It’s important to recognize the difference between the different types of abilities any given entity is capable of, so I’ll just break them down into the three most basic forms. Note that potioncraft and alchemy are not recognized as an ability under the present context.

First is magic. Magic as it is commonly known is the use of arcanums and spell circles to funnel mana, whether ambient or internal, into whatever the caster might be trying to accomplish. While powerful, it is limited by the knowledge of the user along with the materials they have available.

Second are blessings. The deities that watch over Asterias grant their blessings to those that follow their decrees. Blessings are often less powerful than magic, but can be used on command. Their only failing is that their uses are numbered per day, although many deities are often generous.

Finally, beasts and monsters possess abilities that cannot be explained, that have little to no limit, and - in rare cases - are powerful enough to turn mountains into valleys.

It makes one a little jealous, doesn’t it?

-Daro D’Vari, detective-in-training

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Miro’s mouth slowly fell open as Avynne hovered into the air. Her beak opened and closed noiselessly as she tried and failed to appropriately figure out what was going on.

Olivai, for her part, reacted surprisingly quickly. Lunging forward, she grabbed Avynne’s foot and hauled downward. Miro felt a miniscule tug somewhere deep inside itself the moment she did, and thoughtlessly released it.

Avynne crashed to the ground on top of Olivai and rolled off, looking around with fluffed feathers and wide eyes. “What happened? Did you do something? Did I do something wrong!?”

Olivai got to her feet, eyeing their surroundings and whipping her staff out, knuckles white from the force of her grip. “I don’t know, but I think someone was targeting you. Is there anyone who would want you-”

Avynne shook her head quickly enough that light, fluffy down fell from her plumage. “No! I have no friends and talk to nobody but you!”

Scanning the area around the fountain carefully, Olivai asked, “What about from Madarai? Is there anybody that might have a grudge?”

Hesitating, Avynne nervously answered, “Well, almost everyone…”

Olivai was stunned. “What do you mean everyone!?”

Miro wasn’t paying attention to either of them. It was frozen in shock, trying to comprehend what had just happened. It’d been trying to move Avynne, and then she was moved. She hadn’t done it on purpose, that much was clear from her reaction. Olivai hadn’t done it either, for the same reason.

So… that meant that Miro had done it.

It raised a number of questions, most of which were shoved into the distant and somewhat crammed part of Miro’s mind where it put all the things it told itself it would think about later. What was important at the moment was making sure Olivai and Avynne were all right.

Shaking itself out of its torpor, it noisily burbled, trying to draw Olivai’s attention. She was still forcefully talking to Avynne, asking questions which were being hastily answered. Neither of them paid attention to it.

Gathering itself, Miro launched itself into Olivai’s stomach. She barely caught, distracted from her impromptu interrogation. A light went off behind her eyes. “Miro.”

Avynne looked well and truly frightened now. “What is it?”

Olivai raised her vision to level with Avynne’s, deadly serious. “Do you remember when I said Miro might be important?”

Avynne nodded rapidly, and Olivai continued, “I think someone might have found out. That sleight probably had something to do with it… Avynne, I need you to take Miro to the church.” Setting Miro down, she pulled her room’s key out of her shirt and handed it to Avynne. “Lock yourself in my room and don’t come out until I tell you it’s okay. I might be overreacting, but in this case it’s better to be ready.”

She picked Miro back up and handed it to Avynne, readying her staff. “Don’t let anyone in, no matter what they say.”

Avynne took several steps back, looking as though she wanted nothing more than to fly away and never come back. Setting Miro on the ground, she put one foot on it, careful not to curl her claws inward. Taking a deep breath, she collected herself, crouched, and spread her wings wide.

The area around the fountain went dark as her wings furled further outward than Miro could possibly have expected, and she took off with a determined shriek of effort. A stab of alarm shot through Miro at the sound, and it instinctively tried to help.

Whatever strange effect that had been unlocked in Miro came back, and it felt its own weight fall away. Startled, Avynne squawked and ascended further. Looking underneath herself at Miro, she uneasily asked, “Did you….”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Shaking it off, she set her eye on the distant chapel and started flapping harder. Miro felt small dribbles of gel fly off of it from the speed. Miro only had to think about it, and the small globules were pulled back to itself.

Miro took a second to consider the strange ability. It’d only just discovered it, after all. It felt as though it should have been harder to control than it was.

If anything, it was almost as if Miro had done it before.

They arrived at the base of the church in less than a minute. Carefully setting Miro down, Avynne picked Miro up and hurried inside.

Her talons clacked noisily on the stone floor of the chapel as she headed past the orderly pews. Miro eyed the door leading to the tower staircase, waiting for Avynne to open it. Instead, she slowed, and then stopped entirely. Looking up at her, Miro discovered her avian eyes wide in awe. Miro followed her gaze.

She was staring at the mural depicting Didoa. The feathers along her neck suddenly poofed, and she shivered, not once looking away. Miro remained quiet, wondering what she was thinking.

After a long moment, she blinked and shook her head. Searching the church, she took a few uncertain steps forward, paused, and went another direction.

Miro hopped out of her arms and rolled over to the door, loudly wailing to draw her attention. She hurried over and opened it, looking up the spiral staircase to the top. “Oh, this is very smart.”

Instead of waiting for her, Miro bounced up the stairs to the top, waiting by Olivai’s door. Avynne followed, fishing the key out of her shirt. Fumbling with the key, she managed to insert it into the keyhole and threw the door open, charging on in with Miro close at her heels.

Only to find Daveen, standing in the middle of the room holding one of Olivai’s spare robes. Everyone in the room froze, Daveen wide-eyed and stunned. Avynne’s expression was indescribable. Miro was more confused than anything else.

Daveen hurled himself at Avynne with an almost inhuman shout, and Miro did the first thing it thought of.

It threw itself at his face.

For the second time in two days, Miro found itself wrapped around Daveen’s head. As with the last time, Daveen started screaming, air bubbles floating into Miro’s insides.

Unlike last time, Avynne jumped into the air and double-kicked Daveen in the stomach. The man stumbled backward with a gasp, nearly inhaling slime, and Miro removed itself from his head.

Regaining his footing, Daveen came forward again and threw a punch. Avynne neatly ducked under it, came closer, and hooked a claw on his boot. Stomping the ground, she threw herself back and yanked his foot up. Daveen nearly did a full backflip, slamming onto the floor with a crash.

The room was quiet for a moment, save for Daveen’s pained groans. Avynne’s feathers were poofed and her pupils were dilated, ready for him to get up. When he didn’t, she shivered and went back to normal.

Miro, for its part, was seriously rethinking its perspective on Avynne. It’d had no idea she could do that at all!

Sitting up, Daveen finally gasped, “Who are you and what are you doing in here!?”

Avynne’s eyes narrowed, claws at the ready. “What are you doing in here? And why did you attack me?”

Miro suddenly realized that it really didn’t know very much at all about Avynne. It’d thought she was… well, not harmless, but it hadn’t thought she was a fighter. It’d almost been comforting to know that it wasn’t the only one who was relatively helpless, but it was once again alone.

Daveen relaxed, almost lounging back. “I attacked you because you broke into the chapel of Didoa and, to a lesser extent, Caro Lias. A crime which one could be severely punished for. Are you prepared to deal with the consequences of your actions?”

Avynne was thrown by the sudden tack. “What? I did not break in! Olivai gave me the key!”

Daveen’s face contorted briefly. “She gave you her... I don’t believe you.” Placing one hand behind him, out of sight, he began drawing a small circle made of light on the ground.

Alarm bells went off in Miro’s mind, and it instinctively used its newest ability. Before he could finish whatever it was he’d been planning, he was lifted off the ground and left floating several feet in the air.

Both Avynne and Daveen started shouting at the same time, but Miro was undeterred. Opening its mouth as wide as it could go, and then even wider, Miro started moving Daveen towards itself. It wasn’t sure if Daveen would fit, but it was sure going to try.

Daveen saw Miro and its wide-open mouth, and his eyes grew larger than Miro had ever seen them. He started screaming very loudly, and Miro winced. It had made up its mind not to eat anybody, but surely this was an exception.

Avynne whipped her head around to look at Miro. “Slime, stop!”

Miro froze, and Daveen’s progress towards its mouth halted. Looking back and forth between them, ignoring Daveen’s shrill screams, she hesitantly asked, “Are you doing that?”

Miro hesitated, but then nodded. Avynne slowly nodded. “Were you… were you going to try and eat him?”

Of all the things Miro had been expecting her to ask, that had not been one of them. It had been expecting a surprised reaction, maybe a congratulation that Miro could move things all on its own, but she almost seemed… scared.

What it’d been trying to do suddenly slammed into Miro. If it ate Daveen, Olivai would be upset, Otto would probably try to pop it - and who knew how Avynne would react?

It abruptly dropped Daveen. Avynne jumped at the impact, ready to attack if she needed to. It seemed unnecessary. His eyes had rolled back into his head, showing whites, and he wasn’t moving.

Now that the major threat had been taken care of, Avynne crouched before Miro and soberly stared at it. “Your name is Miro, yes?”

Miro bobbed itself, and Avynne processed the information. “Is this why Olivai thinks you are so important? Is this the secret?”

After a brief moment of consideration, Miro nodded again. Avynne didn’t say anything for a long time, just thinking. Finally, she said, “You are much smarter than normal slimes, aren’t you?”

Miro once again gave confirmation, and her feathers drooped. “And you can… move things. That was you, yes?”

The questions were beginning to feel a little invasive, but Miro trusted Avynne. Besides, she’d already seen it use the ability, so it gave her another nod.

Checking on Daveen again, Avynne slowly lowered her wing onto Miro’s surface, tentatively petting it. Miro happily burbled, glad that the subject had been suitably changed. Avynne softly murmured, “You are still a good slime.” She repeated it again, almost insistently. “You are a good slime.”