Origins of Olympus S2 One-Shots

Burning Island

(the bois are around 12/13 in this so I tried to write it as such, in a make believe world where they're emotionally vulnerable with each other as brothers should be, I can hope-)

"We're not lava surfing with you! Do you want us to burn alive?"

"Your teeth are going to crack into pieces eating all those stupid rocks."

"Half his body is already cracked, might as well make his teeth the same."

Austin curled up on the ground, hugging his drawn up knees to his chest. Stupid brothers leaving him alone on this stupid island. Got their stupid artifact for them and they run off to find some reef without him. Probably get attacked by sharks while they're at it.

Stupid.

The silence was unsettling. No laughing or dumb jokes or even arguing that he never started, Kane. He hated being alone, it was boring and lonely. Why bother with it when he had his brothers?

Not like he had a choice when they decided to be jerks and not do what he wanted to do. He did what they wanted to do all the time! Swimming with Colin, tree climbing with Sekah, but as soon as they went even near his element? Nope, nada. It left some stupid pang in his chest that he wanted to just go away already!

He had tried to enjoy it alone. Quality spending time with himself and all that, but that just sucked. Five minutes of lava surfing on his own while Colin and Seek's laughter from the ocean right beside the volcano echoed loudly in his head was enough. Screw that.

At least the cocos were nice about adding rocks to his food. Only his food.

Stupid cocos. No, it wasn't their fault... Stupid brothers and their stupid inability to hang out with him. It wasn't his fault that the fire hurt them or whatever. If they loved him enough, they would at least try, wouldn't they? That's how brothers worked! He loved them so he tried; he was the oldest so he tried. But they didn't.

Fire pricked up underneath his feet and Austin sniffed, staring at the tiny flames. They curled up and danced around him, just skipping along in the grass. He scooped one up and sighed with content at the warmth.

Colin and Sekah can't do this.

He huffed and the fire grew towering in his palm. He chucked it away from him and hid his face in his knees again. Tears threatened to fall, but Austin burned them to steam as soon as the smell of salt hit his nose. Stupid salt water. Stupid ocean.

An inferno surrounded him and he let it envelope him, relishing in the familiar soothing. His arms warmed up and his back was scratched at with rough magma. If he imagined hard enough, it almost felt like a hug. A hug from volcanic lava itself.

He dug his fingers into his skin, his left hand leaving no marks on his scorched, craggy right side. Nothing ever did. Didn't work in reverse though, the scars on Seek's shoulder blades proved that.

The hug was quickly ripped from him, leaving him with only bitter cold fire. He lifted his head up from his hiding place and all his limbs locked up.

The island was torched to nothing: charred plants littered the ground of dried up dirt, void of any living soil amongst the burnt black grass. Wind blew through the cinder-filled air, ashes dancing across and blocking out the sun and seemingly blue sky. The world was dulled in night in the middle of the day.

Austin staggered to his feet and rotated slowly and endlessly, basking in the bleak atmosphere. All the trees, grass, rolling hills with small roaming animals, all gone. Desolate from an out of control child's powers.

No. This wasn't his fire. His fire was just like his mom's: alive and full of bright possibilities. The energy of the most beautiful volcanoes of the Polynesian islands. It wasn't capable of destruction like this. Meteors maybe, but not his fire.

He felt thoroughly sick to his stomach. And he was out of rocks. 'I need to find Colin and Sekah.'

"Austin?"

His heart stopped to a screeching halt. He spun around, eyes frantically scanning the burnt island for her. It'd been so long since he heard a woman's voice, definitely nowhere near home. But it had to be her. It had to be.

Everywhere he looked was the same. Eye watering, lung collapsing cinders. 'This shouldn't be hurting me.' He blinked through the searing pain in his eyes while his heart pounded fast.

A hazy, dark figure stood in the distance. Ash showered down around them and gathered atop their head. It collected up and fell upon their shoulders until the ash formed a cascade of long hair. They swept it to one side and a smile broke across their face, a lava filled crack as bright as the sun in his eyes.

Austin swallowed down the cinders now caked in his throat. "Mom?"

Pele's smile dropped. "My son, my dear keikikāne...what have you done?" She held out her arm, gesturing to the dead environment. She shook her head, refusing to look at him anymore. "I tried my hardest to raise you to be the best and this is what you do."

"Wait no! I didn't do this, I- I couldn't have!"

"Maybe I need to have another son. One who won't be such a disappointment to my name and blood." With that, Pele turned away from her son and began to walk away, magma falling and drying up behind her in tandem.

"Wait!" Austin ran towards her, feet kicking up the dead soil in his wake. Ash blew back in his face and he brushed it away, smearing black over his tattoos. He reached out for his mother's turned back. "Makuahine!"

His fingers grazed her and she fell away, collapsing into a pile of embers. Leaving him alone in the wasteland of his element while the wind whistled mocking words in his ears. His hand shook as the fiery dust spilled through his fingers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Austin shot up, blanket tangled around his flailing legs. The fabric constricted him and he threw it to the ground, staring at it wide eyed as if it was what caused his panic. He frantically turned his hands over and over. No mother dust anywhere to be seen.

The door opened and he shoved himself back against the wall. Colin poked his head in, hair disheveled and bags under his eyes. "Austin? What are you doing screaming in the middle of the night?" He yawned and stepped inside. "You didn't see the green lady too, did you?"

"Uh no, of course not." Austin balled up his hands and pressed them into his mattress.

Colin raised an eyebrow at the consequating smoke. "What happened?"

"Tch, nothing! I'm fine, I just saw my picture with Sekah in it and screamed at the horror." He tried to laugh it off but it caught in his throat.

"Nightmare again, huh?" Colin asked. Austin opened his mouth to deny it to Lua-o-Milu and back but Colin just shook his head. "Come on, sleepover time."

Before Austin could object, Colin left, leaving the door wide open. He hesitated but only for a moment as he heard him go to their brother's room. Their voices reached him and something yelled at him to move. So he grabbed his pillow and raced out the door.

Colin went and woke Seek up. Austin didn't know exactly what he told him but he came back half asleep but carrying his blankets. Colin dragged them to the top of the island, to the pallet of flat stones atop the racing lava river. Not touching the stuff, but heating up the rock plenty.

It was as close as Colin and Seek could get to lava without getting burnt or set on fire. They tossed the blankets down and soon were back fast asleep. Austin spread out besid