Rain thought about everything she had learned talking with Linette while she weaved her way through the Low Ring. She was struggling to break it all down. Linette had said that a skilled item was an object in which a skill was trapped. That made Rain think about her ‘Door to the Library’ skill; was she creating a skilled item every time she used that skill? She didn’t think so since the skill was meant to be used on a door. It sounded to her that in order to create a skilled item with ‘Door to the Library, ’ she would need to find a way to push the skill into the door without turning it into a portal and then create a trigger to activate the skill later, like a key. Rain wasn’t sure how useful something like that would be, but her mind was already racing.

 

Rain was pulled from her thoughts by a hand clasping onto her shoulder. She squeaked in alarm and spun around. Who was attacking her? She had been watchful and avoided any suspicious people.

 

The first part of her assailant that she saw was a gleaming bronze helmet, and her horror only grew as she saw the blue tunic with the Star of Tineak emblazoned on its breast. Rain tried to warp away but found that she couldn’t with his hand on her shoulder. Her heartbeat accelerated and…

 

“Whoa, whoa. I’m not going to hurt you! You can calm down.”

 

The man’s words didn’t quite calm Rain down, but they did stop her heart from racing any faster. Now that she wasn’t panicking, she could see that the guard was young for the job, maybe fifteen? 

 

“I didn’t mean to scare you, but you looked distracted and were walking towards a dangerous part of the city.”

 

Rain blinked. He was worried about her? His words were honest, at least. Rain was so used to hiding from the guards and thinking of them as heartless monsters that she didn’t know how to respond to one who seemed to genuinely care about people. 

 

“Thank you, sir. I’ll be okay. I live here.”

 

That got a pained grimace from the young guard.

 

“I understand. Sorry for stopping you; just please be safe.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

And Rain saw he meant it. Seeing a kind guard made her feel better. It reminded her that there were good people everywhere, that no matter how hurt she may have been or how scared she may be, there was a reason to keep going. 

 

So she continued on her way with a bounce in her step. Her path brought her close to the Ash Grifters' former headquarters. It was in far worse condition than its rundown neighbors. Rain still thanked the moons that she had managed to evacuate most of the Grifters to Estom Island despite the raging fever she’d had at the time. But the sight brought bitter emotions to her mind. She had been sloppy dealing with them. Spies had seen them meeting, and Rain had even brought a spy into her plans. 

 

The thought of Tist still made Rain mad. She could see lies, yet she hadn’t thought to check if he was on their side. 

 

Rain sighed. It could have been worse. The lords of Tineak knew that she had a way of appearing and disappearing, but they didn’t know the specifics. They also knew that she was able to give unique classes with drawbacks. That wasn’t too bad. The bad part was that they had information that Lady Tyix was a young girl with black hair. 

 

Rain loved her hair, but for once, she wished she had a more common color like red or blond. Unfortunately, there was nothing to do but be patient and only meet people in their dreams where she could change her appearance. 

 

When Rain arrived at her destination, she was glad to see that everything hadn’t gotten worse. The cobbler shop where she bought her first pair of shoes was still in near-perfect condition with its luxurious glass windows. It made Rain happy to know that the nice old man was doing okay.

 

She entered the shop with a wide smile on her face. The old silver-haired man sat working on something behind the counter, just like he had been the first time Rain entered this shop. 

 

“Good morning, young miss. What can I do for you today?”

 

“Good morning, sir. Do you have shoes that make people taller?”

 

He seemed a bit nonplussed at that question.

 

“I do, though I don’t get many requests for that from customers your age. Are you shopping for someone else?”

 

“No, I need them for myself.”

 

“I see how much taller do you need to be?”

 

“Two inches.”

 

“Hmm, I have made formal shoes that give that much lift, but they’ll be uncomfortable and hard to walk in, especially for someone your size.”

 

That burst Rain's bubble. She really needed to be taller, but if it was obvious that she was just using a tall shoe, then it would defeat the purpose. 

 

“Do you know of any other way I could grow two inches?”

 

Rain did her best uffter eyes expression and tried to channel Sunrise in her pleading look. But the storekeeper just chuckled.

 

“The only way I know for you to grow is to wait. You’re still young; just give it time.”

 

That wasn’t what Rain wanted to hear. She needed to grow now! Still, she didn’t have any way to force the matter. So she just sighed and left the shop to find a place to warp home from.

 

When the world unfolded around Rain, she stood alone beside her bed. She’d moved her coin from Sunrise’s room to her own so that she wasn’t suddenly bursting into Ise’s room all the time.

 

The first thing she did was scoop up Snow. She never went anywhere around the manor without her fluffiest of friends. That said, Rain still didn’t want to be alone, so she went to her sitting room to look for Sunrise or Lucus.

 

The sitting room had changed a lot since Rain first saw it. Before, it had been a simple room with light blue carpet, black stone walls, and dark brown wood furniture. One of the first things Rain had done after Sunrise moved in was to tell her that if she wanted to change any of the decorations, she could. Rain hoped that it would make Sunrise feel like she belonged here.

 

In truth, Rain really wanted to give Sunrise her room, the prettiest clothes, the tastiest food, and the best of everything else, but Sunrise refused, insisting that Rain keep most of it. Still, Sunrise had made some changes.

 

The curtains around the large window were now completely black, as were the tablecloths, the pillows on the couch, and most of the loose items around the room. It had gotten to the point where the room had started to make Rain sad from its lack of color, and she had to do a bit of decorating of her own.

 

She had gotten some white and light blue paint from Mr. Markson and painted swirling patterns on the black stone walls. It wasn’t until she finished that she realized the patterns resembled the way the thick shimmer in the room moved and flowed. Either way, it looked pretty and added some color to the room. Sunrise said she liked it, too, which was a double win.

 

The last big change to the room was the painting easel standing in one corner. Neither Rain or Sunrise painted. It was there as bait to lure Lucus into the room. He had paper and charcoal in his room but not canvas and paint. The easel had done its job well, and Rain could feel the happiness the moment she entered this room. So many memories of time spent with her siblings; they made this room more special than any other place in the world. 

 

Rain did slump a little after that initial rush of warmth when she saw that she was alone right now, but that was fine; the others would be back soon. 

 

She decided to move Sunrise’s favorite chair while the blond girl was still gone. For some reason, Sunrise kept moving it to this corner of the room. Rain couldn’t understand why. There was nothing interesting there, and none of the other chairs were close. Rain normally wouldn’t care, but that corner was where the pooled shimmer was always thickest. 

 

Rain was pretty sure that shimmer was harmless, but she still didn’t want her sister to spend a lot of time sitting in it. 

 

Chair back in its proper place, Rain plopped down on the couch to read when Mr. Purple decided to give her a message.

 

[Notice: You have been summoned as Oru's chosen to attend a coven of the Zimir. The coven will start in three weeks. You will be teleported to the location at that time.]