TWs: Earth Alone/Earth is heading to the Sun references, crying, getting overwhelmed, past death. Stay safe :)
"You shouldn't be here, Earth," Theia spoke, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Wh- is this another dream...?" Earth blinked as he felt tears forming in his eyes, "Another figment of my imagination...? Please go away... I can't do this... not now- not ever."
"Earth..." Theia softened her gaze, "I need you to take a deep breath for me."
"But-"
"Shh- don't speak, just look and listen." Theia shifted closer, "Take a deep breath in, hold for four seconds, and breathe out."
Earth whimpered, yet did as he was told. He couldn't look away from the figure before him, peering into those eyes of gold. She was right there. He could reach out and touch her, yet his hands were glued to his chest, trembling as he fidgeted. His breath nearly got caught in his throat. He gulped, blinking hard as he cleared it.
"Better...?" Theia whispered. Earth nodded, not finding the vocabulary to speak, "Good... Hello, Earth. You're in the Ethereal- a sort of... afterlife for every Celestial being."
Earth's eyes widened, feeling his throat close up as he choked on his saliva, "Y-You mean I'm dead!?"
Theia waved her arms, "No, no, no! Well, not exactly... you're very much alive- it's just that... it appears you managed to detach yourself from your body. If that makes sense."
"It doesn't..."
Theia smiled, "Our, uh, bodies are mixed. When we... collided, not only did I die, but a part of you also died."
Earth took in her words, trying to grasp it, "So how do I get out...?"
"The same way you came in, I'm assuming."
Earth frowned, "Where will I find a NovaStar?"
Theia chuckled, "Follow me."
Earth hesitated, unsure if he should trust the situation. Theia peered over her shoulder, giving him a concerned look.
"It's okay to not trust me, Earth. I know you've had it... rough this past year. We can take it slow, uhm- if you'd like, I can introduce you to some friends of mine." Theia smiled.
Earth looked at the other before slowly nodding.
"Great! They're, uh- right over there somewhere."
Earth cautiously followed Theia through the pink, purple, and blue-hued wasteland of the Ethereal. It was eerily quiet- too quiet for Earth's liking. He couldn't see the glowing Stars thousands of Astronomical Units away like he did in the plane of existence. No asteroids were separating the inner zones from the outer zones. He couldn't tell where they were or if they were going around in circles.
'How could someone navigate this place? There's nothing here...' Earth thought, looking at Theia. She hummed a melody while bouncing on her axis. She had a sense of direction, judging by how she paused in her steps, looked around, and turned a different way. This process repeated until Theia came to a complete stop.
"Ah, there they are!" Theia grinned.
Earth stopped beside her, eyes widening as he saw Celestial bodies laughing and hanging out together. They appeared smaller than average.
"They're moons...?" Earth realized.
"Yep! The past moons of Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Nine!"
Earth took a moment, his mouth gaping at the sight, "P-Past moons...?"
"Mhm. This isn't everyone, but I figured we should start small." Theia moved forward, waving her arm in the atmosphere, "Hello, everyone!"
The bodies faltered in their speaking, turning to face the chestnut and sepia Celestial. The smaller moons beamed, coming to meet her.
"Theia!"
"Miss Theia!"
"You're back!"
Earth watched Theia laugh, letting herself be pulled by the child-like moons. His eyes shifted to the bigger moons, knitting his brows as he noticed their stares at him. They were cautious, their gazes analyzing him. Swallowing his anxiety, he turned back to Theia, a small smile on his face as he watched her dance with the smaller moons.
Seeing her smile once more made him happy.
"Okay, okay, that's enough, little ones." Theia smiled, a few laughs escaping her lips as she managed to calm the moons down, "I can't stay for long."
"Awe..." The moons deflated, peering up at her with sad yearning eyes.
"Why not?" One of them asked, grabbing hold of her arm.
"I have to help an old friend return home." Theia patted the moon on the head.
"Theia... care to introduce us?" A charcoal-grey Celestial stepped forward, their gaze set on Earth.
"Oh, right! Everyone, this is Earth." Theia took Earth's hand, pulling him forward.
"Earth...? As in...?" A brown Celestial trailed off, his eyes trained on the guest.
Theia hummed, turning to Earth, "Earth, I want you to meet Jupiter's moons; Clementia, Cura, Dia, and Tacita, Saturn's moons; Aeon, Cardea, Febris, Fidius, Faunus, Lua, and Picus, Uranus' moons; Viola, Iago, Euphronius, Pericles, and Othello, Neptune's moons; Acis, Venilia, and Canens, and Nine's moons; Decima, Morta, and Nona."
The charcoal-grey Celestial hummed, outstretching a hand, "It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Morta, the biggest moon out of everyone here."
Earth took their hand, shaking it. He frowned, "I didn't know Nine had moons..."
"I'm not surprised... we were taken at the hands of Saturn and Jupiter when our planet was exiled."
Earth's eyes widened, "Oh..."
"Hello! I'm Cura!" A little sepia-colored moon spoke, "I'm the smallest of the bunch!"
"Are you really Proto-Earth?" A small grey moon asked.
"Uh..." Earth twitched, averting his gaze.
"Clementia, mind your manners." A hazel moon scolded.
"Sorry, Dia..."
"Wow, I've never seen a planet with life before!" Cardea spoke, eyeing the Earth's green patches of land on his body, "How'd you get it?"
"Uhm..." Earth shifted away from the small moon's prying eyes until someone grappled her orbit, moving her away.
"I am so sorry for her behavior..." A lighter grey moon uttered. He looked about the size of Luna, Earth noted, "Name's Picus, by the way."
"It's-"
"What's it like having life?" A white and brown moon the size of Oberon questioned.
"Faunus!"
"What? It's only a question."
Theia noticed how uncomfortable Earth looked, pushing herself between him and the moons, "Alright, I think that's enough questions! We have got to get going."
The smaller moons whined.
"Right now?"
"Can't you stay for a little bit longer?"
"We never get guests!"
Theia sighed, "I'm sorry, everyone, but it's for the best. I have to get Earth to a Star."
"Ah, I saw one earlier- they looked out of it," Morta spoke.
"Which way did they go?"
Morta closed their eyes and hummed, "West."
"Thank you, Morta." Theia smiled.
"Anything for you, Madam."
Earth raised his eyebrows; first Miss, now Madam? These moons held a deep regard for Theia. He couldn't help but wonder why.
"Ready to go, Earth?" Theia peered over at him.
"Uh- yeah." Earth nodded, "Lead the way."
...
Earth huffed. It felt like ten minutes since they left the past moons to find a NovaStar and they didn't seem any closer. He watched Theia pause, contemplate, then move on- an ongoing process that never seemed to end.
Moving closer to be by her side, Earth cleared his throat, "The moons seem to respect you."
"Huh?" Theia blinked, glancing at the other, "O-Oh, I guess, hahah. Ever since I died, I thought I was alone for the longest time... until everyone else showed up. A lot of Saturn's moons showed up here over a few days- at least thirty of them, Jupiter and Uranus' moons came soon after... then Neptune's, and then Nine's. A few still pop up now and then. I was the one who greeted them, took care of them, showed them how everything in the Etheral worked... and they just started to regard me as a superior, I suppose. I told them not to, but some still do it."
Theia stopped abruptly. Earth nearly rammed into her, looking at her curiously.
"You see that?" Theia pointed, "That's the Star."
A shining light in the distance acted as their beacon.
"Hopefully, they'll be able to return you to your body." Without waiting for a response, Theia bolted off, "Last one there's an asteroid!"
Earth gaped before chuckling, flying after her, "You're on!"
...
Pinwheel watched from his NovaStar at the dwarf planets shifting him around, 'They better be careful...'
FWOOSH!
The Star whipped around, finding two Celestials a few units away. They seemed to be out of breath, their chests heaving.
"Ha, I won!" The chestnut and sepia one claimed victory. Victory over what, Pinwheel had no idea.
"Nuh-uh!" The blue and green Celestial denied, "I demand a rematch!"
"What? Want to lose to me again?" She laughed.
The bigger one crossed his arms, his face flushed.
"Uh- excuse me?" Pinwheel spoke, "Who are you?"
The chestnut and sepia Celestial looked up, "Ah, right! Hello, my name is Theia, this is Earth!"
Pinwheel smiled, tilting their head, "You can call me Pinwheel."
"Well, Mr. Pinwheel-"
"Ah-ah-ah, just Pinwheel! No formalities, please!" Pinwheel waved his hands.
"Oh- Well, Pinwheel, I wanted to ask a favor, if that's alright," Theia spoke.
"Ooh, go on..."
"My friend, Earth, doesn't belong here. He somehow managed to detach himself from his body in the living plane."
"I see..." The Star shifted his gaze to the other, "I'm assuming you touched a NovaStar."
"How'd you know?" Earth asked.
"I've seen this kind of thing before." Pinwheel said, "It's not uncommon, but it's not common either... all you have to do is touch another NovaStar that's hanging around your Solar System. Luckily for you, my Novae is currently being transported by a few of your Solar System's dwarf planets."
"So you can get me back?" Earth's eyes filled with hope.
"Yep!" Pinwheel nodded, reaching for his NovaStar, "Whenever you're ready, just touch this!"
A weight on Earth's shoulders lifted as he sighed in relief.
Theia nudged his shoulder, chuckling, "Well, I guess I'll see you when the Sun explodes."
Then it all came crashing down as Earth turned to her, "What...?"
Theia blinked, her smile wavering as she let out a small laugh, "You didn't think we would see each other again before then, did you?"
Earth didn't respond, his eyes filling with unshed tears.
"Earth... we both knew this was inevitable. I may be gone, but I can still watch over you and little Luna. Besides, you don't need me anymore."
"Wh- yes, I do. I'll always need you..." Earth uttered, his voice cracking.
"No, you don't." Theia gave him a soft smile, taking both his hands in hers, "You're capable of moving forward without me, you have your Earthlings to worry about and to care for..."
"B-But... I don't want..." Tears fell from his eyes.
"I know it's hard to move on..." Theia brought her right hand up, placing it on Earth's cheek, "You have friends to help you through this... you need to be more open about your feelings, and, after some time, you'll feel better. Everything will eventually get better. I promise."
"What if it doesn't...?" Earth sniffled, "I can't... y-you're the only one I loved and trusted, and look where it got you..."
Theia bit her lip, feeling it quivering slightly, "That's not true..."
"But e-everyone I care about left me, who's to say it won't happen again?"
"I don't know what's going to happen... it all depends on you and what you do. Will you let the voices win again?"
Earth looked down, "...No."
"Are you going to let the voices win, Earth?"
"No." Earth shook his head firmly, "I won't."
Theia smiled, "Good because I swear I died again when I nearly watched you throw yourself into the Sun. Do not do that again or I'll come back from the dead to kill you myself."
Earth gave a watery laugh, wiping his eye, "G-Got it..."
Theia pulled him in, hugging him tightly, "I'll miss you..."
"Me too..." Earth sniffled, burying his head in her shoulder, "I love you."
Theia just smiled, a few tears falling down her cheeks. She pulled away, wiping her tears, "I know... but our story ended a long time ago, Earth; it's time to start anew."
Earth frowned, holding onto Theia's hand, "I can't... not without my lover."
Theia tittered, pulling her hand from the other's, "Trust me, Earth... I'm not the only one who had eyes on you."
"What...?" Earth raised an eyebrow.
"As much as I love this wholesome moment, my NovaStar is almost in the possession of one of your planets, which means I'll disappear from here." Pinwheel interrupted.
Theia pushed Earth before her, "We're ready to go, Pinwheel!"
"Wait-" Before Earth could speak, Pinwheel pressed one of the NovaStar's points on Earth's forehead.
The Celestial blacked out, spiraling downwards the same way he showed up into the Ethereal.
« NOTE »
I looked it up and researched mythological names for this one chapter lmao
There are asteroids named Clementina and Nonna; the latter being named after an actress and the former having no origin, but I figured since they're spelled differently, I could use them.
Also, I went with the naming system for Uranus; his past moons are named after Shakespeare's characters. For Neptune, I went with water-related myths- and for Nine, I went with the three Parcae goddesses (known in English as the Fates). According to some classical writings even Jupiter had to bend to their will.
I also have a 'smaller to bigger' list of the moons on the Discord :)
Comments are appreciated 3
