Rayni Aria (Glimmer) is a former Neverseen member and a Flasher. In Legacy, she made the ethertine bonds for Tam's wrists that let the Neverseen control him. However, later in Legacy, she breaks those bonds and abandons the Neverseen. During the Linh Short Story, she is discussed by Linh, Marella, Maruca, and Stina, all of whom seem to not trust her. In Stellarlune, Glimmer is revealed to be Rayni Aria, a girl whose parents were a bad match and rigged the system. Her parents were banished and decided to leave Rayni in the Lost Cities.
Appearance[]
In Stellarlune, Sophie described her as being more petite than she had expected and looking angelic and stunning.[1] After taking down her hood, it is revealed she has arched eyebrows, long black hair, bronze skin, pale blue eyes with thick lashes, and full lips.
History[]
Pre-Keeper[]
Before joining the Neverseen, Glimmer's name was Rayni Aria. Her parents were Behnam and Esha Aria, and her father was an elvin matchmaker. Rayni grew up as a normal elf, and attended Foxfire, where she was a year behind Wylie.
However, rumors started circulating that her father, Behnam Aria, altered the results of his match list to marry her mom. At first, Rayni's parents urged her to ignore the rumors. They were eventually caught, and a tribunal found them both guilty. Their punishment was banishment from the Lost Cities. Rayni was abandoned with nothing more than a note from her parents.
After the tribunal, Rayni lost her friends, and none of her relatives wanted anything to do with her after the incident. Her acceptance from the Elite Levels was redacted, and she dropped out of Foxfire. Rayni hid in Mysterium, hoping everyone would forget about her.
Lady Gisela soon found Rayni and recruited her to the Neverseen. Gisela was the first person that she met to agree with Rayni’s opposition of matchmaking and offered help to her. By doing this, Gisela earned Rayni's loyalty, and Rayni joined the Neverseen, adopting the alias Glimmer.
Book 8: Legacy[]
During the battle in Loamnore, she breaks Tam's ethertine bonds so he can help Sophie and her friends and offers to help Sophie.
Later, after the battle in Loamnore, she's invited by Tam to live with him and Linh. However, she refuses to tell people her real identity and show herself, keeping herself hidden underneath her cloak. Tam seems to trust Glimmer very much, though Glimmer is still guarded by Botros, more commonly known as Bo, one of Sophie's bodyguards, who seems to be threatening Glimmer constantly. Sophie is also seen questioning her loyalties.
More about her is revealed in the Tam Short Story. Glimmer tries to make friends with Tam while he is with the Neverseen, but he is determined to ignore her at all costs.
Book 8.5: Unlocked[]
When Sophie, Biana, and Fitz attempt to persuade her to give them any information she knows regarding the Neverseen, Glimmer initially snaps at them and claims they have ulterior motives and tells them that she doesn’t want to be on a side that constantly loses- however, after Tam's persuasion, she eventually admits she knows some information. She lets them use a starstone hidden in the hem of her cloak to travel to the Neverseen's storehouse. She claims to have used a light trick to make Gisela think that the starstone was defective. She then grabs her belongings from the storehouse, not sharing what is inside. Glimmer encourages Sophie to burn down the storehouse, and remarks that they are finally playing by the Neverseen’s rules and that she thinks they might have a chance of “winning.”
Linh Short Story[]
It is revealed in the Linh Short Story that it is highly likely Glimmer helped Lady Gisela escape by breaking the shadowflux bonds Tam placed on her. Linh’s bodyguards reveal that Lady Gisela's path was scattered with handprints not close together, but instead spaced apart, meaning that she was not in handcuffs therefore someone, most likely a flasher set her free. Which leads them to suspect Glimmer took them off for her.
Because of this new evidence, it's likely Glimmer is either working with Lady Gisela, being forced to work with Lady Gisela, or some alternative version of that.
Book 9: Stellarlune[]
Linh suspects Glimmer of having freed Lady Gisela at Loamnore. The group confronts Glimmer, and she confirms that she did, but only because she owed her. After being goaded, she reveals that her real name is Rayni and tells the group her backstory and why she joined the Neverseen.
Rayni proceeds to tell them her plan: meet with Trix and hope he will give them information on the Neverseen. She believes that Trix will want revenge on the people who killed Umber and would be willing to help them. Though the plan is initially met with backlash, the Councillors allow the plan to move forward. Rayni writes Trix a note telling him to meet, and brings Sophie Foster, Tam Song, Maruca Chebota, and Sandor with her.
After Trix betrays Rayni's trust by bringing Vespera with him to the meeting, she throws back her hood, reveals, and asks him to do the same. Trix refuses, and the two seem to have fallen out with each other. However, they proceed with the meeting and seem to end on neutral terms.
Later when the missing starstone is discovered to be in Biana's possession and the group debates on what to do about it, Rayni offers to stay back to only a bit of protest.
Time with the Neverseen[]
Glimmer was brought into the Neverseen to assist with Keefe's Legacy. As she was a newer member, Glimmer wasn't involved in much of the Neverseen's schemes, and much information was withheld from her. She wasn't involved in Sophie’s kidnapping or most of the events in the earlier books.
After Gisela was overthrown by Fintan, Brant moved Glimmer to a remote hideout and gave her a bunch of medical textbooks. Glimmer believed they wanted her to become the Neverseen's version of Elwin Heslege.
At some point, Glimmer befriended Trix. The two would often sneak off to Mysterium together and get snacks. They would often exchange information and develop a code to communicate.
Relationships[]
Tam Song[]
- friend/ally/former enemy
When Tam joined the Neverseen, he met Glimmer, a loyal member of the Neverseen. Over the time they spent together, they became friends. In Legacy, after seeing how cruel Lady Gisela truly was, she joined Tam and his friends. After leaving the Neverseen, Tam is the only person she'll trust. Tam and Rayni are on shaky grounds with their friendship in Stellarlune, but he is still quick to defend her.
Sophie Foster[]
- ally/former enemy
Sophie and Glimmer met in Legacy. In Unlocked, Glimmer leads them to a secret Neverseen storehouse. Glimmer convinced Sophie to take everything, and Sophie listened to her, grabbing as much as she could carry. In Stellarlune, Glimmer revealed her identity: Rayni Aria. Although Sophie does not fully trust Glimmer yet, she seems to be more welcoming and understanding towards Rayni compared to some of the others in their group.
Linh Song[]
- ally/former enemy/frenemy
Linh still does not trust Rayni and despises her. She is mad at Tam, not liking the fact that both of them are friends. She is convinced that Rayni will soon betray them and that she cannot be trusted. The two have a very rocky relationship.
Lady Gisela[]
- former ally/enemy/former friend
Lady Gisela used to work with Glimmer when they were both in the Neverseen, so they were former allies. However, she betrayed the Neverseen in Legacy, and now they work against each other. However, in Stellarlune, it is revealed that Lady Gisela was the one to recruit Glimmer into the Neverseen, after her parents are exiled. For this reason, after the end of the battle in Legacy, Rayni helps Lady Gisela escape. Rayni mentioned that Lady Gisela had been the only person to make her feel wanted which was part of the reason for Rayni joining the Neverseen.
Trix[]
- former ally/enemy/former friend
Rayni and Trix used to be allies and friends in the Neverseen. When Rayni fled from the Neverseen in Legacy, they work against each other. Rayni schedules a meeting with him in Stellarlune but Vespera comes along proposing a peace treaty to help Sophie find Elysian which shakes her trust in Trix. Rayni believed that she could get Trix to join the good side, as she said they used to escape from the Neverseen to take snacks from shops, and Trix would leave some money behind to pay for them.
Quotes[]
“So the fact that you never wear your hood–is that a protest? Or because you want everyone to see your awesome bangs?”
“If you break my cat statue, I'm going to be super mad!”
“But what's the point of being 'better' if you keep getting beaten? Do you want to do some actual good in this world? You need to take them down.”
“"I just . . . don't understand why you have to be so stubborn," she said to him. "You don't have to be all alone here. You could have friends."”
“Oh good, we’re finally to the part where you tell me I can prove myself by sharing this wealth of information you all seem to think I’m hiding- except I’m not.”
“So here I sit, locked in a room with an ogre who keeps reminding me that he can end me anytime.”
“I mean, do you really think they'd destroy everything they'd built just because you guys cracked their little symbol?”
“You know what's funny? We're not that different, you and I. But I didn't have a brother who stuck by me and took care of me. And it wasn't Sophie Foster and her little Black Swan buddies who showed up and brought me into a group that promised I'd be able to help them fix all our world's problems. Crazy how that goes, right?”
Nicknames[]
- Glimmer
- Little Miss Neverseen[2]
- Tam's 'black cloaked BFF'[3]
- The Light to Tam's Darkness (as used by Linh in Stellarlune)
Trivia[]
- Marella found it weird that they didn't know her real name.
- Before Stellarlune, Tiergan and Tam seem to be the only ones who trust her, specifically Tam. Afterward, Sophie began to warm up to her.
- According to Marella, Glimmer tried to bargain for her freedom the day before the Unlocked short story takes place.
- All four of the girls in the Unlocked Short story (Linh, Marella, Maruca and Stina) were determined to prove Glimmer is evil by showing she was the one who helped Lady Gisela escape.
- Linh Song and Rayni Aria have many similarities, as mentioned in the above quote.
- She is presumably Shannon's first character with an Indian name.