TWs: Sneaking away, torture/manipulation, worry/anxiety, injury/scars, anger. Stay safe :)
"Woah, what's happening over there?" Mercury pointed out, noticing the scene beyond the Kuiper belt. He dropped his cards, rushing over to the asteroid belt to get a better look.
"Hey, wait for us!" Earth abandoned his cards, following the small Celestial.
"What do you think is happening?" Mars asked, eyeing the Giants gathering in one spot.
"I don't know, but I think Saturn's hurt." Luna frowned, noting how the ringed Giant didn't interact with anyone as he twitched in place.
"Should we go over there?" Mercury questioned.
"Beats standing around and doing nothing all day!" Venus furrowed his eyebrows as he waved a hand to move the asteroids.
"Hey, get back to your orbits, you five!" Sun hollered.
"But, Saturn-!" Earth got cut off.
"Let the Giants handle it! They know what they're doing." The Guardian glared.
The Rocky Planets and moon looked uncertain before returning to their orbits, all except two.
Unbeknownst to them, the moons of Mars made their way to the asteroid belt, slipping through the debris.
"Maybe being small is a good thing, Phobos!" Deimos smiled.
"Being bigger beats being made fun of or forgotten, Deimos!" Phobos frowned.
"Say you agree just this once!"
Phobos rolled his eyes, "Fine, we are undetectable this way."
Deimos grinned.
"But it's not very efficient!" The bigger complained, "We're not even a quarter of the way there."
Deimos hummed before suddenly taking off, "I'll race you- last one there doesn't get Mars' attention for a week!"
"What!? That's not fair, you cheater!" Phobos flew after him.
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"Something's happening with the Giants." Gonggong pointed out, prompting the group of dwarf Celestials to look over.
Sedna blinked, 'Nine?'
"We should check it out!" Quaoar rushed forward. Sedna didn't waste time in following him.
"Hey, we can't just- ugh..." Gonggong sighed, shaking his head before pursuing the others.
Orcus hesitated as Salacia moved past him. She glanced at him, "Ya comin'?"
The bigger one barely looked at the other, turning away. Salacia frowned, a huff escaping her lips. She inched closer to the other, trying to get him to meet her eyes.
"Oi, I can tell something's wrong." Salacia spoke, "What is it? If it's about earlier-"
"N-No," Orcus shook his head, "I-I just have a feeling... l-like we're being watched."
Salacia felt a prickling on the back of her neck. She whipped her head around, "Weird... now that you mention it, I get the same feeling."
The two stood there with bated breath as they watched the atmosphere.
Salacia took Orcus by the wrist, "Come on, we should stick close to the others."
Orcus nodded, taking one last glance behind him as he was led by the smaller.
...
"Nine!"
The navy Celestial glanced behind him, eyes widening, "Sedna? What are you guys doing here?"
"We were wondering what was happening here." She responded. Nine was about to respond when Quaoar gestured to Saturn.
"Is that normal?" The ringed ovoid Celestial questioned.
Saturn curled up, holding himself tightly as his hands clutched onto his arms.
"He's fine-"
"He's not fine, Nine!" Jupiter yelled, "Look at him- he's in pain!"
"You think I don't know that, Zeus?" Nine scowled, "Forcing him to wake up will only worsen it- trust me."
Jupiter scoffed, "You want me to trust you after what you did?"
"Fine! Don't trust me. Just let Saturn wake up on his own accord."
"And if he doesn't...?" Jupiter's voice was significantly quieter.
"He will." Nine assured, not only for Jupiter's sake but his own.
« . . . »
"Why is it that all of you planets are stubborn?" The voice hissed, "Helios isn't a good role model, it seems... and neither are you, hahah-! I mean, come on... destroying your own moons? How evil can you be?"
"N-No...! Th-That was only... a theory! It hasn't been proven!" Saturn shook his head, arms jolting as he tried to cover the hole in his chest.
"Really...? Then you don't know a moon named Chrysalis?"
Saturn gasped, his eyes bolted wide. His breathing wavered, "H-How-?"
Another laugh, "As I said before, I see everything... and you, my dear Kronos, are the worst of the worst."
Saturn sucked in a stuttering breath, "No... I refuse to listen to you."
The ringed Giant bared his teeth, preparing for what came next.
"What are you-?"
A core-shattering scream pierced through the atmosphere.
"Agh!" The voice was pushed away.
Saturn shielded his chest with his arms, waving his hands as he tried to layer the gases over his core.
"Ugh...! Too loud...!" The voice glowered, "You little-!"
Before he knew what was happening, a glowing inky hand reached out toward him. Saturn shielded himself with his arms.
And found himself face-to-face with his friends.
Saturn blinked; he was awake, or was he asleep and the voice wanted him to think he was awake? He didn't know anymore.
He noticed Jupiter had a hand outstretched toward him while Nine (when did he get here?) held him back. Uranus and Neptune eyed him warily, the latter seemed more jumpy than usual as he held himself back from hugging the ringed Celestial. Titan, Dione, Enceladus, Mimas, and the rest of his moons seemed in shock as they huddled together, staring at their planet. Nine's friends, the dwarf planets from afar, stood frozen a few units away, watching the scene play out.
Saturn opened his mouth, "Wh-What happened...?"
That seemed to set off various actions; his moons and Neptune bombarded him with a hug, Jupiter smiled in relief, Uranus shed a few happy tears, the dwarf Celestials cheered, and even Nine had a look of solace on his face.
After the small celebration, everyone talked amongst themselves, and Jupiter shifted to the other, grabbing his hand, "You okay?"
Saturn nodded lightly, glancing at their laced hands, "Mhm, I'm just not sure whether I'm awake or still... dreaming."
Jupiter squeezed his hand, running his thumb across Saturn's knuckles, "I can assure you that you're very much awake."
Europa nudged against Jupiter, offering the rose from before. The Giant huffed, taking it and revealing it to Saturn, "Here."
Saturn frowned, eyeing the flower. He hesitantly took it, analyzing it, "What is this...?"
"It's called a rose. They grow on Earth."
"It's quite beautiful." Saturn smiled.
"As are you..."
"Huh- ack!" Saturn dropped the rose, clutching his chest. Everyone turned their attention back toward him. Jupiter let him lean against him and Uranus held his arms out to catch him just in case.
"Saturn?" Jupiter looked at him worriedly, "Are you okay?"
"Easy, mate..." Uranus uttered when Saturn tried to move forward.
"Do you need help, Saturn?" Neptune asked. The ringed Giant nodded and made a gesturing motion to his chest, "On it!"
With the blue Celestial's help, Saturn was able to take off his vest and shirt to look at the disturbance.
"That's... definitely not normal," Neptune muttered, poking at the marking on Saturn's chest, causing the other to flinch, "Sorry, uh- hey, that scar... it looks like the one on Nine's cheek."
Nine instinctively covered his left cheek as everyone turned to look at him.
'Damn it...' He thought, furrowing his eyebrows.
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"I didn't think Saturn was able to scream like that," Luna spoke.
"It was unsettling, to say the least..." Mercury agreed.
"Let's just ignore it for right now." Mars suggested, "It seems he's fine right now-"
"I wouldn't be too sure." Venus huffed, pointing at something.
"What's happening now?" Earth questioned, staring at the scene as everyone gathered around Saturn, then turned to look at Nine.
"I have no idea, but it seems Nine has something to do with it," Mars said.
"Figures." Venus shuffled through his cards.
Earth was quiet, staring at the scene for a moment more, eyes on the mysterious navy Celestial. He always seemed familiar, but Earth didn't know why.
"Wait," Mars looked around, "Where's Phobos and Deimos?"
"Probably realized how boring you are and decided to leave you," Venus smirked.
Mars gave him a deadpan look.
"What? I'm kidding! They practically worship you, they would never."
Mars sighed, "I hope they're not getting into too much trouble..."
Earth bumped into the other's shoulder, giving him a smile, "You know that's always the case."
Mars flushed at the contact, laughing lightly, "Hahah, yeah...!"
Venus stuck his tongue out as he watched the scene, 'Idiots.'
The Sun watched from where he was sitting, eyes squinted as he gazed upon his planets. He let out a low growl as he noticed why everyone was gathered around Saturn.
Plasma boiled through his flames, riling him as his eyes turned red, 'It can torture me all it wants, but no one messes with my planets.'
« NOTE »
Oh, I went to a Van Gogh immersive exhibit. Pictures are on my Instagram; transacewithapan
Might add them to my Tumblr soon; transacewithapan (Astraea)
Comments are appreciated 3
