TWs: Arguing, brief crying, trust issues, anxiousness, oblivious Earth. Stay safe :)

6 HOURS

...

X felt it; the sudden urge that was slowly rising deep within him, screaming at him that something was wrong.

He furrowed his eyebrows, glaring at the tied-up group of dwarf planets, squinting at them as if they had something to do with it.

"Can we help you?" Eris was the only one brave enough to speak up.

X scowled as he uttered, "No," before turning his gaze towards Sedna and Gonggong, "Watch them. I have something I need to take care of."

Before they could respond, X flew off.

Salacia, Quaoar, and Orcus entered the area, two of them arguing while the other quickly made his way to the other side of the clearing.

Sedna decided she had enough, stepping between the two, "Hey, what's with all the yelling? We're trying to keep a low profile!"

"It's those bloody Stars, that's what!" Salacia exclaimed, "I told you we never should have trusted them- they're outsiders for a reason!"

"You don't trust anyone!" Quaoar argued, "You don't even trust X!"

"Why would I trust X!? He's telling us to do these things in favor of him looking for our moons- but can we really trust him? He hasn't left the Kuiper belt to search or anything!"

Sedna frowned, though Quaoar narrowed his eyes and scoffed.

"Then why are you doing the things he tells you to do if you don't trust him?"

"Because I actually care about my moon!" Salacia turned her head away as she slowly lifted a hand to her face, shakily wiping her eyes, "I know my moon is bigger than yours and Orcus' combined, but still... it's not safe for a moon like her to be somewhere out there."

Quaoar opened his mouth, words failing him. He had never seen Salacia so emotional before, and judging by everyone else's reactions, nobody had.

Quaoar only nodded, "Right. Yeah, no- I'm also worried..."

"I think all of this has messed with our heads a bit," Sedna spoke.

"No kidding." The oblong Celestial uttered.

Salacia nodded, "We should get back on track... oh, also, the Stars wanted us to join them."

"What?" Sedna raised an eyebrow.

"To escort the dwarf planets." Quaoar gestured.

"Why us?" Pluto asked.

"Ooh, maybe they're going to sacrifice us!" Makemake grinned.

"Wh-What!?" Haumea yelped.

"Calm down. They're not going to sacrifice us." Eris spoke.

"Yeah, they're probably going to threaten our lives to get the Sun and planets not to attack them..." Charon guessed.

"And that's better how?" Haumea tensed, clenching his hands repeatedly.

"...It's not, but it could be worse." Charon smiled.

"Charon!" Pluto lightly glared at the other.

"What? I'm just saying-"

"Do you guys ever shut up!?" Salacia yelled.

The atmosphere was silent as the hostage dwarf planets and moon looked at the smaller.

"You could say please," Charon spoke.

« × »

5 HOURS

...

"Is everyone ready?" Proxima asked.

"Ready." Toliman nodded, joining his sibling's side.

"Ready," Gliese smirked, brandishing her Zweihänder.

When there wasn't a third response, Proxima glanced at the biggest Star, "Sirius...?"

The Blue Star hummed, snapping out of his daze, "...Ready."

Proxima kept their eyes trained on the other as they spoke, "Less than five hours left. We have to be focused on the goal, which is...?"

"Take down the Sun and his planets or whatever," Gliese spoke.

"Well, yes- and no. X told us to use the dwarf planets as bait."

"Which is why we're bringing them with us," Toliman spoke.

"Exactly. Our main focus is to force the Sun not to fight us. While he's distracted with me, Gliese will go around and attack the planet with life- only one hit will do the trick."

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows, "This is a risky plan, Proxima. One wrong move, and it'll be over before it starts."

"Which is why we have millennia of experience! No planet can cause extreme harm to a Star."

Sirius cast his gaze toward Gliese, his eyes tracing the cracked area around her left eye from where Helios had struck her. It faded with time, yet it was still visible.

"No, but-" Sirius got cut off by a grunt, prompting him to turn around as he watched small bodies enter the area heaving bigger bodies.

"We're back!" Quaoar announced, "And we brought presents."

"This better be worth it- it was a pain just to drag 'em here!" Salacia scowled.

"Well, you are smaller than us-" Makemake was about to say before shutting his mouth when he was shot the deadliest glare Salacia could muster.

"Well, we move in three hours." Toliman spoke, "Might as well rest until then."

"Wasn't X going to join us...?" Proxima questioned, looking at the dwarf planets for answers.

"He said he had to take care of something." Sedna answered, "Gonggong, can you take over watching them? I'm going to go find X."

"If you insist." Gonggong shrugged, crossing his arms as he rested on an asteroid.

« × »

4 HOURS 30 MINUTES

...

Earth held the cards in his grasp, his vision hazy as he barely focused on the game.

"Earth...?" Mars said his name, leaning forward to try to catch the other's gaze.

"Yo, Earth!" Venus snapped his fingers in front of the blue Celestial's face.

Mercury looked at Luna, gesturing for the moon to do something.

Luna frowned, his hand slowly making contact with his parent's shoulder, "Earth."

The Celestial blinked hard, looking up and finding his cards now scattered all over the place, drifting in the gravity, "Wha- uh...?"

"Dude, you okay?" Mars asked, concern lacing his features as he looked at his friend.

Earth took a moment to process the question, "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

The others looked at him with doubtful faces.

Luna, who had gathered the cards, returned them to the original owner, "Earth, what did we talk about?"

"We always talk, Luna. You're going to have to be more specific." Earth forced a smile on his face.

"You know what I'm talking about, Earth... with the Sun, and the lessons... about how important it is to-"

"Okay! Okay, I remember! You can stop now." Earth pushed him away.

"What about the Sun?" Mars questioned.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Earth quickly responded, his expression dropping as he frowned.

"Then, what's the problem?" Venus raised an eyebrow.

Earth breathed out a sigh, "Me."

The Rocky Planets and moons looked at him with wide eyes.

"Oh, snap!" Deimos yelled.

"I did not see that coming!" Phobos exclaimed.

"You? I'm sorry, did I travel to an alternate reality or something?" Mars asked, pinching himself to see if he wasn't dreaming.

"There is no way that Earth, who has an ego that can rival the light of the Sun, just said that he was a problem." Venus waved his hands.

Earth shook his head, knowing his friends would freak out.

Once they calmed down, Mars was the first to question him, "Why do you think you're a problem?"

"It's not that I'm a problem..." Earth crossed his arms, turning his head away, "It's that I'm a liability. Not only do I have a risk of getting hurt, but I'm also getting you guys involved by protecting me."

"Well, yeah." Mars shrugged, "That's kinda the whole point of protecting someone."

"But, you guys-"

"Heh, I didn't suffer from global warming sucking the life out of me to suddenly becoming a hellscape for nothing!" Venus smirked, "I was born to kick some Star core!"

"And even though I have ice caps on my poles, the majority of my water has disappeared." Mars smiled.

"At least you guys have something." Mercury gave them a deadpan stare.

"Shut up, pipsqueak, don't you have tectonic activity or whatever?" Venus waved his hand.

"That's not nearly as cool!" Mercury yelled.

"Anyway," Mars ignored them as he took Earth by the hand, "Whether you like it or not, we're not leaving your side, dude."

Earth's eyes lowered, his gaze set on the pair of hands. Mars' hand felt cold, yet somehow, it was pleasant.

Mars noticed the troubled look on Earth's face, promptly letting go of the other's hand, "I, uh- better get going. I have to prepare for later... and whatnot."

Earth watched his friend leave the Goldilocks Zone. He raised his hand to his face, "Huh."

Luna watched the scene play out with wide eyes, a million questions in his mind as his gaze wandered from Earth to Mars, 'What the hell- how many planets like my dad!?'

"Where'd Mars go?" Venus shifted up to Earth.

"Back to his orbit," Luna answered.

"Ah, yeah, I should head back too. Uh-" Venus squinted his eyes at Earth, "I doubt you'll do anything stupid, but just in case... don't do anything stupid, you idiot!"

"Agh, okay! You don't have to yell all the time!" Earth covered his ears.

"How else am I supposed to get my point across?" Venus asked.

Earth huffed.

« NOTE »

Join my Discord, it's pretty chilllll :)

I wrote this in 2 and a half hours at 1am- on my phone. Why? Because. That's why.

Comments are appreciated 3