What is going on here? (I'm a little out of sorts)

TWs: Injuries, ominousness, sleep deprivation(kinda). Stay safe :)

« 43 HOURS »

Neptune pried his eyes open, hearing faint voices in the background. He glanced around blearily, seeing nothing but fluorescent white. It made his head hurt, so he closed his eyes again, wincing at the pounding in his head.

"...ust say it does exist... what would one do in order to revive oneself?"

"...My mentor's favorite quote was 'ex quo tempore Novae cum Aether colliduntur, omnes testantur supremam lucem unius sideris.' It roughly translates to 'from the moment a Novae collides with an Aether, everyone witnesses the supreme light of a single Star.' Up until now, I had no idea what they were referring to..."

That voice was familiar... warm, silky, and smooth. Where had Neptune heard it before?

"So, what? Revival is possible?"

"...If it is, then we can't let Mage get close to any of us."

"And if she does...?"

There was a grunt of tired exasperation, "I don't know, I-I'm still working out a few things..."

"You know you don't have to plan alone, I can always help-"

"No!" There was a brief pause of stunned silence, "Uh, I-I mean, no, that's not necessary, Pinwheel..."

"Are you sure you don't need help, Mes? After all, Mage was your-"

"I'm sure, Pin. Thank you, though."

"...Of course."

A ringing noise brought Neptune out of his thoughts, making him tense up as he let out a disgruntled moan. He peered through bleary, half-lidded eyes, wincing at the bright light all around him as he sharply inhaled.

After a few moments of writhing in pain, he noticed the fluorescent light dimmed down and something warm pressed against his cheek. Slowly, he pried his eyes open once more.

Neptune saw a blurry figure hovering over him, shielding him from the offending light.

"Who...?" Neptune's voice cracked as he gazed warily at the stranger.

"...ar me, Neptune?" The other's voice whispered that Neptune almost didn't catch what was said, "Are you hurt?"

Something glided across Neptune's cheek, making him shiver at the contact. The figure seemed to notice as they immediately pulled their hand away.

Neptune pouted, "Why'd you stop...?"

Hesitantly and cautiously, the hand returned to caressing Neptune's cheek.

Above him, Neptune could hear the other swallow thickly, and with an exhale, he spoke, "Neptune... do you remember me?"

Neptune leaned into his touch, frowning, "I don't... know."

The pale blue figure smiled, though Neptune could tell it was strained, "Well... my name is Messier, your best friend who also happens to be a dead Star, or NovaStar, as we're formally called... you, uh, you made us friendship bracelets, remember?"

Neptune's brows twitched, and with a slow tilt of his head, he noticed a prominent blue bracelet wrapped around Messier's wrist.

"You have one too..." Messier uttered, moving his hand to take Neptune's, bringing it up to his line of sight. It was pastel blue with a small golden Star charm dangling from it. As the light glinted off the charm, Neptune's eyes widened as a million different things came to him at once.