Previously in NWC-
CeCe and Reno struggle against the shade, both of them coming within inches of dying. Reno quickly begins relying upon instincts until he reaches a point where he lacks the strength to even hold up his own arm after taking a deep hit to his left arm protecting CeCe. CeCe, finally snapping out of her fear, manages to help Reno shoot off a powerful blast that destroys multiple walls, as well as their opponent...
As the dust from the recently destroyed walls settles, a familiar voice comes from the outside. "What the hell?!" Luna comes flying in, her light illuminating the room. "I'll protect Medusa no matter what!" She flies around frantically, preparing to fight to the best of her ability. She stops upon seeing her two party members panting on the floor, one of them gripping their forearm as it bleeds. "Reno, CeCe!" Luna flies over, her concern being replaced with confused relief. "What did you two do?! What was that attack just now?!" Luna's head spins with questions as she notices the significant amount of blood coming from Reno's arm. "You're hurt too?"
Reno cocks his head in confusion as he slowly stands up. "What do you mean by 'too'?"
Luna sighs, knowing what Reno's reaction will be. "Well… Medusa is injured."
Reno's eyes widen as he begins to panic. "She WHAT?!" He suddenly runs through the now broken walls. After running through a short hallway he emerges into the large room where Luna and Medusa had been resting moments ago. He searches the room, his head swinging wildly until he finally sees Medusa running towards him. "Medusa!" He holds his arms out and runs towards her.
"Reno!" Medusa jumps into his arms, wrapping her vines around him and squeezing him.
"Guh?! I should've seen this coming!" He winces as his injured arm is squeezed, causing it to flare up in pain. Medusa feels the liquid on his arm and becomes curious, loosening her grip and inspecting. At the same time, Reno notices the group of cut vines and his eyes widen with concern. They both let go of each other, inspecting the other's injuries. Medusa quickly begins spitting on Reno's arm, numbing it to the pain and removing all of his discomfort. Reno gently places his hand on Medusa's head, using the little bit of mana he has left to create a gentle stream of water for her. The cold water runs down her body, causing her to shiver in delight and press closer to him. Reno notices the newly sprouted pink flower on her head, causing his worries to melt away for a moment. "Well, don't you have the cutest little flower?!" He smiles, rubbing her head and calming down slightly, enough to think straight. He takes one of her vines that was cut and sighs. "Oh, Medusa. What the hell happened, girl?"
CeCe and Luna watch from afar, shaking their heads and speaking in unison. CeCe shrugs her shoulders and smiles. "Total dad vibes, even if he won't admit to it."
Reno is inspecting Medusa's body until he's certain she didn't experience any life-threatening injuries. He finally begins calming down and turns around, looking at the damage his and CeCe's attack had made. "Good fucking lord!" His eyes widen in utter disbelief as he gazes upon the damage inflicted by them. He shakes his head, looking towards the hole from which he entered. He gently takes one of Medusa's vines and walks with her back to the room in which Reno fought the shade.
Luna flies in after them, speaking with excitement. "Reno! I can feel it!"
"Huh? Feel what, exactly?"
"My power! One of my shards is nearby!" Luna begins frantically flying around, attempting to locate the source of her power.
Reno's eyes widen as he begins the search too. "Are you serious?! Don't mess with me, Luna!"
"I'm not lying! I can really feel it!" Luna and Medusa make it easy to search the room from their natural light.
CeCe reenters the room, chuckling. "See? I told you my informant was trustworthy!" She makes a peace sign and smiles triumphantly, trying her best to appear cute.
Reno sighs and shakes his head. "Alright, alright, I get it. Let's find the shard before we get all high and mighty."
The party searches the mostly empty room, finding nothing. They keep searching and Luna feels as if she's narrowed down the location. "Are you sure it's here, Loon?" CeCe looks over at Luna in confusion.
"Loon?" Reno turns his head in confusion.
"I'm more than certain! I know it's here! It doesn't make sense that we can't find it!" Luna's voice does little to hide her growing irritation.
CeCe notices Medusa looking in one general location and she gets curious. "Did you find something, cutie?" She bends down, meeting Medusa's height and tilting her head. Medusa seems reluctant, as if she's not entirely certain what she feels. She points at the ground in the spot between them, looking down. CeCe looks down, the light from Medusa making it easier to notice up close. A single stone was slightly higher than the rest of the floor, causing her instincts to go wild. She begins messing with the stone, quickly finding it easy to pull it out. A small switch is reveal after removing the stone. CeCe's eyes grow wide as she slowly presses the button. From the front of the room, the wall begins to shift. The lower portion of the wall seemingly disappears in the floor, revealing a small cubby with a chest in it. "Got it!" CeCe happily rushes over, sliding on her knees and quickly inspecting the chest for traps. After determining the chest was safe, she unlatches it, flinging it open. To her surprise, a floating ball of light that very closely resembles Luna begins floating out of the chest, hanging in the air. Her attention is drawn to it, completely ignoring anything else that might be in the chest.
"That's it!" Luna flies over excitedly, lying right up to the power shard. "This is it! This is exactly what we're looking for!" Luna's voice is riddled with excitement as she flies around the ball, unable to stay still.
CeCe giggles at Luna's joy, her eyebrows raising with curiosity. "What exactly is it?"
"It's a portion of my power! With this, I'll regain more of my power, and hopefully be able to help out from now on!" Luna slowly approaches the ball, her body glowing brighter and brighter until the light becomes too much for the rest to handle. Finally, after a couple of seconds of blinding light, the room returns to normal, the power shard officially consumed by Luna.
Reno walks over, smiling. "So, how do you feel, feeling powerful?"
Luna flies around slowly, a sound of satisfaction leaving her body. "Hmm~! I'm so happy! Since the power has been separated for so long it'll take a bit for my body to regain everything from the shard. However, I should see a large amount of growth soon! I can't wait!" Luna squeals with excitement. "I wonder if I'll gain enough to finally help?!" Luna flies around, happily making multiple noises of joy and excitement.
CeCe giggles as she raises an eyebrow in playful suspicion. "I'm beginning to think that our little Loon is more than just a floating ball of light!"
Reno looks over, his face full of confusion. "What's with this 'Loon' stuff? You guys gave each other nicknames?"
CeCe nods her head, smiling. "That's right! I call Luna 'Loon' and she calls me 'Cs'! I call medusa 'Cutie' and Loon calls her 'Sweetie'!"
Reno's face scrunches with confusion. "You guys even have a nickname for Medusa?! What about me? What's my nickname?" He looks at them with growing anticipation.
CeCe rubs her neck, her face showing a slight bit of discomfort. "Well, I mean… Reno is fine."
His face drops with shock, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. "What?! What the hell do you mean 'Reno is fine'?! That's messed up! I'm out here risking my life for both of you and I'm not even worthy of getting a nickname?!" Reno tosses his hands in the air with frustration, walking over to Medusa. "Fine! I don't want a stupid nickname; you guys are lame! I have Medusa anyway! Medusa would never betray me." He picks up Medusa who clings to him, wrapping her vines around him and sliding her body so she's sitting on his head.
CeCe and Luna giggle at the image before them. "Aww! Is Reno a good daddy, Cutie?" CeCe covers her mouth as she laughs.
"Muh!" Medusa raises a vine in agreeance, a smile on her face.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Reno closes his eyes as he lets out a long sigh.
Luna finally stops laughing enough to respond. "Yes, yes. You're not her father." CeCe and Luna look at each other, both silently agreeing that he was in fact her father at this point.
CeCe quickly grabs the treasure inside the chest, stuffing it in her magical pouch and meeting the party back in the main room. "Alright team! Let's go set up camp and discuss what happened today!" The rest raise their hand and let out an exhausted cheer before dragging themselves up the stairs, Reno letting Medusa ride on his head.
TO BE CONTINUED...