Work Text:
It had been billions of years, (since the moon revolution ended) and the rocky planets had made amends and spoke together more often, but they knew they didn’t have much time left. The sun had turned into a red giant dwarf, which led to him growing in size and mass.
Mercury wouldn’t hang out with the rocky planets frequently anymore as he said that when he left his orbit, he felt a 'tug’ on his core.
The sun was losing consciousness and sanity bit by bit every millions of years as he knew his gravity would soon pull Mercury, his best friend in to his Roche limit and Mercury would succumb to death.
The thought of losing the planet that had been one of the two that understood the sun the most was terrifying for the sun, so the sun slowly became more quieter.
Who knew that the time would come so soon?..
-present-
It was a normal day, I mean, as far as usual, Mercury was talking to the sun like they had used to, and for a moment, Mercury didn’t mind about the growing heat in his core.
The other rocky planets had grown distant, ever since mars lost his moons, earth lost his life, and Venus is.. well, venus. Mercury didn’t care that he couldn’t leave his orbit anymore, since he spent most of his days thinking of what else could have happened.
Oh how Mercury wished he could sleep, but with the blinding light from the sun and the thought of drifting into death while in slumber, gave Mercury a deep fear that wouldn’t let go.
The sun let out a shaky cough as smoke came out of his mouth, and let out a soft sigh, not a disappointed one, but maybe it was, because he couldn’t do anything about the events that was going to happen.
The sun had wished that it would never come, but his weakened form had proved he would soon lose consciousness like the dying star he saw when he had just formed.
All these years, the sun had never thought about death, it was too painful to think what would happen after he passed. Would the planets be happy? Would they leave him again? It seemed like Mercury was the only one that understood and that was why the sun had doted on Mercury so much.
Mercury knew that the sun didn’t have much time left, and neither would he. Mercury quickly glanced at the solar system and back at the broken star.
Mercury’s eyes shimmered with worry and concern, out of his concern for the sun. He could tell the sun wasn’t doing so well..
-about 1 billion years later?-
Mercury had overcome his fear of sleeping, and for the first time in maybe millions of years, he finally got a good rest. But oh boy, did he regret it.
When mercury woke up, he felt immense heat coming from the sun. Mercury’s eyes widened in shock, Mercury felt like he could break, right there.
The sun had fully turned into a red giant, no longer the red hue, more like his whole surface was dark crimson red. He’s gone. And Mercury wasn’t there for the sun’s last moments.
Mercury couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t care if the planets were to start laughing at him, or taunting him. Mercury slumped to the (floor??) and couldn’t help but let a choked sob out.
He thought of all the times the sun had protected him from Venus, well sure, Venus had became better and they had made amends, and the sun had redeemed himself like the earth But all of them had their own pros and cons, and some times, Mercury actually enjoyed the sun’s presence.
The usually warming and calm atmosphere,was turning cold due to the lack of the sun’s warmth and presence. Oh how Mercury wished that he would have never felt asleep, he wanted to be there for his greatest friend in his last moments…
Is that why the sun insisted Mercury to rest? Because he didn’t want mercury to suffer?
-About like 400 million years later-
(Venus pov)
Time was nearing soon, Venus had observed the sun had been long gone from the start, and he knew neither Mercury or himself had much time left.
The whole solar system had been quiet ever since that night, when Mercury’s screams could been heard from the whole solar system. It broke Venus’s heart, really. He wished he could have been there to support Mercury, but he decided it was best to let Mercury have some time for himself.
It’s such a shame, the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite, had such a sour personality nowadays, when their hair used to flow graciously, and everyone would admire them. But now, Aphrodite, or now know as Venus, was nothing but a cold mean hearted rock.
Venus had always liked Mercury, in a romantic way, but he tried to cover it up with liking Theia back then, but it had done nothing other than hurt him.
Maybe it was the lost of life that had made Venus so mad with revenge? But nonetheless, Venus had already gotten over it a long time ago. He knew he had to tell Mercury about his feelings soon, but multiple times had he tried, but quickly dismissed it.
-Mercury pov-
Losing the sun was well, saddening and left a gap in Mercury’s core. Every day, the burning heat in Mercury’s core would increase, and sometimes Mercury would feel himself getting pulled towards without the sun.
-Venus pov-
He knew Mercury didn’t like him. Mercury had made it clear that he saw Venus no more as friends. It was aching and it was burning his core more than his atmosphere could.
Mercury had always cared for the sun more that any of the planets had, was it venus himself that made Mercury this way..? Scared and alone..?
More years had past, and each year that had past affected Venus more and more, consuming him whole. Earth and mars would usually just hang out and play cards with each other, trying to keep their minds off with the current events, and Mercury would always been staring into the sun.
Venus had tried to sleep as he was tired of releasing his anger on asteroids all of the time, and of course, even his mind wouldn’t let him rest.
Venus woke up , finding himself playing cards with earth, mars and mercury, and was confused to find out that earth still had life, as his life went extinct billions of years ago.
"Earth I thought you..” Venus muttered, taking in his surroundings. Mars had no rings, as if his moons had never crashed into him.
"Thought what? That I’d lose my life or something?” earth raised a eyebrow while laughing
Venus heaved a sigh of relief, as he realised that it had been a dream, and the sun haven’t died yet. He had longed to see the smile on Mercury’s face, now etched on Mercury’s face as he won the cards match. Usually Venus would be worked up on seeing Mercury win, but Venus felt happy, for once.
Little did he know, it was all a dream and that Venus would wake up to the nightmare soon.
All of a sudden, Venus heard a scream coming from the middle of the solar system and came back to reality. Oh no. Venus knew that scream way too well.
-Mercury’s pov-
Mercury had just been staring into empty space as usual, when all of a sudden, he felt a pull, a pull he couldn’t resist fighting back.
Mercury fell to his knees in disbelief , as he felt himself being pulled towards the sun. He didn’t know it would happen so soon. He didn’t even get the chance to talk to all the planets, have one last game with the rocky planets, and confess to his love, Venus.
After all this time Venus had bullied him, Mercury had thought of it as venus’s revenge for Mercury leaving Venus for the sun. He didn’t take it to core.
And now Mercury would never be able to tell anyone, anything.
Mercury was about to fall into the sun, when he felt another gravity. Mercury slowly looked up, as he desperately tried to clear his vision.
"Venus. Are you nuts?? You’re going to get crushed by the sun’s gravity!!” Mercury yelled in somewhat anger
Venus didn’t care about Mercury’s comments, and kept on rushing towards the sun, if Mercury was going to die, so was he.
"Venus..” Mercury was going to say it. He didn’t care if Venus was going to hit him, or make fun of him anymore. Now Venus was standing right from a near distance that was almost reaching the sun’s Roche limit, while Mercury couldn’t escape the sun’s Roche limit, while slowly burning away more and more each second.
The sight of Mercury burning away hit Venus's core like a sharp asteroid. Despite the fear that coursed through him, he refused to let Mercury suffer alone. He wouldn't allow it.
As Venus put all his might into trying to pull Mercury away from the red giant, it was too late. He was too far gone. No. Mercury couldn’t die like Theia. Theia’s death was already too much for him, he couldn’t live seeing another love die.
Mercury kept losing his vision, and despite his haze, he spewed the very sentence his core had ached and longed to speak for billons of years.
"Venus. Stop. I know i haven’t been the best towards you lately and the others, and I can’t let you die because of me. I love you, Venus. And I want you to live. For me..? That’s what Theia would have wanted..”
Tears threatened to spill from the corners of Venus’s eyes, but he held them back, refusing to let his emotions rule him.
"Mercury..."
Venus's voice broke as he struggled to retain the composure that seemed like a second skin to him. Although Venus was getting pulled closer to the red giant and soon he wouldn’t be able to get out of the giant’s grip soon, Venus didn’t care. He was selfish. He always wanted other people to live for his own benefit.
But this was different. He wanted Mercury to live. He knew Mercury wanted to live. He had to keep fighting.
Just when Venus was about to accept his own fate, he felt gravity pull him back, further away from Mercury. Earth and mars.
"We.. can’t let you die too.” Mars protested as he and earth managed to get Venus away from the red giant’s grip.
A flash of light blinded everyone, and as soon as Venus regained his sight, he looked up from his position and found Mercury in a broken state, smiling, not at all unhappy that he was dead. But he was.
Venus couldn’t help but think it was his fault. He should have pried more. Now both of his lovers were dead.. that was theia and Mercury’s last message to him after all. To keep on trying. And he had to live with that.