Test flights out in the field went better than expected. The group got the hang of it pretty quickly, & the two Celestials seemed pleased with their fast progress.
“Alright!” Kalani flew over to Spring & Storm. “I think we’ve got this!”
“Perfect!” Spring said as she & Storm flew up as well. “We’re ready for our first stop: Mercury!”
“Wait- Mercury?”
The group wasn’t sure if they had heard her right.
“Oh, c’mon. We told you about this yesterday. Our mom’s on Mercury. You have to go there.”
“You think we can walk on Mercury’s surface? We’re humans!”
“We never said you’d be walking.”
“Ok. Fair.”
“I suppose we’ll just be flying across Mercury then?”
“Pretty much!”
“Well, I’m not gonna question the logistics of that. Let’s hit it!”
-
“Mr. Moon? Are you doing alright?”
Time poked xyr head through the door to Mr. Moon’s room. Mr. Moon lifted their head up from their arms, looking at Time with tears in their eyes.
“Oh, jeez. Worse than I thought.” Time sighed, walking into the room & sitting next to Mr. Moon. “Listen. Fate said Spring & Storm will return safely. It’ll be fine.”
“But- But it’s been a DAY! It’s been one whole day since they left!”
“It’s been 2000 years since Sun left. I’m sure they’re safe.”
“Well, I’ve gotten used to that!” Mr. Moon sobbed. “I just want my kids back, Time!”
Time took a breath, wrapping one of its arms around Mr. Moon.
“I might not know exactly how you feel right now, Mr. Moon, so I can’t entirely relate, nor can I go down to Earth & get them myself. All I can do is listen. Hopefully letting your emotions out will make you feel better.”
Sniffling, Mr. Moon leaned novs head against Time’s arm.
“Thank you, Time..”
-
“Here we are!! Mercury!”
The group was now floating right outside of Mercury’s surface. None of them were entirely sure how this was possible, considering they were human, but that was the least of their concerns currently.
“Wow. Mercury is a lot blander than I thought it’d be.”
“It’s Mercury. I don’t know what you expected.”
“So.. what’s the plan?”
“Well, none of us will be able to walk on the planet, due to how hot it is, which means you’re gonna have to fly.”
“Good thing we had flight practice this morning.”
“Hold on. You’re phrasing that like you’re not going with us.”
“We’re not. Well.. I should phrase that better. We can’t.”
“What? Why not?”
“We’re the youngest Celestials out there. We wouldn’t last out there.”
“But us humans can?”
“Well, you’re the heroes.. from the prophecy. I assume you can.”
“I mean, if we’re somehow able to breathe in space, I don’t see why we can’t survive Mercury.”
“Good luck, you 5!” Spring grinned, waving them off.
The group sighed, descending down to Mercury. The more they entered the planet’s atmosphere, the hotter it got. Mercury was typically known for being hot during the day, so this made sense to the group.
Hovering right above the surface, the group started their search, chatting along the way.
“Jesus fuck, it’s smoltering here.”
“I think the term is smoldering?”
“I said what I said.”
“Fair enough.”
“When our high school counselor asked us where we’d be in 5 years, I’d never have guessed that ‘being on Mercury’ would be a plausible answer.”
“Well, you know how it is.”
“Yeah.”
“..Do you think we should have asked what the person we’re looking for looks like?”
“That would have been a good idea. We should have done that.”
“C’mon. Who else is going to be on Mercury? Look at how BARREN this place is!”
“Yea, totally barren. Aside from the thing staring at us.”
“The huh?”
The group looked up ahead. A figure, far away, seemed to be looking right at them.
“I don’t see anything. It’s all blurry.”
“I mean, it is kinda dusty here.”
“Ok, but like.. that’s totally a person staring at us.”
“Maybe it’s who we’re supposed to be looking for! C’mon!”
“‘Lani, wait!”
Kalani flew ahead of the group, up to the figure. They were a lot taller up close (Kalani suspected they were around 10 feet tall), & it looked like their hair was made of fire. Their eyes were pure yellow, almost like they were glowing.
“Hello, ma’am &/or sir! Pleasure to meet you!”
The figure looked confused as the rest of the group caught up to Kalani.
“..What are you humans doing on Mercury?” they finally asked, after a minute. “You shouldn’t be able to survive here.”
“Uh.. magic?” Nora shrugged.
“Oh, c’mon. Magic can’t be our only explanation.”
“It kind of literally is the explanation though. Because of the necklaces.”
The figure raised an eyebrow. “Necklaces?”
“Oh, yea. I don’t suppose you’ve heard of the prophecy.”
“I have. 5 heroes will emerge one day, something something good & evil. It was all Fate would talk about back at the Castle.”
Something clicked in the groups’ heads. This is who they’re supposed to be looking for!
“Oh! You’re from the Castle of Celestials?”
“I- ..I was, yes.”
“Why don’t you live there anymore, if you don’t mind us asking?”
“Well..”
The Celestial clenched their fists.
“It’s.. a long story.”
“It’s fine. We’ve got all day.”
“You 5 are not going to sit here all day on Mercury waiting for me to tell my story.”
“We’ve waited longer during our trip to Texas. Can you believe how hot it gets there?”
“Of course. I’m the Sun, after all.”
Honesty, the group should have guessed that this was Sun. They literally have a symbol of a sun on their shirt.
“Well, from what we’ve been told, you’ve been here on Mercury for over 2000 years because of some.. Mr. Moon dude?”
Sun took a deep breath.
“Mr. Moon.. was my husband. After Juno shot me, I was dead, taking 200 years to recover. During this time, it seems that nov had forgotten about me.”
“Well, if I didn’t see my future husband, wife, or spouse for 200 years, I might forget about them too.”
“You humans don’t get it. You don’t just forget about someone you were in love with.”
“So.. what did you do?”
“We... we got into a fight, & eventually, I declared that I was going to Mercury. &.. here I am.”
“Do you think you’d.. ever go back to the Castle?”
“Not in a million years.” Sun crossed aer arms.
“What about your kids, though? Spring & Storm?”
Sun froze at the mention of Spring & Storm.
“I... I miss Spring & Storm, but..” Sun stammered, trying to think of something to say. “They probably don’t remember me either. If Mr. Moon can forget about me so easily, then my own kids wouldn’t remember me, either.”
“But they do remember you! That’s the whole reason why we’re here!”
“They- They do?”
“Spring & Storm specifically requested that we heroes get you & Mr. Moon back together.”
A couple of tears (made of lava?) started flowing down Sun’s face.
“They remember me! My kids remember me!” Sun sobbed as ae spun around in joy. They came to a stop all of a sudden.
“But.. I don’t know if I want to return to the Castle.” they murmured. “As much as I love my kids, I.. can’t stand Mr. Moon. I can’t stand nova & novs glistening eyes, & novs beautiful smile, &-”
“Sounds to me like you’re still into them.” Cherry said.
“What? Of course not.”
“Nobody describes someone they hate like that.”
“Doesn’t Natalie describe Leslie like that all the time?”
“She does?”
“Listen, this isn’t about Natalie. The point is, I don’t think you hate Mr. Moon. It’s just been so long since you’ve last seen them, & the last memory you have of them is the fight. Maybe if you go & talk to nova again, you two will reconnect, or something. I don’t know.”
Sun sighed, taking what Cherry had just said in. Ae stepped away after a moment, aer hair & eyes starting to glow.
“You need to go.” they said.
“Wait, we do? Why?”
“Go. Now.”
Sensing that things could potentially get dangerous if they stayed, the group decided to heed Sun’s warning & leave. Before their departure, Nora told Sun to think about what Cherry had said before about Mr. Moon.
The trip out of Mercury was a lot faster than the trip into Mercury. Although, I suppose that’s how it is with most back-&-forth trips.
“Damn, that was crazy what you said back there, Cherrypop. It’s almost like you’re a real marriage counselor.”
“Well, you know how it is with psychology majors.”
As the group left Mercury’s atmosphere, they met back up with Spring & Storm, who were waiting there patiently for them.
“Hey! Welcome back!”
“Took you long enough. What happened down there?”
“Well.. we talked with Sun &.. I don’t think they’re entirely open to reuniting with Mr. Moon.”
“Aw.”
“Well, that just means we’ve gotta enact Plan B!”
“Plan B? What’s Plan B?”
“Brace yourselves, because we’re headed to the Castle of Celestials!”