unforgiven ➽ a Halilintar-centric fic

22 | my only regret

AN: 42k words! WOOO! (looks at my draft) Ah shit...

AN 2: Api has been retconned to be knocked out instead of using his powers.

When you're fused with the earth itself, there's not a lot of things that you could occupy yourself.

That's the story of how Gempa was unwillingly left to his own thoughts.

Gempa hadn't known what to make of Halilintar since their fight. He didn't even know why they'd fought to begin with. Was it because of Halilintar's innate hatred of aliens, or did the problem lie within Gempa himself?

Was it because of Halilintar's insistence to remain stewing in his own hate, or Gempa's persistence stepping on a landmine?

Or was it because of how much Halilintar had changed, for the better or the worse? Another constant in his life gone forever, slipping through the cracks of time until all that's left of his brother's former self was a caricature in his mind. The Halilintar he knew was abrasive but shy, evasive but brutally honest. He used to be someone Gempa could depend on, someone who he'd grown to know like the back of his palm.

Once upon a time, he could say with full confidence that whenever he fell, Halilintar would be there to catch him. However, reality was cruel, and he could no longer say the same.

Admittedly, Gempa freaked. He panicked. The answers that Halilintar had given just didn't match Gempa's memories of him. His wording, his tone and body language – it was as if someone had taken a character from a cartoon he'd known all his childhood and retconned them into an entirely different person. It was that, but with all the whiplash and none the context.

He'd spent the whole day thinking about the night before. What could have been and what he should have done, but in the heat of the moment, he'd definitely said things he regretted. Were they true? Yes, but they weren't meant for Halilintar's ears. Halilintar had made his choice years ago. He should respect it.

He should, but he didn't want to accept it.

Halilintar had always been the pillar of the three. He was prone to outbursts and tantrums, but he was always there when anyone else couldn't be. He took Gempa under his wing when he'd first come to the orphanage and protected him from everyone else. He made sure Gempa was fed even at the cost of his own well-being.

It was supposed to be the three of them. Them against the world.

(Reality was often disappointing.)

Tracking down Halilintar's footsteps wasn't a difficult feat. Compared to Taufan, Halilintar's lightning and traces were practically glowing beacons for him to follow. His every step was remembered by the earth, leaving trails for Gempa to tail.

"... defeated by two Lance Corporals..."

He didn't need the full context to make guesswork of what was happening, and he had a feeling that Halilintar hadn't been talking about a game of Dungeons and Dragons.

The thought of Earth being under attack by aliens was mind-boggling to him. Sure, there was the occasional invasion on Pulau Rintis because of them, but never had he heard about them appearing anywhere else. If they did, he would've heard, but with how Halilintar reacted, it was like this wasn't the first time he'd dealt with this scenario before.

He'd have to look into this later, pulling his attention to the path ahead. The trail of lightning had come to a stop, and he emerged fresh from the ground, reforming himself into human and returning to air—