TWs: Past injuries/torture/coercion, anger, destroying things. Stay safe :)
"Oh dear..." Spica uttered after Sun was done explaining, "And you're sure it was its mark?"
"I'm sure. Nine has the same one, only on his left cheek." Sun nodded.
"What are we going to do?" Regulus asked, "It's not like we can eliminate the marks. After all, once a Black Hole sets its hands on you, there's no way to cleanse yourself."
"Unless Sagittarius A* were to undo the marks itself," Sirius crossed his arms, "But we all know that's impossible. Most Black Holes are relentless."
Proxima perked up, "That's right- most Black Holes are... but not all of them!"
The Stars turned to look at the smallest. Toliman gestured them to continue, "Go on..."
"Sun, you have a few NovaStars floating around your part of the Milky Way, right?"
Sun hummed, "Nine, Uranus, and Neptune each have one."
"Do you happen to know their names?"
"Well, there's Wěi, Pinwheel, and Messier."
"Messier, like from the Messier 87 galaxy?"
"Yes, but I don't see why-"
"BH M87 is exactly who we need to help us!" Proxima exclaimed. The Stars looked at them incredulously.
"Did you eat those weird space crystals again?" Toliman furrowed his eyebrows in concern.
"No- well, maybe- but not the point! Just hear me out," Proxima pulled a chalkboard out of thin air.
"Where did you-"
"Just go with it." Toliman gave Regulus a look.
Proxima began to write, "I've heard that M87 has been... less than happy lately. It contains a few hundred billion stars and one hundred fifty globular clusters, making it the dominant member of the Virgo cluster of galaxies, which includes around two thousand galaxies."
"And where is this going exactly...?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"Spica, you reside in the Virgo constellation, right?" Proxima turned to the blue Celestial.
"Correct." Spica nodded.
"You've seen what it's like there, right?"
"Well, not exactly..." Spica raised a hand to her chin, "Sure, I've seen a few Stars die out over the centuries, but it's not like I know M87 personally."
"Regulus?"
"Ah, can't say for sure..."
"Then, we'll just have to connect with it." Proxima drew up a diagram.
"Are you crazy? M87 is 1500 times more massive than Sagittarius A*!" Regulus gestured as he stepped forward, "Just think about what will happen if we tell M87- he might destroy us himself!"
"I have to agree, Proxima." Spica spoke, "It's too risky."
The smallest Star frowned before looking back at the chalkboard, eyeing the diagrams of the Virgo and Leo constellations before humming, "Wait... something's missing."
"Are you even listening-" Regulus got cut off by an elbow to his side, "Augh, hey!"
Toliman ignored the blue Star, staring at his sibling, "What do you see, Prox?"
"Messier 87 is right here." Proxima circled an area between the constellations before looking at a clear area of the board, "We're missing something here."
Spica analyzed the chalkboard, her eyebrows furrowing as she dug through the memories in her cortex. She blinked, coming to a realization as she uttered, "The Bootes constellation."
Regulus froze, whipping their head to look at the taller, "But that's where..."
Spica nodded, "Arcturus."
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Nine sighed, running his hands through his hair multiple times as he took deep breaths. He just had to run. Now he probably looked even more guilty. What else was he to do? He wasn't supposed to tell anyone, especially not the Sun. He didn't want it to be after him, not after what happened all those years ago.
He scratched at the mark on his cheek, the stinging sensation becoming irritating. He huffed.
"Looks like you've got yourself in quite the void."
Nine scoffed, "You can say that again."
Pinwheel hummed, "Want to talk about it?"
"Does it look like I do?"
"It might make you feel better."
"Ugh, fine..." Nine situated himself on an asteroid, "Where do I even begin?"
"When you first encountered Sagittarius A*. It's the reason you're in this mess, right?"
"Well, not exactly. I was ejected because I did something unforgivable. I met Sagittarius A* a little bit after... huh, now that I think about it, it was obvious from the start that it was using me." Nine raised a hand to his cheek, "How could I have been so foolish...?"
"It left its mark on you." Pinwheel uttered, "Does it hurt?"
"Yeah, but it's never itched this badly, and trying to heal it has proven pointless."
"The only way is with huge concentrations of matter and electric charge, which can only be found in black holes."
"Right."
"So, the black hole in this galaxy... how intimidating is it?"
Nine grunted, "Very. What about yours?"
"Mine...? The Pinwheel Galaxy doesn't have a supermassive black hole, instead, it's quite small... about twenty to thirty times the mass of your Star." Pinwheel explained, "But it does consume material at a much higher rate, including stellar wind."
"Interesting..."
"So, Sagittarius A* forced you to get rid of a planet's life? Did you say no?"
Nine didn't respond, eyes cast down, "Can't NovaStars dig through memories? Why aren't you doing that?"
"I want to hear it from you." Pinwheel encouraged, "You can trust me."
The navy Celestial heaved out a heavy sigh, "It didn't have to force me into anything. I said yes without hesitation."
Pinwheel said nothing, wanting to hear the Celestial before jumping to conclusions.
"I was just so... pissed off at everyone!" Nine seethed, clenching his fists, "Every single one of the planets is a bunch of goody-goodies and it annoys me how much they suck up to the Sun! The Sun isn't the one we should worry about, hehaha, no- it's the black hole keeping our galaxy together!"
Nine slammed his fists against an asteroid, shattering it to pieces. He stayed in that position, hunching over the remains. He took a few breaths, bringing his hand up. Small debris lay there in his palm. He shifted his hand, watching as they drifted into the atmosphere.
"Your hands..."
"Yep." Nine eyed the black decaying surface of his palm. The corners of the mark were noticeably pale.
"Nine," Pinwheel spoke, "This isn't your true color, is it?"
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"We have to tell Mars!" Deimos yelled, pulling on his brother's arm.
"Tell him what? Even we have no idea what's happening!" Phobos pushed the other away.
"Uh, uhm... well, we'll figure something out!" Deimos stuttered, "Orrrr- maybe we can ask Titan!"
"Ask Titan what?" A voice spoke.
The tiny Celestials perked up, "Titan!"
The bigger one looked down at them, squinting his eyes, "Aren't you two supposed to be with Mars?"
"Yes!"
"No!"
Phobos face-palmed, clearing his throat, "Ahem, we were just returning! We saw everyone over here, so we decided to check it out."
"Well, why don't I make sure you guys get to where you need to be?" Titan suggested, peering over his shoulder at the scene, "The Giants can handle this for now."
"Yay, we're spending time with Titan!" Deimos exclaimed.
"This is so exciting!"
Titan smiled, ushering the smaller moons away from the scene as the Giants talked.
"Does it hurt?" Jupiter asked, staring at the black decaying mark.
"Mmh, yeah..." Saturn pressed a few fingers against the surface, wincing as it stung.
"Has anyone seen Sedna?" One of the dwarf planets, Gonggong, asked the others.
Quaoar shook his head, "If I had any guess, I bet she took off after Nine."
Neptune stared off into the distance, eyes glazed over. Uranus came over, gently placing a hand on his shoulder, "You okay, mate?"
"He ran..." Neptune muttered, "Why did he run?"
"Probably cause he thinks we see him as the cause of all of this."
"But he's not!"
"How can you be so sure?" Uranus looked at him, forcing them to make eye contact, "No offense, mate, but you can't remember what he was like."
Neptune's jaw went slack as he deflated, "Right... that's right."
Saturn adjusted the sleeves of his shirt, and pat down his vest. He said nothing the whole time, thinking to himself. He placed a hand on his chest where the mark was, "Jupiter."
The bigger one looked at him, humming, "Yes, Saturn?"
"Have you read in any of your books about celestial beings and... marking?"
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