TWs: Weapons, injuries, brief threats/concern for safety. Stay safe :)

"I knew whatever X was planning couldn't be good." The Sun spoke, peering down at the moon before him, "Thank you for confirming my suspicions, Triton."

"You're welcome, I guess." Triton shrugged, "I wouldn't want X to have the upper hand."

"That's true!" Sun grinned, "Well, you should focus on the safety of Neptune. Those tinier moons can't protect a planet his size."

"Sure." Triton nodded, backing away.

"Also-" The Sun called out, "You should take this."

Triton raised his eyebrows as he watched the Sun concentrate, the surface above his eyes heating up as the mark rose above and beyond til the object was finally ejected into the atmosphere.

"Wha- is that...?" Triton uttered, blinking.

"A trident? Yes, it is!" The Sun grinned, "It's not exactly cool to the touch, so you might want Neptune to cool it off for you."

"Huh, that's pretty cool." Triton took the flaming weapon, his eyes peering at the yellowy-orange flicks fighting against each other, "Uh- thank you again, Mr. Sun."

"I should be thanking you." Sun spoke, "X has no idea the pain he's going to cause us, let alone what those Stars are capable of. I fear for the worse, I'm afraid."

Triton frowned, "All we can do now is look out for each other."

The Sun smiled, nodding his sphere, "Right. Everyone here is under my protection as well as my light. It's up to me to protect you all, and you guys to do the same."

« × »

"Pluto, are you sure you're alright?" Charon asked, looking at her planet in worry.

"I-I'm fine, Charon... it's just a scratch." Pluto uttered, biting his lip as he leaned most of his body weight on his moon.

"It doesn't look like 'just a scratch.'" Eris spoke, her eyes set on the burn mark on Pluto's shoulder, "Can't you heal yourself?"

"I'm trying, but... as a dwarf planet of smaller mass, it'll take some time." Pluto winced, "Which is why the Sputnik Planitia is the way it is... I wasn't able to heal myself after it happened."

Charon looked down, a pit forming in her stomach as she remembered that moment.

Makemake hummed, his eyes drifting between the ex-planet and his moon. He perked up as an idea came to his mind, "Hey, Charon can help you!"

"What?" Pluto looked up.

"How?" Charon asked, leaning forward intently.

"Well, it's said that a moon's powers are at full potential when they're close to their planet. And I don't mean physically close, but..."

"Emotionally..." Pluto finished.

"Exactly!" Makemake grinned.

Charon frowned, her eyes peering past Pluto's torso and setting on the mark on the other side, "But- don't I need to use my hands?"

"Not exactly. You can use any method." Makemake gestured with his head, jerking it in Pluto's direction, "Such as your head."

"Why the head...?" Haumea spoke up, quietly listening to the conversation from where he sat beside Makemake.

"I... don't know. I read somewhere about chakras-"

"Chakras...?" Eris raised an eyebrow.

"Earthling thing." Makemake flushed, shrugging as he continued his rant, "Chakras are energy centers in the body that are associated with the organs and glands in their area. They are said to affect health, mental state, and relationships, and when they are balanced, they can help people function at their best. When one chakra is out of balance, it can disrupt the others, leading to feelings of disconnection, anxiety, and fear."

"But we don't exactly have organs or glands." Eris pointed out.

"I know, but I want to bring attention to the seventh one; the cro-"

"Oi! What'd we say 'bout talking?" Salacia snapped. Makemake shrunk back into his spot on the asteroid he was sitting on. Salacia huffed, "That's what I thought."

Another dwarf planet shifted by the tied-up crew timidly. He fidgeted in place as he spoke softly, "Ignore her... she can be strict when it comes to newcomers."

"Don't we know it," Eris muttered sarcastically.

« × »

"Triton! Where did you run off to?" Neptune flew over to meet his biggest moon, "I was worried something happened."

Triton raised an eyebrow, "I just went to talk to the Sun, and-" He pulled out the trident, "He gave me this."

"Ooh...!" The tinier moons gathered around, aweing at the weapon.

"That's so cool!" Larissa spoke.

"Did the Sun make that?" Despina asked.

"I want one too!" Thalassa exclaimed.

"Watch out, little ones!" Neptune used his gravity to push them away, "It's made of pure flames."

"The Sun said you can cool it off," Triton spoke.

"Oh, of course!" Neptune nodded, shifting to his Celestial form, "Allow me!"

Neptune pulled the trident away. The flaming weapon twirled in his gravity before lying on his left palm. Steam rose into the atmosphere as Neptune used his right hand to encase it between his palms.

"It takes a moment," Neptune uttered, tensing his hands as he felt the fire burning into his surface.

"Are you okay, Neptune?" Proteus questioned, noticing his wince.

"Of course! It barely hurts." Neptune forced a laugh out of him. Triton frowned.

After a few more seconds of silent pain, Neptune released his grasp on the weapon. He was peering down on the now grey-glowing trident.

"Here ya go! One not-burning trident ready to use!" Neptune grinned, giving Triton his trident back. The Celestial glanced at his hands, noticing the creases on his surface, 'Ow...'

"Hey, uh- Neptune?" Triton spoke.

"Yes?" Neptune balled up his hands and crossed his arms.

Triton opened his mouth, then closed it. He looked away, debating what he was going to say and how to say it.

"Be... careful." Triton had finally decided to say, his eyes barely meeting Neptune's, "Don't rush into things, and think before acting."

Neptune's mouth was in the shape of an 'o' as he gazed at Triton with an undiscernable stare.

"Y'know, for the little one's sake." The moon finished, averting his eyes again.

Neptune tilted his head, his eyes blinking seconds apart as he smiled, "Thank you, Triton."

"Mmh..." Triton nodded, pushing his cracked sunglasses up to cover his eyes.

"Can I have a trident?" Proteus asked.

"Hey, I asked first!" Thalassa yelled.

Neptune looked at his moons, "Hey, hey, hey- maybe one day you can each have a trident!"

The small irregular moons bounced around with joy.

Triton watched on, his gaze furrowed and concentrated. He didn't know how to feel yet. He was content being here with Neptune and his moons, but he was also content being with the other dwarf planets.

He cared about Neptune, which was hard for him to admit. He also didn't mind the small moons, which was also hard to acknowledge.

If only he had someone to talk to; the only ones available were either someone who didn't like his presence at the moment or someone who listened to someone else's orders and spewed sulfur dioxide everywhere.

'Man...' Triton inwardly sighed.

"Hey, what's that?" Larissa called out.

"What's wha-?" Neptune stopped in the middle of his sentence as he saw an oncoming bright light, "Now, that's odd."

Triton squinted, his eyebrows furrowing, "It looks five times as big as the Sun."

"Okay, everyone- get behind me!" Neptune used his gravity to pull his moons in, shielding them from the oncoming object.

Triton managed to peer between the blue Celestial's elbow and midsection, watching as the object moved closer. Its body moved steadily, wafting itself through the Kuiper belt.

Finally, the spherical object came through to the other side.

Neptune's eyes widened as he took in the bright blueish-white flames of the Star before him.

"You would not believe how long it took me to get here..." Spica spoke, letting out a huff.

« NOTE »

I went to the library and got Mostly Void, Partially Stars: Welcome to Night Vale :)

Things have been crazy on my other Discord (not my personal one, but the Ao3 one).

So much drama recently

Comments are appreciated 3