Library of Rain

Rescue

Rain stumbled back into the alleyway, the sight of Lon’s twisted form being beheaded burned into her mind. 

It’s all my fault. 

She ran. She ran from the man in silver, she ran from the guards, she ran from the corpses in the street, she ran from the body of her only real friend.

It’s all my fault.

She was a murderer, she was evil, she didn’t deserve to have friends, but she had still gone out of her way to spend time with him because she didn’t want to be alone. She had placed her feelings over the safety of her friend.

It's all my fault.

She could hear Ound’s voice as she ran. ‘Don’t come crying to us when she curses you!’ She had thought he was being mean, but no, he had been right; she was evil. She was a black classer who would do nothing but bring pain and death to everyone around her.

It's all my fault.

She didn’t deserve to live after what she had done. Her past self had given up everything so that Rain could save people; instead, she had cursed and murdered them. She didn’t deserve to exist.

It's all my fault.

Rain's mind continued to churn and darken with thoughts of self-hate as she wandered aimlessly through the streets. Anyone who thought of bothering her changed their mind when they saw the expression on her face.

Hours passed as Rain's mind whirled, and coherent thought ceased. When she finally stopped, she found herself standing in front of the Miggos’s manor. She didn’t know when she had decided to come here, but she needed to act, to do something, and if she was hurt or killed in the process, all the better.

The manor was a pretty place that sat on the edge of the Mid Ring overlooking the Low Ring. Three stories tall, it looked like a pretty and peaceful place. Too bad for it; it would soon be stained by the filth that was Rain.

She had planned to do this sneakily, but now she found she didn’t care. She changed her cloak back to its original form. When she saw that it was whole and neat, she forced it to return to the ragged state it had been in when she first found it. Better, she didn’t deserve to wear nice things. Putting on the goggles she had bought, she wrapped her head and face in the type of scarf everyone in the city wore.

Walking up to the wall surrounding the estate, she lobbed a coin over it. Before it could even land on the other side, she warped to it, falling a foot before landing on a shaped bush, crushing it. The destruction seemed fitting for a monster like her. She picked up her coin and started walking towards the manor.

There were two places a person would usually be held captive: high up in the air or underground. Monsters were kept underground, monsters like Rain. Rain wasn’t here to save a monster, so she needed to go up.

Taking her coin, she threw it at an unshuttered glass window on the second story. The coin bounced off the glass and landed in the grass outside. Looking around, Rain scoped up her coin and a large rock. This time, she threw the rock at the window. A loud crash and raining glass announced Rain's success. 

Tossing the coin through the window, Rain warped into the building. She could hear running footsteps and shouting people, but she didn’t care. She had appeared in what looked like a bedroom; it was nice without being too lavish with a pretty pale blue color scheme. 

In the hallway, servants scurried around. They got even more agitated when they saw Rain in her black garb face covered. Some of them rushed off while others attempted to corner or capture Rain. It was useless.

When a lone servant or maid tried to capture her, she would use her smaller size to slip around them or slide between their legs. When they tried to work in teams or make a wall of bodies, she would throw a coin down the hallway and warp to it. She initially had problems when she found out that her teleporting killed her momentum. She had been sliding under a maid when she warped away and found herself lying motionless on the floor, unable to use her momentum to rise quickly to her feet. Still, she adapted.

When the servants realized what she could do, some tried to catch the coins. This led to Rain bouncing the coins off the walls or roof to avoid the people. It was almost like a game, one she didn’t deserve to play. 

Eventually, after a few short minutes and many coins later, Rain found a room on the third floor that was locked from the outside. Sliding past a persistent maid, Rain skated a coin under the door and warped in. 

A bored-looking redhead girl a few years younger than Rain was lying spread-eagled on the floor despite there being a nice bed. She was staring listlessly at the ceiling. When Rain popped into existence, she jerked in surprise. When she looked at Rain, there was no fear on her face; instead, there was curiosity? Excitement? Rain wasn’t sure.

Rain used her skill to turn the door behind her into a portal, locking the rest of the mansion out of the room.

“Your uncle Manas sent me to bring you to his secret courtyard.”

The girl Ariana’s face brightened at Rain's words.

“What are we waiting for? Let's go!” 

Ariana hopped to her feet and ran over to Rain, trying to take her hand. Rain jerked her hand back before she could touch it. Rain would not allow this girl to be cursed like Lon. 

“Don’t touch me!” 

Ariana backed up, confused.

“Okay.”

Rain took a deep breath and took the blindfold Manas had given her out of her pocket.

“Put this on.”

She complied. The slight hurt on her face turning into excitement.

“What are we doing?”

“Just follow me.”

Rain took off her face wrap and used it to cover her hand. This way, when she grabbed Ariana's hand to lead her through the portal, Ariana wouldn’t be exposed to Rain's bare skin. It was still wrong for Rain to touch someone, but she didn’t know what else to do.

Ariana passed through the portal without complications, and Rain led her to the chair that she had gotten out of Manas. She directed Ariana to sit in the chair.

“Whatever happens, don't take off the blindfold until I tell you. Do you understand?”

“Yessir.” 

The moment Rain started turning, Ariana reached up for the blindfold. Rain hugged her, pinning her arms between them before Ariana could remove her blindfold.

“No! Don’t. Please don't. I don't want. Please, not again.”

Rain had no idea what she was trying to say; all she knew was that she hurt. Hurt so much that she couldn’t hold back the tears that had been trying to escape for hours. She didn’t know what to do, how to fix things, how to fix herself. She was an evil person, a murderer; the only thing she had done since escaping was to hurt others. She was a monster, but she didn't want to be.

She wanted to be someone good. The problem was, She didn’t know how to be anyone other than herself, so how was she supposed to be someone good like Lon? 

Maybe if she could do the right thing just once, it would mean there was hope for her. If she were honest with herself, that was the reason she was here: to save one person, to see if she had anything good in her or if she was irredeemable. 

Rain got her sobbing under control and pulled away from the girl, a strand of snot connecting her to the shoulder she had been crying into. Ariana lowered her hands.

“Sorry, I won't peek until you say so, promise, so please don't be sad.”

“Please, don't. I don't want bad. Just, please don't look.”

It was all Rain could manage. She hoped it would be enough. 

Rewrapping her face, she returned to the Miggos manor. The moment she set foot in the room Ariana had been locked in, the portal to her library collapsed, and Mr. Purple showed up with another message. 

[Warning: You are in an antiskill barrier. You cannot use any active skills until the barrier is disabled or you leave the area of the barrier.]