“Did we get it?!” Kent asked.
“I’ll finish it off! Purrtion Throw!” Tarte’s attack landed on the teetering butterfly and turned it into shimmering dust. In its wake, a piece of equipment called Butterfly Wings was left behind.
“That’s a pretty rare piece,” I said.
“Those are the wings of the boss, right? How do you use them?” Frey asked.
“You— Uh, Lina?” I waved Lina over.
“What? Me?!” She came over and equipped the wings. Doing so made wings grow from her back, and she could move them as though they were her own limbs. The whole party sucked in breaths of amazement as the wings sprouted from her back. “It feels strange... Oh, I can flex my back and move them... Cool.”
With a smile, I gave her a few more hints. “Move them faster. Even better, try them while running.”
“Running?! Because I’ll be moving my arms...?” Lina asked.
“Why don’t you try it?” Luna suggested.
So, Lina began running around the perimeter of the Butterfly Cage.
While I watched her run, I felt a tug at my sleeve. “Sharon. Honey?” L’lyeh asked.
“Oh... It didn’t drop, did it?” I admitted. Tragically, the honey L’lyeh had hoped for didn’t drop one hundred percent of the time.
“Honey...” L’lyeh said again, sounding soul crushed.
“It’s okay!” I said quickly. “We can just come back and beat the boss until we get the honey!”
L’lyeh’s eyes lit up. I wasn’t sure if bosses respawned as quickly here as they had in the game, but they definitely respawned eventually.
“I will get that honey,” L’lyeh promised herself.
Silently, I swore to help her on her quest.
“I think I’m getting the hang of it!” Lina shouted as she continued to run. “The wings are moving with my arms and— Ahhh!”
“She’s flying?!” the rest of the party blurted.
“Yes, they let you fly! Not too high or fast, though, since they’re butterfly wings. They won’t be too useful in combat, but they do let you float around for fun,” I explained, though no one seemed to hear. They were too engrossed in Lina’s flight. “I can’t blame them.” I laughed to myself.
“My turn!” Frey shouted, raising her hand. Everyone but L’lyeh, Leroy, and I followed suit, apparently desperate to experience flight.
Flying more comfortably, Lina circled back down to the ground. I suspected that Lina had mastered the wings so quickly because they suited her so well.
“I’m next!” Frey repeated.
There was one problem Frey hadn’t noticed, though. “You’re wearing a skirt,” I pointed out, earning a gasp from the ladies in the party. Lina and Luna were wearing skorts, but the other girls—myself included—were all wearing skirts or dresses. Of course, we could just go home and change.
“Lina, let me wear your clothes...” Frey demanded.
“Wait, wait, wait. We can’t just swap clothes in a dungeon! Let’s go back to Sharon’s so you can change before trying out the wings!” Lina countered, stating the obvious.
“There’s no sense in hanging around here,” I seconded. “Let’s go home quickly. Our chef will have that delicious dinner for us.”
Her eyes still glued to the Butterfly Wings, Frey finally agreed. “Let’s go home, right now!”