SIXTH TRIAL

[splitaseam]

[The whole trial thing must feel like the norm to everyone right now, and one can't help but wonder if this will keep happening until everyone has died.

There are three new epitaphs for Star Butterfly, Maui, and Fiddleford.

Here lies Star Butterfly
One of our most toughest girls
Went out with a pretty twirl

Here lies Maui
Claimed to be a great demigod
But it turns out he was a fraud

Here lies Fiddleford McGucket
He tried to wipe his mind
And ended up getting left behind

Well you all know what to do by now, huh?]

Don't spare any of the gory details.

Comments

[toogoodforhim]

...and Maui saw you setting the fire and-

[Ah.]

[whistlenotchirp]

No, that part was later.

First was the knife. Who'd look for poison if I... cut him up a bit...

[sixfingeredstan]

[Ooooh, boy, if Ford wasn't shaking with rage already, he sure is now.]

[toogoodforhim]

[WHAT]

Wait, what!

[whistlenotchirp]

They say only fools do things the foolish way, yet there I was...

That was when Maui came in.

...He was fast. Strong. Courageous. You should be proud. [He's... trying...]

[sixfingeredstan]

...I take it back. I don't forgive you. You don't deserve my forgiveness for trying to cover up a damn accident by defiling my husband's corpse!

[whistlenotchirp]

...Then do it. Do what you're thinking. [Once again making eye contact with Ford. No fear. No more regrets. He's confessed.]

It'll make everything easier.

Please.

[sixfingeredstan]

No. That would be a mercy you don't deserve. And I'm not planning on dying today.

[He's thought about it. About taking the easy way out. Just to see Fiddleford's face again. But he has people here that need him. He can't leave Lefou, or Naminé, or Wendy. Any of them.]

[toogoodforhim]

No. We're going to vote.

[He gets up and grips Ford's sleeve.]

No one else is going down with you.

[chainbroke]

[ Naminé gets up, too. She's conflicted. So, so conflicted. But more than anything else... she feels pity for Jiminy Cricket. ]

... No more.

[ This has to stop. ]

[toogoodforhim]

[Lefou's breath catches in his throat, words failing him. He knows. He knows that Maui was all of those things and more.]

He tried to stop you- no, to stomp you. Right?

[whistlenotchirp]

That and more. He chased me around the kitchen. Broke some glasses.

...More glasses with alcohol in them.

I was just trying to slow him down, I was too scared to think... [Think what a match would do when it hit alcohol.]

[toogoodforhim]

You stabbed him. And then threw the match.

[It makes him sick.]

What were the towels from?

[whistlenotchirp]

No. [He doesn't have a high ground to stay on, but he needs the full and complete truth.

His confession won't mean everything if it isn't exactly right.] He stepped on it. And it didn't stop him. He was on fire. And it didn't stop him. He didn't even seem to notice for a while.

He just kept chasing me until he decided he wanted to go back to you. I thought you should know that.

[sixfingeredstan]

Did Fiddleford...

[Ford swallows heavily, his voice breaking, but he has to know.]

Was it quick? Or...just tell me he didn't suffer. Please.

[whistlenotchirp]

[Another bitter chuckle. He shouldn't be laughing, its only gonna make him look like a bigger piece of shit.]

He chugged it down without a second thought. Before I even realized what he was doing. Before I... [Stopped hiding, scared of what people might think if they found oh so holy cricket taking his own life.]

I don't think he felt a thing.

[sixfingeredstan]

[That hurts even more, somehow. To know that Fiddleford didn't suspect anything. To know that he'd been just fine one moment, and dead the next. It hits Ford like a physical blow, and he sinks to his knees, arms still clinging to his tombstone. Overwhelmed by the grief he's been trying to keep down all day.

I should have noticed him out of bed. I should have gone to find him.

I'm sorry, Fiddleford.]

[toogoodforhim]

[That slaps him dead silent. Maui had been...coming back to him. He'd known that, but hearing it from the lips of the last person to see him alive makes it real.

Maui had been burning alive and his last thoughts were of getting back to LeFou.

Tears well in his eyes, but he chokes them back.]

[whistlenotchirp]

[He doesn't feel like he shouldn't interrupt the tears but... he'll get this last bit out.]

Then I... returned to the kitchen to see how bad the fire got. Did my best to stop it.

And here we are.