Chapter Text
"Hey, Proteus! Bet you can't dodge this asteroid!" Someone yells, getting his attention, their shrill voice echoing around the small space surrounded by asteroids, smaller than the moons present. Proteus looks around for the source of the voice and hears a little giggle coming from behind him.
He swivels around, and behind a larger asteroid, holding a small one, is Laomedeia, her cheeks puffed up as she tries, in vain, not to giggle. She shoots him a wide, toothy grin, and her baby blue eyes are shiny and playful.
She throws the asteroid as hard as her little body could muster, letting out a loud laugh as Proteus's face turns into a grimace of concentration as he tries to calculate where it's going to fly off to.
Aaand… there! He quickly jumps away, and the asteroid swooshes past him, barely avoiding grazing his surface. Turning around, he watches it fly off into nowhere, thankfully nowhere near the other little moons.
Triton is off to the side, out of the asteroid battlefield, watching some of the other little moons playing with each other; it looks more like they're all in one jumbled pile, Proteus thinks.
The largest Neptunian moon looks like he's trying not to smile when two small moons fight to get to the top of the pile of moons, namely Neso and Halimede. The latter manages to just barely shove Neso down to the bottom of the pile, only being slightly bigger than the former.
"Hey, Galatea!" yells Laomedeia, loudly. Proteus winces, and he has to really look at his siblings to differentiate them all. But finally, just by Triton, is the named moon. She seems to be talking to their big brother, what for, Proteus doesn't know, but as Laomedeia shouts her name, she's immediately at attention, her curious eyes scrutinizing Laomedeia.
"Help me catch Proteus!" She full on cackles and points to him, and he blows a raspberry at them both. Galatea seems to take that as a challenge, dashing toward Proteus along with Laomedeia, "Bet!"
Proteus barely gets any time to react, and he scrambles to get away from his two pursuers, swerving behind the moon pile where Neso and Halimede are still brawling for the top, and Triton, who chuckles and tells them to be careful, and Proteus responds with a hurried affirmation as he ducks under as Galatea leaps at him.
"You'll never catch me!" he shouts, and zigzags between the cluster of small asteroids, building a little fort behind him with his gravity, until he stops feeling the two pursuing moons following him. He snickers to himself in the sense that he won. Quickly, he gets out of hiding and shouts over to Galatea, who turns around with a smile on her face.
"Youu! You smartie! How'd you think to use the asteroids like that?" she asks, something glinting in her eye, and it feels like she's staring right into his soul. "Wellll, I used my gravity!" he states, proudly puffing out his chest with a smug smirk.
Galatea laughs, but it sounds hollow to him, and her eyes are blank, unfocused. They look at him, but at the same time, they don't. Then she stops, and says something, but her voice is dull, emotionless. Just like space.
"Where's Proteus?" she asks, and Proteus is stumped. He's at a loss for words, thoughts being mixed around in his head. He's here, right in front of her! Can't she see him?
Has she gone blind? He wonders, but she can't be; she looked at him just a minute ago. Did Planet X's asteroids hit her eyes? He didn't see that she was injured afterwards.
So he goes to her side, head tilted, "I'm right here, Galatea!" He tries, uncertainty colouring his voice. He reaches out a hand to put it on her shoulder, but it just passes through her, like she's not even there. With no other idea what to do, he stands there, hand still not making contact, and thoughts swirling in his mind.
Suddenly, there's a familiar gravity behind him, and Proteus knows it's Triton, but when he looks back, he startles. The larger moon is right behind, so close that their surfaces almost touch.
Triton is usually careful about being so close to the smaller moons, and when Proteus pokes him in an attempt to get his attention and back up, it's like he's a ghost. His hand passes through him, too.
"I'm here, can't you see?" He tries again, panic pooling in his stomach. He can't do anything; he can't make them see him. It's like he's not there. His siblings aren't the types to ignore anyone, but Proteus has no idea what he's done, if they're really ignoring him.
Triton says something, but Proteus isn't focused on what, because suddenly, heat is warming his back, like the Sun is close. But that's not right. They're in the Neptunian orbit, with Neptune, Triton, and all of the other moons.
But he turns around, and they're by the Sun, and all of the other moons of the Solar System are there as well, divided into groups. This isn't the Neptunian orbit. This isn't where they should be. And when Proteus looks around, Neptune is gone. All of the planets are gone, and the heat is too much, and his big brother seems to agree, with the way his back is turned to the Sun, avoiding the light.
"What's happening?" He asks, and there's a tug on his core, pulling him down. Away from the Solar System. It wants to take him. "Help!" He shouts, but his words echo into nothing. Nobody hears him, even if he's right there. They don't even cast a glance his way, and his siblings don't rush to him with worried expressions like they do when he wakes up with a nightmare.
And then he's dragged into darkness. He's alone, and someone says something, but he can't hear what.
//
The cold has its grip on him, like a blanket. It keeps him in place and doesn't let him move. He struggles against it, trying to throw it off.
The cold darkness lets him out, but his eyes won't open. They're tired, worn out. He can't move either, however much he tries. So he pulls and pulls on his gravity, trying to get something to hold onto.
There! He tugs on it, and he gets a tug in return. Someone speaks, but he can't hear them. The panic sets in as he thinks back to what happened. He's beyond the Kuiper Belt. Where Planet X had run off to.
Planet X is here; he's here to take him away. He's going to hurt his friends again. So he forces his eyes open and tries to get away from the source of the gravity he'd pulled on. He doesn't get very far, though; the gravity encases him, so he remains still.
But he refuses to give up and lend himself over to the one who'd hurt his friends. Then the voice speaks again, louder this time, "Calm down, dude! What are you in such a rush for?" They grunt, their voice raspy.
Proteus pauses with what he's doing, but his core keeps pounding, and everything makes him want to keep running, but he forces himself to stay still and take in his surroundings. There are asteroids scattered about, most of them icy.
This isn't the Kuiper Belt, though. He's somewhere else, and he has no idea where. He looks around and flinches back when a gray celestial body with darker gray craters, or whatever those are, like an X on his surface. His dark gray eyes scrutinize Proteus, and everything feels too much. It feels like there's an asteroid pulling him down.
"Please don't hurt me," Proteus squeaks, shrinking in on himself. He doesn't mean to sound so scared, but when you're in a place you have no idea what it is, and there's a much bigger celestial body in front of you, it's hard not to.
The gray planet? Moon? laughs all of a sudden, his voice sounding like someone's crashing asteroids into another over and over. "I'm sorry, but what? We wouldn't hurt anyone without any reason to. Especially not anyone as small as you are." The celestial grins, his teeth sharp.
Proteus has nothing to say in return. He stays where he is, even if the unfamiliar gravity's influence on him is gone. He stares at the spherical celestial, who stares back with his head tilted.
"So? Anything else to say, pip?" He rumbles and chuckles when Proteus doesn't answer fast enough, "Well, alright then, no names? Can't have that. My name is Orcus, I'm a dwarf planet. My comrades are somewhere, doing their things, I don't know. I'm sure they're around here somewhere." Orcus's eyes don't reveal any emotion; they're cold and distant as he looks down at Proteus, and then he huffs, "I would really like a name from you, you know?"
Oh, right. With everything that's just happened, Proteus's thoughts have been elsewhere, forgetting to tell the dwarf planet his name. His body feels warm, and he shivers with embarrassment.
"M-My name is Proteus. I'm a moon of Neptune!" He states, staring up at Orcus, who just nods and sighs, "More of you moons from the Solar System, huh? I thought that other one was enough. He's way too optimistic for the life out here, " The dwarf planet growls, and suddenly he stops in his tracks, standing as still as a tree (whatever that is?).
"Come along, pip. Let's show you off to Sedna," Orcus picks him up, holding him hard as if he were about to fly off into nowhere, his hands soft and gentle, and then they rush off in some direction, "Where are we going?" Proteus inquires curiously, but Orcus doesn't respond.
A few moments later, Orcus drops him. Proteus almost doesn't catch himself, almost crashing into an asteroid lurking below them, but he grabs onto someone's gravity in time and stops his momentum. It's not Orcus's gravity. He freezes, and his core starts to pound again. The logical side of him knows it's not Planet X, but his emotional side protests, but he shakes his head and exhales quickly, looking up.
When he meets Orcus's eyes, the dwarf planet just rolls his eyes, gesturing at another celestial body. Their surface is red, splotches of different shades of red littering them. Like Orcus, there's a crater going straight across the celestial body's surface.
"Pip, meet Sedna. She's practically our leader. She plans for us and makes the final decision." Orcus says, his voice less raspy as he looks at her. Sedna nods, gray eyes like Orcus, but they're somewhat softer, less untrusting.
"You're awake. That's good. I'm sorry about Orcus, I hope you're alright?" She says, and nods when Proteus confirms that yes, he's good! The gray dwarf planet glares at her, "Who are you to say such things about me?" He jibes, shouldering Sedna with a smirk on his face.
The latter rolls her eyes at him, shoving him away, "Well, are you going to introduce our other comrades?" She huffs, "You're up & about telling our newcomer about us, why not keep it up?"
Orcus groans, "Are you kidding me? I have to do this again? The other guy was insufferable enough with all of his questions! Now I have to show another moon around? It's a child!"
Hey! Proteus may be a child, but he knows what they're talking about! Orcus is mean, and the Neptunian moon opens his mouth to protest, but the red dwarf planet cuts him off, "If he's a child, he's a very impressive one. He went beyond the Kuiper Belt! Vanth wouldn't even go near the Kuiper Belt without you having to force him to go."
At that, Orcus scowls and glares at Sedna, muttering, "A very stupid child," and Sedna chuckles lightly, prodding the gray dwarf planet, "What was that?"
Orcus freezes and grins, showing his sharp teeth, "Nothing." Sedna looks at him with disbelief, a playful glint in her eye, and gestures for him to go.
"Come on, Pip," Orcus grunts, dragging Proteus behind the dwarf planet, and then they stop. In front of them is a light gray moon, a darker splotch on his eye, his eyes shining with playfulness. He looks like he's bigger than Orcus.
"Well, I'm leaving you with him. I am not staying around with you, good luck, Pip." Orcus hurries to say, and as soon as he says that, he's gone in a flash. Wow, he must've really been in a hurry! Proteus thinks. He turns to look at the other celestial body, and he returns the curious look, and there's a softness to his glance.
Proteus feels like he's seen him before, but he can't recall when. He looks at him, trying to figure out who this is and why he's seen him. The other chuckles warmly, giving Proteus the same look, smiling.
"Hello, Proteus!" He exclaims, and the named moon quickly backs away, curiousity going over to suspicion. If Proteus barely knows him, how can he know the Neptunian moon? His confusion must be apparent on his face, because the other celestial body grins widely, and he notices that his teeth aren't as sharp as Orcus's.
"Oh! Sorry, I forgot we've barely met. I saw you before the Moon Revolution! I'm Tethys!" He beams, the smile reaching his eyes. Proteus doesn't know if he's seen any other spherical moon this happy. They're all so dull, it's depressing. None of them ever want to play any fun games. They should learn to have fun.
"Oh… okay. But if you're a moon of, err, Saturn?" At that, Tethys nods encouragingly, "Why aren't you there?" Questions swirl in his head, questions by both himself and questions he's heard other moons ask when talking about Tethys. He's been gone for so long, apparently!
Tethys widens his eyes and scratches the back of his head with a flustered smile, "Oh, erm," He laughs, maybe to lighten the mood, but it just feels awkward, "I left! I didn't really like their plans of violence all that much! I mean, I was in on it when they said it'd be a friendly strike! Plus, the other moons were kind of mean," His eyes turn sad, and he hugs himself around his midsection. "They all were so mean to the planets, I… I just thought… I don't know." He stammers, exhaling slowly, looking at Proteus with a sad kind of happiness. The Neptunian moon nod, being quiet as to let him take his time.
"Well… I thought, um, please don't come at me for this, but I just thought that maybe the planets needed a chance to talk with us and get to change how they act toward us? I can think about how it feels for Saturn. He has more than a hundred moons, and they're all so demanding that he knows their names! I know they want their planet to say their name correctly, I do too, but it's so hard for him!" Tethys inhales deeply, "They're all so many!"
Proteus nods; he can't say he knows what that's like, with Neptune only having sixteen moons. It's still quite a lot, compared to the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, and Earth's only moon, Luna.
"Yeah, but they're all gotten better now, I think! Saturn didn't forget Enceladus' and Dione's names!" Proteus bounced, swishing his tail in the air, watching Tethys's face twist into surprise. "I think the moons started to get along with their planets, but I don't think Uranus's moons have talked it through with him yet? That's what Triton told me." Proteus shrugs when Tethys lets out a noise of confusion.
"I can tell you later?" He asks, and Tethys nods, and suddenly he lights up, like he's got an idea, "Hey, why don't I show you around? I don't think Orcus is coming back, I don't think he likes me very much, but I can introduce you to Gonggong and Quaoar!" Tethys exclaims, and he smiles brightly.
After just a few moments of heading somewhere, Tethys pauses and stares at Proteus, "I forgot to ask you! Why did you come all the way out here?"
At that, his mind explodes. Urges to run away and look for Neptune, wanting to get back home. He just stares at Tethys, and then he decides to go home, but something's stopping him. When he pauses, Tethys's gravity has bound itself around him, preventing him from going anywhere.
"I need to go! I need to find Neptune!" He hisses, but Tethys tuts, his voice light, "I'm afraid I can't let you go, I'm sorry! There are Rogue planets on the loose; they might find you." The Saturnian moon sounds apologetic, and he's fidgeting with his hands as he casts a nervous look when Proteus glances back at him.
He stops in his tracks, and Tethys smiles awkwardly, and Proteus is curious. He has to know, "What are those?" He's never heard of Rogue planets, and Tethys pauses, thinking.
"I'm… not entirely sure, haha! I'm sure the Dwarf planets know! Do you want to find them? It shouldn't be too hard, I can feel them." Tethys waits for Proteus to confirm that he absolutely wants to, and then he's unceremoniously dragged away, for the third time today.
Then they stop, and when Proteus has to pick himself up to the right position, Tethys laughs and apologizes for dragging him so suddenly, "It's okay!" He giggles.
He looks up, and in front of them is Sedna. Her back is turned to them, and she's looking out into space. Her hands are shaking, and her breathing sounds controlled, as if she's trying not to panic. Orcus is beside her, and when the two pull up, he glares at Tethys, eyes hard as ice, mouthing Go away.
The latter hesitates, regarding Sedna with a worried expression, opening his mouth to say something when Orcus hisses. Why is he so mean?
The larger moon frowns and backs away, "I'll see you later, Proteus!" He grins and proceeds to get out of there. Confusion clouds his mind, and questions about why Orcus acts like that toward him want to spill out, but when he gazes at the two dwarf planets, it's definitely not the time for those questions.
"Proteus?" Sedna asks, turning to him with questioning eyes, "What is it?"
He hesitates, no words coming out as he opens his mouth, but a nod of encouragement from Sedna has him ask his question.
"What are Rogue Planets?" Proteus asks with wide, curious eyes, looking up at the red dwarf planet, who looks back at him, her gray eyes cold and hard. Her hands form into tight fists, her knuckles turning white. He reaches out to ease the pressure, but then he pauses. This isn't the Solar System. Not really. He doesn't know if they'd appreciate it.
He catches Sedna looking at what he's doing, her eyes soft for one moment, and her mouth is slightly upturned in the corner. But it's just for a moment, and when Proteus blinks a second later, her expression hardens into ice.
The red dwarf planet opens and closes her mouth, but nothing comes out of it. It's like she can't find the words. Proteus thinks about Triton. He's done that sometimes, when something had triggered painful memories for him, and he'd tried to talk after. Proteus smiles and says, "Don't worry! You don't have to tell me if you don't want to!"
Sedna and Orcus exchange gazes, the latter's dark gray eyes glinting softly. The gray dwarf planet steps forward, looking down at the Neptunian moon, but the softness isn't there anymore. He mostly looks done with everything.
"Well, the Rogue Planets are planets who don't have a Star. They're traitors to their own Systems. There's a reason your friend was cast out. What was his name? Ah, right. Planet X," Orcus grunts, shooting Proteus a glare. He can't tell what it means, but he knows at least that the gray dwarf planet probably doesn't like him, and definitely doesn't like Tethys.
"Planet X isn't a traitor!" Proteus protests, glaring at the gray dwarf planet, who looks at him with consideration, and then he snarls, "If he's not a traitor to his own system, which he definitely is, and no, we're not talking about that today, Pip, then you're a traitor. You left the Solar System, which, last I heard, the planets were missing." Orcus curls his lips, showcasing his sharp teeth once again.
"I'm not a traitor! I went to look for Neptune! Why can't you let me do that?" Proteus cries out, stamping his foot on the space equivalent to the ground.
Orcus lets out a long sigh and mutters something to himself before speaking louder, "Well, as I probably already told you, the Rogue planets will catch you. It's dangerous, and however much I want to let you go and get yourself caught, Sedna and your other little friend would never let me. So, that's not happening. End of story."
Before Proteus can say anything else, Orcus is gone within the blink of an eye, and Sedna's gone as well.
He tries to feel Tethys's familiar gravity, tugging on it, and quickly, the other moon responds. And when Proteus turns around, Tethys is there, wearing his bright grin, and opens his mouth, but the Neptunian moon is faster.
"Why is he so mean to you? What'd you do?" He demands, and Tethys looks lost, and he fidgets with his planet necklace, grimacing, "I don't know. He's pretty much like that toward everyone but Vanth and Sedna, and I guess he has his reasons!"
Proteus nods, and curls up with weariness behind his eyes, and he can feel Tethys relaxing beside him, as well, and the moon whispers, "Sleep well."
That's the last he hears before he slips into a peaceful sleep, pushing all of the questions he has for the dwarf planets away for later.