Library of Rain

Promise

Rain kept her head down as Lon led her away from the two boys. It took all her effort to hold back the tears. She wasn't hurt that the boys didn’t want to play with her. She was used to that. Having Lon get excluded because of her, that was new, that was worse. 

“I’m sorry I'm a bad person. Now they hate you because of me.” Rain couldn’t quit looking at the ash-covered ground. “I don't know how to be someone people want to be around. Everyone thinks I'm creepy. You’re the first person to hold my hand.”

On a rational level, Rain knew she was rambling, but she couldn’t stop the words pouring from her mouth. There were things that hurt, but she had never had anyone to talk to about it. Now that she did, the words just flowed out.

Lon was kind enough to not only risk his friendships for her, but also to listen as she rambled an apology. She didn’t deserve a friend like him. He had been nothing but nice to her, and Rain had done nothing but cause him trouble. Maybe she should avoid him so she wouldn’t cause him more problems. She knew avoiding him was probably the right thing to do, but she wanted a friend more than she wanted to do the right thing. That realization made her hate herself even more. It made her feel even less worthy to be his friend.

Needing to get out of her thoughts, Rain asked Lon a question.

“What are black classers?”

Lon looked at her, confused at the change of subject. 

“Black classers are people who have unlocked dangerous classes and never registered them or trained at the Grand Academy. If you’re not going to share that you have a class, it's probably because you plan to use it to harm others. The well-known black classers like Higgor the Strangler tend to be responsible for a lot of deaths.”

This explanation didn’t make Rain feel much better. By Lon’s definition, she was a black classer. That meant the boys had been right not to play with her. They were also probably right not to want to be around her. 

“What happens when people find black classers?” Rain asked, not knowing if she wanted the answer.

“If they haven’t done anything, they are forced to register and work for one of the lords for a year. If they have been using their skills to hurt others, they get imprisoned or sent to Arkit.”

Rain regretted asking. After the stunt she pulled, robbing the liars' temple, she would probably be sent to Arkit. Rain knew she shouldn’t ask, but she couldn’t help herself.

“How do they send you to Arkit?”

“Oh, the Crown Ringers like to watch criminals getting thrown into the pit of lava at the top of the city. They say it purifies evil people.”

Rain was right; she shouldn’t have asked.

“What’s this Grand Academy?”

For some reason, this question perked Lon up.

“The Grand Academy is where all the heroes and important people train. If you get a class, you can attend even if you come from the Low Ring or an outer island. There are even people who will pay for your food and housing.”

Lon almost had stars in his eyes as he talked about the Grand Academy. 

“They say that the academy has ways to unlock classes so that any lord who attends can get a class if they don’t already have one. But if someone like us wants to go, the only way would be to get a class first. That's why I'm going to figure out how to get a class. If I can go to the academy, I’ll be able to escape Pa and learn to be a hero. If I had the power to, I'd improve life in the Low Ring.”

Rain listened to Lon’s explanation; most of it made sense, and she could see he was honest about wanting to help the Low Ring, but there was one thing she couldn’t understand.

“Why would you want to escape your Pa?” Did he not realize how lucky he was to have a Pa? Rain would give up everything for a family.

Lon hesitated at that question. Some of the life draining out of his eyes. 

“Ma died a year ago, and Pa hasn’t been the same. He started drinking more and more. And when he gets drunk, he stops pretending he likes me. He tells me it's my fault Ma died, that I'm a useless baker and son, that he wishes he didn’t have to take care of me. He tells me to be grateful to Ma that she wanted him to care for me, or I would be on the streets so he could hire a competent apprentice.”

He rubbed his side and continued. “If I get too close or talk back, he gets angry and throws punches. No matter what I do, everything is my fault. I want to go to the academy to escape him and prove that I can help others. I may not be a good baker, but I'm sure I can be a hero.”

Rain had no idea how to respond to any of this. She thought having a family was all she really wanted, yet it sounded like Lon’s family was as bad as being back with the keepers. 

Lon’s words also gave Rain an idea of how she could repay him for being nice to her. He needed a class to get into this Grand Academy he dreamed about. Rain just so happened to have a library full of ways to gain skills and possibly classes. If she lent Lon a book, he could fulfill his dream of attending the academy and becoming a hero. If he did that, he would become an influential person, one who owed Rain for giving him a chance. She could use him to influence the city for the better.

Rain stopped walking as she realized where her thoughts had gone. How had she gone from wanting to help a friend who was kind to her to wanting to use a friend as a tool to achieve her goals? 

She really was a bad person, wasn’t she?

Rain finally couldn’t hold her tears back as she realized she was an awful person who didn’t deserve to have friends. 

“What’s wrong,” Lon asked, flustered at her tears. “Did I say something that upset you?”

Lon's concern only made Rain feel worse. She needed to do something to pay him back.

“Lon, what's your full name?”

Now looking utterly confused, Lon answered, “Talon Bakerson.”

Rain looked Lon in the eyes and made him and herself a promise. “Talon Bakerson, I'm going to make sure you get a class and become a hero.”

And once she did, she would never talk to him again; that way, Rain couldn’t ask him for more than he had already given her, more than she deserved.