Hey, who could it be? (No, it's gotta be...!)

13

TWs: Sharp objects, descriptions of pain, coma, brief arguments. Stay safe :)

He was falling, everything burning- everything shattering inside him like glass. His core felt like it was splitting into pieces as he fell back.

He heard someone call his name, he saw a dark shadow over him before disappearing into the void.

Then he felt arms around him, pulling him into safety.

His ears rang as he slowly blinked at the figure holding him.

'U... Uranus...?' He thought, his head reeling as the shards of ice pierced his surface. He winced, letting out a gasp.

"...tune! H... on. I got..." Uranus' voice was filtering through his ears, some parts unclear, "...d still."

He felt Uranus separating smaller ice particles from his surface. Neptune twitched when some were pulled from his head, the blue liquid warping and trying to heal itself. Neptune let out a whine when the winds inside of him picked up, shifting the fragments. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain as his eyes grew weary.

"Will he be okay?" A small voice asked.

"...He'll be okay, mates, he just needs to rest," Uranus told Proteus, looking down to see Neptune sleeping, his breaths coming out in slow huffs. The light blue Celestial slowly raised a hand to the warped markings on his head, wafting over the liquid- guiding it to where it needed to be.

The Sun peered at Jupiter and Saturn who stood before the Guardian.

"Well?"

Jupiter and Saturn shook their heads, shamefully.

The Sun huffed, crossing his arms, "He may have escaped, but he will not get away with this."

Mercury, Venus, and Mars made their way back through the asteroid belt, the two warmer planets shivering.

"Man, I didn't think it was that cold," Venus uttered.

"I tried to tell you, Venus, but you sa-" Mercury got cut off.

"Nobody asked you, Pipsqueak!" Venus yelled.

"Yeah, exactly!" Mercury rolled his eyes.

"You're back!" Earth perked up, flying over to greet them, "What exactly happened? Are you guys okay? Is Neptune okay? I-"

"Earth!" Mars placed his hands on his friend's shoulders, smiling at him, "We're fine, and Neptune is gonna be alright. Uranus is taking care of him at the moment."

"Oh, that's good..." Earth sighed in relief.

"Man, it's been crazy recently..." Mercury muttered.

"Tell me about it." Luna floated up to Mercury's level.

"Where do you think he went?" Mars asked the others, his eyes averting to the asteroid belt.

"I honestly... don't want to think about it," Earth replied.

"Same."
"Ditto."
"Yeah."
"Mhm."

« × »

"You're being pathetic," Callisto spoke.

"What?" Triton looked at her in bewilderment.

"Your planet- well, not your planet planet- was hurt, and here you are, sitting here instead of being there with him, with them." Callisto looked at the other.

"You know I don't deal with planets, and especially not annoying moons." Triton huffed.

"Oh," Callisto's eyes twitched, "Is that how you see me? Am I just another one of your burdens?"