Lucerna and Rhea arrive at the humble Kotka’s abode. Lucerna’s residence was rather compact, managing to provide a homely atmosphere. It was the size of a large wooden shed with a small sofa, a chair, and a tiny bed barely able to fit one person. The brown sofa was mostly clean, although it was scratched up in various locations. Outside of her tiny shed was a tiny backyard with firewood surrounded by stones; her cooking place.

While Rhea tries to comfortably walk around her small home, Lucerna walks over to her homemade wooden rack filled with kitchen supplies and food rations. She scans the rack while boasting a pout on her face. 

“Grrr… it’s not fair! Why does Row get to have staff privileges? I’m the one who saw the chest at the end of the room! You’re the one who went out of her way to get the thing! Why does he get first dibs?” 

Rhea plops herself on the sofa and rests her hands atop her lap. 

“Mmm… I’m not really worried about it. Besides, I thought you preferred to fight with your claws.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m not open to trying new things, ya know? And that’s a Shifting Arm too. I’d like to see what it’s capable of before I decide if I wanna use it or throw it away.” 

“Fair enough,” Rhea sighed. “I’m happy that you have a new toy to play with, but I’m not exactly in a better position myself. I’m no closer to finding out why I’m here, and I almost came out of that cave dying… again…” 

“Right… the cave…” Lucerna’s eyes gloss over the rack. “Are you hurt from those fights we had?”

Rhea stretches her arms. 

“Mostly shaken up, to be honest.”

Rhea lays back, her head aimed toward the rickety ceiling. 

“It’s strange… right before I died in my other world, the last thought I had was how much I didn’t wanna die… and after being in that cavern, running away from a magical seahorse of all things… I was feeling the same way. But why though? Why did I suddenly have the urge to live when I have nothing to live for?”

Lucerna grabs a small gourd on the rack and turns around. With Rhea’s head aimed at the floor, she did not notice the poor Kotka’s frown. Rhea’s sudden smirk is followed by a light chuckle. 

“Hahaha… not like it mattered anyway. I died over in my other world, I’m sure if I stick with you people I’m sure to die in this one. On the bright side, if I die again, maybe I’ll be sent to another world again. Where I can live miserably as I’ve done before… or just die…”

“That won’t happen.”

Rhea lifts her head to see Lucerna with a stern look on her face. She approaches Rhea while holding the gourd and sits neatly beside the woman. 

“You won’t die again. I’ll protect you.”

Rhea blinks twice, confused. 

“You’ll… protect me?”

“Yeah.” Lucerna nods confidently.  

 Rhea twirls the bangs of her hair, not moved much by Lucerna’s sincere words. 

“No offense but… I’m not sure you’d be a good bodyguard…” 

“What?” Lucerna gasped. “What makes you say that?” 

“You were doing good fighting those monsters in the cavern, but I needed to jump in to help you.” 

Lucerna perks, further straightening her posture.

“Oh yeah! I forgot to thank you for that. Don’t worry about the slip-up back there during the fight. These things happen, ya know? I’m sure I would’ve found a way to be on top if you guys weren’t there,” Lucerna points to herself with her thumb. “Good ole Lu can protect plenty of people with her intimidation and fighting style!” 

Rhea’s eyes lower to Lucerna’s body. She’s a bit shorter than Rhea, although it’s not fair to say Lucerna is short, as opposed to Rhea being taller than the average woman. 

“I don’t know about intimidating,” Rhea chuckles lightly. “Heh heh, you’re like a half a foot shorter than me.”

“Don’t let the size difference fool you,” A cocky smirk finds itself on Lucerna’s lips. “This Kotka’s got claws, remember? You wanna test ‘em out in a little sparring match?” 

“A sparring match?” Rhea repeats. “I dunno… I don’t know much about fighting.”

Lucerna pouts. 

“I didn’t know you were such a poor liar. If you aren’t so good at fighting, then what the heck were all those crazy moves you did back in the cave?” 

“Those?”

Rhea recalls the moments of her attacks with rather peculiar moves. 

“A-actually,” Rhea laughs. “I’m kinda into this thing called wrestling. Ever heard of it?” 

Lucerna tilts her head slightly. 

“Wrestling?” Lucerna shook her head. “Mm-mm. Don’t think I’ve heard of that. What is it?”

“It’s this fighting style that’s mostly involved around throws and grapples,” she explained.  

Rhea recalls a memory from her previous life. When she was a few years younger, a recollection of her watching a wrestling match. Two big, bulky, sweaty men glaring at each other down before putting themselves through all sorts of slams and hits and rest holds; all the while Rhea is atop her couch, screaming at her television with her fist in the air. 

“GO PRET PART! PUT CONE STOLD IN THE HARPSHOOTER! PUT ‘EM IN THERE! GO! GO! YES! TAP OUT!”

Her memory ends with an embarrassing smile plastered over her lips. 

“I-I’m not a professional by any means, but I used to watch plenty of matches back home and I’d get riled up from all the fighting and the story stuff. Eventually, I started copying the moves that I saw… even though I really shouldn’t be practicing that at home since it's dangerous.” 

“That sounds really cool,” Lucerna smiles. “That means we definitely have to spar later.”

“N-no, we really shouldn’t,” Rhea shook her head. “Like I said, I’m not a professional, and you can seriously get hurt if I’m not careful.” 

Lucerna frowns. 

“Aww phooey…”

Lucerna clasps her hands together.

"Even so... you don't have to be sad about your past life all the time. Now that you're here in our world, you could always try and do things differently. Start anew maybe? You don't have to have your head wrapped up in what happened before when you can focus on what happens next."

"Yeah... maybe..." Rhea answers with hesitance.

The woman puts her hand on Lucerna’s shoulder, causing her to stare up at the tall woman, and is met with a soft smile.

“How about this? I don’t know about protection yet, but I sure could use your help in finding out how I got here. Can you do that for me?”

Lucerna nods and smiles. 

“Of course. Especially if it means shifting away from all the gloomy talk before and onto more fun stuff.”

Lucerna extended the gourd she held in her hand closer to Rhea’s chest. 

“Here. Drink this.” 

A confused Rhea grabs the offered item. 

Rhea holds the small gourd closer to her face. When she turned the item, a swishing sound could be heard from within. 

“What is this?” She asked with a raised brow. 

“It’s Miasto Water! I know Row was supposed to give you some, but I figure since you’re so down in the dumps, then I’ll share some of mine,” Lucerna smiles. “Please drink it. It’ll make you feel better, I’m sure..”

Rhea skeptically looks at the gourd before pulling the cork out. 

Pop

A girthy popping noise fills the room for a second. Rhea inches her neck forward, trying to smell the liquid, but it brings no scent. Finally, she takes the gourd to her lips and begins to drink. The room-temperature water enters her mouth and flows onto her tongue before sliding down her throat. The second the water entered her mouth, Rhea could feel the effects of the Miasto Water. 

The unique purity of the liquid sent a shockwave of natural energy coursing through her body; starting from her head and tingling across her entire frame in a matter of seconds. Her eyes shot open as her body felt a surge of the rejuvenating waters. She felt more awake as she guzzled down more and more liquid, unable to pry her lips away from the gourd until there was nothing left. 

She lowers the gourd and stares at it. 

“Wow…” She exhales. “That was good…” 

Rhea shakes the gourd. Not a sound of water swishing could be heard. 

“O-oh crap! I didn’t mean to drink all of it!”

Lucerna smiles and shakes her head. 

“No worries, I can always get more.”

Rhea sets the gourd to her side. 

“You guys weren’t kidding. This water is some powerful stuff. It feels like I’ll be hydrated for the rest of the day after just a little bit of this water!” 

“It’s a Miasto specialty! It’s probably the only thing that makes us stand out in Ziemia. Unfortunately, that leaves us open to some unsavory people wanting our stash of water.” 

Rhea raised her eyebrow. 

“Unsavory people? Like who?” 

Outside of the shed, a Kotka could be heard shouting. 

“HEEEELP! HEEEELP!”

His distress call lands upon the ears of Rhea and Lucerna. Rhea leaps out of her seat and opens the door to see a man panting in the middle of the street. He fell to his knees as he was followed by curious eyes and inquisitive feet approaching him. 

“What’s happening?” Rhea asked. 

Lucerna pops up from behind Rhea. She stares at the man and the approaching Kotka and then starts mumbling. 

“Wait a second. The last time someone shouted like that in town… I remember…”

Lucerna’s eyes got wider as fear crept into her heart. 

“Oh no!” 

Lucerna rushes past Rhea and makes her way to the panting Kotka. Rhea follows behind Lucerna. Out of all people, Lucerna makes it to the man first due to her impressive speed. 

She kneels in front of him. The man was sweating and his eyes were brimming with fear. 

“Hey! Hey!” Lucerna shook the fallen Kotka. “What’s going on? What happened?”

A small crowd gathers around them. 

“I…”

The male Kotka swallowed a lump in his throat. He raises his head and looks at Lucerna with pain in his eyes. 

“I ran from the seaport and… and I saw… the Fujiko Gang…! The Fujiko Gang are in Miasto!” 

The small crowd began to panic. 

“Fujiko Gang?! The Fujiko Gang is here?!”

“Screw this! I’m going home and locking the door!” 

“We’ve got to warn the other Kotka!”

While the Bedlam of hurried feet and incessant chatter surrounded Lucerna and Rhea, it looked as though the light from Lucerna’s eyes disappeared. 

“Th-the Fujiko Gang…?” She gasped. 

“News of this broke swiftly,” the male Kotka informed. “And the Super Senior bolted to the seaport alone. The Fujiko Gang has already claimed a few lives, and I fear his life is at risk! We need to do something! We need to drive them away!”

“Th-they’re killing people?!” Rhea gasped. 

“H-how many fighters do we have?” Lucerna asked. 

“I’ve already alerted about twenty of them to the port. Still, you know how skillful that titan of a woman is! We need more fighters!” 

Lucerna is silent for a moment before she pushes herself off the ground and raises her head. Her eyes wander to the visible seaport lower down the hill. 

“I’ll go.”

Rhea hesitates for a moment, but she approaches behind Lucerna. 

“I’ll come with you…” 

Lucerna shakes her head. 

“No, Rhea. You heard the man. They’re very dangerous. You need to stay here.” 

Rhea starts walking. 

“You’re right, but these people can’t just do whatever they want in your home. I don’t plan on fighting them, but I’m sure I’d be able to help in some other way.”

Rhea takes a few steps forward, but Lucerna extends her arm in front of her, forming her claws. Lucerna is looking up at Rhea, the most serious she’s ever been. Rhea is almost captivated by her sudden change in demeanor.

“Stop. I’m serious. You can’t go. The Fujiko Gang is dangerous. And you don’t need to die again. Please. Stay here.”

Rhea is glaring. 

“I can’t die but it’s okay for you to risk your own life?” 

Lucerna pauses for a moment. She redirects her attention down the road, but her serious demeanor is left unchanged. 

“...Go back to Row and wait for me to come back. I won’t be long.”  

Lucerna sprints off to the dock.

“Wait!” 

Rhea calls to her, but Lucerna doesn’t stop. As the young Kotka sprints as fast as she can, Rhea could only watch from afar with concerned eyes.  

"Be careful..."