unforgiven ➽ a Halilintar-centric fic

19 | have you ever grieved before?

Halilintar held Cahaya's shoulder, electricity cackling in his irises. Cahaya grunted, avoiding eye contact as a gold aura coated his body. The other two were tucked away in the kitchen, braiding bracelets and necklaces together the last Halilintar saw of them.

"Why didn't you go to Taufan?" he demanded, irritated. "He's fully healed, is he not?"

Both pairs of eyes settled on the nature elemental beside them accusatively. Daun immediately looked away, developing a sudden interest in the bland wallpaper.

Halilintar sighed. "What is it now?" Weren't they all scared of him? The first time these two broke a fuse, they'd rather let their lifeforce leak all out of their bodies until they'd become a husk of a body over coming to him. Now that Taufan and Gempa were here and only a stone's throw away from the house, they still found the need for his help?

Cahaya glowered. "Say the truth," he pressed. He was no more pleased about this arrangement than Halilintar, which was something they could agree on. "Why not Taufan or Gempa?"

Daun bristled, inhaling deeply. Cheeks red, he spilled his reasoning in one breath, mashing all the words together into an amalgamation of gibberish. "Becausethey'reoutsideandfightingwitheachotherandIdon'twanttodie!"

If it weren't for the nature of lightning and light, they wouldn't have caught the nonsense he just spewed from his mouth. Halilintar frowned at that. Sure, he'd get into fights with Taufan and Gempa, but he'd never heard of the pair fighting with each other. Then again, he hadn't spoken to them in years, so he's throwing stones in glass houses.

"Again?" Cahaya pressed his lips together. "What is it this time?"

Halilintar was once again brought back to the conversation he had in his room just minutes ago, where he had the exact same feeling as before. He had a creeping suspicion where he knew the answer, but it was not the one he wanted.

Daun shrugged. "I dunno," he said helplessly. "They've begun screaming at each other ten minutes ago, and you know how scary they are when they get mad."

"Scary?" Halilintar scoffed, getting both their attention. "I doubt it." The only thing they did that was remotely "scary" was when Taufan tried to bake a brownie, ice-cream and gummy bears in one pan. It did not end well for their kitchen or their stomachs.

"You weren't present," Cahaya disagreed. "In previous incidents, Taufan caused the extinction of half a galaxy when Gempa was taken hostage."

"Gempa shattered a planet into pieces because he thought Taufan died," Daun chimed in. "We try to avoid them whenever they get mad, because nothing good can come out of it."

Destroying an entire planet and killing half the galaxy. Doesn't sound too heroic to Halilintar, but it certainly was an impressive show of power. Their years away have matured their abilities significantly, but they were about as stable as a house of cards when it came to their emotional intelligence.

"That's not 'mad,'" Halilintar corrected them, taking his hand off Cahaya's shoulder. He brushed off the electrical sparks with both palms, rolling his eyes. "That's grief and desperation. As far as I'm concerned, there's a world of difference between them."

To his chagrin, the pair stared at him owlishly, not understanding the simple concept.

Cahaya crossed his arms, tilting his head in confusion. "That's an illogical response regardless," he said. "If casualties are unavoidable, the best course of action is to minimize further damage and deaths. Does grief and desperation constitute voiding all morals and rules in favor of mass destruction?"

"Even if one of them dies, they'll still have you," Daun piped up. "Well, we didn't know you existed before, but now we do! They should be grateful that they have one more brother here, right? Is that why you stayed behind? So they don't get too sad?"