Library of Rain

Preparations

Rain had a bit of time before meeting with Mr. Markson later that day, and she decided to use it to find another book to read. With her mental corruption only at 4%, she felt like now would be a good time to add a new skill to her class. 

She had thought about exploring the shaft, as she had named the new part of the library. Still, with how big - or maybe small, it was impossible to tell in a place where distance didn’t really exist - the shaft was, she would take a while to find anything useful. By then, the unreality of the place would probably give her so much corruption she wouldn’t be able to use any of it.

So she stayed in the mist room and looked for something good; she thought she might have found a winner. 

The tome she was holding was a simple book with pictures of sleeping children on it. Rain chose it, hoping it might help her with her nightmare problem. Also, it was a thin book, meaning it would hopefully provide less corruption. 

Taking a deep breath, Rain opened the book and took the plunge. The book had no words. Instead, the most horrific stench Rain had ever smelled emanated from its pages.

Rain had lived in a slave pen for ten years, and this was still worse smelling than all the unwashed bodies, piles of undisposed excrement, and vomit she had been exposed to there. 

Rain was glad that she hadn't eaten in a while. But the real problem with the smell was that Rain could understand what it meant, and if she wanted to gather the whole story, she would have to inhale it willingly. 

Closing her watering eyes, Rain inhaled a sharp breath. The meaning was there in a way she couldn’t explain with words. Two more excruciating breaths later, and she understood the whole story. 

Her best translation of the book's meaning was about becoming one with those who consumed you by attaching a small piece of your soul to the part of you that was eaten and fusing it to the consumer. Then, later, you could use that small part attached to the host to create a connection when the host was at its weakest. 

The whole book was gross, from the content to the delivery method. Rain hoped she would never have to ‘read’ a book like it again.

As she finished internalizing it all, Mr. Purple arrived with his usual slog of messages.

[Skill Attained: Enter Dream.]

[Creating class around Enter Dream.]

[Error: Enter Dream has been absorbed into Master of the Library; creation of new class canceled.]

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[Enter Dream: You may forge a connection to anyone who consumes a portion of your body. This connection will allow you to enter their dreams and communicate with them while they sleep.]

[WARNING: Mental corruption has risen 10%. Current mental corruption 14%.]

Rain went over a mental checklist: no strange feelings, hallucinations, spike in aggression, or lethargy. Her personality seemed normal. It appeared that her corruption was still at a safe level. Though would she really be able to tell if it wasn’t?

She also noticed that she gained corruption much slower than others. If she had to guess, she thought it was the effect of her Aura of the Unnatural skill when it said, ‘This aura will provide some protection against the influence of the void.’ At least some good came from that skill. 

This new skill, however, seemed odd. Why would she let others eat her just so she could talk to them in their dreams? Also, what counted as her body? Did a hair count? She would need to test this. But first, she needed to get to her meeting.

*****

Rain's meeting with Mr. Markson went better than she expected. They had sent out several shipments over the past few days, and other than the first, none had been waylaid. That meant it was time to really restart Mr. Markson’s business. 

They had talked at length about what goods to move and how much Mr. Markson would need to make it happen. For the most part, Rain let him make the decisions; he knew what he was doing. But there were two items that Rain insisted that he find and import: paint and dyes. 

Rain was tired of seeing the same gloomy black stone buildings and ash-covered streets. Some buildings, like the Fiddlers Retreat, painted patterns on their front, but most found that to be wasteful. Rain was going to change that. 

The dye was for the same reason. Pretty things cheer people up. So if Rain could make pretty clothes available for everyone, everyone would be happier. It made sense to Rain.

During the entire meeting, Sunrise hovered close to Rain, giving her drinks and snacks and ignoring Mr. Markson whenever he suggested she finish some task he’d assigned her. 

Despite her attention, whenever Rain would try to talk to her, she would just blush and look down. Rain wasn’t sure what was going on with her, but Rain was glad she seemed to be happy here.

The only real surprise of the meeting happened when everything was over, and Rain was getting up to leave.

“Oh, before I forget. I would like to invite you to come and have dinner with my family and me tonight if you are willing. As thanks for saving my business.”

Those words caused Rain to freeze where she stood. Had she really just heard him ask her to spend time with his family? A real family! 

“I, er, yes I, that would be great!” 

Rain needed to get ready to make the best first impression possible! Quickly gathering the time and place from Mr. Markson, Rain rushed off. This was her big chance. 

Mr. Markson was a nice man; if his wife and son were anything like him, they would be perfect. 

Rain spotted a row of beautiful knives displayed outside a smithy as she searched the Mid Ring for a tailor who could make her a perfect dress before dinner. For a minute, Rain could see herself standing there with a boy who looked like Mr. Markson. She would help him pick out a knife, and he would teach her to carve wood. They would play together and look out for each other. Eventually, the vision ended, and Rain realized how much time she had wasted. 

She did end up finding a tailor who could make a dress for her in time. As she was paying, she could almost hear Mr. Markson haggling down the price with the tailor so he could get the best deal for ‘his daughter.’ 

Taking the dress and feeding it to her cloak, Rain raced to a spot near where Mr. Markson lived in the Mid Ring. She then entered her library to get ready. 

Rain's insides felt like tight knots. She wasn’t even sure if she could eat anything when the time came.

Rain changed into the dress she had just bought and looked at herself in the mirror she had placed in her room. The dress was a pretty pale green with white and blue flowers. The skirt only went down to the knees, and there were no sleeves, making it useless for most days, but Rain loved it.

Flowers weren’t common in Tineak due to the ash and cold. There were some hearty bushes, but you only found flowers in a lord’s greenhouse. Still, Rain thought they were beautiful. She hoped one day to go to a place where flowers were plentiful.

Rain twirled, delighted by how the skirt flared out. Looking back into the mirror, she forced herself to look past the dress to the person inside it. Rain’s hair was a little messy, and the dark circles under her eyes were no good. 

Rain poked and prodded at the dark circles, but no matter what she tried, she couldn’t get them to change colors back to normal. Giving up on them as a lost cause, Rain looked at her hair. 

She had no idea what to do with it, so she tried to think about what Ms. Hope looked like. After all, no one could dislike the cheerful librarian. She remembered Hope keeping her hair in a braid. Rain had never braided hair before, but it looked simple enough.

Taking a breath, Rain sat in front of the mirror and started braiding her hair. As she did, she could imagine a kind-looking woman behind her helping Rain braid her hair while Rain told her all about her day. Before Rain realized what was happening, she felt tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.

In the end, it took Rain several hours to figure out how to braid her hair properly, the end result wasn’t the neatest, but Rain was proud of it.

It was time. Stomach hurting and clutching the hem of her skirt, Rain set off to impress the Marksons.