TWs: Panicking, brief yelling, referenced self-sacrifice. Stay safe :)
"We have to tell the Sun." Saturn spoke, "He's the only one that knows all of us, even X, inside and out; he might be able to track him!"
Jupiter nodded, turning to the dwarf planet, "Triton, I need you to find Neptune and warn him before X gets to him first."
"Hold on," Callisto spoke, "He's not going without us."
"H-He's not?" Io questioned.
"He might need some cover if we do encounter this planet." The smaller moon explained.
Jupiter smiled, humming, "Good thinking. Off you go now, and make sure Neptune is one hundred percent safe."
"We will. Good luck on your part." Triton tipped his sunglasses.
« × »
A cyan hand glided a paintbrush across the canvas delicately, putting the finishing touches on the product.
"Now this," Uranus spoke, "Is perfect."
He lifted the paintbrush from the painting, letting go of it in favor of taking the canvas in his hands.
"This is much better than that other one. Maybe I should give this one to..." He trailed off, eyeing the canvas, "Ah, who am I kidding? I would be very obvious of my feelings if I gave him another painting of him as my muse."
He let go of the canvas, watching as it floated away.
'I should write down everything that's happened lately.' Uranus thought. He put his hand in his inner pocket, searching for his notebook. He raised an eyebrow upon not finding it, reaching into the other pocket, 'That's weird... I coulda sworn my book was in my jacket.'
He patted down his pants pockets, starting to panic inside as he realized it wasn't on him.
Uranus raised a hand to his head, tugging at his hair, "Ugh, where could it be!?"
Everything was in that notebook; centuries of information and just like that, it was gone. Uranus' eyes shifted everywhere, looking around. That book contained his every thought and feeling- how could he have let it out of his sight?
'This is bad, this is very bad...' He thought, biting his lip as he looked around, 'Who could have...?'
Then he realized who could have stolen his notebook; the only Celestial who had gotten close enough to do so.
'That bastard...' He clenched his fists, scowling as his eyes diverted to the Kuiper belt.
« × »
"Neptune looks sad." Nereid pointed out, "What should we do, Proteus?"
"Uhm..." Proteus looked at the others, then at the Celestial before them who was making droplets of water fall and rise with a swipe of his hand. A lightbulb went off as a smile grew on Proteus' face, "I got it!"
Proteus flew over, peering at Neptune. Neptune took a few seconds to notice the small moon as he perked up, releasing the water droplets back into his system, "Hello, Proteus! What can I do for you?"
"We were just wondering," Proteus peered back at the others, "If you can show us a few tricks."
"Tricks?" Neptune tilted his head.
"Yeah!" Larissa joined in, "Like the juggling one you always do!"
"Oh!" Neptune smiled, "Sure, I can do that one- everyone, gather round to witness the amazing acts of Neptune!"
"Yay!" The moons cheered.
Neptune pulled three dollops of water from his body, his form shrinking and readjusting around his core. He tested the bulbs, tossing one up and catching it.
"Is it normal for his body to do that?" Halimede questioned.
"Neptune is mostly made out of liquids- his form can change into anything as long as he has enough liquid to do it," Proteus explained.
"Correct, Proteus!" Neptune grinned, "Although, it does leave me in a vulnerable state..."
"How so?" Neso asked.
"My core is centimeters deep within my form in this altered state. With my body being comprised of mostly liquids, someone could reach in and take my core out... it'll probably hurt them as it does me since I'm all electricky inside."
"What if someone takes it while you're not looking?" Proteus frowned.
"Now, now, Proteus, I may be... a bit slow, but I can still defend myself." Neptune tossed the dollops of liquid into the atmosphere, juggling them between his hands, "Take these for example, they're not ordinary balls of water. Besides water, I'm also made of methane and ammonia. My atmosphere is hydrogen, helium, and methane. I also have the fastest winds in the solar system, so if someone were to put their hand inside of me, they'd have to be pretty fast to do it, otherwise, the wind current would handle them. I can also shoot these balls of water at them no problem."
"Woah, you're incredible, Neptune!" Thalassa gaped, stars in her eyes.
"Yeah, you're the best planet ever!" Nereid grinned.
"Aw, come on, guys." Neptune caught the balls in his hands, "I don't know about-"
"Neptune!" A voice yelled. Neptune's eyes widened.
His moons gasped, then smiled and cheered upon seeing their big brother.
"Triton! You're back!"
"You came back!"
"We missed you!"
"Triton!"
Triton looked at all of them with a sheepish expression as they flew up to him.
Neptune looked around, slowly backing away. He turned around and found himself trapped as he stared at two of Jupiter's moons.
"Going somewhere?" The smaller one asked.
"Nooo... say, haven't I seen you before?" Neptune asked.
"Probably."
"It was the M-Moon Revolution!" The moon beside her spoke.
"Oh, right! How did your revolution go?" Neptune tried to make small talk.
"Neptune." Triton spoke again, pushing past the small moons, "We need to talk."
Neptune turned to face the dwarf planet, "Triton! What a pleasant surprise to see you- here, of all places! What can I do for you?"
"I came to warn you." Triton took off his sunglasses, revealing tired eyes.
"Warn me?" Neptune tilted his head.
Triton huffed, "You know of Planet X, right?"
"X? Right, right, he's my brother, apparently."
Triton fiddled with his sunglasses, "We- as in Jupiter, Saturn, and I, think he's going after you."
A few moments passed as Neptune took his words in, silently debating what to say.
He hummed, "He's not."
"What? What do you mean by that?" Triton raised an eyebrow.
"Trust me when I say he's not going after me." Neptune spoke, "He would never hurt his brother."
Triton looked at him incredulously, "You believe that!? That he won't attack you for not agreeing to what he says? Are you really that-"
Neptune sighed before letting out a yell, "Triton!"
The area fell into a dead silence as everyone looked at Neptune in shock. The small irregular moons cowered behind Triton. They had never heard Neptune yell or raise his voice before, even the dwarf planet was surprised.
"Sorry," Neptune covered his mouth, averting his eyes before closing them, "I just- need you to trust me on this, Triton."
Triton looked at the Celestial with a desolate expression. He grumbled under his breath as he put his sunglasses on, "Fine. I trust you, Neptune. I just don't... uh."
Neptune seemed to understand what he was trying to say, smiling a bit, "I know."
"Does that mean you're staying, Triton?" Nereid peered at him.
"Nope," Triton shook his sphere, "Sorry, little guys."
"Awe..." The moons looked down dejectedly.
"You'll still visit us, right?" Proteus asked.
Triton sighed, "We'll see..."
"I didn't hear a no!" Nereid grinned, bouncing in the atmosphere with her siblings.
Neptune smiled, looking at his moons with a fond expression. Looking at them so happy, he couldn't help but think of wandering off to the Kuiper belt where they couldn't find him to meet X.
He felt bad, but it was for the better they didn't cross paths with the mysterious planet.
It was his problem and his problem alone.
« NOTE »
Man.
Poor Neptune, am I right?
Comments are appreciated 3