Rain stitched the forest together in silver threads.
It slid down leaves, soaked cloaks, turned the earth beneath their boots into sucking mud. Patricia led the march with her sword bare, its edge catching faint moonlight every time lightning flashed between clouds. No one spoke. The only sound was breathing, boots, and the soft, sloshing weight of the bucket Jer carried with both hands.
Inside it, something shifted.
A ripple pressed against the iron rim, faint and uneven, like a heart trying to remember how to beat.
They reached the cave just as thunder rolled overhead.
Blue light leaked from its mouth—unnatural, cold, steady. Not firelight. Not torchlight. Waterlight.
Patricia raised a fist. The group halted.
Inside the cave, someone hummed.
Carefree. Off-key.
Azure sat near a small flame, bare feet stretched toward the heat, white hair damp as he wrung water from his clothes. His shoulders were loose. Relaxed. Like a boy who had already forgotten the screams he'd left behind in the forest.
Patricia stepped forward.
"Found you."
Azure's head snapped up.
For half a breath, his face emptied—shock hollowing his eyes. Then instinct took over. He sprang to his feet and bolted deeper into the cave.
He didn't make it three steps.
Jer lunged.
She hit him low and hard, shoulder driving into his spine, slamming him into stone. The impact knocked the air from his lungs in a sharp, wet gasp. He kicked wildly, heels scraping rock, hands clawing for water that wasn't there.
"LET ME GO!" Azure shouted, panic shredding his voice. "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
Jer twisted his arm behind his back and planted a knee between his shoulders. Her grip was iron. Her jaw clenched.
Yora dragged the bucket forward.
The cave quieted.
Water inside the bucket quivered.
A sound came from it—not a splash, not a voice. Something between.
"Azure…" The echo trembled. "What did you do… to me?"
Azure froze.
His struggle died mid-kick.
He twisted his head slowly, eyes locking onto the bucket like it was a nightmare clawing its way into daylight.
"H—Huh?" His lips parted. "Tomora…?"
The water rippled violently, slapping against the metal sides.
"Why are you— WHY ARE YOU WATER?!"
A surge struck the rim, splashing over.
"Because of you!" Tomora's voice cracked through the cave, distorted but burning with rage.
Azure shook his head, frantic now. "No—no, listen! I can drown people! Trap them! Slice them with water blades—but this?" His breath hitched. "This isn't Stage Two. I swear—I don't know how this happened!"
The cave seemed to lean inward.
Patricia watched Azure's eyes. Not the fear—fear could be faked. It was the confusion that rang true. The way his gaze kept flicking between the bucket and his own hands, like he expected blood to be there.
Tomora surged again. "You expect me to believe that?!"
Azure swallowed. Slowly, he lifted one trembling hand.
"Then… let me try something."
Water answered him immediately.
Moisture peeled itself from the cave walls. Droplets rose from the stone floor, hovering like scattered stars. Even the rain dripping through cracks paused mid-fall, suspended in the air around Azure's fingers.
But the bucket did not move.
Tomora's water stayed still.
Heavy.
Unresponsive.
Azure's breath stuttered.
"I can't…" His voice dropped. "I can't move you."
Silence pressed down.
"That means," he whispered, "you're not ordinary water."
Jer loosened her grip without realizing it.
Azure sagged against the stone and slid down until he was sitting, wrists bound, shoulders slumped.
"If you didn't dissolve," he murmured, staring at the bucket, "and you didn't drown… then you transformed."
Tala's hands curled into her sleeves. "Transformed… into what?"
Azure didn't look up. "Something water." A pause. "Water that thinks. That remembers pain."
The bucket trembled, once.
Tomora said nothing.
The rain outside softened, like the world was listening.
Azure dragged a hand through his hair. "When you jumped into the sphere… your body didn't resist. It adapted. Like mine does when arrows pass through me." His eyes widened. "You copied the state. Not the power."
Tomora's voice came quieter now. "…So I'm not human."
No one answered.
The cave breathed.
Azure swallowed hard. "I might be able to fix you. But not now. Not like this." He looked up, fear naked on his face. "If you panic… you could break apart. Evaporate."
The bucket shuddered.
"So I'm stuck," Tomora said.
Patricia stepped forward and planted her sword tip into the stone. "Until he's whole again, you're not leaving."
Azure nodded weakly. "Fine." He bowed his head toward the bucket. "Until then… I serve."
Water inside the bucket settled, slow and deliberate.
Later, deeper in the cave, Azure sat tied against the wall. The bucket was placed before him, iron cold against damp stone.
"Explain," Tomora snapped. "Now."
"I told you!" Azure blurted. "I don't turn people into water!"
"Then figure it out," Patricia said calmly.
Azure squeezed his eyes shut. "…Try controlling the water around you."
"I don't even have hands!" Tomora roared.
"Just focus!"
The cave held its breath.
Tomora strained. The water trembled. Then—
A droplet lifted.
Another followed.
Puddles nearby stirred, rising in trembling arcs.
Jer's breath caught. "That's not possible…"
Azure stared, awe washing over fear. "You're not just water," he whispered. "You're an elemental."
"So he's a water elemental now" Patricia said
Patricia straightened. "Then you'll train him."
Azure panicked. "WHAT?! No way—I'm not babysitting a bucket!"
Patricia cracked her knuckles.
Jer smiled without humor.
Tala didn't look away.
Azure broke. "FINE! I'LL DO IT!"
Water splashed triumphantly.
"Good," Tomora said smugly. "You better make me strong, Bubble Boy."
Azure groaned.
Outside, thunder rolled.