Library of Rain

Which Brother

Lucus staggered slightly as life returned to him. Where was he? How had he gotten here? Why did he feel so small? He was sitting at a desk - his desk from seven years ago. This ash in front of him was the book that prevented him from ever getting a class.

“Brother, are you alright?”

Lucus knew this scene; he could remember it perfectly. 

“I’m, I’m alive!” he muttered, lifting his hands to feel his neck; it was intact despite his beheading moments ago.

What was going on? He briefly remembered the messages he’d seen when a small body impacted him from the side and tried to squeeze him to death. 

He recognized this scent. It was the smell his sister used to have.

“Rain,” he couldn’t stop himself from uttering that one word: a name he’d refused to speak for years.

This was his chance! If he had returned to the past somehow, then now was the time to kill Rain before she could slaughter thousands of people.

Lucus reached over to his desk and grabbed the knife resting on the edge.

I won't let that nightmare happen again!

Lucus hugged Rain back with one arm to hold her in place while preparing to stab her with the other.

He could do it. He could save so many people! But would that be a mistake? Rain had done a lot of good before The Tower took her. The best result would be to wait to kill her until right before that happened. 

That's right, killing her now would be a mistake. He would make sure Rain never went on a rampage this time.

Lucus put the knife back down, remembering it as the one Rain had given him so long ago. Or not so long ago.

Remembering dozens of conversations over the years, Lucus asked for his information, and like that, words came into focus before him. He gaped at the words over Rain's head. He had never been able to make them appear before, but here they were.

[Name: Lucus Estom

Age: 12

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Class: [error]

Hidden Class: Regressor

Class Skills:

[error]

Hidden Class Skills:

none

Hidden Passive Skills:

Regressor’s Mind 

Regressor’s Silence]

He mentally asked to see what ‘Regressor’s Mind’ did.

[Regressor’s Mind: You have a perfect memory of everything that happened from the moment you first read ‘Possibility’s Echo.’ Your mind is immune to all magical and physical methods to pry out its secrets.]

That must be why he could remember everything so well despite the years since this last happened. Or had all those years been nothing more than a vision of what would happen if Rain was allowed to live? He remembered Rain once looking for a way to travel to the past and being told by that thing - White - that it wasn’t possible. But White also recommended that book to Lucus, so had she been lying, or had the years not been real? The more he thought about it, the less sure he was. The memories felt real, so maybe that was all that mattered?

[Regressors Silence: Should anyone find out in any way that you have memories of a possible future, both you and anyone who learns this secret will die.]

Lucus suddenly felt very glad that his mind couldn’t be read by those little nuisances Rain had with her at the beginning. He needed to keep this all a secret no matter what. If worse came to worse, this skill would provide a good method for revenge suicide.

While Lucus was still processing everything, Rain let go of her hug and started dancing around with that cursed wolf. It was so hard to reconcile this laughing, free spirit with the twisted and broken monster she really was. To think that within a few short years, this girl would kill his parents and start her journey to become the greatest disaster the Isles had ever known. 

“What does your skill do?” She asked as she spun.

Lucus waited for a moment when her back was turned to him so she wouldn’t be able to see him lie.

“Second Chance only says that it will ‘give me a chance to do things differently.’ I don’t know how to use it, though.”

That's Right, Rain. I know all of your skills, as well as the skills you’ll acquire in the future. In a year and a half, you kill our parents and become the Bane of the Isles. 

Unbidden, a line from a play he’d been forced to watch a few times came to mind: ‘Now I sit, all alone, with nothing but my conscience and an empty throne.’ Which brother had been right? Pardeth would kill Rain now to save the people she would hurt, but looking at Rain - Rain, his sister, not the megalomaniac Lady Tyix - he understood why Agradawn had been willing to turn a blind eye to the crimes of his family. 

He’d always thought the world was black and white, but right now, he only saw black. 

This would end in blood no matter which brother was right. No matter which path he chose, there was one thing he needed to do, and he needed to do it tonight.

***

Sunrise curled up in her favorite chair, enjoying the cool waves of her sister’s presence, which were so thick in this corner of the room. Her sister’s aura was like a strong bouncer keeping the deranged customers out of the ‘House.’ It guarded her by being terrifying and keeping the things that wanted to hurt her away, making this corner one of the only places she felt comfortable. 

Dinner would need to be prepared in a few minutes, and Ise always needed to be there to make sure that the filthy servants of the Estoms didn’t do something to her sister's food, but until then, she was going to enjoy this wonderful tingling feeling.

However, she only had a few minutes to enjoy the feeling because, to her annoyance, that entitled filth came in without her sister.

“Rain’s not here, so go away,” she called to Lucus.

“I was looking for you, not her.”

Ise was immediately on guard. Other than Rain, when people looked for her it was because they wanted to take something from her. Was this when Lucus finally tried to steal Rain from her?

“Then go away. I don’t have anything to say to you.”

Lucus stared at her, adding a less comfortable creepiness to the room.

“You really hate me, don’t you?”

Ise snorted at that. Of course she did. The only person worth anything was Rain. Lucus wasn’t all that bad other than the way he always tried to take Rain’s love just like he’d taken everything in this manor and left Ise to grow up alone in that horrible ‘House.’ 

“It's fine if you hate me. I came to talk to you about Rain anyway.”

Ise shot him her best warning glair. If he even suggested that she let him have Rain, she wouldn’t hold back.

“You see, I wanted to ask you what you think Rain needs from you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Simple if you were given the option to destroy every person who ever crossed Rain, or you could create a home that Rain could return to and rest; what do you think Rain would want?”

Ise didn’t need to think long; her sister was too kind to remove people just because they were mean to her; she would only act if they were hurting others. Ise wouldn’t have that limit; she desperately wanted the power to erase anyone who hurt her wonderful sister. But at the same time, that wasn’t what Rain wanted, was it? 

Rain would want someone to cry to and a safe place to hide when things were bad, just like she’d needed Ise after her last big adventure. Still, the thought was far less enjoyable than ripping Rain’s enemies apart and forcing people to acknowledge how great she is.

“Why are you asking this random question?”

“I guess I was just curious.”

“Then go away.”

Lucus chuckled, “Fine, I’ll leave you alone.” and turned to do just that.

“Lucus, are you all right?” the question was out of her lips before she could stop it.

Lucus turned back with an odd expression on his face. “Yes, why do you ask?”

“The way you’re acting right now is off. I just wanted to know if you were feeling down and creating problems for Rain.”

Sunrise already regretted asking her question. Why should she care if he was alright? If he was gone, she would get Rain all to herself. She should be hoping something bad happened to him. 

“I’m fine. Just getting rid of a couple of monsters. I don’t want them hurting my family.”

Something was definitely off about him right now. 

“If you're trying to protect Rain, then I want to help. It would be bad if something happened to either of you.” Ise said.

Ise buried her face in a pillow so she wouldn’t have to look at Lucus’s dumb face. Unfortunately, this meant she wasn't prepared for when he snuck up on her and patted her on the head. The gesture made her skin crawl, and not in the good way. It reminded her too much of the ‘kind men’ who sometimes visited The House. The only person head pats felt good from was Rain.

Ise scooted deeper into the chair to avoid any more contact with her half-brother. She didn’t know what to say. She just didn’t want him to touch her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“Just go away.”

Sunrise didn’t care about the conversation anymore. She just wanted to be submerged in the comforting feeling of Rain. A moment later, she heard the click of the door and was able to relax again.

She never noticed the pair of eyes curiously watching her from the darkness long after Lucus left.