Dripping Away

Chapter 17: To What End?

        "This is it. Are you guys ready?"
     We were in protected glass in case the circuit board decided it would blow up. It wouldn't do that at this point. But we stood behind the glass and waited for one of the Six to press the button.
     "Shut your eyes now. It's going to emit a light."
     I shut my eyes tightly, and I heard the sound of some button being pressed and then a whir. I didn't have to open my eyes to know that the room was unusually bright because my eyelids were red now instead of black as if someone put a flashlight directly in front of me. When that light finally disappeared, I opened my eyes and looked out to the sky. The rain had in fact started to slow until it was just sprinkling, and I even caught the hint of a cloudless sky. Cloudless? I had never seen that before in all of my life.
     "Holy shit," Abers exasperated. "Dude, they... It..."
     "Ranll's design worked," Ikalanig whispered. "Oh my god, we... We have to announce this!"
     "What about the Garden?" I asked.
     "Later, Lostin. Stopping the rain is more important."
     Abers and the others followed Ikalanig to a different room, but I didn't follow. I understood the importance of this, really, and I knew I was being selfish in a way that no one would understand unless they shared the same conversation I had with Lekereianale. No matter. They could tend to telling the public they now have a way to stop the rain, and I could free the Giants on my own. There had to be a way to open the way to them. I began taking my strides towards the restricted staircase that was not guarded by anyone at all. It would take me to the basement level, and that, too, was unguarded. I only knew because Ikalanig was the same as he was before. Bold, but unterrified. The monster.
     I began descending the stairs and held onto the railing as the stale air mixed into the fresh.    This was a familiar scene. When I was growing up here, no one was allowed int eh basement then, but I found my way down here all the time. I had no idea where the door to the Garden of Lilth was, but maybe I had seen it before without realizing. I knew most of this place.
Something inside was telling me to turn back as soon as I began to see the door that led inside, but I refused, just this once, to listen to my ever-changing gut. The door slammed against the wall, and I walked into the dark. Really, it was just machines and back up generators that were left down here, possibly to rot in their cogs. To me, they were just a part of the background, but I knew even some of the adults found all of this eerie.
     I used my electricity to guide me to the door, and I followed it through the maze of junk. It was junk. I scanned bins full of metal scraps and wires that looked like they had rusted beyond their years. Maybe it was from water damage. No, it most likely was in this rainy age. I passed it all and found the electricity guiding me to a plain-looking door that was indented with six slots, and I knew that had something to do with the original Six.
     "Please state your name."
     I turned around, and the junk in the bins began vibrating violently until it smacked together like some form of magnetism. But it actually began to make a human body shape with yellow eyes and a face that was lined off into four sections. It was rusty from not being used, and it's voice was shaky. It bowed to me, to which I returned the gesture.
     "Please state your name," it said.
     "Lostin," I answered.
     "You are not matching the names Vel, Bontori, Askini, Tomphi, Woshen, or Lallin. You do not own any of the gems to open the Garden of Lilth."
     "Is there a way to open the door, robot?"
     "Incorrect." The robot seemed to pause as if going through the scenarios. "You hold the power of a Storm Child, a direct link to the Giants. The door may open for you if you can mimic the power the six gems held."
     I placed my hands on the door. "How much power?"
     "You must open our heart and let it pour from your fingertips. A part of opening the door is having the desire to do so."
     I placed my hands on the farthest slots and shut my eyes. Why did I want this? Because it aligned with my interests, right? No, it was more than that. I wanted them to be free from their own imprisonment, to fight against the world that they couldn't fight before. I had been there, trapped in my own skin where I felt powerless in a situation of all powerful things. When I was given electricity to coarse through me as if it belonged to me, I suddenly felt like had done something right. Because I abandoned my job as a Six. I killed Ikalanig's son, my best friend. I worked with the mob to find the answers to Trelos, which would never come because despite Mantortek telling me he knew, he just used me as a puppet. So I let his precious gang get caught, and I fled until Ranll came and saved me. And then, despite the warnings, I was caught by the Six, and I was electrocuted to death. Every time I was powerless. I had so many opportunities to do what I was told, but all of it was thrown away because I wanted to know why Mom died that way. Not learning to read or write was a choice. Abandoning all belief in one thing to find answers in another was a choice. This was a choice, too, and I was going to follow through no matter what.
     "Please allow yourself to exit the entrance to the Garden of Lilth."
     I opened my eyes to see the door was gone. Completely, not even the remnants of it anywhere close to me. I turned back to the robot, who only repeated their precious message, so I stepped out of the way and waited for something. Moments later, blue and pink fingers wrapped around the frame, and a three-eyed Giant looked in.
     "Lostin Rotsitt?" she said.
     "Lekereianale," I nodded.
     She came through the door, and while she looked ginormous in the Garden of Lilth, I estimated her at about ten feet tall max as she stepped through the door. Still tall enough to be considered a Giant, but not in the way I should have been concerned they weren't going to fit. Her siblings came through soon after, staring around at the dreaded basement.
     "Lostin!"
     I heard a voice, and Ikalanig and the others came through the long corridor to see what was going on.
     "I'll... go find some clothes." Ikalanig fled back into the dark, and I was forced to face the other Storm Children.
     "Glad you're safe," Abers smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Ika has informed the public of the rain stopping."
     "It worked, then," Lekereianale whispered. She looked up. "Excellent!"
     "You got the garden open?" Westik asked.
     I nodded, keeping my arms crossed. "Yeah."
     "Well, let's not worry about that now, right?" Ikalanig came out from the shadows and threw the clothes at the Giants. "You five need to wear some clothes. Since Lostin is freakishly tall, you should fit into those just fine."
     "Hey!" I growled. "I could electrocute you right now."
     "Yeah, but..." He smiled. "You won't."
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