[FRAG] Keep A Secret

Magnotris stuck his hands in his pockets, turning down the next hallway.

Every step he took hammered into his head how much he didn't want to be doing this. But it was his job, it was what he'd signed up for. It was worrisome how much he'd taken for granted the amount of time he spent not doing it. He'd gone on plenty of romps with Morning Star, visiting Sterling, going to Pretty, just... enjoying his boyfriend. It still felt like they'd only started dating a hop, skip, and jump ago, although they'd been dancing around the subject for years.

He really didn't want to be doing this. But what choice did he have? If he didn't get work done, Jubilee would reprimand him heavily. And then he'd have even less time to be with Morning Star.

Stupid, stupid. Perfect way to isolate Morning Star and get to him before Magnotris could even fathom of coaching him on anything. It wasn't like Morning Star was completely helpless and an idiot, he'd be able to tell if they were manipulating them - but Magnotris had so much experience with the Overseers, and Morning Star was so easily intimidated by authority... it was just a bad cocktail of awful. 

Or maybe he'd hold his own, considering the most recent events, and Magnotris was being an overprotective, selfish partner. 

He sighed, pushing the building's doors open. His mind had been swimming for so long with worry about the other that it was starting to drown him. Maybe the job would be good to clear his head, so he'd be better suited for helping Morning Star later. It shouldn't be too difficult, especially since it was more of a glorified escort mission than anything else.

Magnotris glanced up. The courtyard of the COR headquarters was bustling, as usual. At its far end sat massive teleport pads, with the checkers lounging around - nobody was coming through at the moment. Above lay a smattering of stars, twisting and slowly changing, never solid for too long. And, somewhere beyond them, past where the laws of reality broke down, were the Magnitude Fragments, eons and lightyears away in the expanse of void that surrounded all Timelines. 

It was a sobering feeling. Morning Star had been Blessed, visited by one of those primordial creatures, received a bit of their power and magic. Magnotris had not. He knew people who had been Blessed, but it was always an exclusive club he wasn't privy to. Some of its members didn't exactly deserve it, in his opinion. 

Still, he didn't feel jealous of Morning Star, and that suited him alright.

He kept his hands in his pockets as he glanced around, scanning for Minty. The other Frag was quite tall and usually stood out in a crowd, so hopefully he'd locate the other quick and get the job rolling before anything else. 

Magnotris' eyes landed on someone else. Shorter stature, yellow coat, blue hair, clothed in dark green. He frowned, briefly. He'd never liked Wellov. The other had a bad habit of sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Speaking of idiots who didn't deserve Blessings.

Wellov glanced up, and their eyes met. The other froze, as if trying to process the fact that Magnotris was there, and then shrunk back slightly, closer to the group he was with. Magnotris narrowed his gaze, flicking his eyes to the people Wellov was with. Four other people. Tall and blue, shorter and navy, brown and red, blue and yellow. Wait a second.

The tall and blue individual - Minty - leaned forwards. He said something in a low voice to Wellov before following his gaze to Magnotris. Awkward tension settled over the three; Magnotris staring back, Wellov trying to make himself as small as possible, and Minty waving for Magnotris to join them.

"Oh, fuck me," he muttered under his breath, pacing towards them.

Wellov had turned completely away and busied himself with talking to Agreed, head low. Magnotris kept his eyes on the other, settling into place next to Minty. As fas as he'd remembered, Wellov's crew and Minty's didn't get along. Rivals, really. So what was this?

"Thank goodness you're here," Minty cut in. "I was wondering if we'd ever get assistant help."

"Hello," Magnotris mumbled back. 

Minty placed a hand on his shoulder, which Magnotris shrugged off. "It's not a very difficult bust, so we should not be keeping you for very long... are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Let's get this over with."

"Great! Wellov, if you would?"

Magnotris glanced from Minty to Wellov. "What?"

The latter winced, "You can explain it to him, right, Minty? Right! You don't need me, hah-"

Minty smiled.

"Er, alright," Wellov turned to Magnotris.

The two stared at each other for a second. Magnotris raised an eyebrow. 

"I was just updating Minty and his team on the mission," Wellov admitted after a second, tapping his fingers together shyly. "My team was on the case before, but it got reassigned because Unmixt and Verrassing got hurt. So I was just telling them what we'd picked up from it all."

"I see."

Wellov glanced between Minty and Magnotris a few times before rubbing his hands together. "Right, uh. The sword belonged to a Shards member prior to falling into the hands of supposed black market dealers. Someone alerted us that the sword had a significant amount of magic trapped inside of it, to the point they were worried that someone had jammed another Fragment into it. We attempted a raid to get ahold of the sword, but its current wielder took out my team."

A sword with a Frag trapped in it? Magnotris tilted his head. "I see."

"Can I go now?" Wellov stared at the floor.

Minty patted his shoulder, and with that sign of approval, Wellov disappeared into the streams of Frags heading to their next destination. Magnotris stared after him until his tail disappeared from sight, lost behind a clump of gossiping Fragments.

He turned back around. Pastry had leaned forwards, hands laced together under his chin, and was smiling. Magnotris frowned. "What?"

"Did you see how tense he was? That was fascinating!"

"Yeah."

"Are the rumors true?" Pastry pressed. 

Magnotris narrowed his eyes. "What rumors?"

"Oh, that Wellov pissed you off, so you almost got him demoted by staging him trying to steal Sanctum artifacts...."

Magnotris flicked his stare from Pastry to Minty. The leader didn't bother reprimanding the gossip, simply keeping the easy smile on his face. "No, that's untrue," Magnotris said, after the silence stretched on slightly too long. 

Great. Just want he wanted - to have to work with a crew of nosy brats. He'd always thought somewhat decently of Minty and his crew, but... ugh. He'd never interacted with them hands-on or as friends, and he was beginning to see why.

"What a shame," Pastry sighed, "although I understand if you won't tell me."

"Can we go get the sword?" Magnotris bristled. "I'm not going to be strung along. I have other stuff to do."

"Always busy, aren't you?" Pastry continued.

He wasn't going to play these games. Magnotris turned on his heel, facing Minty. He wasn't going to deal with a stupid idiot who couldn't keep their damn trap shut. It wasn't part of the listed job, and he didn't have the time to waste. Morning Star needed him more than the crew did.

"Do we know where the sword is?" he directed to Minty.

Minty's smile was replaced by a thoughtful frown for a second. "Yes. Wellov told me the approximate last location of it. Hopefully it's still there."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Minty glanced to his team. There was a brief sparkle of telepathy, but Magnotris' expression didn't even twitch. He couldn't care less if they were talking shit about his impatience behind his back at the moment. Plenty of people had said worse to his face, and he didn't care about their opinion, anyways.

"We're all set!" Minty said brightly after a second. "Citrus will teleport us."

Magnotris dully took the offered hand, and in a blink, they were standing in the midst of rolling hills. 

On the peak of the nearest hill sat a small house. Its lights were on, although there was little to no noise carrying from the open windows. Magnotris stared at it as Citrus stepped forwards, hands briefly lighting with magic. Briefly, he considered the fact that he didn't know which Timeline he was in. If something went wrong, he'd have a hard time telling anyone where he was. He'd have to rely on their ability to reconstruct his magical signature.

Why was he being so morbid?

There was a creeping unsettling feeling about how much he didn't want to be here. It didn't quite feel like the same feeling that had overtaken him about wanting to go home to Morning Star. Then again, he'd never really liked going to Timelines anyways. 

"Ain't picking up any actual magic or anything," Citrus loudly blabbered after a second. "No traps or anything. Ain't nobody in there as far as I can see."

"Then we should have no issue walking right in," Minty replied.

Magnotris followed a few paces behind the group. They'd handle it. He was just the backup muscle. Intimidation factor? Something like that. His presence should be enough to shake off any people like Pretty looking to hone in on a glorious new weapon.

He watched as Agreed armed himself with some sword and kicked the door open. It swung off its hinges and banged loudly against the wall. Did they always enter so brutishly?

Privately, he rolled his eyes. Of course they did. They were from Research & Remove. For a branch of the COR with such a fancy, scientific name, barely anyone in it was anything but violent and noisy. Rest & Reformation was, obviously, the better branch. So much more ease of operation and scope. Sure, they had their duds, but at least most of the people in his branch didn't break people's noses if something went wrong.

No. It was so much more manipulative and subtle than that.

He'd enjoyed it. There was a certain rush, exhilarating thrill, about pulling strings that led to someone else's demise. And, in a pinch, he could swing any punch needed. He was a perfect blend. A name feared and revered.

And if he was being honest, a monster.

Magnotris frowned slightly. That was right. He'd enjoyed taking apart other people. It'd been his favorite pasttime, to the point where he'd watched Opal be tortured far beyond their crime, due to his meddling. And still, his mind swung back to Morning Star - Morning Star's smile, his kindness, his gentleness... the violence that had come so far out of left field.

Except it wasn't out of left field. It was his fault. 

Not because he couldn't protect Morning Star. But because he'd been stubborn. He'd been cruel. He had taken Morning Star under his wing, and all he'd done was beat people constantly, revelling in the blood and violence, relishing in sadism. No wonder Morning Star had thought the only course of action was to fight the Overseers head on - he'd seen Magnotris succeed at beating others into submission constantly.

Guilt welled up in his body.

"There's some teleportation residue here," Citrus drawled, voice still loud. He set a hand lit with magic on the rug and closed his eyes, presumably back-tracing the teleportation.

Trance shrugged, Magnotris blinked and glanced into the house. It was nice and cozy, almost absurdly so. Perhaps that Frag had been living here for a while. Did they have the sword the entire time?

"Are you alright?"

Startled, Magnotris whipped around, drawing hands into fists before he realized it was only Pastry leaning over his shoulder. "What? I'm fine," he snapped.

"You seemed distant," came the reply.

"Well, I'm not."

Pastry crossed his arms, but he wore a smile. "You know, there's plenty of therapy in Rescue & Recover, if you need it."

"Who says I need therapy?"

"The confused, blank expression on your face."

Magnotris regarded Pastry with an appraising stare. He took back everything nice he'd ever said about Minty's team. They were all assholes. "Whatever. I'm not here to chat, I'm here to stand guard."

"Please. Agreed and Minty don't need a guard, and even if they did, Citrus could back them up far better than you could." Pastry chuckled behind a hand. How ridiculously hammy.

"Then why are you here?" 

The grin on his face was starting to become unsettling. "Interrogation."

"Oh, fantastic," Magnotris bemoaned, turning back to the house. "Sorry to say, I don't have the sword."

"I'm well aware! But why can't we have a small talk, hm?"

He kept his jaw set. "The only reason anyone ever talks to me is to get fresher gossip to boast about to their snivelling friends."

"Hm, quite a statement, there," Pastry muttered, putting a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Alright, I'll play your game, then. Let's not discuss a single controversial thing you've done."

Magnotris grunted in response.

"What's your favorite animal?"

"Sphinx."

"Ooh, interesting. Mine's meutins, but sphinxes are quite delightful as well. What do you like about them?"

Magnotris shrugged. 

"Fair enough. How about favorite color?"

He glanced at Pastry. The other's expression seemed genuine, staring back at him, no malice or smugness. Either he was being entirely truthful, or he was an effective liar. One seemed much more probable than the other, considering what he'd let slip before. 

Pastry smiled after a second. "Well? Mine's red."

"Green," he replied, turning his back to the other once more.

"Oooh, like Morning Star. How cute."

"Whatever."

"You're always so closed-off," Pastry sounded bemused, "maybe less people would try getting gossip off of you if you were slightly more receptive to friendship."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't need more friends."

"Yes, well, I'm certain you said that before meeting Morning Star too, right?"

"Leave him out of this."

"I'm not trying to push your - oh, well, to an extent I am. I suppose you'd like honesty, right? You seem like that sort of guy."

Magnotris glanced over his shoulder. "What I'd like is for you to explain yourself. Why the hell are you doing this?"

"You're an interesting person." Pastry held his gaze. "You've done a lot to influence the Coalition. You've done a number of things illegal and legal, dodging as many negative consequences as you could. Pardon me for wanting to know a bit about you - for all the people that idolize you and for all the people that hate you, there's very little information out there about who you are."

"Why does it matter who I am?"

"There's a person behind every face, a history, a support network, a life. Every time I find out something about someone, it's work, to me, but I enjoy it. It helps me piece together easier those who I must interrogate, and get my job done faster. When you can predict how someone reacts, a discussion becomes pleasant."

"So this is just a vector for you to get some field research or shit like that?"

Pastry frowned. "No, sadly. I'm afraid that this isn't very much research at all. Magnotris, you're far too predictable - you're the same closed-off, abrasive jerk I've met a dozen times. I was hoping you'd be more... impressive."

Something exploded in his chest. "WHAT?!"

"I don't mean to aggravate you," Pastry continued, but he hid a smile behind his hand now, "I was just trying to be honest."

Magnotris stared at him, hands shaking slightly. He couldn't get frustrated on this mission. He couldn't distract them. He had to let them finish as quickly as possible so he could go and see Morning Star. That meant not letting their miserable brat get under his skin.

"That is not who I am," he hissed, breathing heavily.

Pastry raised an eyebrow.

Magnotris prodded Pastry's chest. "I am not a mere jerk who cares only about himself. I might be an isolationist and dislike being around people, but that doesn't change the fact that my primary work is helping others. I don't hurt people to gain power for myself or spread my OWN influence. I dedicate my life to finding cures, to fixing mistakes, and putting everyone else's messes back TOGETHER."

There was a brief pause, and then Pastry's face lit up.

"What?" Magnotris narrowed his eyes.

"Thank you!" he spoke brightly, grinning ear to ear.

"W- for?"

"For letting me know who you were, behind that facade you hold so diligently, for showing me a flash of your true colors and what matters to you most of all!"

Magnotris blinked rapidly before withdrawing, scowling. Whatever. He didn't belong here, and it was stupid for him to be lingering so much. Citrus had some sort of magic circle set up on the rug and was busy maintaining it, while the other two were standing around it, seemingly waiting.

Still, he'd double-take-back the thoughts that Minty and his team were incompetent jackasses. Assholes, sure, but they got their jobs done well. Probably too well.

"Are you done flirting, yet?" Minty teased, although it was directed more towards Pastry. "We're going to chase after the little runaway."

Pastry glanced over, smile on his face. "Yes, let's go."

Magnotris took Minty's offered hand. Soon, he'd get to go see Morning Star.

The magic circle whirred and flashed brightly, glowing intensely for a second before activating. In a flash of bright light, they teleported.

Magnotris cracked open his eyes, ears ringing. He hated magic circle-based teleportation. It always felt too clunky and rough around the edges. Minty let go of his hand a little too quickly, and he had to rub at his eyes before everything came into focus.

They stood on some sort of dock, wooden, over the ocean. Minty had taken off along with Agreed, running over the expanse of water. Pastry and Citrus were nowhere to be seen, but he didn't think they'd disappeared on everyone else. Yards ahead of Agreed was some other Frag, presumably, equipped with... a sword.

Oh stars.

Magnotris launched off the dock, wings catching the updraft of warmer air from the sea. He lifted a hand over his eyes, peering after the fugitive. They didn't look familiar, but it was hard to tell with their billowing cape and hood. 

He took an uneasy breath, the taste of the wind almost painful from how it ripped at his hair and face. All he had to do was keep an eye on things. Don't interfere with the team. This was their job, not his.

A bubble burst out of the water ahead of the fugitive, magically sustained, Citrus and Pastry within. They skidded to a halt, but Citrus moved faster, launching a bolt of sparking magic right at them. 

The hit landed head-on, and they toppled into the ocean.

Magnotris angled down, but Pastry had already dove into the water. Citrus followed a split second later, bubble disappearing under the waves. Magnotris hovered slightly above where they'd sunk in, staring at the water, but it was too murky to see any details. Minty and Agreed were poised, ready for anything, weapons drawn. 

How anticlimactic, all of this was. It was all settled so quickly. Then again, wasn't that a sign of a job well do-

Water blasted Magnotris in the face, as the fugitive launched off the seafloor and up into the air. They collided into each other and both went spiralling, Magnotris' wings struggling to catch wind again.

In a split second, scrambling to get a solid grip on their wrist, his ears popped as they fell back into the ocean. 

Any fish around had the sense to dart away as quickly as possible, emptying the water of all life but the two Frags. Magnotris hissed, feeling the water replace the air in his lungs. He'd be fine, he could breathe in it, but the temporary shock of the liquid was enough to let the fugitive rip their arm free. They twisted away from him, kicking him in the stomach to launch away.

Before they could get any further, Pastry tackled them, and the two spiralled together through the water, Pastry struggling to lock magic-dampening cuffs on them. The sword seemed to have disappeared, no longer in their hands as they violently struggled. 

Magnotris righted himself again. Water was strange. It didn't impede his movement - it was more of a minor nuisance? He touched against the sandy floor and pushed, wings curling to twist him just right enough to grab the fugitive by the ankle.

His timing matched that of them shoving their hand in Pastry's face and blasting him with burning hot magic. 

Something tugged at Magnotris' memory, but he ignored it, instead yanking as hard as he could on their ankle. They yelped, although the noise barely carried, pulled down harshly, their cape flipping up with the sudden change. He slammed them into the floor, onto their back, and they gasped again. 

Citrus' magic flitted around him for a second before curling around the fugitive's arms and ankles. They struggled, but the magic curled tighter and tighter, drawing their hands and legs together. Pastry darted back into frame, still clutching the magic-dampening cuffs, and managed to wrangle them around the fugitive's wrists. 

Magnotris stepped back, letting Pastry heave up the captive and dump them into Citrus' bubble. He motioned towards the surface, and Magnotris dully nodded, opening his wings and bending his knees. It only took a second before he burst out of the water, airborne once more, not a single drop sticking to him.

Minty eyed him before a solid rectangle of magic settled on the surface of the water, underneath his and Agreed's feet. Citrus crawled up one side, dumping the fugitive onto the platform. Magnotris landed on it just as Pastry calmly sat on the other side.

"So," Minty began, calmly. He still held a baton in one hand, both ends lit with magic, "I see you've forgone the sword."

They lifted their head, face still covered by the hood. Magnotris stared as their muzzle drew back into a snarl, and they didn't manage a single peep. What was so familiar about them? Now that the head of battle had cleared and his mind was no longer on a single track, it was seriously nagging at him.

"Your cooperation would make this less violent," Minty informed them.

No response.

Agreed strode forwards, his own sword still in hand. He took hold of their hood and yanked it back, hard.

They hissed, throwing up an arm. Magnotris felt his heart stick in his throat, eyes wide. No fucking way.

"Cynosure?" he blurted out, unsure if there was anything else he could even manage to say.

His ex's head snapped towards him, looking equally as perplexed, "Magnotris!? You're in Minty's team now?""

"What?" he barked, "No!"

"But-"

For fuck's sake. Of every person, of every fucking job he had to take, of all the Fragments and Timelines there was, he had to end up taking the single mission that led him right back to his ex-partner. 

"Hey, ain't you in Research & Remove?" Citrus broke in, gesturing, confusion plain on his expression. 

"No!" Cy glanced back, all sense of pride and smugness well and truly gone. "Um, maybe? I don't know! Don't turn me in!"

Magnotris just stared.

Agreed grabbed Cy by the front of his shirt and hefted him forward, "Where is the sword?"

Cynosure lifted both hands, smile nervous. "I - I threw it into the ocean when I was running! I thought you saw that!"

"I don't believe you," Agreed snarled.

Cy shot another fearful glance to Magnotris, "M-Morning Star and his thing aren't here, right?" 

"His thing?" Magnotris finally found his voice. "Do you mean Sterling?" 

"That gold-magic-freak-person-thing!" Cy yelped out, shrinking back.

Magnotris paused. Cy was never scared. He was the kind of jerk that Pastry had assumed Magnotris was, and the exact opposite of everything Magnotris had strived to be. There was never a second where Cy was not smug, confident, and in control of the situation. He'd always held all the cards, and Magnotris had been forced to constantly fold, no matter what he did.

So what the hell was all this?

"He will be here if you don't give the sword," he replied, evenly. 

Cy stared up at him, eyes wide. Magnotris could only remember one other time the other had ever looked at Magnotris with fear, and it'd been one of his greatest regrets. But this?

This felt good. It shouldn't have. He shouldn't be enjoying terror and intimidation this much. 

Cynosure shakily magicked up the sword, putting it on the ground and sliding it towards Magnotris. 

He bent down and scooped it up. Indeed, it was brimming with magic just under the steel - he could feel it. Dutifully, Magnotris passed it off to Minty, who had fallen silent. 

Later, he needed to ask Morning Star something. But he had an inkling that this was related to everything else they needed to talk about. It didn't upset him, at least. It was just something else to bring up.

Citrus moved forwards, grabbing Cy by the shoulder. "C'mon, then, ya fucker. Let's get ya to the wardens. Hope ya like interrogations, bitch."

With a snap of his fingers, he opened a portal back to the COR headquarters. Agreed helped him heft Cynosure through it, the latter looking completely pistol-whipped. Minty followed calmly, weapon gone, hands linked behind his back. 

Pastry glanced at Magnotris and offered him a tiny smile and wave.

"What?" was all that managed to come out of his mouth.

"I'll admit," Pastry continued, holding up his hands, "I underestimated you. But for a second I think I really understood you. Thanks for that." and with that, he daintily hopped into the portal.

Magnotris stared into it for a second, the platform bobbing in the water, before he stepped through. It closed behind his tail.

He took a breath, feeling something lift off of his chest that he hadn't known was there. He could go home now. He could go see Morning Star. Morning Star was his home. And they could talk.

With a proud adjust of his shirt collar, Magnotris stalked into the building. It took only a few turns before he was standing at the desk to the Sanctum, the hallways taking him exactly where he needed to be.

Tangent was still at the desk, although he looked terrified. He glanced at Magnotris and mustered a nervous smile, "Going in?"

"Yes. What's wrong?"

He bit his lip as he typed in the keypad. After a few seconds of staring at each other in silence, Magnotris shrugged and headed for the doors, slipping his hands back into his pockets.

"Wait!" Tangent shouted. Magnotris paused. "Could... um... could you go see if Jubilee is okay? He looked... uh...."

Magnotris glanced over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. 

"I'm just worried about him... he was bloody and shaken up," Tangent finally admitted, hanging his head quietly.

Magnotris stared for a second longer. "Yeah," he piped up after a second, "I'll go look." After seeing Morning Star, of course.

Tangent perked up. "Thank you!"

"Don't mention it. I don't mind helping," he replied, turning his back on the other just as the Sanctum doors swung shut.