May 31

Prosecutor's Office

1:30 PM

Chrysalis Starr

"I don't know what it is that you're dragging us into, Cotoli, but you had better have a plan," Polly frowned. We were following my brother into the Prosecutor's Office after having just arrived outside the building. Polly didn't seem too pleased with this keeping her from getting back home after she had already been out of the house for days on end thanks to being arrested. However, Cotoli seemed pretty sure that this would make her change her tune. I didn't know if that was possible, but I decided to go along with it for now. After all, if he knew what he was doing, who was I to question it? He was the one who had been involved with this case and all its messiness, not me.

"I have more than a plan. I want to introduce you to someone familiar... Though I must admit that this introduction will be in a new light," Cotoli told her, a small smile on his face. I knew that smirk all too well. That was the face he made when he was up to something. I knew it wasn't anything bad, but I couldn't help my suspicions that this was going to be interesting.

"You're making it sound so mysterious," Anton remarked, his eyes as wide as saucers. He looked up at Cotoli with all the adoration in the world, and I have to admit that I found it rather sweet. He was absolutely precious. There wasn't any other way I could think of to say it.

"I don't know if I would call it mysterious, but it's certainly intriguing. In fact, I'm sure that you'll find it interesting as well. You'll love to hear about all of this, because it means that our family is going to grow a little bit larger," Cotoli grinned, nudging Anton with his elbow as we got into the elevator. He reached out his finger to press the button for the correct floor.

I have to admit, the bit about our family getting larger caught me by surprise. I looked at him with a small frown, unsure as to what he could be getting at. My first instinct was to think that he was talking about Pieter, but that couldn't be possible. Pieter had been missing for ages now, and even if he came back, why would he be at the Prosecutor's Office? Sadness settled deep in my stomach despite my best attempts to dispel it. I couldn't think about him now. There were clearly other things to focus on, and I didn't want to be bogged down by the past. Pieter would come back when he was ready, and I couldn't force it as much as I wanted to.

"What are you talking about, Morix?" Polly asked, looking at him with a harsh, inquisitive eye. She only ever called him by her last name when she was suspicious of him for something, and it was rare. She knew just as well as I did that he wasn't getting up to anything bad, simply because Cotoli didn't have it in him to do something awful, but she had no idea what was happening.

"You'll figure it out soon enough. In fact, it involves a story that you've told me before. You'll find it to be interesting when we finally get the chance to dive deep and learn more," Cotoli explained, smiling more. I didn't even think that was possible. He was certainly excited, but I had no idea how to take it. I had seen him hyped for something before, but this was something different entirely.

The elevator doors opened, and we stepped out. I surveyed the area, trying to see if anything suspicious was hiding nearby, but my attempts to find something ultimately came up short. I remained towards the back of our quartet, letting Cotoli lead us down the hallway. I knew the layout of the Prosecutor's Office rather well, but I didn't know why he would have us here. After all, this wasn't the floor where Polly, Sora, or Ghastly had their offices. We didn't regularly visit the other floors, so what made this visit so special?

"You need to stop speaking in riddles. For the love of all things holy, please stop it," Polly sighed. She crossed her arms, though Anton attached himself loosely to her upper arm. I could tell it was an action that wasn't rooted in fear. Instead, it was likely oriented in the loneliness that Anton had suffered from while Polly was out of his life. I couldn't blame him for being clingy, as I certainly would have been the same way if I were in his shoes.

Cotoli stopped his walking outside of a door near the end of the hallway. It took me a moment to recognize the area, and I double-checked the nameplate next to the door just to be sure. "Prosecutor Daegana's office?" I asked. "What's so important about this place?"

"He's got something important to tell you all about. I'm sure that you'll love to hear about it," Cotoli answered, still beaming like a child on their birthday. He raised one hand and knocked on the wood gently yet firmly. We all watched the door intensely, waiting to see what Prosecutor Daegana would do.

For a fleeting moment, I feared that he wasn't even in his office. After all, if he wasn't there, what were we supposed to do? We couldn't exactly ask anybody else about this as far as I was aware. Cotoli seemed to believe rather firmly that Prosecutor Daegana was the only one with these answers, and if that was the case, then we didn't have any other options in finding out whatever it was that had Cotoli so excited.

Luckily, my fears were banished when the knob turned lightly. A few seconds later, the door opened to show none other than Prosecutor Daegana standing on the other side. It took him a few seconds to register that he had visitors, but when he did, his face broke out into a wide smile. Well, I assumed that he was smiling. I couldn't exactly tell because of his mask. His voice seemed to hint that he was excited though. "I didn't know I would be expecting visitors today," he commented.

"I was wondering if you would be able to explain to these three what you told me not long ago. Yesterday, you had quite a bit to say, and now that the case is over... Well, I figured that these three should hear the truth. We can finally do something about it, so we might as well act," Cotoli explained. He seemed to be oddly at ease around Prosecutor Daegana, and that definitely caught me off guard. Cotoli acted open and friendly at a first glance, but he tended to keep from trusting people until he knew them well. What made Prosecutor Daegana so special that he got trust rights almost right off the bat?

Prosecutor Daegana examined Polly before shifting his attention to me. Afterwards, he moved to look at Anton, and his gaze lingered on the small blonde boy for an oddly long time. He stepped to the side of the door and gestured for us to enter. "Please, come in. I would be glad to tell you about all that I know on the matter," he said simply. When I was inside, he shut the door, and I heard a small click from the lock to show we wouldn't be disturbed.

"What exactly is this matter that you're on about?" Polly asked. She watched as Anton pulled up a chair to sit next to Cotoli. I wound up sitting on the armrest of Cotoli's chair since there wasn't another one left for me. I kept as much distance as I could to ensure I didn't make him uncomfortable. Polly decided not to sit, and I got the feeling it was because she found Prosecutor Daegana to be suspicious.

"I have the truth behind what happened to bring Anton into your life," Prosecutor Daegana said after a brief pause. He stared at Polly, waiting for the dramatic reaction we all knew was coming quickly.

Sure enough, it came out not long after. Polly uncrossed her arms, letting her hands clench into fists as she stared at Prosecutor Daegana. "You know what now?" she asked, taking a small step closer to Prosecutor Daegana.

He nodded, and his hands reached up for his mask. He pulled it away slowly before setting it down on the desk in front of him. I watched his every action with scrutiny, letting out a gasp of surprise as soon as I realized how he looked. Prosecutor Daegana looked exactly like Anton if you took hair color out of the equation. Prosecutor Daegana's hair was a brown shade where Anton's was bright, pastel blonde. Aside from that, they were similar enough to be considered the same person at a first glance.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Polly exclaimed, slamming one of her hands onto Prosecutor Daegana's desk. "You look just like him! How is that-"

"If you take a deep breath, I'm sure he'll explain," I told her, trying my best to pacify her outburst. I got the feeling this came less from a place of rage and more from confusion. After all, Prosecutor Daegana had been her coworker for a while, and it must have been a shock to see him take off his mask for the first time only to see a face that looked just like her adopted son. I hadn't ever been in that situation (you know, because it's a really weird position to be in), but I probably would have reacted in a similar way.

"He will, as a matter of fact. This is why I brought you all here in the first place," Cotoli replied, placing a gentle hand over Polly's other wrist. He squeezed her hand gently, and she backed off a few seconds later. Cotoli looked back to Prosecutor Daegana before nodding. "Alright. Let's get right into it."

Prosecutor Daegana nodded. He stepped off stilts I hadn't even realized he was wearing, and I forced myself to shut my gaping mouth. It appeared I wasn't the only one in the Prosecutor's Office who knew how to hide their identity. Who knew that all this time, while I was hiding behind the facade of Amy Kalles, somebody else was using a mask to keep their face hidden too? Granted, it was a lot more literal in this case, but it was still surprising and odd to me.

Prosecutor Daegana sat down in his chair and took a deep breath. "Anton got amnesia of his past life from before you found him. I'm sure you got that general idea when you first found him all that time ago. However, I am here to fill in the gaps of his memory... As for how much you want to hear, that's up to you. The matter is rather heavy, so if you would rather I save this discussion for another time, it's fine," he said.

Polly looked over to Anton. The blonde boy had his eyes wide in surprise, and he looked back and forth between Polly and Prosecutor Daegana in frantic shock. Polly watched him for a few seconds later before sighing. "I'll decide after you explain why you two look so much alike," she told him softly.

Prosecutor Daegana nodded. "That sounds like a solid plan. I'll go on and say it simply. You might as well rip the bandage off when it comes to things like this, right?" he asked. Prosecutor Daegana took in a deep breath, clearly mustering his courage.

I bit my lip in anticipation of what he was about to say. How else was one supposed to respond to something like this? I hadn't ever been faced with someone who looked just like one of my best friends but with brown hair. My life was sounding more like a weird reality show more and more each day.

"I'm Anton's twin brother," Prosecutor Daegana finally spit out.

I stared at him for a moment, my jaw dropping once again. When I looked at the similarities between them, it made a lot of sense. That didn't stop it from catching me by surprise at first though. I felt kind of stupid when I actually stopped to think about it though. With how similar they looked, how the hell could they not be related? It was the primary explanation that made sense.

Polly seemed to be the most surprised out of all of us. Granted, I hadn't yet been given a chance to see Anton's face, but Polly seemed so completely shocked that it would likely be impossible to beat. "Excuse me?" she asked him. There were no traces of anger on her face, instead only shock.

"He said exactly what's true. He explained it to me during the investigation yesterday, but I wanted to wait until after the case had been properly solved to bring it up. It would have added unnecessary stress to you when you were already dealing with enough," Cotoli explained to Polly.

"I appreciate your consideration for my situation, but... How is this possible? How are you so sure that you and Anton are related? You must have some sort of proof, because that's the only way I'll believe this," Polly said quickly, turning her attention to Prosecutor Daegana.

"Polly, I feel like you can see the evidence you need rather clearly. Look at him. He looks just like Anton. You can't deny the resemblance. How would they look that similar if they weren't related?" Cotoli pointed out. "Even if you want an official explanation, he has one. I heard it with Victoria yesterday. It makes a lot of sense, and I'm sure you'll find that it lines up with what you know about Anton's past as well. You don't need to hear it now, but if you still have doubts later on, you should acknowledge it."

Polly listened to Cotoli's words carefully, still not tearing her gaze away from Prosecutor Daegana. "You know I trust you a lot, Cotoli. If you say that there's a possibility this is the truth, then... I'll think about it," she murmured. Her walls were quickly breaking down, and I knew she was going to fully believe it soon. She found my brother's opinion to be incredibly valuable, and if he believed the truth that Prosecutor Daegana had proposed, then she would likely feel the same way.

I focused my attention on Anton, realizing that he was the one person I hadn't seen the reaction of yet. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the smile so wide it nearly consumed his whole face. "I-I have a twin brother?!" he cried out in excitement. "That's so cool! I-I've always loved the idea of h-having a sibling!"

"Well, now you can finally feel the joy of having one," Cotoli smiled, reaching out to take Anton's hand. "The technical details can wait. You probably want to talk to your newfound relative about what you're going to do from here now that you know you share common blood. Is that correct?"

Anton nodded enthusiastically and practically leapt from his seat to go behind the desk and talk to Prosecutor Daegana. I couldn't hear much of what they were saying since they were speaking so quietly, but I figured I didn't have to. After all, I was much more interested in what Polly had to say on the matter. I looked up at her, a small frown on my face.

Polly was watching Anton with silent scrutiny, wondering how her adopted son could be trusting. He had always believed the world was good, a stark contrast from how she thought most of the time. Her hardened expression grew softer the longer that Anton chattered happily with Prosecutor Daegana, and she let out a sigh before shaking her head. "He sure does seem excited about this," she murmured.

"He does," Cotoli smiled, still watching Anton and Prosecutor Daegana. "I figured he would be excited when he found out that he was related to Prosecutor Daegana, and my assumptions were certainly correct."

"Yeah... He has always mentioned wanting a sibling. Of course, I didn't ever want to reach out and adopt a young child. I've never been good with little kids, and I couldn't ever find someone closer to his age that he got along with. He's afraid of most people at that age range aside from Chrysalis, but... This is the perfect way to get somebody for him to spend time with. Plus, he doesn't seem to be scared of Prosecutor Daegana, probably due to the announcement ahead of time that they were related," Polly said softly.

"I bet you're right on that one. Anton is never this open and friendly, so that would explain why he's so relaxed," I remarked. I turned my attention to Cotoli next, a small frown appearing on my face. "So, what happened? How did you find out about all of this? I somehow doubt that this is the sort of information you just stumble upon randomly."

"Prosecutor Daegana wanted to talk to me during the investigation yesterday. He had been investigating this for quite some time, and he figured I would be a good person to share his results with. He told me everything that he knew, and I vowed to pass on the message to Polly as soon as she was out of the detention center. That brings us up to now," Cotoli replied. He looked to Anton and Prosecutor Daegana. "However, he did ask me to start calling him Elec rather than Prosecutor Daegana. I feel as if you two will have that same privilege since you're close with Anton, and if you're close with Anton... Well, you'll have to become close with him by extension."

"That's true," Polly agreed. "I don't know what I'm going to do about this though."

"Adoption," Cotoli suggested, a small, goofy smile appearing on his face. "Think about it. Elec doesn't have any known family to go back to, and Anton wants to have a sibling. They're related on top of that. If you want to get somebody for Anton to be friends with, I feel like this is your chance. The world practically handed us the perfect opportunity, and we would be foolish if we let it pass us by without doing anything about it."

Polly paused, clearly pondering the idea of taking in Elec. She looked over to the twins, who were still chattering excitedly. I hadn't ever seen Elec look so excited and animated. It was as if he had turned into a completely different person. Granted, I didn't exactly interact with him much in the first place, but the change was still crystal clear. It made me smile, and I had to admit that I was happy to see them both so bubbly and chipper.

"I'll think about it," Polly finally said. She was clearly overwhelmed and didn't want to rush into this headfirst without stopping to consider the possibilities. That was probably a wise course of action, and I couldn't blame her for taking a few steps back to think about it. However, I also knew based on her tone and facial expression that she had already decided on her answer, and it was going in favor of what Cotoli had suggested not long before.

"Do you want to hear the story of what happened to Anton before you two met?" Cotoli asked, bringing his voice down in volume to keep the twins from overhearing. "I don't know if we should share it now. It might bring back some unpleasant memories for Anton, and I don't want to bombard him with too much when he's already dealt with enough these past few days between your arrest and finding out about this."

"It must be really bad if you want to wait on telling him about it because it could hurt him," Polly whispered. She looked Cotoli in the eyes and sighed. "As much as I want to hear the truth as soon as possible, I understand that you must have your reasons for suggesting that we hold it off for a while. I'll trust you on this."

"Thank you for that, Polly," Cotoli told her. "We can talk about it tonight after we get back home. I don't want to bother Anton with it quite yet, and I don't know for sure if Elec will want to tell the full story again. It bothered him enough when he told it the first time through when I was here with Victoria. Things are moving quickly for him too, and I don't want to drive him away or otherwise upset him by forcing him to relive those painful memories twice in the span of two days. That would simply be too cruel."

"The longer you talk about it in vague terms without actually defining what happened, the more worried I get," I admitted, one hand wrapping around my stomach. "You know how prone I can be to stress. Can you promise me that it's fine now? Even if it was an issue in the past, is everything okay nowadays?"

"Everything is fine. That much I can assure you with full confidence. In fact, it will probably only get better from here on out now that we're going to be taking in Elec to give him a new family. It's all uphill from here," Cotoli said.

"Technically, I haven't agreed to anything involving Elec quite yet," Polly frowned, a small huff of air leaving her lips.

"You're already calling him Elec," I commented. "That seems like a pretty good indicator that you've made up your mind already. You like him more than you're willing to admit openly."

"I feel like we all know what you're thinking," Cotoli smirked, teasingly winking in her direction. "And that's not a bad thing. We're happy to invite him into the family just like you are. You don't need to hide that fact from the rest of us."

Polly flushed, her cheeks turning bright pink, when she was called out. "L-Listen, I said I was going to think about it. You'll have to give me a little while to make up my mind on the matter. I'll tell you what I think later on," she told us, her words coming out fast enough to nearly blend together in her hurried explanation.

"Okay, okay. We'll give you your time to think about it since that's so precious to you," I remarked, a tinge of sarcasm in my voice. I playfully rolled my eyes, and she did the same.

"Besides, we can't really stick around here all day. The others are waiting for us back at the agency. We've got something important to explain to Victoria, and I don't think they'll like it if we take a long time here," Cotoli told her. "It might be best if we leave sooner rather than later to take care of our business with them."

"You're going already?" Polly asked, staring at Cotoli in surprise as he rose to his feet. "You just dropped this huge information on me and Anton, and you're leaving already?"

"If we could stay for longer, then we would. That much you can be sure of. However, the others are waiting for us, and we don't want to keep them for too much longer. Besides, this explanation we need to give to Victoria is sure to take a while," Cotoli replied.

"What could you possibly be explaining to her that would take so long to talk about?" Polly asked, frowning deeply. "Whatever it is, it must be pretty important. You seem convinced that it will give me more than enough time to think obey what I've just learned about Anton and Elec."

"It's something important that I need to tell her about. If she's going to continue working at the agency with us, which she is, she has to know about this. It was simply a matter of time before we had to tell her the truth," I replied, hoping that she would get the picture the longer I pressed from this perspective. After all, she knew all about the Oracle project. She had been one of the founding members when the idea first found its grip, so she was fully aware of all the secrets it entailed.

"What are you-" Polly began, though she seemed to realize what I meant halfway through the sentence. "I understand. If you really think it's best to tell her this way, then go ahead. I'm not going to be the one to stop you from telling who you think needs to know."

"Thank you," I said simply, though all of us were fully aware that nothing she could have said or done would have stopped us from telling Victoria the truth. She didn't know Victoria as well as we did, so she couldn't exactly make a guess on how trustworthy our new companion was. Polly had to believe in her at least a little bit though, given that Victoria had helped her to break free from murder charges just a few hours earlier. She wouldn't be able to forget about something that had helped her out so much.

"While we're talking to the other members of our agency, you should consider what you've learned here today. I know it's a lot to hear about out of the blue like this, and like you said a little while ago, you'll need time to think it over. Well, the universe has gifted you the perfect time to think about it all, so it would be best if you took advantage of it. In the meantime, we don't want to keep the others waiting," Cotoli told her. "The sooner we're finished talking to them, the sooner we can get back home to consider our options for what to do involving Anton and Elec." I could tell that he wanted to tack on a snarky comment about how the future was already decided involving the two of them, but he held back for the sake of letting Polly consider it. We already knew what she was going to say, but we might as well play nice.

"Alright," Polly nodded. She hesitated before continuing. "Stay safe, alright? I don't want you feeling obligated to tell her if you decide halfway through it isn't worth it. You can always back out if you think it would be the best option. Nobody is going to judge you for it, and if they do, they'll be getting an earful from me as soon as I hear about it. It's the least I can do to contribute to all that we've been up to for the past few years."

Cotoli chuckled under his breath. "Thank you for the support, Polly," he said. He looked up to Anton and Elec. They were still talking, and as far as I could tell, they hadn't heard anything the rest of us had been talking about for the past few minutes. "Anton, Elec, we have to get going for a little while. We'll talk to you again later on. Enjoy yourselves until we get back, alright?"

Anton and Elec temporarily stopped their conversation to look at us. Anton grinned happily and waved enthusiastically at us while Elec gave us a shy yet curt farewell.

I waved to them as well before turning on my heel and following Cotoli out of the room. I heard Anton and Elec get back to talking as soon as we left. I shut the door behind us, and I let out a small sigh.

"That sure was something, huh?" Cotoli asked, starting to lead me back to the elevator.

I nodded. "That's putting it lightly. I had no idea that Anton had a brother. Granted, we had no way of figuring it out, but... You know what I mean," I said. "This is so odd to think about, but... It makes sense when you see how similar they look. I can't think of any other explanation, and if he has a story that you believe to be true... I trust your judgement like Polly does. Elec doesn't seem like he would lie about something like this too. If he was lying about being Anton's twin, my Magatama surely would have reacted to show any Psyche-Locks he would have had."

"Polly can tell that too... Still, it's probably best for us to give her some space while she copes with the gravity of this revelation. It's perfect timing for us to go and talk to Victoria," Cotoli said. He led me to the elevator, pressing on the button for the bottom floor once we were inside. I watched the doors close quietly.

"This is going to be a doozy," I sighed. "I wasn't there when people found out last time. You know, I was a bit busy being used as a hostage. It'll be a unique experience to be able to explain to everybody why I'm doing all this."

"It'll be new, yes, but you can handle this. I'm sure that you can do it," Cotoli smiled. "This is one of the least scary things you've done in the past year. Let's be honest here."

I laughed. "As much as I hate to admit it, you have a point. I can handle this," I agreed. The elevator doors opened, and we both walked out. We headed for the entrance to the Prosecutor's Office next.

"We might as well get this over with," Cotoli said, laughing softly. "The others won't want to wait around forever, and Polly has to talk to us again too."

"We have this all under control," I told him, though I was talking more to myself than him. I could handle this. Totally.

I hoped.


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