Sapphire gleams and diamond stars

Inset in purest gold,

A ring of splendor, never rivaled.

None beheld its light except to love or lust or hate it;

None who saw its brilliance could forget.

-Anonymous

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Miro opened its eyes.

It was looking down at itself, and looking up at Otto at the same time. Without any attempt on its part, Miro rolled sideways. Trying to stop its own movement, Miro watched Otto raise a hand and then drop it.

Miro figured out what was going on with surprising speed, even to itself. Otto seemed fairly defeated about the whole thing.

“Farland? Is it working alright?”

Otto sighed. “Yes, Olivai, it’s working. I can’t believe I have to see through this thing’s eyes for five minutes. It’s so short.”

Miro was trying to figure out who exactly had control over what. Was Miro Otto and vice versa, or was Otto both of them?

Olivai moved forward and patted Otto’s shoulder, somewhat nervously. “And… what does it feel like?”

“It feels like jelly.” Otto irritably replied, and Miro rolled back to its normal position. “Miro’s got a heck of a lot more willpower than I was expecting. For a slime, at least.”

Olivai nodded understandingly. “I see. But what does its mind feel like?”

“For the most part?” Otto leaned down and patted Miro. Due to their strange shared state, Otto knew exactly where Miro wanted the pat the most, and the slime partially deflated from happiness. “He’s really hungry. I mean - he’s really hungry. I probably would’ve taken a bite out of someone’s couch by now if I were him.”

Tilting her head, Olivai tried to follow Miro’s view. “Do you sense any malice?”

“I can’t sense anything past that hunger. Seriously, I can’t overstate this enough; this slime wants food.”

Olivai put a finger on her chin. “And yet he somehow manages to resist trying to eat someone.”

“He shouldn’t be able to do that.” Otto picked Miro up, grabbed his knife, and headed into another room.

Standing, Olivai worriedly asked, “Where are you going?” “I need to eat something. Now I’m hungry.” The room turned out to be a very small kitchen, with a single bar reaching halfway across the room and an icebox shoved into the corner. A few cabinets were tucked into the corner.

Otto threw one open and pulled out a loaf of bread. Using his knife, he sliced a crusty slice off and offered it to Miro. The slime’s mouth opened wide enough that Otto could have stuck his helmet in. Instead of the slice Otto had tossed him, Miro went straight for the loaf. Otto slammed a hand down between it and the bread, and they both glared at each other.

Miro was still incredibly hungry. So it thought about that.

Otto’s stomach grumbled.

With a sigh, he raised his hand, and Miro launched itself at the loaf, landing on it mouth-first.

It was ambrosia, heaven baked in a wheat crust and ever so slightly warm. It was without a doubt the greatest thing Miro had ever tasted, however low that bar might be.

It vanished down its mouth in seconds, Otto watching him as he munched on his own piece of bread.

Olivai came in, looking a little uncertain. “So…”

Otto looked up at her, an even expression on his face. “Hmm? Oh, right. Yeah, Miro’s in the clear. It’s still hungry enough to eat rocks, but it isn’t malicious. Feed it whenever you’ve got that chance and you’ll be good to go.”

She rubbed the tips of her fingers together anxiously. “And..?”

Otto groaned loudly. “Fine. You were right. Miro’s smart. Not a genius by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s definitely capable of understanding everything we’re saying. I’m not getting any confusion through the connection, which also means he figured out what was happening pretty quickly. So yeah, whatever the heck kind of variant Miro is, it’s smart as a person. Or at least it’s as smart as me.”

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Olivai stared at him for several seconds as he chewed. After a moment, he raised an eyebrow and asked through a full mouth, “What?”

“Well…” She rubbed the back of her head. “I thought you’d have a slightly more… explosive reaction.”

He shrugged noncommittally. “I’m still linked to Miro. I’m too hungry to react right now.” He started getting another loaf of bread out. Miro perked up, and Otto glared at it. “This one’s for me, you glutton.”

Miro blew a raspberry and turned around to find Olivai right behind it, frowning. “Can you talk?”

Miro burbled cheerfully. Behind it, Otto silently shook his head, and Olivai’s face fell. “I see. Otto, is there any chance you could translate for Miro? I’d love to know more about what happened when it was summoned. Perhaps some clues lie there.”

Otto shook his head. “It doesn’t think in words, Ladenstar. It knows exactly what we’re saying, though. It could probably learn to write if you gave it some letters, although I have no idea how it’d use them without hands. But more to the point, Miro doesn’t use words in its thoughts. It’s all jelly in there. Muted feelings, vague desires, simple needs. And we can’t forget that hunger.”

Olivai looked at Miro with some skepticism. “How much could it eat if we gave it the chance?”

Otto snorted loudly. “I doubt there’s a bottom to Miro’s stomach. That loaf did nothing.”

She smiled mischievously. “Do you think Bordi’s still doing the buffet challenge?”

Otto pointed the loaf of bread at her. “I always thought you should’ve followed Darda Nyx instead of Didoa. Cunning instead of kindness. Silaos knows you’ve got enough of it.”

Olivai glared at him. “You wield your honesty like a mace. There exists such a thing as tact, you know.”

He grinned. “I know. But Silaos is a pretty handy excuse for when I just have to tell someone exactly what I think of them. Besides, it’s still the truth. Subjectively speaking.”

She flicked his hand, and Miro burbled at the both of them. Otto tapped the countertop with the tips of his fingers. “Well, the spell should run out in a few seconds. Thanks for the new perspective, Miro. I’m not gonna miss it.”

Miro felt the distinct sense of something tearing away, along with the most misplaced sense of sudden loss, and then Miro was Miro and Otto was Otto. The paladin braced himself on the counter briefly, blinking woozily, and then shook it away with a smile. Miro rolled off the countertop and smacked onto the stone floor with a plop.

Olivai crouched next to it. “I am a priestess of kindness. Which means I should find a way for Miro to stop being hungry, correct? It’d be unkind to leave him starving when there might be a way to satisfy that hunger. And what better place would there be to start trying than Bordi’s buffet?”

Otto nodded, eyeing her doubtfully. “Mm-hm. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the month’s worth of free food you get if you win. Just keep in mind, if Miro doesn’t finish, you’re going to have to pay for the whole tab.”

Olivai rubbed her hands together eagerly. “I’m confident in Miro’s stomach.”

Miro was in full agreement.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Instead of being held in Olivai’s arms, Miro was rolling alongside her.

They received no small amount of strange looks as they went down the street, but nobody asked any questions. Olivai nearly radiated excitement, and no one wanted to interrupt such a good mood.

Almost no one. Avynne flew-hopped towards them, mostly covered in soot and a massive smile on her beaked face. “Priestess! Priestess Ladenstar, how are you doing!? Did the important thing go all right?”

Olivai stiffened, and then smiled, forcing herself to relax. Miro couldn’t figure out why - Avynne seemed very nice. “Yes, it did. And how are you today, miss Avynne?”

Avynne scratched the side of her beak. “I am doing great! I finished putting out all of the street lamps before the sun finished rising! So!” Her talons suddenly gripped the road, tightly enough for her long toes to pale. Miro had a feeling it was the only one that noticed, due to its height. “Can you teach me how to cast blessings now?”

Giving Avynne a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, Olivai told her, “I’m sorry, Avynne. Madarai may not be priestesses of Didoa, according to the Testament.”

Avynne winced, but tried for a smile. “That… is okay! You can teach me the blessings. I don’t have to be a priestess to help people, right?”

Olivai shook her head firmly. “The blessings Didoa grants us are intended only for her servants. I’m sorry, Avynne, but I’m not going to teach you anything about blessings. I am simply not allowed to.”

Avynne’s feathers drooped along her head, but the smile never left her beak. “Okay, priestess! Thank you for talking with me!”

Olivai inclined her head politely, pulled her hood over her head, and began walking again. Miro stayed behind for a second, curiously watching Avynne. The moment Olivai turned her back to the Madarai, Avynne’s shoulders slumped. Her gaze slid down to look at Miro. “Hello, slime. Olivai thinks you’re important, right?” She crouched next to it, eyes wide. “If she teaches you blessings, can you teach them to me? I don’t want to sneak around priestess Ladenstar, but it’s really important to me that I learn how to do them.”

Miro burbled a confirmation, and Avynne rested the side of her head on one wing. “Thank you, slime. Even if you can’t learn from Olivai, you are very nice.” She gave Miro a ginger pat on the head, and the slime rolled away to follow Olivai.

The young priestess was walking with intent in her step, using longer strides than normal. Miro had to speed up just to keep up with her pace. It almost felt like she was running away from Avynne. Picking up more momentum, Miro looked up at Olivai’s face and was worried to find her eyes tearing up.

She glanced down at it and tripped on a loose stone. Her eyes widened as she flew forward, and Miro practically hurled itself underneath her. She landed on it and almost bounced, sprawling on the road.

Face flushed red, she got to her feet and brushed herself off, ignoring the looks from everyone around her. Miro wasn’t sure what was going on. Olivai had looked incredibly strong when she caught Miro out in the woods. Was she perhaps younger than Miro had thought?

Miro would not grow weaker as it grew. It had no apex of its age and later falloff, because however old it was would be the apex of its strength at the time. It could only grow bigger and stronger (and smarter, hopefully).

It had some fuzzy knowledge of humans. It knew that they were born tiny and got bigger, but after long enough, they began to shrink. Perhaps Olivai was in the growing stage?

Whatever the case, Olivai was getting further away the quicker she walked, and Miro needed to catch up.