Sharna sighed internally, she hadn't even been introduced to Beau and this was the second time he'd seen her in her pyjamas. She had to stop herself from smiling at the ridiculous direction her thoughts had taken in this particular moment.

At least her crying fit seemed to have served as a catalyst of sorts. Sharna felt lighter, less fearful of her future or the potential fallout from sharing her secrets. So she smiled broadly at Myra and Beau, holding the fluffy ball of light that was Quinn towards them, “this is Quinn, she's a fairy I made using soul genesis manifestation.”

Quinn floated up from Sharna’s hands, flew in a circle around Beau and Myra's heads and then rested back with Sharna again. They both gasped. “Hello,” said Quinn smugly.

Sharna quirked her mouth at Quinn's antics, then looked at Myra again with seriousness, “I’m sorry, I know you didn't want to know anything else about my powers yet. I was going to wait to tell you, but I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.” She looked at Beau and put her hand over her mouth in sudden dismay. Was that language disrespectful to one of the Catkin?

As though he could tell what she was thinking, Beau smirked at her “hi,” he waved, “I'm Beau, nice to meet you properly. Did you produce that mana pulse earlier?”

Sharna’s eyes twinkled as she smiled back at him, despite the situation she felt another frisson of attraction. “I know, I'm Sharna, hi.”

“I know,” his smile now more pronounced.

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“Anyway..” said Myra, giving them both an exasperated look, and gesturing for Sharna to continue.

“Right,” said Sharna, “um, sorry about that, it's been a pretty full day, or month actually. I suddenly felt like I needed Quinn and she was out exploring..”

She stopped as they heard someone calling up the stairs, “what's happening, is everything alright?” It was Eliza.

Myra called back over her shoulder, “everything is totally fine, just a misunderstanding, Sharna and I are just having a chat.”

Myra shoved Beau into the room and closed the door behind them. She turned to Sharna, “I thought that you were going to wait to use your magic until we had a chance to discuss this further.”

Sharna sighed, “I’m sorry, I know we spoke about that, but it was a reflex. I didn’t know that it was going to happen, or that I could even call for Quinn like that. I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“It was a pretty intense spike, anyone in the area who is sensitive to the flow of magic would have been able to feel it.” Beau said slowly.

Myra gave him a sharp look, “surely you’re overstating. It interfered with your wards, of course you would be able to feel it.”

Beau spread out his hands, “I felt it when it hit the wards, sure, but I felt the flow of it shift my personal mana as well. Part of our natural affinity to cleansing magic has to do with mana purity and source as well. Any Catkin in a large radius would have felt that pulse. But we’re not the only ones that have sensitivity to mana flow.”

Myra nodded, her expression tight. Sharna now felt her palms getting sweaty, she was starting to realise that this was a bigger deal than she had thought.

“I was waiting for a chance to speak with you privately, but yesterday's interference with the wards was also Sharna’s work. It was some kind of mana expansion associated with her image-manifestation.”

“That was also you?” Beau whistled, then thought for a moment. “That wave that you sent out yesterday, I can help you set up some barriers that would conceal something like that, although probably not stop it, and there’s no way I could stop that spike you sent out before. I don’t know of anything that could.” Beau sounded impressed.

Despite her worry, Sharna felt herself preening a little at the compliment.

“Is there something else that we could blame it on if anyone traces it back here?” Myra looked at Beau.

All of them were silent as they considered possible solutions.