I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday [W3, Early Saturday Pre-Trial]

[hydrokinetics]

[He can't sleep. That's nothing new. He can't sleep but he can't stop shaking, upset and riled up and ready to kill whoever was responsible with his bare hands. It didn't matter now. The most important person to him was gone and he needed to survive. He needed to win.

He needed...Annabeth, unfortunately.

It's about 2am, probably closer to 3 when he glances at the bed across the room and finds Harry sleeping. He's in his pajamas but he's quietly getting dressed before bundling up the injured Mrs. O'Leary in a blanket and carrying her downstairs. He had a mind to just go straight to Town Hall, wait for the trial to begin, clear his head, but a noise from the lobby draws his attention. With light steps he turns that way, peering in and spotting...]

...Xion. [It's a gentle tone all the same, enough to not startle her but get her attention.] It's late.

Comments

[hydrokinetics]

Yes. [It's a quiet but sure answer as they walk along. Mrs. O'Leary whimpers slightly and his hand moves to pet her head and console her as best as he can.] That's why we need to be careful and keep everyone on track. You saw how out of hand everything got last week with Higekiri. With so many moving parts, it's going to be hard not to accuse more than one person.

[ceded]

I remember. [ Her voice has dropped to a whisper, albeit briefly. ]

We have to figure out ... how everything happened. How everyone got where they ended up, what weapons were used, and ... how many people were involved. It can't have been just one person, right?

[ Since Nui killed Riku... who killed Nui, and Annabeth, for that matter? ]

[hydrokinetics]

Could be bandits, could be someone else. We don't know what else is out there. Maybe it was a role, maybe it was just someone who wanted to kill. But no, I don't think it was just one person. [There's a lull, like he's not sure if the question will offend her.]

Can I ask you something? Do you know why someone would want to kill Riku specifically?

[ceded]

[ Giving the question its due keeps her quiet for a long, long moment. At the very least, she's obviously thinking it over seriously. Still, in the end, she shakes her head. ]

No. Actually, he was rarely in town. He spent most of his time at the homestead. [ She tilts her head. ] If he did something to make anyone angry... he never told me.

[hydrokinetics]

That's a really far walk. [Though that explains why he saw Riku at the lake earlier this week.] It doesn't even have to be about making someone angry, I think. I don't doubt that's why Nui probably died, but...

[No one should have killed Annabeth. Not like this. It goes unsaid as they approach the tailor for him to grab some thicker shirts/jackets for them.]

We'll find whoever did this. There has to be a reason this happened this way.

[ceded]

[ Xion doesn't press him on it. She understands. She might be the only person who understands right now. ]

... I was at the homestead earlier today. I went up there to see if ... he'd left anything. And he did. [ Her voice gets soft, and tired. ] He wrote me a letter... in case anything ever happened to him.

[ her chest hurts. ]

[hydrokinetics]

A letter? [He doesn't want to ask.] ...you have it with you, don't you?

[ceded]

[ Ah.

Well.

She doesn't say anything, but her silence should be answer enough. She'll just go through some of the items at the tailor, picking a thick, warm top and a blanket to bring with them. ]

[hydrokinetics]

[It is. Her silence is definitely enough and he follows suit to grab a jacket for himself and for Mrs. O'Leary to wrap her in before turning to face the exit.]

...six hours. That should be enough time to figure out what we're going to do once the trial starts.

[ceded]

... what are we going to do? I ... I have things to tell everyone, about the camera and about what ... Sara and I found ... but I don't know what more we can do.

[hydrokinetics]

Fight back. [It's always his answer.] They took people away, so we're going to fight back and make sure nobody gets too distracted by "what ifs" and other ideas.

...what about the camera?

[ceded]

[ Ah, that's right. Xion's quiet for a moment, and actually, won't answer that question until they reach the Town Hall and can settle down on the steps. ]

I wanted to tell everyone earlier, but... [ everything happened. ] The camera was stolen. When Tarvek and I woke up this morning, it was just ... gone.

[hydrokinetics]

[Once they're on the steps he's carefully wrapping Mrs. O'Leary to keep her warm, but his attention's on Xion and mildly alarmed.]

But how? Wasn't it with you the whole time?

[ceded]

I ... don't know. Tarvek and I, we ... both fell asleep really early.

[ She sounds very ... disturbed. ]

[hydrokinetics]

...someone had to know you had the camera. I don't know how, but it doesn't make sense otherwise. [A pause.] Then again, people keep ending up in the stocks without their roommates or the rest of the hotel waking up so who knows.

And Tarvek doesn't have any ideas?

[ceded]

No! [ she busts out, the early morning's confusion and frustration suddenly pouring out of her. ] Neither of us do. We don't know what went wrong. We don't even know how we fell asleep. I didn't have any trouble staying up all night last week.

[ Urgh. ]

... I don't know how anyone knew. I didn't tell anyone where I'd be this week. I'm ... I'm worried, Percy.

[hydrokinetics]

[THAT. Is alarming. He even looks more alarmed when she says that because something doesn't add up. How could they not remember something like that?]

...we'll figure that out, too. All of this happened on the same night, there has to be some kind of connection. [A beat.] You remember what I told you about being scared?

["There's always time to be scared. But there isn't any time to let being scared stop you from fighting back."] We'll have to tell everyone first thing when the trial starts. That'll be one of our starting points.

[ceded]

[ Xion nods a few times. ]

I know. I will. I was already planning on it. I'll be as objective as I can be, and ... I'll tell everyone what Sara and I found, too. [ That part is much more subdued. ]

[hydrokinetics]

Yeah. I'll have to tell everyone about Annabeth, too. [Which isn't cool at all.] ...stick with me today, okay? We'll get through it together.

[ceded]

I won't leave you, [ she says, with sudden strength. The way she looks up at him is ... well, kinda fierce. ]

I'll support you, too.

[hydrokinetics]

[What a good kid. For that, he puts a hand on her head, ruffling her hair slowly before settling in again.]

We'll be together. [He chooses not to say "it'll be okay."] If you want, you can sleep a little before the trial. I'll be on coyote watch.

[ceded]

Hey....

[ Lifts a hand as if to brush his away, but with no force and no real intention to actually do so. The gesture warms her, even in the face of all this horror. ]

No way. And make you stay up by yourself? [ With a very faint smile. ] Why do you think I came with you? We'll keep each other company.

[hydrokinetics]

[He opens his mouth to say something but shudders to a stop, realizing now isn't the right time.

"Misery loves company."

Instead, they're comfortable here and he's making sure they're both warm before he nods in agreement.]

It's the best plan we have so far. I think I can accept that. [And thus...these two sad Disneys will remain on the front steps of Town Hall, waiting for what will be the hardest trial of their lives.]