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Sometimes, in the quiet moments when one becomes three and Gempa is left to watch Ice and Blaze laugh with each other, he wonders what it would be like if Taufan and Halilintar were here instead.
It’s a mean thought, but Gempa is young and selfish and misses the other two of his three; it has always been them together, never too far apart. Even with the forgetting of their memories, they had found their way back to each other through the ache of something lost tucked deep within.
It’s not that he doesn’t like Blaze and Ice. They’re a part of him too, his family, his brothers, but it’s not the same in the way you might regard a twin in comparison to a sibling that was born later.
Gempa watches Blaze and Ice practice their aim, trying to hit a tree (that can't move) several feet away. He watches them bicker, banter falling easily between the two of them, and something aches in the space between his ribs.
It's easy to blink and see Halilintar and Taufan instead, arguing somewhat playfully as they always did while Gempa tried to mediate. It's a bit of a cruel joke, maybe. He see red and blue, but it's never the right shade.
He has Blaze and Ice and Gopal and Hang Kasa. Even Adudu and Probe on the good days. And yet Gempa feels alone, without red lightning and playful breezes.
He inhales, exhales, before standing up to start his own training.
Time rolls on; Gempa practices making rock pillars and jumping from one to another, increasing his agility and when they start running out of plates he ends up making them too. Hang Kasa says something about learning to have fine control over his power, but really it's just easier to have Gempa make them instead of going through the process of gathering clay and moulding it into new plates.
Gempa doesn't mind; it's soothing to spend time slowly crafting things from scratch. He thinks this is a new hobby of his now, right up there beside making a cat's cradle. Gempa likes to lose himself in the repetitive motion and pretend that all his brothers are still with him, and that they'll be back soon, laughing away.
(When he’s torn away and remade into green crystals, Gempa processes little during that period besides a soothing quietness. Later, he’ll think that since Retakka first appeared, he had never been more peaceful. He doesn’t tell anyone.)
When his brothers come back, Gempa drinks in the sight of blue and red in the shape of Taufan and Halilintar, relief flooding him because they're safe. They're back. He did it.
"I'm sorry for failing you." He chokes on a sob, tears trailing down his cheeks, arms wrapped tight around the two, hugging them as close as he can.
"It's okay, Gempa." Taufan murmurs into his shoulder. "We're back now, aren't we?"
Gempa blinks furiously against the tears as Halilintar hums a noise of agreement, and thinks, I’m so glad they’re back.
(When they're all together and tucked in side by side, slumbering, Gempa always finds that he'll have curled around the other two in his sleep. He'll wake up from nightmares of Retakka laughing, of bruises blooming on his skin and ribs that ache with every breath he takes, and finds himself holding onto Taufan and Halilintar.
He’ll remember they're safe, that they're all alive, and that he'll do all he can to keep them from being hurt again.)
Gempa watches Beilung laugh and laugh in a sickening way that sends shivers down his spine, and realises that he has failed once again. His brother dances in the wind with manic glee, not quite in control of his actions and unaware of the devastation in his wake.
He tries to scream but the boy doesn't hear, and Gempa is forced to watch as Beilung comes back to himself with a sudden fear, unable to stop the winds raging all around him. Things manage to calm down before anything goes too far, but there's a sour taste in the back of his throat that is reminiscent of fear. He didn't manage to stop his brother from doing something he would regret.
Taufan clawed out into Beilung in a flurry of white and blue, and raced off before Gempa could so much as call out his name. In exchange, the boy led waste without knowing, and became terrified once he realised the damage he caused.
Gempa hates the situation; Taufan is delight and mischief with goodness carved into his skin, and yet harmful happiness became known to them once Beilung appeared.
If someone as kind as Taufan would become so destructive upon reaching tier three, then what would become of someone like Halilintar? Would Voltra lose all control and destroy everything in his path?
Would they end up like Retakka?
It's questions like this that make Gempa hesitate at the thought of Duri evolving, leaves him horrified when he finds out how close Nova and Blizzard were to being unleashed when Blaze and Ice finally reunite. Nothing happened of it, but with the way the two elementals didn’t even have any memories to bring them back from the havoc they would cause if they had hit tier three…
The thought makes Gempa sick, makes him think of howling winter storms and raging infernos and his two brothers fighting until one goes out.
It goes like this; Gempa is meant to protect, to do good, to make sure none of his brothers are ever hurt again. He fails. It’s a fact, at this point. The galaxy takes away his brothers again and again, makes his stone shields crumble and his protection breaks down into dust, and what good is Gempa if he cannot even protect himself?
Gempa stares down at the descendant of the previous owner of Halilintar's element and thinks, why are there so many people who wish to take away those I love away in this world?
Kira'na demands for Halilintar to offer himself so she can reclaim the element that rightfully belongs to her. Gempa's blood runs cold, and Halilintar tenses beside him, swords flashing red in his hands as they make eye contact. Kira'na wants to take away Halilintar like Retakka did, wants to strike the boy from his brothers once more, and-
"No!" Gempa explodes, terror surging him through the thought. "Take me instead. Please- please don't take someone else from me."
He's had enough of stolen brothers, of the absence of the other two to their trio, and he thinks of the time when he was stolen instead. When he had faded away to a void, and he should have gone mad with boredom but just wanted to drift away in the darkness, his awareness a faint thing saved for green crystals in a place that could be mistaken for space.
He didn't have to worry about a thing, and maybe it's cowardly, but Gempa would rather never see the light of the day again then be left behind once more.
Kira'na regards him with something like pity, and Gempa knows she will refuse his offer before she says it. Halilintar is staring at him in shock and rage at his sudden outburst, his unwanted attempt as a sacrifice; mouth opened to say something before Kira'na moves in with her sword in hand.
Gempa slams down a fist instinctively, a rock wall shooting up between the woman and his brother, delaying her before she’s climbing it. The world slows down; Halilintar stands firm, head tilted up, teeth gritted and swords raised, ready to fight until he falls.
Kira'na, trying to reclaim the element stolen from her ancestor long ago, and perhaps in a way she is justified, but Gempa can only think of the jarring absence Halilintar being gone will bring, can already see Taufan sobbing over their lost sibling.
Something gives way in rocks shattering in two, and Gempa moves.
Krystal is crafted on a pleasant day, in the midst of a situation that was meant to end in despair, and only has eyes for anyone who dares to try to rip someone from his family. The world explodes in crystals as Krystal opens his eyes to Kira'na's shocked face, and does not smile.
Protect, his soul sings, and Krystal slams his fists together.
(Gempa comes back to downed enemies with Taufan and Halilintar by his side, one hand on each of his arms, and Kira'na slumped at their feet. Gempa tastes bile in the back of his throat, but feels a quiet sort of delight that he finally has the power to protect.)