Library of Rain

Freedom Plan Go

Rain tucked Sunrise and Scratch - the doll Lucus had bought - into bed. It had become something of a nightly ritual for the two. It probably wasn’t the most proper thing for a maid to go to bed before her lady, but Rain didn’t want a maid; she wanted a sister.

“Good night, Ise. Good night, Atch.”

“Goon night, Rain.”

No matter how many times Rain did this, it made her smile. She wasn’t sure how siblings were supposed to act, but she was determined to be the best sister ever. All she had to do was not ruin things by being too greedy. 

“See you tomorrow, Ise.”

With that, Rain picked up Snow and her lamp and left Ise’s room. 

It was time. All the prep work had been finished, the people were ready, and all that was left was for Rain to warp to Mr. Mirage and start the plan. If everything went well, Rain would be back before Ise woke up.

Rain squeezed Snow real tight before setting him down on her bed. Then after a moment, she picked him back up and gave him one last, last hug. She tried her best to ignore the tight feeling she always got in her chest when she wasn’t holding Snow; it would only be for a few hours. She could be strong until then. 

With one last look, Rain warped to Mr. Mirage.

***

A few minutes later, Rain peered down at the gathered Ash Grifters. She was dressed in her black classer outfit - now complete with five glorious black belts - Mr. Mirage at her side, and her aura causing the shadows in the underground room of the Ash Grifter base to writhe as she kept it slightly flexed. Behind her, painted on the wall, was the cup and knife these people had taken on as their sign. Its lines also quivered slightly under Rain's flexed aura.

Almost every man and woman present had entered her library and read from its books - an act they had taken to calling ‘the ritual of awakening.’ 

Roughly a quarter of those who entered the library had to be put down after their transformation made them violent. Another quarter had severe mutations or mental abnormalities, such as an inability to remember people's names or tentacles for hair. Yet despite this, Rain couldn’t see a single face clouded with anger at her for what had been done. Fear, yes, but not anger.

If she was being honest, the amount of deference she saw from these people was disturbing. Really, what had Mr. Mirage and Ms. River been telling them? But if they were willing to be tools, Rain would use them.

“You all know your parts in tonight's great play. Let us take the first step to a world without fear! Library Guard, step forward.”

Six people stood and stepped forward, led by Ms. Wer, the first girl Mr. Tist had purchased. Her hair was a warm brown after becoming the only other person to evolve besides Mr. Mirage. 

Ms. Wer, the first wood elf, bowed to Rain.

“Lady of the Awakening, we are proud to serve you.”

Rain hadn’t realized how far Mr. Mirage was planning to take his idea when she gave him permission, but she would continue to play the part if that's what it took to help people. 

“Then enter the library and keep order within. Let none enter farther into its depths or try to exit until I open the doors for them.”

Rain was getting pretty good at her fancy speech if she did say so herself. Maybe some of those lessons she had bothered to attend had been useful after all.

She walked to the only door exiting the room and opened it, turning it into a portal to her library.

“We are honored to serve you, Lady Chain-Braker.”

And with that, Ms. Wer led her fellows through the door.

Rain closed the door before turning to the last four people in the room.

“All right, Mr. Tist, you know what to do.”

“I do, Lady of Dreams. I will wait for you at the Rockson Restaurant.”

“Good.”

Rain had no idea where that was, but she had slipped a coin in his coat so she could just warp to him when it was time.

“Mr. Mirage, did you sell the man with my coin to the mines?”

“Yes Lady Tyix. I saw him taken into the mines with my own eyes.”

“Wait, mines? What mines?” Mr. Tist butted in.

“The Star Metal Mines.” Mr. Mirage answered.

“We’re hitting more than one place. Why did no one tell me?”

“Because we need you to focus on your job.”

“But…”

“Perfect.” Rain cut the two arguing men off. “Then we begin.”

And with that, Rain flared her shoulder cape before warping away as any self-respecting black classer should. 

When the world unfolded, Rain found herself in an underground room. Judging by the heat, she was in the mines, which hugged the open magma shafts of Tineak. The smell was horrible, made worse by the heat. After her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see why. She was in some kind of privy.

Rain was glad the coin was no longer inside the man she had given it to. The mental image of her appearing inside his stomach and bursting out like some kind of monster had haunted her ever since she came up with the idea of having someone swallow one of her coins. 

But looking around for the coin, Rain realized she would have to sift through the waste to find it. Instead, she repeatedly warped to it until it ran out of strength and destroyed itself and the things around it. Rain watched the sludge bubble as the coin died, once again glad that the coin wasn’t inside someone.

Creeping to the door, Rain eased it open, unsure of the layout of the mine. The research she had been able to do without connecting herself to this heist said that the prisoners were unattended inside the mine except for monthly inspections. The only other contact they had with the outside was every third week when they would trade the ore they had managed to mine for tools and a meager amount of food.

All Rain needed to do was find the man she’d sent in here, then gather the miners and their mined ore for a quick extraction. Then by the….

Rain ducked as a pickaxe nearly took off her head.

“Die, monster!”

Already, the pickaxe had halted its trajectory and was speeding back towards Rain.

Rain jumped back and grabbed a coin from her pocket. Before her attacker could swing at her again, she threw the coin down the hall and warped to it. 

Rain heard the thud of the pickaxe slamming into the stone wall behind her. Rain knew her aura scared people, but to attack without warning was a bit much, wasn’t it? Rain ran as the man behind her yelled about a monster in the tunnels. Great, this was going to be harder than she thought.

When Rain was out of sight, she slowed down and started to think. Her talking to these people was a bad idea. Her aura made diplomacy a bit of a weak spot for her. If she could find the man that Mr. Mirrage had sent in here, she could have him talk sense into the others, but how many people might attack her while she looked for her contact? 

Why hadn’t she instructed him to keep the coin on him rather than telling him to hide it somewhere no one would find it? 

Rain could hear the man's warnings about a monster in the tunnels echoing all the way to where she crouched. What could she do? What did she have at her disposal right now? Her cloak, her coin, and her skills. The answer came to her, and she ran back to the privy she had arrived in. The man was gone. He probably ran off to tell the others about the threat in the tunnels.

Rain used the privy door to create a portal to her library, then stepped in.

Rain arrived to see the six people she had left in here, saluting her fist to heart. 

Perfect. 

“The miners are unnerved by my presence. I will need you six to act as emissaries. Convince them that I am no threat and to help with the evacuation.”

“As you wish, Lady of the Library.” Ms. Wer said with a bow.

Really, what was with her and all these random titles? Rain had a fake name; why wouldn’t people use it?

“Good, follow me.”

Rain left the library surrounded by her escort of six, each wielding the rough homemade weapons common to the Low Ring.

Rain's group moved swiftly through the tunnels, looking for a main barracks or gathering place. Instead, they ran into another group of people: two burly men with pickaxes and a massive woman who looked like she could beat up both men at the same time. 

“Who are you!” one of the men asked, lowering his pickaxe in a defensive stance.

“We’re here to free you and the other miners.” Ms. Wer said in a smooth voice.

“Free us?”

“Yes, we have a way to transport everyone here out of the mines and to a safe place.”

Rain watched the conversation with interest. Ms. Wer seemed to have a knack for keeping people's attention and calming them down. How could Rain be like that? Was it her body language? Her tone of voice?

While Rain was distracted trying to figure out how Ms. Wer was so good with people, the conversation came to a halt, and everyone was looking at Rain. Well, ashes, this was awkward. 

“My apologies. I was thinking about other things.”

Did the miner woman just snicker at Rain's admission? 

“She said you have the power to get us out of here. Prove it.” one of the men answered.

Rain cycled through her options for convincing these people and decided on the most direct one. She threw her coin behind the miners, and as they got into defensive stances wery of an attack, she warped over to her coin.

“As you can see,” she said from behind the miners, “I have the power to move instantly.”

The miners whirled around to face her.

“How did…” one of the men started before trailing off.

“Are you convinced now that I can do what I say I can? If so, gather everyone, their tools, and the shipment of ore. It's time for you all to escape.”

“How can we trust you?”

“The question you should be asking is, are you willing to trust me in order to escape this place?”

It turned out that wasn’t a very hard question to answer.