Rhea and the two Kotkas stood at the center of the room, staring at the light brown creature bouncing about the waters.

Lucerna is staring straight at the back of the creature. 

“A seahorse? In the middle of this cave?” Lucerna asked. “What’s up with that?” 

Meanwhile, Row’s eyes couldn’t be wider. He is gnawing on his lower lip while looking at the creature’s back. 

“You two,” Row speaks through grinded teeth. “Turn to me. Right. Now.”

Rhea and Lucerna casually turn to Row to see the anxiety written on his face. Rhea’s hands fall to her hips. 

“What’s up with you?” 

Row eyes past Rhea to see the seahorse slowly turning around. His head drops to the ground and he breaks into a cold sweat. 

“Neither of you can look at that monster…” He murmurs. “Keep your eyes low.”

“The seahorse?” Rhea asked. 

“That isn’t just a seahorse, it’s a ‘Seehorse’...” Row gulps. 

“...Huh?” Rhea raised her eyebrow. 

“As in,” Row corrects himself. “‘See’ ‘Horse’.” 

As Row spoke its name again, the animal continued to turn its body in their direction. Unbeknownst to Row, it had big black empty eyes, entirely void of light. It floats like a statue in the water, unable to take its eyes off the back of the party. Rhea and Lucerna could somehow feel the presence of its eyes latched onto their backs and became nervous through the sensation of its malicious aura. Row nervously swallows his saliva. 

“I’ve read about these creatures before. It is one of the few entries from the loot cavern’s bestiary recorded ages ago by one of the surviving adventurers. ‘Seehorses’ do not like to be looked at directly in the eyes. They’re rather docile creatures but do not appreciate eye contact. The moment any of us lock eyes with it, it will go on a rampage, spewing spells and chaotic energy from its snout.”

“S-s-scary…” Lucerna gasped. “I can feel it glaring at me from across the room. Is that thing really that strong…?” 

“What?!” Rhea whispered loudly. “How is a little seehorse even capable of doing that? That thing’s probably less than a foot tall!” 

Beads of sweat drop from Row’s forehead. 

“I don’t want to question the log of an adventurer who said they barely survived an encounter with one. We should try to double back and make our way home. For real this time!”

“But…” Lucerna interrupts. “I thought I saw a treasure chest at the end of this cave. We at least gotta check what’s inside there, right?” 

“No,” Row shook his head. “I doubt there’s a clue as to why Rhea is here in that chest. It’s probably just some loot.”

“‘Just some loot’ this deep into the loot cavern must mean it’s some really good stuff! Besides, we shouldn’t have anything to worry about as long as we don’t look at the seehorse, right?” Lucerna asked. “Maybe whatever’s inside the chest can help us fight it!” 

“Absolutely not,” Row retorts. “We should just-”

Suddenly, Rhea breaks free from the group huddle. She keeps her head down as she makes her way closer to the small pond.

“Rhea!” Row raised his voice. “What’re you doing?”

“As long as we don’t look at the thing we should be fine, right? Don’t worry, I’ll grab whatever’s inside and go.”

“Y-you!” Row raised his voice. “Urgh! You’re proving to be way more trouble than Lu!” 

“Go Rhea…!” Lucerna cheers quietly. “You can do it!”   

Rhea makes her way toward the edge of the pond, the seehorse now eyeing the woman. As she navigates around the small body of water, the seehorse’s body gradually turns itself, its body and eyes following the movements of the brave adventurer.

After a few careful steps around the pond, Rhea finally navigates around the creature. She can comfortably raise her head, knowing that her back faced the aquatic animal. She looks ahead and sees the aforementioned treasure chest. 

“I see the chest, guys,” she informs. 

“Great,” Row sighed. “Now just hurry up and see what’s inside so we can get outta here!” 

Rhea walks toward the wooden chest and kneels. To her surprise, the chest was already open. The item in question was partially obscured, with a rod sticking out of the right side of the chest. She opens the box and pulls out the item in question. It was a shiny, golden staff; shimmering against the little light pouring from the heavens. 

“A staff…?” She murmured. 

Rhea holds the staff up closer to her face to examine its intricacies. A thin, cylindrical, see-through tube rests at the center and travels to the bottom. The head of the staff had a spiny tip and two scythe-like sides. A small slot that appeared to be for a tiny gem rests at the top portion of the front and back of the staff. 

What the heck is all this stuff on the staff? Is this a clue as to how I got transported here? Or is this just a fancy-looking staff? 

Rhea’s eyes fall to its brilliant sheen once more, revealing a reflection of herself. And in turn, showing the reflection behind her, the seehorse’s empty stare invaded Rhea’s mind and pierced her heart. She felt a drop in her body temperature, as both she and the sea creature recognized they made eye contact. 

The malicious aura of the seehorse grows thicker, oozing in all directions. Row and Lucerna, whose eyes remained lowered, begin to shiver. With wide eyes and a fast-beating heart, the woman lowers the staff to her side. 

“We need to go,” Rhea mutters. 

“R-Rhea…!” Row stutters. “Did you look at the seehorse? I can feel a crazy magical energy…”

Rhea turns around and sees the crackling magical energy surrounding the creature as it begins to grow in size. Rhea whips her head at Row and Lucerna.

“WE NEED TO GO!” She yells. 

Row and Lucerna dart their head upwards and see the seehorse growing. Lightning begins to crackle around its body, and powerful magics contort and pressurize the air. Rhea starts running back to her group and sees the seehorse brings its snout inward. The seehorse turns its attention to the Kotka and swiftly charges up an attack, unleashing a cannonball of magical energy toward them. Lucerna grabs Row and jumps out of the way.

“LOOK OUT!” 

The two Kotka dive out of the way as the energy travels swiftly to their previous location. The magical ball of energy shreds through the stone like paper, traveling some distance through the cavern. 

KA-BOOM!!!

A storm of rocks flies in all directions and Rhea, Row, and Lucerna duck and cover themselves from the flying pellets. The blast rattles the entire section of the cavern. When Rhea lowers her guard, she sees the seehorse blast a massive hole in the wall, revealing much of where the trio previously tread.  

“Wh-what power!” Lucerna gasped. 

“I knew we shouldn’t have risked getting that treasure chest!” Row yelled. “And for what?! Some stupid-looking staff?!”

Rhea runs over and lifts the two Kotka by their feet. 

“Stop complaining we need to get outta here!”

Rhea looks over her shoulder and sees the seehorse charging up another magical blast. Lucerna and Row are now on their feet. 

“NOW!” Rhea raised her voice. 

Without a second thought, they drag their feet away from the chaotic seehorse, spewing magical bombs in all directions. 

KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!

The party sprints further down the path previously tread as the seehorse eviscerates everything around it. Eventually, the three finally stop feeling the tremors of the seehorse as they reach halfway back where they came from. Sweat drips from their arms and forehead. Row leans his arm against the adjacent stone wall, trying to catch his breath, while Lucerna is lying on the ground, her head pointed toward the open hole above. 

“I…” Row shook his head while panting. “I’m never… pant… coming back here again… ever.” 

Rhea runs her hand through her hair. 

“Agreed…”

“Ha…ha… ha…” Lucerna smiles in between breaths. “I dunno… pant… that was… kinda fun…” 

Row rolled his eyes. 

“Fun she says…” He repeats in a mocking tone. “You’re crazy. You need to find a better definition of fun. We may have escaped the seehorse, but it looks like our path back is blocked.  

Lucerna rolls off of the ground and stares at the small mound of rocks blocking their previous entrances. She raises her head to the rocky mound. 

“Uh… we can probably climb up this small pile of rocks.”

Lucerna makes her way skyward, clawing her way up, standing atop the Loot Cavern. She turns and looks at her allies below. 

“Yeah!” Lucerna calls out. “Up here’s good!”

Rhea and Row exchange brief looks before ascending the stones. In a matter of minutes, all three members were standing atop the maze of the Loot Cavern. The midday sun and cool breeze tickle their skin. Their eyes scan the area as they stand several meters high across multiple pitfalls.

“This is the top of the Loot Cavern?” Row asked. 

Lucerna turned around and eyed their previous location with the seehorse. 

“Hey! Since we’re up here, we can probably go through the top of the Loot Cavern without dealing with any monsters down there.”

“True…” Row agrees initially. “But we’d still have to go down there if we found a treasure chest. And the fall down is about as long as the climb up, minus the pile of rocks that it took to bring us up here.”

“At least we won’t be in danger up here.” Lucerna smiles. 

KA-BOOM

A distant magical cannonball flies off in another direction. Rhea, Row, and Lucerna are left startled. 

“...I stand corrected.” The woman Kotka sighed. 

Lucerna eyes the staff Rhea held onto. 

“Oh, Rhea, can I see that?” 

Rhea looks at the weapon.

“Huh? Uh… sure…” 

Lucerna takes the staff from Rhea and inspects it. She smiles as she sees her reflection across its golden sheen. 

“Well… we didn’t find any clues for Rhea being here, but we got an item from the cavern we’ve never seen before!”

Lucerna holds the staff in front of the sun and smiles. 

“Hehe! Staff Get!”

Rhea eyes her, confused.  

“Er… right…”

Row dusts himself off. 

“While I plan on never going back into the cavern, the least we can do with my new material and that new item is to return to my workstation and inspect our treasure. On initial viewing of the staff it looks normal, but considering it came from that cavern, I very much doubt it’s anything but normal. Sorry, Rhea, we’ll have to delay the investigation of your arrival for the time being.”

Rhea shrugs. 

“It’s okay. Not exactly in a rush to do so…” 

“Alright,” Row nods. “Our retread back should be much easier. Let’s just watch our step up here. Luckily the cavern’s altitude lowers so we’ll have an easier time getting down,” Row smiles. “Let’s go home.”

Rhea, Row, and Lucerna finally make their way back to Miasto. Meanwhile, by the oceanside, a small vessel arrives at the pier of Miasto. An ensemble of seamen in thief-like attire pour out of the ship. The last to touch down on the wooden pier was a seven-foot-tall dark gray bunny woman with long black hair and bright orange eyes stomping her foot against the wooden platform. She wore a high-collar black vest with gold embroidery and a décolletage that boasts her ample cleavage. Black threaded pants hugged her tall legs and were held up with a brown leather belt; the pants hosted a small leather pouch on her left leg and a weapon sheath for a rapier on her right. Her orange-heeled boots make her already tall frame even more massive as she towers among even the tallest of Kotka. 

The woman surveys the area and eyes an approaching male Kotka. 

“Hail, visitors across the blue. May we help you?” 

The bunny woman smirks, a suave, confident tone escaping her luscious black lips. 

“Yes… you may.”

Suddenly, the male Kotka breaks into a cold sweat, recognizing the bunny woman. 

"W-wait a moment...! Y-you're...!"