Robotic Hearts, and The Terror Soon To Come

Tell A Trusted Adult

Moon ended up cradling you on the couch, slumped against Sun's arm. It was comfortable, even if they both felt exhausted. The whole building was quiet, soft wiring all around.

Sun was the first to break the silence, speaking in a humble whisper.

"You know.. I never thought you liked children.."

"... I don't like when they're so loud.. Or just plain... rambunctious.." He shuddered as he spoke, to reinforce just how disgusted he was.

"Not a big fan of the little trouble makers, huh?" Sun giggled.

"No, it is not hard to follow the rules."

"Uh huh, and if your little one there did something wrong I bet you'd change that attitude real quick." Sun teased, pointing at you.

Moon looked down at your sleeping face for a couple seconds, and then glared at Sun.

"You hush, they would never."

"No, never gonna find your sweetheart with their hands in the cookie jar? I doubt you'd even be mad."

"I... Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, I'm just saying you're a bit hypocritical is all." Sun said smugly.

Moon scoffed at him. "Shut up and go to sleep, idiot."

...

"Sure... Go ahead."

Moon set you down gently and nodded. You hugged his leg, yelling "Thank you!", before you ran off to go play. He went back up to his and Sun's tower, watching from the balcony.

You climbed your way through the play structures, on the lookout for a nice little nook to sit in. As you crawled across the padded floor of one of the upper levels, a nearby thud caught you off guard. Startled, you jumped back, looking for the source of the noise you saw a girl climbing up a slide. She sat in front of you and held her hand out.

"Hiya, I'm Rosie, but you can call me Princess Starlight, child of Athena!" Rosie seemed to be in a mixture of a Halloween costume and pajamas, numerous bracelets up her arms, rainbow beads in her hair. She smiled brightly at you as you shook her hand and gave her your name.

The two of you ran around the entire daycare, playing all sorts of improvised and entirely new games. After acting out a heart wrenching story, both characters dying nobly, yet tragically, passing for the safety of their kingdom and in each other's arms, Rosie whispered something to you.

"Alright, since we're like, best friends now, I've gotta show you something. Just trust me, kay?"

"Okay!"

She brought back to the play structures, pulling you through a specific path, and then scaling the top of one of the slides. You two ended up on top of the structures, but you felt like you were on top of the world.

"Woah..."

"Cool right? It's the best hiding spot in this place, trust me, I checked." She put her arms behind her head, oh so proud.

...

Moon watched from above. He felt so much disdain for that child, just seeing you two together. It made him feel bad to be so angry at someone for making you happy, but every second he sat there watching, seething, marinating in his anger, the more he wanted to do something. He dug his fingers into the ledge, internal fans moving so fast that it sounded like they might break. But he couldn't make any moves, not yet.

...

You marveled and played and rambled about shared interest until it was time for Rosie to go home. You walked her to the front and gave her the biggest goodbye hug you could.

Moon approached quietly and put a hand on your shoulder. "Hey little one, could you go use the restroom before we go talk to Sun, please? I'll take Miss Rosie back to her parents."

You pulled back, disappointed, but not about to complain. "Bye Princess Starlight!!" You called out as you ran off. But then you had a bright idea, if you stayed nearby and listened, you might hear when she'd be back! But you figured it was better to hide so Moon wouldn't know. So you stood just out of sight, just close enough to eavesdrop.

Moon loomed over that child, and she immediately knew that something was wrong. They walked in silence for the most part, until Moon thought no one could hear.

"Listen.. I think you're a good kid, truly. ... But.. You cannot talk to that child ever again, no matter what.. And everything will be just fine.. Fine and happy... Am I understood..?" The way he said.. Making it so painfully clear that he would make things stop being fine if she slipped up.

Rosie nodded, anxiety filling her heart as she ran back to her guardian.

You were horrified, feeling physically ill you ran to the bathroom. You held onto the sink, taking a few minutes to control your breathing. It felt like your whole body was shaking, like you might throw up.

There was a knock on the door. "Sweetheart?"

Reluctantly you went back to Moon, barely making a sound as you went back up to the room. It felt like the world was moving at a million miles a second. Moon sat down and tried to talk to you, but didn't get much of an answer. Sun was up there too in what seemed like forever. Moon got up and spoke with him.

"Hi Sunny, I'm going to go fetch the kid something to eat before the restaurants close. Can you watch them?"

"Yeah sure." Sun sounded a bit tired, but still ready to help.

"They're in a bad mood right now, so sorry if they're too not talkative..."

"Aww, what's wrong with 'em?"

"Not sure."

"Well I'm sure we'll get through it."

"Hopefully.. Thanks, Sun." Moon said before walking out.

Sun sat beside you, keeping a bit of distance in case you didn't want anyone in your space.

"Hey bud... Anything you wanna talk about? Anything happy, sad, silly?" He spoke slowly and calmly.

The horror hadn't left you in the slightest, neither had the stress and it was all weighing on you. Your eyes started to water.

"Oh, hey hey, it's okay. Com'ere." Sun held his arms out, you curled up under his arm. He rubbed your shoulder gently.

After you calmed a bit, he tried to get you to talk.

"Do you think you can tell me what's wrong...? You don't have to, we can stay like this if you'd like, just know I'm here to help.."

You curled up on yourself and closer to Sun. "You- hic You can't tell him..." You sobbed against him.

"Who, Moon?"

"Mhm..."

"Okay, everything stays between us... I Promise."

You told Sun everything that happened, even things you thought might get you in trouble. He was just as horrified as you were, maybe even more. He held you closer, taking in every word.

"Okay.. um... That sounds really mean.. Uh... Do you want me to talk to Moon about this."

"No!"

"Even if I tell him I was the one who saw?"

"No! H-He'll know!"

".. Alright, he won't know anything.."

"... Thank you."

"Anytime.."

You stayed curled up with Sun while you calmed down. And when Moon came back with a takeout box for you, Sun kept an arm around you, desperately wanting you to know you were safe. He was so torn, but he knew something had to be done sooner rather than later...