Content warning: Episode contains allusions to self harm.

Time is difficult for Elementals. How is one to gauge the passage of time when it has no effect on them?

The seasons in the mortal realm have changed twice since finding Amanda by now. They had found the human in the spring and it's become fall. Crisp leaves cover the mountain Ezi is on.

He had come to get away from home, to practice that strange new power. He had originally tried to relax in his favourite place, Zensar, but found himself restless even in the endless snow.

So, he had come here instead, to a mountain rich with life. A cougar prowls after a goat. Birds sing above him. Deer crunch on the leaves, ears perked for any signs of danger.

For what seems like the hundredth time, he rips out a piece of his hair and holds it in his palm, staring intensely at it. Focusing, he makes his usually wavy, fluffy hair straight and stiff, almost like an arrow. Then tries to toss it. The moment his fingers lose contact, the makeshift weapon is no more, fading away as his body parts always do after a removal.

He tries again, making a knife this time. He can swing it around just fine, but it's gone the moment he lets go. "Useless," he murmurs. "What's even the point?"

He looks at his spear. Other than that day at the orchard, he's never without it in the mortal realm. Most Elementals keep their weapons close by out of habit. If - while outside of the Valley - an Elemental is too far from their weapon, they will experience pain. And if that distance grows too large to handle, they'll fade. Thankfully, the Spirit realm is different, which is why Ezi and the others survived their forgetfulness. But still, there's no need to be without it while here in the mortal realm, the only place he'd ever use it.

"Useless," he mutters again. "At least hair is easy to regenerate."

The only good part of practicing this power is that he's no longer partially fading just from using it, though he's still exhausted. He lays on his back now that he's given up, gazing at the sky. The endless blue, splattered with some white scraps of clouds, drifting slowly by. It's as if giant claws are tearing the fabric of the vast cerulean.

They sky. I remember the first time I saw the sky, he thinks. What Cyn had said a while back still stays with him, about his memory issues. He wishes that were the case. If anything, his too-perfect memory is the cause of his problems, not the lack of it.

The memory was distant yet close.

A dark room. A dark heart. Beating slowly.

A rhythm of a sickness, in body and mind. The rhythm of a heart that beats and feels nothing.

It all changed. The sky was vast, overwhelming. And it was crying.

He's pulled back into the present by a drop of water landing on his nose, as if called down by his melancholy thoughts. He flinches away as more begins to fall. The sky has become covered with clouds, Ezi completely unsure of how much time has passed.

He feels something akin to panic, and dashes to grab his spear before darting under the trees. It isn't that he's afraid of rain, he tells himself, but it serves as a grim reminder.

Ezi drops his spear in favour of clutching his right wrist that screams in sudden pain. Looking at it, he sees scars forming. One that starts in his palm, then goes up into the inside of his elbow in a jagged line. It's intersected with many, many fine scars. Some of which were years old even before his body died.

Before he-

A crack of thunder grabs Ezi's attention. A Wind and Water must be fighting. He vaguely wonders who and why. Not that it matters. He feels his hair grow out, touching his shoulders. He knows it will become the same length as when he was human if he stays out in this sudden downpour.

Thankfully, no one has seen this happen to him. Everyone believes that Cyn is the only Elemental with scars from her humanity, but it isn't true. It's just that Ezi's only show when the sky cries.

"An Elemental scared of the rain? What a strange one you are, Light Spirit," says a voice in his mind.

Ezi spins around, surprised to find a source for the voice. His eyes widen, picking up and brandishing his spear. It feels heavier than usual, as if the rain is weighing it down.

Before him towers a unicorn. A special kind of creature known as a cryptid. A being that hides itself from humanity, except for the occasional glance. A mere tease, just enough to ensure the mortals know what they're missing.

They're similar to Life Spirits, but with one key difference: Cryptids have no living counterparts, which makes them far more powerful. And they have not chosen a side of the Spirit War, making them wildcards.

Well, at least it's not a Death Spirit, Ezi decides. I wouldn't even know where to start with one of those.

He's never seen a unicorn - or any cryptid - before, and Ezi is awestruck. It's pure white, just like him. A beautiful mare with a long, flowing mane and tail, flattened by the downpour.

Ezi keeps his spear raised. "What do you want? Why are you here?"

"Tell me," the unicorn neighs, "what about the rain makes your heart ache so? I must say, I'm surprised. I was told that you could feel nothing, Ezeki-"

Ezi is in front of the creature in a fraction of a second, spear coming down on it. The unicorn nimbly hops out of the way, and Ezi is left glaring at her. Rain simply drips to the ground, passing through his ethereal form, though it does distort him somewhat and creates tiny rainbows all around him. The unicorn is soaked and muddied.

"This rain is ruining your good looks," he says with an eerie smile. "Why not leave me alone before you're a mess splattered across the mountain?"

"Do you dislike your name, Spirit?"

"My name is Ezi, nothing more, nothing less. Your turn now. Do you have a reason for bothering me?" His smile grows, tilting his head so that his hair brushes his shoulder blades.

The spear is behind his back and the devastation from that missed strike is all around the two beings. An incredible slice of mountain has been carved away, small rocks tumbling down the incline. The sky opens up, thunder and lightning overhead. Ezi's hair continues to grow longer as he feels weaker and weaker. He hides it behind a serene mask, relying on his haunting smile.

The unicorn takes several steps back, unnerved at least. "I wish to remind you of something."

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?"

"That you are an outcast among your own kind. Why fight for Sessa'al when no one seems to care for you? Why fight for anything when you're empty and alone?"

The Light tips his head. A crack of lightning hitting the mountain turns the unicorn into a silhouette for a moment. Turns her black against the dreary sky. Ezi looks up, numb. And sighs.

Then leaps and takes another swing, which is dodged. And again. And again. Over and over, pieces of rock are carved away. Crumbling to the land below with the mighty sounds of stone and earth falling.

But the din harmonizes with the crashing of thunder, making a twisted melody of destruction; one of fruitless battle. Each of Ezi's strikes that miss, colliding with stone, are the drumbeats. The unicorn's dodges make her the conductor, leading the song of destruction.

The Light Spirit doesn't feel anger. Doesn't feel anything as he uses his abilities to enlarge his weapon. Using his spear as a base, and making the points grow with light. Glowing blades emerging. He makes the shaft longer and slides his hands down, giving him more reach.

Even then, not a single hit lands on his target. The drums keep beating.

Is it the rain? he wonders idly. Why am I even fighting this thing?

Why am I here?

Who am I?

It continues until the Light Spirit can no longer hold the augmentation. Falling to his knees, his spear lands beside him. He'd be panting, if only he could.

"You're strong, but you can't face me, Light," the unicorn drones.

Ezi lifts his head. It seems to weigh a thousand pounds.

When did I end up in the mud? Did I dissociate again?

To his side, he can see the figure of a young boy sitting on a ledge newly formed in the vicious attack. Little pebbles still fall around him. The boy isn't affected by the flashes created by the lightning. Bone dry in the rain, his long brown hair resting neatly on his shoulders.

"Have you nothing to say?" the unicorn intones. The words echo in Ezi's mind, the use of telepathy suddenly feeling wrong and invasive.

He doesn't stand - doesn't have the energy to do so - but he does face her. "Not to you," Ezi whispers.

The unicorn snorts, tossing her sopping mane. "Regardless, think on what I've said to you. Until we meet again."

And with that, Ezi is alone again. Nearly. The boy figure comes closer, bouncing along the broken mountaintop.

"I always thought unicorns were kind!" the figure squeaks in fear.

"They aren't, Jeremiah. Apparently. Or maybe even the most loving creatures hate me," Ezi murmurs.

"I don't hate you!" Jeremiah claims. Ezi looks at him. Jeremiah hasn't changed a bit in all these years. How could he? His wavy brown hair and upturned nose - the same as Ezi's - and scared expression. His glasses are thick, not reflecting anything around them. Ezi can see the dark sclera of Jeremiah's eyes behind those frames.

The knife in his chest is the most prominent feature, the one Ezi tries hardest to ignore. The thing he never manages to ignore. Blood spurts out with each heartbeat. More of the crimson liquid dribbles out of his mouth, like red slobber. It even has tiny bubbles in it. It makes his breathing sound like gurgling, as if he's drowning.

The rain falls harder.

"You hate me more than anyone, Jeremiah," Ezi whispers with a smile. "Well, except maybe me."

Ezi grunts as whispers start, then screaming, directly inside his ears. He stands after a moment, having become used to this by now. Or at least, as used to this as anyone can get. He picks up his spear, resting it on his shoulder.

"You're leaving me again?" Jeremiah asks.

Ezi steps through the hallucination, proving to himself that it isn't real. That the boy is no longer by his side.