TWs: Gaslighting/manipulation, implied torture, brief arguing, lying/keeping secrets. Stay safe :)
"Nice to finally meet you, Neptune."
The blue Celestial looked around, his eyes wide with panic, "Who's there!?"
Neptune took in where he was; an empty void of space where Stars could be seen in the distance. He could faintly make out the Kuiper belt a few units away. He noticed how alone he was; the planets and moons- his friends- were nowhere to be found.
"Just how it's always been."
"What...?" Neptune looked up, whipping his head around to try and figure out where the voice was coming from.
"You should be used to being alone. Not getting to see your friends or your moons..."
Neptune winced, looking down as he pursed his lips.
"Didn't you lose your moons at one point? What's up with that? Couldn't bear to lie to them anymore?"
Neptune blinked, shaking his head, "What? No, no- I've never lied to anyone, especially not my moons."
"What makes you so sure, hm? After all, you don't have the 'best' memory, as I've heard..."
Neptune folded in on himself, bringing his knees to his chest, "I don't understand... just tell me who you are!"
The voice scoffed, "Seriously...? Hmph, it's no wonder you locked your memories away, the other planets likely deemed you as a moron."
"H-Hey! That's not very nice!" Neptune frowned, becoming defensive as he crossed his arms.
"And I'm not a nice being. Get over it."
Neptune forced his eyes closed, fingers digging into his arms as he tried to wake himself up.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. It'll only make my job easier."
Neptune huffed, "Just leave me alone! I'm not supposed to be talking to you!"
"Oh, so you do know who I am? Did you just now remember, or did you know the whole time and didn't want to admit it?"
Neptune bit his lip, limbs shaking and eyes watering as he forced his head down.
"Ah... just as I suspected." Sagittarius A* spoke once it realized Neptune wasn't going to answer, "You really are nothing but a manipulative liar... you think you have everyone fooled, but not me."
Neptune shook his head, lips quivering, "I- I don't know wh-what you're talking about... I swear, I don't know anything."
"Sure, you don't know anything now, but with a little 'prying,' I'm sure you'll remember everything."
Neptune took a breath, speaking cautiously, "What does that mean...?"
The Black Hole ignored the question, humming, "Try not to move around too much..."
"Wha- ugh!"
« × »
"Something's wrong," Wěi spoke.
Uranus snapped out of his concentration, his paintbrush rising from the canvas as he stopped, "What is it?"
"I don't know..." Wěi uttered, "I have a sudden sense of dread as if something bad is going to happen."
Uranus hummed, eyes rooted on Neptune's moons, "Do you think we should warn the Sun?"
"No, not yet, at least." The NovaStar responded, "It's only a feeling, nothing more."
"If you say so, mate." Uranus continued painting.
In the Ethereal, one would think about the situation and how to go about it.
'Although, I should warn the others.' They thought before closing his eyes and yanking on the loose threads. They felt the atmosphere shifting, dropping deep into the void before altering again. He opened his eyes, finding himself before a yellow NovaStar.
Wěi looked around; nothing to see for a couple of Astronomical Units away.
It was always quiet in the Ethereal. He almost preferred it that way.
Almost.
Glancing back at the yellow NovaStar, Wěi placed his hands on it, palms up, "Messier, Pinwheel, it's Wěi- meet me at Sol's Novae, it's important."
The yellow NovaStar lit up briefly, Wěi pulling his hands away as he noted that his message was sent.
"Woah, how'd you do that, mister!?" A voice exclaimed.
Wěi whipped his head around, finding a small figure watching with awe.
"Uh- who...?"
She smiled, zipping around as she inspected the stranger, "Hello! My name's Cura, what's yours? I haven't seen you around before!"
Wěi noted her attire: a plain white dress, a gold sash around her waist, gold coiled sandals, and short brown hair with flipped bangs.
"I'm Wěi... tell me, are you by chance a moon?"
"Yep!" Cura responded, "Jupiter's moon, to be exact! I wasn't around for long, as you can tell..."
"How come?"
Cura didn't respond, only averting her eyes toward the NovaStar. She ooh'd, pointing at it, "Is it supposed to be glowing like that?"
Wěi turned, raising a hand to shield his eyes, "Only when entering and exiting the Ethereal..."
"You can exit the Ethereal...?" Cura whispered, eyebrows furrowing in puzzlement.
"What took you guys so long?" Wěi questioned Messier and Pinwheel as they emerged from the aureola.
"We came as soon as we heard," Messier spoke.
Pinwheel nodded, "So, what's up? We only agreed to come here in case of emergencies."
"Call it intuition or a core feeling... but I think something will happen."
"Something, as in...?" Messier trailed off.
"Yep. I have a feeling Sagittarius A* will make another move."
Messier bit his lip, shaking his head subtly, 'Damn, I should've never left Neptune on his own...'
Wěi then remembered there was someone with them. He peered over his shoulder, about to speak, only to find that the small brown Celestite was gone. He quirked an eyebrow, 'She left in a hurry, I only turned my back on her for a minute.'
"Well, if we have no idea what it's planning, then... what do we do?" Pinwheel asked.
"Ah, uhm... keep a lookout? I don't know, it'll probably be obvious." Wěi shrugged before turning to Messier, "Although I would suggest keeping an eye on Neptune, he seems to be the most probable to be a target for Sagittarius."
"Right, about that..." Messier paused, "Neptune gave my Novae to Saturn."
Pinwheel gasped, "What!?"
"Excuse me?" Wěi's frown deepened, eyes twitching, "What do you mean Neptune gave you to Saturn!?"
"As I said, Saturn has it now." Messier crossed his arms.
"Well, give it back to Neptune!"
"It's not that easy, Wěi," Messier sighed, "Neptune insisted Saturn have it so I can protect him."
Wěi rubbed his temple, his face scrunched in frustration, "That idiot is going to get himself killed one day..."
"He's not an idiot, he just cares about his friends."
"Enough to put his core on the line?"
"Yes." Messier glowered, glaring at the other, "You have no idea how far he'll go."
Pinwheel watched the two go back and forth, a tight smile on his face, "Uh, h-hey! Why don't we, uhm- leave this and tell our holders what's happening?"
Wěi kept his eyes glued to Messier's, "Fine by me."
Messier clenched his jaw, saying nothing as he gave a curt nod.
...
"Cura! Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!" A grey Celestite with silver hair pulled into a chignon rushed forward, checking the smaller one for injuries.
Cura groaned, "Chrys, I'm fine. I was only gone for a few minutes..."
"I could've sworn it was hours..." Chrysalis uttered, pulling away once she found nothing wrong.
"Where's Miss Theia?" Cura wondered, her eyes darting around.
"She's with the others, but- woah!" Chrysalis' eyes widened as she was pulled along by the small Celestite, "Cura? What are you-?"
"Miss Theia lied to us!" Cura yelled.
"Wh-What? About what?"
Cura huffed, looking at Chrysalis with big watering eyes, "She said there was no way to exit the Ethereal, b-but... I met a Nova and they mentioned something about entering and exiting this place!"
Chrysalis froze, staring at the younger with dissonance, "Th-That can't be... there has to be an explanation. Maybe only Novaes can enter and exit...? They are the most powerful beings in the Ethereal, after all."
"But there's still a chance!" Cura pouted, "The only way to get an answer is by talking to Miss Theia!"
"Talk to me about what?" A voice piped up behind the duo.
"M-Miss Theia!" Chrysalis blinked, "We were only just talking about, uh-"
Cura interrupted her, "Is it true that we can exit the Ethereal!?"
Theia seemed shocked at the question, but it soon turned into fear as the Celestial tensed up, flexing her hands. She turned her head away as she opened her mouth, anxious about how the two would react, "...Yes."
« NOTE »
I finally figured out what to call the moons; Celestites instead of Celestials.
I bought the Tord makeship plushie :)
I have all 4 now :D
I'm thinking of buying SolarCards, but I'm waiting until my next paycheck hehe
Comments are appreciated <3