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“ Does he really not remember…? “
Those 5 words are something Mercury questioned to himself everyday… billions of years ago, him and Venus were in love… back when she was Aphrodite. They were inseparable, the picture perfect couple… Aphrodite was his rock, and he couldn’t even imagine a world without her life, her smile, her touch… just a world without her was something Mercury could’ve never expected to happen…
But one fateful day, Aphrodite had broken her kind nature… Vulcan, Mercury’s own brother, tugged at her last string and got thrown into the Sun… The Sun, who for billions of years had been sitting in depressing silence, finally had awoken… finally punished his planets… and he started with Mercury’s dear Aphrodite… her life vanishing in an instant… the light in her eyes, forever gone… the last thing he remembers of Aphrodite is her staring at him, tears rolling down her cheeks as she smiled softly at him…
After that day, Aphrodite had fell into a coma… Mercury had lost all hope, who was he without his Aphrodite? Why is he here now that she’s gone? He didn’t even know if she’ll ever wake up… and if she never did, Mercury wasn’t sure he could go on… after that incident, everything went downhill…
Jupiter had found out about Ares and Pheaton’s secret relationship and had crushed him to shreds, in the process dragging Athena down with him. Saturn’s beloved moon had crashed into him, giving him graceful rings in exchange for his happiness. Proto and Theia had collided, the hopes of life consuming their minds…
Mercury and Mars, for a few thousand years, were the only two rocky planets who had survived the traumatic incident physically… after that day, the solar system changed. The sun became more present in the planets lives, for better or for worse. Proto and Theia’s plan had actually worked, their collision forming a new planet with life known as Earth and a moon known as Luna… neither remember the past but maybe that’s for the better. Jupiter finally let his guard down, turning from an intimidating and abusive dictator to a helpful and caring father figure… and Aphrodite has returned…
Not how she was before though. While Aphrodite was in a coma, her core completely changed, her delicate and tender personality during rough and angry. She… he couldn’t remember anything! None of the past… none of their memories… Sun had given him the new name of ‘Venus’, the only remaining piece of Venus’s past being the small flower that Mercury and Aphrodite had promised to never take out…
Even when he changes, even when he forgets, at least he still hazily remembers the flowers… though Venus was always convinced that it was ‘Theia’ he was in a relationship with in the past. Mercury and Mars never told him the truth of who he truly loved, even if Mercury always had the same flower in his hair, usually hidden behind his googles though… but anyways. why would Venus want to know? After the coma, after things had finally changed for the better, Venus started picking on Mercury. Calling him a ‘pipsqueak’, making fun of his height, how sensitive Mercury was, etc…
Mercury had tolerated it for billions of years, billions of years of the same repeated bullying. So many years of him constantly being belittled by somehow he used to call his. He was constantly dealing with the Sun’s new obsessive and overbearing personality, Venus’s bullying and the pain it caused him, and just everything…
[Current Time: 2025. Nov. 8]
Recently Mercury had been leaving the Sun more often to hang out with Mars, something Sun was pissy about. Particularly today… Sun couldn’t find Mercury anywhere, he assumed that Mercury was with Mars. But when the sun asked, Mars said Mercury hadn’t been near his orbit since he woke up. Sun was fuming, who was he meant to tell his jokes too!? Mercury was the only one who laughed!!
Sun’s gaze shifted to Venus who was sharping his claws in his orbit. The sun smiled, he needed someone to find Mercury and who better than Venus (horrible idea, Sun)
Sun: “VENUS!!!”
Sun yelled loudly, making Venus jump in his orbit. Venus growled, clearly pissed off by being disturbed in his orbit. Venus had very short temper, losing it from the slightest disturbance, he almost tried killing Earth’s life because Earth had called them similar. He also hated being compared to other planets… Venus couldn’t exactly deny the Sun though, he would get solar beamed if he did.
Venus: “WHAT DO YOU WANT!?”
Venus said angrily, his brows furrowing in annoyance. The sun smiled brightly as he pointed to the asteroid belt.
Sun: “Mercury is missing, and I’m making YOUUUUU find HIM!!”
Sun said in a chripy tone. Venus’ eye twitches, he didn’t wanna see pipsqueak!! He hated that small loser, so sensitive, and weak! Venus hated people like that, he enjoyed being strong and large, unlike the weak and sensitive Mercury who almost tears up from the slightest bit of bullying. Venus rolled his eyes and went back to sharping his nails, he didn’t wanna listen to the Sun anymore, he didn’t mind getting solar beamed anymore if it means he could mind his own business.
The Sun pouted, crossing his arms in his orbit as he realized Venus wouldn’t comply. Sun doesn’t like using his solar beams besides as threats.
Later on, Venus was playing cards with Earth and Mars. He was getting really pissed odd because Earth kept winning. He kept yelling it was rigged and the earth just kept laughing and teasing that Venus was just bad at card games… the entire time they were playing, Mars’ mind seemed to be elsewhere, and by the fourth round Venus finally noticed.
Venus perked up, looking at Mars whose gaze kept drifting over to the asteroid belt… Mars was doing that chewing hair thing he always does when he was anxious… Earth and Venus noticed this as it wasn’t hard to notice when that damn red planet was anxious, it didn’t occur OFTEN but it was a well known sign from Mars now.
Venus spoke up, placing his cards down in his gravity as he spoke.
Venus: “The fuck is up with you??”
Venus questioned in a rather aggressive and annoyed tone as he stared at Mars. Mars jumped up in shock at the sudden message directed towards him, he chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke up… his voice had the shake it had whenever he was really worried.
Mars: “Just worried about Mercury, you know?”
Mars said in a sheepish tone… which made Earth and Venus confused. Mercury and Mars weren’t that close to their knowledge, it was more of a trio between the three of them than a quad with Mercury. Earth spoke up in a curious tone as he placed down his cards which won him the game again.
Earth: “Since when were you and Mercury close dude?”
Mars: “uhh… a long while?? You two do realize me and him have been friends longer then I’ve been friends with you two right?”
Earth’s jaw dropped, not believing it. Venus burst out laughing, assuming it was a joke. The two barely saw Mars and Mercury talk, if they did it was during solar meetings or just if Earth and Venus are busy…
Venus: “BAHAHAHAA ARE YOU SERIOUS?? YOU AND PIPSQUEAK FRIENDS??”
Mars: “I’m serious. I’ve been worried about him lately…”
Earth: “Why? He’s got it second best out of all of us, me being first of course. He gets to hangout with the sun aka the most powerful being in our solar system, he’s super fast, and the only issue he’s got right now is Venus being an ass. But that’s normal.”
Mars sighed, knowing they wouldn’t understand. Mercury and Mars had always been close, they both bonded over their shared trauma and being the only two rocky planets left to have all their memories intact.
Recently Mercury had been having more breakdowns about Aphrodite / Venus, even going so far as to take out the rose for a few seconds before crying harder and putting it back on. Mars knew how much Mercury missed his partner, and he couldn’t imagine the pain mercury experiences by being bullied by a reformed version of his dear Aphrodite…
Venus noticed Mars lost in thought, the deep worry on Mars’ face even made Venus a little worried. When he thinks about it, Mercury had been getting more numb to his spiteful comments, something Venus found annoying since what was the point of picking on Mercury if he got no reaction!
Venus: “What’s wrong with Pipsqueak anyways? He’s been weird lately.”
Mars: “Oh just some past… stuff… uh… I shouldn’t bring this up around you two…”
Mars said sheepishly as he gripped his cards. Earth and Venus peeked over at Mars. Mars told those two basically everything, but now that they thought about it… Mars never really shared much about the past, which was hazy for both of them…
Earth: “Ooo?~ please do tell!~”
Mars: “H-Haha… no… I should probably go find Mercury.”
Venus: “Hm, you know what? I’m gonna go find the pipsqueak! I mean, according to you, that dweeb knows about the past and since you’re soooo worked up about him, I’ll go find him!”
Venus said in a confident tone, Mars physically wincing at that knowing that Venus is the planet that Mercury would wanna see the least right now… though once Venus’ mind was set on something, good or bad, he was gonna do it. And just like that, Venus dropped his cards and floated away into the asteroid belt.
Venus wasn’t even sure where to search for the pipsqueak, he didn’t even know why he was doing this. Lately he has been wanting to learn more about his past but he never wanted to be vulnerable enough to ask someone. Venus started searching around, his bright atmosphere producing a light to help him see from the relatively dark asteroid belt.
[a few earth hours later]
After a long while of searching, Venus wanted to give him. Why did he even care enough to search for the pipsqueak!? He was only doing this for mars, and slightly for the past since he knew Mercury knew… he was about to give up until he heard the sound of choked sobs in the distance.
Venus raised a brow, his curiously getting the better of him as he floated towards the sound. He looked around the area where he found it, and in that section of asteroids, he saw Mercury. Knees against his chest, something in his hands, his goggles that he always wore broken against an asteroid, and his usual neat and curly hair was all messy.
Venus rolled his eyes, he was a bit concerned for a some reason but he would never admit it… Venus floated closer to Mercury. Once he was close enough his mockingly rested his hand against Mercury’s head and ruffled his hair, something that usually responded with a yell back or even just a small ‘stop’.
But this time it was meant with silence… cold deafening silence… Venus retracted his hand a bit, shocked and confused by the silence. He spoke up, his tone joking but also slightly worried.
Venus: “Pft, hey pipsqueak. Have you gotten shorter?~ anyways, Mars is worried shitless about you so better return to your orbit lil guy!”
Venus said in such a way, it was sure to piss Mercury off this time. Venus was expecting a yell this time… he always got yelled at or sparked a reaction whenever he said it in that tone… but all he got… silence…?
Venus: “…Pipsqueak…?-“
Venus said hesitantly, his voice filled with uncertain worry and faked anger… he didn’t know why, but no matter how much he bullied Mercury he always had a special place in his heart for Mercury. Just his ‘protective instincts’ his says… though secretly he knows it’s probably not the reason… Mercury suddenly spoke up, his hands gripping tightly around his knees as tears streamed down his face and a few floated upwards due to gravity in space
Mercury: “Do you remember… anything?”
Mercury said shakily, making Venus freeze and tilt his head… Mercury just needed to know… he just had to know if Venus remembered anything… a single glance, an embrace, just anything at all… he had been holding onto hope that Aphrodite will come back… but he was starting to lose it, he was gonna lose it… he just needed Venus to confirm if he remembered… and if he didn’t, Mercury wouldn’t be alive much longer…
Venus: “What?”
Venus said in a confused tone… remember anything? What did Mercury mean by that??
Mercury: “Do you remember ANYTHING… any memory, any moment, just anything from the past… do you remember anything… or is it gone…?”
Mercury said shakily, his grip tightening around his knees as more tears swelled up in his eyes… Venus grew concerned, something slowly cracking inside of him… he didn’t know why, but seeing Mercury cry made him nostalgic for some reason… like he had seen this before, but not the cries Mercury occasionally did when Venus bullied him… no, he felt like this was something different, something softer… He floated downwards, sitting next to Mercury as he sobbed…
Venus: “Pipsqueak what are you-“
Venus tried reaching his hand out to Mercury’s shoulder but he hesitated… his words got cut off as Mercury snapped, his tears non-stop flowing down his cratered surface. He couldn’t handle this, he couldn’t handle his life!! What was he without Aphrodite!? Why was he still alive when he doesn’t have her!? She’s all he wants, all he needs.
Mercury: “JUST ANSWER… please… do you remember anything at all…?”
Venus crossed his arms, speaking in a smug tone though he was secretly hiding his concern and confusion…
Venus: “… Pft, of course I do… I remember Theia. I remember her giving me this flower and her wanting life with Proto!”
Mercury sighed at Venus’ response, turning his head away. Aphrodite wasn’t there, she’ll never come back… Mercury was getting his hopes up for nothing… continuing to live for nothing… Mercury stood up from where he was floating, the thing he was clutching tightly losing its meaning. He stared at it, his eyes still falling down with tears… but his expression remained serious…
Mercury: “… She… Ugh… you really don’t remember anything… Maybe Mars is right… maybe I should stop clinging onto someone who won’t come back…”
Mercury said in a numb tone, a tone Venus had never heard from the pipsqueak before… he retracted back a bit… he was so confused. What was happening? Why was Mercury acting so strange right now? And what was he holding? He had so many questions with no answers. The slow cracks of nostalgia continued to crack.
Everything happening reminding his core of something he can’t remember… he wanted answers, he wanted to kmow what was happening in his core right now… he had just came here to check on Mercury because of Mars, but now he had so many more questions and even less answers…
Venus: “Pipsqueak… you’re being weird as fuck right now. Just tell me what’s fucking happening.”
Venus said in a tone much more aggressive than he had intended… Mercury’s words got stuck in his throat as he choked out a small sob… his hands finally loosened around what he was gripping onto so tightly… inside was the same rose Venus had… Venus’s eyes widened as he saw the rose, his hands subconsciously reaching towards the rose in his hair… a rose he had never taken out for reasons he wasn’t even aware of…
Mercury put the rose in Venus’s hands, his hands lying on Venus’s as he slowly closes Venus’s hands. He almost started sobbing again, he missed the warmth of Venus, the way Venus used to hold him, kiss him, and just love him… all now gone… all forgotten. Mercury started floating away, if he stayed here any longer the sun would probably freak the fuck out more than he already had been… and if Mercury wanted to die he would have to do so by the Sun…
Venus was staring at the rose in his palms, identical to the one he wore… the one he had been wearing since he woke up from something billions of years ago… his core cracked a bit more, remembering something else… he had gotten memories of his past before whenever someone mentioned something specific out the past. It was kinda like a switch where if certain things were mentioned he could remember things about the past…
So far he had only remembered Theia… but now, the name Hermes was ringing in his mind… he stared at the rose, than at Mercury before speaking up shakily… he didn’t know if this Hermes’ name ringing in his mind was because of Mercury or just some random name that was echoing through his mind, but he thought he would try saying it anyways…
Venus: “Hermes…?”
Mercury froze dead in his tracks at the name… his body tensing up as his eyes went wide… he hadn’t heard that name in years… not since the solar system has changed… he never expected to hear that name ever come out of Venus’ mouth ever again… after a moment of processing, he whipped his head around, staring at the shocked Venus still sitting down… his fingers grazing over the petals of Mercury’s rose with wide eyes and a trembling lip…
Venus didn’t know why, but it felt nice to say that name… He looked up and saw Mercury’s shocked eyes on him. Venus growled in anger, he hated when planets stared at him, made him feel self conscious about his appearance… he yelled out, his shaky and gentle voice from just a few seconds ago returning to his regular annoyed and angry one.
Venus: “The fuck you staring at pipsqueak!?”
Mercury was frozen in shock, he still couldn’t process what he had heard… Hermes… Hermes… his old name echoed in his mind. How did Venus know that?? Venus and Earth knew nothing about their old names or lives… so how did Venus know that…? Was Aphrodite still there…? He didn’t wanna get his hopes up but he couldn’t help getting a little excited…
Mercury: “…The name… what was that name you just said…?”
Venus: “Uhh, pipsqueak?”
Venus said bluntly as he rolled his eyes. Mercury groaned, that obviously wasn’t what he was referring to since Venus always called him Pipsqueak…
Mercury: “Hermes… how do you… know that name…?”
Mercury asked in a shaky and hopeful tone… Venus stayed silent, his fingers grazing over the petals of the rose that Mercury had just given him… he didn’t know how he remembered that name… he just had Mercury’s rose in his palms and that name started ringing in his ears… he wanted to know so much about his past but he was always too ashamed to ask…
Mercury got annoyed with the silence, the mention of his old name making some of his old self kick in. He floated closer to Venus, suddenly grabbing Venus’s face tightly with his hand and forcing Venus to face him.
Mercury: “Venus I swear to fucking Sol… the sun, if you don’t fucking tell me how you know that fucking name-“
Venus froze, his expression shifting from confusion to anger to confusion again… Mercury wasn’t usually this aggressive with his actions or words. Sure he was aggressive when they got into arguments, no swears or really loud arguments. But it never resulted in anything physical, unlike how Mercury was gripping his face right now.
Venus growled, attempting to break free from Mercury’s hold, but Mercury’s small hands didn’t budge… Mercury stood there for a bit, his expression irritated yet also confused and remorseful… Mercury suddenly realized what he was doing and saying and released his grip on Venus.
Mercury: “Ah fuck- no shit- I fucking- fuck bitch- SHIT- STOP FUCKING SWEARING- FUCK!!”
Mercury said quickly, he couldn’t stop swearing. Back when he was Hermes, back in the Proto era. He had a FOUL mouth, cussing out every planet besides his wonderful girlfriend Aphrodite. Once he started swearing, it was hard to stop. He had been doing so good in not swearing since the Proto era just for his record to break from this convo with Venus.
Venus snorted at the non-stop swearing from Mercury. He had never heard the pipsqueak swear so much, he was usually so ‘pure’ and ‘innocent’! Not the kind of planet others would expect to swear at all. This made Venus laugh, a genuine laugh… Mercury froze again since it sounded the exact same as how Aphrodite used to laugh, just a bit huskier…
Mercury ran a hand through his hair, composing himself from his swearing… Venus still hadn’t answered his question on how he knew that name… Hermes’…
Mercury: “B-Back on topic! How do you know the name Hermes…? I thought you knew nothing about the past besides Theia?”
Mercury said in a confused yet slightly hurt tone… how come Venus remembered Theia much more before he remembered Mercury!?
Venus just thought a bit, he wasn’t entirely sure how or why his memories came back to him randomly… it was usual due to a key word that unlocks certain memories that he had forgotten, but his core still remembers. Mars had been the one to accidentally unlock those memories during solar card… which is the only time Venus won a round of Solar cards…
Venus shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t know, that was the truth. He didn’t know why he remembered the name Hermes, who Hermes’ was, how he remembered. He just did… Mercury sighed deeply… maybe he shouldn’t kill himself, not yet at least… there’s still a chance for Venus to remember…
Mercury started fiddling with his fingers, something Venus noticed. Venus rolled his eyes and spoke up in a questioning tone.
Venus: “Who even if Hermes anyways?”
Mercury: “Oh uh, my old name.”
Venus: “Wait what-“
Mercury: “Yeah my name used to be Hermes, we all had old names that we had since left behind us due to the names carrying too much trauma according to the Sun.”
Venus: “…As much as I don’t like you pipsqueak, I wanna know more about the past. Mars refuses to tell me-“
Mercury: “Or do you just refuse to ask?”
Venus: “…Shut the fuck up!”
Venus pushed his face away which made Mercury giggle playfully. Venus froze a bit, that giggle reminding him of something. He got another memory, shocking since he usually didn’t get memories that close together.
The memory was him sitting next to a planet, who looked eerily similar to Mercury but in more ancient looking clothing and less craters, that planet was laughing his ass off from something and Venus had playfully shoved him away before laughing as well. As they were laughing, another planet who was smaller than the Mercury looking one walked over, suddenly picking on Venus and calling him ‘Aphrodite’, making comments about her appearance. The mercury looking planet quickly intervened, shutting down the smaller planet’s remarks.
And that’s all Venus could remember… Venus gripped his head with his hands, getting a major headache… he always got a headache after remembering something big about his past… Mercury noticed Venus’s pain and hesitantly wrapped a comforting arm around Venus. Venus glared at Mercury. He hated physical touch, especially from pipsqueak…
But the comforting arm around Venus… brought back more memories. He couldn’t handle one memory, let along three… it gave him a massive headache…
Venus: “F-Fucking shit…”
Mercury: “Ap-… Venus, do you need anything…? You seem in pain.”
Venus: “NO SHI— ughhh…”
Venus groaned as he got another memory. Just being around Mercury and not teasing / bullying the shit outta that pipsqueak just overloaded him with memories. Of course he wanted to learn more about his past, but not all at once… that hurt… he needed to get away from Mercury, this was too much… he wanted to knows more about the past he couldn’t remember…
Venus gripped his head tighter… he stayed like that for a long while, Mercury not moving an inch as Venus did, before Venus’ core finally calmed down. Fuck it hurt to remember… but he wanted to remember more… he wanted to remember it all. He was hoping he could get info on the past from Mars or the Sun, but the pipsqueak worked too…
Venus looked over, seeing Mercury staring down at the ground, clearly lost in thought.
He looked down at the rose that Mercury had given him… this rose. Almost identically to the rose he had always worn since he had waken up all those years ago. He never understood how. The earth didn’t have life back then. He gained his life a few thousand years after Venus had woken up, and flowers hadn’t formed until a few million years later.
So how did he… wake up with a rose? How did Mercury have a rose? Especially roses so big-
He hesitated for a moment before tapping Mercury’s back with a small scowl. Mercury snapped out of his daze and looked towards Venus. He didn’t say anything, just stared… which creeped Venus out.
Venus: “Eugh… stop that pipsqueak.”
Mercury: “Oh, uh sorry. Do you wanna ask something?”
Venus nodded, looking back down at the roses before handing Mercury back the rose that he had given him. Mercury hesitated for a moment before taking the rose and placing it in his hair. Aphrodite… oh how he missed her… everything about her. He missed the proto era in general, it was dangerous but happy.
Venus: “So… pipsqueak, about the past-“
Mercury: “Venus, if I’m gonna talk about the past, you’re gonna call me by my name.”
Venus: “…Tch… fine… Mercury, tell me about the past.”
Mercury: “Are you sure? It’s lengthy and you might beat my ass.”
Venus: “Oh my fucking god- I promise I won’t beat your ass just fucking tell me!!”
Mercury: “Fine fine, I will-“
Mercury sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he stared off at the sun, some asteroids occasionally blocking his view.
Mercury: “There used to be 8 rocky planets. Vulcan, me, Aphrodite, Theia, Proto, Ares, Bellator, and Pheaton. Each rocky planet was owned and trained by a gas giant. Why you might be thinking? To fight. The gas giants were bored as fuck, Sol- I- the sun was swallowed in his own depression, he never paid attention. If anything, Jupiter was the one running the solar system.”
Venus’ brows furrowed as he listened… so many rocky planets… now it was half the size, so what happened…?
Mercury: “Me and Vulcan belonged to Neptune. Theia and Gaia belonged to Uranus. Yo- Aphrodite and Pheaton belonge-“
Venus caught something… when Mercury was saying Aphrodite… he almost said “you” but corrected himself. Venus cut Mercury off. His voice demanding and curious.
Venus: “Wait wait wait. You slipped up. Why’d you almost call Aphrodite me??”
Mercury: “Can you let me finish explaining the damn past??”
Venus: “Tch, fine.”
Mercury: “Anyways. Aphrodite and Pheaton belonged to Saturn. And Ares and Bellator belonged to Jupiter. Bellator and Ares were the strongest and won almost every battle they were in, Gaia and Theia were the weakest. Everything was fine… everything was going to fine is what Sol told us…”
Mercury said softly, his tone turning shaky at the last part… Venus’ eyes softened for a moment as he listened.
Mercury: “But then… well. Vulcan was my brother, and him and Aphrodite had huge beef. Me and Aphrodite were dating an-“
*Venus cut Mercury off again. His jaw dropped and eyes wide.*
Venus: “YOU HAD A CHICK??”
Mercury: “…Is that your biggest concern??”
Venus: “Oh uh right carry on.”
Mercury: “Thank you. Anyways. Me and Aphrodite were dating. Vulcan had hated Aphrodite before we starting dating, but afterwards it just fuelled his hatred more…”