TWs: Referenced 'Earth is heading into the Sun' and Earth Alone arc, brief mention of past suicide attempts, overprotective behavior. Stay safe :)

"We aren't breaking free from this illusion anytime soon, so what do you suppose we do in the meantime, Sun?" Jupiter turned to look at the human Star.

Sun raised a hand to his chin, 'Well, given Earth's history, it'd be good to have a look around... learn more about what his Earthlings are doing to him and figure out why he wanted to fling himself into me...'

He answered Jupiter shortly after giving it some thought, "We might as well explore."

"Ugh, I was afraid you were going to say that..." Nine grumbled.

"What's with you-?"

"Ahem." Sun cleared his throat, giving Jupiter a pointed look. The Giant huffed, deciding to hold his tongue for now.

Saturn's eyes flickered to the bushes upon hearing a rustling noise, eyes widening in surprise when Titan stumbled out, tripping over his feet. His expression brightened, "Titan-! My moons!"

Saturn rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Titan and his other Celestites.

"Oof- nice to see ya too, Saturn..." Titan winced, feeling multiple areas of his body cracking under the force of the hug.

"C-Can't breathe...!" Enceladus huffed.

Saturn let them go, face faltering as he looked at them apologetically, "Whoops, sorry...!"

"Ay, there's my A-Team!" Jupiter smiled, walking up to Ganymede and the others, "You all alright?"

"For the most part," Callisto spoke.

Europa looked troubled, her fists clenched tightly at her sides. Ganymede observed her anxiously, his brows furrowed with worry.

"What's wrong, Europa?" Jupiter asked.

"So... many... bugs." She huffed, swatting a fly hovering around her, "Ugh, I can't stand this! When are we getting off this miserable rock!?"

"Hey!" Earth yelled, glaring at her.

"Europa..." Jupiter sighed, "You may not like it now, but trust me... the Earth has so much in store. Just be patient."

"Fine..." Europa uttered, crossing her arms, keeping still as Ganymede brushed the leaves and dirt from her hair, "Though, there better not be any more annoying bugs!"

Uranus spotted his moons, a soft smile rising on his face. He promptly stood up, addressing Earth and Mars as he walked away, "I'll be right back, mates."

Earth watched him leave, curiosity in his gaze, "I just realized he has an Australian accent."

"A what?" Mars blinked, looking at the other.

"Australia is a continent situated in the southeast on any map or globe." Earth glanced around, noticing a bulletin board filled with advertisements and flyers. He pointed to a world map at the center, saying, "Over there."

Getting to his feet, Earth slowly made his way to it. Mars quickly followed, ensuring the other wouldn't fall over, "Earth, wait-!"

Earth hummed, eyeing the map for a second, "The red star is where we're located, so it looks like we're in... Washington, D.C... eh, not the worst city to be in, but certainly not the best."

Mars frowned, reaching out to grab the other's wrist, "Earth, you're supposed to be sitting down, you might get hurt."

Earth pulled away, glowering, "Oh, please, you can't tell me what to do! I don't even know who you Celestials are!"

Mars faltered, noticing a purple tint flashing in Earth's eyes, "Uh... Earth...?"

Earth's expression grew strained, closing his eyes tightly as he raised a hand to his temple, "Ugh... what were we doing again?"

Squinting his eyes at the board, he traced the map with his other hand.

"Ah, right... we're in Washington..." His vision moved to the smaller map beside it, "And this is a map of the whole city..."

Mars watched him, growing more concerned with each second that passed by, furrowing his eyebrows, 'What just happened? First, he was chill, then he snapped, and now he's back to being chill? And his eyes... I could've sworn they changed colors for a split second.'

"Hey, losers." A gruff voice spoke.

Mars whipped his head to the two other Rocky Celestials, "Venus. Mercury. Where were you two?"

Venus elbowed Mercury in the side, a teasing smirk on his face, "Prince Charming over here was worried about his damsel in distress."

Mars blinked, "What...?"

"I-I just wanted to make sure he was alright, Venus!" Mercury blushed, glaring up at the other.

"Heh, you practically tackled him when we found him." Venus spoke, casting a glance at Mars, "You should've seen his face when Luna kissed him."

"O-On the cheek! It w-was just a small peck! N-Nothing more!"

Mars processed the words, lighting up with sudden realization, "You and-"

"No, no, no! No!""

Mars began to grin like a madman, "You and Luna!? Hahahah, oh my Stars, that's absolutely precious!"

Mercury flushed harder than a red Star, strangled noises coming out of him as he melted under the embarrassment.

Earth perked up, glancing at the others. His eye twitched upon looking at Mercury. He frowned, 'Why do I feel so... angry?'

Almost as if he knew they were talking about him, Luna approached the Rocky Celestials, expression heavy with burden, "Hey, guys."

"Oh, hey, Luna... we were just talking about you." Venus placed his elbow on Mercury's shoulder, effectively leaning most of his body weight on the smaller one. Mercury huffed, straining under the sudden weight.

"Oh? What about?" Luna quirked an eyebrow, interest piqued and worries pushed aside.

"Well? Go ahead, pipsqueak, tell 'im."

Mercury pushed the other off of him with an annoyed glare before letting out a sigh, looking at Luna, "D-Don't worry about it, Luna... they're just being extra annoying today."

"Uhm, okay...?" Luna frowned, wanting to know more yet didn't want to force it out of Mercury.

Earth decided to cut in, pushing Venus and Mercury out of his way, "Heyyy, Luna, right?"

Luna blinked, backing away as he gave the Celestial a frightened stare, "Uh, yeah... that's right."

Earth didn't seem to notice the wariness coming from the other, smiling brightly, "I wanted to show you something! Follow me."

Luna eyed Earth's outstretched hand. Hesitantly, he took it, "Okay..."

"Great! Come with me!" Earth started to pull the other along.

The other Rocky Celestials watched them leave, Venus deciding to speak first, "Is it just me, or did Earth suddenly become..."

"Protective? I have no idea." Mars shrugged, "He snapped at me and then completely forgot about it a moment later."

Mercury frowned, "Shouldn't we tell Sun where they're going?"

"Yeah, but who...?" Venus met Mars' gaze, a mischievous glint in his eye. Venus smirked, immediately understanding.

"Not it!" They yelled at the same time.

Mercury took a moment to process what just happened before crossing his arms as he glared at them, "Seriously...?"

...

"Where are we going, Earth?" Luna asked after a few minutes.

"I saw one of those arcade places around here." Earth spoke, humming as he peered at Luna over his shoulder, "Oh, an arcade is-"

Luna cut him off, "I know what an arcade is."

Earth stopped, looking at the other curiously, a flash of jealousy flickering in his eyes, "Huh? How...? Does the planet you're orbiting have life too?"

"Huh? Oh, n-no...! I just saw an ad for it on a piece of paper." Luna laughed nervously, his voice cracking as he lied through his teeth.

Earth continued to stare at him, eventually shrugging it off as he returned to walking, "Alright then..."

Luna breathed out in relief, quickly following after the other.

Earth saw the arcade across the street. He stood at the crosswalk, waiting for the signal to change. Subconsciously, he took Luna's hand, ensuring the smaller one was with him.

Luna looked down at their hands, his eyes traveling up to stare at Earth's face, who kept his eyes on the signal.

He bit the inside of his cheek, casting his gaze downwards, 'He doesn't remember me, yet... he's acting like he did before we ended up here...'

Earth huffed, tired of looking at the signal. Looking around, he noticed a display of televisions behind him, all of them portraying different news stations.

What caught his attention, though, were the headlines;

'IT'S OFFICIAL: THE MOON WILL BECOME OUR NEW HOME'

« NOTE »

:)

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