Previously in NWC-
CeCe meets the party and quickly finds herself excited to work with them. Despite their introduction starting off with Reno being swung around like a rattle, CeCe sees them for what they are, a tightly nit group. She excitedly awaits the day she returns to start their adventure, even hinting at the idea of a long term partnership in the future if things turn out well. She leaves, leaving the party to their day. They go to sleep, Reno waking up entangled again. Reno seemingly accepts this part of his new daily life and for the first morning doesn't even try to wake up Medusa. CeCe comes to say goodbye and takes their order. Reno asks for candy for Medusa, angering Luna but not knowing why...
The day passes, and so do many more. The next week is uneventful, full of nothing but idle training and their everyday life. Finally, after 8 days of straight training, Reno's eyes are widened. "No way! Luna!" Reno calls out to Luna who was sun bathing in a spot that was perfect for her small size.
"What is it, Reno?" She lazily flies over, her voice plagued with curiosity.
"Look! My hand is wet!" Reno excitedly points to his right palm which he is now putting in Luna's face.
Luna is quiet for a second, seemingly uncertain of how to respond. "That's… nice?" She's looking at Reno's hand. It certainly was wet, maybe a bit more than usual, but not enough to arouse any sort of clue in her.
Reno sighs with frustration, drying it off on his pants leg. "Just watch this." He extends his hand in the opposite direction. Moments later, Luna can feel a slight surge in mana leaving Reno's body. She begins to finally understand what was going on when Reno shows her his hand that's even more wet than before he dried it. "Check it out! It's working!"
"Oh! Reno, that's great!" Luna excitedly floats around Reno's hand, gently touching the water that was dripping from it. "It's real! Congratulations, Reno, you're officially a magic user!"
Reno uses his hand with water on it to slick back his hair temporarily. "Behold, my ultimate move!" He holds his hand out, palm facing down. He puts his water bottle underneath it and begins collecting the water that drips one drop at a time from his hand. "Within the next hour this bottle will be AT LEAST a quarter full!"
Luna is unable to suppress a small chuckle of amusement. "That's great Reno, I look forward to seeing it!"
Reno excitedly calls Medusa over. "Medusa! Come here!" Medusa excitedly runs over, waving her arms, looking up at Reno with excitement and curiosity. "Medusa, are you watch me?" He holds his hand over her and water continues to drip, landing on Medusa's head. She flinches slightly at the first drop but looks up with heightened curiosity. She watches as water begins dropping off of Reno's hand in a continuous stream despite there being no water source. She slowly extends her body and her face is now right under Reno's hand. She sniffs it with confusion and quickly brightens up when she senses the slightest amount of mana leaving his body. He excitedly begins lick the water, tickling Reno's hand. "Hey, stop that!" Reno tries to get his hand away but Medusa playfully holds it in place. She sits under his hand and continues to bask in the glory that is his one drop per second water magic. Finally, Reno manages to get Medusa to go back to her playing. Having used so much mana, Reno finds himself quickly exhausted quickly after lunch. Seemingly happy with his progress, he decides to take the rest of the day easy and go for a walk around the forest. "Luna, I think we should let Medusa go out a little more. Maybe not towards the town, but I think we should let her play a bit further into the forest, don't you think?"
Luna thinks to herself, letting out a noise of deep thought. "Hmm… I suppose that she has been quite well behaved, especially with CeCe. She shook her hand and was very polite with her. I agree, I think Medusa is more than deserving of having more room to run around."
Nodding his head, Reno gently takes Medusa's arm. "Alright, Medusa. Starting today you get to play in the forest!"
"For! For!" Medusa jumps with joy as she hears the exciting news.
"That's right, forest! Now, hold my hand, okay? I'm going to show you your new boundaries!" Reno gently walks her in a much larger perimeter than the FTG. The process takes more than a couple minutes, as Reno wants to maximize the space she has without letting her get to a point where they wouldn't be able to see her. As they walk, he speaks to Medusa. "Are you excited, Medusa?"
"Muh, Reno, for!" Medusa speaks quickly and with a fiery passion as she responds to Reno.
"That's right! Medusa and Reno ARE going for a walk in the forest! Do you know any other words?" Reno, having not noticed it until now, has become slightly intrigued by the thought of Medusa learning new words. "(What if she can learn full sentences? How is she learning? How does she understand us?)" Reno's mind races with questions as he waits for Medusa's answer. Finally, she responds.
"Muh, re, for, no!"
"Hmm… I see. You're doing great, Medusa!" He looks at Medusa with a smile on his face. "(This is just like when Arthur was learning how to talk! I want to help her learn more!)" He nods his head, mentally assigning himself the task of teaching Medusa how to communicate. "Alright Medusa, you can say Reno, but can you say Luna?"
Medusa puts a vine to her chin before speaking. "L… L… loo, uhh?" Medusa tilts her head, looking at Reno for validation.
"That's really close! It's Luna! Can you say it?"
Medusa's face scrunches as she tries to speak slowly. "Lu… na…?" She looks at Reno one more time, her eyes teeming with anticipation.
"You're so close! Now put them together! Luna!"
"Lu… na… Luna!" Medusa waves her arms excitedly, looking at Reno in hopes of a positive reaction.
Reno meets her smile with his own as he rubs her head. "That's right, you did it! I'm so proud of you!" Medusa lets out a slight squeal of happiness upon hearing of Reno's approval. "(Hmm, I wonder what else I should teach her? How about basic things like telling us when she's hungry or thirsty? I can give it a shot.)" Reno looks down at Medusa who was walking with a new found pep to her little vine step. "Medusa, can you say thirsty?"
"Thu… er… s… s… s… ty." Medusa seems to struggle with her s sound, so Reno repeatedly makes the sound until Medusa sems to be able to of reproducing it. After a few more failed attempts, she finally manages to do it. "Thirsty!" Again, she waves her arms around in excitement, her light shining brighter and brighter the happier she becomes.
"You're doing so good!" Reno looks up to see that they're almost done with their little walk. He chooses to teach her one more work in the time they have left. "Okay! Now say 'hungry'!"
Medusa, much to Reno's surprise, is able to repeat the word on her first try. "Hungry!" She sways back and forth with excitement.
Reno's eyes are sparkling with excitement as well as he congratulates Medusa once more. "You're so smart! Look at you go! You're gonna' be speaking in full sentences in no time!" Finally, they return. Reno points at Luna and speaks to Medusa. "Medusa, who is that?" Luna looks in confusion as Reno says her name.
"Luna!" Medusa points at Luna and exclaims her name with sheer joy.
Luna is dumbfounded for a moment but quickly recollects herself. "That's correct, Medusa! You learned a new word?!" Luna hovers over excitedly, floating around Medusa which causes her to get even more excited. "Did you learn anything else?"
"Thirsty! Hungry! Reno! Luna! Muh!" She lists off her entire vocabulary with pride, looking between Reno and Luna as she literally shakes with excitement.
Luna is genuinely impressed at Medusa's ability to learn new words that quickly. "You should be proud, Medusa! You're learning at such a fast pace! You'll be smarter than Reno in no time!"
"Hey! Why you gotta bring me into this?!" Reno turns to Luna and raises his voice slightly. "Who do you think taught her?!"
Luna and Reno stare at each other for a couple seconds before cracking up. Neither of them wanted to ruin this moment for Medusa. "Muh!"
"That's right! You're Medusa! Can you say it? Can you say 'Medusa'?" Reno gives her one final word, seeing if she was able to add one more word to her arsenal.
Medusa charges up her next word. She finally explodes in a show as she throws her arms in the air and shakes back and forth. "Medusa!" She shouts her name with pride, her excitement getting to a point she couldn't contain it. She wraps her vines around Reno and begins swinging him around like a toy.
"Why is this your fucking go to?!" Reno yells for his life as he's handled like a cheap toy, serving as the outlet of Medusa's excitement and joy. Finally, after a couple of minutes, she lets him down and begins to calm down. Her smile, however, never leaves.
TO BE CONTINUED...