innermind-au

[innermind-au]

Reunited

Terra and Sun waited anxiously for the entire night in the living room. Sun had changed with Terra urging him too, Sun didn’t want to, not wanting to even miss the slightest thing, but with the encouragement of Terra, he did. The kids had gone to sleep around 8:00 so that meant they could focus all of their attention on the well-being of Cosmos.

Even though they couldn’t do that much, they were stuck on the couch. And each could not feel any more useless. They wanted to help, but they didn't want to interrupt the others.

While Solar, Moon and Monty worked on Cosmos throughout the night. Occasionally one of them would come up and get a drink of water, or take something. Terra and Sun would both spring up to ask if Cosmos was okay. Though they would always respond back with a:

“We don’t know.”

“We’re still in the process of stabilizing him”

“Hope for the best”

And that’s all they would say. For the trio truly didn’t know, Cosmos autonomy was far beyond anything they could even comprehend, they were basing their predictions off of the human body, and animatronic. Yet that wasn’t even enough to comprehend what made up Cosmos.

Sun and Terra waited up for the entire night. Sun let his baby sister sleep in his lap, and lean on him so she could get some much needed shut-eye. Sun would hum her to sleep, while running his fingers through her hair, which was comforting for the earth-animatronic. Terra was absolutely terrified of losing Cosmos. Sun knew that they had rough patches, extremely rough patches. But they still loved each other, he knew Terra did.

They were still siblings.

The hours dragged on, and Sun drifted into a light slumber, not enough for his system to completely go into rest mode, but enough for him to still be aware of his surroundings.

Eventually the night came to an end, and the sun started to rise. Terra had awoken, but she didn’t feel well rested, she supposed that her brother being on the verge of death would do that. She noticed sUn had been sleeping, so she left him on the couch, as she got breakfast ready. She knew that her siblings, and husband would be completely drained when they got out of the basement.

The clock continued to tick by, and around 7:17 the trio came out of the basement. Terra walked over to greet them, their eyes looking sunken in. Even though they didn’t have any skin, Terra could see it. Their clothes were stained with the astral blood, like the Sun had been.

Moon dropped something off on the bar, which seemed to be a pint of blood, and a vial rack, with one vial filled with the astral blood. They quietly washed their hands and splashed water on their face, before they slumped down on the couch, completely exhausted. Sun had woken up with a start, with the shift in the couch. While Terra went to go sit next to her partner, who gave her a peck on the cheek.

They waited in silence, as they waited for one to speak up. “Is he… alright?” Sun decided to speak up first, he needed to know the condition of his smallest brother. Last he saw him, he was in bad shape. His arm was ripped off, and there was a hole in head, and who knows what other hidden injuries there could’ve been.

Moon grunts, as he sits back up, but slumps over, he puts his weight on his knees, as his arms are the only tuning keeping him upright. “Monty, Solar, and I, have managed to stabilize him… We think…” Moon said he wasn’t confident, none of them were. This was their first time dealing with anything so complicated, and medical. They were engineers, inventors, they didn't work with the body.

“You think?” Sun asked, slightly accusative, he didn’t mean it to be rude, but he wanted to make sure that Cosmos was stable, not based on a ‘maybe’.  

“Look, we aren’t astral body experts.” Solar said, slightly annoyed at his tone. “Plus we've been working non-stop for around 12 hours." Monty adds in. “But from the medical material we’ve stolen from the hospital-” Moon said, before he was interrupted by Sun.

“YOU STOLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FROM THE HOSPITAL!?” Sun exclaimed, shocked at what Moon had done. Don’t get him wrong, he wants Cosmos to be better, but he wasn’t expecting Moon to steal equipment from a hospital. Terra was also shocked by this information.“That’s not a good Moon.”

“Well, our brother is in critical condition, we’ll return once he’s okay.” Moon said, getting slightly more frustrated, he rubbed at his temples, a headache that had been gnawing at him for hours, due to a lack of sleep, and a very stressful situation.

“Stop complaining, and be happy that we have materials that could possibly help Cosmos.” Solar said, a little snappy, he quickly gave an apology, he didn't act rude. Everyone was just… tired.. It had been a long night, possibly the longest night they’ve ever had.

Terra, sensing the tension in the air, decided to switch topics. “So, what have you discovered?” She asked

“That an astral body is incredibly complex.” Monty grumbles, stretching out their arms in an exhausted manner. “They’re composed of elements that we ain’t even familiar with.” Monty blinks, his eyes threatening to stay closed. Solar and Moon discovered around five new elements that were found in Cosmos’s body. Each one is far more distinct than the other.

“But one thing we do know is that they’re partially animatronic, and it shows.” Solar continues on. “His entire body is based on his endoskeleton, it forms around it like flesh would.” It was the skeleton for the body, and unfortunately, his endoskeleton had been pretty banged up. So many things had broken, especially the arm…

“That seems to be the only part that’s made out of animatronic, though.” Moon grumbles, if only it had been that simple. It would’ve been a quick fix, but it wasn’t. It was much more complex, much more.

Moon got up, before bringing the cylinder full of blood, while holding the dropper in the other hand. “Another thing we discovered is that astral blood seems to convert another's blood into its own.” The moon set the glass down. “Observe.” Moon said, before pouring the astral blood into the glass.

Sun and Terra looked at the blood, as the cloudy yellow slowly became more vibrant, and the entire glass of blood changed into astral blood. “Woah…” Terra gasped, shocked at what she had seen. “So it just changed all into Astral blood?” Sun asked, looking up from the glass, and towards the Moon.

“Yep.” Moon nods, as he crosses his arms, clearly tired. “We still don’t know what, or even how this happens.” Monty grunts. “All I’m glad about is that we won’t have to ask any astral beings to donate blood.” Solar sighed. They didn’t want to mess with the affairs of this dimension, especially the astrals. They didn’t need to get caught up in their problems.

Then an idea came to Terra. “But what about the other dimension?” Terra asked, they could still help, right? “Don’t you think that the astrals will be able to take better care of him than we can?” They probably know what they would be doing. While everyone here had no idea what they were even doing, or looking for.

“We tried that, darling.” Monty said, resting his hand on her lap, as a way to comfort him. “But when we opened the portal…” Monty said, his voice becoming slightly shaky.

“The only thing that was on the other side was the dark abyss. Absolutely nothing. ” Solar ended the comment. He didn’t want to think about it. Looking into the dark abyss was… eerie… It felt like something was watching him. Right back, and gazing into his very soul. The three of them felt that, which is why they stopped any more search attempts.

“Oh…” Terra hummed to herself, quite surprised, and slightly scared. “That’s not good…” She mumbled, with no one else in the other dimension to help them, this meant that would continue not knowing what to do. Unless they contacted the astrals of this dimension. Which none of them were in a rush to do, knowing there could be severe consequences.

“Yeah…” Monty said, rubbing his hand back and forth, in order to comfort Terra. She gave him a smile, and put her hand on top of his. “Do you think that has to do with Cosmos’s condition?” Sun asked. “Most likely it does.” Moon agreed.  

They sat in silence for a minute, before Sun asked. “Can.. Can we go see him?” He wanted to see his little brother, and make sure he was okay. He was in bad condition last time he saw him, he was bleeding everywhere… “Yeah, he’s sleeping.” Moon nodded, everyone got up and followed him to the basement.

Once they were in the basement, the air was filled with a sterile smell, mixed with fresh bandages, and the stench of the astral blood, the smell wasn’t potent as before. But now they could smell it, the blood couldn’t be described. There must have been different elements that they were not familiar with. But it still made the family queasy going down into the basement. Knowing that the smell was the blood of the youngest brother..

They turned to the couch, which was a make-shift bed. Thankfully it was a pull out couch, so Solar had pulled it out for Cosmos. While there were other smell tables which contained medical equipment that they must have used. There were needles, scalps, and other medical equipment which were supposed to make precise cuts. It made Terra and Sun nauseous just looking at them, knowing it must likely pierced into Cosmos.

Cosmos laid there, their eyes closed, and a bandage wrapped around the part of his head which had a big gaping hole. There were other bandages wrapped around his arms, where it had been clearly ripped off. His clothes had been disposed of, and was wearing light clothing . He wore a breathing mask over his mouth and nose, and IV’s and Astral blood had been connected to him.

“Oh…” Terra said, covering her mouth, as she felt tears starting to prick the corner of her eyes. What happened to her brother? “His body,...” Terra whispered, as she fought the urge to cry. “Yeah…we tried our best to patch him up…” Monty grunted. There were internal injuries, his shoulders had been dislocated, many burn marks, and other injuries which none of them had any experience in doing.

Sun looked at the breathing mask, slightly confused at its presence. “Why’d you give him a breathing mask, we don’t need to breathe, and I don’t think astrals do either.” Sun stated, he suspected astral didn’t need to breathe, they lived in space, and visited other planets. With probably different air, and versions of oxygen.

“No, but we simulate breathing, and we feel the urge to breathe.” Moon explained, which is why they mimicked breathing. Along with the fact that when they found Cosmos, they heard faint breathing. Which showed that Cosmos was still alive, even if it was just barely. “So a breathing mask would simulate breathing, which then in turn, would encourage Cosmos to breathe.”

“Same for the IV, I guess?” Terra asked, looking at the IV bag. They probably also took the IV bags, and the needles along with the other medical equipment. “Yeah, we don’t know what Cosmos runs on, so we’re sending their body nutrients.” Solar said, as he fidgeted with his rays.

“What about his head…?” Sun asked, he was slightly worried about that. You don’t exactly recover from a wound like that. But still Cosmos was alive… “Last I saw him, his head was shot through.” It was horrifying to see.

“Well that’s the interesting bit.” Moon said. “their body seemed to heal itself really quick.” Moon explained, he remembered how the body seemed to have repaired itself without them having to do anything. “Though from what we can tell, the head is still healing itself, which leaves it vulnerable." The part of the head had been soft and mushy, and was a different color from the rest of the body. Which was something the others had realized with strange markings that had decorated Cosmos’s body. “So we wrapped it up, to prevent infections.” He continued. “We’ll be changing the bandages in the night…”

“Oh… I wonder what they went through to get that injured…” Terra said, some tears starting to trick down her face. While her partner comforted her, nuzzling their head to her chest, and holding her close. She hadn’t forgiven Cosmos for what he had done all those years ago, maiming her. But now she wasn’t sure if she would ever get to forgive him now.

“We all want to know.”

“But we won’t know anything, until Cosmos wakes up.”

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Luz continued to look at the window with his two stuffed animals in his lap. He had been waiting for what seemed to be like forever and ever! Yes he had new friends, who talked to him, but he still missed his big brother, his friends said that he was okay. But Luz still waited for him

But off in the distance, Luz could see a small figure approaching, it first started off the size of an ant, before it slowly and slowly got bigger. It approached from the dark forest. Luz gasped, as he pressed his face against the window, trying to get a better look.

But there was no doubting it.

It was Orion.

Luz shot up, as he quickly bolted for the door. “THERE’S ORION!” Luz gasped, as he grasped at the door knob, and quickly slammed the door open. Before running through the field. The grass was long, but a little path had been made from how many times the way had been trekked through.

And Luz ran dead straight for Orion, he could see him! And he was slowly getting bigger and bigger!

“ORIONNNN!!!!” Luz screamed, as he ran faster and faster. His legs burning, and his chest hurting, but it didn’t matter Orion was here!

“LUZ!” He could hear Orion yell back. Luz’s heart practically jumped at the sound of Orion’s voice.

It was really him.

His figure became clearer and clearer. Luz could start to see the stars on his cape, he could see Orion’s tired but glad eyes. Luz squealed, as he could feel tears of happiness starting to prick the corner of his eyes. “ORIONNNN!” Luz screamed back.

Once he got close enough, Luz jumped into Orion’s arm, tackling him in a hug. Orion grunted as he fell back, due to how Luz threw him off balance. They landed on the ground, but Orion kept Luz safe within his arms. He also returned the hug to Luz. It wasn’t as tight, or as snuggly, as Luz was giving him. But the hug still felt good.

After a couple minutes passed, of them hugging each other, after so long apart. “I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE HERE!!!” Luz said, finally pulling away from his big brother, and looking up at him. Luz smiled, as tears started to stream down his cheeks. Orion's face stayed monotone, but Luz knew he was feeling as happy as he was “You were taking forever and ever!”

“Sorry about that.” Orion said, his voice as monotone as he looked, but that didn’t matter! Because Luz knew he was happy, and really did feel bad for taking such a long time. The Dark Forest was big after all. “But the only thing that matters is that you’re here with me!” Luz nodded his head, wiping away the tears.

“You okay?” Orion helped wipe some tears from Luz’s face. The smaller being leaned into the touch, hoping to receive another hug. “I heard that you had been crying.” Orion continued, as he pulled away. “What?” Luz blinked, he had gotten distracted by the touch. He quickly remembered what Orion had said. “Oh… Yeah…” Luz looked away, almost ashamed. He didn’t mean to cry.

“One of my new friends-” Luz tried to explain but Orion interrupted him.

“The voices?”

Luz perked up, that was one way to call his friends. “Oh, yeah!” Luz remembered the voices telling him that they had also been talking to Orion. “Are you friends, as well?” Luz questioned, hoping that they had the same friend! “Not relevant, continue your story” Orion grumbled. Luz frowned, he should’ve known that Orion wasn’t as trusting as Luz was. Orion always said he needed to be careful

Luz quickly shook it off, before continuing his story. “Well… they asked a personal question…” Orion’s face didn’t change, but Luz could feel his demeanor starting to change. Sparks of anger started to radiate off of Orion. “Made me cry… Not their fault! I’m just sensitive!” Luz quickly defended his friends, not wanting Orion to scare them off.

Orion patted Luz’s head, trying to calm the kid down. “Kid, it’s okay.” Orion hummed. He still didn’t trust them, they could hurt Luz at any time. Especially since they apparently had full access as well, but they were both vulnerable. “But you’re feeling better, right?” Orion asked, that was the only thing that mattered right now.

Luz nodded his head vigorously “Yeah!” He exclaimed, trying to put on a brave face. To be honest, he was still pretty sad, but now that Orion was here, he could feel better now! “Do you want to talk about it?” Orion continued to push on, knowing that Luz tends to suppress some emotions.

“uhm… No, I’ll be okay.” Luz said, but he said it was an uncertainty. “You sure?” Orion wasn’t fully convinced. “One more hug will make me feel all better!” Luz nodded his head. A hug was all he needed. “Go ahead.” Orion said, before Luz tackled him with another hug, as he giggled mischievously.  

“So when did you start hearing these… ‘voices’.’’ Orion asked, he had wondered, and it had plagued him, did they start hearing voices around the same time? “Around a couple hours ago!” Luz explained, humming as they fiddled with Orion’s cape, counting the stars. “Same here…” Orion grunted in return.

“They just want to know about us…. It’s strange.” the darker entity thought out loud. These voices seemed to just want to know more and more about their existence. It was strange, especially since this hadn’t happened before. “That's because they’re caring about us!” Luz quickly went to defend his friends.

Orion shook his head, trying to be as gentle as he could be with Luz. “You gotta be careful, kid.” Orion warned. “not everyone is a friend.” They both knew this, they both learned it the hard way.

Cosmos learned it the hard way.

“I know…” Luz grumbled, kicking his feet in frustration. Not everyone they met could be trustworthy, actually no one other than the astrals were ever trustworthy, there was just so much lies, and enemies lurking in every corner. But his new friends didn’t seem bad! “But I still think they’re good people!” Luz exclaimed, “They’ve been super nice to me!” They asked him what was wrong, they even comforted him when it was getting scary! And when he was super lonely!

“They gave me gifts! And they even sent one for you!” Luz shouted, raising his hands, he had so many things now! His friends had given him so many things! They even gave things to his big brother! They were so nice, and actually cared about him. They cared about Cosmos!

“If you say so, kid.” Orion grumbled, giving the smaller entity head parts. For now, he would trust Luz’s judgement. But he’d make sure that the kid will be protected at all costs. Even the smallest threat, and Orion would strike them down. Even if he didn’t know where they were. He could still be them.

“ So… Tell me what’s wrong…” Orion finally came to that topic, Luz visibly shrinked. He didn’t like talking about things that were on the outside. Everything outside was messy, everything was scary, and there never seemed to be a correct answer. Luz was lost in all of it, it made his head hurt!

“I… uh… Cosmos got himself into some trouble…” Luz murmured, as he rubbed his sleeve, looking down. Squeezing his eyes, trying to remember the messy memories. “I know, there’s been no manifestations in the forest.” Orion grunted, remembering how the shadows, and the whispers came to a sudden halt.

“I-I don’t know all of it… only saw bits and pieces… but…”

Flashes of gold, and dark purple, the purple one that always made Cosmos queasy at the sight of looking at it.

It danced across the starry sky, in a battle of life and death, but the fate had already been sealed.

There was no winning this battle

One last flash, before everything reputed in molten hot pain in the left side of his head..

 “Cosmos got himself hurt in a battle…One of the negative stars hurt him badly… He’s been asleep this entire time…” Luz whispered. Luz wasn’t sure if Cosmos would come out alive. What would happen to him and Orion? A hand gently resting on his shoulder, he flinched before relaxing; it was just his big brother. His brother who was trying to calm him from having tremors.

“You did a good job, Lu.” Orion said, trying to calm him down. Luz nodded, as some tears trickled down his cheek. Orion wiped them away with his thumb. Knowing that looking on the outside was tough, there were things that terrified Luz. Those were things that Orion couldn't protect Luz from, and it angered him.

Orion pulled Luz into a hug, Luz melted into the touch. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll be okay…” Orion whispered, rubbing his back, as he could feel Luz cry a little bit more. He didn’t know what Luz had been experiencing, he could only see the fears through Luz, and the manifestations.

“Y-yeah…” Luz sniffled, pulling away, not wanting to seem like a baby. “Can we play? I don’t want to talk about this grown up stuff anymore…” Luz murmured, and Orion nodded, knowing that Luz needed a break. “Yes.”

“HURRAY!” Luz cheered, throwing his arms up, before getting off the ground. He dusted off his pants, as he looked for things to do. “Let’s make flower jewelry!" Luz cheered, as he grabbed Dorion's hand, as they walked towards the flowery parts of the field.

They could face the dangers ahead, and they would do it together

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You may now ask Luz and Orion questions.

Questions previously asked will be answered in the following section, if they are still relevant, thank you for your patience.  

[innermind-au]

MANIFESTING SUNFLOWER

MANIFESTING…

MANIFESTING…

MANIFESTING…

ERROR!

ERROR!

ERROR

MANIFESTATION FAILED

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“It’s okay if you can’t send me flowers…” Luz hummed, as he looked outside another window other than the front. “I have lots outside!” Luz said as he looked at the flower field right outside the house. Varieties of flowers were close by his house.

“Also, we don’t have access to any tv shows or video games, other than the ones we’ve watched already.” Luz explained, that’s one of the reasons it had been so boring in the mindspace without Orion there with him, He had nothing to do, and all the memories of past video games and TV shows were blurry. Which made it even harder to play and rewatch some moments.“But all those memories are blurry.”

“It’s hard to remember things when you’re fighting all the time.”

Cosmos was brave for fighting and protecting his family

Even if his family did sort of leave the place Cosmos was protecting.

That’s okay, they’re safer now.

[innermind-au]

For Luz: im glad you like the gifts!

Is there any songs or lullabies you like? If so, which ones?

“My favorite lullaby?” Luz tilted his head, he had only one favorite one, that was his most favorite one ever! “I love the one Moon had, he used to play whenever I needed to sleep.” Luz recalled how Moon would sometimes cradle him to sleep. Other times Moon would wait in Cosmos’s bed, and wait for him to fall asleep, before leaving him all snuggled up under the covers.

“and it was super secret, and he’d only play it for me!” Luz giggled, glad that Luz had decided to spoil him with the little things. It was always the best when Moon put him down for the night. Not even the daycare kids got to hear it! It was only for Cosmos, and Cosmos only! It was the best thing ever!

“Though he didn’t play it anymore, because Cosmos was supposed to act older…” Luz said, saddened by what had happened for Moon and him to drift so far apart. It didn’t help that it wasn’t his actual big brother Moon, it was Nexus. And they had a hard time connecting…

“But it sort of went like this!” Luz said, trying to switch the mood to happy again. He closed his eyes, recalling how the lullaby went. So soft and peaceful, always calmed Cosmos down, even on the worst of days. Each note twinkled like the stars had been singing.

“La, la la la la la la. La la la la la la.” Luz sang as he rocked the dolls as Moon once did to him. “I really liked that lullaby, my most favorite one, ever!!!”

[innermind-au]

for luz

don’t worry buddy! Your big brother is on his way! In the meantime, you can talk to us! What’s your favorite color?

“I know, I still miss him though.” Luz mumbled as he continued to cradle his dolls. He wished he had something else to do, rather than wait.

“And I have loads of favorite colors!’ Luz hummed, as he swayed his head to an imaginary tune in his head. “But I guess I like pink, like my eyes!” Luz pointed to his eyes, before using his hands to make circles around them, and showing how pink and big they were.

“See how pink and cute they are?!”

[innermind-au]

*le gasp* we can send them gifts?!

For luz: heres a extra fluffy blanket, i think you'll like the texture. how about you tell me some of your favorite activities? Thinking about them might help you calm down some. :)

For Orion: heres a stress ball, you might need it. :> Do you think you're close to Luz yet? They need their big brother right now...

MANIFESTING FLUFFY BLANKET AND STRESS BALL!

MANIFESTING…

MANIFESTING…

MANIFESTING…

ERROR!

ERROR!

ERROR!

MANIFESTED A SMALL BLANKET, AND A STRESS BALL!

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“Woah…”Luz said, looking at the things that had suddenly appeared before his eyes. A small sky blue blanket, along with a dark blue stress ball lay together. “You guys are soooo nice!” He grabbed both of the things.

“This cute blankie can be for my stuffed animals!” He said, as he put Spigot, and Tap in the bundled blankie, they slept cozy, cuddling with one another. “I’ll save the stress ball for Orion! It’s his favorite color!” Luz said, before he put the ball beside the window.

Still waiting for Orion.

[innermind-au]

Oh, What inspired me to write this?

Well, I’ve been wanting to make a Cosmos/Lunar angst story for a while. It just seemed so unfair how he was shoved under the rug in canon. Like all his trauma, and experience was vastly cut down, for simplicity’s sake. Like, he was sent off to war, for his family, mind you. And then literally a week later, his family LEAVES him in the dimension where he’s fighting a war.

I thought about other Cosmos angst ideas, but none of them ever clicked, or worked out the way I wanted them too. Until I thought about this idea, before passing out in my bed. I knew that the idea was probably not to go anywhere, until I woke up in the middle of the night, and read the fic “A Sweet Little Face (That can’t be possibly be Mine)” by LuxaraOwO. I lowkey read that thing in a sleepy haze, (I also lowkey recommend) and my thought was.

‘Oh yeah, I am so going to make that fic now…’

AND HERE WE ARE!

Thank you all for reading, and I can’t wait for ya’ll to see what I have in store!

Because I plan on being as evil as possible! (Maybe even adding some inspired scenes from LuxaraOwO)

[innermind-au]

(If asking something more than once isn't okay just ignore this, I don't want to flood the ask box)

To Luz: Orion is near Luz, he's even stopped answering us because he's so focused on getting to you. He's okay for now, and will be here soon. Does our talking and questions bring you any comfort? Here, let me try sending a present...

(I'm attempting to send Luz a night-light. When turned on, it shines reindeer and rabbit silhouettes.)

“Oh! You’re talking to him!?” Luz asked, slightly surprised, he didn’t know his friends could also talk to Orion! “I didn’t know that!” He hoped that they managed to become friends! So they could be best buddies together! “I’m glad he’s coming though…” Orion was talking to them the whole time… Which means now he’ll be coming even quicker now! He needs to get here faster though…

“I hope he gets here super quick…”

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MANIFESTING NIGHT LIGHT WITH RABBIT AND DEER SILHOUETTES 

MANIFESTING…

MANIFESTING…

MANIFESTING…

ERROR!

ERROR!

ERROR!

MANIFESTED SMALL PORTABLE NIGHT LIGHT

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Luz heard a whir occur, and some appeared in the corner of his eyes, Luz turned in that direction, and he saw a little night light, which seemed to be in the shape of a star, but also had a handle so he could carry around. Woah.  

“WOW!” He was star struck form where the magical little thing came from. “Look at that!” Luz said, getting up, and grabbing it. It was small, and he was able to grasp it in his hand. He looked around, wondering where it could’ve come from.

“Is this another gift from one of you guys?!” He asked, realizing that they could send more and more gifts! His eyes practically sparkled at that. “So cool!” He said, as he held it close to his chest.

“Thank you guys, thank you so much!!!”

[innermind-au]

“Hm?” Luz looked up from his spot, he had been mindlessly cradling the little bunny in his arms. Just needing a rhythm to keep him grounded. “O-oh.. My reindeer?” Luz asked, feeling too weak to get up, but he managed to reach for his deer. Which had been left on the ground, discarded.

Luz knew what that felt like

“Yeah, his name is Spigot!” Luz showed off his little reindeer happily. “And he’s my friend!” He made the deer wave to his friends that weren’t there. But I could still see him, and everything he was doing. “My brother gave him to me! Before… The bang…”

“Monty Please-”

“After the bang everything changed…” People had started to expect too much from Cosmos, too much from him. But Cosmos still changed for them, he changed for his family.

He realized how grim he was sounding, so he quickly changed the topic.

There’s no need to cry.

“But that doesn’t matter! Spigot is my friend, and he’s never changed!” Luz said proudly, Spigot had stayed by his side, since forever! Spigot was cool and brave! Spigot protected him from things!

“And now he has a friend, meet Tap!” He lifted up the rabbit, which he had so proudly named Tap.

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“Hm.” Orion grumbled to himself.

Luz needed him

And these questions from this unknown voice were slowing him down.

“I’ll be there soon enough.” If he ran faster he could easily get there. But he had to only focus on one thing at a time.

“I’m not letting anyone stop me.”

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Orion is no longer answering questions.

[innermind-au]

For Orion

Does cosmos know about you 2 or is he unaware?

(btw for this next one you don’t need to answer, bc i feel like it might spoil the plot, so if it does, just ignore)

Oh and um.. so uh… one of us may or may not have asked about tha family, and Luz mentioned Terra, and how everything that had happened to her was their fault- so now another one of us manifested a rabbit plushie to try and get him to chill, but also we don’t know what to do???

“Cosmos does not know we exist, since we are in the mindspace.” Orion explains. The mindspace was the state of the unconscious person. Cosmos didn’t have access to this layer of the inner mind.

Though Luz used to access the mindscape, which is why Cosmos was able to act so childish. Which is how Cosmos had been able to regress. But since then…

Cosmos blocked off Luz from entering the mindscape, which in turn. Completely shut-down his ability to regress.

You don’t act like a child in war.

“Luz used to be able to affect the way he acts, but he has no power anymore.” Luz had been one of the first things Cosmos had shut out. Then it became memories, belief, and emotions. Cosmos didn’t see cause for them. Because the astrals had no need for any of them.

But Luz still needed Cosmos.

And Cosmos needed Luz.

“I’m getting close”

But right now, Luz needed him.

[innermind-au]

Question for the mod! Can we send them gifts? If so, can I manifest a pair of soft gloves for Orion and a plush rabbit for Luz? So Spigot can have a pay buddy?

Question for Luz, who's your most favorite big sibling/older sibling of your entire family?

Question for Orion, can you share what your worst memory of Sun, Moon, Earth, and Solar is? If that's too much can you tell us who your favorite older sibling is?

Oh, good question!

Let’s see…

Three…

Two…

One…

POOF

Wow, looks like it can work!

To be fair, not all things can be manifested into the mindspace, but you can try. The mindspace is tricky, and sometimes it doesn't connect, not all gifts given will enter the mindspace! Especially since it's Cosmo's mind, and not yours.

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Luz looked up

He needed to calm down.

But when he did, he noticed a bunny plush laying in front of him. Luz was surprised. “A-a bunny…?” He didn’t have a bunny plushie, he didn’t have any other stuffed animals, besides spigot… “Didn’t have this here before…” Where did it come from? No one could’ve given it to him… expect…

 “D-Did one of you guys send this to me?” Luz looked up, looking around from the imaginary stranger, as he grabbed the rabbit. It was soft to the touch, and had a cute pink nose, with floppy ears, and beady eyes. “Thank you…” Luz said, as he wiped away tears that remained. Holding the bunny in the other hand

But then one of the voices arose from the emptiness of his room, asking him of his favorite sibling. “M-my favorite sibling…?” He sat there in thought. Sun was mean, he said mean things. Moon put him in scary simulations. Terra…

Terra-

The only one that was kind to him was Solar… He used to play with him all the time… Before the bang…

“Solar… I guess… He’s nice…”

Luz murmured as he rocked the rabbit in his arms, like he was lulling the bunny off to sleep.

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While Orion ran, a soft thing blocked his view, he halted to a stop as the thing that had obscured his vision fell to the ground. He looked down, and he saw a pair of black gloves on the ground. “Gloves…?” Orion observed it, looking for any possible points of ambush, before he picked it up. They felt soft to the touch.

“Hm.” He observed before safely tucking it away in his robe.  

Then a voice asked the worst memory they had of the celestial family.

“Worst memory?” Orion asked, there were so many.

Too many.

“Terra.” Orion said, the memory always haunted Cosmos

The way she screamed

She was in so much pain

All their fault ALL THEIR FAULT!!!

The guilt that drowned them in grief and fear.

So many nasty looks-

So much hate-

They hurt their sister

And she will never forgive them

 “Definitely, Terra…”

[innermind-au]

Orion felt his blood start to boil as he heard this.

Why was Luz crying?

Luz doesn’t cry unless something triggers them.

“What!?” he roared, as he picked up the space, his speed increased

“Why is Luz crying!?” The only thing that could trigger Luz right now was that one of the voices must’ve triggered him. There was nothing else that could hurt him.

 “What did you do?!”

[innermind-au]

Orion froze at that question.

He stayed silent.

But one person came to mind.

Terra.

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Luz froze when he heard the question, his body stiffening.

Any regrets?

He had so many.

Cosmos has so many.

But it all lead back to one person

“T-Terra…” Luz said, as tears started to run down his face like a waterfall. “S-She didn’t d-deserve it…”

Deserve any of it,

All his fault

All his fault

It's all his fault!

It would've been better than they hadn’t come back from space at all!!!

Luz’s breath started to pick up, his hands started shaking, as he struggled to breathe. 

Where’s Orion?

[innermind-au]

(for Orion)

Oh yeah Luz is ok! They miss you though, and are saying that they like your head pats!

(Questions for Orion)

when did you first form? Like I what point in cosmos life?

what do you mean cosmos is always awake? Doesn’t that hurt them?

(sorry idk if I asked any of this before 😭😭😭if I have, just ignore that question)

Orion hummed at the question, glad that Luz enjoyed his head pats. The kid was touch deprived, he needed much more than the life that was given to him. “Mm.”

And then the question, when he first gained consciousness… When he was ‘born’, or something along those lines. “I first gained consciousness after Cosmos’s death.” The bang, as Luz called it.

“When we were revived…” Orion hums, as he remembers how dark and dangerous the forest had gotten, every tree looked like it had been burnt, and the shadows lurked, and they screamed. Luz was scared, because he was a child. Cosmos was scared because he survived something that should’ve killed him.

But it didn’t.

“His mental health took a toll on the inner child, along with expectations being placed upon him. He could no longer act like himself.” Orion grunted, he remembered how Luz would cry, they would cry so much. Realizing that his family no longer saw him as a baby. They all did little things, they all showed that they expected him to be older.

“So I was made, as a defense for the inner child.” One that would protect Luz, his being of creation, was to protect the inner child from manifestations. Ones that aimed to get rid of it, forever. But Orion was to make sure that the manifestations wouldn’t touch Luz, again.

“Also ever since Cosmos has become an astral, he’s never gotten time to rest.”

Astrals ran on positive star energy, and positive star energy alone. They didn’t eat, they didn’t drink, they just absorbed. Cosmos was so hungry those first few years, whether it was because he grew accustomed to the star energy for power, or whether he repressed the hunger Orion didn’t know.

“He doesn’t need to.”

[innermind-au]

Sorry if im asking again too soon, im just excited ;w;

For Orion: easy big guy, i ain't here to hurt anyone. Im just an observer. Anyway, whats your weapon? It looks like a cool bow.

For Luz: my nickname is Lulu, kinda like yours! Nickname buddies! Does Orion call you any other nicknames?

“Hm?” not dangerous, they say? He'll be the judge of that.

Orion hummed, as he pulled the dagger out, and sliced tree branches in the way. “No, it’s a dagger.” One powerful one at that, hasn’t broken a single time, and he could summon it as well. “close range, like how Cosmos attacks.” Cosmos always got close to the attacker, before killing it.

Even though Cosmos preferred far range, the Astrals insisted on close range. To make sure that the attacker was dead. Cosmos could do nothing but comply with the orders of his superiors.

“It’s made out of pure energy from what I can tell.”

Orion made it disappear before continuing his venture towards Luz.

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Luz squeals happily, happy that someone was able to have the same nickname like him! “NICKNAME BUDDIES!!!” Luz happily stims, shaking his hands, and giggling out of pure joy. “YIPPIE!”

Once he finally calms down from his little happy dance, he tries to search his mind at other nicknames Orion called him. “Oh, Orion also calls me by, Lu, kid, and child.” Luz crosses his arms, remembering how Orion would just call him ‘child’, which Luz did not like at all.

“He used to just call me ‘child’ all the time. But that was before I convinced him to call me ‘Lu’! We’re best friends now!” Yeah, they were better than best friends! They were brothers! And Orion was his big brother!

[innermind-au]

This is for both!

Do either of you know Moon, Sun, and Solar?

Luz hummed, looking up from his paper, his brothers? Yeah! They were his (best friends) family. “Solar, Sun, and Moon?!” Luz exclaimed. “yeah of course I know them!” Moon and Sun saved him from Eclipse! Then he (became friends) and Solar became family! Because he helped him join his bigger family! “They’re our big brothers after all!”

Luz hummed as he looked outside, missing Orion, and his other big brothers. It’s been too long, he wants to see them again. He wants to go home. “I miss them… I hope we can see them soon.”

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Orion grunted at the voice. Solar, Sun and Moon? The older brothers of Cosmos. “Yes, I know them.” The things that Cosmos yearns for the most, his family. “They’re Cosmos’s older brothers, me and Luz's older brothers by default.” Which was a strange concept in itself.

Orion sighs, Cosmos did his best to keep the best memories of his brothers, but for some reasons it’s always the worst ones that haunt him. “Even though Cosmos tries to remember in a positive light, that doesn’t mean they don’t show up as manifestations."

[innermind-au]

(Question for both) The other manifestations? Can ether of you tell us what they are?

(Question for Orion)

when did you first appear? How did you meet Luz?

Luz had gotten bored of waiting for Orion, so he had pulled out some paper and crayons, but he still stuck close to the window. In case Orion came by before he finished his drawing.

Luz perked up when he heard the voice. “Oh, they’re scary things…” He muttered, they were so scary… They looked just like his family! They told him so many things… Things that Prion had told them weren’t true! “That’s how me and Ri first met!” Luz remembered.

“I was being attacked, and he came to the rescue! Like a hero!” Luz was stuck, the manifestations had cornered him, and attacked him! But then Orion came to save the day! He was like a super hero! Luz quickly drew up a picture of what had happened, once he was done he pulled away, revealing his masterpiece.

“See!?"

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Orion grumbled at the mention of manifestations, they were a problem, One that no one could control, not even Cosmos. They just appeared, and all they wanted to do was hurt. “Manifestations are inner fears, and thoughts.” Orion says, which is why they take on the figure of family members, or astrals. Because of what they had said in the past, band memories, and words that left scars. “Ones that really stick to Cosmos, and cause him harm.”

Orion remembered how Luz had been crying out the day that he had first appeared in the mindaspace, he was so helpless. He couldn’t do anything, and all he did was cry. “And try to cause harm to the inner child. Which is Luz.” The inner child needed to be protected at all costs. Cosmos depend on it, Orion depended on it

“But I can take care of them, I’ve always had.” Since the first, and until the last day, Orion would. “The problem is that there isn’t any.” Which should be a good thing, but it wasn’t. No manifestations meant something had happened outside. “That means Cosmos isn’t conscious.”

“And ever since he joined the astrals, he’s always conscious."

[innermind-au]

Luz tilted his head, Orion had used that word, but he never understood it like he did. But he did know they lived in the mindspace “Mindspace? I don’t know much about it, but Orion does!” Orion was super smart! He knew all parts of the mindspace! He was sort of like a scientist, or something. “He’s smarter than me!” Luz said proudly, Orion, his big brother, was super smart!

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Orion hummed in response, sounding like they needed a basic run down of the mind space. These voices weren’t familiar with how the mind works, apparently.

“Mindspace it’s like the mindscape, but Mindscape is where the person, in this case Cosmos, is conscious. This is typically where all their thoughts go.” Orion hums, that place always seemed to be shrouded in smoke, from what he could recall. But he couldn’t access that plane, and neither could Luz.

“Me and Luz live in the mindspace, which is essentially the unconscious person.” he continues to explain, tree branches snapping whenever he steps.

The inner person, dare he say.  

“This is where repressed memories, beliefs, and manifestations go.”