There's even a monster-fighting segment... does this count as following standard procedure? The thought flashed through Coppelia's mind as she sidestepped, shielding Columbina behind her.
Ahead, the lying-in-wait purple Vishap opened its massive maw. Electro gathered within, compressing into a crackling, pulsating sphere of violet light. With a flick of the Vishap's head, the Electro orb tore through the air, shooting straight toward the pair.
Coppelia raised her right hand, and lightning burst from her palm, instantly expanding into an arc-shaped Electro shield. The Electro orb slammed into the shield, exploding into a dazzling ball of electric light. Fizzing streams of energy skittered into the surroundings, illuminating the damp cave walls.
Seeing its attack blocked, the Vishap kicked off with its hind legs, its sharp claws crushing the puddles on the ground as it pounced forward.
Before the attack could land, a gentle force already cradled Coppelia. Columbina floated backward, carrying her along, causing the Vishap's pounce to hit nothing but empty air, leaving only deep furrows in the ground.
Having missed its strike, a low growl rolled in the Vishap's throat. It raised its head again, Electro light regathering in its mouth.
Coppelia's gaze sharpened, and she dissipated the Electro shield before her. Spreading the fingers of both hands, orange-yellow light seeped from the gaps. Two angular, distinct rocks formed within her palms.
Instead of retreating, she charged toward the Vishap. Just as the creature's throat swelled—in that split second before the Electro orb was unleashed—Coppelia swung her right arm violently, jamming the Geo Construct in her hand ruthlessly into that gaping maw.
"Gu—!"
The Vishap's muffled roar was stifled in its throat. The rampaging Electro elements inside its mouth let out a dull, explosive boom before abruptly dissipating. Wracked with pain, the Vishap shook its head frantically, its thick tail thrashing the ground blindly as it staggered backward.
Coppelia did not pause. She gripped the remaining rock sphere with both hands, pouring in more Geo elemental energy. The sphere expanded in her grasp, growing to the size of a basketball. She took two steps forward, twisted her waist, hoisted the heavy rock sphere over her shoulder, aimed at the Vishap's lowered head, and smashed it down with full force.
"Bang!"
A muffled thud echoed as rock made solid contact with skull. The Vishap's limbs trembled, its massive body swayed, and its head tilted to one side.
Coppelia repeated the heavy strike several times. Finally, the Vishap's eyelids closed, and it fell silent. Its body went limp, and its tongue lolled out of its mouth, sticking to the cold, wet ground.
Holding the rock sphere, now stained with a bit of mucus, Coppelia stepped forward and delivered a coup de grâce to the Vishap's neck. She stopped, observing intently for a few seconds to confirm its chest and abdomen were no longer rising, before slowly exhaling a breath.
She turned and beckoned to Columbina, who had been floating at a safe distance in the rear. "It's handled."
The guiding Seelie bobbed slightly in the air a few times, its glow seeming to brighten, apparently quite satisfied. It lingered no longer, turning toward a fork deeper in the cave and drifting onward.
Columbina floated forward, her gaze sweeping over the motionless Vishap on the ground, and lowered her voice: "Do we have to fight monsters to get the Seelie's Treasure Chest?"
"Some require it," Coppelia shook her wrist. "Some require solving puzzles; others need you to find several Seelies to unlock... there are many varieties."
She looked at Columbina and asked, "Has the attraction you feel become any stronger?"
Columbina closed her eyes to sense for a moment. "It's a bit stronger than when we were outside."
"It seems the Seelie didn't lead us the wrong way." Coppelia nodded.
"But," Columbina frowned slightly, "overall, it is still very weak."
Coppelia paused.
That shouldn't be. There were at least twenty or thirty missing Moonlight Stones; the attraction for Columbina shouldn't be this faint. It appeared the quantity hidden here was likely small. Surely they hadn't been absorbed by these Vishaps... She quickly snuffed out that thought to avoid jinxing herself. She said to Columbina, "Let's wait until we see the things first."
The two continued to follow that drifting point of cyan light. The cave was winding and deep with numerous forks, yet the Seelie always chose the correct direction without hesitation.
They encountered no further Vishaps on the journey that followed. Only a few scattered Hydro Slimes popped out from corners, which Coppelia dispatched effortlessly by condensing Geo lances to pierce them.
After passing an unknown number of forks, the path ahead suddenly opened up. The Seelie led them to the end of a cavern. The space here was slightly larger, with a naturally formed low stone platform in the center. Sitting quietly on the platform was an exquisite deep-brown Treasure Chest with metal corners and a lock clasp.
"A Treasure Chest!" Columbina's eyes lit up, her voice revealing anticipation. She quickly floated to the edge of the stone platform and reached out to lift the chest's lid.
The box was lined with some dry moss. Scattered atop it were a few deep purple Vishap bone shards bearing lightning patterns, several globs of translucent blue Slime condensate, two or three water-colored flowers emitting a faint glow, and a pile of seemingly ordinary gray-white pebbles.
Columbina poked around in the assortment of items and looked up to ask, "Is there Mora in here?"
Coppelia only then walked up to the chest, and upon hearing this, spoke with a hint of apology:
"Sorry, I forgot to tell you. In this era, Mora hasn't been born yet. Even if it had, it likely wouldn't have circulated to Fontaine yet."
A look of annoyance flashed across Columbina's face. She rummaged with greater focus; she could feel that the single fragment of her power was right inside this pile of stuff.
The cyan Seelie floated in mid-air before the two, swaying slightly, seeming to observe their reactions.
But the shouts of surprise it expected from humans discovering treasure did not appear.
The Seelie saw the human dressed in golden attire's face fall first. She pushed aside a few pebbles, pinched up one of the stones that emitted the glow of moonlight, and spoke with a disappointed tone:
"Why is there only one..."
Next, the Seelie saw the human in the white dress, whose slightly upturned corners of the mouth also flattened bit by bit, returning to stillness.
The light around the Seelie noticeably contracted. It floated backward a few inches, its halo trembling, seeming somewhat shocked, as if questioning: You got the treasure, why aren't you happy?
Coppelia and Columbina's attention was entirely on that Moonlight Stone, paying no heed to the Seelie's little movements.
Columbina took the sole Moonlight Stone from Coppelia's hand and absorbed the energy within it into her body.
She exhaled gently; the other items in the chest held no further attraction for her. She closed the lid and turned around with Coppelia, ready to leave.
"Let's go look elsewhere," Coppelia said. "Can you sense the direction of other Moonlight Stones now?"
Columbina shook her head. After winding through the maze-like caves for so long on this trip, finding only such a tiny fragment of power—and with the expected Mora nowhere to be seen—a trace of faint disappointment lingered in her heart. She asked:
"Where to next?"
Before Coppelia could answer, the Seelie, which had already drifted to the side, suddenly flew forward at high speed and blocked their path. It bobbed up and down violently, its glowing feelers dancing urgently as if trying to express something.
After successfully attracting their gaze, the Seelie turned toward an inconspicuous, narrow side path they had passed on the way here and flew over to it.
It stopped at the fork, turned around, and seeing the two humans still standing in place, began its anxious bobbing again.
Coppelia looked at the Seelie's behavior, then turned to Columbina and said:
"It wants us to follow it. It definitely knows other clues."
Columbina took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, as if blowing away that disappointment as well. She reached out to grasp Coppelia's wrist, taking her along as she floated up to follow that re-energized point of cyan light.
____
New Story: ZZZ: Mr. Ethereal Does Not Want to See a Tragedy
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