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: 𝐋𝐔𝐗 𝐂𝐀𝐄𝐋𝐈
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· · ─ ⋅• Ｄ-４ •⋅ ─ · ·
"Let me see him!"
Life would have it as... 'unfortunate'.
"Duri calm down -!"
The elders always said to learn to love and care for those around you while they're still here; alive, walking on the same earth as us.
Calm down?!
Duri and Solar's brotherhood is plenty fruitful. Although, yes, you may find them bickering about the pettiest things: the nature elemental poking at his dear younger brother with the snarkiest comments he can come up with to tease the latter to death, whilst Solar in return, would return them aiming for dominance in the argument.
But they had so much more than that.
They grew up as the last of the septuplets to master their powers together.
Duri relied on the entertainment Solar would bring to him as he babbled about everything 'science'.
And in turn, Solar was always assured that Duri would take his side no matter the situation they find themselves stuck in.
They learned together, laughed together, cried together, played together - though they appeared to be pulling on each other's hair often, in their hearts, there was no one else they knew to trust better than each other.
Duri didn't want it to end. Not yet. Not like this.
How can I calm down when I don't know if Solar's ever gonna wake up again!!!
He wanted to shout; to spell out his anger or even childishly point fingers at an inexistent culprit. With gritted teeth and trembling fingers, his emerald eyes dulled down to a gloomy green.
Gempa could see the panic in the younger's expression. He saw how desperately Duri had wanted to believe they were lying, misinformed, something - anything that could tell him he can still talk to his brother one day.
He saw it - their mistake.
The septuplet who always had that glint of reassured happiness in his eyes...
He could break -
"D-Duri-!" The older grunted, eyes growing wider in surprise as the nature elemental pushes him with heavy force. In his confusion to the unforeseen show of strength by the younger, Gempa stiffens, hands tense on Duri's shoulders as he recomposed himself from being pushed back as he blocked him from the automated doors of the infirmary.
"Gem!" The earth elemental almost sighed in relief, thanking whatever god silently that Taufan was there to back him up. "Duri you gotta quiet down Solar's resting in there!"
They both knew using too much force could make things worse, and Taufan contemplates with himself if he should start pulling on Duri's jacket a little harder, but the latter's next outburst causes them both to hesitate.
"Why didn't you tell me last night?! Everyone else found out but I slept through everything!!"
Gempa frowns, a lump growing in his throat, lustrous golden orbs darting towards Taufan's royal blues with an expression he didn't take too long to read.
What do we do?
Consider them telepathic cuz Taufan heard it in his head, he was sure; Gempa needed his big brother.
He didn't need to be reminded of last night's... Fall outs.
The bitter memory of their eldest storming out;
How Gempa struggled to mend the misunderstandings between himself and Taufan;
The all-too-obvious concerned looks their friends threw his way, despite their words of comfort;
Even Ais who he hasn't seen come back to their room since he left;
He's dealt with enough for the last 24 hours.
And now he has to stop Duri from barging into the infirmary so goddamn early in the morning.
"Let me through!" His voice rose. "Solar!!"
Taufan pulled his shoulder, brows furrowing as a panic rushed up his spine. "Duri - what are you doing!? Stop ye -"
"SOLAR! Don't do this to me - you can't leave me!!"
"Woi D-Duri!!" Taufan felt a numbness in his body, hands trembling as his heart pounded with a familiar aching in his chest. It hurt to see his brother plagued with thoughts so grim, he felt his eyes grow warm - it was becoming hard to breathe.
"Du-ri stop it -" He almost pleaded. "Don't talk like that!!"
"Duri you have to listen to us -" Gempa hoped for a better way, an opening, to redeem themselves because looking at their situation, it didn't look like they had a chance to make him listen. He felt disappointed in himself; he couldn't even -
I'm sorry...
He just wasn't enough anymore.
I should've woken you, I - we should've told you sooner - I'm sorry, I'm sorry -!
"D-Duri I'm s-orry - Duri p-please I - "
His voice cracked - and Taufan feared the worst.
This couldn't be happening right as the sun just rose that morning!
His hiccups were surfacing, lips trembling, and his eyes felt like they were burning in his skull but he knew they were moist and his heart was clenching in on itself and -
"You heard them, Duri, you were fast asleep."
E-eh...? Taufan gaped; it wasn't much but a wave of relief washed over him. His stressed-out-expression softened too quickly that it had Gempa turning his head immediately at the sound of the voice and the soft hum of the doors sliding open. A-api...?
The sky was dotted with constellations twinkling ever so faintly through the night probably just 30 minutes ago.
Blaze remembers waking up to the morning star of the solar system they were in; amber eyes dilating at the brightness glaring through the airtight windows of the infirmary. Turning on the sofa, he winces, pausing his movements as his body ached all over, screaming at him to lie back down. "Damn it." he even exclaimed, deciding it was still too early and allowed sleep to consume him once again.
... Then he heard it.
"Solar!"
Frantically, Cahaya...!?, he's pushed himself off the sofa before he could register whether he was already dreaming again, if he's finally gone insane and is starting to hear things, or if Solar -
Solar...! His head snapped, as if he'd woken up all over again, feet already on the floor as he looked over to the unconscious light elemental.
The monitors by his bedside beeped steadily; the rhythym all the same as last night. And from the couch, Blaze could see the mist forming in Solar's oxygen mask as his chest rose and fell.
He's o-okay... He breathed, the tension in his shoulders fading.
"Du-ri stop it -" Taufan??
"The hell..." Running a hand over his face, he blinks away the lingering sleepiness and begrudgingly stalks towards the doors, a hand on his hip, assuming the muffled voices he's hearing belonged to his brothers.
... And he musters whatever energy he still has to help out the wind and earth elementals blocking the second youngest from barging into the room.
"B-blaze - we woke you - " Gempa was gonna apologise, Blaze could already hear it before he's even said the words.
With a soft shake of his head, he dismisses it, ignoring the way the older stared at him with glazed aureate orbs, and turned his attention to the sobbing nature elemental.
Did he just....??
Gempa's brows furrowed. He'd expected the former to get mad about being disturbed. But Blaze's voice was calm and soft as he spoke to Duri. There was no yelling, no sign of being the hot headed bull he always was, no roughness in his touches, no utter hint of annoyance.
He was like this yesterday too, Gempa realised, and it was so unlike him.
"Duri, buddy, we got over this yesterday. We have to let Sol rest."
The said younger brother continued sobbing, fingers tightly grasping the fabric of Blaze's jacket. "I know but none of you told me anything!!"
Blaze winces, he felt like his knees would give out soon. And yet -
"You knew too! You were there! But you didn't tell me!"
"Sorry bud, really. My only excuse is I got caught up watching him the entire night and I couldn't think of anything else... And dude, you were asleep. We wouldn't just wake you to tell you more ba- ah - unpleasant news."
And yet he was still patient.
"Duri I'll be real with you." Blaze spoke again, catching even Taufan and Gempa's attention with his meticulous choice of words, as he laid his hands on his brother's shoulders. "I dunno when he'll wake up... No damn idea... I wish it could be sooner, but the nerd just had to go and overuse his powers so... We should just let him rest."
It's not like Duri was such a kid. He knew what they've been trying to tell him the second he marched off from their room after hearing the news. He knew but he just couldn't accept that this was their current reality.
...But his brothers were right.
"S-orry Blaze... I woke you up with my yelling..." The fire elemental smiled at this, though only subtly, "Nah, it's fine... Was 'boutta get up anyway." He lied, patting Duri's shoulder gently.
And of course, the other two took note of it.
"Can I at least just see him? I'll be quiet..." Oh how could they say no to him? He didn't mean to cause trouble - not when their situation was already as bad as it is. They all felt the same; he was just worried scared. "Sure bud, get in."
Ushering him through the doors, Blaze waited until Duri's back was turned to him, and he relaxes, body slouching the tiniest bit as a sigh left his lips. It's like the façade he hurriedly put up just now slid off into nothingness; lost without a trace.
He looks exhausted... Taufan couldn't help but notice - with Blaze's sluggish movements, not to mention the darkness in his eyes... There was no fire in them. He wasn't his usual loud and rowdy self.
"You guys really..." Gempa and Taufan perk up hearing him mumbling, watching Blaze attempt to fix his bed hair. "What the hell was that reaction?"
They knew he was referring to Duri bursting out loud like that, and they assume, yes, they might've woken him unceremoniously.
"It's so early - Weren't you and Hali gonna tell everyone? The heck happened Gempa..." His little complaints somehow made it easier for Taufan to believe his unusual sluggishness was just the fatigue... He just hoped he did get some sleep.
But with everything going on, it wouldn't go over the third eldest's head.
"Hali... Got mad last night... So I had to take care of other stuff to cover for him... Duri was already asleep, like you heard, when I.. t-told them about it."
It was somewhat expected, Blaze thought, that spilling such heart-clenching news wouldn't be a walk in the park.
It's not something any of them would take lightly.
... They never could, even if they forced it.
What level of sanity would one have to outright say a life could be lost with not even a frown on their face?
It was a huge clap back to reality.
Blaze sighs, more or less from being exhausted, and plants his hands on his hips. "Aish, I'll bet someone slipped up and it's worse than something I'd do."
Taufan would've laughed, in his head he admits he did, but all he could muster was a tight-lipped frown as Gempa hummed, confirming Blaze's theory.
The older twins could see the gears turning in the fire elemental's head, working up the possible scenarios that could've unfolded last night. And though he seems to have a pretty good idea of what exactly happened, thankfully enough, he doesn't pry for further details and dismisses the topic.
"Let's leave him be. We won't get anywhere if we make him even more angry." Quite wise words, coming from the troublemaker, himself.
And he was so right.
It's only been roughly a day but their problems are nowhere near solved. Ironically, though they hated to realise its authenticity, more and more setbacks were just piling up. Everything was going from worse to appalling.
"Oh, and Api..." It's already morning, Gempa recalls. Blaze still needs his own rest, that much anyone would notice, but as a certain ice elemental's polar twin, He needs to know. "Last night, Ais went out. We don't know where he went but he seemed upset."
Ais...? Well it wouldn't matter to him now if he was still drowsy. He'd go look for him, he had to - "Did he say what's on his mind?" Blaze asks. After all, it was still Gempa. If the siblings had to choose one brother whom everyone would open up to, it'd be him...
That's why Blaze forced a hard swallow when the former answered, "No... He wanted to think, he said."
Had he made the wrong move?
Last he's heard of the younger twin was practically when he visited him the previous night right there at the infirmary. He had contemplated and told himself he won't say anything... It made him wonder.
Maybe it's partially his fault the polar bear was upset.
I should've....
His grip on his hip was subconsciously becoming a little tighter, nails digging through his clothes as he grit his teeth, his brows furrowing with evident fury.
Why can't I just be a good big brother...! Tch!
"W-we can check on him later?" Not again -
Taufan had to cut off his thoughts - and quickly. He knew from the grim look on Blaze's face, it would be a repeat of Duri's experience yesterday if he doesn't interrupt.
"Blaze, I'm sure Ais is just thinking. He said he'll be fine -" If he starts thinking it's his fault again -
"He's probably upset I didn't tell him anything." It was... Painful, to accept the truth. But that's what Blaze did anyway.
Impressive, truly, for him specifically, yet it was also concerning.
This side of the fire elemental, it was too different from their everyday Api.. The gentleness, the admission of his guilt, the general idea that he's not being Blaze. They were afraid it'd leave permanent changes on their brother if their situation doesn't improve.
"Shut it down." Gempa orders and the change in his tone effectively has Blaze lifting his head in response like an old habit. Even Taufan had turned his head in surprise, although it registers in just a second that the authoritative voice was best to be used in that moment. Had Gempa kept talking with his gentler tone, maybe Blaze would be pulling at his hair by now.
Uncanny how all these emotions could easily drown them from the surface of reality.
"I'll talk to him later." Blaze says, mostly to himself, and neither of the two mind, really. They know the bond he had to fix wasn't completely severed, just tangled into a big-ol-knot.
... So they shouldn't worry...
They don't need to - they shouldn't have to...
... Right...?
"Y-yeah, okay..." They'll be okay.
Everything had a step-by-step procedure; even when it came to healing. Nothing permanently changes overnight, though the moon might shine an ominous light too unlike its typical luminescence.
Everything needs time to take effect.
Like a pill you probably had difficulty swallowing as a child, so does a heart blank with grief shall later realise the mind has already found a way to cope.
Duri's hands were clammy, gloveless since he had hurried right out of their shared room to see his brother, eyes wide as he stood there...
Waiting...
Hoping...
"... S-Sol..?" - for a response that he knew he wouldn't receive.
"Cahaya... W-why...??" The lump in his throat was heavy, forcing a hiccup out of him and a sob through his trembling lips.
Heart aching, Duri takes his seat beside Solar's pillow, and he looks so peaceful, his chest rising and falling in a steady, rhythmic pattern, eyes closed at rest... That it only made hot, raw tears spill from the nature elemental's eyes because he knew Solar wasn't just sleeping.
-And he checks his pulse, the way he was taught to as the medic in the team, and he bites back what could've been a loud outcry of disbelief.
"C-ahaya-" Why did you do it? He couldn't even say it outloud now.
Coma - a coma; Duri learned that people might hear you even in a coma when you speak to them. So he couldn't risk being heard - asking a question that -
"... You're so, so stupid."
He said that a lot - mostly to taunt the younger - a harmless joke he threw at the supposed genius cuz he had the older-brother-card-privilege. Of course, Solar was mature enough to know it held no actual meaning spoken by his brother.
But today... Duri kinda meant it. Yeah, he means it and he wanted to actually be an older brother and scold the light elemental for once.
Cuz he never did. He never thought to since most of the time one of their elder brothers would do it.
It's why some people even thought Solar was older than Duri.
Crystalline emeralds held that lustrous glow so bright, so gentle, so simple to understand. And beneath, they dazzle like the puzzle of a cave waiting to be unsealed and discovered for the wonders buried within were not for a child to huddle in.
Sometimes, a cave is just too deep for light to come in.
...Maybe I should start acting my age.
Duri stared, he was just realising, staring down at his brother's face and he's subconsciously following the trails of his bandages around his head, his face, down his neck, to his torso and arms...
Solar's never had that many before, no.
Duri didn't like it.
"Oh Sol..." He finally let out a sigh, allowing his forehead to brush against the former's hair, a tear dripping from his eye. "If you leave... I can't bloom."
It was simple math, Solar would agree. Without the other, the equation is incomplete and the answer, the solution, will never be found.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP-!
"Wha-?" He sat up, his hand instinctively reaching for the latter's in surprise and his eyes dart around the room, looking for the source of the alarming noise.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP-!!
"S-solar...???"
It won't stop.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!!!
"What's going on..?!" They merely grew louder, and louder, and louder, and Duri frantically skimmed over the readings on the monitors, and whether he understood what they meant or not, he just knew from the incessant beeping and the sudden coldness of Solar's hand -
"Gempa!" Duri screamed as a familiar pale coloured his twin's face. "Something's wrong!!"
Duri...?
Blaze heard it, the scream, and he doesn't know why but he felt goosebumps crawling on his skin.
He heard it, "Duri? What's going on in there?!" He heard the rising wariness.
"T-the monitor - it's beeping so fast!"
BEEP! BEEP!! BEEP!!! BEEP!!!! BEEP!!!!! BEEP!!!!!!
It is, Blaze just realised, and he's somewhat mad he's just noticing now... And yet he doesn't - He couldn't move; paralysed standing there planted onto the floor.
Heavy footsteps thud beside him, Gempa rushing passed the automated doors and Blaze's amber orbs weren't spared from the paling expression on Taufan's face that morphed into fear. There was confusion, realisation, panic, and horror in his brother's dark, navy eyes.
From the dull white noise in the back of his head, the records stopped playing and all he heard next -
"Wha - Why is he-!? BLAZE - Blaze help!!"
-is the dread of death knocking on their door once again.
"Solar-!"
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP -
"SOLAR!!"
NO -! It's this again - it's happening again!!!
"-THE FIRE ELEMENTAL ONE!"
"LET ME GO! I NEED TO GET TO HIM!"
Sol -
"Blaze we need you!!!"
Those memories...
The explosion...
The rumbling and pounding of his heart...
The cries - the screams!
No...No, no, NO! N-NOT AGAIN!!!
"C-ahaya -!"
His panic came out as a screech, piercing painfully against his heart, but he chose to ignore it. He chose to be stubborn against his growing fatigue, swallowing the lump in his throat as he finally found himself by Solar's bedside.
The sight barely registered in his head before he even lucidly knew what he was looking at.
That paling, grey skin, the blues crawling underneath, spreading further under the light elemental's limbs, those teary, dilating eyes -
Shit-
Blaze just hears the noises blending into one another; a mess screwing into his skull and he just snaps -
"CALL THE MEDIC!!!"
Blaze's voice roared, startling Taufan so bad Gempa saw him flinch just before bolting for the intercomm.
The wind elemental's screaming into the metallic panel at the wall the next second, and Gempa could hear the same health specialist they spoke to responding from the other end as he watched Duri help the fire elemental shove the various monitors aside so he could climb onto the bed.
Eh -!? "Wait Blaze-!" Golden orbs blown wide, Gempa hastily reaches for Blaze's arm, a new concern making itself known to the third eldest.
"Api! You can't use your powers again - You've been exhausted!"
Oh Blaze was well aware.
I know...!
But did the reckless bull ever care?
But I can't just -!
Amongst the septuplets, the stubborn trait to put others before themselves was evident from all of them... And Gempa knew this - Blaze knew this - yet both of them knew no matter how much Gempa pulled on his arm to stop him, "I'll take care of myself later - Cahaya needs it!"
"Api! The Medic's coming let's -" Taufan spoke up, hoping to reason with their adamant brother - who only barked back an angry "What, wait for the aliens to help while Cahaya is DYING!?"
"W-wha -" Duri flinched, jadeite irises shrinking as shock, fear, anger, sadness - as reality forced itself known to him, unable to hide the trembling from his parted lips. "Wai - Solar's - You didn't - G-gempa what is he -?!"
"Oi Api -!" Taufan scolds, albeit vaguely, eyes drifting to the side where he could see Gempa biting down on his lip. Blaze's words were harsh and alarming, yet despite their protests, neither of the eldests could actively deny their brother was right.
"What - tell me!" Duri - sweet, sweet, innocent Duri - pleaded, tears flowing from his eyes as he falls to his knees, fists wrinkling the hem of his brother's jacket in desperate, desperate need to hear that they were lying.
"You're lying! It couldn't have gotten that bad!" But it was merely wishful thinking.
"I'm here, I can help! I'm not so useless!" Blaze snaps angrily as he pulls Solar close, heat radiating off him.
"We never said -!" Taufan wanted to spell it out to him - make it clear that his thoughts were falsehood and remind him of the importance of his presence in the team.
He - They were just afraid he was pushing himself too far.... The same way Solar did yesterday.
"Believe me, Cy, I know what I'm doing."
The flames ignited, then evaporated, and became an energy source that held impressive stability despite the fire elemental's fatigue.
What more impressive, Gempa notes, is the determination fueling his powers. One would dare assume Blaze is running out of firepower at this point, and yet the siblings watched in awe - there was no sign of wavering might in those eyes.
They don't know when, but the beeping abruptly halted its maddening rhythym, reduced to slower, even beats that allowed the siblings to release the breath they've been holding.
Duri grabbed one of the monitors where he could read Solar's vitals, the drumming in his heart calming down from its high in relief as he understood that yes, the light elemental was stabilising.
Like a miracle, for the second time, Blaze was going to fight if only it meant keeping death merely knocking; the blade of his scythe to remain clean, unused, because no, hell no, "We're not letting you leave so easily, Cahaya."
· • ⋞──━━━ ⋅•⋅⊰∙∘
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍 ;
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