"Hey!" Rum yelled up towards the light. "HEY, HELLO!?"

A shadow emerged over the lid. Rum saw the grid-distorted contours of a mecha-gnome.

"HELLO? UP THERE! YOU!" Rum waved his arms, though the action was not particularly helpful in this situation.

"What do you want?" spoke a male voice down to him.

"Could I get a blanket?"

"A what?"

"BLANKET!" Rum repeated. "COULD I GET A BLANKET, TO SLEEP WITH?"

"No" responded the gnome, finality in his voice. The shadow of the small man retracted, bringing faint light back into the oubliette.

Rum sighed. He turned his face to the brick walls of his hole. The enchantment pattern had been carved out in white straights and curves, covering almost every surface reachable by his arms. The rays of light that shone down was mostly concentrated on him and the floor, almost none illuminated the walls, thus concealing his work in a figurative blanket of darkness.

Rum was tired of standing. Actually he was tired all over. But he wasn't ready to go down into sleep just yet. He squatted, and sighed once more looking at the ground. "Only you left now. But how am I going to avoid them seeing you?"

He glanced up to the lid of his prison. His fingers climbed up to his neck, touching the anti-magic collar. I've broken passed these restrictions before. But could I do so again without drawing attention? He considered the problem as his fingers tapped on the circle of steel. Breaking passed the enchantment only required that I concentrated my magic at the extremities opposite the collar. But the lights? I would have to conceal them once the spell escapes. He thought about his problem thoroughly. Eventually he decided on an approach. The wizard lowered down into a squat and spread the robe about his feet until he felt it mostly connected with the floor, forming a tent of sorts around his bottom.

"Magic Blanket" Rum whispered, and inside he felt the spell come alive. It immediately tried to escape via his hands, and he hastened to redirect it, circling it inside himself and filling it with a mass of mana. Finally, he aimed it at his left big toe. The spell collided against the collar's barrier in a BZZZT! and a flash of blue light, a brightness that became faint as it filtered through his grey robes. Rum's pulse spiked. The sound had not been loud, and the light escaping his electromagnetic prison had not been alarmingly bright. He did feel mostly confident that neither had been noticed. Still, on the off-chance, his body prepared him with a rush of nervous energy. He drew more mana into the spell, growing it, preparing, and then once more hammered it against the barrier of his toe.

BZZZT! Another flash of blue light, even brighter, filtered out of his robe fabric as a dimmed luminescence. Not enough.

BZZZT! BZZZT!

Rum battered the barrier again and again until – a stream of magic escaped his left big toe and shot out into the space under his robes. There the spell took form, initially as a protruding ball from under his robe, and Rum felt warmth as the continuous blue light brightened slightly. Then it dimmed, and finally, as the light rapidly died out, Rum felt cloth land across his feet. He lifted his robe and pulled it out. I had forgotten it's see-through! Rum rolled his eyes at himself. Well, it's only partially transparent. If I add another?

Rum whispered the spell again, repeating his steps of hammering the spell passed and out of its confinement, and ended up with two translucent blankets. He laid them down over the floor and found out it likely wasn't enough. So he did the whole thing a third time, and laid all of them atop each other on the floor, staring at his results. Should work? He stared, and nodded to himself.

He put aside the blankets and looked down at a few unmarked spots on the floor, those most visible from above with what little light came down, and he continued drawing out the enchantment pattern, all until each and every last one of them were extensions of his previous work.

"Ahhh" Rum let out a breath. "Just one act left to perform" he whispered, and knelt to the floor. He placed his hands down, and took in a deep breath, closing his eyes. He thought hard about what he'd witnessed and done at Amez' shop some weeks ago. Trying to recall every significant detail, and keeping it in his head like the clearest of ideas. At last, his mouth opened to whisper. "Minor Mana Sponge." The spell shot for his hands, but he redirected this one also, letting it grow in a circling motion inside himself, before he threw it against the thin barrier at his toe.

BZZZT! A flash of lights appeared under his robe. He felt it was easier this time, less of a struggle against the collar which was still recovering.

BZZZT! The spell escaped, planting itself from his toe and into the stone below. Around Rum, a faint light spread across the floor of the oubliette, sending a rush of fear into the wizard as it proceeded to climb up and fill his hole with a new light. As Rum's anxiety spiked though, the lights suddenly started to lower in intensity, before dimming and eventually dying out altogether. What remained to be seen then was only his carvings, which all were covered in the darkness of the walls, and soon, the blankets at his feet.

"Haaa" Rum let out in relief. He was tired, so tired. And there's nothing more to be done now, is there? He thought for a moment, but nothing came to mind. I can finally rest. The wizard sat down on the floor, letting the drowsiness he'd long kept at bay finally take him. Soon, he laid down against the cold stone, draped with three partially translucent blankets.

∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞

"Hey, Grobber, take a look at this!" shouted a male voice.

"What is it?" answered another.

Rum's consciousness brought him into a world where he couldn't tell if the voices he heard were dreams or real. Either way the wizard, his mind and body pleading for sleep, precious sleep, could not care less about them. Unfortunately, the voices seemed to be caring a lot about him. Still in his faint presence of mind Rum was determined not to bother with the Real, and so, whatever those voices may be saying, they will be dreams, dreams-dreams-dreams, they will be dreams. And I? I am asleep.

"Look!" burst out the first voice, and there followed a pause from above.

Rum repeated his mantra. Dreams-dreams-dreams, they will be dreams. I am asleep.

"You seeing what I'm seeing?" added the first.

"I-I think so" spoke the second voice. "Is the prisoner sleeping with some sort of cover?"

The sounds of boots.

"What are you guys seeing?" asked a third, feminine voice.

"Look!" urged the first.

More boots.

"It's a blanket?" asked a fourth, also feminine voice.

"How did our prisoner get a blanket?" asked the first.

"We're not supposed to give him anything" said a fifth voice, again feminine.

"I know" retorted the first. "So who gave it to him?"

A pause.

"Maybe the previous shift?" proposed the second.

"But why? We're not supposed to, right? Why'd they break the rules?"

"It's just a blanket" stated the second.

"Multiple blankets actually" responded the fourth, "if my eyes aren't deceiving me."

"I mean, it's just blankets" corrected the second. "What's he going to do with them? Sleep really, really dangerously sound?"

"It's a matter of principle" said the fifth. "If we give the criminals anything, what will they ask for next?"

"Well I'm not giving him anything" stated the first. "We're not giving him anything."

"They ask for a blanket, next they'll be asking for soft pillows and beds" continued the fifth.

"So what're we going to do about it?" asked the third.

A pause.

"Nothing" said the first.

"Nothing?" asked the fifth, the feminine tone challenging.

"Unless you wanna go down there, wake up the prisoner, and steal away his blanket? I say nothing. If anyone asks, we blame the first shift."

"MMM-QUIET!" erupted the oubliette below.

A long pause ensued, in which Rum repeated his mantra. Dreams-dreams-dreams, they will be dreams. I am asleep.

"Nothing?" the first voice suggested again, quieter this time.

Rum didn't hear what came next, but the voices quickly died out. For his part, his cry had been heard, the voices becoming the shussed characters of a strange dream now, and he was left alone, alone to rest, to drift towards unconsciousness, and eventually to snooze away. That, beyond the meanings of any words involuntarily heard at this moment, was the thing that truly mattered.

∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞

"Aaarrrh, turn off that bright light!" Rum complained to the world and whoever was guilty of bringing him out of his much appreciated rest.

"PRISONER!"

Rum involuntarily peeked open an eye.

"PRISONER! WE HAVE YOU TRAPPED!"

Huh?

Rum forced his eyes wide open. He saw stone. Stone bricks, and a bright blue light emitting from them in a pattern.

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"TWO SENIOR MAGES STAND READY TO COUNTER YOU!" the voice continued yelling down at him. "MOVE AWAY FROM THE CENTER, AND PUT YOURSELF UP AGAINST THE WALL!"

Rum turned his head upwards to look. They had removed the lid, and next to an Iron City official staring down at him uncertainly stood two well-dressed gnomish wizards with pointy hats and wands. Beyond the three of them, Rum could hear a small crowd of frantically discussing voices. There was a general concern to be gauged by the tones and topics, and the topics appeared to generally center on him – how to take him out, what he was doing, and what all the blue lights were.

It all clicked in Rum's mind and he scrambled to stand. The official above him continued to talk down at him, but Rum had other concerns. He brought forth his hands, touching the wall and the enchantment.

Power. Rum sensed it immediately. A huge well of mana, in an almost literal sense considering the hole of stone bricks he was in.

"WE'RE COMING DOWN! UP AGAINST THE WALL!" the voice repeated, and Rum glanced up to see the ladder being moved to the brim. "UP AGAINST THE WALL – NOW!"

"Should I fill the space with water?" asked one of the wizards, who wore a blue and emerald attire while gesticulating his wand down in Rum's general direction.

"If you have to." The offical met the above wizard's eyes. "The prisoner has not taken offensive action yet. But stand ready! We should not underestimate what he can do." The official looked down at Rum again. "UP AGAINST THE WALL NOW, OR WE'LL DROWN YOU!"

The ladder began lowering, and in an effort not to have it smacked into his face, Rum obliged. However as he came up against he wall, his hands connected with the enchantment.

Rum the wizard had an idea. An idea he'd formed days ago, but whose time had not been ripe – not until now. As the ladder fell, hitting the stone floor with a light bounce, Rum the wizard knew he had to act fast. It was, quite possibly, his last chance to act freely. Who knows how they'll treat me henceforth? After seeing this.

Rum scanned the bottom of the prison. Everywhere, there was light. Excellent. He closed his eyes, just as the second guard wizard, clad in a silvery robe and -hat, and positioned opposite the hydromancer, grasped the top of the ladder and carefully put down his first silvery shoe.

"Gay Aura"

The spell barely sounded out of Rum's mouth, and was more than quiet enough that it should've been completely unheard over the noises above. Internally, Rum redirected the spell and threw it into a circling motion, charging it up with his own mana. Standing back against the wall, he bent one of his knees upwards so that his toe hid against it, covered as it was by his loose hanging robe, his body, and the sheer intensity of the bright blue lights all around.

Inside himself, Rum afforded tinkering tiny bit with the spell. The spell, in order to function as an aura, had a limit on itself in order to control the amount of mana it would cost to cast, and to condense its effects onto a smaller area. Hastily, Rum stripped these mechanisms off the spell before nudging the modified end product down his body. Immediately, the new spell began to draw mana from everywhere else in his body, pulling his whole mana reservoir downwards as it journeyed, first into his leg, down his knee, and then on towards it targets – his left big toe.

BZZZT! The spell crashed and collided with the thin barrier. Unable to stare at the impact out fear for attracting focused attention from above, Rum darted his eyes down to his own back before looking innocently ahead again. The flash of yellowish light had shown, but only barely, camouflaged as it was by the intensity of the blue.

The silver-fabric gnome, who'd climbed down meanwhile, now stepped off the ladder in front of Rum, and proceeded to turn towards him. "Now" the wizard waved his wand up at Rum, "you will be coming with me." He sideways gestured with his head towards the ladder. "Up you go. No drastic moves!" The wand raised to point directly at Rum's face.

BZZZT!

The gnome's eyes darted to behind Rum. He tilted his head. "What was that?"

BZZZT!

The little gnome jumpscared. "What're you doing!? TURN AROUND!" he insisted with his wand, waving it up and down like a whip towards his human opposite.

Rum flung the spell again, and – FREEDOM! Escaping from his toe, Rum directed the spell straight into the enchantment, mixing it in with the walls. All along the bright blue surfaces of the oubliette something changed. The gnome noticed it quickly, and looked slowly around with a deep growing fear. Spreading radially around from the wall at Rum's back, and with some arteries of magic sprading faster than others, the walls all shifted from a bright blue to an ensemble of bright colors, with the colors of gold and yellow the standing out the most among them.

"What have you done?" The gnome snapped his head back to Rum. The wand raised again, straigthening to point directly at Rum's human heart. "Whatever it is, you're going down first. CARDIDOM!" A globe of white magic shot out and into Rum's chest, stopping his heart. Rum dropped down to his knees from the unexpected hit and grasped his chest, mentally shocked for the second it took before his heart resumed beating. "LAI KHES'TIRR!" The next spell materialized a thick thread of silvery light which latched onto Rum's torso, wrapping him in tightly and sending him face first and tied up against the floor. Rum hit the stone hard and with his right cheek first, sending a burst of pain across his face. His senses overwhelmed, and his mind and body were momentarily disoriented by his constraints. It took Rum a few seconds before he could think straight. But when that fresh blood began circulating in his system again, and the pain across his face lessened, Rum's mind refocused. He quickly pressed his left leg down, connecting his left big toe to the floor. The barrier still remained open, and through it, the bound wizard directed the magic of walls and the floor – to RALLY!

"What IS this magic around us!?" demanded the silver-fabric gnome. He stared down at Rum, or at least so Rum guessed, tied up as he were he couldn't turn to look straight above him. "Tell us!" The voice yelled down. The gnome sounded angry, anxious, its tone implying the threats of the desperate.

"You want to know?" Rum pulled a smiled, his face against the stone.

"YES! Spit it out!"

"It's a spell alright. And I name it", Rum took in a deep breath, "The Great" he took in another breath, "The Gay", he drew in a final deep lung of air, "BOMB! HA-HA-HA-HAAA!" Rum cackled with mad laughter, while inside himself, a single little stimulus fired, a tinsy drop of magic which sped through his network of connected mana, down his leg, through his left toe, and out into the enchantment.

All around them, magic ERUPTED.

∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞

A gnomish male mechanic stood on a swing stage, hanging near the top of a tall clocktower looking out over The Iron City. He'd been inspecting the state of the clock arms when he'd decided to take a little break to eat some sandwiches while enjoying his high view.

Streets away he could see The Iron Tower of Justice, a wide but mostly tall building of iron, as its name implied, and one of the oldest of its kind in the city.

Letting his gaze rest in its general direction at a whim, the little mechanic suddenly noticed some lights emerging from the front doors. Before he could properly squint, the same light had spewed out into the streets and was climbing fast up the building. Staring, the light – a bit of every color offensive to official mecha gnome sensibility – expanded radially. He closed his eyes to blink at the scene. When they opened again, the lights had already covered the next adjacent blocks, and a wall of magic was forming with the lights no longer expanding radially, but spherically, crossing the very air itself and heading straight for him at incredible speeds. He looked at it, stunned for half a second, then he scrambled to find shelter before – the magic went through him, bathed him in it, and he paused, mid-scramble on all fours on the planks holding him up.

"Well" he said, "this ain't so bad." He sat back down again, and looked out across the view. The city was covered in the sphere of magic. He watched it, thought about it, and then he thought it all looked kinda beautiful. "Like a nice change of hue" he concluded. The little man smiled lightly at the sight, and he felt his soul crave what it was that his eyes saw. It appealed to him, he felt, those gay colors, painting his city in the vision of a different future.

∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞

"Hah" spoke the silver-fabric wizard softly. "That was strange." The gnome shifted his feet in front of the tied up Rum.

"You mind untying me? The stone is a little cold down here, and I'd really like to get out of this hole. If you don't mind."

The feet shifted some more. "Of course! Silly me, why was I doing this to you. We don't need to fight." And Rum felt the thick thread first loosen around him, then dissipating into nothingness. He moved his hands in front and pushed up, first to a knee, and then standing. He looked down at the gnome, a small friendly smile on the human's face.

"Thank you" Rum said.

"But of course!" The gnome's eyes moved away from Rum. "Hah" the gnome appeared to border on laughing, and from the look of the rest of his expression, it looked like the gnome was mostly preparing to laugh at himself. "Really, what was I thinking!" He darted eyes back up at the human and reached out with his little hand, grasping Rum's. "I'm so sorry, could we start over again? I'd rather wish we could be friends! I don't want to think I've given you the wrong impression. This ain't me, I promise! I'm not normally so, so...." he looked at a loss for words. "I was afraid of you, but that was obviously silly. All your magic did was make me unafraid." He looked up into Rum's face, admiration dawning in his eyes with every second.

"Don't worry about it" Rum brushed the comment aside with a gesture, and before the gnome could hold him for more conversation the newly freed wizard grabbed the ladder and began climbing. There was a new series of noises coming from up above now, and as his head ascended out of the hole, he saw a bit of a scene. Gnomes were laughing, a few adult gnomes in guard gear playing tag and running about. The gnome official was telling an interesting story to a small audience, and next and off to the side, a couple of gnome women were having an intimate moment, standing close to each other, one holding the waist of the other, while the other held the cheeks of the first. Stepping out of the hole, Rum simply gave the crowd a lookover, before shrugging and walking passed them all. "Don't mind me" he mumbled.

After a few meters though, the mage stopped. He reached up with his hands and touched his collar. Then he had an idea, and walked back up to the official.

"... and then the waiter, can you believe this–"

"–uhem" Rum noised over the crowd.

The official looked up. "Yes, can I help you?"

"Yes, remember me, the prisoner?"

"Yes, yes of course. Well" the gnome eyed Rum up and down, "you're not a prisoner anymore. You got yourself out of there. Spares us the trouble. Sorry for putting you in there." He gave an apologetic smile.

"Yes, but, you see" and Rum gestured towards the collar at his neck.

"The magic suppressor!" exclaimed the official in realization, and slapped his forehead. "So sorry, I didn't think about that. Wait a moment", and the official walked over to another duo, which included the hydromancer in a quiet but fond discussion with a gnome guardswoman.

"Hi Icicler, can I have your help with something?" the offical asked the hydromancer.

"Sure! What is it?"

Rum walked over, and the official pointed at Rum who was touching his collar.

"Ah" the hydromancer realized, and waved for Rum to come over. As Rum knelt, the mage promptly tapped a few spots on Rum's collar, added a few magic phrases, and suddenly the collar CLACK! open. Free from the anti-magic, Rum tossed the collar aside. "Nasty thing that" the hydromancer commented. "Glad I've never worn one."

"Actually, I realized something more" the official drew Rum's attention from the side. "We got your things. I realized it once I stared at your prisoner's robe. We have your actual clothes and other things stashed away in the evidence cellar. Should I take you there?"

∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞—∞

Fully dressed in his proper clothes, Rum walked alone up and into the lobby of the Justice Tower, entering a scene full with laughter, merriment, and rapidly undressing and alternatively dressing gnomes. Capes had quickly lost fashion, while bare chests were on proud displays and were rapidly becoming in fashion. In some cases, changing clothes was not all that occurred either. In corners he saw couples who suddenly were all over each other, with pairs and trios of gnomes up against the walls and down against the floors, their clothes variably off. Out in the open space of the lobby meanwhile, other gnomes danced amateurishly under rains of slow descending papers, thrown about by clerks rebelling gaiely against their duties.

"Carry on" Rum smiled to the partying gnomes.

When he walked out the doors he was met by streets of chaos. Although, Rum stroked his beard, what a beautiful chaos. From the open windows of apartments, some gnomes had begun to play music of variable skill. Violins, accordions, piano, trumpets. Cooks were beating ladles against pans from windows too, while child gnomes joined in, knocking sticks or whatever they had on hand against boxes and cups. Some gnomes were forming dancing mobs moving across the paved street like masses of infectious energy and joy.

"Mecha gnomes sure are social creatures" Rum commented to the world in general. He passed over and into the crowds. He stopped along the way to ask for directions out of The Iron City, and the gnomes happily answered him, though they every time also asked for him to join them, and in a couple cases, pulled him playfully towards them. But he politely turned down their excited requests, excusing himself with an important errand. The errand of getting out of here, he admitted internally. He was all too affected by days underground, by hunger and by thirst, to just mentally reset and join in merriment. He was still in survival mode. When he saw a merry baker handing out free food, he did stop to take a roll of meat though.

As Rum walked towards the gates of The Iron City, he suddenly saw clouds gather ahead. Not slowly and gradually like natural clouds, but rapidly and out of nowhere, like the clouds of magic. Abruptly a wind blew in across the homes of the mecha gnomes, before thunder sounded, and lightning struck the metal frames of building. Some gnomes stared up in awe, others reacted more quickly, rushing towards the buildings with cries to continue their parties inside.

Rum pressed on against the sudden storm, all while the streets ahead of him started to empty, with gnome after gnome vanishing into buildings, until, with the wizard covering his eyes, and his robe and beard flapping hard around him, there was just a single figure left in the streets. Rum spotted the figure between peeking from his arm covering his face. It was a human-sized figure, dressed in a black robe, a black hat, and with a slightly crooked posture. But all of that was unimportant in the face of one fact: this figure stood completely untouched by the wind. Rum tried to discern the figure's face while the wind wipped tears into his eyes.

"You finally surprise an old woman, Rum Warmhud."

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