“Ability demonstration…?” I asked.

Blaze continued with a nod. “Before we begin our search for Violet and Eon Ione, I think it's important that you see our abilities first to reduce the amount of questions you'll have about them later.” 

I had wondered why Blaze had all of us gathered in the backyard but that explanation made sense. Aside from Blaze, I knew nothing about the members' abilities.

“With that being said, any first volunteers?” Blaze asked.

“Ooh! Me, me!” Ettie raised her hand enthusiastically with a jump.

Blaze stared at her before turning her attention to the other two. “...Robin, Celine, do either of you want to go first—” 

“You're the one who asked, Boss!?”

Blaze let out a tired sigh. “I know, but that look on your face can't mean anything good.”

“C'moon, it's not like I'm gonna do anything bad!” Ettie pouted.

“Uh huh. Sure.” Blaze looked at her skeptically. “Robin—”

Robin stifled a yawn. “If Ettie wants to go first, then let her. I don't care.”

“...Celine—”

“I believe Miss Ettie should go first as well. Isn't she the perfect candidate for the job with her enthusiasm?” Celine smiled.

“Right, right!” Ettie nodded proudly.

I could tell Blaze wasn't satisfied with the responses she received.

“...Okay, Ettie, seeing as no one else is volunteering, why don't you go first?” Blaze sighed again and looked at Ettie sternly. “But don't go overboard.”

“You got it, Boss!” Ettie saluted before turning to face all of us.

She still had a smile on her face but she looked like she was seriously determined. In a flash, her lilac eye and her grayish purple eye patch glowed a neon color. 

“...!?” 

I let out a gasp and waited with bated breath to see what she was going to do. 

Considering Blaze was warning Ettie not to go overboard, it must be something pretty crazy… Maybe she can shoot beams with her eyes?!

“Well, don't get too excited, newbie! I can't do anything like that, hahaha!” Ettie laughed, waving her hand dismissively.

Huh? How did she know what I was thinking…? Was my excitement too obvious?

I scratched my cheek embarrassedly but before I could say anything, Ettie interrupted me.

“Nah, it's ‘cuz I can read minds!” She puffed her chest out smugly. “Including yours!”

“Oh, so you're a mind reader…” I nodded to myself before it took a moment to sink in. “Wait, you're a mind reader?!”

“Yep! I know everything you're thinking alll the time!”

“All the time?!”

Blaze lightly smacked Ettie on the head. “Don't lie to her.”

“Ouch!? I was just joking! Anyway, I can only hear people's thoughts when I activate my ability…” Ettie pointed her index finger towards her eye. “...That's why my eyes are glowing right now!”

So, her eyes glow when her ability is active…

I tried to remember if Ettie's eyes were glowing at any point last night but nothing was coming to mind. I was so sleep deprived that it was unlikely I would have even noticed if they were.

“Mmmgh…” I groaned a little.

“Don't worry, I didn't read your mind last night!” Ettie flailed her arms worriedly. “Didn't wanna invade your privacy!”

“...Really?” I wanted to believe her but I couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.

“Really! I activated my ability to report the situation to the others telepathically but that was it!”

That just made me more confused.

“W… What do you mean you reported the situation telepathically…?” 

“Mind reading isn't the only thing I can do. I can also communicate telepathically with others!” Ettie nodded smugly. “And in this case, I had to tell Boss not to bust our door down in her panic!”

Blaze's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. “I-I heard our new member screaming during the middle of the night! Of course I would want to check on her to make sure she's okay!”

“Wait, you actually heard that…?!”

I didn't realize I was that loud!

“There's no way any of us couldn't have heard that. You guys were talking loudly in there, too.” Robin scratched his head. “But better that than you being in any danger.”

Celine nodded in agreement. “Yes, no one is upset with you for it, Miss Luna. We were all very worried once we heard you, so Miss Ettie was just letting us know if things were alright.”

“I understand you might not feel comfortable, but know you can always talk to us.” Blaze looked at me with concern.

I truly felt touched by everyone's kindness but I also felt like a bother for making such a big scene on the first day.

“...Y-Yes, I'm doing alright.” I forced an awkward smile. 

“...Are you sure?” Blaze didn't seem convinced.

“I'm sure. So, um… Please continue with the ability demonstrations.”

I could tell Blaze didn't believe me with the way she narrowed her eyes skeptically but she nodded at Ettie to continue anyway.

“...Right, I was talking about telepathic communication, wasn't I?” Ettie nodded once she got back to business. “I can set up group telepathy! It comes in handy when we can't talk directly or if we're in different locations.”

“With it, we can communicate effectively on missions.” Blaze explained. “However, your thoughts can also be heard by anyone in the group telepathy when it's in place, not just Ettie, so be mindful of what you think about.”

“That sounds like it would be kind of stressful…”

I didn't think there was ever a time my mind was clear. 

“Don't worry about it too much!” Ettie smiled. “Only your strongest thoughts are conveyed to everyone through group telepathy, so it's not like your whole mind is exposed! Just focus on what you wanna say and you'll be fine!” 

“Well, we don't use it very often anyway, so you don't have to worry about that.” 

Blaze patted my shoulder. Her warm hand helped to ease my worries and I felt comforted by her touch. Was it really just her ability that made me feel so warm? My chest felt fluttery for some reason…

“Thinking about Boss?”

“Eep!?”

Ettie's voice suddenly echoed in my head while I was in the midst of my thoughts. 

I jumped back in my shock. “W-What…?!” 

“We can also communicate one-on-one telepathically at any time! So, I thought I'd give you an example!” Ettie grinned mischievously.

“Couldn't you have given me a warning, at least?!”

“I thought I'd surprise you!” 

“Ettie.” Blaze spoke sharply.

Ettie's eyes went back to their regular lilac color and she laughed awkwardly, though I could see her sweating a little bit.

“Okaaay! Now that I'm done demonstrating Mind, you're up next, Robin!” Ettie gestured towards Robin, inviting him to take the lead.

I was a little confused by the name.

“Mind…?” I asked.

“I call it 'Mind' cause it's a mind ability, eheh!” She puffed her chest out with a smug giggle.

“...Wouldn't you just call it 'Telepathy'?” 

“Mind sounds cooler!”

“...Does it?”

It just sounded confusing to me. It was such a vague name that it didn't really give any hints about the ability itself. But then again, I guess I wasn't very creative with the naming of my own ability.

'Water'…

I didn't really think about anything cool; I just went with what made sense. Maybe that was boring, but getting the point across was better, I thought.

 “Using Doppelganger is such a pain in the ass…” Robin scratched his head and turned his gaze to me. “Hey. You mind giving me something of yours?”

“Ooh! Good idea, Robin! You can turn into Luna!” Ettie nodded enthusiastically.

“Turn into…?” I echoed.

And did he say 'Doppelganger'...? Just what kind of ability does he have…?

“Well?” Robin held his palm out in front of me. 

“O-Oh, um, I guess you can borrow this…? If it's good enough…?” I untied the ribbon in my hair and handed it to him.

“Yeah, that's fine. So long as I have something with your scent, it works. Give me a minute.”

He held the ribbon in his hand and closed his palm. There was a flash of light surrounding him, and his blue eyes were gradually turning a warm purple. The exact same shade as mine. Then, he was enveloped by the light, and out emerged what appeared to be… me.

“Huh…?!” I gasped. 

Down to every last detail, the person I was looking at was an exact copy of me.

“Before I forget, you can have this back. Now that I've copied you once, I'll be able to copy you again whenever.”

Robin(?) placed the ribbon in my hand. Even the voice was identical to my own, though it was sharper. If it weren't for this Luna's rougher expression, I wouldn't have been able to tell this was actually Robin. 

I decided to tie the ribbon back in my hair before I forgot.

“Are you… Robin?” I felt like asking just to be sure.

“Are you... stupid?” He mocked with my voice.

“Wh…?!” I was taken aback by how rude my own voice sounded. “I was just asking a question!”

“And it was a stupid question.”

“Robin. Don't be rude.” Blaze scolded.

“I'm just saying? It was a question that already had an answer.” 

Though Robin might have had a point, he didn't have to put it that harshly!

“Anyway, if you can't tell already, which you probably can't; I have the ability to copy a person and transform into them. That's why we call it Doppelganger.” 

I tried to ignore Robin's rude comment. “And you have to have a belonging of that person's in order to do that?”

“In order to transform into a person completely, there's three requirements." He held up three fingers. “I need to have seen their appearance, heard their voice, and know their scent. But after I've transformed into them once, I can transform into them whenever, so long as I haven't forgotten the details.”

“Do you also gain access to that person's ability?”

“See for yourself.” 

Robin raised his open palm, and a ball of water began to sprout from his hand. There was no doubt it was my water ability, though its power appeared to be weaker than mine.

“...Why is it so much smaller?” I wondered.

“S-Shut up!?” His face flushed with embarrassment and he glared at me. “I haven't had the chance to train with your ability yet, so its power is weak! I can gain access to the person's ability, but the power that comes with it is my own, and if I don't know how to use it, I can't do anything with it!”

“I-I see…”

It made sense, but I didn't understand why he was getting so defensive.

“Trust me, I'm much stronger when I use an ability I've trained with, like Boss's.” Robin let himself be enveloped in a flash of light, and once the light disappeared, his appearance was back to normal. “Guess you're up, Celine?”

“Ah, is it my turn now? Well then, please watch closely, Miss Luna.”

Robin stepped aside, letting Celine take over. She spread her arms wide, a green light surrounding her hands, and aimed at the grass. 

“I can materialize plants and manipulate the ones around myself. Due to this, we have decided to name this ability 'Plant'...” Before I knew it, the grass below Celine had burst into a row of colorful flowers. “...But there are many different uses for this ability, creating flowers is just one of them.”

“They're beautiful…!” I could feel my eyes sparkle as I looked at the scene.

“Heehee. Thank you very much.”

Celine really was just like a princess you would find in novels. I couldn't help but admire her…

Beautiful, elegant, and kind…

Apart from our minor argument yesterday, she had been very kind to me. I thought she seemed like a wonderful person.

“...Ah, another good use of this ability is poisonous plants.” She suddenly smiled with every hint of malice.

“Pardon…?” I asked.

“Poisonous plants. You could throw them at your target's face or into their mouth to poison them directly, or for a less direct approach, you could simply sneak it into their food or drink and watch the poison slowly but surely overtake them. Heehee.” She giggled. “In fact, I would love to use them on that man if the opportunity ever arises.” 

“Uh… Huh?”

I assumed she was talking about Thorn Shadows.

Wait, poison him?! Isn't that a little extreme…?!

I definitely thought so, but if Crime really did kill Celine's parents, I knew I should just keep my mouth shut for now. I still didn't know the full story between them.

But still, poison…?!

That didn't seem right to me!

“There will be no such opportunity.” Blaze had her arms crossed.

“Of course not, Boss. It was merely a joke.”

“Were you really joking…?” I asked doubtfully.

“I shall leave that up to your imagination, Miss Luna.” Celine giggled again with a smile. 

Maybe the image I had of her was a little off…

She's scarier than I thought… I better try not to get on her bad side.

I nodded to myself.

Blaze looked down, her grip on both of her arms tight. I agree it was a morbid joke, but something told me there was more to Blaze's reaction than that. She looked uncomfortable for a different reason.

And why does she look so sad…?

“Now then, why don't you go next, Miss Luna?” Celine suggested.

I snapped out of my thoughts. “...Huh? Me?” 

“You've seen Boss's Flame ability already, yes? So, wouldn't it make more sense to finish the demonstration by showing us what you can do?” 

“Oh, that's a good idea. I'm interested in seeing your ability.” Blaze voiced her approval.

“It's really nothing that impressive, but if you want me to…”

I stepped in the center of the area and held my palms out, focusing on materializing the water into the form of a ball. A medium sized ball of water sprouted from my hand and gradually grew larger, fitting the size of my palm. I flinched a little at the cold water at first, but it started to feel refreshing on my skin with the warmer weather. I materialized a couple more water balls and gathered them in the air, taking a few steps back. Then, I threw my attacks at the trunk of a tree, splashing it with water. 

“I-Is that good enough for a demonstration?” I asked nervously.

Ettie ooh-ed and ahh-ed, her eyes sparkling with wonder. “You're amazing, Luna!”

“Pretty impressive.” Blaze nodded.

“Not bad for a newbie, I guess.” Robin said.

“My, what a backhanded compliment coming from the one who couldn't even utilize her ability properly?” Celine teased.

“Shut up!?”

The amount of stares on me was starting to make me self conscious, but it seemed like they were all impressed. 

It's a little embarrassing…