NOVEL NEXT 60. Sentience and Sapience
“We’re here to protect an artifact from a demon. Is this it?” Bonny pointed at the small crown suspended in the purple gel. “Can I pull it out?”
“Did you say demon?” Nestor lowered the wand, but still held on to it.
Bonny nodded. “Wrath is gathering an army to attack the city. There are supposedly two artifacts he wants. This should be one of them. I’ve tried to warn the Council, but they won’t let me in.”
“Well, they’re idiots.” The wizard sighed, “I didn’t vote for them.”
“You get a vote? Can you get me in to talk to them?”
“Citizens and resident merchants can vote. That’s why I set up this shop, but it doesn’t matter. It’s all rigged.”
“Well, can I get the crown?”
Nestor laughed, “Sure, just reach in.”
Bonny eyed him suspiciously, then handed Kanae to Eloisss and poked at the gel with a finger. It was rubbery and flexible. When she pushed down on it, liquid slowly oozed out to fill the depression. Painful liquid.
“Ow, fuck!” Bonny jerked her finger back and looked at the chemical burn as her fingertip dissolved. “That’s got to be stronger than stomach acid. Hydrochloric maybe? Mending!”
The two men stared as her fingertip regrew. “You’re a healer?” Nestor exclaimed.
“Of course. Are you an idiot? Look at the robe.” Bonny looked at the gel again, the acid had already disappeared back inside. She slapped the top of the gel and watched the ripples slowly undulate to the edges of the tank.
[[again]]
“Uh, what?” Bonny looked around. “Did you all hear that?”
“Yes, nya. In my head.”
[[slap me again]]
Bonny leaned over the aquarium to look closer. Two iris colored irises opened to peer back.
“Are you alive?”
[[are you a dumb bunny?]]
Bonny slapped the gel again.
[[oooohhhh, again]]
“Do you like getting hit?”
[[if I didn’t, would I ask for it?]]
“Give me the crown and I’ll slap you until my hand falls off.”
[[reach for the crown and I’ll eat your hand off]]
"What?"
[[ask nestor]]
Bonny looked at the wizard. He slowly revealed his other arm, which ended at the wrist. Bonny looked back at the bones in the tank, some of which looked vaguely hand shaped.
“Why are you here?”
[[I guard the crown, I was placed here many years ago, when I was small]]
“If I have divine support in the fight against Wrath, will you help me?”
[[no]]
Bonny turned to look at her friends. “Should I try to get it?”
Eloisss shrugged, “Yess. How much harm can it really do to you?”
Miu and Kanae both nodded, agreeing.
“Okay.” Bonny removed her robe and started undoing her leather armor, explaining, “I don’t want any acid on these.”
The two men stared as she stripped, the beaver kin licking his lips.
Eloisss rattled her tail in front of his face, Ch-ch-ch. “She doesn’t like men, don’t try anything.”
Bonny laughed and ran her hands down her body teasingly. She activated the lust aura, detecting rising heat in all six other individuals in the room. She eyed the ooze, expecting desire from the other five, but not it.
“Do you like girls?”
[[all of you are tasty]]
“No, I can sense desire. I think you want more from me than just food.”
One of the irises winked. [[food can be sexy]]
“Fine. Let’s see how you like this taste.” Bonny still had her Retribution aura active, but had let her warding fade. She was sure it wouldn't help her anyway.
She poked a finger at the gel, compressing it a few inches deep before the outer membrane split and her finger slid inside. It felt warm and burned as acid ate at her flesh. She felt her aura respond, eating at the ooze in turn. The aura seemed to work by reflecting harm done, divine energy overcoming any innate resistance to acid.
“Pain Management!” She dialed her pain level down to two, enough to feel it, but not enough to be completely numb. She still wanted to know before anything vital was damaged. Blood ran from her arm as her skin dissolved, turning the purple gel dark. “Mending!”
Bubbles formed around her arm as the ooze started to evaporate, more blood poured from her ravaged arm, filling the gaps and forming small red balloons suspended in the gel.
“Mending!” Bonny decided it was bearable and reached deeper, forcing her arm in, up to her elbow. She felt around, nudging the crown aside, but unable to feel it with her touch sensitivity lowered.
The acid seemed to increase in potency, her new skin dissolving as fast as she healed it. Muscles were exposed and started to liquefy as well.
[[had enough yet?]] The mental voice sounded amused.
“Sacrificial Heal!” There was a sense of pressure as Bonny forced her will up against the intelligent ooze’s. The mental battle was more difficult than expected, but she forced her way through, determined not to lose to a sapient puddle of goo.
A high pitched wail echoed through the tower, clearly audible, as her spell took effect, stealing the ooze’s health to replenish her own. The iris irises darkened momentarily, fading out, then back, and the physical resistance in the gel disappeared for a moment.
Bonny grabbed for the crown and withdrew her arm, raising it in triumph. “Divine Mending!” She cast one final heal as she did.
A message popped up in front of her face, similar to her status when she viewed it, but this one didn’t wait for her to call it. “The Arcane Crown is currently unclaimed. Would you like to attune to it?”
“Yes!”
Bonny felt a deep well of power open up to her. It felt like the sun beating down on a hot, clear day. Endless and dangerous to look at or stand under for too long.
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, not remembering when she closed them. The crown was small and purple, about four inches in diameter. It was hollow, with seven five-inch spikes, topped with tiny stars, spaced equidistant around a circular base. It felt slick and powerful, like solidified magic.
She placed it on her head, where it stayed in place, not needing to be fastened or balanced. “What do you say now?”
She looked around to find everyone had moved. Miu was sitting at the top of the stairs, with Kanae in her lap. Eloisss was on the other side, of the glass aquarium, facing the two men, who were both sitting quietly, hands in their laps. Nestor had blood running down from a puncture wound in the side of his neck.
“What happened?”
Miu answered, “You froze, nya. They attacked and Eloisss won. Kanae and I are guarding the stairs in case other two come up.”
“Oh. Thank you. How long was I frozen?”
Was that the attunement process? How terrible was that? To freeze and be unaware of a fight going on around you?
“Fifteen minutess or sso.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry, I didn’t know it would do that. I had to attune to the crown or something.” She poked the ooze. “Hey, wake up.”
There was no response. She slapped it, making the gel ripple out again. Still no response.
“Do you think I killed it?” She poked it again, holding the depression until acid started to fill around her finger. She pulled back and healed herself. “Mending!”
Bonny pulled the crown off and set it back on the slime. It sunk in slowly until it was entirely subsumed, after which a spherical wave emanated out from the crown, briefly causing the slime to glow bright.
[[thank you for giving the crown back]]
“What happened?”
[[my mind is stored in the artifact, without it I revert to a wild slime, with sentience but not sapient]]
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I may need it to fight Wrath in a few days. Does it matter if I've claimed the crown?”
[[no, I can feel you now]]
“Feel me? How?”
[[we are linked]] The ooze started bubbling and shifting, then slowly rose into a column, gradually shaping itself into a humanoid. Slime dripped down, refining its head into a semblance of Bonny, without the bunny ears. Her “hair” took on a darker shade of purple and her body filled out, a mimicry of Bonny, as a human. The crown floated inside her head, slowly rotating.
“Wow. That's cool. What’s your name?”
[[I don’t have a name]]
“How about if I call you Violet? You’re such a pretty color. ”
The slime girl’s mouth opened and closed around a bubble of air. They could see the bubble compress inside her. Then she opened her mouth and forced the air out, vocalizing as she did. “Violet.”
“Yes.” Bonny smiled and nodded.
[[I like it]] Violet’s body further refined itself as she looked at Bonny. Her arms and legs slimmed down and developed a hint of muscle tone, her breasts tightened and the nipples darkened. [[I like you and your body]]
“How can you copy me like that?”
[[we are one, I am yours]]
“Mine? Why does everyone want to be mine? I don’t want slaves. ”
[[you have no say, you own my mind]]
“The artifact?” Bonny focused on the artifact and could feel both it and Violet wound together in her mind. She poked at the ball of thoughts and emotions, then thought, ‘can you understand me?’
[yes] The message felt private this time, like a whisper. If they were going to be bound together, at least they could communicate directly.
Violet stepped out of the aquarium, her legs formed down to her ankles, but they ended in puddles of slime that merged together into a small pool when she stood still. The radiant glow from Violet was dying down and the dim light from a window behind her shown through, painting the floor and part of the wall purple.
Bonny moved over to the slime girl and ran her fingers across her colored skin. The slime girl felt soft and giving, smooth and slick. When Bonny ran her hands across Violet’s breasts they felt real and not at all slimy. They were soft and pliable, and her areola puckered tight and nipples stood erect. Bonny squeezed one of the nipples and watched a bead of liquid seep out.
Bonny scooped it up with a finger, surprised that it didn’t burn. Instead, it was slippery, like oil. Or lube. “Violet, can you choose what fluids you, uh, excrete?”
[[yes, you are not food, so I will not digest you]]
“But this isn’t just neutral or watery. It's slippery. Did you make lube on purpose?”
[[yes, I sense the desire to copulate with your companions, this will make that easier]]
“Fuck, yeah!” Bonny hugged Violet tight. Lubricant oozed from the slime girl’s skin, coating Bonny where they touched. She rubbed it all over both of them. “Violet, this is amazing.”
[[thank you, I’m glad to be of use]]
Bonny looked around to see her companions all watching her and Violet. The two men were watching too, but she ignored them. “Miu and Kanae, come over here. We’ve got some experimenting to do.”
