Looking For Group

Part 32

Twilight hasn't felt this bad since his first college party.

He had a decently high tolerance for alcohol and didn't mind a beer once in a while. There were folks at the party who kept encouraging him to drink more, wanting to know how much a Hero could handle. He didn't have any evidence but he was pretty sure someone slipped something into his cup when he wasn't looking. He didn't black out, instead stumbled his way back to his dorm where he spent the rest of the night with his head in a toilet.

Everything was stiff. His back felt like someone had glued wooden blanks to his skin. His chest burned with every breath. He was dimly aware he was holding the Master Sword, and started mentally begging it to speed up the healing process. When that obviously didn't work, he opened his eyes.

He thought he would see Wild first. Warriors or Sky. Maybe even Linkle if she hadn't wandered off yet.

The person standing over him was Dusk, his princess.

He immediately tried to sit up. "Dusk-"

She placed a hand on his chest and forced him back down. "Don't move," she said. "I'm trying to draw." She had a permanent marker in hand, doodling something on his cast.

"Wha...?" He looked around the room. Wild's bed was empty. "Where's the kid?"

Dusk hummed. "You mean your kid? Don't worry. He's with his princess. They're getting something to eat."

"And I missed that?" Twilight groaned. He wanted to see their reunion. "Um... what about Charles? Is he-?"

"If you mean that civilian they brought in with you guys, he's alive. Sky and Warriors are with him. They're going over everything with the police."

Twilight tried to sit back up again. "I need to talk to them, to tell them-"

Dusk shoved him back down, this time not so gently. "You will rest until you are well again. That is a command from your princess."

He stared up at her, his eyes wide in surprise. Usually she's not so aggressive like this. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She echoed in disbelief. "Are you seriously asking me that? You're the one in the hospital bed, with your ribs and arm broken, and you're asking me if something's wrong? Twi... when were you going to tell me you found a new Hero? When were you going to tell me you were in trouble? Why is it I had to hear from Sky that you'd been kidnapped and beaten?"

Twilight sunk further into his hospital bed. "Everything happened so fast."

"Like hell it did. It barely takes five seconds to send out a text. We've talked about your incessant need to fix everything. You never see how much it tires you out, how much your empathy drains you. I've told you so many times you could rely on me. Talk to me when you needed help. At any point during all of this did you ever think of calling me?"

"I did," he admitted. "But you were busy with that water project of yours-"

"And you thought I would ignore you?"

"I didn't want to bother."

Dusk closed her eyes as if in pain and popped the lid back on her marker. "You know what's worse than being inconvenienced, Twi?" She opened her eyes and gestured over his bruised body. "Finding out someone took you. Hurt you. I'm your princess, I'm supposed to take care of you too. And I can't do that unless you tell me something's wrong. I don't want to command you to tell me things, I don't want that type of relationship, but if the only way I'll find out something's wrong..."

She reached out and cupped his cheek. Her touch was soothing, and Twilight leaned into it. He must admit he did miss her. "I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to go this far."

"So I hear." She patted his cheek and leaned back. She nodded towards his cast. "Well? Tell me what you think."

He lifted his arm to see what she had drawn. Among the anatomically incorrect penises, she had sketched out a very detailed vagina. He put his arm down with a groan that was more in exasperation than pain."You do realize I can never show this arm in public now."

"Why does that matter, you're not leaving this bed till you're healed anyways."

There was a knock at the door. Sky let himself in. He grinned when he saw Twilight. "Hey, you're awake finally!"

"Sky! Man, you look just like how I feel."

Understatement. He was still wearing the same clothes from the day before, now stained and wrinkled. His hair looked like a crow's nest. His eyes were dark and tired. As he walked in he sipped from a gigantic cup of coffee. "Yeah, well a lot of things happened in the past couple of hours, if you hadn't noticed. How do you feel?"

"Tired. Sore. What about everyone else? Wild? Charles?"

"Your kid is fine. He was a little dehydrated and needed a bag of saline."

Twilight rolled his eyes. "I wish everyone would stop calling him my kid."

"He was literally the first person you asked about when you woke up," Dusk said.

"As for Charles..." Sky sighed. "It's out of my hands."

"What...?" This time when Twilight sat up, Dusk didn't stop him. He readjusted the sword to sit across his lap and said, "What are you talking about?"

"The Sheikah and the royal family have taken full control over the investigation. Charles and the Yiga Clan won't have a trial, nor is any of this will be made public. Their fate will be decided behind closed doors."

"They can't do that!"

"They have and they did."

Twilight turned to Dusk. "Did you know about this?"

There was a darkness in his princess Twilight has always found intimidating. When others burned hot with anger, ready to let it explode, she was like ice. She didn't so much as flinch as Twilight looked to her in accusation. She said in an even voice, "I voted for it."

"Why? Charles helped us out!"

Dusk's eyes flashed. "And who put you in that situation in the first place?"

"He was misguided. I will speak for him."

"I forbid it."

"Are you commanding me to be silent?"

Dusk hissed, "We're not talking about some two-bit criminal here, Twilight. We're talking about a man who participated in the capture of two Heroes. He willingly joined the Yiga- a group, may I remind you, who nearly tortured your kid to death three years ago. A change of heart is not going to bring back the cab driver he helped kill. A change of heart didn't prevent you from getting your ribs broken and your arm snapped in two. He put his hands on my knight, and you think he deserves clemency?"

Twilight raised his chin at her. "Yes."

Dusk stared at him for a long second, and then pulled back. She huffed. "Fine. I'll will speak to the others. But I cannot guarantee anything. I'm not the only princess here who voted on it. Lullaby did too."

Time's princess.

"Lullaby is here?" Twilight asked. "Does that mean Time's here too?"

"Yup," said Sky. He took a long deliberate sip of his coffee and said, "And he's pissed."