The night hadn’t been happening for too long, but it felt like he had been laying in this field for ages. Not that he found it annoying, on the contrary, he quite enjoyed it. The longer he lied here, the more he started to enjoy it. But he had always enjoyed looking at the sky and remembering stories he was told about the stars. Lately, those stories had found their way into his head, transforming into something he would much rather believe than the bleak words he was fed. No, he had quite the imagination of his own.

What he hadn’t expected was for Apollo to join him, or well, to talk to him. Mercury had his hands underneath his head, which he now lifted to look at his older brother. The younger Commander smiled and nodded, putting his head back on his hands again. ‘’I sure am!’’ He spoke enthusiastically as his eyes gazed over the sky again. ‘’You want to join? Tonight is the most perfect night.’’ He wouldn’t mind company. It was more a question if Apollo would survive his never ending flood of words he always seemed to have prepared.

The grass had been dry the past days as it had been warmer than usual. The warmth usually quickly vanished after the sun went down, but tonight it was lingering around, like it wanted to make the young commander comfortable as he gazed above, to a sky he knew he could never reach. If only one day..

To his surprise, Apollo decided to join him, which only let Mercury feel a little warmer inside. Someone wanted to spend time with him, which meant fun! The Commander explained he still had to hunt tonight, and Mercury nodded in understanding. ‘’Theres a nest of cats at the northern border of the forest.’’ He spoke softly, implying that he rather didn’t want the other to go there. But he also knew Apollo was no Minerva and probably wouldn’t harm them. A sigh was relieved from his lips. ‘’It’s a great night for hunting as well, indeed.’’ He continued to mumble, letting his eyes trail the skies again.

He wondered what kind of stories the sky would bring him tonight. Would they be happy? Would they tell history or would they be disappointing? The last thing could never happen as Mercury was hard to disappoint these days. He disappointed himself the most, so the outside world did have a challenge if they wanted to make things worse.

But for now, he at least had some company and he had some time to get away from his thoughts. The past weeks had been hard but he managed and as far as he knew, nobody had noticed. Which was a good thing. He smiled as his brother promised him that he wouldn’t hurt the cats. But that smile faded as the proposal to hunt together came. Mercury frowned for a moment. ‘’You know I am the loudest of us all. I would scare everything away. And that would be a good thing because then you wouldn’t hurt animals but then again it would be a bad thing because then I would ruin the hunt and I would ruin everything because that would mean no food and no leather. Ah, you get what I mean.’’ There he went again. Gods Mercury, you really need to get your words straight.

This had been a strange encounter. Mercury favored Apollo over most of the guardians, strangely he was still beneath Minerva, and their talks somehow always calmed him down. He appreciated how the guardian always seemed to cheer him up and take time for him even when he was a pain in the ass and couldn’t and wouldn’t stop talking.

The fact that the other Commander suddenly wanted to spend time with him, was new to him and Mercury wasn’t sure if he could trust it. But it was nice that Apollo told him he wanted to spend time with him. Unbeknownst to the younger guardian, a smile appeared on his lips as Apollo asked him to tell about the stars again. ‘’There are many with us tonight,’’ He started serious as if he suddenly had turned very wise. ‘’Each carry a different story and each carry a different meaning. It all depends on their constellation and how long they have been with us.’’ The vampire got into his element as his eyes fixated on a set of stars as if he suddenly could see the lines between them.

Every star was different. Sure, they all looked like each other and sometimes shone as bright as every other. But they were all different, just like every fingerprint looked the same and yet had a whole different path carved into your skin. It took time to notice how different every star was, but once you did you could notice patterns and stories. And it was because of that reason Mercury gazed at the night every time. Because patterns and stories changed. And he hoped he would too one day.

But for now, he was stuck wondering if that was ever going to happen. Apollo asked him a question Mercury could only take seriously and it took him a few moments of silence to reply, carefully thinking about his answer. ‘’That could very much be the case. And it would explain why some of them vanish over time. They no longer need to look after someone, their time is done and they are needed somewhere else.’’ The young Commander mused. It would be a beautiful explanation why Elliot suddenly had disappeared. But it couldn’t explain why he had come back.

How long would it take for a star to realise it no longer needed to guard anymore? How long until a star would vanish before they would appear somewhere else and watch over someone again? And what let a star decide that they needed to guard that specific person? Did it count for animals as well? The questions popped up in his head, one after another. And it didn’t stop. Apollo had opened a door in his mind Mercury hadn’t even known he had, and now he couldn’t stop thinking.

Pondering the questions going through his head, he almost forgot his brother had asked him another one. But when the realisation hit, everything in and around him went quiet. Would they vanish? And when would that be? The Commander bit his lip, uncertain, maybe a little scared before giving his opinion. ‘’I believe this life doesn’t last forever. No matter our blessing.’’ His voice was softer as usual, a little hesitant perhaps. ‘’As stars fade, so will we one day.’’ Oddly poetic and at the same time a little creepy. Mercury didn’t want to think about death, but it was also the thing that kept him going most of the time. Living life before death would tell him his time was up.

This conversation was getting oddly existential and Mercury wasn’t sure yet if he liked it or rather strayed away and talked about the more fun stuff. Like how every star carried his or her own different story and combined with another star or constellation, altered the whole ordeal. But that might not be something Apollo was interested in. And for tonight, Mercury could respect that. But only for tonight.

The younger commander shifted a bit, stretching his legs to get a little more comfortable. In the time he had been human, he would have fallen asleep by now. Carried to sleep by the guidance of the stars who told him everything was fine and that he deserved to rest. But now none of that could happen anymore. He had received a blessing that sometimes felt more like a curse. The young one thought about the words Apollo spoke, biting his lip again. ‘’It is a possibility..’’ Mercury put out his thoughts carefully. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to continue down this path, not wanted to be confronted by his own hauntings. ‘’Or maybe they just need a vacation from all the stupid stuff we are doing.’’ He spoke a little more lightly with a shrug. Because Mercury wouldn’t be surprised if his own guardian star would do that. A lot.