Freedom n Go
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain tucked Sunrise and Scratch - the doll Lucus had bought - into bed. It had be something of a nightly ritual for the two. It probably wasn’t the most proper thing for a maid to go to bed before herdy, but Rain didn’t want a maid; she wanted a sister.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Good night, Ise. Good night, Atch.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Goon night, Rain.”
<span style="font-weight:400">No matter how many times Rain did this, it made her smile. She wasn’t sure how siblings were supposed to act, but she was determined to be the best sister ever. All she had to do was not ruin things by being too greedy.
<span style="font-weight:400">“See you tomorrow, Ise.”
<span style="font-weight:400">With that, Rain picked up Snow and hermp and left Ise’s room.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was time. All the prep work had been finished, the people were ready, and all that was left was for Rain to warp to Mr. Mirage and start the n. If everything went well, Rain would be back before Ise woke up.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain squeezed Snow real tight before setting him down on her bed. Then after a moment, she picked him back up and gave him onest,st hug. She tried her best to ignore the tight feeling she always got in her chest when she wasn’t holding Snow; it would only be for a few hours. She could be strong until then.
<span style="font-weight:400">With onest look, Rain warped to Mr. Mirage.
<span style="font-weight:400">***
<span style="font-weight:400">A few minutester, Rain peered down at the gathered Ash Grifters. She was dressed in her ck sser outfit - nowplete with five glorious ck belts - Mr. Mirage at her side, and her aura causing the shadows in the underground room of the Ash Grifter base to writhe as she kept it slightly flexed. Behind her, painted on the wall, was the cup and knife these people had taken on as their sign. Its lines also quivered slightly under Rain''s flexed aura.
<span style="font-weight:400">Almost every man and woman present had entered her library and read from its books - an act they had taken to calling ‘the ritual of awakening.’
<span style="font-weight:400">Roughly a quarter of those who entered the library had to be put down after their transformation made them violent. Another quarter had severe mutations or mental abnormalities, such as an inability to remember people''s names or tentacles for hair. Yet despite this, Rain couldn’t see a single face clouded with anger at her for what had been done. Fear, yes, but not anger.
<span style="font-weight:400">If she was being honest, the amount of deference she saw from these people was disturbing. Really, what had Mr. Mirage and Ms. River been telling them? But if they were willing to be tools, Rain would use them.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You all know your parts in tonight''s great y. Let us take the first step to a world without fear! Library Guard, step forward.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Six people stood and stepped forward, led by Ms. Wer, the first girl Mr. Tist had purchased. Her hair was a warm brown after bing the only other person to evolve besides Mr. Mirage.
<span style="font-weight:400">Ms. Wer, the first wood elf, bowed to Rain.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Lady of the Awakening, we are proud to serve you.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain hadn’t realized how far Mr. Mirage was nning to take his idea when she gave him permission, but she would continue to y the part if that''s what it took to help people.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then enter the library and keep order within. Let none enter farther into its depths or try to exit until I open the doors for them.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain was getting pretty good at her fancy speech if she did say so herself. Maybe some of those lessons she had bothered to attend had been useful after all.
<span style="font-weight:400">She walked to the only door exiting the room and opened it, turning it into a portal to her library.
<span style="font-weight:400">“We are honored to serve you, Lady Chain-Braker.”
<span style="font-weight:400">And with that, Ms. Wer led her fellows through the door.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain closed the door before turning to thest four people in the room.
<span style="font-weight:400">“All right, Mr. Tist, you know what to do.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I do, Lady of Dreams. I will wait for you at the Rockson Restaurant.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Good.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain had no idea where that was, but she had slipped a coin in his coat so she could just warp to him when it was time.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mr. Mirage, did you sell the man with my coin to the mines?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes Lady Tyix. I saw him taken into the mines with my own eyes.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wait, mines? What mines?” Mr. Tist butted in.
<span style="font-weight:400">“The Star Metal Mines.” Mr. Mirage answered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“We’re hitting more than one ce. Why did no one tell me?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Because we need you to focus on your job.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“But…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Perfect.” Rain cut the two arguing men off. “Then we begin.”
<span style="font-weight:400">And with that, Rain red her shoulder cape before warping away as any self-respecting ck sser should.
<span style="font-weight:400">When the world unfolded, Rain found herself in an underground room. Judging by the heat, she was in the mines, which hugged the open magma shafts of Tineak. The smell was horrible, made worse by the heat. After her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see why. She was in some kind of privy.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain was d the coin was no longer inside the man she had given it to. The mental image of her appearing inside his stomach and bursting out like some kind of monster had haunted her ever since she came up with the idea of having someone swallow one of her coins.
<span style="font-weight:400">But looking around for the coin, Rain realized she would have to sift through the waste to find it. Instead, she repeatedly warped to it until it ran out of strength and destroyed itself and the things around it. Rain watched the sludge bubble as the coin died, once again d that the coin wasn’t inside someone.
<span style="font-weight:400">Creeping to the door, Rain eased it open, unsure of theyout of the mine. The research she had been able to do without connecting herself to this heist said that the prisoners were unattended inside the mine except for monthly inspections. The only other contact they had with the outside was every third week when they would trade the ore they had managed to mine for tools and a meager amount of food.
<span style="font-weight:400">All Rain needed to do was find the man she’d sent in here, then gather the miners and their mined ore for a quick extraction. Then by the….
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain ducked as a pickaxe nearly took off her head.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Die, monster!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Already, the pickaxe had halted its trajectory and was speeding back towards Rain.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain jumped back and grabbed a coin from her pocket. Before her attacker could swing at her again, she threw the coin down the hall and warped to it.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain heard the thud of the pickaxe mming into the stone wall behind her. Rain knew her aura scared people, but to attack without warning was a bit much, wasn’t it? Rain ran as the man behind her yelled about a monster in the tunnels. Great, this was going to be harder than she thought.
<span style="font-weight:400">When Rain was out of sight, she slowed down and started to think. Her talking to these people was a bad idea. Her aura made diplomacy a bit of a weak spot for her. If she could find the man that Mr. Mirrage had sent in here, she could have him talk sense into the others, but how many people might attack her while she looked for her contact?
<span style="font-weight:400">Why hadn’t she instructed him to keep the coin on him rather than telling him to hide it somewhere no one would find it?
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain could hear the man''s warnings about a monster in the tunnels echoing all the way to where she crouched. What could she do? What did she have at her disposal right now? Her cloak, her coin, and her skills. The answer came to her, and she ran back to the privy she had arrived in. The man was gone. He probably ran off to tell the others about the threat in the tunnels.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain used the privy door to create a portal to her library, then stepped in.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain arrived to see the six people she had left in here, saluting her fist to heart.
<span style="font-weight:400">Perfect.
<span style="font-weight:400">“The miners are unnerved by my presence. I will need you six to act as emissaries. Convince them that I am no threat and to help with the evacuation.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“As you wish, Lady of the Library.” Ms. Wer said with a bow.
<span style="font-weight:400">Really, what was with her and all these random titles? Rain had a fake name; why wouldn’t people use it?
<span style="font-weight:400">“Good, follow me.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain left the library surrounded by her escort of six, each wielding the rough homemade weaponsmon to the Low Ring.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain''s group moved swiftly through the tunnels, looking for a main barracks or gathering ce. Instead, they ran into another group of people: two burly men with pickaxes and a massive woman who looked like she could beat up both men at the same time.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Who are you!” one of the men asked, lowering his pickaxe in a defensive stance.
<span style="font-weight:400">“We’re here to free you and the other miners.” Ms. Wer said in a smooth voice.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Free us?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, we have a way to transport everyone here out of the mines and to a safe ce.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain watched the conversation with interest. Ms. Wer seemed to have a knack for keeping people''s attention and calming them down. How could Rain be like that? Was it her bodynguage? Her tone of voice?
<span style="font-weight:400">While Rain was distracted trying to figure out how Ms. Wer was so good with people, the conversation came to a halt, and everyone was looking at Rain. Well, ashes, this was awkward.
<span style="font-weight:400">“My apologies. I was thinking about other things.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Did the miner woman just snicker at Rain''s admission?
<span style="font-weight:400">“She said you have the power to get us out of here. Prove it.” one of the men answered.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rain cycled through her options for convincing these people and decided on the most direct one. She threw her coin behind the miners, and as they got into defensive stances wery of an attack, she warped over to her coin.
<span style="font-weight:400">“As you can see,” she said from behind the miners, “I have the power to move instantly.”
<span style="font-weight:400">The miners whirled around to face her.
<span style="font-weight:400">“How did…” one of the men started before trailing off.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Are you convinced now that I can do what I say I can? If so, gather everyone, their tools, and the shipment of ore. It''s time for you all to escape.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“How can we trust you?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“The question you should be asking is, are you willing to trust me in order to escape this ce?”
<span style="font-weight:400">It turned out that wasn’t a very hard question to answer.