With somewhat renewed enthusiasm, the party resumed their march and soon reached an intersection. In front of them were stairs that descended further into the ruins.
At their left was a conspicuous treasure chest resting in the middle of a well-lit circular room, behind a corridor with giant swinging blades and cement pistons that repeatedly descended onto the ground with enough force to crack the solid stone beneath them.
Said corridor was behind an empty pit that only offered a few stone platforms for anyone dumb enough to try their luck jumping across the chasm. The chest itself appeared undefended, save for a tiny red frog that sat atop it and was ominously looking back at Celeria, who had her gaze fixed on the trunk.
"If no one lives here but the fairies, then explain why this room still has working traps?"
"Who says this isn´t the work of the fairies?" The party once more looked up at the peanut gallery. The faes all shrugged.
"Hey, I might like to hide my bag of nuts down here, but that doesn´t mean that I´m that desperate to keep it away from my sisters. Don´t look at me, I don´t need this kind of trap," the teal fairy replied.
"What do you mean this kind of trap?" a red fairy asked.
"Ok, if not for the fairies, then how-"
"Well, this is obviously a magical mechanism," Liana explained. "A trap from the original inhabitants of the castle to keep would-be thieves away. With the air so thick with magic, the mana must have flowed into the mechanism on its own and activated it."
"So, whatever is inside that chest is a valuable relic from a bygone era," Celeria said. "Something so precious that they built a whole hallway full of traps to protect it. Probably worth more than the quest reward."
"Or, you know, something that has long since turned to dust. It´s better to... oh, I´m being ignored."
Looking at the chest with starry eyes, Celeria stepped to the edge of the chasm. As she suspected from the warm air rising from below, there was naught but lava at the bottom. She took a deep breath, bent her legs, and then promptly fell on her ass after being yanked back by a worried Peonie.
"What are you doing?! What happened to the talk about being cautious?"
"But there's a treasure chest over there! It's our duty as adventurers to open it and grab the loot! What if there is a magical robe in there? Or a holy sword that's the key to sealing away the magic in this dungeon? You never know!"
"Why would anyone put something like that there?! This is obviously a trap, designed for suckers like you." Peonie yelled. "Just like when my sisters put a fake diamond-encrusted crown at the bottom of the palace's well to trick me into diving after it. We have a mission to complete, and we are going to stick to it. The townspeople are counting on us."
"Yeah, I'm not risking my life for that chest either. Seems like the most obvious trap in the world," Liana joined. "Maybe it´s even a mimic."
"B-but treasure chests always contain loot!"
"I´m with Celeria on this one. We didn´t crawl into a dungeon to ignore the most obvious treasure chest known to man! We have to at least try!" Min backed up her elven companion.
"No! It´s too dangerous! We don´t have to risk our lives for something so stupid!"
"Look Celeria, I love treasure as much as the next bandit, but there is also something known as opportunity cost! It´s why you don´t rob royal tax collectors despite them having more money in their chests than the local Count in his castle!"
The party was split two-to-two, neither of them budging. Celeria and Min nodded at each other with silent understanding. "Fine, we´ll do it your way…"
"Thank you, now come on. We have a curse to-" As soon as Peonie and Liana turned their backs on their comrades, the chest-loving duo turned around and sprinted over to the treasure. "OH COME ON!"
Celeria jumped into the first line of platforms towering above the abyss. Her feet deftly hopped from stone to stone with elven accuracy, her arms swaying at her sides to keep the equilibrium. By doing so, they allowed her sprightly chest free reign to bounce with each hop, and at several times they almost spilled out of her smallclothes.
Min followed suit more slowly, and a bit more clumsily. She swung her arms like wings each time she landed on a platform to stabilize herself as her legs dangled back and forth on the small surface. Each jump took careful seconds of preparation as she measured the distance and tensed her legs accordingly.
Without underwear like Celeria, such exercise proved to put on quite a show for her teammate. Not wanting to see Min´s flexing buttocks every time she hopped, Liana stared at the ceiling. Peonie did too, but out of fear that she would watch one of her companions slip and fall to their doom.
However, Min was still having the time of her life. "Wahoo! Yahoo!" Min screamed as she jumped.
"Why are you shouting like that?"
"It seems like the thing to do, you know?"
The stone platforms were wide and not that far apart from each other. Jumping from one to the other was trivial if you could overcome the fear of falling into a painful death. The two adventurers crossed the gap and reached the hallway beyond.
Celeria steeled herself, counting the seconds between each swinging blade and crushing piston. Min paced around, looking instead at the floors and walls. Her bare feet stumbled upon a particularly loose tile, and she crouched down.
But the elf didn´t wait for Min to finish her search. She sprinted, ducking under a blade, carefully sliding under the next, and losing her momentum at the worst time, right under a moving piston. "Argh!"
"Celeria no!" Peonie yelled, watching in horror from the other side of the chasm.
"And there!" The piston stopped moving, and the blades hung motionlessly in the middle of the hallway. Min shot her elven companion a smile. She had peeled a stone tile from the floor using her dagger and pressed the hidden button underneath. "Don´t worry, I found the off switch!"
"How did you know that was there?"
"Well, I figure it´s just like when you make an impossible level in Mario Maker. You can´t expect the castle´s personnel to make this journey every time they want to open the chest, so they ought to have some hidden switches and cheats to pass the traps. I bet there is one back there too."
"There is!" Peonie said, jumping on a loose stone tile. She pried it open and found another switch. Upon pressing it, a stone bridge extended across the chasm, letting the party regroup again.
"But if you knew about that, why did you jump over the pit like a maniac?" Liana asked.
Min shrugged. "It seemed like fun. And besides, I didn´t KNOW about it, I just suspected there would be an off switch."
"Well, in any case, thanks for the save," Celeria said, before turning to face Liana. "See, told you she was going to be useful."
Liana rolled her eyes. "Maybe. First, we have to see if this was worth it, but there´s still one last obstacle." The mage pointed at the red frog sitting atop the chest. The frog stared back at them with dead eyes.
"So, like, is that a monster?" Min asked. "The chest´s guardian?"
"I´ve never seen a frog that color before."
"I don´t think there are any native frogs in the area, so it is probably part of the trap."
The party cautiously approached the chest, looking at each other and waiting for any of them to make the next move.
"So, should we smack it?"
"No. What if it starts spewing fire or something?"
"Then are we just going to try and stare it down?"
"Maybe we have to say a password or something?" Min cleared her throat. "Allow me, I have some experience talking with animals."
"Really?"
"Yes, although they never talk back. Ehem. Hi there frog. How are you doing? Can we open the chest you are sitting on? Pretty please?"
"Ribbit."
"What did that mean?"
"I have no clue."
"This is pointless," Peonie sighed. "Allow me, I have an idea."
Peonie slowly lifted her branch and placed it next to the frog. The animal puffed up his chest, letting out a mighty war "ribbit". The other three adventurers flinched and stepped back, but Peonie was resolute. She stared at the frog and gently pushed it aside with the branch.
Liana squeaked as the frog fell next to her feet. The animal looked back at Peonie, croaked once more, and jumped away, much to the party´s relief.
"There, problem taking care of."
"I guess it wasn´t a monster after all. Just a regular frog."
The red frog jumped into the lava pit. As he splashed into the molten magma, a green fireball released from his mouth, shooting toward the ceiling like a fire geyser. The stupefied adventurers could only stare slack-jawed as the hallway lit up like if it was under direct sunlight.
"...or maybe not," Min commented, watching the flames dissipate. The party took cover behind Peonie, waiting for another attack that never came. It seemed like the fire tornado was the last hurrah of the frog.
"Good thing that fireball wasn´t aimed at us," Celeria said. "Nice work, Peonie?"
"Nice work?! If she had spooked the frog we would have been roasted like pigs on the Festival of Humility!" Liana yelled. "We got lucky!"
"No, I knew what I was doing. My sisters love to put slimes, frogs, and sometimes even rats in my shoes or my underwear drawer. I learned quickly how to push away critters without angering them using only the end of a broom."
"Wow... I´m sorry, Peonie. And I thought my brother was mean."
"No wonder you left the court to become an adventurer. That´s certainly a way to climb the inheritance ladder."
"N-no, it´s not like that! They were never poisonous or anything, it´s just a little prank."
"Nothing little about that kind of prank. In your shoes, I would have just gone barefoot forever."
"You can´t go barefoot in court, silly. That´s a big faux pas!"
"Ehem. Now that the traps are cleared, may I do the honors?" Min asked, hunching forward towards the treasure chest.
"Go for it."
Min crouched, opening the chest while humming a song. "Tadadada,tadadada,tadadadada!" she pulled the chest contents and held them high into the air. It was a… decrepit wood shield.
"Better than a robe half-eaten by moths," a disappointed Liana said. "Still think that´s worth more than the reward?"
"I do admit that the shield has seen better days, but maybe it can still be useful?" Celeria grabbed the shield and inspected it. Whatever emblem it had long ago had rusted away with time, not even the paint remained. "Why would anyone put something like this in such a guarded chest?"
"I hate randomized loot tables," Min mumbled.
"Well, in any case, here Peonie, you take it. A shield is only going to get in the way of my bow, Liana´s magic, and Min´s stabbing."
"Awww, I kind of wanted to keep it," Min murmured.
"Thanks, Celeria, I´ll try to take good care of it." Peonie immediately put the shield to work covering her hairless crotch. She let out a sigh of relief knowing it covered the essentials better than her hands did.
"Just watch out for splinters."
"Well, if this entirely pointless detour is over," Liana said. "Can we please go back to our quest?"