A glowing group of symbols appeared before the occupants in the lower arena seating. Some senators took a moment to deliberate before their group of symbols flashed and disappeared. Others didn't even look at the options before their voting enchantment display flashed in response to some unseen input and faded away.
Soon only the silver-fringed group of senators remained undecided, numbering 8 in total. The Purist Party seemed to have enough members to make up just under half of the senate and Tilly realized with some anxiety that it would be almost impossible for them to be voted innocent if this yet undecided party chose guilty, or abstained.
The front position of this smaller group was taken by a truly ancient Satyr, his wizened face almost lost in the ridiculously long but thin white beard flowing down from his chin and upper lip. He sat there stoically considering each of the three symbols floating in front of him. He seemed to weigh the choice for an unhurried age with a look of focused deliberation on his face. Then in a break with all of his peers, he moved his hand in a deliberate motion and selected one of the options, making sure the whole arena could see his vote. The rest of his group hesitated briefly to look at each other before following suit with a series of quick flashes marking their decisions.
Tilly couldn't help but scan the crowd hoping for some hint of which way the different groups had voted. As he was taking in each group he finally tried to put the names he had heard in the closet meeting to the groups before him. If his assumptions were right, then the silver-fringed group had to be the Loyalists… which from context clues, had something to do with the emperor. They held themselves rigid, ignoring the looks of the others in the arena, instead impassively looking to the Judge, who seemed to be receiving the tally in real-time.
He sat there wearing a far-off look as lights danced before his eyes. Then suddenly, they were gone and he was scowling down at the arena floor, ready to be done with this trial.
“The vote has been tallied at 36 nays, 30 ayes, and 0 abstained. Let the people of our glorious empire know that Justice has prevailed… Hiro Mosimoto. Before the eyes of those in this court, the emperor, and the heavens themselves, you are pronounced Not Guilty.”
Upon his announcement, the entire silver-fringed group stood and filed out of the arena, leaving some in confusion, and others in outright animosity.
“You haven't voted for months!” One gold-fringed senator shouted at their backs,
“And now you choose to vote? For a filthy long ear!”
None of them replied as they filed through an exit, their absent response leaving its mark on the rest of the assembly, many turning and speaking to each other, trying to unravel the inscrutable choice of the Loyalists. Tilly couldn’t quite see who was shouting, and as soon as he started scanning the gold group, he couldn't help but be drawn again into the frosty glare of the head of the Purists. He sat looking down at Tilly as one would look at a particularly skittery roach that was about to get stomped.
“Order, order.” The judge called out in a tired voice.
“We have two more motions to move forward this morning before we break, all those not present automatically choose to abstain. Lord Matsumoto and delegation, you are dismissed.”
At that Hiro and Shuji stood and moved towards the same arched opening they had entered through, with Tilly close behind.
“Hey… ugh, sorry about what I said up there about the village,” Tilly whispered hurriedly as they exited the Cura.
Hiro kept moving down the stairs but waved off the apology like it was inconsequential. Shuji however turned and beamed at Tilly with his characteristically huge smile.
“Do not worry yourself, Mr. Tillman, you have been named friend! And you have once again proven your great worth to our people. If I may be so bold, it is probably we who owe you an apology. We had to come up with a plan very quickly, and we knew if we brought you along as an unknown, those nosy Purists wouldn’t be able to help themselves. It worked out wonderfully! If our luck holds we might even survive the coming calamity!”
Tilly almost missed a step as Shuji delivered the last words, seemingly without a care in the world. Then Hiro stopped suddenly on the steps, and turned back towards Tilly, his face drawn in a serious frown,
“This whole building is enchanted to prevent divination, but once we leave its protection, we will not be safe from being overheard until we lose ourselves in the city. This trial played out as well as it could for us, however, this means that they will try and end us with more overt methods, possibly as soon as dusk. We will leave this building and move fast, and I will tell you when we are relatively secure. Do not engage with anyone unless you see us do the same. They will find us, and we must do what we can to be ready.” He delivered in a steady but focused voice that broached no argument.
He was about to turn back down the stairs, but Tilly moved to stop him, lifting his hand to grab his shoulder, before thinking better of it and turning it into something of a hand raise.
“Look Hiro, I'm with you and I understand that you have a lot more to worry about than me and my problems, but hear me out… I don't care if we are in the middle of a fight for our lives. Tonight, I need some answers.” Tilly said, once again allowing some of the frustration of the last few days to color his tone.
Hiro didn’t acknowledge the reach but did nod sharply at the statement, before turning to move. Shuji moved over and turned his bombastic smile on once again giving Tilly a friendly pat on the shoulder before hurrying down after Hiro.
'Guess that is a yes...'
Tilly moved to follow distractedly, not for the first time worrying about how far beyond his ability circumstances had moved. He couldn't help but feel like a noob in a high-level zone. Nearly every possible combatant he had seen in the city was at least twice his level if not more.
Before he knew it, he was at the bottom of the stairs, and Hiro and Shuji were cutting through the crowd of squawking bureaucrats like a smoothbore nozzle cutting through fire in a fully involved room. There was something about the purpose with which Hiro moved that easily set him apart from his surroundings as they milled about amongst the tree-like pillars. Tilly followed in his wake, wondering if he would ever find his way in this world or be cursed to be caught up in this seemingly undeniable tide of events. Being treated like a hanger-on and told to follow was getting old. He shifted his jacket uncomfortably over his scar as he half-jogged to keep up with the odd loping gait that all of the lapin seemed to possess.
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They made it through the crowds in the Cura and emerged at the front steps of the building to find the same Satyr who had started all of this waiting for them with his formal servant. Tilly did note however that he lacked the guards that had accompanied him previously and hoped that this was a sign that he was no longer acting as an agent of the state.
His face was a storm cloud of anger, juxtaposed by the slack professional expression of his servant. He stood at the entrance of the Cura, clearly prepared for a public showdown, wanting to regain some face. Hiro didn't even bother to acknowledge him, simply moving around him like an inanimate object, Shuji following suit. This only darkened the satyr’s already stormy expression and his eyes flashed with fury.
Unfortunately, he was surprised by the move of avoidance and did not want to turn and look like he was following the moving lapins, so his eyes fixed on Tilly, who was a few steps behind the purposeful pair.
“You dirty, long-ear loving, Cur. How dare you besmirch my family's name in such a public setting.” He declared in front of the growing crowd of onlookers. Apparently, they had known to anticipate this very meeting. The young aristocrat followed up his insult with one of the pettiest and most disgusting things Tilly could imagine. He spat in Tilly’s face.
Now Tilly had been a Firefighter for decades, and bodily fluids were a part of the job. He couldn't count the number of times he had been forced into contact with blood, urine, and even feces on duty. But in his many years... he had never been spit on. He had to admit, it did not agree with him at all.
Tilly saw red, and the sound of his throbbing heartbeat filled his ears. His whole body tensed like a fully compressed spring and his side spasmed releasing a sickly sweet feeling of pleasure and relief. The sweet tingling spread up from his side and down his extremities and he felt ready for anything. This world kept pushing him around and it was time for him to start pushing back.
He didn't know what a Level 38 Quaestor was but all thought of consequences had flown from his mind, and his face cracked into a manic grin as goat spittle dribbled past his lips. A new flashing notification went unnoticed, as Tilly imagined rearranging the goat's chin.
The offender's sneer of hate momentarily ticked into a smirk at the sight of the reaction, and the steward's stance subtly shifted, the weight of his body moving from his heels to the balls of his feet.
Then Shuji, as if out of thin air, was between the three, interrupting the building tension with his unbelievably cheerful smile. He moved in front of the Marcellus's heir with such a fawning expression that the satyr’s satisfied smirk twisted into a rictus of confusion and disgust.
“My Lord! I am deeply grieved that this ignorant human has injured you and your family so unjustly!” He cried out, with literal tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Then he dropped to his knees before the Satyr and started weeping at his feet, loudly. The transition was so shocking that it blew away Tilly’s mindless fury like a brisk breeze clearing morning fog. The tingling remained in his veins but no longer demanded action.
Then Shujji raised the ridiculous performance to a new level, moving towards Satyr's legs and attempting to kiss them. As the possibility of being touched by such a base creature became a reality, fury reignited on Titus Marcellus' face, and Tilly saw his arm begin to writhe and glow with a dangerous purple aura. Shuji didn't even look up from his crying as the Satyr raised his arm in a flash, preparing to bring it down in some sort of strike.
Tilly moved without thinking, some sort of eerie competence taking the place of his shock as he saw the danger Shuji was in. He activated [Resolute] as he dived over the prostrating Lapin. A flash of purple shone from above as he lost view of all but Shuji, who was already moving as if having anticipated the strike from the beginning. Then a searing crushing pain exploded along his shoulders shattering his awareness momentarily before fading completely and leaving him gasping on the ground.
He quickly adjusted to the absence of the intense pain and pushed himself up from his position preparing to reach for his hatchets. He looked up to find looks of bewilderment on the faces of everyone present. The crowd that had formed to eagerly watch the events unfold broke out in exclamations of shock. Even the implacable steward was looking around with his hand in his jacket as if trying to identify the new unknown variables that had entered the field.
Shuji, the sneaky bastard, had somehow ended up ten feet down the steps in all the confusion, and he looked back up at Tilly with a chagrined expression on his face. The Quaestor however was the most put off by the change of events. His fury developed into a sort of near panic, clearly unused to being so out of control.
“You… Your human trickery… I demand satisfaction!” He finally stuttered out as his right arm started to twitch along with his face.
“That will not happen.” Stated a calm Hiro appearing in the growing crowd with several of the scarred guards that Tilly had seen at the bottom of the inner steps. Hiro continued as if he was completely in control of the situation,
“You feel you have been insulted, and have in turn insulted and struck one of those in my retinue. It is now my responsibility to pursue satisfaction at my leisure, and be sure I will be doing so… ” He said, nothing in his manner or voice changing, but still somehow impregnating his words with an incredible amount of menace.
The steward instantly moved between Hiro and his master and the younger satyr choked on his furious reply.
“Shuji, Mr. Tillman, Come. It is time to take our leave.” He said once again turning to move down the stairs, the crowd parting before him like minnows scattering before a shark.
Shuji moved to follow immediately, and Tilly was only a second behind, following in Hiro’s wake. As he moved, he couldn't help but turn back and shout over his shoulder, “That wasn't a human trick! You just hit like an infant!” He called, wiping any remaining spit from his face. Was it childishness, sure. But sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.
A scream of fury followed them down the steps, “Mark my words filth! You will be paste, smeared under my boot by the end of the day!” His words caused the already mumbling crowd to ripple with more animated discussion. Even that faded into the normal sounds of a bustling city as Hiro, Shuji, and Tilly moved out onto the promenade choked with every aspect of life.