Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The bot’s feet scraped against the sand as he warily stepped through the gate. Already, the sand was beginning to dig itself into the soles of his shoes, threatening to become a nightmare to scoop out later. 

The searing, bright, hot light instantly blinded him. Lunar winced, raising an arm to shield his eyes. He instinctively stumbled back towards the gate. Before he could retreat back into the darkness, the gate slammed shut with a loud, grating shriek that made him jump. He was trapped inside.

Lunar slowly lowered his arm as his eyes began to adjust to the light. Surrounding him in a large circle were large walls-probably the height if you cloned Taurus twice and stacked the clones atop the original.

 Loud chatter came from above him. He could hear the overwhelming jeers, laughs, and banters of what felt like hundreds. Looking up, he noticed rows upon rows upon rows of spectators. They went up so high that he had to crane his head all the way back just to be able to make out the top. He was able to make out a few familiar faces here and there. The snake by the name of Noctyra, that odd bird that always seemed to have its eye on him, and a couple others he had met during his time as a dark star.

His gaze settled on one face in particular: the worm who had donned the name of resurrection. Rez stared back at him, not engaging in conversation like his peers. The purple liquid that swirled around inside of his cracked screen betrayed no emotion. However, after hours of watching and memorizing the patterns it drifted into, Lunar believed he had an idea. The liquid seemed to swirl a lot faster when the worm was pissed off, a lot slower when in thought or confused. Whenever Rez was around that odd bird, his liquid seemed to straight up disappear at some points in conversation. He hadn’t quite figured out what that one meant yet, but he could make assumptions. Sometimes Rez’s face would glow so bright that Lunar had to yell at him to tone it down. Regardless, he thought Rez’s face was neat. Watching him reminded him of the lava lamp he used to own when he still lived with Eclipse. 

Finally, he shifted his gaze away. He began to realize that he was in some kind of arena. The architecture of the building almost reminded him of the Roman Colosseum back on Earth. From what he remembered, the Romans would use it to partake in gladiator fights and Olympic sports.

(Art by justuraverageweirdo on Tumblr)

His mind flickered uneasily back to the conversation he had had with the worm on the way here.

“Come on now, dear Lunar,” the worm had said. He slithered through the corridors with a precise guiding hand on the celestial bot’s back. Torches topped with purple flames lined the walls. They illuminated the dark halls in a soft, violet glow. “You wouldn’t want to keep them waiting now, would you?”

“Gemini?” Lunar asked, brow furrowed. He wrung his hands together, unable to keep himself from fidgeting as his anxiety began to settle in. He swallowed. “Do they… Do they even want to see me after what I did? I-I mean, I killed-...” he trailed off.

Rez let out a soft hum, quiet for a second. As it always did when in consideration, the liquid swirling around inside of his screen began to slow.

“Well,” he finally said after carefully constructing his words together. As he spoke, it felt as though he was stitching them into one perfect little sentence with a needle and twine. “Why wouldn’t they just thank you? After all, you did save their lives, did you not? If they really did care about you they would understand that. Besides, if you ask me it was a mercy kill. That brute would have done something sooner or later that he’d regret and we’d have to put him down regardless. If anything, his death was a warning to the others. I mean, we wouldn’t want them to get themselves hurt as well, would we?”

The celestial bot didn’t reply for a while. The two of them continued to walk down the corridor until they finally came across a large, metal gate. Light seeped through the sides of the door, emitting a soft glow into the dark hallway. Finally, Lunar muttered; “I guess so.” 

Rez let out a light chuckle at this. “You’re quite funny sometimes, my dear apple.”

Lunar frowned, staring at the worm. “Why do you call me that?” 

Rez watched him for an agonizingly long, uncomfortable moment. Finally, he patted Lunar gently on the shoulder. “The doors will open shortly and Gemini will come out to… chat. With you. I wish you luck, Lunar.”

With that, Rez turned and began to walk back the way they’d come. 

“What- are you not gonna answer my question?” Lunar cried, but the worm was already gone; and that had been the end of it. 

Now, Lunar sat in the arena, wondering if this had been some kind of trick. He tried to meet the worm’s gaze again but he seemed to be now engaging in polite conversation with the snake next to him. He recognized her as Noctyra, one of the two he had shared a cell with while he was still being held inside of the astrals’ prison. He briefly began to wonder if Rez had played some kind of sick joke on him. No, he wouldn’t do that. Rez seemed to always be idolizing Lunar in a way that honestly freaked him out. Although, he never said anything. It didn’t seem in character for the worm to betray him though.

But where was Gemini?

He pivoted in a circle, searching around him for the beautiful luminary who had won his heart. 

Despite how bright it was, the lack of sun was incredibly noticeable. The cold chilled him to the core, making his fingers feel uncomfortable and stiff. He felt his internal heaters kick in and struggle to warm him up. 

Lunar slowly began to look up, continuing his search for the star he was supposed to meet with. His head craned back farther and farther as his eyes scanned up the numerous rows of seats. 

Then he froze.

(Art by alasylunatic on Tumblr)

Cages. Cages with bars made of a metal he wasn’t sure he had ever seen before. They swung back and forth in the wind above the arena, dangled from a thick chain that led up so far Lunar could not locate the origin. He whirled around, turning in a small circle as his eyes landed on each and every cage. 

Virgo was sitting with her knees to her chest against the bars. Her wings were wrapped around her shivering body, grasping for every morsel of warmth. 

Aquarius was sitting towards the edge of their cage with their vase tipped between the crook of the bars. They watched as the misty water trickled down slowly with an expression of wholehearted apathy. As an air sign, the cold didn’t seem to be necessarily bothering them all that much. 

Aries paced around the cage, unable to sit still for the life of them. They occasionally stopped, letting out a loud shout of frustration. Sometimes they would stop to hug their cold, trembling body. 

Lunar’s eyes drifted past an empty cage. In the next one, Cancer was curled up against the bars. She didn’t seem too bothered by the cold. She clicked her claws together every once and a while. Occasionally, shooting an anxious glance towards the stadium. 

The celestial bot skimmed past the next couple cages. When he spotted a familiar cage, a sinking feeling churned in his stomach. 

Taurus had his hand clamped around one of the bars, staring down at the celestial bot. His eyes were locked on Lunar’s, burning with what could only be read as pure hatred. He slowly raised a hand and pointed to the cage next to him. A clear message. Lunar slowly turned his head to the cage his former mentor wanted him to see.

He froze.

His breathing stopped.

Oh.

Oh .

There they lay. Recognizable by their lofty yet petite size in contrast to their siblings, they were able to fit inside of the small cage much more snugly. They were laying on their back. They seemed to be resting, their chest moving slowly up and down. Their midnight blue hood had slid back down their head, revealing their beautiful, star-kissed, cloud of hair that splayed out from their head. As a creature of the air, the cold thankfully didn’t seem to be taking that badly of a toll on them. However, they still had their arms wrapped around themselves. Hugging one another.

Lunar opened his mouth and no words came out. He shakily turned back to Taurus. The old bull glared at him, condemning him with simply his stare. It was obvious what he wanted to say:

Your. Fault.

He didn’t process the crowd slowly turning quiet as his eyes stayed locked on Gemini’s form.

Out of nowhere, a voice rang across the clearing. Deep and booming, echoing across the walls of the arena.

“The twins.”

Gemini immediately shot up from their stupor. Their face switched: from shock, to realization, to utter terror. The others turned one by one to the cage that held the twins. Their faces were those of pity, yet also relief that it was not them who were chosen. 

Lunar could do nothing but dumbly watch as the twins awkwardly stumbled over to the left edge of their cage. Their hands clutched the bars so hard their knuckles turned white. They locked their eyes on the arena cavea with a hard, pleading gaze. Lunar followed their eyes to realize they were looking at a specific individual in the podium. Sitting next to an overhang was a burly dark star, seemingly taking after a bear. They had their hands clutched around a heavy looking lever.

“Don’t!” Pollux’s scream was painfully raw. “Please! Don’t make us fight-we-we-…”

“You aren’t fighting each other, Gemini,” Taurus spoke up. His tone was dripping with anger, yet also exhaustion. “Look.”

The duplet’s expression turned from fear to confusion. Gemini slowly tilted their head down, as did the other astrals, until all eyes were locked directly on Lunar. The bot took a step back, feeling the weight of all their eyes on his body. 

“ I SAID THE TWINS! ” 

The same voice from before boomed across the clearing, dripping with impatience. The bear at the lever immediately cooperated. They grabbed the heavy crank and gave it a hard yank. With a sound like nails on a chalkboard, the floor of Gemini’s cage was violently yanked away. 

Both twins let out a yelp, their hands still clasped tight around the bars. Their legs swung back and forth with the wind as they were helplessly dangled in the air. It would have been a mercy for them to just let go and accept their fate. However, it was only their first time. They had not yet learnt the sense to preserve what little dignity they had left.

People in the crowd began to hoot at them. Dark stars shouted taunts and jeers, mercilessly laughing at their humiliation. Gemini’s hands slid down another inch and they gasped breathlessly. Another roar from the crowd. Their star freckled cheeks burned with indignity yet they were too scared to just let go. 

Releasing their right hand, they attempted to grab for a higher spot. They immediately disbalanced themselves, letting out another yell as the force caused their entire body to sway to the left and drag down their other hand as well. The audience grew even louder. They frantically tried to reclaim their grip but their reckless movement was now making them slide down faster. 

A choked sob escaped their lips as they finally lost their grip and began to fall. Lunar was finally shaken out of his shock. He screamed their name as they plummeted through the air, the element that they were meant to master. If Lunar was in a calmer state of mind he likely would have questioned why Pollux didn’t just manipulate her wind powers to bring themselves to safety.

There was a loud thump as their body met the ground. The impact scattered sand and wind everywhere. Lunar couldn’t care less. He fell to his knees beside them, shaking their shoulder.

“Gemini,” he sobbed, not even aware of the tears now running down his cheeks. “Castor, Pollux, I-I’m so…”

There was a quick flurry of movement. It happened so fast that Lunar didn’t even have time to fully process the situation. Hands encircled around his throat and began to attempt to press him into the floor. Lunar gurgled, grabbing their arms in shock. His blue eyes made contact with Gemini’s purple ones and…

Wait.

Gemini’s eyes were not purple.

(Art by Deirunn on Tumblr)

Lunar almost automatically assumed his training. He ducked down into the astral’s grip, surprising them into loosening the hold. He used this to his advantage and kicked them smack in the face. He scrambled backwards up to his feet, doing his best to ignore their yelp of pain. He found himself grateful that the old bull had taught him how to properly escape a chokehold.

He skidded to a stop once he reached the arena wall. His hands flew out to the wall in order to stop himself from ramming into it, scathing his palms in the process. He whirled back around with his lightning crackling dangerously around his fingertips. The luminary was still on the floor. A large shudder wrecked through their body as they let out a sound that sounded almost like a small whimper. They slowly looked up. Lunar’s shoe had left an imprint and a few specks of sand on their cheek. Lunar met their eyes again, praying he had just been hallucinating.

He wasn’t hallucinating.

Their eyes were still purple.

“Gemini?” Lunar whispered after a painful heartbeat. They just watched him, expression unreadable. They made a move to get back on their feet and Lunar immediately flinched, reading his hand with the lightning at them. Gemini seemed to pause at this. They didn’t move for another heartbeat, as if considering something. Then they just sat down. 

What were they doing? Lunar would’ve expected them to just attack him anyways, they were much stronger than him. Were they trying to calm the situation down? But they were the hostile one. They were the ones who attacked him first. Maybe they were just giving up? No, that wouldn’t make sense, they were much stronger than him, they had no reason to. Lunar took another step backwards. He bit his lip, holding back tears. None of this made sense. What was going on?

Relax.

Lunar’s eyes turned round as Castor’s voice began to echo in his mind. It was strangely soothing. Almost nostalgic, in a way. He hadn’t heard Castor speak to him that kindly in a while.

We won’t hurt you, Castor continued, Call off your lightning.

Lunar kept his star power trained on Gemini. He didn’t believe that. Not when their eyes were still purple. Still, there was something in Castor’s voice that made him want to listen. He shook his head. No, there was some kind of weird power going on and-

You want to call off your lighting, Castor tried again, You’re very tired, Lunar. We are tired too. You want to lay down in the sand, don’t you? 

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Castor was right. Lunar swallowed. He was tired. Tired of all of this, this entire mess. 

You are very tired, Castor agreed. You want to lay down in the sand.

Gemini began to stand up. Lunar recoiled and reinforced his aim. 

“Stay down!” Lunar warned them, his voice shaking. “I-I don’t know what’s going on with you, Gemini, but if I need to I will blast you!”

Lunar, Castor reasoned. You don’t want to do that, do you? You just want to put down your hand. 

“Castor-stop it!”

You really are tired. His voice was laced with sympathy. We understand. We know how it feels. You want to just fall in the sand and sleep. At this point, you’ll take anywhere, won’t you? As long as you can close your eyes and open them once again to find yourself surrounded by the ones you love. To find yourself in our arms. Why don’t you just give into the urge? Lay down, Lunar. Rest.

Lunar swallowed again. His eyelids felt like they were growing heavier with each passing moment. It was getting harder and harder to not agree with Castor. At the end of the day? He was tired.

We’re tired too, Lunar, Castor told him gently. You have never been this tired before. We’ve never been this tired before either. You want to lay down in the sand. We also want to lay in the sand. Do you want to join us down here? There are many stars out tonight. Constellations upon constellations you would not be able to spot from Earth. We could go stargazing right now, just as we used to. Wouldn’t you like that?

Gemini outstretched their arms towards Lunar. Waiting. Their body language was anything but threatening. Yet their face remained emotionless. Unreadable. Dead, almost.

All we want you to do is to lay down next to us.

“Don’t you hate me?” Lunar blurted out. He hadn’t even realized he had extinguished the lightning in his fist. 

Was there anything to ever hate? 

“Yes,” Lunar whispered so his voice wouldn’t get hitched on a sob. 

Then all is forgiven. Gemini beckoned at him again. Their face was eerily still. Come. Please. We miss you.

Lunar sniffled. And then he began to cry. He buried his face in his hands as he hitched and hiccupped. “I-I’m tired..”

That’s right. You’re tired. You’re very-  

Castor suddenly cut himself off with a loud yell as Pollux overpowered him and charged at Lunar. The celestial bot dived out of the way just in time for a strong gust of wind to slam into the wall. Lunar shuddered. That could’ve been enough force to kill him.

“ POLLUX! ” Castor roared. Lunar watched in horror as Gemini’s own hand backhanded themselves across the face. That had to have been hard enough to leave a mark. “POLLUX, YOU MORON! I HAD HIM!”

“DON’T HIT ME!” Pollux yelled. Lunar had never heard her sound that angry before. “YOU WERE TAKING TOO LONG!”

Gemini stumbled and caught themselves on the wall. A violent shudder wrecked through their body. The twins seemed to be deep in argument. Their body spasmed back and forth between mannerisms as they fought for who would take over. Pollux let out a loud, pained sound as she fought to force her twin back down into submission. 

“This is my time, Castor!” She yelled breathlessly, finally pushing him down. “You had yours!”

Using the wall for support, she managed to get their body back on their feet. Lunar readied his power again, but Gemini didn’t seem to be stressing about trying to calm him down anymore. 

Gemini took a wavering step forward. That wavering step broke into a run as they charged at the bot. Lunar finally fired his blast of lightning at them.

 It ricocheted off their chest uselessly. It did literally nothing.

 Having expected that to do at least something, Lunar panicked. He moved to turn around but Gemini snatched his arm in a hard grip. They twisted it, making him yelp in pain. Taking advantage of this, they clamped their fingers around his open jaw and forced it to stay wide open. Lunar began to scratch and claw at their arms, ripping their sleeves and drawing small specks of blood. Gemini didn’t seem to even acknowledge it. They took a breath in and breathed air right into Lunar’s open jaw. The second the deed was done they immediately let go and shoved him away, wiping their hands on their skirt as if disgusted. 

Lunar began to gasp and wheeze, clawing at his throat. He rolled over onto the ground and started coughing. Pollux had breathed toxic gas down his throat. That wasn’t supposed to happen-that wasn’t Pollux’s power at all!

She had shown him many times her skillset. Sometimes she would manipulate the winds and fling him up into the sky, landing him safely back in her arms. Before inevitably dropping him in the lake. She had liked to blow wind at his face. She’d even helped him master his own weather powers by aiding him in summoning storms. 

But she wasn’t able to poison the winds. He remembered that he had actually asked her about it awhile ago. She had made a face, considering the question.

“No,” she had said. “No, I can’t do that. My powers aren’t really all that combative if I’m honest.”

“They aren’t? What if you need to fight?” Lunar had asked her.

She shrugged. “I mean, then I’ll fight. It’s not like Castor and I are useless or anything. Wind can be pretty strong, you know. You can smack people into walls. But again, not as strong as like, super strength or fire. Which is why we scout instead.”

“Poisonous wind does sound really cool though,” Lunar sighed wistfully. Pollux shook her head, frowning.

“No. That kind of power is just destructive. Leo’s fire is destructive, yeah sure, and so is Taurus’ strength, but they only use it for a greater cause of protecting the universe. All something like that would exist for would be to cause harm to others. Poisonous wind would just be… evil. That’s what it is, Lunar. Evil.”

And now she was using it to kill him.

Lunar rolled onto his stomach. System alerts began to flood as he was repeatedly reminded of the toxic gas currently clogging his systems. Gemini grabbed his shirt and attempted to force him back onto his back. Lunar blindly swung his fist. His fist made contact with something and he heard a crack. Pollux cried out in pain, faltering. Lunar scrambled away but they grabbed his foot. He attempted to kick them in the face but they were faster, pinning him to the ground.

He twisted and writhed in their hold but they stayed firm. He coughed again, sniffling as the gas invaded all of his senses. His eyes burned. His mouth hurt. His throat hurt. Everything hurt. He got another alert about a system crash, and then another, and then another. His processors were all beginning to heat up which sent his fans into action as they tried to cool him down despite the cold weather. 

With the last of his strength he found Rez in the crowd. The stupid worm was watching him. Not doing anything to help. 

Just. 

Sitting. 

There. 

This had been a setup. He had been so stupid to think it wasn’t one. Why would Rez ever actually hold Lunar’s wants to his heart when he had his own? Why would he ever actually decide to keep to his promises? Nooo, instead he decided to chuck him into a death arena and pit him against the astral he desperately wanted to make peace with. How typical. 

“You filthy little liar,” Lunar mumbled, and blacked out.

Chapter Text

“Why did we ever try to save you ?” 

“Huh…?”

 Lunar’s mind was cloudy as hell. His eyes searched for the origin of the voice, yet he was standing alone in a starry void.

“Oooh don’t play coy with us!” The voice was beginning to sound like two different people mad at him. 

“Maybe if you used your brain for once we wouldn’t be here ,” one of the voices said, his tone cold yet calm. Lunar looks around, his head filled with pure confusion. Who or what is talking to him? 

He decides to take a few steps, just to find himself back home, sitting straight up on his soft bouncy couch with creamy Nutella in hand. He looks around, taking in his surroundings. Is he back home? Oh how he desperately missed his home, his family…– even though they probably despise him by now for what he has done. He tries to place the Nutella down but it falls through the couch to Lunar's shock. 

“What...?” he wonders, not understanding what is even happening anymore. Is he home or is this just an illusion? As he stares at his couch with confusion, a bright light forms beside him, its shine dim and violet. Their piercing eyes gazed at the small animatronic. Lunar seems to pay no mind to it, still struggling to figure out what is even happening. 

“Lunar…” 

Their voices echoed out to him, reaching out with a stern expression. Lunar frantically jumped right into the couch, his imaginary heart racing and face burning red with embarrassment as he turned to face the tall starry entity before him. 

(Art by justuraverageweirdo on Tumblr)

“G-gemy! Hi oh um–” he fumbles over his words, struggling to put a single sentence together. “Yo– umm very sp-sparkly tonight!” 

“Why did you do it?” they ask, their voice cold and harsh. Lunar looks at Gemini, his mind trying to put together what they just said. 

“Gem… what are you…?” Finally making eye contact with his lover, he was quick to back further into the wall. Gemini continues to stare at him, their purple eyes burning with anger and resentment. 

“Why did you do it Lunar?” They ask again. The small bot attempted to scramble away, but the duality only moved closer.

 “No, no, no, NO, GET AWAY FROM ME!” He screams and yells, begging them to back off. His breath starts to slip away from him, his vision going blurry.  Gemini grabs him by the throat and holds him up to the wall. 

“Why did you choose him?” They ask one last time. Lunar takes one final deep breath and closes his eyes, expecting it to be the end.

After a moment of nothingness, he realized something. He doesn’t have lungs. Lunar gave himself a mental slap and forced his eyes open. 

As he opened his eyes, the bot came face to face to the dim starry sky. Lunar gawked at the sky for it was the prettiest he had ever seen. He laid down on the soft grass, taking in the beauty of this odd planet. He squints at the stars, trying to see if he would spot Gemini’s constellation. 

As his eyes follow the stars, he realizes that most of the constellations were fading away. Leo was completely gone. The other’s stars weren't shining as bright as they once did, now radiating a dim purple. The only constellation that had a radiant glow was Libra’s, standing out amongst the dying ones. Tears slowly start to flood his eyes, the guilt finally starting to burst through.

Trying to get away from the stars, he attempts standing up but finds that near impossible. He tries pushing up and up but it's as if a boulder was on top of him. He looks to his side, trying to see if he could grab on to anything. Unfortunately, Lunar finds himself face to face with the worm, who was sitting patiently on the grass beside the lavender animatronic.

 “You,” Lunar growls. He could feel his oil boiling.

“Hello, my dear," The parasite says, amused. His mask lightened up, tail wagging like a dog’s.

Lunar wanted to strangle that worm to death.

“What are you doing here!?”

“Is there a reason to not be near such a beautiful being like you?” 

Lunar really wishes that Rez would disappear. He wishes the worm left him alone but the bot couldn't get those words out of his mouth. Stubborn, Lunar turns away from the worm. Somehow he immediately found himself facing Rez again, sending shocks through his body. 

“You can’t hide from the consequences of your actions, my sweet apple~” Rez said devilishly. 

Lunar wished that Rez would just stop talking. How dare the worm say this when he is the one that manipulated him into accepting to learn about Negative Star Power?

Lunar turns away again, but his surroundings shape into something new. The next thing he knew, he was at a dinner table with Rez. The table was filled to the brim with sweets, delights and an overjoyed worm across the table. His swirling mist glowed a little too bright for Lunar’s tender eyes.

(Art by alasylunatic on Tumblr)

The animatronic moved his sky-blue eyes down back to the sweets. There was Nutella, chocolates, cupcakes, and much more sweets he couldn’t even name. His mouth drowned at the thought of eating all of these sweets. He was hesitant, should he be eating all these delights? He hasn’t eaten in months, not since…

“May your taste buds savor every moment of this meal, my dear!” Rez’s voice was sweet and welcoming. His mist swirled a bit faster, as if anticipating something. 

Lunar’s stomach couldn’t take it anymore and he started to devour everything in sight. It was a colorful bash as his smile stretched far and wide. He enjoyed every single bite as he started to get a bit too plumped up for a normal animatronic. His clothes stretched way too much, showing off his smooth curves, but the bot didn't care because he could finally feel the void inside his soul get filled with joy. As Lunar indulged more and more into the sugary sweet treats, he could finally feel himself forget about all his problems and pain.

But as he continued to munch more and more, the textures started to change. From a creamy flavor to something nutty and bland. He reaches into his mouth to check what's wrong. He reaches in and finds something small and… squirmy?  He yanks the culprit out, eyes growing wide as he realizes what it was. In his hands he held a small, squirming worm.

He suddenly began to gag, doubling over. Out of his mouth fell another worm, and then another. He grasps at the table, spilling out another couple of worms onto his plate. All around him, the food he had just been eating slowly began to rot. Tiny, purple, wiggling worms began to appear out of every dessert. He began to retch violently, more and more worms plopping onto the floor. 

He found the strength to look up at Rez, eyes wide in horror. Another worm fell out of his mouth and onto the table. Rez chuckled, picking up the small, wiggling worm.

He waved it in front of Lunar’s face, almost tauntingly. “Why are you so scared, Lunar? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Dozens of flies began to appear on the rotten food, filling the void with their ear-splitting sounds. Which only made Lunar’s suffering more miserable.

“No… I…I can't do this anymore! I want to leave and see my family…” More tears began to run down Lunar’s face like a rapid river.

“Well, as I’ve already told you, Lunar, you can leave whenever you want,” the infector says in a slightly sympathetic way. He turned his purplish mask towards a white door, which wasn't too far away from the table filled with rotten sweets. “But… there's nothing waiting for you on the other side after what you’ve done.”

Ignoring Rez’s comment and the lingering taste of rotten sweets mixed with worms, Lunar gets up from the cursed table and tries to reach the only way out of his personal hell.

When Lunar finally got close to the exit, he heard the parasitic worm speak with pity for the bot. 

“They will never forgive you, my dear, and you know that.”

Lunar turns sharply to Rez while wiping away his tears. “You said I could choose my own destiny, so I choose to fix my mistakes and help the people that I care about! I want… I want to be better. I’m not your tool for destruction anymore and I will never be again.”

The animatronic had said this in a very determined way, but deep down, he was trying to convince himself as well.

“Hm, I do wonder, my dear Lunar, how are you going to choose your own destiny if you don't even want to understand yourself?” Rez asks, his voice filled with curiosity.

“What?-” Lunar doesn't even manage to finish his question as he feels something strange happening inside his body.

Looking down, the lavender bot saw something akin to mold growing on himself. Panicked and absolutely disgusted by the sight, Lunar tries to frantically rub off the wet rot, which was growing rapidly all other his form. 

“And how are you going to get better when you don't even want to look at the things that you need to fix?” Rez continues his little questionnaire, despite Lunar’s agony.

In spite of the bot’s pitiful attempts to remove the mold from his body, Lunar couldn't manage to clean himself off and fell down on his knees. To his horror, the rot even began to fill in his smell and taste senses.

 “What- WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT?!” Lunar yelled, hardly able to process anything anymore.

Rez gets up from the feast that he prepared for Lunar and slowly begins to approach the bot. “This rot is still a part of you and you can never escape this. You are a rotten apple, Lunar, and there's no shame in that.”

But Lunar couldn’t hear Rez’s words anymore as Gemini’s voices appeared again in Lunar’s mind, reminding him over and over again of his mistake.

“Why did you choose him?” The twins spoke in unison, yet both still had the same amount of venom dripping from their voice. “Why did you choose him?” They asked again. They continued to get louder and louder, repeating the question over and over and over again.

Not being able to endure the pain anymore, Lunar shrieked, “I’M SO SORRY, PLEASE, NO, MAKE IT STOP!!!”

But Lunar’s cries fell on deaf ears as the rot began to take over all of his physique and swiftly decompose him. 

In his last attempt to get at least any kind of help, the animatronic tries to reach out to Rez, who was silently observing Lunar’s suffering with great interest. But the bot ignored the worm’s eerie reaction towards his pain and still tried to beg for help. 

“NO! No! No no no no no- I’M SO SORRY PLEASE, HELP ME-” Lunar gets cut off as his voice box and the rest of his remains get putrefied and turned into a nauseating puddle of mold. His joints locked in place and his legs and arms felt so numb.

(Art by Deirunn on Tumblr)

The last thing that Lunar sees is Rez’s purple mask watching him intently, just how he has done in the arena.

Lunar's head was pounding. His systems felt like they were overloading him. A seemingly endless void surrounded him as he plummeted down towards a tunnel of chaos and despair. 

An enormous weight came crashing down on his chest plate, sending him further down this spiral hell, if there was even an end to this madness. As if the rot was bad enough, gas had begun to flood slowly into his lungs from an unknown source. He choked and gagged, hands attempting to fly up to his throat. Black tears sprung into the corner of his eyes. What was happening?

Lunar tried to let out a scream, only to be met with another big gulp of the poisonous gas. System alerts and warnings flooded his vision until he could see no more than one warning after another. The bot prayed for a way out as his imaginary lungs closed in on him and his body went stiff. He began to succumb to the poisonous gas, which felt like it was consuming him from the inside out.

Lunar's eyes fluttered open, his eyes darting left to right. He shot up from whatever he was laying on, but he was met with his entire body throbbing in pain. He winces, holding back all the pain. He slips out of the bed. onto the cold, hard, stone floor. 

As his fluffy moon socks hit the ground, he takes in a few deep breaths as he thinks back to before. Gosh, his mind felt hazy. Placing his hand on his chin, he forces himself to used his remaining brain cells to think back hard. What happened?

His face slowly deteriorates into fear and anger as he remembers the fight between himself and Gemini. All of the sudden the dream wasn’t the worst thing that happened to him so far. Even though his body is screaming with pain, he pushes through the doors of the room he was confined in, with each step his eyes blazed with fury of a thousand suns.

His steps echoed loudly throughout the empty castle. The cracked walls loom over him, ready to crush him at any given moment. As his feet graced the floor, it reminded Lunar of his home back on earth. All the times he sneaked into the fridge to grab some Nutella, or even when he would-

“Oh Lunar~” 

Lunar stops in his tracks. He snapped out of his thoughts and quickly turned around to be met face to face with his supposed “ally”, whose mist was swirling around in a happy stupor. 

“My sweet apple, how are you this morning?” Lunar flinches at the nickname, but remains silent, keeping his cold gaze on Rez. He felt ready to break him into two. The worm, savoring Lunar’s new-found anger for him, slithered to the bot’s side. 

Lunar was quick to step away, his eyes narrowing at the Negative Astral. Chuckling, Rez exclaimed, “You did absolutely divine, Lunar, and you also gave us such an unforgettable show. With enough training you might–”

“No.” 

An uncomfortable silence settled between the both of them. The fog inside Rez’s mask slowed down, settling into a dark void. “No…?”

“You heard me. I am not fighting Gemini again,” Lunar said, standing straight. “Cause what the fuck was THAT ALL about, Rez?!?! You promised me YOU’D LEAVE GEMINI ALONE IF I KILLED LEO IN FRONT OF THEM ALL!” he screams out, making sure Rez hears every last bit of his statement. “Because THIS is NOT what I WANTED. WHY ARE THEY INFECTED?!? What… what have you done?” 

Lunar's eyes widened. His breathing begins to pick up, oil pounding in his ears, face growing pale.

Rez continues to stare in utter silence. Lunar's artificial hyperventilating got louder and louder, his little question spiraling inside his own mind like a wild tornado. The Infector slithers slowly to his ally and tries to gently take Lunar’s hand. 

“Oh Lunar, my dear, I see that it didn’t go as well as you wished for, mmm?” Rez's voice was filled with blatant amusement. He tried to get even closer to the animatronic with his dirty, chipped fingers.

Lunar is quick to react, summoning his power. Dark matter began to slowly swirl into an obsidian like sword. The sword came flying towards Rez, tapping his mask so violently that a small crack appeared. 

(Art by Deirunn on Tumblr)

Rez gives out a small laugh. He bats the sword away. “Please, my dear, you know better than to threaten me with Dark Star Power.” His mist comes back to life, doing a little joyful dance of its own. The parasite decides to get a bit too close to comfort, his face reflecting Lunar’s. The bot's sky blue eyes were shining bright within the Negative’s own vision. 

Lunar was still boiling with anger, his gaze locked tight on Rez. He takes a few deep breaths before putting his new sword away.

 “Answer my question,” Lunar said in a more demanding tone, but fear was still lingering in his voice.

“Well, here’s the thing, my dear apple, they are– sadly– not dead, nor tortured for experiments, just… ‘repurposed’. They are still alive and conscious, but somewhere far away in their minds…” he says, which only added more fuel to the rapidly growing fire inside Lunar’s soul “All we did to them was.. Give them new ‘abilities’ so they could survive in battle.”

“I… no… NO! This is NOT what I WANTED! LEAVE THEIR MINDS ALONE! I–if you don’t, I… I won't work for you anymore! Especially with what you are doing to Gemini!” His breathing picks up again and the oil pumping even louder. The room swirled around his voice becoming a distant echo. He clutched his chest tight, trying to catch a single breath. His eyes became fogging as a teardrop fell out, dripping out like a rainfall. “I… I can’t with this…. No…” he tugs on his hat, burying his face deep into his knees, wishing he could just sink in and never come back out.

“No, no, no...” he continues to whisper under his breath. 

Rez gives out a small sigh, rubbing his mask in disappointment. He approaches Lunar in a much sweeter way this time around, curling up besides him. “Mmhhh… well my apologies, Lunar. I believe I misunderstood your wish…” 

Lunar lifts his head up, his face all smudged up. “You think!?”

“No worries, my dear, I’ll make it all up to you! Gemini will be free from the infection, I promise.” 

Lunar’s chest loosened up a bit, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the worm wasn't saying everything. 

“Come now, my dear, you must be starving!” Rez finally grabs Lunar’s hand, who gave up and allowed himself to be pulled by his new “friend”.

As they depart, a figure pulls itself out of the darkness, their feathers rustling around. Their eyes glowed bright with anticipation, studying the odd bot that Rez decided to bring along. Their feet make a clunking sound as their claws hit the floor, moving with grace and passion.

“So, that's Rez’s new toy…” the figure whispers, his tail swinging side to side with excitement. “Don’t think he’ll mind if I… ‘borrow’ it…” 

Chapter Text

A new day, a new fight.

The twins were beginning to understand this sick routine. Whenever one of those disgusting freaks of nature found themselves to be bored, the order would be shouted, the lever yanked, and the astral thrown down to fight for entertainment.

It was the most humiliating thing Gemini had ever experienced.

They had tuned into the fights here or there in the past. It was mainly because of boredom, but also morbid curiosity as to who would win. But the very second they saw the two Pisces twins pit against each other, they couldn’t watch anymore. They knew exactly what that inevitably meant for them.

They couldn’t help but think back to the fight from yesterday. Or was it last week? They were already losing track of time. Oddly enough, Gemini hadn’t been dropped down at all to fight until that day. Because of this, they hadn’t known what to expect. They thought they might not be conscious of their actions during the fight, yet they saw everything. They remembered their hands flying out to Lunar’s throat as if they had a mind of their own. They remembered fighting each other for control inside of their heads. They shoved and bit and slapped and punched one another, despite the fact that their goals had aligned. They had straddled that little bot to the ground, breathing out their unnatural new powers until he collapsed. 

And they felt themselves enjoying it. 

Regardless, Lunar’s reaction to their new… situation, confused them. What did he expect to happen to them? Did he think that the negatives would let them go with a little slap on the wrist, and then they would all hold hands and sing kumbaya about how all is forgiven?

We didn’t even do anything they needed to forgive us for, Pollux grumbled into their shared headspace. She crossed their arms, leaning against the bars. It’s stupid. They’re stupid.

Lunar’s stupid, Castor offered.

Him too, Pollux agreed.

Gemini had recently developed a very well thought out plan for whenever there was fighting going on inside of the arena. It was called plan: lalalalala nothing is happening, all of you shut up. They would lay on their back, cover their ears, and stargaze. 

They could see a surprising amount of constellations from their spot in the cage. Their own constellation hovered over them, almost tauntingly. It looked dimmer than usual, and almost seemed to emit a purple glow. They looked away, guilt churning in their stomach. 

They found themselves staring at Libra’s constellation. It was shining brighter than the others, free from that disgusting violet glow. They were honestly shocked with the amount of stars they could see from their cage. Castor had muttered it was probably to remind them of everything that they had lost. But Pollux pointed out the fact that Libra was still out there, and that was proof of it. 

“So long as she prevails,” Pollux hummed, recalling the lyrics to an astral lullaby.

“ Our hands will hold the scales,” Castor sang, quietly joining in.

“And silent is the whale.”

The whale wasn’t very silent now, though. And they were still stuck in their cages. Last time they checked they weren’t holding any scales either. Gemini sighed. They were a mess. 

A loud yell from below broke them out of their thoughts. They scooted over to the edge of the cage, peering down. Scorpio had her tail embedded deep into Cancer’s thigh. She shoved it further in, making the crab yell out in pain. She held it there for another second before ripping it out with a loud squelch. Cancer sobbed, scrambling away. Her hand flew to the puncture wound. Golden-sapphire blood began to seep out from the wound, staining the sand below. Purple veins began to creep out from the gash, spreading down to her calf and across her abdomen. 

Before the crab could even react, the scorpion grabbed her by the neck and slammed her head against the wall. There was a loud, sickening crack. The crab fell limp, but the scorpion wasn’t done. Gemini watched in horror as Scorpio slowly raised her tail over Cancer’s limp body. 

The twins scrambled backwards just as another gut wrenching screech echoed through the arena. They curled up on the bottom of the cell, flinching as they heard yet another curdling scream. Gemini covered their ears, their chest moving up and down as they began to hyperventilate.

“I don’t wanna do this anymore, Castor,” Pollux whimpered. Tears rolled off their cheeks and splattered onto the floor like tiny raindrops. “I don’t wanna- I don’t- I hate him. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him-”

(Art by Deirunn on Tumblr)

Gemini must’ve blacked out at some point, because the next thing they remembered was waking up to loud rapping on the bars of their cage. They blinked hazily, adjusting to the light. They smoothed out their cloudlike hair, sitting up. Their hood must’ve come off at some point. They tugged it back over their head with a small groan.

The rapping began to increase. Gemini huffed and turned around with an annoyed look on their face. They suddenly froze, stopping short. 

“You!” Pollux yelled.

A rather burly star was awkwardly floating outside of their cage. He looked similar to that of a bear. In all the worst ways possible, if Gemini had to say for themselves. His arms were tattooed with insufferably familiar symbols. He had exchanged his old outfit for a new one, complete with a cloak and getup as emo as you could get; And of course, his eyes were that ugly shade of purple.

“Gemini,” the bear began, but Castor didn’t give him the chance. 

“Ursa Major,” he hissed, running his eyes up and down his stature. “I realize where your loyalties align now.”

Ursa looked uncomfortable, yet held their gaze. “I only picked the winning side.”

“You’re a fool!” Pollux shouted, poking her head through the bars. The commotion brought a couple of the other astrals out of their stupor, making them turn their heads towards the scene. “Libra hasn’t been caught yet, you know! We’re still winning, and you would’ve been rewarded for your loyalty!”

“Winning?”  

In a nearby cage, Capricorn stared directly at Gemini. Her expression was cold. “Scales be damned. Do you truly believe this?

“Quiet now,” Ursa tried, but not a single astral held enough respect for him to listen.

“Capricorn, listen,” Pollux pleaded, “She’s still out there. They haven’t caught her yet and I don’t believe they will. She must be devising a plan to save us all and stop this madness and-”

“Might I remind you,” Capricorn began slowly, as if explaining to a toddler, “that she left me and Virgo to die?”

(Art by Justuraverageweirdo on Tumblr)

Virgo looked up from her own cage. She said nothing.

Capricorn continued quietly. “We were beaten, bruised, restrained, infected-by your own hands, some of it was. And Libra saw as we were grabbed and choked and brutalized. What did she do? She grabbed that little messenger and fled. Her duty was to protect us. Protect all of us. She’s proved that she is nothing but a coward. She failed us. She failed Leo, especially. Perhaps, if she hadn’t shirked from her duties, she would have saved him.”

“Can you all quit bringing Leo into this?!” Aries demanded from their cage. They threw up their hands. “Scales and whales, let him rest!”

“Personally? I believe it needs to be brought up,” Scorpio hissed. She directed her gaze towards Gemini. Her eyes flashed with something unreadable, yet deadly. “It is important for us to remember who our enemies are.”

“Gemini is not your enemy, Scorpio,” Aquarius muttered tiredly, as if this bickering had aged them a century. They gestured half-heartedly around them, almost a bit detached from the situation “Gemini is also in a cage like us. They have the same common goal in mind as us as well. While they made a few unfavorable decisions, the past isn’t important to dwell upon, as it cannot be undone. The truth is that they were tricked. If they had intended to cause this… predicament, I doubt they’d be sitting in a cage alongside us. You need to stop wasting your breath on them when there are much more important matters to behold. Survival is one of them. Judging is Libra’s job, why don’t you leave it to her.”

Scorpio bristled. “No way, I never would’ve been able to think about that on my own! I truly thank you for laying it out for me, oh wise Aquarius, it all appears to make much sense now!”

Aquarius said nothing.

“Now, why don’t you put on your thinking cap for a moment, honey?” Scorpio leaned against the bars, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. She smiled patronizingly. “I’m sure since you’re so wise and so smart that you can figure out how to do that on your own, right? Even though Gemini here didn’t mean for any of this to happen, it still did. That little monster was under their care, he was their student. What did they even teach him, exactly? To mess around in things he shouldn’t? They obviously failed miserably at their job, and look at our current situation because of it. It's hilarious, thinking we actually trusted them with that.”

Gemini flinched.

“By that logic,” Taurus interrupted, “I should be held accountable as well. Yet I am not.”

“You explained why you needed to stop training Lunar incredibly poorly,” Virgo finally chimed in, giving the bull a hard stare. “While Gemini fell short in a similar manner, at the very least they attempted to make their point more clear. So yes, you are held accountable. What you didn’t do, however,” Virgo paused, turning her scolding glare to Gemini, “Was fail to use your critical thinking skills, impulsively agree to a meet up that was so painfully an obvious trick, tell not a soul about your whereabouts, get yourself captured due to this oversight, and then cause all of us to get captured as well.”

“We understand that we fell short in that,” Castor replied, holding up a hand. “That was our mistake, and we acknowledge that. But-”

“Your little mistake directly lead to our capture and torture,” Scorpio replied in a deadpan voice. Her tail curled behind her dangerously. “You only had to fight in that arena yesterday. The rest of us have been playing this game for weeks. Just a few hours ago I stabbed Cancer with my tail so much they had to stop the fight so she didn’t die. And she still is not back! Do you have any idea what that feels like?” Her voice broke. “Having to watch your sister be dragged out by some unfamiliar creatures so she didn’t bleed out! So that she didn’t turn out like Leo, all because of YOUR mistake!”

“We aren’t the reason Leo died!” Pollux screamed, slamming her hand on the bottom of the cell.

“Guys please-” one of the Pisces twins tried, his face full of anxiety.

“You may as well have been!” Scorpio snapped back. “Because of your monster of a pupil, Leo is-“

“WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP ABOUT LEO?!” Aries screamed. All eyes turned towards the ram. Aries shivered, breathing heavily. They curled into a small, little, shaking ball. “Stars… I can’t do this…”

Behind Gemini, Ursa Major cleared his throat. They gave him a withering glare.

“Well now that that’s over,” Ursa muttered, reaching into his cloak. He produced an unfamiliar, weird looking device. “Gemini, I need you to come with me.”

“What’s that?” Castor asked warily, eyeing the device. It looked like some kind of metal neck piece.

Ursa sighed. He tossed it through the bars, letting it clatter in front of the twins. “It’ll absorb all the dark energy surrounding the cage so you keep your mind when you fall down. Goes around your throat.”

“Oh, so they can go saunter off and have some nice, good fun with the dark stars then?” Scorpio hissed. 

“Holy scales, shut UP!” Sagittarius yelled. He wasn’t one to raise his voice often, so thankfully it worked. The centaur took a shuddering breath out, balling his hands into fists. “All of you have been driving me insane with all your bickering. Please just let me enjoy the little peace I have left before I’m dropped down to shoot an arrow through one of you.”

Silence fell over the arena. Gemini turned to stare silently at the device. They sighed, finally picking it up.

“Go screw yourself,” Castor told Ursa as they clipped it around their neck.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he muttered, looking away.

Gemini made a face. “Ew.”

“No no- I mean it wouldn’t be the first time someone’s told me that-oh scales damn it, can you all stop looking at me like that?”

And that’s how they found themselves standing in front of a large double door. Ursa was patting himself down in search of the key to unlock it. He seemed to be struggling, occasionally muttering curses under his breath.

Gemini shot a wistful glance over their shoulder. They were standing at the end of a long, cobblestone corridor. The walls were lined with torches tipped with purple flames. When Gemini was a much younger astral, they might have made a comment about how pretty it was. Now they might make a comment about how pretty ugly it was. 

For a moment, they wondered if they could just break for it. The exit shouldn’t be that far off. If they just turned and ran, and didn’t look back, they might make it. Ursa wasn’t even watching them right now. He was too busy with the key. They could find a way to get rid of the weird elastic purple goop binding their wrists, somehow. Star power might work.

No, none of that would work, Castor interrupted, seeping into their mindscape. Ursa is much bigger and physically stronger than us. We have this collar thing on, and assuming from the properties it seems to be made of, it’ll probably reinfect us with dark power at any given moment. We’re stuck, Pollux.

She didn’t reply to that. Castor sighed.

The double doors in front of them finally creaked open. Ursa grabbed their arm and shoved them inside. He slammed the door shut behind them with a loud bang. Pollux stuck the finger up at him, a gesture she had learnt from her time on Earth. He frowned, confused at the unfamiliar gesture. However, he just shrugged it off.

They began to take in their surroundings, confused. Makeup stations lined the walls, stocked with cosmetics from all different planets and galaxies. There was a changing station towards the side of the room. Hanging rods, shelves, and drawers were scattered about everywhere. Stray clothes, fabric, and jewelry were scrambled around the floor messily, as if nobody had bothered to pick up after themselves. They appeared to be in some kind of dressing room.

“Oh, they’re here!” 

Both Gemini and Ursa turned to see an unfamiliar dark star hopping over the stray clothes. Her face was quite literally not a face. Instead, her head took the shape of a ginormous, purple rose. In the midst of where the pollen was she had one, singular violet eye. Her clothes looked like she had bought a bunch of expensive shirts, dresses, pants, and various other accessories, thrown all of them on, and assumed they would look nice because they were pricey. 

“Hello lovelies!” The flower chirped, coming to a stop in front of them. She brushed the goopy restraints off Gemini’s hands as if they were nothing, before intertwining her fingers with their own. “I’m Solikha! I’ve heard a lot about the two of you-mostly good, I assure you. There’s quite a lot of gossip between you and that tiny moon creature going about. Alas, you’re in good hands. Come, come.”

Gemini shot a panicked look back at Ursa, who was standing by the door. He twirled the key around his fingers, shooting them a smug look. Solikha, oblivious to Gemini’s discomfort, laid a hand on their back and began to guide them through the dressing room. They only just realized she had been talking the entire time.

“...And here is where you’ll get changed, oh and I’ll do your makeup right here. I have some lovely eyeshadow I found on Earth that would look absolutely stunning with your complexion. I was given orders to mainly search for materials from Earth, due to the theme of the fight, and wow, do they like to cake a lot of paint on their faces! Their cosmetics are absolutely gorgeous, really, oh but on my home planet-”

“I-I’m sorry, what are we doing again?” Pollux interrupted, coming to a halt. “What do you mean by makeup?”

“Oh, dear don’t you worry your little head about it,” Solikha cooed, bopping them on the nose. Gemini physically recoiled, yet the dark star took no notice. “I’m only the stylist in charge of fancying up all you little astrals, and you two are my first clients!” She said cheerfully. She reached up and squeezed their cheeks, much to their dismay. “Oh, you’re gonna look so fashionable.”

(Art by Deirunn on Tumblr)

Gemini froze. Their eyes ran Solikha up and down, from her horrid taste in fashion to the absolute minefield of a dressing room they stood in.

“Oh brother,” Castor muttered under his breath. He grunted unhappily when Solikha grabbed them again without warning. She guided them over to the corner of the room, humming a small tune she must’ve learnt from her time on Earth. 

Gemini couldn’t help but take this as a moment to process their situation. They had gone from being one of the most highly held, respected beings in the universe, members of the astral court and the zodiac, to being taken as prisoners of war alongside their siblings, forced to fight for entertainment, and becoming one of the most controversial figures amongst the astrals. They felt a little bit dizzy. When had all of this even happened?

“In here you go!” Solikha chirped, dragging them back to reality. She pulled back a draw curtain to reveal a small fitting room. Begrudgingly stepping inside, they immediately noticed it was devoid of anything that could be used as a weapon. The bench looked as if it had been bolted into the floor. Like they would be able to do anything with that. There was a weird gap in the wall, as if a mirror had been removed. Damn it. They had been planning to break the glass in hopes of using it in the arena.

Their eyes shifted away from the would-be mirror to the back of the room. Hanging from a clothing rod had to be the most absolutely hideous, vibrant red dress the twins had ever laid their eyes upon. 

(Art by alasylunatic on Tumblr)

“Call me when you’re done changing!” Solikha called, before yanking the curtain shut. 

Gemini slowly turned back to the dress. Dread churned in their stomach.

“I hate this,” Castor muttered. Pollux let out a whining noise of agreement.

Now, they were walking through the corridors of the arena. Well, walking might’ve been an inaccurate description. They stumbled left and right, occasionally falling onto the wall or Ursa for support. They never wanted to wear heels ever again for the rest of their existence. Their corset was so tight that it made them dizzy, and they didn’t even need to breathe. Not to mention their face, which felt weighed down by the amount of cosmetics Solikha had added. Each time they had tried to wipe it off she had swatted them and just applied more. And for some reason, all of it was that same, vibrant color of red.

Gemini decided right then and there that they never wanted to go anywhere near the color red again. Apologies to Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, and Scorpio in advance, but absolutely nope. They felt hideous. Their lack of hood made them feel extremely exposed, and they hated it.

Strangely enough, they had also been supplied with a rope of all things. Their stylist had attached it to their corset, promising it would come in handy. Pollux already had a sneaking suspicion of what might be about to take place, from what she had studied of Earthling history. 

But one thing and only one thing was for certain: there was no way in the entire multiverse and beyond they’d be able to fight in this thing.

They finally came to a stop in front of a painfully familiar large gate. Ursa, their lovely escort, stepped around them and began to take off the goopy restraints that had been reinstated around their wrists. 

“Taking on a new fashion statement?” Ursa asked them as he worked, looking the twins up and down.

Gemini hardened their expression. “Hilarious.”

“Yes it is,” Ursa said with a small laugh. The gate in front of them slowly began to creak open. Gemini’s face went blank, a sinking pool of dread forming in their stomach. 

We’re dead, Castor muttered into the mindscape, although to nobody in particular. Holy scales, we’re so dead.

Once deemed open enough, Ursa lay his large hand on their back and shoved them violently inside. He gave them a smile full of teeth as the gate slammed shut.

“Good luck.”

Gemini turned around just as a large bull came charging right at them.

-

“Lunar, my dear, I have wonderful news for you!” 

The celestial bot let out a loud yell, stumbling over and falling off the bed. Lunar took a moment to collect himself before whirling around. Rez was standing by the door to Lunar’s new housing accommodations, hands tucked casually behind his back. A familiar snake leaned on the wall next to him. Noctyra, one of Lunar’s former cellmates, had her white, messy hair tugged back in what appeared to be an attempt at a ponytail. Her black kimono had been replaced with a purple one that she seemed more comfortable in. She let out a small laugh when she saw him.

Lunar huffed, frowning. “Can you knock next time?”

The purple liquid swirling around Rez’s screen slowed down a little bit. He and Noctyra shared a glance, before turning back to Lunar. “...Knock?’

“Yeah, it’s-” Lunar broke off with an annoyed sigh. He tucked his fingers  into a fist and mimed knocking on a door. “You just rap your hand on the door before entering. It’s an Earthling custom.”

Noctyra made an intrigued face. “You guys smack your doorways before entering?” She began to eye Rez as if she wanted to get some practice in. The worm edged away from her. 

(art by Deirunn on Tumblr)

Lunar threw up his hands. “Y’know what, sure, let's go with that.” He took one last remorseful look at the astral scroll he’d been reading, before shutting it and shoving it in his pocket. He turned back to the two dark stars with an annoyed look. “You were saying something?”

“Well, Lunar, I have some wonderful news I think you’d like to hear,” Rez said, slithering over to the bot. He held out his hand invitingly towards Lunar, to help him off the bed. Lunar shoved it away and hopped off the bed himself. He stared at Rez with a defiant look, waiting for him to continue. Rez was silent for a moment, before letting out a chuckle at this. He placed a hand on Lunar’s back and began to guide him towards the door. “Come, Lunar, let's walk and talk.”

“Where are we going?” Lunar asked, a little nervously. Noctyra shoved the doors open and began to walk ahead without waiting for them. Rude.

Rez considered Lunar’s question, silent for another passing moment. He made a noise that sounded like a hum. “Well… I hope you still remember that small promise that I gave you yesterday, my dear. So, we are going to give Gemini a small visit to see how they're doing and to… observe their uninfected state, as you wished.”

Lunar flinched at the mention of their name. He slowly turned to stare at Rez, stopping in his tracks. “You… you actually?”

“Of course, my dear,” Rez said, patting Lunar on the back. The worm stared back at him. The liquid swirling around inside of his screen betrayed no emotion. Lunar almost felt like his skin was crawling underneath his gaze. He swallowed, feeling like he was spitting out worms again. It felt like they were still wiggling in his throat, preventing him from getting any words out. Rez just tilted his head, studying the bot. “I would never break a promise I made to you.”

Lunar just nodded. His eyes felt wet. He blinked hard, looking away from Rez. The worm simply let out a sigh and continued on. Lunar trailed behind, hugging himself. Gemini, free from the mind control? He swallowed. This had been exactly what he wanted, hadn’t it? So why did he feel so much dread just thinking about it? They were gonna be so angry with him. It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it, but…

He wasn’t entirely sure he was ready to face the brunt of their anger.

Not mentioning that maybe they would be better off with the control, a dark side of Lunar’s mind began to whisper, I mean, let’s think. They’d be free to not have to worry about any of their problems. They could ignore all the suffering you caused. Isn’t it selfish you want them to have to think about it?

Castor’s words rang through his head again. ‘At this point, you’ll take anywhere, won’t you? As long as you can close your eyes and open them once again to find yourself surrounded by the ones you love. To find yourself in our arms.’

He’d give anything to hear him speak like that to him again.

No! Lunar rapped himself on the head. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Castor had been trying to kill him. Pollux had been trying to kill him too. Why? Because of the infection. He wasn’t gonna get any real lovey dovey words from them until after he found a way to fix this whole mess. Then all the astrals would be kissing his feet. Getting rid of the infection was the right thing to do. He couldn’t keep running from his problems. Besides, one way or another he would eventually have to talk to Gemini. Better to do it now.

Didn’t he want this?

He shook his head hard, shaking all of his mental turmoil away. He took a deep breath and raised his head, eyes glinting with something unreadable. He sped up his pace.

Chapter Text

The arena was overwhelmingly noisy.

Dark stars hooted at each other, throwing coins and silver about. They exchanged bets and laughed and fought over which astral was strongest. He heard Taurus, Virgo, Sagittarius - but then someone shouted out Libra and was yelled at for it not counting. He personally thought Gemini deserved to be mentioned at least once. Rez grabbed Lunar and ducked just as a large chunk of meteor flew over both their heads. Lunar spent the rest of the way holding on so tight to Rez’s hand he might’ve just squeezed it off. If the worm lost feeling in his hand he didn’t voice it. 

“Why are we here again?” Lunar yelled over the noise. He looked down at the arena and back up at Gemini’s cage anxiously. “I don’t see them!”

“They’ll be here soon, my dear,” Rez answered, but his voice got carried away by the noise. 

“WHAT?”

“THEY’LL BE HERE SOON!”

“ WHAT? ”

Noctyra waved them over to the far left side of the arena, in the front row. Lunar sat down next to her, relieved that it was slightly quieter in this area. Rez sat down on Lunar’s other side, silently staring at the arena gate. Lunar followed his gaze. The pit of dread began to build in his stomach again. 

He heard some munching on his left and turned. Noctyra had a bowl of unfamiliar candy in her lap. Lunar watched in horror as her face split in half just below her eye, revealing rows and rows of needle sharp teeth that extended all the way back down her throat. She popped a small sweet into her mouth and her jaws slammed shut as fast as they had opened. 

(Art by Deirunn on Tumblr)

Noctyra noticed him staring and waved a piece of candy at him. “Want some?”

Lunar just stared at her, mouth open.

“No?” She turned and opened her mouth again, popping another sweet into her mouth. “Good, because I wasn’t gonna give you any regardless.”

Lunar turned away with a small wince as he heard another loud crunch. He turned his face up to the cages. He recognized Aquarius, a misty, light blue astral, sitting in the cage closest to them. They had their wings wrapped around their body like a blanket, staring blankly at their water jug as if it’d give them some kind of answer.  Remembering the cyclical pattern of the zodiac he had studied, Pisces’ cage was probably the one right above where Lunar was sitting. Meaning Gemini’s cage should’ve been about three cages to the left. He swallowed, noticing that their cage was empty. 

He turned his eyes away, choosing not to think about it. He stared absentmindedly at the cages, vaguely remembering what he had overheard about them a bit ago. The old astral court, once a gorgeous, looming thing, had been raided and destroyed. The vast collection of scrolls that the archivers had dedicated their lives to documenting had been stolen and possibly also burned. The beautiful carved paintings of pallasite and zircon that had stood for centuries had been smashed and ruined beyond recognition. Rumor had it that the grand seats that belonged to each member of the zodiac had been brought before each captured astral. They had been forced to melt down the metal and forge them into the very cages they now were entrapped in. 

Lunar swallowed, zoning back in. He turned his gaze to the cage that was right between Cancers and Virgos. It occasionally swung back and forth with the wind, just about the same size as the others. Nothing was different from the other cages, save for the fact that it was empty. 

That brute would have done something sooner or later that he’d regret and we’d have to put him down regardless, Rez had told him.

A stab of guilt pierced his stomach. It still didn’t feel right. No, it wasn’t right. But it was Leo or Gemini, and when it came down to it he actually cared about Gemini. For a moment, he wondered who had been forced to forge Leo’s cage for him. His eyes drifted back to the cage that Taurus sat in, the old bull.

Only to realize he wasn’t there.

“Where’s Taurus?” Lunar asked, flipping his head back and forth between Noctyra and Rez. Neither answered him. Noctyra just popped another sweet into her mouth, looking bored. Rez slowly turned to look at him, saying nothing. Lunar stared back, his eyes wide and glistening with anxiety. “Rez, where’s Taurus and Gemini?”

“Hello ladies, gentlemen, and to whomever may fall in between!” A loud, booming voice came from across the arena, drawing everyone’s attention. A black raven-or a crow, Lunar couldn’t exactly tell-stood on a gated pavilion overlooking the sands. He had on a purple trench coat with a small, carnation flower in the chest pocket. It almost seemed to be wilting. He had to have been the most well groomed dark star Lunar had ever seen. Various jewels were draped across his wings, with crystal implants on almost every feather. It looked terribly inconvenient to fly in, yet he couldn’t lie that it made the bird look extremely handsome. “Allow me to introduce myself-if you don’t know me already, of course. I am Kerian, given the honor to be appointed as your announcer for the games!”

“Wonderful,” Rez muttered flatly from his spot next to Lunar.

The small bot shot him a look. “You know him?”

“-Now, today we’d like to start off our evening with a little treat for a newcomer of ours.” Kerian twirled the microphone in between his fingers, stepping about the platform. The bird’s head turned around to directly where Lunar was sitting in the audience, catching his eye. He winked at him, and Lunar blushed. Kerian turned away just as quickly as he had looked, facing the other side of the audience. “See, there’s quite a popular tradition on a certain planet called… corrida de toros. ”

Just then, one of the loud gates in the arena opened with a loud creak. A bull was dragged out by an unfamiliar dark star holding a whip. The dark star brought the bull into the center of the arena, giving the audience a clear view of the animal.

The bull was navy blue with flecks of gold scattered throughout. Small sparkles glinted bright before disappearing across its body, almost reminding Lunar of the sparkles the astrals adorned. It had a septum piercing and golden bands around its horns. Alongside the gold, it also seemed to have red painted underneath its eyes, around the bases of its horns, and in various other spots. Lunar’s eyes drifted down to the bull’s thigh and his breath stopped in his chest. Taurus’ symbol was there, loud and proud like a cutie mark right across the bull’s thigh. 

“Now, you may be wondering, why the red of all things?” Kerian chirped, drawing the crowd's attention back to the bird. Lunar looked back up at the cages again. Gemini’s cage was still empty. Lunar stared back down at the bull with a sinking feeling in his stomach. Kerian was still talking. “Well, on Earth, there’s a certain Span eesh -am I saying that right? No, I think it’s Span- eye-sh. Whatever. There is a certain Span- eye-sh tradition called Corrida de Toros , translated in our personal language to fight of the bull, although really it just means bull fight. It’s exactly what it sounds like, my dear friends. Span- eye-sh bullfighters, according to tradition, would commonly dress in red because they believed it would antagonize the bull. Well, bulls are actually colorblind to most colors and can’t see red, so the movement is really what antagonises them.”

“HOWEVER!” He paused for dramatic effect. “Taurus here just so happens not to be colorblind. At least I don't think he is. Plus we wanted to honor the Earthling tradition or whatever.”

Lunar’s chest tightened up as his suspicions were confirmed. The bird said more, but all Lunar could focus on was the large blue bull in the arena and the dark star with the whip behind him. Like Taurus was nothing more than an animal . 

Another loud creak brought Lunar’s attention to the other side of the arena. The second gate was opening, agonizingly slow. It revealed a small astral with a dazzling red dress that dropped down to their ankles. They looked up, their eyes adjusting to their new surroundings. 

You could hear Kerian’s grin in his voice. “And now my friends, may the bullfight begin! May the scales ever be in your favor, Gemini!”

Lunar stopped breathing.

The astral in the arena whirled around at the sound of their name. Behind them, the dark star cracked the whip, startling the bull. Taurus let out a loud noise, rearing backwards, before charging straight at Gemini. They let out a strangled yell, jumping to the side just in time as the bull charged past them. They scrambled up to their feet, before immediately tripping over their heels. 

“Shit!” Castor cursed, moving to unbuckle the heels. They had no chance to however, immediately having to dive to the right to avoid getting trampled. They scooted away on their butt awkwardly. “Shit, shit, shit!”

Castor hardly ever swore. Gemini as a whole preferred not to cuss, finding it a bit unprofessional. Them and Taurus had lectured Lunar on it several times, telling him they would not be having him swearing like a sailor in front of the astral court. Apparently, in the face of possible death, their strict “no no-no words” rule flew out the window. 

“Rez-!” Lunar cried, whirling around and shaking the worm’s arm. The dark star turned to stare at him in turn. His mask betrayed nothing but an empty void. Somehow this seemed to aggravate Lunar even more. He grabbed Rez by the front of his cloak, shaking him a little. “You-You tricked me!”

Rez tilted his head innocently. “Why are you so scared, Lunar? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Isn’t this what you wanted? 

Why did you choose him?  

Worms wiggled and squirmed inside of the back of his mouth. He swallowed, but the raw taste didn’t go away. He was almost back at the banquet table again, vomiting up slimy, squirming worms. Rez had picked one up and waved it tauntingly in front of his face.

Why are you so scared, Lunar?

Isn’t this what you wanted?

Isn’t this what you chose?

“ANDDDD TAURUS RUNS TOWARDS GEMINI!” Kerian yelled into the microphone. “WHAT WILL THE TWINS DO? THEY JUMP TO THE SIDE!!” The audience let out a loud boo at this. Apparently they had been hoping for Gemini to judo-flip the bull or something.

Lunar let go of Rez, standing up. He took a small step backwards, shaking his head. “Rez, I-I… No, this is wrong. You said they wouldn’t be-”

“And they’re not infected. Just as you wanted, my dear,” Rez said, also standing up. He intertwined Lunar’s fingers with his own, tapping his mask with his free hand. “Didn’t you look at their eyes? I told you I always keep my promises.”

Lunar’s eyes grew wet with tears as he observed the chaos in the arena. Kerian, the audience, Rez, Noctyra, they were all background noise. Gemini was laying by the foot of the far side arena wall, massaging a new bruise on their skull. Golden-blue blood was beginning to trickle down their forehead. Taurus must have managed to knock them into the wall. Their eyes looked a little hazy. Yet alas, unlike Taurus, their eyes were not that same color of purple. They held their normal heterochromic sapphire and golden color. They slowly blinked, as if they were trying to regain their bearings. On the other side of the arena, Taurus scraped his hooves against the sand. His eyes were fixed directly on Gemini, ready to charge…

They were gonna die if he didn’t do anything.

Lunar shoved Rez away, causing the worm to fall back into his seat. The bot whirled around and placed his hands on the top of the arena wall. Before anyone could stop him, he leaped right over. 

Then, he was falling. The rush of the wind sent a loud roaring through his ears. His stomach dropped down to his feet. Even though he had no heart, he felt as if he could feel one beating viciously against his chest. The feeling was almost exhilarating. 

It reminded him of what had happened to him after his death. The endless hours spent floating around in the deep vastness of space, alone with nothing but the stars for companionship. He could feel every single passing minute as he spun in a slow circle in the air, yet he had no concept of time. He could think about everything yet he wasn’t able to scrap a single thought together. The only things he was even able to think of were the faint feelings of love, or remorse, or anger, that occasionally flashed through his mind. They left just as quickly. But what seemed to never leave was the painful realization that he was going to be there for the rest of eternity. The familiarity of it all brought him peace, in a way.

And then he fell face first into the sand.

He coughed, sputtering up sand. He blinked hazily, adjusting to his new surroundings. There was a blurry blue thing slowly getting closer and closer. Huh. Why was he here again?

“Wha- Lunar?!”

Lunar blinked again. Was that Castor?

He turned in the direction of the familiar voice. Sitting awkwardly a few feet away was Gemini. They had a flabbergasted look on their face, and-

Oh.

Oh wow.

Their hood was gone, revealing a big bush of starkissed, cloudlike hair that had been drizzled in gold glitter. The glitter complimented the freckle-like stars that occasionally danced across their body, before disappearing and moving elsewhere. The bright color in their eyes was complimented by the sparkling red paint that had been delicately brushed around their eyelids and lips. Red jewelry embedments had been dotted around their eyes, collarbone, shoulders, and wherever else seemed fit. They had on an off the shoulders red dress, with gorgeous ruby embedments around the blouse and tip of the laced, deep crimson corset. The corset somehow made their already petite waist even smaller, and Lunar wondered how they were even surviving in that thing. Their dress finished just below the ankles. The small gems and crystals adorning the dress caught the light whenever they moved, making them seem even more dazzling. One of their heels had already been torn off, now laying on the other side of the arena. The other one had been half unbuckled in a rush, yet still remained on.

(Art by justuraverageweirdo on Tumblr)

Lunar’s cheeks flushed rosy pink. They looked gorgeous. 

By the time he registered that they had been yelling at him to roll out of the way, it was too late. Taurus rammed into his side, dug his horns under Lunar’s body, and threw him high up into the air. Lunar shrieked as his body made contact with the wall. His head clanged hard against the concrete. Lunar could do nothing but pray his motherboard hadn’t just been shattered as he slid back down the wall.

“Ow…” he hissed, raising a hand to his head. The entire world felt like it was spinning. He could hear faint hooves coming towards him, and all he could think was; not again.

“OI! TAURUS!” Pollux shrieked. The bull stopped short in its tracks, now focused on a new target. Gemini hopped to the side and back, waving their arms around like a maniac. “You stupid, stupid, good for nothin’ bull, come and get us!”

Taurus scraped his heels against the ground, kicking sand everywhere. The bull snorted and charged directly at them. Gemini dived to the side, nimble and quick. They stumbled when they landed on the foot that still wore the heel they hadn’t finished unbuckling, swaying in the air. They limped away, but now they had drawn Taurus’ attention.

Lunar snapped back into his senses. “Gemini!” He yelled, scrambling to his feet. The sudden movement made him stagger, head spinning. He lay a hand on the wall, trying to ground himself. You came here to help them and now you’re just causing them more trouble? Typical.

The celestial bot stumbled forward, ignoring his dizziness. Gemini, as it turned out, was very fast. They had managed to squirm out of the heel that restricted them and now were running barefoot across the sand. The bull was close behind, but anytime Taurus got too close they were quick to swerve to the side. They seemed to have almost an odd way of running Lunar hadn’t noticed before. Each step Gemini took was more like a leap. They seemed to be in the air more than they were on the ground, as if they were floating through the air and stopping only to simply brush the tips of their toes against the ground. It was graceful and made them much quicker than Taurus. But Gemini’s new living conditions seemed to be taking a toll on them. They wouldn’t be able to run forever.

“Taurus!” Lunar yelled. There was a hard throbbing in the back of his head. Whatever. Lunar jumped back and forth, waving his arms around like Gemini had done. He needed to get Taurus’ attention off them. The bull skidded to a stop and eyed his direction. For almost a second, their eyes locked on one another. Lunar’s blue eyes linked with Taurus’ new purple ones. He took a deep breath. For Gemini. “Taurus! Come here and get me, you stupid bull!” 

Taurus charged right at him, now focused on his new target. Lunar yelped and dove to the side, head still throbbing. Yup. This was a mistake. The bot ran, faster than his feet and throbbing head could manage. This only seemed to antagonize Taurus further. The bull let out a noise that sounded almost like a struggle and lunged after the bot. 

It was only just then that Lunar realized that stupid bird had been narrating the entire fight. What was even his name again? Katrina? No, that couldn’t be right. Kerian?

“AND NOW THE BULL IS AFTER LUNAR!!” Kerian shouted into the mic. The bird clucked. “Can’t necessarily say I can blame him. I’m sure a certain someone in the audience would agree. Isn’t that right, Rez? We all know he’s more to you than your patron, hm? At least that's the gossip going about.”

Whatever the worm's response to that would’ve been, it was drowned out by the hooting of the crowd. Lunar spared a glance at him in the audience. The purple liquid was completely gone from his face. Noctyra was covering her laughter with her hand next to him.

The bird tutted. “You did want this fight so badly you went and took that snake and stole half my jewels to pay it up. I’d report it, but we all know nothing would happen. We can always take it down to the arena though, my dear. ” Kerian yawned. “Since you seem to want my attention so badly. Seriously, Rez, if you have anything you’d like to say just say it at this point.”

You wanted this fight so badly you went and took that snake and stole half my jewels to pay it up.

No.

He didn’t.

That bastard.

Why was he even surprised at this point?

The hoovesteps behind him increased, bringing his mind back to the fight at hand. He dared a peak over his shoulder and nearly screamed when he found the bull right on his tail. He made a move to steer right when he ran straight into Gemini, who had been rushing towards him. 

The duality swooped their arms around him, yanked him off his feet, and ran. They pressed him against their chest snugly. His chin was tucked between the little space between their neck and their shoulder. He wrapped his hands around their neck. They were warm. He stared in awe at the arena, now a blur as they moved on the air. It felt more like flying than running. It felt freeing . Muffled noise came from the astral’s mouth. Lunar zoned back in. That’s when he realized they had been trying to get him to do something. 

“Lunar!” Pollux said, her annoyance with him clearly ringing out in her tone. “Scales damn you, grab the rope on our waist already!”

“Oh!” Lunar’s eyes landed on a tightly wrapped coil of rope hanging from their corset. He quickly snatched it off. It looked sturdy, probably around thirty feet long. 

“They gave us that for Taurus, we’re pretty sure,” Castor explained, breathless. They hopped to the side just in time to evade the bull. “Gah-it-it’s supposed to go around his neck or something? At least we think so.” 

“What’s the plan?” Lunar asked them, suddenly feeling a bit more hopeful. Maybe he didn’t make himself a liability for nothing.

Gemini went silent. “Um…” 

Great. No plan then.

“Castor, can’t you just use your powers to calm him down?” Lunar yelled over the wind that rushed past them. “Like you did to me yesterday! With the whole sleep hypnotizing stuff? Taurus is clearly really angry right now, but we can calm him down if you use your powers! Then maybe me and Pollux could sneak up behind with the rope and-”

“Lunar, that’s dark star power,” Castor replied, so quiet Lunar almost couldn’t hear him. “I’m not about to give them the satisfaction of watching me use it.”

“Well we have to do something!” Lunar argued. The bull was gaining on them again. “We can’t just run around forever!”

“ We?” Pollux hissed, out of breath. “I’M the one controlling the legs right now!”

“He’s right,” Castor murmured begrudgingly. He shot an anxious glance up at the rows and rows of spectators. “If we just keep running, the audience will get bored. Pollux, you’ve seen what happens when they get bored.”

Pollux didn’t reply to that. Lunar fidgeted, uncomfortable. “What happens when they get bored?”

“More torture,” Pollux said, matter-of-factly.

“Oh.” That guilty feeling was in Lunar’s stomach again. He swallowed. “Gemini, I-I really wanted to- LOOK OUT! ” 

The bull barreled straight into Gemini’s back. Instinctively they coiled their body around Lunar protectively as they were flung into the air. Pollux made a grunting sound as she struggled to control the winds around them and give them a safe landing. Instead, she managed to knock them backwards just as they were about to slam face first into the wall, sending them flying towards the ground. Gemini took the full brunt of the blow, landing flat on their side. The side of their head smacked into a pile of rocks below. There was a sickening crack.

“Gemini!” Lunar yelled, rolling over and grabbing their face. Their right cheek had been split open by a sharp rock. Golden-blue blood dribbled from the gash down to their chin, matching their earlier head wound. If they were human they’d likely have to get stitches. The sight made Lunar feel queasy.

Gemini groaned, wincing. They attempted to sit up, only to yell out in pain as they put too much pressure on their right arm. They seemed to be fine in that spot other than some brutal looking bruising, but Pollux began to mutter to Castor in some foreign language. Something was wrong with their arm. And Taurus was coming after them again.

Safety, he needed to get Gemini to safety. He tried to grab them from underneath their arms, but they cried out in pain and shook him off.

“Lunar, just take care of the bull!” Castor yelled, scooting away.

“What about-”

“We can take care of ourselves!” Pollux cried impatiently. She swatted him with their good arm, making him stumble away to avoid getting whacked. “Go, go go go!”

He shot Gemini one more anxious look. The astral made an impatient swoop with their head. Get on with it, their eyes seemed to say. Fine then. As long as they were safe. 

Lunar felt around for the rope-but quickly realized it was laying on the ground some feet away. Shoot, he must’ve dropped it while they were falling down and not realized. Taurus huffed, reminding Lunar that he was still in active danger of getting trampled. The bull was slowly picking up pace towards Gemini, who had managed to back themselves into a corner.

“Taurus!” Lunar shouted. He jumped up and down, waving his arms like he was making crazy snow angels in the air. Taurus snorted, whirling around. The crazy movement seemed to get his attention. Good, he should keep it that way. Lunar stomped his feet on the ground. “Come and get me!”

As he learned two seconds later, this was extremely stupid. Have you ever had a bull charge at you before? Because you’d think they wouldn’t be that fast, right? With the proper equipment you’d likely be protected and ready to tackle and ride that thing rodeo style. Well, this bull in particular just so happened to be a celestial being who was by all accounts a god. Who just so happened to be a destroyer of planets. Who just so happened to be charging at the guy who killed his brother. Who just so happened to kill said brother right in front of his face. And Lunar just so happened to have a rope, zero stamina, probably a concussion, and a salty ex to protect him.

So yeah. Super fun. 

Leo was probably laughing at him from hell right now. 

Lunar shrieked and dove to the ground just as Taurus barreled past him. Pinpricks of sand dug into his body as he slid hard into the dirt. He coughed, shakily bringing himself to his knees. Behind him, he heard a snicker. Gemini was watching him. Their left hand bashfully covered their mouth to hide their giggles. They noticed him staring. Something about the look on his face caused them to dissolve into even more giggling. 

Go on, Castor whispered into his mind, startling him. He snorted. Pretend we aren’t here. 

“I should’ve not come to help you,” Lunar muttered grumpily. He warily eyed the bull, who was turning back in his direction.

Oh, but who would save us? Castor cooed. Like his sister, he sounded like he was on the verge of laughter. Us poor damsels in distress need your help oh so so so so badly. What if our dress gets ruined? 

Lunar managed to get out of the way as Taurus nearly gave him another concussion. Lunar fumbled backwards. His hand suddenly slammed into something hard. He picked up the object, frowning at it. Oh. It was one of Gemini’s discarded heels. Whoever had given them these shoes must’ve watched The Wizard of Oz on their time at Earth and decided Dorothy didn’t suffer in heels nearly enough as she could’ve. 

Taurus swerved in a large circle, circling back to Lunar. His fast pace never broke. Panicked, Lunar threw the shoe right at the bulls face. It bounced right off Taurus’ cheek. The bull staggered, buying Lunar just enough time to dive down for the rope and run off with it. 

He frantically struggled to remember how to tie a noose correctly. Did the rope go into that hole or that hole? Did it wrap around? Damn it, he knew he should’ve been paying attention when Monty was trying to teach him how to take hostages. But the Nutella in that government official’s fridge just looked soooo goooood. And it had tasted even better. The chocolate just melted on his tongue. 

Focus Lunar. There is a bull actively trying to kill you. You need to survive if you want to wring Rez’s neck after this.

After another moment's struggle, he finally managed to tie something that at least resembled a knot. He scrambled onto the pile of rocks where Gemini had fallen. Doing his best to ignore the blood staining the stones, he picked a few particularly sharp ones up and scooped them into his pockets. 

Lunar risked a look up into the arena stands. Rez and Noctyra were still watching him, Rez as unreadable as ever. The serpent, on the other hand, had her head tucked into her elbow with an extremely bored looking face. She fished around in her bowl of sweets, realized she had eaten them all, and chucked it at Rez’s head. The worm ducked just in time for it to fly over and hit a random dark star in the stomach. Lunar found himself rooting for the snake to get a hit in.

“Lunar runs,” Kerian sighed into the mic. Lunar noticed he was now laying on his stomach atop the pavilion. The crow absentmindedly fiddled with the carnation in his chest pocket. “-And runs, and runs, and runs. Seriously, I would’ve thought this fight would at least be more entertaining. If my jewels had to have been stolen to make this thing happen, at least give me a good show. Maybe perhaps we should… oh, I don’t know… spice it up a bit? Unless our performers here want to do their job for us.”

Lunar’s metaphorical heart dropped to his feet. He was supposed to spice it up? HOW? He couldn’t fight that well, he was still only getting used to his new powers, and-

Oh.

He had powers.

Lunar felt stupid now.

An idea now forming in his head, Lunar scraped the rocks he had shoved in his pockets out. He anxiously grasped one in each hand steadily. How had Gemini taught him to do this again? The bull was coming closer, he didn’t have much time. Lunar closed his eyes, trying to steady himself.

Water. It was like moving water around. If you wanted to splash the person next to you, you’d throw your arm out into the water and use the force to slam a wave into them. If you wanted to move the wave forward, all you would have to do was shove your hands in front of you, like you were pushing someone. The small bot took a step backwards, letting the familiar feeling of star power wash through his body. It coursed through his wires and zapped through his internal systems. It felt thrilling. Electric. 

He raised his hands and shoved forward, letting his grip on the rocks go slack. They flew through the air precisely and grazed Taurus’s flesh, spurting out splotches of oozing, golden-blue blood. Taurus cried out as yet another rock pierced him, this time across the ear. The next few missed as Lunar got a little more reckless, but it had gotten the crowd's attention. Lunar hopped out of the way and let Taurus charge face first into the wall that was meant to be him. The crowd cheered.

As he was running, Lunar began to sloppily work to get himself airborne. The wind around his feet wasn’t pretty and didn’t feel all that stable but it held him anyways. Using the wind, he threw himself across the air and right onto a still disoriented Taurus’s back. 

Lunar had ridden a bull once before. It was one of those mechanical bulls that you might spot at fairs every now and then. He had been to one while babysitting Jack and Dazzle with Earth once. The kids had started cheering for Lunar to get on the bull. It wasn’t until Earth, giggling like a schoolgirl, offered him a twenty to try it out. Lunar had rolled up his sleeves, secured his hat, and climbed right on. Two seconds later he was on the ground, moaning in pain, and Jack was begging Earth to let him have a turn. He was absolutely positive whoever made it had rigged it because both Jack and Dazzle lasted a whole three minutes.

Well, he had apparently thought that was bad. Lunar attempted to get the rope around Taurus’s neck and immediately had to drop the rope so he could grab onto his neck for support. Taurus bucked, kicked, squirmed, dove, rolled, and Lunar went flying . He crashed into the sand, got knocked back up a couple times, and rolled and rolled until coming to a stop near the wall. He threw a strong blast of lightning-positive or negative, he wasn’t sure-at the flurry of movement that was now charging towards him. Not waiting to hear Taurus’s reaction he scrambled up a little too fast. He stopped, grabbing his spinning head. Ow, ow that hurt. He dizzily remembered that he had dropped the rope. Shoot, he needed that-and where was Taurus?

His question was answered by the bull coming up right behind him and throwing him in the air. Lunar braced himself for impact, but found that he never left the sky. He was floating. 

Loud wind danced around his body, making it hard to hear anything. He snuck a look down. Taurus was sitting silently right below him. Watching him with those purple eyes. Waiting. He was waiting. Just waiting for him to fall down. The blank look in his eyes sent an uneasy shiver down Lunar’s spine. The bot searched his eyes for any kind of emotion. Fear, sadness, anger, but there was nothing. Not even pain.

Gemini was still resting in their spot by the wall. They had their free hand raised towards Lunar, occasionally moving their fingers around. Whenever they moved their hand, the wind around him changed. They must’ve been the reason he was still aloft in the air. Their eyes were scrunched together tightly, and their mouth had a slight grimace to it. Lunar recognized that expression. They made it whenever the twins were quietly arguing amongst themselves.

Using his airborne advantage, Lunar raised his hands to the sky. Violet lightning began to gather and crackle around his fingertips. He threw a strong blast right down towards Taurus, striking the bull. The oxen startled and threw himself backwards, rolling on the ground to relieve himself of the burns. Lunar jumped off the cloud of air Gemini had made for him and slowly drifted himself safely to the ground. Nearby the rope was lying on the floor, fully unraveled and miraculously still tied tight in that noose. Lunar made a step towards it but paused. Taurus was on his feet again, but looked weak. Could he just take down the bull with his powers alone? He didn’t really need the rope, did he? 

Well, Taurus’s ‘weak’ was apparently way stronger than Lunar. The bull snorted out a dust cloud, kicked back dirt, and charged right at the bot. Lunar yelped and threw out another blast, but the bull toughed right through it. Panicked, the celestial bot turned around and tried to run. His foot caught underneath a sharp rock. He staggered, hopping on one foot. Ow ow ow, he stubbed his toe. Lunar shook away the pain and kept running. Each step he took felt like drumming in his ears. He ran until he couldn’t anymore and fell over in exhaustion. Wiping away sweat, he raised a hand, already charging up power.

Only to realize Taurus wasn’t even chasing him.

The bull was on the other side of the sands. Gemini stood a few feet away. Their uninjured left arm was raised in a gentle coaxing gesture. Lunar began to stand up, panicked for them, but quickly realized Taurus wasn’t even moving. He was just watching them. Gemini stepped a little closer and the bull didn’t flinch. Lunar was having a hard time making out their expression from this far away, but he could see clearly that something was wrong.

Their left eye, Pollux’s, was still glowing a soft yellow. But Castor’s? It was purple.

Lunar stood up, readying his lightning. Okay, okay, that was bad. Maybe if he could get Gemini to split, him and Pollux could work together to bring down both Castor and Taurus? But when had Castor even been infected? Did it just happen? Could the infection come and go anytime it willed? The idea sent a chill down Lunar’s spine. 

Taurus seemed to be calming down, surprisingly enough. Gemini took another step towards Taurus, now kneeling to his level. They gently grabbed his face. The celestial being opened their mouth, and uttered something painfully familiar.

“Just sleep.”

Oh.

“It’ll be alright, older brother,” Castor continued, now no longer speaking to Taurus only in his head. Every word spoken was drizzled in honey. “You’re safe here. We have you. We will continue to hold you. Lay down your burdens. We can shoulder them, at least until you are strong enough to handle them yourself. Rest. Please. You know you need it. You know you want it.”

The twins and the bull watched each other for an agonizingly tense moment. Lunar didn’t realize he wasn’t breathing. 

Finally, Taurus moved. Lunar tensed, but Taurus only relaxed into the dualities touch. Gemini slowly guided his head down to rest on their lap, no doubt whispering sweet, honey drizzled lies into his mind. They ran their fingers gently across his neck, petting him as they slowly coaxed the last bit of his consciousness into a slumber. 

“That’s it,” Castor whispered. “Rest your eyes.”

That was when Gemini slowly raised a heavy looking rock over Taurus’s head. 

(Art by Alasylunatic on Tumblr)

“Gemini!” Lunar screamed before he could stop himself, running forward. The bull lurched up, shocked out of the manipulation. His eyes flew open in realization, seeing the rock, just a little too late. The rock came crashing down onto his skull with a sickening crack. The bull collapsed onto the ground with a hard thud. Gemini beat the rock down again one more time for good measure. Lunar winced. That was gonna hurt in the morning.

Then, silence filled the arena. Silence filled with anticipation.

Pollux was the first to break it. “Lunar. Come here.”

(Art by Alasylunatic on Tumblr)

It wasn’t an invitation. It was an order. A bit of an intimidating one at that, when Gemini was soaked in astral blood. Their dress was practically shredded, with only a few bobby pins still keeping it on at all. The purple glare in Castor’s eye had faded to a light indigo, a sign the power was wearing off, but both their eyes retained a slightly crazed look in them. 

Well, it wasn’t like Lunar probably looked any better.

He went and sat in front of them, a little awkwardly. The astral in front of him looked him up and down, quiet. Finally, Castor said, “you’ve looked better.”

Lunar huffed. “Yeah, you too.”

Then the awkward silence came back.

“Um… so how’ve you been?”

Gemini pursed their lips, looking like they were holding back laughter. “Is that really the first thing you ask us?” Castor asked, “seriously?”

“W-well, I didn’t know what else to say!” Lunar cried, cheeks flushing. “You were staring at me and I was staring at you and it was dead silent and I dunno!”

“We don’t know what to say to you either,” Pollux muttered, her tone more serious. Lunar went quiet. They just looked at him, tired. “We don’t understand you. What more could you want with us?”

“I don’t want anything from you,” Lunar mumbled. Gemini frowned. That was bull. Lunar knew they knew it was bull too. He sighed. “I just want to fix this. I didn’t want you to be locked up.”

“But you were perfectly fine with all of our siblings being locked up?” Pollux asked, barely disguised disgust creeping into her voice. She gestured to the bloodied bull laying next to them. “You were fine with Taurus being locked up?”

“No, not him either, but-”

“Then Aquarius? Pisces? Cancer?” Gemini shook their head. “They all wanted to let you live, by the way!” 

“No not-”

“Without them, you wouldn't have won the first trial! You’d be a little pile of ashes on the floor!”

“Gemini, can you let me talk?”

“You don’t get to talk!” Pollux yelled, her voice raw. “You don’t get to pretend everything is okay again after what you did!”

Lunar stopped, swallowing. His throat felt like it had a lump in it, preventing him from breathing. 

Gemini abruptly stood up. They pivoted, arms flung out. “We won!” Castor yelled at the arena stands, “we won! Just bring us back to our cage already! Why are you dragging this out?”

Nobody responded. Then, a small chant rang out from an unknown face in the crowd. The people around them heard the chant and began to yell it too. The chant slowly got louder and louder as it spread across the arena.

“FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”

Lunar warily turned to Gemini, heart sinking in his chest. They turned back to him, unreadable. They wouldn’t. They wouldn’t do that. Lunar got off the ground and took a small step backwards. “Gemini?”

The cheering continued. Even Kerian had joined in. “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”

The astral studied him for another moment. They tilted their head to the side, sighing. 

“You know what?” Pollux whispered, her voice unnaturally quiet. “I’m tired.”

And then Gemini leaped at Lunar.

They tackled him around the waist and brought him hard on the ground. He writhed like a worm in their grip, managing to elbow them sharp in the jaw. Lunar kicked them off and scooted away, but Pollux was charging up her wind powers. She raised her hands to throw a sharp gust at him. Lunar got out of the way barely just in time, but the sheer force of the wind still made him lose his balance. 

“Gemini, stop!” Lunar screamed helplessly. In the background the audience continued to chant for them to fight, over and over again in some sick chorus. The astral grabbed his ankle and yanked him towards them. He dug his fingernails into the sand, trying to claw himself away. 

They yanked harder and tugged him back, quickly climbing on top of his stomach and straddling him. A shadow cast over Gemini’s face, illuminating their heterochromic eyes. They slowly raised a hand over Lunar, a hand that crackled with enough star power to put Lunar out of commission for days. 

The power came out of him before he could stop it. A big, sharp, bolt of purple lightning. Gemini gasped as it slammed right into their stomach, the wind knocked out of them. Because of that, they didn’t at first register the unimaginable pain that followed.

To a fellow dark star, the pain would’ve been but a small zap. To any other creature, it might’ve been painful, yes, but nothing they couldn’t brush off. But to a being made entirely of the force that works directly against that power?

The power came out of him before he could stop it. A big, sharp, bolt of lightning. Earth screamed as it slammed right into her stomach, knocking her to the ground. The pain crackled against her systems, sending shutdown warnings and overwhelming her cooldown fans. 

“HE HIT ME! HE HIT ME!” She screeched. Lunar took a step away-and then another, and another, until his back hit the door. 

“I… I’m sorry…” Lunar whispered, tears springing into the corners of his eyes. What has he done?

“I… I’m sorry…” Lunar whispered, tears springing into the corners of his eyes. He took one step away-and then another, and another.

And then he fled out the door.

And then he flew up and out of the arena.

Gemini watched him leave through gritted teeth, doubled over in pain. Maybe they had asked for it, attacking him like that. Watching Lunar leave, the feelings of anger started to fade away. In its place was a deep, longing regret. Maybe if they had said something else, done something else, tried something else, tried harder, Lunar never would’ve taken that deal in the first place. He wouldn’t have had a reason to.

They failed him.

They didn’t resist when Ursa came down to escort them back up to their cage. What would even be the point of it?

It was clear this was only the beginning of the road to hell ahead of them.

Chapter Text

What did he just do?

Lunar was contemplating in his bed once again, replaying the moment over and over again. The screams, the pain Gemini felt, the memories floating back at him. He turned to his side and closed his eyes as he drifted back to the second time he used this power against someone…

Rez was dragging him by the arm, mumbling and giggling to himself, very highly unusual for him, sending shivers down his spine. All Lunar wanted to do these past weeks was sloth in his bed, the place he was the safest and comfiest, until little Mr. Stinky Bitch stormed in and took him by the arm, spitting in his face about exciting news. Lunar could care less about what Rez had to say as long as he can get back to bed soon.

The infector had led the moon-like animatronic all around the castle, from the stars to all the way down to the basement where he pulled a secret lever, leading into a long, dark, and lonely staircase. Lunar sighed once again as Rez dragged him through the spiral staircase.

 “So, are you finally going to tell me what we are doing?” Lunar demanded.

“Not yet, my sweet apple, not yet…” the worm muttered back, trying to settle down the bot’s curiosity.

“Yeesh, ok then.” Lunar pouted a bit, his eyes wandering to the walls and cracks, finding them way more interesting and enticing than whatever Rez had planned for him. Hopefully, it's not another “date” night that Rez planned.

Finally, they stepped down to the end of the endless staircase where they were met with two new entities. They both had hoods over their faces, giving off extreme cult vibes. Lunar gave off a small frown to them, wondering why they were doing this. One of these hooded individuals stepped up to him and offered him his hand. Lunar was hesitant to reach out, not knowing what to do.

“Fear not, little man,” they said as they reached for their hood, revealing his face. He had the face shape of a whale yet the body of a… man? They flicked their long, wavy,  purple ocean-like hair around. Water seemed to be dripping from the hair yet never made a splash on the ground. “I'm not here to hurt you, Lunar. After all, you're my successor.” 

Lunar's face froze in shock, taking a few steps back. In front of him was the infamous Cetus, the leader of the Dark Star astrals. His eyes went back and forth, from Rez to Cetus, Cetus to Rez. Cetus stares at Lunar, his expression almost unreadable. Seeing as Lunar is doing nothing but trembling in fear, he takes a step closer to his new found son. The whale roughly places his hand on Lunar, and bursts out in laughter.

“Hu-huh..?” Lunar finally mutters. Cetus' laughter was so loud it was breaking his sensors.

“He's pathetic!” Cetus crackles as Rez slowly nods his head, Lunar looks in disbelief. “And he's supposed to be an astral?! Best joke of the eon!” He slapped Lunar’s back, almost breaking it in two.

“OW?!?!” Lunar screeched. 

“Easy son, it was just a joke. Are you coming or not?” Cetus once again reaches out his arm to his small new blue friend. Lunar, not wanting another back slap, quickly grabbed onto his hand and followed him down the hall.

—

Oh, Scorpio was going to kill them. 

The astrals were all being kept like livestock, stuck inside of a large cage. Scorpio eyed Gemini from her corner of the cage, tail coiling behind her. The only things stopping her from ripping into their throat were Aquarius and a few others, who argued that they should all try to work together. If they weren’t so adamant about protecting them, Scorpio would have already ripped that Cetus spawn into pieces. Unfortunately, her siblings had to be so adamant at keeping them alive, even after what they’ve done. So all she could do was ​​stare at them, as if waiting for a moment to pounce. 

“You want to kill us? Let’s see what Libra does about it.” Castor mutters, catching her glare and throwing it right back. Scorpio finally looks away, in a worse mood than before. Gemini scoffs, glad they finally got some eyes off of them. They go back to counting all the cracks on the wall, because what else can they do? Interact with the people who blame them for all this? It's already uncomfortable enough.

SLAM, goes one of the doors, the starlit heads turn to see who it is. The figures are covered in shadows at first, making it difficult to see who was there. Though, as they stepped closer, their faces began to twist and turn to the correct forms. Once the newcomers stepped into the light, the positive astrals saw Cetus and Lunar, holding hands like father and son. 

“Hey guard! Bring out Leo!” Cetus demanded. The cage swung open as the underlings grabbed Leo by the wrist. The other astrals were immediately up on their feet, trying to fight against their captors to grab Leo back. Despite their desperate effort to break him free, Leo was thrown onto the floor to Lunar’s feet.

 “Now Lunar, are you loyal to us?” 

Lunar looks into Cetus' eyes, his face filled with fear and confusion. “I guess so…” His head drops down, not wanting to see Gemini’s distraught face. 

“Mhm… sure, sure,” Cetus said, not fully believing him. “Well, time to prove it then.” Lunar opened his mouth but Cetus was faster.

“Kill him.”

 Cetus pointed down to Leo. Lunar went pale.

“...What...?”  

“You heard me.” Cetus grabs Leo by the hair and throws him against the bars of a nearby empty cage. The lion lets out a yell in protest, but Cetus only laughs. “Kill him. Prove to me you are as loyal as you say you are. I want to see your power.” He extends his hand, pointing towards Leo, who was already looking rather beaten up. “Here, to make it more interesting, bring out Gemini!” 

The guards went back into the cage, grabbing Gemini, which was almost effortless this time because there wasn't much resistance from the other astrals. 

“Don't you dare lay a hand on us!” Castor yelled as they were shoved out of the cage. 

Lunar could only watch as Gemini clawed at their captors, attempting to fight them with the little bit of strength they had left. He almost grins, pleased to see them again. However, Cetus was very much not amused by their resistance. He gracefully steps towards them, grabbing Gemini by their precious starlight hair.

“Stars, will you shut it!” Cetus pulled harder on their hair. He threw them before Lunar’s feet. Lunar dared not to look into Gemini's eyes. He knew if he looked back down, all he would see was pure hatred. So instead, he stared into Cetus' eyes, trying to piece together what the whale plans for him to do. 

“Lunar, you have a choice right now,” Cetus explained, squaring him up and down. “To prove you are one of us, you have to choose between killing Leo,  or…” He eyed Gemini once again, watching their lanky body struggle to stand up. “Or kill Gemini.” 

Lunar was stunned in place, unable to comprehend what he just heard. Finally, he looked Gemini in the eyes. Instead of the hatred he thought he would see, all he saw was fear and desperation in their eyes. A silent plea for help. He returned their plea with helplessness. Lunar looked towards Leo, who stood prideful as ever. However, his body shook and quivered like a beaten animal on the streets.

He looked back and forth, back and forth. The bot really wanted to save Gemini… but he also didn't want to kill Leo. As much as Leo hates his guts, Lunar still can't bear to bring himself to kill someone. Not after what he did to Earth. His body begged him to run back to bed, hide away, never come back. Though, if he did, what would happen to Gemini? What would Cetus do if he didn't make that choice? His heart was trembling, his palms sweating like a hot desert day.

 Cetus, seeing Lunar’s indecisiveness, grabs him tightly by the arm and pulls him aside. He kneels, looking Lunar in the eyes.

“Look kid, I got a job to do, so I have a deal you might like. Kill Leo and I won't lay a hand on Gemini. Got it? I won't hurt them in any way, as long as you do what you need to do.” 

Lunar turns to Gemini, whose body was writhing on the ground. They were barely able to stand up, yet their eyes retained an angry fire that burned deep into Lunar’s soul. It broke Lunar’s heart.

“Fine, I’ll do it. Promise me you will leave them alone.” The small bot looks Cetus dead in the eyes, trying to act tough as he reaches out his hand. Cetus, mouth widening into a wretched grin, gives a little nod. He turns to Rez, giving him a little nod, before turning back to his new “friend”.

“Alright. Blast the lion away then!” 

He pushes Lunar towards Leo. Lunar swallows. It wasn’t as if he wanted to do this, but it wasn’t like he had a choice either. It was like when he took that deal with Rez, he did that so that he could survive . That’s what he told himself, repeating it over and over in his head. He started to feel a little less guilty, but the way Gemini looked at him made it feel like Lunar’s whole world was about to crumble.

Leo pridefully puffs his chest up, though he seemed like he was shaking. “Hah… oh, little robot, you have no idea how fucked you are right now!” Leo shouts at him, “You know, I was hoping you would be better than this, but I guess in the end you are nothing more than a-a wretched disappointment! A failure!” 

Just before Lunar could shoot, Leo tried to make one last stand. He pulls himself up, body trembling. “If I am to die here and now, I would rather die standing like an astral, not a coward.” 

(Art by Justuraverageweirdo on Tumblr)

Cetus, on the other hand, was already dying from this ridiculous facade that Leo was spewing out. Even after all this time, the lion’s ego was bigger than fifty red giants. He grinned ear to ear, glad to see that nuisance gone for a while. The lion was just another threat to his power.

Cetus looks down at Lunar, giving him a cruel yet impatient smile. “Kid, what are you waiting for? Fire away.”

Lunar remains hesitant, the pressure of Cetus’ gaze beating down on his body. He can’t bear to look at the sickening snarl drawn across Leo’s face. What has to be done, has to be done. Lunar finally raises his arm towards Leo, gripping it firmly with his other hand.

“Wait Lunar, PLEASE!” Pollux screamed. They attempt to stand up but are quickly knocked back down by Rez. Gemini was getting even more frustrated by the minute. 

“Oh, Pollux, dear, try as you might, but nothing you do will change anything. Not while he’s here.” Rez clarified nothing more. Pollux fell silent, frowning. Who was he talking about?

Lunar dared not turn back. This was for them. The other astrals were deadly quiet. At least one of them wouldn’t suffer anymore.

Finally, Lunar starts to warm up his powers, creating a small obsidian like sword, just like how he saw some of the dark stars do. Not as strong, but it should be able to cut him down. 

“No, not like that,” Cetus snarls, “you're going to blast him, just like you did with your sister.” 

Lunar froze. The small bot turns to Cetus, eyes widened. 

“Oh, come on, you know you want to. You have such great power, Lunar. Use it.” Cetus glowers down at him. “Leo tried to have you killed. He tried to shred you of your purpose. Does that not just boil your blood?”

Of course Lunar was a bit angry, he completely forgot that Leo was actively against his very existence. Who wouldn't be angry? However, that still wasn't enough to channel that energy. No, he needed a bigger push… 

“Kid, I swear upon stars above, if you don’t shoot him right this instant, I will command Rez to rip your dear, beloved Gemini into shreds!”

That was enough to do it. Lunar's body was charged with lighting, ready to explode like an atomic bomb. He jumped at Leo, putting as much energy into him as he could. The astral let out a blood curdling scream. The others watched in horror, as they could see his starlight flesh rip apart atom by atom. Finally, the screaming stopped, and all that was left were the ashes of the former fire astral. 

Gemini screamed and sobbed, shouting something along the lines of “you traitor” and “I hate you”. Lunar didn’t care. For that single moment, he felt so…powerful. It filled him with pride. Oh, how he wished to do it again.

(Art by Deirunn on Tumblr)

“I should have never trained you,” growled a cold voice. Lunar snapped out of  his trance. He turned to see the disappointed look on Taurus’ face. “If I had known you would become this, I would have killed you myself.”

 Silence filled the room, uneasiness as the old bull gave him a cold stare.

Cetus, trying to lighten up the mood, tries to talk to Taurus. “Oh, come on-”

“Do not dare finish that sentence, Cetus.”

“Alright, alright!” The dark star says, backing off. “Anyways, come along, Lunar, you still have a lot to learn…” 

The Dark Stars’ Leader beckons him to come along. Lunar was still staring at Taurus, his mind seemed to be out of place. From the corner of his eye, however, lay the twins. Their head was down in the dumps, expression unreadable. Rez, seeing no more reason to keep them down, releases them from his grip. That was a terrible mistake.

As it seemed that Gemini’s muscles finally relaxed, they looked back up at the small blue animatronic. Their eyes ran dry. They couldn't find a single care at the moment, only a blood thirsty feeling. How could Lunar not shed a tear after he killed one of their own?

Inside their heads, the twins were debating.

“Pollux…” Castor reached out for her, but was quickly slapped away.

“Castor, you saw what he did to him,” she sobbed. “We trusted him, and look what's happened to us!”

She cried into her brother's arms, clinging tightly to him, as if he was going to be taken away. Castor was a bit uncomfortable,  feeling goose bumps run up his arms. He looked away from her, watching Lunar through their eyes. He looked so lost… just like how Castor once was. 

“Oh screw it, I am taking him out before he can hurt the rest of us.”

“Wait, Pollux, let us think about this!” Castor pleaded. “Look, we cannot just attack him!”

“Yes we can, and I will.” Pollux replied, determined. “Stay back, brother, I'm getting us some justice.” 

Castor, not wanting to fight his sister, stepped down. “...Fine… just make it quick…”

Gemini let out a grunt as they lunged towards Lunar. They threw him on his back, ready to give him a bloody punch. They raised their fist, about to let out everything they’ve held since they got here. 

“I hate you so much!” Pollux yelled. “I hate that we fought to let you live, I hate what you did to us, I HATE YOU!” 

They let out their first punch, oil spilling all over the floor and onto the dust that once was Leo’s body. Another punch, splattering more blood on their fist. Then another, then another, then another. They didn't want to stop, they dared not to. 

As they were about to let out another fury of punches, they finally saw something in Lunar’s eyes. Tears. Through the oil and bruises, they finally saw some tear drops. It made them hesitant for a moment. It hurt a small part of them. 

Pollux didn't understand why she couldn't bare herself to finish the job. Why seeing him tear up makes her freeze in place? She just didn't understand. 

“Why can't I?” She asks Lunar, as if he knew the answer. She waited for him to say something, anything of the sort, but all she got was silence and tears. 

All of the sudden, a tail whipped Gemini’s back, ripping open some recent wounds. They held in their screams, getting off Lunar while wincing in pain. They turned back to see Rez now slithering towards Lunar, lending him a helping hand. Lunar doesn't take it and gets up himself. The guards grab Gemini once again, throwing the twins back into the cell.

“Like I said Lunar, time to go,” Cetus told him one last time. His icy eyes glared at Lunar. The room had become extremely cold by now, ice spikes forming around the cells. Not wanting to deal with more of the astral's rage, Lunar sprinted out of the room. With each step, he felt more like himself, starting to feel the weight of his actions.

When he finally reached the top, tears streamed down from his eyes like a forgotten faucet. He just killed an astral. Someone Gemini had considered a friend, a brother, and he killed him with his own hands. At least he’ll be protected from Cetus now… he’s gotta be, Lunar told himself. 

Cetus finally stepped out of the stairwell, giving Lunar a slow clap. “Well done, little moon, you’re getting better by the second! With more training from Rez, you’ll sooner or later be the best of the best! But I guess you are not in the mood, are you? I suppose that's fine. Guards!” 

Before Lunar could get a single word out, the guards grabbed him by the arms. They lifted him up with way too much ease. Cetus waved them off. “Take him to his room to relax for the rest of the day. Best if he tries to be depressed or something.” 

With a clap of his hands, Lunar was taken straight to his room. No resistance, no clever comeback, just silence. What could he even say after something like that?

—

Thinking back to that moment from almost a year ago just pained him. He clenched his chest hard, holding back a waterfall of tears. Was he truly in the right for this? All this pain and suffering? What would his family think of him now? They already hate him, but now, they must think he is the devil himself. What was he even worth to them besides trash? No, he was worse than that. Worse than the worst, rotting, disgusting piece of trash in the entire garbage bin.

He finally stood up from his bed, getting too tired of the comfort it was giving him. Besides, the bed wasn't giving him hope or battery, so what good was it for? He sighed, feet hitting the cold pavement. By now he’s gotten used to how cold it feels, as if it was the arctic ocean itself. Just much colder. 

An idea struck him like lightning.

There was one entity left in this galaxy that could help him. One that hadn’t been captured yet. Would it work? Could he do it? He gave himself a moment to think it through. If he finds her, then could he save Gemini? It was a huge risk to take… but he was willing to take it.

He took a deep breath in, unsure of himself. Maybe if he talked to Gemini, he could finally help. His heels hit the floor, sprinting across a long and daunting hall he has grown ever so familiar to. Finally, he steps out to a place colder than space itself, cages whistling like wind chimes. He looks up to see the astral silence, yet he could feel their eyes on him. He sighed, feeling uncomfortable. 

Using his powers, he leaps up, looking for a certain figure. His eyes laid upon the cage of the small, resting astral. He flies over to the cage, holding on to its bars for support. 

“Hey Gemini.” He kept his voice soft, trying his best not to screw up again. “I… I came to thank you for helping me fight Taurus…” 

Silence. Gemini only turned their back to him. Deserved. 

“... And to apologize for not doing enough for you, especially after everything…” Lunar rips out a small part of his ribbons, hoping it would be enough to work as a bandage until he found something better. “Please, let me help you.” 

Lunar reaches out, ribbons in hand. Gemini finally turns to face them, their eyes boiling with anger.

“Get out!” Pollux yells at him, neither twin wanting more of his nonsense. Lunar flinched, not liking the volume of their voice. 

“Gemini, please! Look at your wounds! They aren't even healing!” He looked at them with worry, eyes pleading with Gemini’s rage. They look away once more. More silence. Lunar sighs once again. As he was about to turn away, a voice spoke up. 

“Fine, just be quick with it,” Castor spoke, his voice sounding like they were in pain. Lunar was quick to work. He tended to their wounds to the best of his ability, wrapping them as tight as he could. After tying their makeshift ribbon bandages in a nice, small bow, he turned to the other cages. His eyes landed on his old, stubborn mentor. His legs were hanging from outside the cage, burn marks on his hooves from the dark star power. He seemed used to it now. It was better than having his body cramped into such a small space.

Lunar just looked at him for a while. The Bull’s face was barely in view from where the small bot was. Lunar slowly approached Taurus’ cage. “Taurus I–” 

Before he could even finish his sentence, there came a new voice.

“So long as she prevails~” The voice sang. Lunar twisted and turned, trying to find the source of the voice. 

“Our hands will hold the scales~” 

A small dark cloud started forming behind the small bot.

 “And silent is the whale.”

The dark cloud finally took its form. Wings popped out first, glittering and glistening with familiar jewels. The creature donned a plague mask, and a suit for some elegance. Oh, not him again.

The Plague Doctor floated closer to Lunar, taking in everything about the bot. Finally, he spoke out. 

“By the stars, you look more pathetic than in the arena!” Kerian laughed, his tone filled with malice. “However, not as bad as others may claim.” His tail wagged in amusement. “Rumors are such a lovely thing!”

This conversation was already giving Lunar a massive headache. “God, what do you want?” 

Without warning, Kerian tucked his came under Lunar chin.

(Art by Deirunn on Tumblr)

“Tsk tsk, where are your manners, Lunar! Is it not impolite to not look at the one you're talking to?” The bird tutted, making Lunar’s internal systems overheat. Just a bit. “He’s such a disrespectful creature, am I right, dear Gemini?” He smirked. 

Gemini on the other hand, already was done with this crap. They once again turned their back to Lunar.

In response, Kerian scoffed, continuing his speech. “Fortunately, this is why I’m here! To make you a real star!” He claimed, making Lunar overheat even more. “You are in dire need of an adjudicator!” 

Kerian leans in closer, beak almost touching Lunar’s forehead. “Besides, I wanted a closer seat to the stage too.” His voice went cold. He tightly grabs onto Lunar, whose overheating was turning into full on panic mode. 

Lunar tried getting away, squirming as much as he could, but Kerian’s grip was just too strong. He could already feel the cracks in his metal. 

“So heed my advice, starlight.” 

Finally Kerian let go, yet his hard stare kept Lunar in place. “Don’t you ever help the wastes of space that are other astrals. Gemini is alright I suppose, but the rest? Their roles are to rot until their final act.” 

The cloud started to form behind Kerian once again. He backed up into it, but not without one final line to Lunar. 

“Trust me, you don't want to know what will happen to you if you don't play your role the right way.” With that, the avian took a bow and disappeared back into the mist.

“Gosh, that was… weird…” Lunar mutters. He turns back to Gemini, who still had their back to him. All the other astrals were staring at him with discomfort. He sighed. Maybe he should do this quickly. 

He floats toward Taurus, coming face to face with his disappointed expression. “Sooo… Taurus…” Lunar bit his lip, thinking of what to say next. “Sorry about… the fight…” 

The bull huffed in response. He seemed not to care about measly things. 

Lunar sucked in a breath. “I wanted to ask how I can find Libra…?” 

The cages rattled like snakes, eyes all turned towards Lunar. Even Gemini seemed to want to hear his madness.

“Libra. Libra? For what purpose, other than to lock her up as well?” Scorpio growled. Her claw hair gripped onto the bars. Her eyes locked in with Lunars. All he could see in her eyes was hate. A burning hate, mostly towards him. “Listen to me, you little cruel spawn of the whale. You will never-”

“You can find her by calling her name.” 

Lunar eyes darted to the sound of the voice. His eyes meet up with an astral with shimmering blue skin, with great wings that protruded from their back. They blew some of their cloudy hair from their face, gripping onto their endless, overflowing water jug. The astral met Lunar’s eyes, their expression unreadable. The others look at him confused.

“Aquarius, stars above, what are you saying?” Aries demanded, shocked. “He’s going to doom us all!” 

Aquarius refused to elaborate. Instead, they continued to speak with Lunar. “I suggest you find somewhere quiet and safe, look at her constellation, and call out her name. She’s always listening. Just give her a reason to show herself.” 

“Thank you,” Lunar said, gratefulness mixed with relief washing over him. Aquarius simply turned away, saying nothing else. 

Lunar floated back down, hitting the dirt ground once again. He looks back up once more. Silent as the whale, they were. Now he just needed to find an exit.

—

He sprinted through the long daunting hall. His steps echo loudly throughout the broken walls, but he was in too much of a hurry to be careful. All he really wanted was to find a way out. However, the castle made it impossible to escape as it seemed he was going on in circles. Frustrated, he sat down near a mural of some sort. He sighs, taking off his hat. Out of boredom, he began counting the stars on his hat. 

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…” he counted slowly. Back home, Earth had taught him a little something for whenever he is bored or stressed out.

“Lunar, I know you have been bored lately when you're not training, so I found something you can do in the meantime.”

 Lunar looked at her, confused about what she was talking about. 

“Give me your hat please,” she said, her smile warm as a summer’s evening.  He reluctantly gave her his hat, curious to see what she wants to do. “Look here, Lulu. Whenever you're bored, I want you to count random things, whether it be the stars on your hat or how many stitches you got. I find it very calming in stressful situations. You don't need to do it every time you feel terrible, just when you think it's needed.”

He looked back fondly at that memory, when times were better. Back with his family, back with the astrals, back when he didn't have to worry that much.

“Oh my sweet apple!~” a slithering voice called out to him. Oh dear lord. Lunar quickly stood up, mentally preparing himself for Rez’s bullshit.

“Rez. Hi. What do you want?” 

Rez, instead of answering, slithered closer to him, his mist dancing in its little cage. Typical, Lunar told himself.

“I came to check on you, dear! You seemed not to be in your room.” His tone almost sounded sad.

“Well yeah, I’m trying to… get some fresh air,” he awkwardly chuckled. Rez stared at him, almost dumbfounded at his horrible excuse. Lunar sighed. “Okay, Rez, what I meant to say is that I need to step outside a bit, visit some worlds to get my mind off things, you know.” 

The mist finally slowed down, falling like sand. In an unreadable tone, Rez said, “Alright, if you must.”

“Um, yeah…”

Lunar, feeling a bit confused after that short conversation, quickly ran away from the worm. He didn’t want to stay another moment with him. Rez watched as Lunar got farther and farther away from him, just out of his reach.

“Do you want me to go after him?” Asked a voice from behind the wall.

“Yes, but just watch and report. I don't want him thinking we are onto him.” 

At his command, a figure stepped out of the wall, their soft silky skin coming off and becoming physical again. Their eyes did not give a glimpse of glimmer as they stared blankly at Rez. They stretched out their four pairs of wings, showing off its many colors.

“Stars, I hate being a part of the walls sometimes,” they complained. “At least I can finally do something else.”

 Rez nodded in agreement, happy to have someone spy on Lunar for them. “What are you waiting for? Go spy on my sweet apple for me.”

“Of course.” They rushed out, their steps silent as the night sky. Once again, leaving Rez alone in the great grand hall. 

“I wonder what my apple is planning on. Hopefully nothing stupid,” he mused to himself. Sooner or later, his rotten darling will accept the darkness in him and that's when the true experiments will start. Rez couldn't contain his excitement. He slithered away happily, his tail somewhat wagging like a dog’s. It was a sight to behold for any negative entity walking by.

—

After hours of searching, Lunar finally found the place where he first talked to Earth. It was the same place he remembered first seeing Gemini as well. He took a deep breath in, taking in all that sweet, Earth air. The moon was rising over the horizon in the distance, the biggest he’d ever seen it. Now here, back on his home planet in a place he’d been to so many times, he felt homesick. Oh, how he wished he could stay here forever.

His eyes drift to a familiar constellation, remembering what Aquarius had told him. He just had to talk to her.

“Libra?” Lunar tries. He waited for a response. Nothing. “Libra, please, I just need to talk!” He shouted at the stars. Still nothing.

He sighs, sitting down to feel the grass tickle his steel hard skin. Comforting, he thought to himself. He rarely got that privilege anymore. If only he had this comfort just a bit longer.

He looks back at the constellation, shoulders drooping. He took a deep breath, and tried again. “Libra, I know you’re watching me. I… I just want to talk to you. I know I messed up and you don’t trust me, and I understand, but please. Just let me fix this mistake.”

A blade is pressed against his neck, its sharp cold edges threatening to cut his neck should he make the wrong move. He didn’t need to turn around to see who it was. “Hello, Libra.”

“Explain yourself.” 

Lunar looked down, knowing he deserved death after what he had done. Though, he knew if he died, he wouldn't be able to help Libra see the other astrals again. He sighed. “Look Libra, I know I caused a lot of pain for you and the whole universe. I never planned for this to happen–”

“And yet it did.” Libra’s face was as cold as the starry sky. “It fathoms me how we chose to let you keep your life, especially after what you did to the Eclipse. Please, tell me why I should choose to make that mistake again.” Lunar went quiet, anger boiling in him at the sound of that name. His hands clenched into fists, leaving small crescents dented into his palms from his nails. Libra noticed this, and sighed. “You have doomed us all, Lunar. You have no idea what you have truly done. You have brought even the Negative Star Entities to their own demise.”  

Lunar was at the verge of strangling Libra right then and there. Would she not just let him talk? What was even the point of bringing up Eclipse, that happened so long ago! However, he stopped himself. He needed her help. He took a deep breath, and finally turned to face her. 

“I did, and I'm sorry.” Lunar bowed his head, taking Libra aback. “I have a lot to learn. I’ve made many mistakes, and I'm here to make it right. I can’t do that unless you let me, though. Please give me a chance. I know I’m not trustworthy, I know I’m a stupid, stupid idiot, but I just want to help.”

Libra’s face was unreadable. Lunar hadn’t been able to get a proper read on her since she had appeared. She stayed silent for another moment, letting him process the words he had just spoken. Finally, she stepped away.

(Art by Justuraverageweirdo on Tumblr)

“You have made many mistakes, Lunar,” she said, looking away. “However, I sense no deceit in the air around you. I will talk with you and hear out what you have to say, but first we shall go to a safer location. This place is too… exposed.”

Lunar couldn’t believe his luck. He let out a shaky breath he hadn't even known he’d been keeping in, then smiled up at her. “Alright.”

Maybe this would work out after all.