[FRAG] Keep A Secret

Morning Star stood at the edge of the gardens, staring out at the quaint brick building. There was something churning in his stomach, but it wasn't overwhelming. Yet. He ran his hands along the white picket fence, the paint chipped and peeling. Plants had almost become unruly, ivy and vines crawling up the sides of the wood. 

The untamed aura was not foreign, though. Most of what Frags ended up making all had a flavor of being slightly off. Why, he didn't know, but it was a comfort at the moment. Morning Star took a soft breath, staring at the doors. Roseline hovered behind him, a yard or so away, keeping their eyes on his back.

A second later, they opened. Frost stepped out, gesturing at two people behind him to enter into the garden. Nebulous Star stepped into the grass, glancing around before his eyes fell on Morning Star. 

"You're okay!" they exploded, rushing over to vault the fence and nearly tackle Morning Star to the ground. "You stupid IDIOT, do you know how terrifying that call was? I thought you were going to - do something horrible!"

"I basically did," Morning Star glumly admitted, but wrapped his arms around his sibling, setting his chin on their shoulder. 

Neb hugged back tightly, almost too tightly. Morning Star blinked. "What happened?"

"I'll catch you two up inside," he mumbled. 

Hour Star finally exited, slouching, hands in his pocket. He scanned the garden before spotting his siblings. Morning Star braced himself, but the other didn't budge. After a split second, he freed himself from Neb's grasp and wandered to the gate. Frost slipped back into the hotel.

"Hour?"

He narrowed his eyes at Morning Star before huffing and glancing to the side. "What."

"Are - " Morning Star blinked. The nausea was back, a bubbling anxiety. 

No. He had faced the Overseers head-on and proven a point. He could stand up to his siblings. He set his shoulders and managed out, "Are you alright?"

Hour bitterly glared at him, something akin to tears welling up in his eyes. "You have a LOT of nerve saying that, you know!"

Oh fuck oh hell oh stars- Morning Start barely sputtered out, "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? You deserve me and MY Timeline some explanation!" Hour marched up to him, jabbing a finger in Morning Star's chest, "I FELT something break!"

"Wh-what?" Morning Star stumbled back a step.

Neb rose up between them, sneering at Hour, "Oh, for the stars' sake, it's OUR Timeline, not just yours! Morning Star, ignore him, he's been a dramatic bitch the last few hours."

"Wait," Morning Star peeped behind Neb's shoulder, "what do you mean, something broke?"

"I FELT it!" Hour exclaimed, throwing both of his hands to the side in anguish, "SOMETHING broke IN and TOOK something!"

"He's been ranting about this for a while now," Neb huffed. "You'd think a visit to the Coalition would be a vacation for him."

"How can I RELAX knowing that my TIMELINE IS DESTROYED?" Hour fell to his knees, fingers digging into his scalp. Tears ran down his cheeks.

Morning Star stared, eyes wide. He'd never seen Hour cry before, and certainly never seen this level of emotion. His chest ached slightly with empathy, despite everything, despite all that Hour had done to him. Despite the anxiety brewing in his body, he stepped past Neb. Morning Star's hand reached out, but he faltered and pulled it back. Perhaps physical affection would be going too far.

"When did you feel it break?" he kept his voice steady.

Hour sniffled for a second before raising his head, "Last night! Something broke! I don't know what it was, but I just figured it was nothing serious so I didn't go look! And then when I woke up there were Coalition security and they escorted me out of the Timeline and I didn't get a chance to see and now it's gotten WORSE!"

"And I was there, too, but just leave me out I guess," Neb muttered under their breath. 

Morning Star glanced between the two. "I see...."

"And with Coalition people there," Hour spoke up again, voice breaking, "then it must be REALLY bad! They're probably taking it all apart and everything! And they said we can't go back unless they say it's safe!"

"The Coalition members aren't taking apart the Timeline," Morning Star frowned, "wait, didn't they tell you anything?"

Neb put a hand on his shoulder. "No, just that we needed to come with them and they'd use force if needed. Said we could see you after we got settled and everything, so I honestly thought you'd been arrested."

Morning Star swallowed. "Not quite."

Neb raised an eyebrow. Roseline stepped closer, and Neb glanced to them, confusion scrunching their features. 

"Here." Morning Star crouched, offering a hand to Hour. "Let's go see the Overseers, okay? Then maybe they'll let you go home."

"You can just do that? Just waltz up and demand an audience?" Neb asked, eyeing Hour as he wiped his eyes and accepted Morning Star's outstretched hand.

Morning Star paused, allowed himself a small smile, and turned to his sibling, "I'm not sure. But they won't refuse me one." 

He pulled Hour to his feet, feeling something akin to pride swell in him. He still regretted the violence, but he couldn't deny the fact that he now had something that he could lord over his siblings. Honestly, he shouldn't have been taking joy in that, but it just felt good, after so many years of being the rear end of all their jokes and ribbing. The way Neb stared at him, eyes slightly too wide, was just - delightful.

Morning Star let his eyes fall on the cathedral, its spires climbing above everything else in the Sanctum, per usual. To think he'd wandered in there with Sundae and Sterling, and... it was almost making him dizzy. 

"I hope my timeline's okay," Hour mumbled behind him.

Neb loudly scoffed, "It's not just YOURS, for the LAST TIME, Hour."

Morning Star glanced over his shoulder. Hour stared at the ground, mouth pulled into a grimace, although the tears had quelled. One of his horns was chipped. Neb lingered behind him, hands in pockets, staring at the middle sibling with nothing short of annoyance. At the very back was Roseline, still in their collected demeanor, occasionally scanning the environment.

He'd taken the lead, so simply. All three were following him without even the smallest protest. Honestly, now that he put thought into it... people generally did. When he'd saved that Gladar, when he'd taken Sundae and Sterling into the Sanctum, people just... trusted him. How had he never noticed it before?

Maybe a position as Overseer wouldn't be so bad. He could fix them, right? He could help guide them towards being better leaders, having been in the dirt and grime himself, and now with the weight of his Blessing behind himself. 

So many doors had opened, and he wasn't sure which to pick, which to open. Closing any seemed like a waste, but Morning Star knew he'd need to eventually choose one. Hopefully he had enough time to figure out which one was the best - for himself, for Magnotris, and all the people he'd sworn he'd protect. 

Morning Star flicked his head up. The sun had long since passed noon and evening was well into its hours. Hopefully Magnotris would be done soon. If nothing else, he should talk to Magnotris first about the Overseer position. He'd know if it was a good idea or not. And maybe... maybe they could be Overseers together. That sounded nice.

"So," Neb broke the silence. "What was the call about?"

Morning Star blinked, glancing back, frowning slightly. "Oh, that. Um. I was worried... um, don't panic. But I was worried that I wouldn't get to see you guys again."

"Yeah, I gathered as much. How come?"

Morning Star turned back towards the cathedral. "You'll see."

"Oh, come on, don't pull this cryptic bullshit now, Morning Star. You opened this can of worms."

"I'm just not ready to talk about it," he spoke, surprised by how firm his voice was.

Neb raised an eyebrow. "Well, then you better be ready soon, 'cause you owe me and Hour Star some answers, alright?"

"I will. I just want to talk to the Overseers first, okay?"

He paused at the base of the stairs leading up to the Overseers' citadel, still awed every time he stood at the foot of the great building. Morning Star almost absently wished he knew more of the structure's history. Who had built it? When had it been formed? There was still so much he didn't know about the Coalition, still so much he didn't know about the Overseers. Would becoming one open those doors? Would understanding its past help him form its future?

"Damn," Neb whistled, "Coalition hacks really are livin' it large, aren't they?"

"The Overseers are," Morning Star replied simply, stepping forwards. 

He squeezed Hour's hand as he stepped into the cathedral. The lighting was dim, but soft, curling around the hanging sigils and the chandeliers and casting a soft peach glow on Morning Star's face. The atmosphere felt regal and quiet, so unlike the choked tenseness of when he'd stormed the building and laid waste to its inhabitants. 

At the far end of the hall lounged Archise, arms crossed, leaning against the doorway into the meeting room. He blinked, glanced over, and let a brilliant grin settle on his face, "Oh, hey Morning Star!"

Morning Star swallowed the fear in his throat. "Good evening, Overseer Archise-"

"-Oh, c'mon, you don't need to act all stiff and formal!" Archise trotted over, giving him an affectionate slap on the shoulder. Morning Star stumbled forwards. "Like, yeah, Val's pissed, but I'm sure not! That was so badass!"

Well then. "Oh... thank... you?"

"Yeah, yeah, no prob. Who're these?" Archise slung an arm around his shoulder and glanced back at Neb and Hour.

Morning Star turned around. Neb was staring at him, eyes wide, jaw only kept shut through sheer will. Hour had glanced up, finally, but his expression was still twinged with moping. Roseline grinned in the back, eyes locked onto Archise, seemingly about to ask for a signature. 

"These are my siblings," Morning Star said after a second, gesturing, "Nebulous Star, they, and Hour Star, he."

"Nice to meet you two!" Archise chirped, leaning forwards to offer his hand.

Neb slowly took his hand, shaking, staring at Morning Star still, "Uh, nice to meet you. Neb's fine."

Hour didn't move.

Archise pulled his hand back, still grinning, "I never knew you had family, Morning Star! Where'd you find em?"

"Uh... in our Timeline," he mumbled quickly. Archise's arm was warm. "By the way, they were, uh, escorted out of it because of... you know." he gestured.

Archise nodded almost reverently.

"So I was wondering if it was safe for them to go back? They said they couldn't leave unless an Overseer gave them permission."

"Oh, man, that's out of my jurisdiction, but hang on! Profound would definitely know!" Archise lifted a hand to press a finger into his temple, the splash of telepathy obvious. Morning Star ignored the fact that he stuck out his tongue while concentrating. 

Neb gestured to him, and Morning Star glanced over. They mouthed, 'what the fuck, Morning Star?'. He felt his cheeks warm and glanced away. It wasn't his fault Archise was a little weird! 

A blitz of teleportation sounded, and Profound stood in the center of the group, arms crossed. He turned towards Archise and Morning Star, well over a head taller, glowering down at him. Morning Star shrunk back, eyes wide, at the sheer level of emotion in his face.

"Y-Yes?" he barely managed to squeak out.

"Is Sterling with you?" were the first words out of Profound's mouth.

"Uh, no?"

"Good." he turned to Neb and Hour, who had both taken several steps back. "I forbid either of you from returning to your Timeline."

Hour exploded, "WHAT? What do you MEAN we can't go back! I have to go back and fix it!"

"These things are out of your control. You will stay in the Sanctum until I, Jubilee, or Crvendach has cleared your Timeline as safe for habitation again."

"What's wrong with it!?" Hour nearly cried, throwing his arms open. 

"You don't need to know that."

Hour grabbed the fringes of Profound's vest, pulling him down to his level, hissing through his teeth, "You have to TELL ME!"

Morning Star stared, eyes wide. His breath had caught itself in his throat, churning in anxiety. Sure, he'd nearly killed Profound, but that was different! He'd had Sterling and Sundae with him! He'd had a gun made out of gold! Hour Star was being absurd if he thought he could threaten one of the strongest military Overseers and walk out unscathed-

Profound narrowed his eyes. "Fine. Let go."

Hour stared for a second longer before obeying and slowly sliding back. Profound stood up straight, arms still crossed.

"Your Timeline fell into the hands of Shards members." Profound's tone was dull and bored. "Specifically, Virant and the top members of its ranks. Normally this would not have been a problem, but Rendgen himself arrived and we were forced to pull back out of it. Archise was supposed to be arranging a team to head in and invoke another Magnitude Fragment." he shot a levelled stare to the other Overseer.

"I was!" Archise protested, "I was waiting for Boreas to respond to me!"

Hour blinked up at Profound, breathing slightly heavily, hands balled into fists. After a second, his shoulders slumped. "I don't know what any of that means."

"Which is why it is imperative that you stay here, in the Sanctum, until we have made your Timeline safe once again."

Neb glanced between the two, and then finally settled on staring at Morning Star. He offered a nervous smile. Neb turned back to Profound. "Why did the... Shards attack?"

"Because of the displacement of Pyatiugolnik magic in the Timelines."

"Oh...kay...." Neb squinted. 

"Is that all?" Profound finally directed.

"Y-yeah," Neb filled in, glancing to Hour, who had crossed his arms and returned to sulking at the floor. 

He rounded on Morning Star. "Don't bring Sterling around here," was all he said before teleporting.

There was a beat of silence.

"WELL," Archise cut in, patting Morning Star's shoulder. "Stars, he can really be an insensitive jerk, y'know? It's not your fault Rendgen did stupid shit."

"Yeah," was all Morning Star could muster. 

"Er, probably shouldn't stick around, though. I think Valentine's still kinda pissed."

He nodded, stepping forwards. His mind was swimming. Hour Star and Nebulous Star could've been dead right now. 

It was his fault. His Blessing had attracted Rendgen. He'd put his family in danger, he'd put his home in danger, he'd put everyone who lived in that Timeline in danger. Rendgen could snap it over his knee like it was nothing. He tried to keep his breathing steady.

"Thank you, Archise," was all he managed. Archise nodded, still brightly smiling.

Nobody said a word as Morning Star led them back to the hotel. The silence was deafening in his ears, overwhelming all his thoughts. He couldn't concentrate on anything. The nausea in his body burned. Rendgen. Rendgen himself had taken his Timeline hostage. Why? What did he hope to accomplish?

Morning Star set his hands on the fence, feeling the wood against his fur. It was comforting. It was tangible.

"So." Neb coughed into a hand. "Are you ready to open that can of worms?"

Morning Star glanced around. The only people nearby were his siblings and Roseline. "Y... yeah."

He settled himself on a bench in the garden. The wood was slightly warped from age, but it wasn't uncomfortable to sit on. Roseline stood behind him, staring as Neb dragged up a plastic garden chair and Hour magicked up a stool, still glumly staring at the grass. 

"What's a Magnitude Fragment?" Neb asked. Their arms were crossed.

Morning Star closed his eyes. "They're... um... like, think of them as really strong Fragments, I guess. They're some of the oldest entities in the world and like... they're really, really strong. Most of them are decent but Rendgen is kinda like, destroying things recently."

Hour whimpered.

"Pyatiugolnik is another one," Morning Star added. "A nice one."

"Alright. And what did they want with our Timeline?"

Morning Star breathed in heavily. "Um... I think they wanted to threaten me."

Neb tilted his head, mouth drawn in a fine line.

"I... uh..." he put his face in his hands. He didn't want to tell them. "A lot of things happened last night."

"Then tell us?"

"It's hard," he admitted.

"So? You owe us an explanation."

Morning Star swallowed. "So... um... okay... basically, like... I...."

Hour lifted his head, cheeks streaked with tear stains. His gaze was levelled and tense.

"Last night, me and a couple of friends," Morning Star sucked in a breath, "t-tried to overthrow the Overseers."

Silence.

Neb reached up to rub a hand over his face, expression obscured. Morning Star slowly exhaled, feeling the tenseness in his chest untighten. Breathe. It was okay. Breathe.

"You?" Hour Star finally managed. "Overthrow - them?"

"It's a long story," Morning Star rushed out, "Uh, like, I had help with me, and like, I ended up doing it b-because I thought the Overseers were, like, corrupt, so I figured the only way to fix that was, like, getting rid of them, and stars this sounds stupid out loud, but I ended up going to the citadel with Sundae and Sterling and we, uh, pretty much won, but Pyatiugolnik ended up like pulling me aside and telling me not to kill anyone, and then he gave me his Blessing and then Jubilee offered me an Overseer position and - and... and yeah...."

He glanced up. Neb was staring at him, expression dipped in confusion and surprise. Their hand had yet to leave their temples. Hour Star gaped, blinking rapidly.

It was another second before Hour found his voice. "You stupid fucking bitch, that wasn't funny!"

"It wasn't a joke!" Morning Star squeaked back.

"How the fuck do you expect me to believe all of that?" Hour spat, bitterly, "Especially when you're being such a DICK about something that's really important to me! Like, oh, Hour's upset about our Timeline, huh? Perfect time to make fun of him!"

"I'm not!" Morning Star shouted, "And even if I was, you've done that a million times to me!" 

"No I haven't!"

Neb slammed a fist into the armrest of the chair. "Both of you, STOP IT. Now's not the fucking time to argue."

"He started it!" Hour screeched, pointing at Morning Star.

He stared at Hour, hands balled into fists and slightly shaking. He hadn't been lying! Why couldn't his brother just trust him for once? He had no incentive, no reason to lie!  It was just so frustrating-

Calm down. Breathe. Breathe. Morning Star shakily took in a breath. Don't get angry. It wasn't worth it.

"Listen, I think I don't understand half of what came out of your mouth," Neb directed to Morning Star, "But you're not a liar. Can you actually prove any of what you said, though?"

Morning Star took another deep breath to calm himself. "Yes."

He held out his hand. Something in his veins tugged and pulled, and he felt something shake down his bloodstream. It clung to him, briefly, curled around his magic, before softly lighting and glowing through his fur. A split second later, and a tiny spark of Mag Frag magic blitzed into life in his hand, igniting into a small, glowing ball. Morning Star breathed heavily, feeling the primordial magic pull at him, barely contained in his palm. 

It was purple. Not light green.

Hour still crossed his arms. "Yeah, that's nothing special. It doesn't prove anything."

"It's Pyatiugolnik magic," Morning Star lamely defended. 

Hour muttered something under his breath. Morning Star let the ball fizzle out, the magic scurrying back into him, making his fingers twitch. It was still so foreign and strange. Maybe he could ask Sundae for help getting used to it?

Neb's eyes flicked from his hand to his face. "I believe you."

Hour rounded on him with a loud, "What?!" 

"I don't know, it just doesn't seem like he's lying," they gestured, tilting their head towards Hour Star. "And Morning Star isn't the type to lie about such a thing. And it'd made sense based on what those Overseers were talking about... although I wouldn't be surprised if you were too busy moping to listen."

"I heard them," Hour grumbled, huffing and crossing his legs. 

"Yeah, exactly. I don't know what it all means, but hey," Neb smiled at Morning Star, "You're still my brother, and family supports each other. It sounds like you're stressed, too."

Morning Smile gave an exhausted smile back. "Yeah, things have been kinda... hectic."

"Shut UP!" Hour stood up, the chair falling over. "So you two are just gonna be all buddy-buddy while my Timeline is in shambles!?"

"It's OUR Timeline," Neb barked, the exasperation obvious in his scowl. "Stop acting like it's only yours!"

"I'm the only one with a REAL connection to it!" Hour shouted, "I'm the only one who felt it break! I'm the only one who takes care of it! And I certainly didn't ABANDON it to go join the stupid fucking Coalition!"

Morning Star's ears lowered against his skull and he pulled back slightly.

Hour pointed at him, "You leaving has caused nothing but fucking drama and pain for the Timeline AND the rest of the family! You didn't have any right to prance off, thinking you're better than me and Nebulous, getting yourself fucked up the ass by some Coalition hotshot and then getting a pretty position 'cause of that!"

Something tense and angry flared in Morning Star. He bolted to his feet, "I DIDN'T get my position because of Magnotris! I got it when I applied, myself, before I even met him! And my Overseer position wasn't from him, either! And I never 'pranced off' or thought I was better than you two!"

"You sure fucking acted like it! You never came home, you always left and acted all tense, you acted like a scared meutin every time you showed up when we invited you home!"

"Maybe I didn't want to come home because I was sick and tired of you BULLYING ME!" Morning Star screamed, hands abruptly lighting with magic.

Hour faltered, staring at the burning purple glow in something akin to fear. Morning Star clenched his hands into fists, staring at his brother in the eye, keeping his shoulders squared. Roseline had taken a step forwards, but frozen at the outburst. Neb's eyes flicked between the arguing duo. Nobody spoke for a second.

Morning Star lifted a hand to prod Hour in the chest. "You're just mad at me because I'm not your punching bag anymore." 

"You weren't my punching bag!" he cried, putting a hand over his chest. 

"Yes I fucking was!" Morning Star screamed again, "Everything that went wrong you blamed on me! Everything I asked you not to do, you did to me! You never respected any of my boundaries, you stomped all over my feelings constantly, and the only reason you were mad about me leaving is that you couldn't take out your stupid fucking inferiority complex on Neb like you could with ME!"

He punctuated the last word by slamming his fist into the bench he'd been sitting in. Its nearest foot jolted into the ground, embedded several inches into the dirt. Morning Star was too frustrated to even notice, eyes squeezed closed, tears leaking.

Hour stared at him, shoulders shaking slightly. Morning Star finally cracked his eyes open, staring at the other, although his breathing was loud and wheezy.

"Fine, if that's how you think I felt about you," Hour spat.

"It's the ONLY way you treated me!"

Neb stood, pushing themself between the others. "Okay, enough. Everyone's upset, emotions are high, we need to calm down. Hour, go back into the hotel."

"No!"

Neb levelled his best deathglare at the other. Hour glared back, but after a second, took several steps backwards. When Neb didn't let up, he turned tail and awkwardly hurried into the building. Morning Star waited until the door was closed to slump onto the bench and let the tears fall.

Slowly, Neb turned to him, reaching to pat his shoulder. "Hey. You know he loves you."

"I w-wish he acted like it," Morning Star hiccuped out. 

Neb glanced to the ground before trying to comfortingly smile at Morning Star. "I know. I'm sorry. I know I... should've done more to try to quell that."

He sniffled.

"You didn't need this after all that exciting stuff," Neb continued, patting Morning Star awkwardly again. "Sorry about that. Um...."

"It's fine," he managed, reaching up to wipe his tears with the back of his sleeve. 

"I'll go talk to him, okay?"

Morning Star dully nodded. "I gotta... I need to go home. You guys...."

"Yeah, we'll stay here. Until the Timeline's fine. Don't worry about Hour, okay?"

"Okay."

Neb patted him once more before heading into the building himself. Morning Star watched him leave, trying to still his breathing. His chest ached. 

Roseline scooted into his line of sight, and he glanced over. Their expression was pitying. "Are you... like, okay?"

Morning Star finished wiping up the last of his tears, and stood. "I will be. C-come on. Magnotris will be back soon."