TWs: Brief yelling, higher being/authority, mention of past coercion, phantom injury. Stay safe :)

The Rocky Planets were there first, voices low as they talked between each other. Mars stuck close to Earth, evidently hesitant to move away. Earth didn't seem to mind, or even notice that his friend was hovering, smiling at the company absentmindedly. Mercury took a break from talking to the Rockies and instead spoke to Luna.

Jupiter and Saturn emerged from the asteroid belt, the latter ignoring any attempt the former was making to form a conversation. Jupiter sighed, giving up as he shifted away from the other to stand on the opposite side.

Sun eyed his planets, eyebrow raised slightly as he looked between the Giants, 'Odd.'

Uranus came shortly after, clumsily tumbling out from the asteroid belt. He stretched his arms out, using them to keep his balance as he stopped beside the Rocky Planets. A few murmurs of greetings were exchanged between them before Uranus focused his attention on Saturn, floating over to talk to the ringed Celestial.

Sun squinted his eyes. A few minutes had passed and there was no sign of Neptune. That was strange since the blue Celestial would always arrive seconds after his cousin.

"Uranus," Sun spoke, eyeing the cyan artist, "Where is Neptune?"

"I haven't seen him much since he's been off trying to find a gift for Nine," Uranus responded, making the other two Giants look at him incredulously.

"A gift...?" The Sun uttered, "What kind of gift?"

"A NovaStar, I think."

"What!?" The Guardian scowled before twisting his head around, his eyes scanning the atmosphere as if expecting something to be there.

"Are you okay, Sun?" Mercury asked, noticing how erratic the other had become.

The Sun laughed, a wry smile on his face, "Hahahahah! Of course, I'm okay, Mercury! Nothing to worry about here!"

"But-"

"Everything's fine!" With a tense expression, his voice echoed throughout the solar system.

Mercury bolted behind the other Rocky Planets, a wide-eyed look on his face. Luna clung to the other's arm, trying to comfort him.

The Sun blinked, realizing he had yelled at his best friend. Bringing his hands up, he rubbed his face, huffing tiredly, 'I am the worst Star ever... why did I do that?'

"Heyoooo~, everyone!" A voice rang in the distance, "What'd I miss?"

Everyone turned just in time to witness Neptune bombard Uranus with a hug. The latter's eyes widened, trying and failing to keep balance as he returned the hug.

"Other than the Sun yelling at us, nothing much," Venus responded, crossing his arms.

"Oooh, fun! When will it be my turn?" Neptune beamed, shifting in place as he stood beside his cousin.

"Mate..." Uranus shook his head lightly, mentally facepalming.

"You...want to get-"

"Anyway!" The Sun interrupted Mars' sentence, "Onto the mee-wait, we're missing one."

"We are?" Earth looked around, mentally counting, "But everyone's here..."

Neptune shook his head, still smiling, "Not Nine!"

The other Celestials grew wary, looking at each other.

Sun grinned, "Exactly, Neptune! Now, do you know where Nine is, or...?"

"He decided to watch from the Asteroid Belt. I can go get him though!"

"That would be great!"

Neptune saluted, flying toward the inner belt.

...

Nine grunted, scratching his cheek for the tenth time. It had started to grow irritated and every time he'd stop scratching, it would get worse and worse.

'This wasn't happening before.'He thought, 'Why is it bothering me now?'

He had a feeling it had something to do with It.

'Why me? Why did it choose me from all the planets? I'm the smallest of the Giants, yet it decided to pick me specifically. What was the reasoning behind it...?'

His head was swirling with questions. He had asked himself the same things thousands of times over.

All of it was left unanswered, because who else would know what it's like to do someone else's bidding?

'Sedna and the others... they would know.'Nine frowned.

"Nine!" The Celestial jumped upon hearing a voice beside him.

"Stars- Neptune! Don't do that." Nine grunted, "Why are you here? Planet meetings aren't that short."

Neptune chuckled, circling the other, "Sun wants you to join the meeting!"

"Can't he take a hint? I already said no."

"I don't think you have a choice this time, brother-ino." Neptune looked at him apologetically, "The Sun was already yelling despite the meeting not starting."

Nine furrowed his eyebrows, eyes full of curiosity. Tilting his head, he thought about it.

'Would he hear me out...? Ugh, no, of course not. The Stars may very well be in cahoots with it...' Nine bit his lip, raising a hand over his mouth, 'What if he already knows...? Is that why he wants me there?'

"Nine? Are you okay?" Neptune's voice cut through his thoughts, making him blink as he registered the other's words.

"Uh, yeah, yeah." Nine waved it off, crossing his arms, "Fine, I'll join your stupid meeting."

"Yay!" Neptune cheered, grabbing his brother by the wrist and leading him out of the asteroid belt.

Nine let it happen, a permanent frown on his lips. He knew he had to face the others at some point, he just didn't want it to be so soon.

He winced as he felt a searing pain across his cheek. He brought his free hand up to rub it, his fingers gliding across the scar that marked his surface forever.

...

"Ah, Nine! Glad you could join us!" Sun clasped his hands, grinning at the navy Celestial.

"Not like I had a choice." Nine huffed.

Sun's eyes twitched, annoyance crossing his face before he laughed it off, "Oh, well... anyway, now that everyone's here, we can get the meeting started."

The Celestials settled down, waiting patiently for the Guardian to speak.

Sun peered down at them all, his brows furrowing slightly as he thought about what was at stake. Glancing around the atmosphere again, he spoke, "This meeting will be short, so I'll be quick- Neptune, Uranus told me you've been giving out NovaStars...?"

"Yep! I gave one to Uranus and Nine respectively."

The Sun's smile tense, "That's... nice and all, but I'm going to have to ask you to stop."

Neptune tilted his head.

"NovaStars are dangerous, mystical objects. They can't be handed out to random Celestial beings, let alone beings who don't know how to harness the true powers of the NovaStars." Sun explained, "And who knows what would happen if two were to make physical contact?"

"You mean we would all be sucked into a black hole or something?" Venus asked.

Sun froze at the mention of a black hole, yet recovered quickly, laughing and grinning callously, "Hehehahah, yeeaaahhh, maybe...!"

Nine squinted his eyes, noticing the hesitation in the Guardian's laugh and the wavering of his fanged smile.

'I could be wrong...' He thought, 'It seems he's hiding more than he's letting on, and leaving the others in the dark.'

Soon, the meeting was over, and the Sun requested one more thing before the Celestials were let off to do their own things.

"Nine," He spoke, "Can I talk to you- alone?"

The navy Celestial in question raised an eyebrow. He glanced over his shoulder to where Neptune hesitated, watching him intently.

Nine nodded, letting his brother know he would be alright. Neptune returned the nod, letting himself be pulled by Uranus as they flew away. The other Celestials returned to their orbits, not before casting questioning gazes to Nine.

And then there were two.

Sun looked down at him with an intense glare. He opened his mouth, yet Nine interrupted him.

"I didn't know Stars were capable of lying."

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