TWs: Torture/injuries/violence/near-death experience, manipulation. Stay safe :)
Nine clutched at his chest, feeling something piercing through his core. The left side of his face throbbed with pain and half of his vision was obscured in blackness, "Ngh...!"
He brought a shaking hand to his cheek, recoiling upon finding a sharp texture buried where the marking was.
"Alone again, are we?"
Nine's breath hitched, his eyes looking around wildly as he breathed heavily.
"Ah, how I missed this... still furthest from the Sun, I presume?"
The white Celestial grunted, "W... Why a- agh!"
A pulsating shockwave of electricity ran its course through Nine, making him squirm in place as he held himself close.
"Ah-ah-ah... I do the talking, remember? All you have to do is listen."
Nine growled, grinding his teeth as he held back what he wanted to say.
"Oh, don't give me that look. After everything I've done for you, after everything you went through... we're supposed to be friends."
Nine scoffed, regretting it once he felt a tightness in his core.
"I gave you the power of the Stars, and you don't even thank me. Pitiful, really... I thought you wanted to destroy them. They're the reason you're here. Alone. Abandoned. Lonely. You haven't seen or talked to anyone in billions of years, yet here you are forgiving them...? Pathetic. I knew you couldn't handle it. I knew you were too soft. You're just like that nuisance..."
The tightness increased tenfold. Nine felt his surface cracking from below. The icy terrain shattered like glass. He sucked in a breath, clutching his chest as he tried to stabilize his breathing. It was unbearable. He felt shooting agony across his body, digging and penetrating him in the worst way possible. The pain was worse than when he was ejected. Only this time, he was being torn apart.
"Do you know what's worse than dying?"
Nine didn't respond, focusing on trying to heal himself while his surface fractured.
"Knowing you never got a chance to say goodbye. But I mean, it's different for you... after all, no one cared about you- you're just an outcast... you were destined to fail from the very start."
Piece by piece, Nine felt his core breaking under the immense pressure.
'N... No... must not... give in.' Nine grunted, the stress forcing him into a fetal position. He forced his eyes shut, focusing his energy on his straining body.
"Even if you do persevere, you still are no match for me... say hello to your moons for me."
There was a pause as the pain seemed to cease, the cracking coming to an end.
He took a breath, his chest heaving.
Then it all came smashing down.
"Aaaaagggghhhhhh!"
All at once, the pain exploded into a cacophony of misery. Bits of his surface fell into the atmosphere while his core split in two. He couldn't see anything, a black crystal-like haze covering his eyes. He couldn't hear anything over the sound of his surface plunging into the void. Deep inside, he knew he wouldn't make it.
This was the end for-
"That's enough!" A voice pierced through the atmosphere.
The pain subsided, leaving Nine a wide-eyed spectacle as he finally managed to catch his breath.
"Ugh, you again..."
"I don't know if I made this clear, but for your information, this is my NovaStar!" Pinwheel yelled, a clear edge to his voice.
"Does it look like I care...?"
"You overestimate your strength that you forgot one thing," Pinwheel spoke.
It scoffed, "Oh? And what's that?"
Pinwheel snarled, "Nothing... is more powerful than a NovaStar."
"Wha- Agh!"
"Amove te ab hac Novae!"
Nine couldn't make anything out, eyes still covered with black iridescent crystals, hearing the offending Black Hole's yells dissipating.
"What... happened?" Nine asked after he couldn't hear anything more.
"I cast it out of your body." Pinwheel spoke, "Unfortunately, it's a temporary fix... it'll be back."
"Great..." Nine blinked, raising his hands to wipe his eyes.
"Don't!" Pinwheel yelled, "That'll only rub it in and make things worse."
"What else am I supposed to do? I can't see anything."
"Those crystals are Asterium, one of the most powerful objects here and known to be unbreakable just like Novaes."
"Well, great..." Nine grunted.
"Oh, yee of little faith... there is one way to get rid of it; purified Asterium."
"Wait, I need the thing that's blinding me in order to heal me? Do you realize that makes no sense?"
"Purified Asterium is different from regular Asterium, dummy. Regular Asterium has a black glow around it, and Purified Asterium has a purple glow."
"And I can't see either way... dummy."
"I'll just have to be your eyes." Pinwheel spoke, "The others are looking for you, so we'll have to make our way to them."
"Damn, I can't let them see me like this..."
"Why not? Neptune will be more than happy to help heal you."
Nine didn't respond, biting his lip as he dropped his head.
"Ah, is that what this is about...?" Pinwheel uttered, "You're afraid of being seen as weak."
"Isn't it obvious?" Nine grumbled.
"I don't know... you're the one who hides everything."
"Hah, I don't hide! If anything, Jupiter and Saturn are the ones hiding- honestly, everyone thinks so highly of them when they've done more wrong than all the planets combined!"
"Then why don't you tell everyone the wrongs they've done? Why do you hide here?"
Nine clenched his fists and his lip trembled, "Just seeing them makes me so, so... furious. I can't stand being around them for more than a minute- I could barely hold it together when everyone was worried about Saturn- and Jupiter just... I can never win with him."
"Well, have you tried-"
"Nine! Nine, where are you!" A voice echoed in the distance.
"Sounds like Neptune... ugh, I can't let him see me like this." Nine raised his arms, reaching around him for the nearby asteroids, hoping to use them as a cover.
"Why not? You know Neptune isn't one to judge someone- let alone think lowly of someone he looks up to."
Nine faltered, flinching when a small piece of debris hit him in the face, "He... what?"
"I can tell he admires you a lot. He does think of you as his brother, after all."
Nine opened his mouth, wanting to say something yet he couldn't seem to find the words. There was a long pause as Nine found himself recalling the times Neptune seemed to look at him a certain way- it was very different from how Neptune looked at the others yet it was similar to the look he gave Uranus, someone the blue Celestial also claimed as 'family.'
"I didn't realize..." Nine muttered, "But why me? I'm no better than Jupiter or Saturn."
"Nine!?" The voice was getting closer.
"So? Everyone here is flawed, some more than others... that doesn't make us any less Celestial."
"I... guess you're right."
"I know I am!"
Nine scoffed, "Fine then, guide me to where Neptune is..."
"He's just up ahead. I'll tell you when you're about to run into anything, just use your gravity."
Nine nodded, slowly pushing forward with his arms stretched outward.
"Careful- there's a group of asteroids to your left," Pinwheel warned, watching from the peripherals as Nine swept his arm, moving the asteroids to the side, "This would be easier to just yell out to him."
"Yelling is beneath me."
"...Right." Pinwheel deadpanned, "You're getting close, just move the asteroids in front of you."
"Augh!" Nine winced upon accidentally flinging an asteroid at his left shoulder. He grimaced, raising a shaky hand to where it smashed on impact.
"Nine!? Is that y... you."
He felt the atmosphere shifting before him as two featherlight hands touched him. Nine flinched, feeling the hands quickly retract.
"Wh-What happened?" Neptune asked.
"Oh, y'know... black hole stuff." Nine shrugged, then quirked an eyebrow, "I'm surprised you remember me."
Neptune furrowed his eyebrows, "What? I saw you hours ago, I'm not that forgetful!"
"You don't... Neptune, what color am I?"
"White with blue-ish undertones."
"And what color was I a few hours ago?"
"Dark blue... wait." Neptune blinked, his eyes widening with realization, "Oooohhhhh!"
Nine hummed, "Mhm..."
"Neptune. Don't get distracted." Messier spoke.
"Oh, right! You need to be with everyone else- you'll be safer that way!" Neptune took Nine by the hand, ensuring he wasn't squeezing too tight.
"I'm not too sure about that." Nine spoke.
"What do you mean?" Neptune questioned.
"I only survived because Pinwheel was with me." Nine responded, "That doesn't mean I didn't get off easy though... I'm completely blind and I can still feel my surface cracking underneath."
"Uranus and I can handle healing your surface... I'm not sure about the black crystals or the blindness. Maybe the Sun can figure it out!" Neptune pulled Nine forward, guiding them slowly through the Kuiper belt, "In the meantime, don't worry too much! I'm sure everything will be fine!"
"Mmh, let's hope so..." Nine uttered, subconsciously squeezing Neptune's hand.
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Translations:
Latin =
Amove te ab hac Novae - Remove yourself from this Novae
(Translations brought to you by Google Translate)
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