certain dishes, including the ones Jay was suggesting, she enjoyed putting the words to the pictures, whilst looking to what she actually wanted in the process.

Kay was now totally the only one who needed a bit of translating for, at least for some of the dishes that she wasn't noticing that Fia was pointing out. She managed to find something to eat, as did Fia, and was glad that it didn't take long for their order to be taken, made up and brought over. Like with everything else they had tried since being here, the dishes were tasty and delicious. Kay found herself making mental notes of the spices and flavourings used in her dish, knowing that if she could, she wod like to recreate as best she could some of the meals she had eaten here on Attil, back on Earth. Fia was just as pleased with her meal, making a point to make it very known on her face just how much she was enjoying it. "when I go back I'm gonna seriously miss this food" she declared with a mouthful. Kay smirked, knowing that if she was anyone else she probably would have retorted with 'shame it's made you forget your table manners', but she refrained from saying it, thinking if she was to say such a thing, her alternate older self can say it and not her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott nodded vigorously in agreement with Fia's words. "Same here, I'd actually kinda forgotten just how good the food is here." he admitted, slightly sheepishly. "Even the cheaper student budget stuff is better then a considerable amount of Earth's food." John nodded in agreement "As somebody who spent most of their life eating various degrees of shitty meals and own brand shite, I can confirm that everything I've had here so far has been at least six times better than that." Chas rolled his eyes at the way John phrased it, while at the same time choosing not to comment on Fia displaying her mashed-up food to the world. But he couldn't deny the truth in John's words either- Attil's food was amazing. Every place they'd been had been great quality. "I think we're all gonna miss the food kid."

"No wonder you practically inhaled that take-away I smuggled in the first day you were in prison." Cal said to Elliott the realisation as to why he'd enjoyed such a relatively simple dish so much dawning on her. "As soon as I smelt it, it took me right back. But yeah, before that I really had forgotten just how amazing the flavours of Attilian food were. Surviving for a year on deep space packaged rations will do that to a person I suppose." Jay, Cal and Cliff pulled faces, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Jay then paused, as the depth of what Elliott said sunk in. "So... let me get this straight, when you were cut adrift from this planet, your craft JUST SO HAPPENED to have a years worth of food on board?" There was both scepticism and curiosity in her voice. "Um.. yes?" Elliott replied, his voice trailing off as the same realisation that had just come to Jay, also came over him.

 

[MzHyde]

If they weren't all on a lunch break from an important trial, the way they were together, Fia could have been convinced they were just having a generic family lunch out, but she knew that wasn't the case. But the feeling felt like lighter than it did in the morning, even if the case wasn't fully gone from any of their minds. It seemed talking about good food was a perfect distraction for the lot of them. She smirked and sniggered at John's words, knowing that in her time his opinion did change because Kay almost always cooked when it was just the three of them (or sometimes when they had visitors if they didn't resort to takeout) and Kay's cooking got even better than it already was from years of being able to actually cook and bake. Fia didn't always have such bad table manners, but she was just so impressed with her choice of dish that she couldn't help herself and ended up talking before she fully finished the mouthful, though she could tell that both Chas and Kay wanted to say something to her but chose not to.

As the mini side subject cropped up about Elliott just luckily having rations in the ship he was stuck in for a year as a kid, both her and Kay felt their eyebrows raise curiously. "Well that sounds totally suspicious if you ask me, no way was that coincidence, that's too lucky of a situation to just be coincidental" Fia commented to Elliott. "Fia has a point there, that seems almost too lucky" Kay agreed, pointing her fork toward Fia as she spoke between mouthfuls.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John's fork froze on the way to his mouth as the enormity of what Jay had realised hit him too. His jaw was left hanging for a brief second again before he came to his wits and remembered where he was and who he was with and shut his mouth again, setting down his fork, now wasn't the time for eating. In all the years he'd known the story of Elliott's departure of Attil, he'd never once considered the fact that Elliott had ended up on a craft with everything he needed to survive for a year (and potentially far longer) in deep space. "Bloody Hells, now that you" he indicated Jay, this was her brainwave after all, credit where credit was due "say it, that doesn't make any sense at all. If they wanted him dead, just rig the ship to depressurise outside of Attili planetary space." He gave Elliott a look of 'no offence, I'm very, very glad that didn't happen'. Elliott nodded, knowing John's words had no malice in them. "And beside, coincidences don't exist. Somebody wanted you to alive."

Chas had been going through a similar process of realisation to John. Cal and Cliff meanwhile were looking at disbelief at each other wondering why had neither of them had thought to question that part of Elliott's story. They'd only heard it for the first time a few months ago. They supposed it was because neither wanted to dredge up any memories that were too traumatic and Cal was too overwhelmed by the fact that her brother (who she'd been convinced was dead was still alive). "But it wasn't just food though. That craft had gravity so there was no muscle atrophy or severe calcium loss, Ell was well able to walk and move when he crashed not like how somebody would usually be after a year in zero-gravity. And you didn't go completely out of your mind either as there was a whole host of shit that kept you occupied too. So I'm withe everybody, there is more to it than meets the eye."

Elliott shrugged, pushing his hand through his hair in the way he always did when he was thinking particularly while at the same time worried. "I guess I never really think about that part of things much...." he trailed off, thought for a moment before shaking his head and correcting his previous statement. "No, that's not right, not right at all." He said slowly. "I don't actually remember them." Another pause as his eyes flickered blue for a second as he retreated into his mind to check. His eyes changed back about a minute later. "There's this gap between me getting my face slashed open and seeing Attil retreating away from me through a spaceship window. I guess I blacked out from extent of the trauma or I've been seriously repressing those memories these past twelve years." He gave a look at Cliff, the question clear on his face 'is that possible in your experience as doctor?' Cliff nodded slowly. "Both are possible, they're actually pretty typical for trauma victims. But unlike most, you're a MindWalker, if they're repressed, you could..... in theory find them again. You know your mind better than anybody else in the universe after all."

 

[MzHyde]

The moment Fia mentioned about coincidences and how it's couldn't be that in the slightest, she just knew John would spout how there was no such thing. She had heard that spiel far too much for her to not know that was his stance on the subject, whereas as she still wasn't sure if he was right or Kay was that had to be such a thing in some context or another. Yet she also couldn't help but still think on the whole rations subject nor that Jay had well and truly brought it up. She listened as everyone gave their opinions, nodding in agreement with them all, that there had to be more to it, but was it really important enough to ttry and figure out? Would it be something valuable to know? Or was it just something that would be nice for Elliott to know but do nothing with the information.

She also thought that now Elliott had put the question to Cliff and Cliff gave her expert opinion, she had to think that Cliff had a valid point. "that's a valid point, I guess it's a case of deciding Ell if you want to try and find out or just leave it in the past and focus on the here and now" she summarised shrugging, continuing to eat what was left of her lunch, finally having proper manners as she did so and proving that nothing could stop her from eating good food, not even a curious conversation. Kay had to admit, Fia made a very valid point there, Elliott was doing so much in her eyes to move on from hi spasy, close that door and focus on his present and future which she admired him for.