TWs: Secrecy, rude behavior, non-graphic injuries/blood/twisted or sprained bones. Stay safe :)
"You've gone quiet, Sun," Jupiter noted as he glanced at the other, keeping his voice low, "Is it because of what happened earlier?"
Sun nodded, "That wasn't a normal reaction, especially for Earth; it felt more... erratic. And the way his eyes flashed a different color... I think these AetherStars are capable of enhancing emotions. Instead of Earth being annoyed or upset, he completely lashed out."
Jupiter sighed, "I have a feeling it won't be long until he does it again."
Sun nodded once more, going into thought again. He stared at Earth, who was leading the group through the bustling streets of Washington. They came to a stop at a crosswalk, 'I also have a feeling... he's hiding something.'
Earth felt he was being watched, peering over his shoulder and making eye contact with Sun. He jolted, quickly averting his gaze.
'Unless...' Sun raised his eyebrows, eyes casting a look of realization, 'He remembered something.'
Earth appeared more fidgety as he knew he was being scrutinized, movements quick and jumpy. As soon as the stoplight changed, he bolted to the other side of the crosswalk. Some also seemed to notice his change in demeanor.
"What's the rush, mate? It's not like this museum is closing anytime soon." Uranus huffed, placing a hand on his hip.
Mars glanced at a nearby street clock, "Yeah, we still have... five or six hours."
"Hahah, well, I'm very impatient when it comes to... these things." Earth cleared his throat, "A-Anyway, just one more block and we'll be there!"
"Oh, finally," Dione uttered, "All this walking is killing me..."
"Tell me about it." Europa spoke before looking around at all the Earthlings, "How do they do this every day?"
"Because they're used to it." Jupiter replied, "They've taught themselves everything from the very start, and they'll continue to teach and pass it on to future generations."
Uranus ran his hand along a brick building, analyzing the structure, "If this is all an illusion, why does everything feel so real...?"
"And tastes so real!" Neptune grinned, licking the nearest streetlight, "Mmh... metallic-y."
The group gave him a weird look, deciding to ignore the odd Celestial's action.
"These are AetherStars we're talking about. We have little to no information about them other than stories from my past." Sun spoke.
"Speaking of your past, have you remembered anything else?" Jupiter asked.
Sun sighed in exasperation, "Nope... I've been trying to, but all this thinking is making my head hurt..."
"I'm sure you'll remember something, Sun, just give it time." Saturn assured, "It'll come to you sooner or later."
"Let's hope it's not the latter..." Sun uttered.
...
"And here we are! The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History!" Earth raised his arms, gesturing to the grand building before them.
Everyone eyed it in awe and slight disbelief.
"Woah..." Ganymede whispered.
"This place is h-h-huge...!" Io exclaimed.
"Makes you wonder what else these Earthlings can do..." Titan smiled, starry-eyed as he gazed at the building in wonder.
"You may think this is big, but there are much bigger places," Earth spoke, raising his hands in a grand gesture. He peered over his shoulder at the group, starting to walk up the stairs of the building, "Anyway, are you guys just going to gawk at it or are we actually gonna explore-"
Thump!
Earth reeled back, nearly falling down the steps as he bumped into someone. He yelped, managing to catch himself on the steel railing. He whipped his head around, about to snap at the person for being in his way before biting his tongue upon seeing it was a kid.
The boy was kneeling on the stairs, holding his limbs close to his chest as he curled into himself.
Upon further inspection, Earth noticed his knees were bleeding, possibly from scraping them against the stairs.
"H-Hey, you alright, kid?" Earth spoke, hands stretched out as he hovered over the child. The kid didn't respond, though, making Earth bite his lip as he glanced around, 'His parents must be around here somewhere...'
He spotted something at the edge of his vision. Looking down, he saw a toy spaceship at his feet.
Slowly picking it up, Earth stepped around the huddled figure so they were facing each other. Crouching down, Earth held the toy out, "I'm assuming this is yours?"
The raven-haired boy looked up shyly, trying to avoid the stranger's eyes before nodding slightly at the question.
Earth smiled gently, offering it to the kid, "Here."
The kid reached for it with his right hand, only to wince as it made a cracking sound. Tears rushed from his eyes as he held it to his chest.
Earth's eyes widened as he looked around wildly, 'That's not a natural sound... I have to find his parents.'
"Everything okay, Earth? That looked like it hurt." Luna spoke as he was the first to arrive at the scene.
"Where are the others?" Earth asked.
"Eh... still learning how walking works." Luna gestured behind him, making a pained face as Venus tripped up the stairs, prompting Mercury to laugh in response before Venus stretched his arm out and made the smaller one fall over.
"We need to find this kid's parents. He's hurt."
Luna appeared taken aback, not anticipating that Earth would show concern, given his rude behavior since their arrival.
"Hey, kid, do you know what your parents look like?"
The boy nodded, yet didn't say anything.
"...Can you tell me what they look like?"
With his left hand, the boy slowly signed something before gesturing to his mouth.
Oh... oh!
He was mute. That made a lot of sense.
'Although, this doesn't help me much if he can't speak...' Earth frowned.
The boy, sensing Earth's distress, rummaged through the pockets of his red shorts and retrieved a folded piece of paper.
Earth took it, unfolding it. It was a picture of, presumably, the kid's parents- his mom was wearing a pink shirt, gold earrings, and light pink lipstick while his father was wearing a suit and tie and his hair was scruffy-looking. It appeared to be a picture of a regular family, with no discernable features whatsoever. What stood out was the building they were poised in front of; a space agency by the name of ROTSAR. Earth knew of it, of course, he knew of every space agency established on his surface.
'I'm guessing one of them works there...' Earth thought. Analyzing the photo once more, he had a strong sense he knew the man in the tux from somewhere, but couldn't recall where.
Unbeknownst to him, Luna was peering over his shoulder, softly gasping upon seeing a recognizable face, 'That's-!'
"Well, you don't have to worry about a thing, little astronaut, I'm going to find them for you!" Earth returned the photo to the kid.
The kid shook his head before pointing at his mom in the photo.
Earth blinked, "Oh, so you were with your mom?"
The boy nodded.
"Well, I'll bring her back to you, so stay put. Luna, can you-?"
"Got it! I'll watch over him while you find his mom."
Earth choked on a laugh, "Actually, I was going to ask if you could get Sun to watch him. That was a good joke, though. You should think about becoming a comedian- someone who makes others laugh as their job."
"I kn-" Luna bit his tongue, holding back what he was about to say. He shook his head and took a breath, speaking through gritted teeth as he clenched his hands into fists, "Fine..."
As he walked away, he heard Earth ask, "Man, what's up with him? I didn't say anything wrong..."
Luna nearly whipped himself back around to give Earth a piece of his mind, yet forced himself to keep walking down the stairs, reminding himself for what felt like the millionth time since they've been here;
'It's the AetherStars' fault he's like this. He's been trying to redeem himself for half a year, he would never return to his old ways of being an asshole to everyone.'
Luna breathed in and out steadily, stopping on the stairwell to glance back, observing Earth as he spoke to the child, likely comforting him about finding his mother.
'He would never say or do anything to hurt me... not on purpose.'
He gripped the railing until his fingertips and knuckles paled, pursing his lips, "I promise... I will help you, Dad."
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Bet you weren't expecting Astroson to show up ;)
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