Chapter Text
“So, moons of Neptune, how is everything going for y’all and your planet?” Titan turned to the Neptunian moons, but before any of them were able to answer, the moons heard someone clear their throat. They all turned and saw a group of five celestials- two of which they recognized as Pluto and Charon.
“Look, sorry for interrupting your moon meeting or whatever this is, but we need to have a little chat with Triton if that’s okay?” Eris announced to the moon club, as she was the only dwarf planet that was able to keep her composure at the moment. Titan turned to look at Triton, who squinted at the dwarf planets and Charon in concern when he saw that they were huddled together and visibly shaken up.
“Okay…? One sec.” Triton answered hesitantly, then turned to his two closest moon-friends. “Io, Callisto, I trust you two the most, so watch the kids while I’m gone.”
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“Now that we’re out of earshot…” Triton murmured the second that himself and the dwarf planets were far enough from the Moon Club meeting, “What’s going on?” He glanced between the distressed expressions on his friends’ faces as if he could throw a question mark into their eyes and fish out the answers (Ya know…’cuz question marks look like hooks? No? Ok-).
“Triton, I…” Pluto started, but then paused, unable to even look at Triton, “There’s…really no easy way of saying this…it’s about N-Neptune.” Charon sniffled and squeezed her eyes shut to keep her tears contained (and because she couldn’t bear facing Triton any longer) as she gripped Pluto’s cloak like it was her lifeline. Pluto looked down at his moon and pet her hair, unsure if he’d be able to say anything else without shedding tears of his own.
Triton looked between Pluto and Charon before losing his patience, “Okay- what in the name of Sagittarius A* is going on here? Wha-?!”
“Did you ever notice any signs that Neptune would want to…hurt himself?” Eris interrupted bluntly, trying to keep up her indifferent attitude since she felt the need to stay strong for her friends’ sakes, but the fact that the images of the horrific things she saw Neptune doing to himself were still fresh in her memory was enough to crack her typical stone-faced facade enough for a shiver to visibly crawl up her spine.
Triton’s face shifted from frustrated confusion to realisation and dread when he figured out what Eris was implying, he skimmed desperately through his memory. “N-No, he seemed fine when myself and the rest of his moons left for Moon Club!”
“We heard laughter coming from the inner Kuiper Belt.” Pluto began, still not looking at Triton.
The dwarf planets were in the middle of a quest to find and kill evil space sirens when they heard maniacal laughter from the inner Kuiper Belt. “Ooh, I think I smell a side quest!” Makemake exclaimed, “Or maybe a new dwarf planet? I wonder if they’d like Dungeons & Dwarf Planets!”
”That doesn’t sound like happy laughter.” Haumea thought out loud, “W-what if they’re not nice?”
”Maybe they just need a friend!” Charon tried, looking at Pluto with space puppy eyes.
”Charon, please don’t…” Pluto begged, trying- and failing- not to look into his moon’s eyes, but ended up conceding, “Fine. What do you think, Eris?”
”I’ll do whatever you guys wanna do, I guess.” Eris shrugged.
”I say we investigate!” Makemake proclaimed, and promptly rushed towards the sound’s source.
”Make, wait for us!” Pluto called after him as the dwarf planets followed after Makemake…
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”Ugh, I don’t think I like this…what if it’s Ceres?” Pluto protested, the maniacal laughter had started to get under his surface.
”Pluto.” Charon warned.
”What?! He attacked you for protecting the Earth!” Pluto exclaimed.
”Not the right time, you two.” Eris stated firmly.
”Yeah…and Ceres doesn’t sound like that.” Haumea added.
”Aaaaalright, guys! We’re he…” Makemake’s voice died in his throat, prompting the other dwarf planets to look at each other before cautiously creeping to where Makemake was.
”What’d you find, Mak-?” Pluto’s eyes widened and a shiver crawled up his spine as he watched Neptune peel the skin on his arm off. He heard Charon’s hands clamp over her mouth. “Oh void, w-we need to g-get someone!” Pluto’s voice wavered. He took a step back, grabbing Charon’s hand and sprinting as fast as he could to find Uranus.
Triton’s head shook subtly and he took a step back into an asteroid that he promptly sat down on when he felt like his legs were going to give out on him. “N-No…no, no, he looked fine when we- I-I…n-no, you- you have to be lying, Neptune wouldn’t-!” Before Triton could sputter on, his babbling froze when the gravity in the asteroid belt began to shift drastically, then Uranus leapt over the asteroid belt like it was nothing more than a mere hurdle to him…which it probably was. The expression he saw on Uranus’ face confirmed that the dwarf planets weren’t pulling his leg. A sudden surge of energy came over his body and he found himself running to catch up with his planet’s cousin.
”URANUS!” Triton called out once he was close enough for the ice giant to hear him. Uranus’ head whipped around to face him and tensed up when he saw who it was. “WHERE IS HE?!”
”JUPITER AND SATURN! THEY’RE COMING!” Uranus called back before scooping Triton up and speeding up towards the sun.
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”Uranus! What. Are you doing. Out of your ORB-?!”
”Seriously, Sun?! One of your planets is bloody DYING, and ME STAYING IN MY ORBIT is what you care about right now?!” Uranus snapped back as the pent up stress of the situation overflowed.
The sun froze, and his light dimmed. “what.” Then his luminosity doubled, then tripled, his gravity desperately reaching out to the cosmos, searching for his dying planet and counting his planets as he saw and felt their presences in a panic until his gravity found Jupiter, Saturn, and…Something’s wrong. Very, very wrong. Dying. He’s dying. My baby. Treasure. Lifeline. DO SOMETHING, SUN, FUCKING DO SOMETHING!! He summoned his Lyre and slammed his fingers against the strings of Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune, yanking the three planets towards him.
The Sun scooped Neptune up the moment Neptune was within hand’s reach and his core stopped fusing hydrogen and helium when he saw that his baby’s atmosphere had become about as pale as Uranus’. No. No. Please, universe, no! Not my sapphire! Not my bouncy baby boy! I can't. I can't! I can't do this again! I can't! I won't! I WON'T LOSE ANOTHER BABY TO YOUR CHAOS!
He screamed in utter agony as unbearable images of every last protoplanet he’d ever lost to the universe’s cruel, merciless, endless cycle of entropy flashed through his mind every time he blinked. He cried out, not noticing his healing powers melting Neptune’s wounds away as he fluctuated from desperately praying to whatever higher being of the universe that may or may not have been listening to his pleas and sobs to let his baby live to challenging said possible higher being to see what would happen if it so much as tried to take his sapphire’s life-force away from him.
”SOL!!!” Jupiter’s voice cut in, yanking Sun out of his mind. He looked down at Neptune and flinched when he noticed that his atmosphere looked off and had a slushy-like texture to the touch. Oh no…did he overdo it? Oh no. Nonono, I’m sorry baby!
“How…how did this happen? H-how did he…?” Sun’s voice shook and cracked as he spoke, the yelling taking a toll on his voice.
”He…he was trying to k-kill himself.” Uranus’ legs gave out and his knees would have slammed into the Solar System’s 60 degree plane if it weren’t for Saturn catching him before he could.
Sun mind went more-or-less numb and his core felt like it was being pulled apart in his chest, as his thoughts made it impossible to focus on whatever else was going on around him in reality. Good fucking job, Sol! TWO of your planets tried to commit suicide because you’re an incompetent waste of the universe’s hydrogen and helium! How could you have let this happen?! TWICE?!
You are a singularity-damn disappointment to all star-kind.
He looked down at Neptune and his core ached at the knowledge that his baby boy was suffering in silence for Sagittarius A* knows how long. “I’m so sorry I failed you, my precious sapphire.
”I’ll do better this time, I promise.”