TWs: Injuries, arguing/attacking/fighting, insults, cliffhanger (again). Stay safe :)

45 MINUTES BEFORE

...

"Sedna...!?" Nine flew over to where the small dwarf planet floated, "What're you doing here?"

"I... came looking for you," Sedna answered, holding her arm. She grunted, "The others have probably gone ahead."

"Your arm..." Nine furrowed his eyebrows, eyeing the cracks marring her surface. Small bits of debris fell from her hand as she raised it.

"Oh." Sedna looked at the display, her face holding no emotion, "Don't worry, it will reform. Eventually." Sedna winced, groaning in pain as more cracks formed, taking over the left side of her body, "Eventually..."

Nine said nothing, yet his eyes said everything.

"Is this what you wanted...?" Neptune whispered, prompting the other to look at him. The blue Celestial gazed at him with pain-stricken eyes, tears falling down his face as he spoke, his voice cracking, "No matter the cost, you're willing to get rid of anything that's in your way despite the pain it does to you?"

"I don't-"

"Did you try...?" Sedna asked.

"What?" Nine glanced at the dwarf planet.

"Did you try to search for their moons?" Sedna clarified. Despite the cracks spreading, she spoke with force, "We trusted you, Nine- I trusted you. You made this mission your own that you forgot about us. You think lowly of us... just because we're small doesn't mean we can't do anything!"

"Sedna."

"I wanted to believe there was hope for us. Y'know, since we're the outcasts of the dwarf planets- we're the forgotten ones. When you offered to help us, I thought it was too good to be true."

"Sedna."

"Maybe it is too good to be true, but we'll find our moons with or without you."

"Sedna! Shut up!" Nine ordered, "All of your talking doesn't help the cracks go away."

Sedna blinked before slowly looking into the void below, "Of course. You never really cared about me, Gonggong, or Quaoar... you only care about yourself. Why pretend now?"

"I'm not-" Nine bit his tongue, shaking his head.

Sedna peered up at the navy Celestial, "And this," The dwarf planet winced, shaking as she felt the cracks rise to her face, "This is nothing compared to the feeling of losing a moon..."

Nine said nothing.

"I lost my moon millennia ago." Sedna gritted her teeth, "But the others... there's still hope for them finding their moons." Tears fell from her eyes, "Is this what I get for helping you, Nine? A slow and agonizing demise?"

Nine faltered, his eyes wavering as he looked at the trembling dwarf Celestial. He took a breath, closing his eyes, "I see..."

The navy Celestial turned to face Neptune, who was still cradling the NovaStar in his clasped hands.

"This is what you meant." Nine shifted closer, watching as Uranus pulled out an arrow, pointing it at Nine's neck.

"Come any closer and I won't hesitate to decapitate you." He spoke.

"Since when did you care so much about Poseidon...?" Nine questioned, "Whatever the case, I see what you meant, Neptune; how far I'm willing to go to get what I want."

"And...?" Neptune frowned.

Nine grunted, biting the inside of his cheek as he released a breath he didn't realize he was holding, "And I..."

Neptune raised an eyebrow while Uranus looked disinterested in what the other had to say.

They were both caught off guard by the other's words.

"I made a mistake."

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NOW

...

"I suggest all of you back down before this gets out of hand." Spica spoke, "Especially you, Gliese."

"You think I'm going to waste this opportunity...?" Gliese scoffed, "Please, Spica, why are you always defending him?"

"Because I was the only one who saw the good in him." Spica spoke, casting her glance toward the other Stars, "Come on, guys, you can't seriously think Helios is the same Star as he was billions of years ago, do you?"

Sirius and Toliman averted their gazes while Proxima frowned.

"He caused us the most pain." Proxima bit their lip, "Why shouldn't we attack him?"

"Because he knows what he did was wrong." Spica gestured to the other, "Right?"

Sun nodded, "It's been billions of years since what happened. I've grown and learned from my mistakes... and I know that apologizing now won't excuse my behavior from before."

Gliese squinted her eyes, her gaze hard. Proxima rested a hand on her shoulder, only for her to shrug it off and shift forward, "I don't believe you."

Sun had a pained expression on his face as he uttered, "I know..." The Guardian cast a glance around, "Stand down, everyone."

"What? But Sun-!" Jupiter tried to object, only for Sun to snap his fingers, forcing the Giant to be quiet.

"It's alright, Jupiter," Sun spoke, a smile forming on his face.

"Helios...?" Spica raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

"It's only fair for the opposing team to strike first." Sun responded, "I'm only giving them what they want."

Proxima frowned, their eyes wide, "W-Wait, hold on-!"

"Perhaps we need to have a team meeting?" Toliman suggested to his sibling, his voice wavering.

"Uh, right! Time out! We have to- discuss some things." Proxima pulled Gliese into the group where they huddled together.

"Time out...?" Venus scrunched his face, "That's not how wars work."

"It's better than them straight up attacking us." Mars pointed out.

"What are you thinking, Toliman?" Proxima whispered to their brother.

"They seem genuine." Alpha responded, "Plus, I'm having second thoughts about this whole thing. I have a feeling Sirius is too."

"Indeed." Sirius nodded.

"You've got to be kidding me. After everything he's done to us, you're just going to forgive him just like that?" Gliese asked.

"We're not forgiving him. I say he has to earn our trust back." Toliman spoke.

"Hm... I agree." Proxima smiled.

Gliese looked at the others, a shocked expression on her face. She bit her tongue, holding back what she wanted so badly to scream in their pathetic faces. She took a deep breath, forcing a smile on her face, "Fine by me."

Proxima beamed at the other, while Sirius and Toliman shared glances. Before either could say anything, Proxima turned on their orbit, facing the Sun with a grin.

"We've decided not to go through with our plan!" They exclaimed.

"Really...?" Sun uttered.

"Really!" Proxima nodded.

"Well, this feels anti-climatic." Venus huffed, crossing his arms.

"Which means, we'll also give you back the dwarf pla-" The smaller Star paused upon noticing the apprehensive stares of Salacia and the others, "Uh...? Where did they go?"

When Salacia and Quaoar didn't respond, Gliese started to put the pieces together. Her eyebrows furrowed as she clenched her jaw.

"You let them escape!?" She yelled.

"I-It was the moons...!" Orcus tried to explain, only to be cut off.

"I don't want your excuses! How could you all be so useless? How can Nine trust a bunch of dwarves to take care of anything!?"

The dwarf planets before her flinched, backing away as they took on the insults. Despite being smaller, Salacia's arms were wide open in a defensive position, guarding the others.

"Hey- HEY!" Sun's voice echoed across the atmosphere, prompting everyone except Gliese to turn to him, "I command you to back down, Gliese. You're in my domain, and what I say goes!"

Gliese scowled, whipping around to face him, "You think you're so special just because you're a Superior Star compared to me, just because you're the only system that we know of that has a planet that can support life... well, everyone may have forgiven you, but I certainly won't." Gliese pulled out her Zweihänder.

"Gliese, I don't recommend doing this," Spica warned.

"This is between me and Helios- stay out of it!" Gliese spat before charging towards the Sun.

Sun took a deep breath, never pulling out his whip as it would create more harm than good. Instead, he let it happen, his eyes burning with unshed plasma tears.

FWOOSH!

...

CLANGG!

« NOTE »

*Sips tea*

Some good shit right here. The tea, I mean.

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