Part 1

At the center of the desert above a bundle of cacti, there was a spirit. A spirit who was forgotten by the world.

Each day he danced.

A form of escape or was it a cry for help, no one knew for no one was there.

When he was little he could be considered adorable, cute and ignorant.

A small rounded spirit naively dancing away each day as if it could solve his pitiful situation.

That was him.  An insignificant existence with no knowledge of anything.

He was neither happy nor sad.

He was just there.

Like the sand, like the rocks and like the cacti surrounding him. He was just there.

However one day, the spirit who was ignorant of the world, who barely understood emotions, and had never met anyone at all finally learned the bare basics of life.

Well, the result was an encounter worth thousands of words.

Yet a farewell with a few words had slowly erased it bit by bit.

The meeting had pushed him from the state of nirvana towards the peak of heaven and with a final farewell, it plunged him towards Eterna where he finally realized what it means to live.

Like a new-born child experiencing the world for the first time, he let out a cry knowing the huge burden life carries. He cried hoping to find someone to share the burden.

He wondered to himself if it was a blessing or a curse to have been born, to have met a friend, to have learned of the world so huge yet unable to see it.

Like a storm passing by the encounter had caused havoc to his weak fragile heart.

Part 2

As the sun slowly fell asleep, the night welcomed the spirit with the presence of the starry skies.

It was the same night sky like any other nights before.

What made that time so different? Zafar couldn’t help but think knowing full well the answers to his question.

No matter how much time had passed the unforgettable beauty of the night sky he had seen with Ori was always on his mind mocking him each and every night.

Everything around him lingered the memories of the times they shared, and for Zafar the memories were precious but because of that, it made him feel uncomfortable staying anywhere near it.

He found comfort traveling away from the place, and it resulted in the development of a bad habit.

A dangerous habit.

The empty desert felt strange to him.

It was usually something he was used to. He remembered dancing in this small stage with no care of the larger world. Now it felt like a solitary confinement for him.

Five years had passed and by now he should’ve been having fun adventuring with Ori, but here he was still waiting for him.

It had been a while since he last danced. A while since he last spoke.

Compared to the positivity he had on the first few months of waiting the differences could now be seen.

Looking at the distance he traveled he could tell he had once again broken his record, as he could now no longer see the cactus body of his from the distance.

And just like that, he felt a sense of pleasure.

He was getting stronger. Maybe one day he would be able to leave this desert with his spiritual body far away from his physical one.

Addicted to the only routine that kept him moving he proceeded to hurt himself even more by traveling farther and farther.

The sense of pain made him feel alive, made him felt like he was getting closer and closer towards someone, something or someplace. He didn’t know what but it beats staying alone.

As he kept on moving, he felt that his spiritual body was about to disappear from existence. An excruciating pain that would make anyone insane, but for him, he couldn’t stop repeating it.

The self-harm he had recently been doing had become the sole solace to keep him sane.

He began to weep yet another night as he fell exhausted from the pain.

He wanted to feel a sense of touch, a sense of warmth, and he wanted to experience it all again.

And just like yesterday and the day before that, the rain poured down on him warming his spirit and healing it as it slowly pulls him back closer to his cactus body.

Feeling the warm rain’s touch he was glad that someone was still watching over him.

Part 3

Not many knew that in the clouds above there lies a connection to a spiritual world where the elementals lived. It was one of the many kingdoms where multiple elementals shared a home.

Elemental spirits could be considered greater spirits in Eterna, and they would never bother with lesser spirits such as the nature spirits.

This might be due to the nature of the relationship between lesser spirit and greater spirit. If one could describe it then it would be like a man’s relationship with their deity.

The nature spirits revered and worship as well as respect and admire the water elementals and light elementals. However, on the flip side, they detest and fear the fire elementals to the point of calling them the devils.

Rarely does it exist a relationship between a lesser spirit and an elemental.

Relationships like that usually occur when a lesser spirit gets acknowledged by the greater spirit. This means only the powerful spirits would earn any form of special treatment.

However, there are unique cases that happen once in a while.

“Zafar you shouldn’t have pushed yourself like that.” A concerned voice could be faintly heard in the rain.

A female water spirit was dragging the exhausted cactus spirit towards his physical body. Having attempted to travel farther than he should have, the cactus spirit had eventually worn itself out and fainted under the excruciating pain.

“I know how sad you are but don’t try to kill yourself here.” The young spirit seemed to be crying but her tears were hidden by the rain she produced.

If she had the choice she would have showed herself to Zafar when conscious but due to several reasons it was impossible for her to meet him face to face.

It was only because she had asked to practice her powers in this desolate place that she was able to somewhat meet him in secret, but even then it had drawn suspicions on her due to her choice of location.

Many young elementals train in desolate places to practice their powers on the living world, but most water elementals were quite reluctant to do it at a desert due to the difficulty to check the result of their power.

Looking at the cactus spirit which she had finally placed back near his physical body, she could see the rain restoring the spiritual power of the spirit. For water elementals, they had a natural disposition that helps heal the health of others. It was especially compatible with the nature spirits.

“Zafar you are worth more than what you think.” She sat down beside him as she remembered the first time she was born.

She was an elemental with potential but due to being born all alone in one of the clouds above the Nezkarian desert she was just a hidden gem. Having been born she had to wait for another one of her kind to find her and guide her of the ways of a water spirit.

Her birth could be considered similar to Zafar, but unlike Zafar’s situation her physical body was able to traverse throughout Nezkaria and she was able to see the large world.

She had often hated how she was stuck alone but when the cloud passed by the desolate region she met someone similar to her. The little spirit with nothing but positivity was able to look towards tomorrow with a lovely dance, it was truly inspiring to see.

“I thought that you would be fine here all alone Zafar…” She spoke towards the sleeping spirit knowing full well he can’t hear her.

“I was founded by my teacher quite quickly after I met you.” She looked at him and smiled, “Maybe you’re my lucky charm?”

“I wanted to learn how to control my powers to meet you, but who would’ve known it would take this long and I’m still unable to meet you face to face.”

Stroking the young spirit’s face with a tender touch she was interrupted by a familiar presence.

She looked up and noticed that her teacher was looking for her in the clouds above. “I can’t stay here any longer Zafar, it’s been too long and everyone is troubled by the frequent rains I’ve caused in this place.”

“Zafar, don’t do anything reckless again… please…” as she gave one last look at him, she reluctantly started to move upwards back to the clouds.

At the clouds above a rift could be seen and near it was an old looking spirit who looked disappointed at his student’s action.

“I can’t keep covering for your actions anymore, though you are talented the higher ups wants you to stop your pointless training here.” He looked towards his student with a worried face. “You’re too attached with that little spirit.”

“Mira, it’s time for you to head to the academy, you’re already of age. You need to hone your skills, there are many who are looking forward to your growth.” The old man patted the back of his student as both of them moved towards the rift that connected them towards the entrance of the spiritual world.

“Teacher if I grow stronger would I be able to help him?” Mira asked with expectation in her eyes.

The teacher couldn’t help but sigh knowing full well the difficulty of her wish, but with a white lie he comforted her as he said, “I’m sure that it’s possible.”

Maybe it was due to her wish to help Zafar. Maybe it was due to the feelings she poured on each rain she made to save Zafar from him killing himself that her wish got through Eterna’s heart.

With the last rain she made in the desolate land, she had unknowingly guided a lost golem towards the brokenhearted Zafar that had waited ever so patiently for his friends return.

Leaving behind a colorful rainbow in the soaked desert, the two greater spirits entered the rift and left the deserted region all alone for those two to meet.