[FRAG] Grieve in Blood

Morning Star played with the knot of his tie. The dress shirt he wore was stiff and uncomfortable, but he didn't want to wrinkle it further or mess up its carefully-ironed folds. Magnotris hadn't bothered to dress up, at all. He leaned against the doorway of the banquet hall, tapping away on his cellie. Probably playing a game.

"Are you excited?" Morning Star asked, voice quiet, somewhat tense. 

Magnotris' eyes flicked up. "No."

Well. Fair enough, he supposed. In all honesty, Morning Star wasn't looking forwards to this dinner either. He didn't like food in the first place, and having to deal with the Overseers for any extended period of time made him nervous as hell. They were just so intimidating! He always clammed up and shrunk back around people like that... he could never be a leader. 

Maybe.

Magnotris glanced up as footsteps announced the arrival of the other group. Morning Star turned around, giving the group of Overseers a nervous smile. It wasn't all of them, only a small handful, at least. He couldn't imagine the stress if it was all of them. How many of them were there, anyways...? He'd never paid attention to exact numbers.

Jubilee made up the front and gave the two a polite nod, "Early as always."

"Yes." Magnotris stuffed his cellie in his pocket and stepped away from the wall. He reached to hold open the door politely, although his expression remained blank. 

The Fragments filed into the room, which was wide and with a tall ceiling. A wide, circular table sat in the center, lined with a plethora of wooden, cushioned chairs. Morning Star waited for the Overseers to sit near the far edge of the table before he settled in next to Magnotris. Jubilee was across from him.

A hand slipped under the table, and Magnotris' fingers curled around Morning Star's. The two shared a comforting squeeze.

Morning Star's eyes traced over the other Fragments. Jubilee, Valentine, Profound, Archise, Eclisse, Soph, Cupid. Pretty bog standard as far as Overseers went, but still terrifying all the same. Look at them. Look at these people, political figureheads, expert mages, adept negotiators, powerful entities. Most Blessed by a Magnitude Fragment. 

And here he sat, across from Jubilee, preparing to eat a meal with the most influential Fragments in the entire Coalition.

The bile in his throat was uncomfortable.

"So, how has your day been, Magnotris?" Jubilee asked, magicking up what looked like a menu. He circled something with a pen and passed it to the Fragment on his right.

"Fine. Yours?" Magnotris didn't glance at the clipboard, although Morning Star watched the others pass it down.

"It was average, thank you for asking." their voices faded away.

The board passed to Magnotris. He stared at it for a few seconds before writing something and handing it off to Morning Star. He squinted at the paper. Water, various brands of mortal soda, alcohol - a drink menu? Was he supposed to pick something?

Several people had circled various beverages, the pen ink in their eye color. Morning Star hesitated before picking up the pen. Its tip lit softly with his pale green, and he simply circled water. Jubilee held out a hand expectantly, and he passed it back. The Overseer glanced at the menu before snapping his fingers.

Almost instantly, the cups scattered around the table filled to the brim with whatever drink the seated had chosen. Morning Star glanced down at his water. Three ice cubes floated in it. He breathed in, slowly. He wished he hadn't come.

His ears swivelled back to the conversation. 

"Progress on re-constructing K-22 is going well," Valentine spoke, sipping from... whatever his drink was. He had to clutch the thing between his arm-scythes. "I expect to have it back together by next month, probably. A quick mind wipe of the Fragments involved and it'll be good as new - we passed off the - you know - to Research the other day."

Magnotris had leaned forward, hands laced together under his chin, elbows resting on the tablecloth. "You think a mind wipe will be enough to stop them from recreating another gold nuke?"

"No, but well, now that we know it's a problem, we can keep an eye on it, yes?" Valentine smiled. It was uncomfortable. 

"Preemptive work is better than constant diligence," Magnotris muttered.

Morning Star glanced to Jubilee. He was having some sort of hushed, telepathic conversation with Profound, to his left. Both stared at the table, and Morning Star could taste the buzz of magic in the air - easy to pick up on, hard to eavesdrop. Not that he wanted to! Probably? He probably didn't want to, even if curiosity ate at him.

"Good on you!" another voice cut in, and he turned his head to Archise. The other's grin was wide and too sharp. "I heard that you were the guy who caught that JH Timeline's collapse!"

Morning Star's fingers curled into fists under the table, digging into his leg. "Oh!" his smile was lopsided and too nervous, "Y-yes, that was me."

"Stars, I wish I'd been there," Archise muttered, a dreamy expression on his face. Morning Star couldn't tell where, exactly, he was looking. "A Corrupted Frag, in JH? That's wild, man. Totally wild. You went with cleanup, right?"

"Y-yes sir."

"Aw, drop the sir, it's okay! But how was it? Did they fight back? Were they totally corrupted?"

Morning Star blinked, slowly. The tone was so wrong. Excited? How could Archise be excited, discussing the mental breakdown and physical torture of his fellow Fragments? It was a topic to be discussed in horror and reverence, and an eagerness to stop it... not... this....

"They... they were subdued when we got there," he interrupted his inner monologue, ducking his head and plucking his glass from the table. "Y-you can read the whole r-report, I'm sure Arco Iris catalogued it-"

"-Reports are boring! I love hearing the tale right from a horse's mouth, yanno?" Archise never stopped smiling.

It reminded Morning Star of Cy. Always grinning. 

Uncaring about the other Fragments.

He tried to still his breathing. He was just still on edge, that was all. He was reading into things. He was obsessing. Take a drink, Morning Star. He lifted the cup to his mouth and sipped, hand shaking.

"W-well," his voice cracked, "They were c-corrupted and subdued and were e-easily reprimanded. They w-weren't from the Timeline... they were f-from a Z branch."

"Oh wow, they came all the way from a Z?" Archise whistled, leaning back. He muttered "holy shit," under his breath.

Morning Star sipped his water again. Just breathe. It was okay. Magnotris would protect him if anything went wrong. Even though that really shouldn't be Magnotris' priority... these were his equals. They'd invited him to their ranks. He was in home turf; Morning Star was the fish out of water. He needed to take care of himself.

So breathe. Just breathe. Stop reading into every little thing.

"I wish I had been there. It would've been so cool!" Archise lamented.

Cool. Seeing someone trapped in their body, their magic, their lifeforce, being eaten by a parasite. Cool, knowing that the COR still was unaware of the cure. Cool, the years he and Magnotris had spent harvesting Magninium and mixing chemicals to desperately try to find a way to reverse it. Cool.

Morning Star's fingers curled around his glass.

"Archise," Soph spoke up, her tone disapproving, "you're scaring Morning Star."

"Huh? Oh, oh shit. Sorry."

Morning Star stiffly nodded. His voice was caught in his throat. He wanted to say it was alright, but nothing came out of him.

Magnotris and Valentine were still in deep discussion. He caught hints of it: more about the K-lines, about some deviation in a few, alterations unaccounted for. Magnotris suspected a rogue Fragment. Valentine took his suspicion seriously, with understanding nods and occasional sips of his cocktail. His face was concentrated, focused. 

Look. Look at how easily Magnotris is among these people. Look at how well he deals with them, talks to them without cowering. He's their equal.

Morning Star stared into his cup, feeling his breath hitch in his throat. 

These people, his equal. Who laughed at the plight that plagued their ranks. Corruption was a silly joke, an interesting tidbit in otherwise boring lives, kept safe in the Sanctum, unaffected. No Corruption could reach them in their pretty citadel, could it? Oh, what a sad life, to have to read reports of the battlefield and just lament over not being able to be there to see the suffering real-time.

How fucked up.

A chair scraped against the ground next to Morning Star, and he jumped, head whipping around. Cupid raised his hands in a defensive position, but didn't take a step back, instead sliding into the chair on Morning Star's right. 

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

You already are. "I-it's alright."

Cupid lowered his arms and leaned on the table, taking a swig of whatever he had. It looked like beer. Morning Star didn't want to question it, as long as it wasn't being pushed onto him.

But, well, the Overseer had sat next to him. And was now staring. Intently. At Morning Star's face.

"You okay?" Cupid pressed, after a minute. "You've looked sickly the entire time."

"I'm fine," Morning Star squeaked.

Cupid frowned slightly. "Don't worry about Archise, alright? He just gets overzealous."

Overzealous. Yes, just excuse the blatant selfish bullshit that your coworker just spewed. It's okay for an Overseer to be overzealous! Even if it costed people their lives! It was okay, because they were Overseers!

Morning Star shakily took a drink of water. The ice rattled against the glass.

Corruption could be induced, Cy had done it himself. Cy was part of the COR... in Research and Remove. He was a member of this society. His actions were endorsed and encouraged by the Overseers. And he had inflicted torture on another, innocent Fragment. Selfishly. Hadn't even considered, for a second, the rammifications of his actions, the impact they had on the other person's life.

And Archise had just mirrored that, shown off his true colors. He wanted corruption. It was exciting. It was something new.

The Overseers weren't any better than the trash running around in the Coalition, tearing apart whatever they wanted just for kicks. They were no better than Pretty's literal slavery and black market, no better than the Fragments who maimed others to collect Magninium to sell to addicts. The Overseers were complacent. Either because they didn't care or they didn't bother.

The entire Coalition was rotted. From the inside out.

It wasn't fair. This wasn't fair. It wasn't the way things were supposed to be. Leaders were supposed to be able to fix the issues, not be the source. Be a bastion of what society should aspire to be. Instill hope in their populace, not hollowed laughter and snide jokes.

"Morning Star!"

He blinked rapidly, head snapping to stare at Magnotris. His boyfriend's brow was furrowed and his mouth slightly open, a hand on Morning Star's shoulder. His eyes searched Morning Star's face, looking for reaction, for emotion. Silence hung in the air. Nobody else was conversing.

"Y-yes?" he breathed after a second, voice high. His eyes dragged around the room. The Overseers were staring at him.

"Are you okay, I asked?"

Morning Star blinked slowly. "Yes... yes, I am. Sorry if I worried you." he ducked his head, "Please carry on."

Magnotris stared for a second longer before turning back to Valentine, although he didn't take his hand off of Morning Star. Slowly, murmurs of conversation returned, quiet discussion among the group. Morning Star didn't bother to listen. He was scared he'd vomit if he heard any more.

The menu was pushed back into his hands. It was littered with descriptions of meals and desserts that Jubilee could magick up for them. Morning Star stared at the print, at the circled words. This was stupid. They didn't need to eat anyways. This was a stupid formality they stole from mortals, again.

This was stupid. Everything about this was stupid. He wished he never came. He wished he never joined the COR. He wished he'd never fallen into the trap of thinking he could change the world. How could he possibly, when the one government attempting to fix it was so disgustingly decayed? When the leaders he'd admired were just a power-hungry clique who only cared for their in-group?

And, in the worst twist of irony of all, he was only allowed to see the rot because his partner nearly stepped into it. If he'd never befriended Magnotris, he'd have lived his life as a humble secretary in Rest & Reformation, not worrying for a minute about if the Overseers enjoyed seeing other Fragments corrupt or even finding a cure. He'd just clock in, write down information, and clock out. Simple and average. Never had to worry about a thing.

"I recommend the cake, if you're thinking about it," Cupid's voice cut in, calmly.

Morning Star slowly turned his head to stare at the other, still holding the menu. He'd forgotten about it, in all honesty.

Cupid gestured with his bottle to the clipboard. "Everything else is a bit too heavy, sits in your guts too long. But that cake's nice and fluffy. I think you'd like it."

That's who these people thought he was. Nice and fluffy. That's what everyone thought Morning Star was. Even he thought that was his identity. But it was nothing. It was all pretend. How could he expect to make anything better with hugs and affection? His kindness could do nothing if the Coalition he pledged himself to was so warped. 

It needed to be brought back to the actual path: that of repairing Timelines and stopping disasters. No more unwatched Fragments. No more whining about nothing exciting. It needed to work.

It needed to change.

Morning Star swung the clipboard into Cupid's head.

The momentum was enough to knock the chair back, Cupid spilling out of it and clutching his head. It felt good, to see him half-curl on the ground. Morning Star stared down at him as something deep rose in his chest, something satisfied, something that begged for more.

He stood, lifting the menu again. He could smash Cupid's face further. See blood splatter on the-

-Magic collided with his own head, and Morning Star spiralled to the ground, ears ringing. He rolled onto his back as tears dripped down his face. Ugh. He didn't want to cry. Not now.

Jubilee was standing, hand outstretched, expression hardened. Apparently he'd taken matters into his own hands, and blasted Morning Star before he could revell in his revenge. Magnotris had sprung to his feet just as quickly, and was now standing between Morning Star and Jubilee, both arms held out. He was speaking quickly. Probably defensive. Morning Star's head hurt too much for him to hear.

He stirred, sitting up slowly, knees drawing closer to his chest. Magnotris snarled something to Jubilee. The Overseer responded with a snap. Morning Star's eyes glided over the rest of the room. Valentine looked pleased, Archise seemed excited. Everyone else was a shade of shocked. Except Cupid, of course. He was still pained, although was similarly sitting up.

Magnotris took Morning Star by the arm, pulling him up. He stumbled to his feet, losing his balance again and nearly falling. Magnotris simply dragged him out, shouting a cursed insult over his shoulder as he slammed the door to the banquet hall behind them.

Ouch. The noise still hurt. Morning Star rubbed his ears. The ringing calmed and silenced. 

"-good for nothing fucking pieces of shit, attacking you for no fucking reason," Magnotris ranted, pacing forwards and fishing his cellie out of his pocket. "Looks like they got Cupid too in the crossfire. What the fuck did they think was going to-"

"-No," Morning Star spoke loftily, voice distant, staring at the wall, "I hit Cupid. It was self defense."

Magnotris froze. He slowly turned his head around, eyes wide. "You what?"

"Magnotris..." Morning Star's voice wavered before gaining a new conviction: "Magnotris, the Coalition is rancid. The Overseers, they... they're - they only care about -!"

Hands landed on his shoulders, a stable calmness in his burning chest. Morning Star blinked, staring Magnotris in the eyes. "I know," he whispered hoarsely, voice low, "I know, okay? It's why - it's part of why I didn't agree to become one."

Morning Star stared at his boyfriend's expression. That wasn't wholly true. Magnotris... whether he liked it or not, he was part of the problem. He dabbled in all the illegal, immoral, destructive pollution that the COR permitted and encouraged. He revelled in it. He was infamous for it. Magnotris was as much a product of this system as the Overseers. 

But all Morning Star could mumble was a small, tiny "you were right."

Magnotris glanced back at the door before settling his eyes on Morning Star's. "Come on. Let's go home and unwind, okay? We'll draft the presentation tomorrow for the cure and then we can kick back and take a vacation, okay? Head off to, stars, I dunno, an A-Timeline."

"Okay."

Magnotris smiled, relief blossoming on his lips and eyes. Morning Star stared back, even as the other teleported them both home. To their actual house. Magnotris let go of him to head to the kitchen. Maybe he'd fix himself a nice, warm drink. Bring Morning Star some candy. Pretend like nothing happened. He hadn't even been horrified that Morning Star had hit Cupid, a superior, an Overseer. 

But that was okay. For now.

Morning Star would fix this. He'd rip out all of the moldy bits and put together what he could. The Coalition would come back, stronger and brighter than ever, a shining bastion of the world, protecting it from itself.

Yes. This was a worthy goal. Fix the Coalition, and he could fix the world. But to fix such a fetid mess, he had to play their game. He had to speak their language. The Overseers would only listen to violence. Yet, he had to fix this. That meant he had to come to terms with somethings.

If he needed to hurt someone.

If he needed to kill someone.