Chapter Text
SAME DAY:
To be more specific…both participants glared daggers at each other while the other planets and their moons were on the sidelines, rendered speechless. Poor Earth was still pretty much frozen and unconscious, but gradually thawing. Luna continued to hover in front of him, hoping to shield his Earthlings from further harm.
“For fuck’s sake! Look at him! Really look at him! Tell me what you see here!” Uranus gestured to the habitable planet.
“No!” the yellow dwarf rebelled.
“No?! His oceans are frozen solid! His core is about to stop rotating! His Earthlings are living in bunkers! And who knows how many died in the process?!”
“So what? He’s not my problem anymore! You guys made that very clear when you left your orbits!”
“You don’t know the full story!”
“I don’t need to! Besides, you started this when you left your orbit! Then Jupiter followed you, then Earth followed Jupiter, then everyone else followed Earth! That’s all I need to know! Everyone was out of their orbits when I specifically told them not to!!”
“Oh! Like you actually give a shit about our orbits! That’s rich! When the fuck was that?! Does changing our orbits and jeopardizing Earth’s life ring a bell?!”
“HOW DARE YOU — ”
“NO!! HOW DARE YOU!! HOW DARE YOU CLAIM YOU CARE ABOUT US WHEN YOU DON’T!! THIS WAS NEVER ABOUT ORDER AND STABILITY!! IT WAS ABOUT YOU BEING IN CONTROL!! BECAUSE YOU’RE SO FUCKING AFRAID TO BE ALONE AGAIN!! AND INSTEAD OF ADDRESSING YOUR TRAUMA LIKE A FUCKING ADULT, YOU USED US AS YOUR FUCKING SCAPEGOATS!!”
“THAT’S NOT TRUE!! I’M PERFECTLY SANE!!”
“NO YOU’RE NOT!! AND YOU HAVEN’T BEEN IN A LONG TIME!! BUT THAT DOESN’T EXCUSE YOUR ACTIONS TOWARDS US!! IT DOESN’T EXCUSE YOU TREATING US LIKE SHIT FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS!! AND IT ALL STARTED WITH YOU AND JUPITER!!”
“You know…of all planets, I never expected this tone from you, Uranus. And secondly—what the fuck are you talking about?!”
“Jupiter told us when he was born, you promised he didn’t have to be afraid as long as he looked up to you. Because you were his source of light, warmth, and love. You—our star—promised to protect him no matter what! But you broke it! The second time you saw protoplanets crashing with each other, you pushed him away when he tried to help you! To offer his support!”
“I—I did no such thing!”
“You screamed in his face!! You scared him so much that he couldn’t come to you for anything anymore! No wonder he lied about the Grand Tack and Planet X’s ejection! Because you would’ve murdered him otherwise! And not just him—none of us dared to tell you anything for the exact same reason!”
Caelus paused for a moment and laughed bitterly. “But that’s what you wanted all along, right? Control? Power? Well congratulations Sun—you’ve got both. You made us planets your subordinates—your fucking slaves. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
Sol’s eyes filled with rage. “I’M NOT — ”
“What? A ruthless dictator? A violent egomaniac? An abusive psychopath? That’s exactly what you are!” the seventh planet snorted. “You claim you value peace and harmony, but we all know that’s not what you really want. In fact, I bet you’re secretly glad the Moon Revolution happened. You wanted us to be divided, didn’t you? So that we wouldn’t figure out the real root of our problems.”
“BULLSHIT!!” the Sun roared.
“Oh yeah? You sure you didn’t want planets and moons pitted against each other by creating an unnecessary hierarchy between us with you in charge? Or how you treated the dwarf planets and their moons like outcasts?! Or the fact that Jupiter and Saturn didn’t know about Planet X as soon as he was born?!” Uranus argued.
Both gas giants exchanged glances, eyeing their star suspiciously.
“That was your grand plan, wasn’t it? To maintain your power-hungry status?! And you claim it’s all bullshit. Face it, Sun! I told you several times before—you wanted this to happen!!” Caelus accused. “So yeah, congrats! You played us like a fiddle and you won! Might as well celebrate your oh-so wonderful achievements!”
Sol balled his fists. “THAT’S ENOUGH!!”
“Then again—your incessant fear-mongering has always been the primary cause,” the cyan ice giant growled. “We lied and kept secrets because of you. Our previous siblings died or drifted away because of you. Planet X was ejected because of you. Those feelings of anger and vengeance existed in the first place because of you. All our problems, all this chaos STARTED WITH YOU.”
The others gasped dramatically.
“And now here you are, offering the moons our positions without a care in the world. The one thing they’ve always wanted—the idea you planted in their heads. Not Ganymede and Europa, and certainly not Earth,” Uranus displayed a lopsided smirk. “But hey! Nobody’s born a tyrant. They’re made…so how did you come about, Sun? What’s your story?”
Sol crossed his arms and remained silent.
“How did it affect us? After all, our lying and secrecy came from somewhere. We didn’t learn it on our own. So who started it first? Us…or you?” Caelus spat the last word in disgust.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” the yellow dwarf huffed.
“Oh I think I do…” Uranus grinned deviously. “Rumina, start the footage!”
“Rumina??” his siblings gawked.
“Hey guys,” she waved shyly, revealing herself and a holographic device.
“How did you…??” Jupiter asked, completely baffled. “I thought you’d reach perihelion by 2202!”
“Long story,” 145451 Rumina replied sheepishly, turning to the second-outermost planet. “You said you wanted me to…?”
“Go ahead mate,” Uranus confirmed.
The dwarf planet instantly pressed PLAY as a hologram displayed a young Sol, barely 500,000 years old. He called out to a distant yellow-white star (HD 162826) who responded accordingly. The Sun tried to move closer, but accidentally destroyed five protoplanets in the process. They all died screaming. Sol immediately freaked out and apologized profoundly for his mistake.
Once Rumina pressed PAUSE, Jupiter struggled to find the right words. “I…I don’t understand.”
Saturn’s lips formed a scowl, gazing directly at his orbital center. “You…you said Jupiter was your first planet.”
“Correction—first full-fledged planet. Those five were protoplanets,” Neptune announced, frowning slightly.
“I…I thought I was the oldest. Yet there were five older siblings I never got to know…” Zeus exhaled shakily. “W-What were their names?”
The Sun paled. “I-I don’t remember.”
“Yes you do,” Caelus asserted.
“I said I don’t remember!” Sol snapped.
“What—were—their—names?” the bigger ice giant enunciated.
The Sun was finally backed into a corner he couldn’t escape from. “It doesn’t matter!”
“Yes it does! So tell us! Tell us the truth.” If looks could kill, Uranus would’ve committed his first intentional murder.
Meanwhile a tense silence filled the room, anxiously waiting to hear their star’s response.