Chapter Text
Earth winces as another drill goes through his crust, but he quickly wipes it away before anyone notices. It seems like so long ago when he could just relax and enjoy feeling his lifeforms just move around on his surface. His other earthlings enjoy him and everything he offers, but his human earthlings? It is like they just want to take and take and take. And Earth tries to excuse them away as just trying to live. But then there's the many other species they have driven extinct due to their taking. Just recently Earth wept silently over the banji dolphins having gone extinct in China.
A species he once felt proud of for being the first sapient beings on his surface and even got a look of pride from Sun... and now they cause him nothing but pain.
But still, there remains the pride he has for his human earthlings. Their love for learning everything around them. And before they had the technology nor true understanding of their place in the cosmos they would come up with amazing stories and beliefs. Of course, during this time of beliefs and myths Earth was the most important. Sometimes when he's feeling particularly down about the pain and illness he thinks back to the era when his little humans thought he was the center of the entire universe, and then his core would swell with delight. Those were simpler days. Sure the humans were still killing other animals and taking over lands. But at that time they didn't know any better, and they also used his creations to their full potential. Nowadays the humans just make those blasted plastics and guzzle up oil made from his...
Those were the days. The most dark part of himself, the one with cruel thoughts that he always tries to ignore, always brings up at this point the lower number of humans he had in those days. None of this billions upon billions who walk amongst his entire surface. The best comparison he could think of is like if his tiny ants grew to humongous size (just like his Carboniferous Period, a pang of guilt follows once he remembers how that ended) and walked across his entire body.
But in order to cause the human population to go down to those low numbers would be to end their civilizations. Which would cause untold pain and misery, which Earth would absolutely feel. Plus, his biggest rule he made for himself was to never intentionally cause harm to his lifeforms. There remains a deep seated fear for him, that if he was to even get a taste of killing off his earthlings than... no, never happening. Four of your five mass extinctions would like to have a word. The cruel thoughts make their appearance. No, those were accidents. Earth never meant for things to go so wrong with them, especially because it was his earthlings who suffered the most.
Besides, even if he was to break his biggest rule and lower the human population numbers, there's no telling what will happen to the other animal species. Humans have created symbiotic relations with other animals such as dogs, cats, sheep, cows. They would suffer just as greatly. And if he did do some big event like a supervolcano or something, then untold other species would be harmed. No, as much as his cruel thoughts would love for him to break his rule and hurt humans, Earth would not.
Looking out across the Solar System, Earth tries to take his mind off from the thoughts he just had by seeing what his friends are doing. Mars is telling a story to his asteroids, oops, moons. Venus is poking fun at Mercury. And his own moon? Fast asleep in his orbit. Upon noticing that, Earth scowls. He's just about to try and go to sleep himself. They can't both be asleep, someone needs to keep an eye out for any debris before it crosses into his atmosphere. If there's anyone who should understand that, it should be his moon.
Rolling his eyes, Earth gives his moon a good shake to wake him up. Which works, of course it does. "Huh? Wha-" Is the first thing his moon says as soon as he wakes up. And then he meets Earth's deadpan expression. "Oh, uh... what's up Earth?" His moon says. Galaxies, what kinda question is that? They've been doing this for the past ten days.
Sighing, Earth ignores how just the act of doing that causes a tickle in his throat that wants to come out as a cough. "I'm going to sleep, you keep an eye out for any asteroids. Got it?" He says. His moon opens his mouth to reply, no doubt to agree, but Earth just turns around to try and sleep. Of course his moon would agree, that's what moons are supposed to do. Besides, Earth needs this sleep. His humans have been freaking out over something for the past ten days. He hopes by the time he wakes up they'll be over whatever it is freaking them out. He just hopes it's not another war. He can't deal with another one right now.
-
What wakes up Earth is not the gradual awakening after a good rest, but the slamming of panic that is all over his surface. From the humans. Instantly all drowsiness is gone from him and Earth's core is like it's frozen, desperately looking around his surface to see what has caused his humans to be freaking out. Usually he tries to avoid looking on his surface, the past couple hundred years did not give him pretty insights. But right now? Now he needs answers.
Was it a war? A random virus that has taken over? None of that. He's finds the humans running around, carrying either their small children, pets, or valuable objects in hand. There's alarms blaring across many of his lands as people rush around trying to avoid... something. Meanwhile his other lifeforms just either continue to graze around or watch the humans with confusion. That is what is so alarming, it is not only the fear and panic causing a turmoil in his own emotions, but the confusion and alarm from others that just adds onto the situation.
The issue is, the fact that none of his other species shows any understanding means that this cannot be an issue on his surface. Is it man made? Or... no.
No no no.
It cannot be happening again.
His moon should be focusing on any dangers.
His moon.
"Moon!" His voice breaks the silence of space. He whips around, trying to find his satellite that is supposed to be keeping watch. But instead? His moon is fast asleep in his orbit. Fast. Asleep. He's not supposed to be doing that. After the dinosaurs the agreement was that one stays awake while the other sleeps. So no more asteroids can come near him again. There was that time in 1908 when an asteroid exploded in his atmosphere in Tunguska that caused the deaths of so many of his tree lifeforms.
His moon was so apologetic over that, distracted focusing on a different spot of the empty space.
"Moon!" His voice cracks which shows the overwhelming emotions that seem to be flooding his entire interior. Now even Mars is looking over at him with concern.
"Earth? What's going-"
"Shut up! Just shut up and wake up my moon before it happens!" Because it's going to happen soon if his moon doesn't do his damn job! Already his humans are started to grieve over it being over. But it's not over! If somebody can just stop whatever is going to happen than it'll all be okay.
Who cares if his humans keep hurting him? As long as they keep living and breathing and eating and sleeping and creating.
He doesn't even care about the look of offense Mars gives him. Who cares about Mars right now? His life is in danger again and nobody is doing anything to help!
"Moon!" He gives out one final scream as his moon floats right in front of him. And this finally wakes him up.
"Huh? Earth? What-?" But his moon never finishes his question. Because right then a bright flash of light overtakes Earth's left eye. In Southern Europe at the Pyrenees mountain range. There's a split second where it's like his entire being is still. Until the agonizing pain of heat and destruction of his crusts radiates out from the spot.
The pain is not what causes him to scream out in space for everyone to hear. It is not the way he could feel the loss of hundreds of millions of human lifeforms alone wiped out at the impact area. No. The worse part is that this is a familiar pain. One from sixty-six million years ago.
His throat must be bleeding because he is still screaming. Or maybe the bleeding is because of the magnitude eleven earthquakes have set off Yellowstone supervolcano. He claws at his hair as fire and glass rain down on his surface. They cut at his lifeforms, plant and animal who could not find refuge underground.
Earth must be choking by now, as the tsunamis ravage his lands and swallow up anyone who managed to survive the other events. Meanwhile his mind is plagued not only by the screams of his current lifeforms who can do nothing else but bellow out their agony for all to hear, but from his dinosaurs who he failed to keep his promise to never happen again.
And then his mind goes blank as everything around him goes black. But the pain follows, the agonizing screams on his surface from all his lifeforms come along as well. Promising that even as Earth collapses, his mistakes will follow even in his nightmares.