Chapter 56

Previously in NWC-

Luna paces back and forth as she runs through the many options and possibilities, causing her to reach a near panic. Not wanting to get lost, Luna leans more towards staying and waiting for CeCe and Reno. Medusa, to combat the issue of getting lost, wraps her vine around a stone bench and they set off, opting to begin the search of sitting around and waiting. The first path they were going to check had an ominous and deadly aura emanating from it, causing them to go for the other option. After wandering around a room that appeared to be a dead end, Luna finds an illusionary wall, leading them to be faced with only a staircase with almost the same frightening aura...

Luna stares at the stairwell for an extended period, her mind empty and her heart racing as she tries to gain the courage to chase after Medusa. Finally, she darts down the stairs, her brain nearly shutting off as a defense mechanism against the building panic. She quickly reaches the bottom to see Medusa slowly creeping towards the being. Medusa's light shines on the monster enough for Luna to take in its mangled appearance. "Medusa!" Without thinking, she shouts, trying to stop Medusa. The entire room goes quiet, the only noise being the echo of Luna's voice. Luna's heart sinks as she realizes what she's just done, watching as the rise and fall of the amalgamation's body suddenly stops and quickly picks up a faster rhythm. Medusa turns around quickly, looking at Luna before her attention is snapped back to the monster. The monster stirs awake, its body twisting as it searches for the source of the noise. Finally, it turns around, revealing a single eye that's made up of thousands of other eyes. The eyelids are created using arms and hands grip the eyeball to keep it form moving. The eyeball bleeds as a result of the hands piercing it in countless locations. The amalgamation's many eyes narrow in on Medusa, who's light nearly blinds it. The creature covers it's eye with its hundreds of arms as it stands to it's full height. Now, fully awake and standing, the creature was roughly 10 feet (3 meters), staring down at Medusa. The many body parts twist and contort, a few of the more put together bodies letting out pained cries that scratch against Medusa's ears. The bodies form a mouth, a mouth that seeps a mixture of rotting flesh and blood. The mouth opens and a loud ear-piercing screech echoes throughout the entire ruins, causing the immediate area to shake as it lets out an angered battle cry. Medusa winces as she wraps her head in her vines, shaking the entire time. She uses her lower vines to try and anchor herself to the ground, but can't, being thrown back by the sheer force of the monsters cries.

Luna's ears ring profusely, nearing the point of going deaf as she tries her best not to be splattered against the wall. "Medusa?!" She tries to fly to Medusa but can't as she's forced against the wall by the scream. She watches as Medusa is lifted off the ground by the wind of the shout and begins flying back towards her. "Medusa!"

Medusa manages to twist her body, landing on her feet against the wall. She looks over to see Luna, completely helpless, and her eyes narrow. She wraps Luna in a vine and forces her out of the room, back up the stairs and into the hallway. Before Luna has time to process what's going on, Medusa covers the door with roots that shoot out from one of her vines. 

"Medusa?!" Luna flies up to the wall of roots, trying to find a way through them and back into the room, but can't. She yells, her heart racing as she begins to enter a state of panic. "Medusa, sweetie! Don't try to fight that thing! We don't know what it can do!" Her mind races with possibilities as she begins to cry. As she's lost in her own thoughts, a small root extends towards Luna. On the end of the root blooms a bright pink flower, serving as Medusa's sign to trust her. 

Medusa, finally getting Luna to a safe place, turns her attention back to the monster. The monster finally finishes its battle cry and Medusa is freed from the wall. She pushes herself off, jumping towards the monster. She looks up at the monster, her eyes narrowing as she attempts to look intimidating. Cracking and a sloshing fleshy noise can be heard as a portion of the body transforms into a giant arm that comes crashing down on Medusa. Medusa uses her vines to propel herself away from the attack, attempting to enter the monster's blind spot by throwing herself up to the ceiling, then using the ceiling as a pad to dash behind it. As she exits the monster's field of vision, the giant sigil under the monster lights up, illuminating the entire room and blinding Medusa. The amalgamation aims upwards and let's out another battle cry. More arms and legs begin to appear underneath the monster, becoming part of the body. They rise from the sigil and anchor the monster to the ground, holding it in place as it prepares for battle. Medusa is able to stop herself from flying into a wall as she quickly regains her sight. She watches as a large quantity of arms begin twisting into each other, stabbing themselves into the monster, causing it to reel and scream in pain. Her eyes flicker with inspiration as a group of her vines begin twisting around each other, forming into the shape of a spear. She uses her right arm as a weapon, jabbing forward and stabbing the monster. The monster cries with pain, causing Medusa's body to shake from the sheer volume. Multiple hands grab Medusa's vines and violently rip them out of the monster. They hold on to her, swinging her in circles before finally slamming her to the ground. Medusa's head slams against the floor and she coughs out a large volume of her purple blood. She slowly pushes herself up, looking back at the monster with a growing sense of dread. The monster turns to face her, it's eye glaring at her as it wait's for her to move. Between the loud moaning of the undead bodies and the cracking of bones as the monster moves, Medusa is unable to gather her thoughts. She looks around, able to see the room clearly from the light emitting from the sigil. The room is essentially an empty cube, designed solely to house this demonic creation with the exception of the walled off staircases on either side. Medusa, with no other option, begins pulling herself around the room with her vines, trying to confuse the monster by flying in random directions. The monster, at first, follows her, trying to swat her with its arm, before quickly losing track of her. Medusa, taking advantage of the monster's confusion, sends another vine spear directly into it's back, causing it to scream once more. To protect herself, she wraps her vines around head, leaving her eyes slightly uncovered to allow her to see. To her surprise, a large group of bodies groan as they grab on to her vines before the fact that the monster turned around. Fearing the impending slam, she quickly uses her remaining available vines to spear herself into the wall and ground, creating a root system to avoid being tossed around. The monster quickly spins around, screeching at Medusa before using it's large arm to grab the currently impaled group of vines. It grabs them and tries pulling Medusa with them, quickly finding a large amount of resistance due to Medusa's root system. The monster doubles down, pulling as hard as it can, causing Medusa's vines to being tearing slightly. "Muh?!" Medusa let's out a surprised yelp of pain as she feels her body being slowly ripped apart, just barely strong enough to prevent being ripped in half. Finally fearing for its own life, the monster once again send a wailing cry into the air, causing the sigil to brighten once again. Medusa's eyes widen as the monster let's go of her vines, opting to reach into the ground. The ground ripples like water as the monster slowly pulls out a large object. The object was a sword created from writhing bodies, forming an edge of sharpened bones. The monster once again screeches as it holds the sword in the air, turning back to Medusa. The sword comes quickly slices at Medusa, causing her to retract her spear and root system. She uses one remaining vine to quickly pull herself down towards the floor, grunting slightly as she hits the ground. The monster follows it's sidewards attack by bringing back and twisting the sword directly into a downwards attack. Medusa uses her vine to pull herself towards a wall, but to her surprise, a long thin line of arms shoot out from the monster and hold her against the wall. Medusa struggles against the grip of the monster, but she's unable to break free. The monster, having finally caught Medusa, thrusts the sword, narrowing in of Medusa. Medusa's eyes widen in fear as she's rendered helpless to the attack. 

TO BE CONTINUED...