Library of Rain

Contacting the Lost

Rain was reading a book on lordly etiquette a few hours before sundown when she felt it; her connection to Mirage’s friend finally solidified. Rain had started to worry that the woman's transformation had rendered the link unusable after days of it being an unstable mess.

Sitting the book on her table, Rain lay on her couch and closed her eyes, pulling herself through the connection. After a moment where time seemed unreal, Rain found herself floating once again in someone else’s dream. However, unlike Mirage’s peaceful dream, this one was anything but.

Rain was in a small room filled with the black mist of her library. She could hear the sounds of people in the fog shouting in pain and begging for help, punctuated by roars and the wet sound of tearing flesh. 

Rain could recognize a nightmare when she saw one. She couldn't remember the last peaceful dream she'd had. It made her heart ache to think of the woman forced to suffer in this place, unable to avoid sleep like Rain. 

Flying off at top speed to search for the woman, Rain quickly found her huddled in a corner, face tearstreaked and hopeless. Despite the sounds, this room was tiny and held neither exit or beast. Only a woman trapped in her fear.

Drawing close to the woman, Rain forced herself to form a body. She didn’t dress it in the black costume of Tyix; instead, she just wore her favorite green dress. Hopefully, some color would help in this bleak dreamscape. 

The woman didn’t notice Rain land next to her. Her eyes were glassy as though she had given up on trying to interact with the world. Rain crouched down next to the woman.

“Are you alright?”

Nothing.

Rain reached out and shook the woman's shoulder. 

The woman's eyes snapped to Rain and dilated in fear. The woman scrambled back from Rain, a wordless whine emanating from her throat as she tried to push herself into the wall as though she could merge with it and gain a few more inches of distance from Rain. 

Rain froze, hesitant to cause further distress, but the woman needed help, and Rain was the only one who could offer it. Trying a different tactic, Rain smiled, and in a soft voice, as though she was talking to a frightened animal, Rain spoke to the woman.

“It's okay. I'm here to help. I promise I won't hurt you. You’re going to be alright.”

As Rain spoke, she slowly approached the woman, ignoring how her whimpering increased as the distance decreased. Soon, Rain was again next to the woman; Rain crouched down. 

How could she comfort her? Rain really wanted to give the woman a hug; however, the woman didn’t look like she wanted anything to do with Rain. So Rain compromised and gathered the woman's hands up and clasped them between her own.

“You're going to be alright. My name’s Rain, by the way, what’s yours?”

“R-river.”

Rain was shocked by the one-word response. She hadn’t thought she would actually get an answer.

“It's nice to meet you for real, Ms. River.”

No response.

The woman was aware of Rain and could speak. The problem was she was too scared to do so. Rain couldn’t do anything about her aura, but maybe she could do something about the dream. If it was possible to change her body, then perhaps...

Rain focused outward on the world around her; she would try starting small. She focused on the sounds of people being eaten alive and willed them to go silent. Nothing happened. Reaching further, Rain gripped the dreamscape with her mind. Rain was connected to this place through her skill; it was a part of her, and she could control it.

She tried again, and the world went silent. Rain could feel a burning in her head behind her eyes as though she was lifting something heavy with her mind. She ignored it; her plan was working.

Clamping down harder on the world, Rain once again exerted her will on it. This dark and suffocating room wouldn’t do. Rain forced it to change. Slowly, the darkness faded, and the room's walls and ceiling dissolved. Flowers sprouted up from the floor, and a bright blue sky appeared overhead. A table and chairs sprouted from the ground with plates and plates of Rain's favorite desserts. 

Rain had turned the dreamscape into a replica of the Estom Manor greenhouse - with the small addition of a table of snacks. Now, this was a proper dream. Unfortunately, Rain felt like someone had driven spikes through her eyes. The pain in her head almost caused her to pass out. 

Could you pass out in a dream?

Ignoring the pain, Rain turned to the woman.

“That's better. Do you want to sit and talk?”

The woman said nothing; she was too busy looking around in wonder. 

“Wanna sit down and eat with me? This jelly stuff is really good.”

The woman looked at Rain and wearily sat down across from her.

“Are you Lady Tyix?”

“Yep.”

“Why me? Why did I get cursed? Why are you only now coming to see me? What do you have planned for me?”

Rain was taken aback by the barrage of questions. 

“I… I’m sorry. I tried to warn you that the books could be dangerous. I didn’t want... I didn't know that this would happen to you. I’m sorry.”

Tears had begun streaming down Rain's cheeks as she sat there, listening to the woman. Though Rain had convinced herself that it wasn't her fault - that she had only provided an option and the woman had made her own choice - sitting here now, being blamed by the woman whose life had become a nightmare due to Rain’s actions, it became much harder to tell herself that she was blameless.

Before she knew it, Rain had become the one huddled in a ball and whimpering, trapped in her own prison. When she felt something warm and soft wrap around her hands. Opening her eyes, Rain saw the woman crouching next to Rain's chair and clasping her hands just like Rain had done for her moments before.

“It's okay, don’t cry. I didn’t mean to blame you. It's okay.”

The comforting words made Rain feel better, and the feeling of someone willingly holding even a small part of her sent warm feelings through Rain. She wanted to rub her cheek on the woman's hands, to savor that feeling of human contact, but that wouldn’t be right. Rain wasn’t here for herself. She was here for the woman.

“Thank you.” Rain said through watery eyes. “If you want, I could tell you everything.”

“Okay, tell me everything, Lady Tyix.”

“Let's sit down, and please don’t call me Lady Tyix. My real name is Rain.”

“Got it, Lady Rain.”

“Just Rain. And what was your name again?”

“River.”

“I hope we can be friends, Ms. River.” Rain said, sitting down and sliding one of the jellies towards her.

Rain had been telling the truth when she said she would tell Ms. River everything. After all, the woman couldn’t speak. She was the perfect secret keeper. The question was where to start. After a bit of thought, Rain decided that the best place would be when she got her class. It wasn’t like there had been much of note in her life before that. Rain hoped that by explaining her plans to someone older than herself, she might be able to get some help. As much as Rain wanted to help everyone, sometimes she felt like she couldn’t do it alone. 

“It all started when I gained a class…”