Previously in NWC-
Reno sees the absolute 'masterpiece' that is the old carpenter's house. He briefly explores the building, discovering that the previous owner was an unhinged nature lover who also sent letters to the king declaring he'd not be paying taxes. Deciding it was a task they'd rather push off for a couple hours, Reno and Luna return to the FTG, finishing the cleaning. They agree to have a campfire the following night, and begrudgingly set of to begin demolition on the tattered building. As soon as they got there, Reno is violently pulled into the basement by seemingly alive vines. After an ordeal, it almost appears as if it's listening to Luna's commands...
Luna watches as Reno gracefully falls on his face, landing with a thud. "Impossible…" She looks at the creature before her, who is staring at her with starry eyes, as if waiting for its next command. "Impossible…" Luna continues to observe the creature while it stares at her, making occasional noises of curiosity and tilting its head.
"Dammit!" Reno finally stands up, brushing himself off and turning his attention towards the two. "Luna, you keep it distracted, I'm going to go get a lighter."
"NO!" Luna's sudden shouting slightly startles the creature.
"What the hell do you mean 'no'?! That thing is dangerous!"
"How do you know?!"
"It dragged me through the front yard and into a basement! What part of that doesn't scream DANGEROUS?!" Reno begins to full blown yell. The creature uses its vines to cover isa body and face in surprise.
"Reno! You're scaring it!"
"WHAT?! You're worried about this thing being scared?! What about me?!" Reno finally manages to work up enough nerve to approach the creature. He inches closer to it, keeping his guard up."
"Reno. Do NOT scare the poor thing!"
"I know, I know." As Reno slowly approaches the creature, it slowly moves the vines away from itself. Finally, he's right in front of it. The creature looks up at Reno and tilts its head, letting out a low volume high-pitch sound of curiosity. "Okay, I will admit, this thing is kind of cute when it's not trying to kill you."
"See? Perhaps it was just lonely?"
"But how the hell did it get here, and why did it only show itself now?"
"Perhaps it has to do with the previous occupant?"
"You really expect me to believe a guy was raising a vine tentacle monster in his basement?" Reno and Luna look at each other for a couple seconds, completely silent. Finally, Reno admits defeat. "If it was literally anyone else, I'd call you crazy. However, after reading the complete idiocy that guy was spouting, I might actually believe it." Reno and Luna slowly hover around the creature, inspecting it. Reno finally begins to gently prod at its vines. "Woah, they're warm!" Reno begins to feel the vines, almost petting them.
"Reee~" The creature's previously blank face opens up in the shape of a jagged mouth. It lets out a contented noise of joy as its vines begin to wriggle.
"Reno, look, its smiling!" Reno and Luna watch as the new mouth turns upwards. "The poor dear must have been so lonely…" Luna's voice is tinged with sadness as she recollects the time she spent wandering the earth.
"We can discern that it probably belonged to the previous owner of this place, but that doesn't answer the other question. Why'd it only reveal itself now after all this time?" Reno moves his hands from the large vines stretched throughout the room to smaller vines coming out of the top of the creature.
"Ree, ree~!" The creature happily pushes its head closer to Reno's hand. The creature consisted of two parts: The 'head' and the vines stretching in every direction. The head was a dark ball shaped, with 2 glowing yellow eyes and its glowing yellow mouth.
"Perhaps it has something to do with us entering the building earlier? It's my understanding that nobody has entered this place since in the absence of the previous resident. It also targeted me, despite me being hidden, so I believe it might also have some level of sensitivity to mana."
"Is mana magic, I take it?" Reno's hands have begun full blown petting and scratching the creature's head while he looks directly at Luna.
"Sort of, mana is what makes up the spells used in magic. It's comparable to atoms in terms of physical objects."
"Makes sense." Reno sits down and puts the creature on his lap, petting it all over.
"What in the Universe's name are you doing?!" Luna can't contain her sheer inability to process what's going on. "Are you insane?!"
"No, I'm Reno."
"Ree~!" The creature cheers as it holds up a group of vines on either side that act as arms.
"We still don't know if it's dangerous!"
Reno looks at the creature and then goes back to Luna. "Look at this thing, Luna. It couldn't harm a fly."
"You're the one who talking about burning it a minute ago!"
"Nooo…" The creature lets out a low volumed cry at the mention of being burned, using its arm vines to cover its face.
"Way to go, Luna. You're the one who was talking about not scaring it and then you go and do this? That's messed up." Reno hugs the creature from behind as it sits on his lap.
"I can not believe that you are babying this creature before we've even figured out what it is."
Reno stands up, holding the creature in front of him. It has a group of vines that stretch from the bottom of the head, roughly 2 feet in distance. "Look at this thing. Look at its little legs and arms."
"Ree~!" The creature waves his arms and many vines for legs in response to Reno's statement.
"Look! It might even be able to understand us! It knows what arms and legs are!" Reno turns the creature around. "Can you show me your eyes?" A vine on either side extends to point at it's eyes. "Luna this thing is so fucking adorable! I'm taking it home!"
Ree~!" The creature happily waves it vines around, smiling.
Luna watches Reno and the creature as they happily interact with each other. "Hmm… I suppose leaving it here wouldn't be the wisest decision. It could cause issues for the town if it got out, and if it could sense my presence anyway, then it would find it's way back to us in the end. I can't believe I'm saying this, but…" Both Reno and the creature stop and turn to Luna, waiting in anticipation. "Fine."
"Reee~!"
"YES!" Reno and the creature cheer in unison.
"But, you will be responsible if it does anything! By taking it back with us, you are taking responsibility for its actions!"
"it's fine, it's fine! Look at this thing, it's so cute and innocent."
"If it is to be staying with us, then we should give it a name."
"I know just the name. Galo-"
"If you say 'Galoghor the Destructor' then I swear to the Universe, the moment I get my powers back, only fate itself will be able to save you from my wrath."
"Well obviously I wouldn't name it that in the first place." Reno break out in a cold sweat as he frantically begins thinking of a new name for the creature. "You know, the vines kind of look like little snakes. It reminds me of that one myth, what was her name?" Reno looks at the creature and thinks, his face lighting up as he remembers. "Medusa!"
"Muh, Muh! Reee~!" The creature happily waves its many tendrils in response to the name picked for it, even trying to repeat the name but only able to get the first syllable.
"I suppose that is somewhat fitting. Then we shall call it Medusa hence forth."
Reno gently sets down Medusa, looking around at the many large vines that cover the entire room. "Only problem is getting her out of here." After looking around, he get's an idea. He looks back at Medusa who is starting up at him with its bright yellow eyes. "Hey, Medusa. May you please make your vines smaller?"
Medusa cocks her head to the side before responding. "Muh, muh!" The vines begin to shrink in response to Reno's request. The large vines that had previously pierced the floor and walls in multiple locations return to Medusa, leaving large holes in their wake. Finally, they shrink to a manageable size. Before Reno was a creature that moves around him in circles using a large quantity of vines that acted as legs. The largest vines shrunk to form what resembled curly and tangle hair, feminine in style. "Muh, muh!" Medusa happily dances around Reno, cheering and smiling.
"We are quite fortunate that she can understand us. I wonder how she can, though?" Before they have time to think about it, the building begins to start violently creaking. "Reno…"
"Yeah, agreed." Without another word, Reno quickly grabs Medusa and Luna. He stuffs Luna in his shirt and runs up the stairs, carrying Medusa. Pieces of the building start falling, almost taking him out, as the building begins to collapse in on itself. Reno rushes to the first floor as fast as he can, diving out the front door the moment the whole building falls in on itself. "Luna, Medusa, you okay?!"
"Muh~!"
"I'm okay, Reno. A bit shaken up, but okay."
"Look on the bright side," Reno stands up, setting Medusa down and brushing himself off, "At least the house is down." They all look at the now heaping pile of rubble, unsure of what to do. "I guess all we can do is go tell the mayor what happened."
"Wait a minute, Reno. It might not be a good idea to bring Medusa around other people yet. We don't know how they'll react, or she'll take to meeting new people."
"She seemed pretty happy to meet us."
"Yes, but do you really want to take any risks? This is other people's lives we're talking about."
Reno thinks to himself, watching Medusa slither around him and bask in the sunlight. "Alright, we'll take her back to the barn first." With that, they quickly make their way out of the village. Reno holds Medusa tight, trying to keep her as hidden as possible. Finally, after a slightly stressful run to the barn, they're in the clear. "Alright, I don't think anyone saw." He gently sets Medusa down after stepping in to the barn. "Is keeping her really that safe? What if one of the farmers happen to need something from here, then she get's curious and pops out?"
"What other option do we have?" The two ponder as Medusa looks up at them with curiosity.
""The Future training Grounds!"" The two say in unison, the sudden change of tone startling Medusa.
"Ree?"
TO BE CONTINUED...