unforgiven ➽ a Halilintar-centric fic

26 | power without strength

AN: Merry Christmas! Here's an early release to celebrate :3

Gempa never thought it'd be dreadful to hear thunder before.

When they were children, thunder meant safe. It meant that Halilintar was by his side, ready to unleash hell upon the aliens who'd want them dead one way or the other. It meant that Halilintar was angry—not at them, but at the people who hurt them. Where there was thunder, his big brother was sure to follow.

Even after he left Earth, he'd feel the slightest bit of nostalgia and wistfulness when he heard the roar of the clouds on alien. It was the small bit of connection he still had with his brother when there was no contact. The fitful weather had been comforting to him, and he felt as if his brother was always there, like he never left.

Now he was back home, and he could see Halilintar in the flesh, but he was no happier than he was when he was still in that cold, sad broom closet given to him as a room in his cadet years. Vargoba was wrecking his planet, his brothers were fighting to the death somewhere, Api was still out cold and Daun was on the verge of a full-blown meltdown, and Gempa was one split hair away from derailing into hysterical laughter.

He didn't feel like Gempa, the savior of the galaxy with many years of experience under his belt. He felt more like Tanah, a scared little boy wandering aimlessly in the orphanage's gardens, wondering when his older brother will be released from study time.

Vargoba wasn't even a world-ending threat, and he's faced plenty of those. At most he was a low A-rank villain that he could arrest in ten minutes' tops, but with Halilintar and Taufan thrown into the messy equation, the problem had become exponentially more frustrating. With most of his friends missing, using his full power was out of the question. His powers were often more destructive than most, and the last thing he wanted was to bury them alive.

Gempa was a leader. He was the pillar everyone relied on. He was the responsible Lance Corporal his seniors and juniors could turn to; but right now, the only thing he wanted to do was cling onto his older brother's shirt and cry into it.

Maybe it was the stress that's been culminating at the back of his mind finally collapsing into his psyche in his moment of weakness. Maybe it was the distress from his ruined relationships with Halilintar and Taufan slapping him in the face and screaming THIS IS YOUR FAULT. Or maybe Halilintar's words had cut deeper than he initially realized, even if the lightning elemental wasn't in his right mind.

Halilintar was right. He shouldn't have come back. Destruction and chaos always followed wherever he went. He ran around the galaxy playing god and the consequences were finally catching up. They may defeat Vargoba today, but who's to say others won't show up next? What's stopping their past foes like ABAM, Retak'ka, Bora Ra or Ejo Jo from knocking on their doorstep?

"Gempa," Daun called. "Is everything okay?"

"Ada Da," Gempa said abruptly, jolting both himself and Daun out of their stupor. The very first time they encountered grief and loss. Their first defeat. "This is exactly like Ada Da."

They'd sworn to never bring up the subject, and for good reason. Though Adu Du's plans were ultimately foiled, the day left long lasting scars. Some of them have yet to heal and scab over, and each time the topic was breached they would back away as if they'd been spooked. (Because they have.)

Daun frowned, as the name meant nothing to him. "Who?"

Gempa pretended to turn hard of hearing, which was easy to feign while he checked up on Api's condition.