*Bing-Bong*
Alright, what the hell is going on?
|Pardon?|
This is like the fourth time in a row that you decided to switch perspectives like this, so I gotta know at this point, what the heck are you doing?
|Do you want the real answer or the enigmatic answer? Because they’re the same thing.|
The hell?
|To put it bluntly, you’ll figure it out soon.|
Great. Also, what is this vernacular you’re having me read? I’m pretty sure some of these words haven’t been used since the time Jane Austen was alive.
|To be fair, Pride and Prejudice is considered a classic.|
Wait, that book title doesn’t get censored? Why?
|Nah, public domain.|
Ah.
*Bing-Bong*
"So this is a zako," Harriet said in amazement as she stared and lightly poked at the wooden humanoid that was acting as their group’s porter. "I have to admit, I was expecting it-"
"Grunt," the zako interrupted in protest.
"Them?"
"Grunt," the zako interjected again.
"Him?"
"Hmm," the zako nodded at being addressed as "him.".
"I was expecting him to be either a lot scarier looking or a lot more pocket-sized like your majin," Harriet finished. "Especially with the way you described them before."
"In fairness, Harriet," Alicia answered. "This particular zako is made of wood as opposed to bones."
"Or rusted metal," Bellona added.
"Those are words I associate with bloodthirsty warlords," Alice commented. "And Mister Zhen does not give me that vibe."
"You’d honestly be surprised," Alicia and Bellona replied simultaneously.
"Okay, is the fact that you two seem to be able to answer questions with the exact same answer a [Chaos] thing or just something you two developed over time?"
"I think it’s the latter."
"Don’t worry about it too much."
"Huh…"
Whether it was by luck or deliberate action, the girls of Rainbow Phoenix Academy—Harriet, Alice, Alicia and Bellona—were assigned one of the prettier/safer destinations inside of the [City of Mirros], the Garden of Reflective Orchids. However, they actually did look forward to exploring this particular part of the wandering ruins.
As young ladies of fine standing and superior breeding, they were quite familiar with the fact that gardens were essentially hotspots for young ladies to gather, gossip, and spend time together. (Un)surprisingly, this little factoid of society held up for wandering ruins as well.
Wandering ruins were often regarded as being fragments of civilizations that were lost to the sands and tides of time; therefore, certain understandings of societal practices could easily be applied to certain situations.
For example, if the wandering ruin had taken on the form of a castle, then one could reasonably figure out that the treasury would be home to a lot of material wealth, while a study situated in a tower-like structure was definitely filled with things such as aether technique scrolls and certain hidden mantras. That, and the throne room was probably home to some giant boss monster that called all of the shots and would probably take a party of four to take down... if they were lucky.
Regardless, since the Garden of Reflective Orchids was structurally similar to the public gardens seen in larger cities and private properties, the girls were more than excited about what they could find.
Acquiring powerful aether treasures was all well and good, but acquiring powerful aether treasures that could also double as a beautiful accessory was even better.
At least, this was the thinking for three out of four of the young ladies in this group.
Alice, for her part, didn’t really care for accessories all too much.
"You know it doesn’t really matter what shape the aether treasures take as long as it’s able to function, right?" Alice pointed out. "One of the go-to treasures I used to use came in the form of a spider."
"I feel like there’s a joke here about that and the fact that you’re from the Umbral Spider continent," Bellona pointed out.
"That’s not wrong, but I feel like I should be taking some offense to that for some reason."
"I have that effect on people, you know this."
It didn’t take much longer after this short conversation of theirs for the girls to arrive at the outer boundaries of the [Garden of Reflective Orchids].
"Wow..."
"Beautiful..."
"Stained glass flowers...that tracks.
The [Garden Of Reflective Orchids] did not fail to live up to this lofty sounding name, much to the delight of the Rainbow Phoenix Students.
The garden in question looked to be meticulously manicured.
Delicate topiary of illustriously green leaves, tastefully nude statues made of obsidian and countless colorful flowers that seemed to dazzle in the sunlight.
Literally.
When the girls used aether enhanced vision to examine the orchid flowers that populated the place, they could see that petals were as iridescent and as delicate as pieces of stained glass.
"Well then, ladies, shall we go for a stroll?"
It went without saying, they all said "yes".
...
[Hey Hypnos.]
[What’s up-*yawn*-Sprocket?]
[Is it just me, or can you sense that something is weird about this garden?]
[Weird how? Like...you think we’re going to get ambushed by those Silver-Tongue bastards?]
[Not them, but something is definitely wrong here...]
[It is bad enough for us to reveal ourselves?]
[No...not that bad yet...]
...
"Wow, these flowers are as fragrant as they are beautiful. I’m feeling a little...jaloux."
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"Jealous?"
"Yes!"
Once the girls had entered the garden, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the flowers were even better up close.
Now that they were in sniffing distance, they could feel the energetic aether infused into the lovely scent that accompanied the stained glass petals.
Once they were up close like this, they could make out all of the intricate little patterns that composed the petals as well. And when the wind blew just right, the petals seemed to shimmer.
The whole place was just...magical.
"You know...even if we don’t find anything, I think I can just be happy having to have seen this place," Alicia said in a high-minded manner.
"Does that mean I get dibs on that shiny treasure chest in the garden’s gazebo?," Alice asked with a teasing tone.
"Treasure chest? Where?!"
Evidently, Alicia was still a normal greedy human.
Following Alice’s words, the group found themselves standing before an elegant gazebo that was housing a treasure chest that was made of polished obsidian and inlaid with jade.
Not only was there visual appeal, but all four of them could sense the sheer amount of energy seeping through the seams of the chest.
A purifying energy that could only belong to a high tiered aether treasure. Of course, they weren’t going to just mindlessly charge in.
"Oh that is...blatant."
"You girls think it’s a trap?"
"Definitely."
As students of a high tiered academy, as well as being connected to someone with access to an infinite library, the Rainbow Phoenix girls has access to all sorts of records in regards to past wandering ruins raids.
A common trend in all of these records were instances of these moments where an obvious treasure chest turned out to be incredibly trapped.
Some of these traps included entire teleporation arrays that either summoned something to kill the would-be thief or send the aforementioned thief to elsewhere, explosives and the oh so popular, "Mimicking Trap Beast".
Therefore, when they saw a blatant treasure chest that sharply contrasted to the rest of the location’s general architecture, they couldn’t help but be suspicious.
As such, they tried to figure out a way to open the chest without getting too close.
Or how to disarm the trap moments before it could cause some serious damage, either or worked.
"Should we try and launch an attack against it? My [Astra] has the ability to stretch far enough to prevent possible fall out damage," Alice suggested.
"I want to say yes, but there’s a very real possibility you might destroy or damage something valuable," Bellona replied. "And I’d rather maximize the payout."
"Fair enough."
"Wait a minute," Harriet interjected. "Alicia. Bellona. Don’t the two for you have those adorable familiars? The majin? Can’t they float over and check if the chest is trapped themselves?"
"That’s actually a pretty good idea," Alicia agreed. "But Bellona and I would rather keep those two secret for as long as possible."
"Your big sister Kidanna did mention that there enemy aether warriors in here with us," Bellona added. "Besides, mine doesn’t have hands and Alicia’s is too small."
"That’s fair...wait."
At this exact moment, all four of the girls turned their attention to the wooden zako that had lagged behind a bit.
At the sight of the wooden dummy looking monster warrior, a slightly devious thought occurred in their heads.
"Hey...remember when Xiao Liu told us that story on how Nepeherage used her body to trigger and withstand all of the traps in the [Vault of Hel]?"
"Yup."
"Aren’t zakos equally durable to Kaijin?"
"Only a little more fragile but not by much."
"Hmmm."