Sorry for the long delay in updates folks, I hope to make it up with a 3 chapter update here! Also check out chapters 8 and 9 as well. With the help of my good friend Michael, he assisted in editing and tightening up some spots that got a little too repetitive. Editing after publishing, amirite?
Anyhow I hope you enjoy the next 3 chapters! And as always, your feedback/comments/reviews are deeply appreciated.
They soon found themselves back at their dorm room, still slightly red faced but grinning happily at each other. He gave her hand one more squeeze before pulling his scroll from his shorts and unlocking the door. Entering the dorm they found Ren and Nora had been quite busy. The groceries had been piled off into a corner along with the rest of the giant glass bottles. A large portion of them appeared to have already been used for the tonic as there now were several of them filled with a dark red liquid along with several others containing what looked like some kind of clear oil. The unusual smell of cooking pancakes hit them like a warm cloud as soon as they crossed the threshold.
"Woah!" Jaune was momentarily dazed by the smell hitting his nostrils, his mouth immediately salivating, and his stomach began a low urgent rumble of hunger. He had experienced Ren's pancake cook-offs multiple times before, Nora's stomach was as big as an Ursa's when it came to those things, but this was...different, more intense somehow. It appeared he had changed his recipe in a way that seemed to just radiate the sense of warm delicious comfort you got from eating them when you were really hungering for one. And boy did he realize he was suddenly very hungry...
Pyrrha noticed the change as well. "Ren? Are you ok? We're back from the jog!" She called out to him but didn't get a response. After walking forward a bit, he finally responded from the kitchenette. Something was occupying his attention and his voice came out a bit more stressed than his normal cool flat tone.
"Hey guys, I'll be out in a minute. Can you please check on Nora? I haven't heard anything from her ever since the 8th batch and I'm too tied up in here to see if she's ok."
They both looked at each other and shared the same thought. 8 batches of Pancakes!? They both headed over to Nora's bed and stopped. They hadn't noticed her before when coming in and now they saw why. She had decided to change into a pink pajama onesie hoodie that made her look like a pile of matching sheets from her bed. She was lying on her back with several plates covered in the sticky remnants of pancakes and syrup. Syrup was splattered everywhere, on her pajamas, her sheets...on...herself. She had some kind of drunken grin and was gazing at the ceiling in what could only be described as the mother of all food comas. Clearly many pancakes had died this day, and the battle was...messy...
"Uh...Nora?" Jaune asked tentatively. "Are you ok?"
"Hehehe..." She replied in breezy daze. "...no more pancakes for me Mr. Fluffles. Mama Magnhilde is full now...heeeee..."
They both exchanged another look and burst out into suppressed chuckles. "Come on Jaune, lets at least collect these dishes..." Pyrrha began gathering the scattered plates all over Nora's bed and body. "...ugh...she even got syrup in her hair..."
Jaune picked up a few more plates himself and what appeared to be the entire collection of forks from their kitchen drawers. "Why did she use up all the forks?" He asked blankly, holding up a fistful of sticky cutlery.
"Your guess is as good as mine." She stood up with her arms full of messy dishes. "Come on, lets check on Ren, this is definitely something new for me as well..."
They made their way to the kitchen and found Ren looking more frazzled than...well ever really. His normally neatly combed hair was going in multiple directions and his cooking apron was singed and splattered with various substances. A pile of dirty pans and bowls lay in the sink and the range fan was on maximum power as it tried to vent the oddly oppressive smell of the cooking pancakes coming from the stove. He dumped another pancake onto a pile on the counter and reached for the batter bowl to his right before he stopped upon seeing them enter.
"How's Nora?" he asked at once. He continued to reach for the mixing bowl and began stirring the dark brown batter.
"Uhhh..." Jaune looked at Pyrrha for guidance. She shrugged back at him, unsure of how to describe Nora's condition herself. "...I think she's ok? Uh, she's kind of a in a sugar crash, or she's drunk. She had all of these plates and forks all over her and it looks like she took a bath in Red Maple Syrup."
Ren stopped. "Oh thank goodness...I can finally stop making these..." His shoulders sunk down with exhaustion as he placed the bowl still full of batter back on the counter and switched off the stove. He collapsed in a nearby chair and tried to tame the crazy mane his hair had become.
They both added their plates and cutlery to the pile in the sink and sat down next to him. This was certainly a first for both of them, Ren actually looked tired, exhausted even. Jaune quickly retrieved a pitcher of water from the fridge and poured a glass for everyone.
"Here you go Pyrrha." He handed over a glass to her and then to Ren who was still slumped in his chair head hung low in fatigue. "Ren, what happened with Nora? What's going on with these pancakes?" Jaune asked.
Ren took a long gulp of water from his glass before he answered. "I guess you can say this is Nora's Emergency Pancake Recipe."
"Come again?"
"When Nora has a particularly bad...experience, I make these for her. I infuse a bit of my aura into them when they cook. Somehow these will calm her down, when normal ones won't. I don't recall how I figured it out, it was a really long time ago, pretty much around the time we first met, but suffice to say, they work when nothing else will."
"You infuse your aura into them?" Jaune sputtered in disbelief, water spilled out of his mouth midway through his 4th glass. "You can do that?"
"Yes, it's not something that's done very often, practically a forgotten art, but like I said earlier, my family knows these sort of things. Still, they are quite draining to make. I haven't had to make so much in a long time, not since her last episode several years ago..."
They all sat in silence for a moment before Pyrrha pulled herself off the chair and placed a hand on Ren's shoulder. "That was very kind of you Ren. Thank you for doing that for Nora. I saw some jugs of red liquid outside, are those...?"
He nodded. "Yes, the first batch is ready to go. I do apologize for the mess, but I wanted to get it done before you got back from your exercise. I trust it went well?"
He immediately noted both of them blushing before Jaune spoke up rather quickly. "Yeah! It went pretty good actually!" He stood up and followed Pyrrha's lead. "Thanks a lot Ren. I really appreciate all you're doing. For Nora, and for me. I'm glad I have you all helping me out like this." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Uhm...is Nora going to be ok...with me I mean? I must have done something during my dream to frighten her, and I just want to say I'm sorry and-"
Ren cut him off with a raised hand. "Don't worry about it Jaune. You had no way of knowing. I'll explain what's going on with her later if she feels up to talking about it. She doesn't hate you or anything like that, she's just more sensitive to this kind of thing than many people realize."
Jaune nodded. "Ok, that's good to hear at least." He looked around the kitchen. "Ok, then let me at least start making it up to you guys. I'll take care of the kitchen cleanup duties so you can clean yourself up and take the first shower."
"I'll help too." Pyrrha piped up. "It'll go faster if both of us are working at it. Ren you'll probably want to take a look at Nora. She might need some help getting out of bed, and be careful...she's...sticky."
Ren smiled and nodded. "Thanks, that's par for the course with her. It's a good thing she has plenty of spare bedsheets." He stood, hanging his apron on the wall and made his way over to Nora to try and extricate her from her bed.
The morning continued with everyone moving around the dorm and getting ready for the day. Jaune and Pyrrha managed to get the kitchen in some form of order, but that odd smell from Ren's pancakes would not go away despite how much cleaning solution they used. They resigned themselves to leaving the range fan on and leaving all of their windows open to air out the place. Ren had taken his shower together with Nora, which in any other circumstance would have raised eyebrows, but given how Nora was still sugar crashing into narcoleptic fits and constantly protesting that "Mr. Fluffles was going to steal her syrup" it was accepted that having Ren in the shower with her would probably be safer for all involved. Plus it had the added benefit of allowing Jaune and Pyrrha to share some more alone time with each other, which mainly consisted of them holding hands at the table and blushing constantly as they tried to make small talk.
Once Ren finished with his shower, Jaune insisted Pyrrha take hers next. Alone at last in the sleeping area, Jaune was left to stare at the mess that was his bed: Three giant holes in the wall and a whole mess of plaster and drywall chips covering the sheets and pillows. He took a mental image of what he saw before him. Never again...he promised himself and got to work cleaning up. While he worked on cleaning up that mess, he bundled up Nora's sheets and covers from her bed and placed them in her laundry bag. It was a small thing, but he hoped it would make some headway in putting Nora back at ease with him. He decided to take it one step further and lay out new bedsheets and covers for her. Might as well take care of the whole thing. Nodding in approval after everything was set just so, he turned to see Pyrrha coming out of the bathroom and toweling off her hair. She fixed herself with a mock pout.
"Aww, you'll prepare Nora's bed but not mine Jaune?" Sputtering wildly he started to protest when she giggled merrily at his expression. "It was just a joke silly! Don't worry, I'll take care of my bed. That was very nice of you by the way, I'm sure Nora will appreciate it once she's more lucid."
Sure enough, despite the shower and Ren's ministrations, Nora was still not 100% there as she emerged from the bathroom. Ren was still guiding her carefully by her arms as she still seemed to be under the drunken influence of the mountain of consumed pancakes and syrup. At least she was still smiling in a vacant sort of way, so that was back to normal. Ren quickly set about getting her uniform on and trying to make her presentable for the day. Pyrrha assisted with her hair, now thankfully free of syrup. Jaune decided to stay out of the way and take his shower. As he exited the bathroom, he spotted the bottles covering Ren's desk, and began examining them. On closer inspection the tonic Ren had made looked...he realized with sudden discomfort...kind of like blood. It certainly had the dark crimson color often associated with it, but seeing so much up close brought back memories of yesterday's infirmary visit he'd sooner rather forget. Next to the tonic bottles were several others filled with a clear viscous liquid. He still couldn't figure out what those were for. They appeared to be kind of a...syrup? Oil? He wasn't sure. He looked at his watch.
"Crap! Guys! We need to get to class. We've only got 20 minutes to get to Port's room!"
With a flurry of activity they all hastily grabbed their bags and books and prepped to head out of the door. Nora was still kind of woozy and in no fit state to run. Thinking quickly Ren decided to Piggy-back her to the classroom while Jaune took care of his bookbag and scroll. Making it with time to spare they all settled together in the back row of seats and prepped for another "riveting" lecture from Professor Port. Maybe this time I'll actually be able to stay awake Jaune thought glumly.
In truth, he stayed awake and alert mainly due to his stomach roaring with hungry fury at him. The morning incident with the wall, then the exercise and then the pancakes had completely obliterated any chance to head to the dining hall for breakfast or even to sample some of Ren's pancakes he realized with a smack to his head...His stomach growled audibly enough that a couple of nearby students looked at him curiously.
Dammit, I have to eat something. He did have some emergency backup jerky he always carried with him in his bookbag...hopefully it wasn't too old. He was about to reach for it, then stopped himself as he thought of something. Leaning over as casually as he could, he whispered to Ren.
"Hey uh Ren...uhm, this tonic of yours? Can I eat something before I take it? I just realized I missed breakfast and I'm kinda starving..."
Ren looked sideways and cracked his lips slightly. "I'm sorry Jaune but it's better if you take that on an empty stomach. Trust me, it'll be better for all involved if you do."
Jaune groaned inwardly. Great, another 45 minutes of Port being, well...Port, and then drinking that tonic. Ren did say it would be a 'meal replacement' wouldn't it? That was encouraging, maybe it would fill him up for the rest of the day. He endured the rest of the lecture in rumbling discomfort. By the end of the lecture he was practically chomping at the bit to get back to the dorm for something, anything to eat. The paint chips from the holes in his wall even sounded appetizing.
They made it back to their dorm and settled down for a 2 hour break before their next class. Nora was mostly awake now and hovered nearby Ren, eagerly watching him prepare the bottles of Jaune's tonic. Jaune and Pyrrha sat together on her bed and watched, Jaune's nerves finally starting to manifest as he recalled Ren's warning about the tonic from last night. Fidgeting nervously as Ren prepped the bottles, his eyes widened a little when he brought out a large, heavy-duty plastic bucket. Shaking one of the bottles of clear liquid he finally turned to Jaune with a serious expression.
"Alright Juane, we're ready to begin. This tonic should heal you...I think, but it will not be a pleasant experience. The Soul Cleanser is aptly named, it will clean everything out of you...and I do mean everything..."
"Uhm...Ren...don't you think that's a little...melodramatic?" Jaune asked with a half smile. "I mean, that can't really do that can it? You're just psyching me up for-"
"It's true." Nora suddenly interjected with an uncharacteristically serious tone. She was looking at the tonic in a way Jaune couldn't fathom before she turned to him again. "Don't knock it till you try it. Renny worked his magic with me and I'm living proof that it worked!" She finished with her bubbly grin.
Jaune considered that. The thought of ending up slightly off kilter like Nora seemed a small price to pay if it meant clearing him of this horrible poison that was inside of him. He turned back to Ren.
"Ok so what exactly do I do? What will this tonic do?"
Ren brought two bottles forward. One of the mystery clear liquid and the other of that blood-colored tonic. "This tonic consists of two parts as you can see here..." He held up the clear liquid bottle first. "This is the binder. It serves as a means to allow the tonic to pull the toxins out of your system, think of it like a cargo ship for the poison."
Jaune nodded. "Ok sure sounds straightforward enough..."
"It also will serve as an anesthetic. I cannot stress enough how painful this will be for you. I modified the recipe to at least take some of the edge off. It won't completely numb the pain, but it should at least dull it somewhat..." He didn't seem to have a lot of confidence in that last part Jaune noted. He then held up the tonic.
"This as you can probably guess is the tonic. It will act like a magnet to...forcibly pull the dust particles out of your system." He was starting to look uncomfortable now, even Jaune could notice it.
"Ren, what's wrong?" Pyrrha asked. "Is there something we should know?"
Ren seemed to have taken a page out of Jaune's emotional playbook and was starting to nervously finger the stopper on the tonic bottle.
"I suppose you could say that..." He looked down before continuing. His voice still had that calm collected tone but was edged with palpable worry. "Last night I said I would help because the thought of handling a case like Jaune's was exciting, something I can truly test myself against. A lethal case of dust poisoning with an actual survivor is not something one gets to deal with very frequently..."
Everyone shifted uncomfortably at the repeat of that bit of knowledge. "...having said that however, I need to be completely honest with you. I have never used the Soul Cleanser on someone with this level of toxicity in their blood before. I'm beginning to have doubts about its effectiveness. I don't know how this will turn out and that...frightens me. All I have in this situation is my knowledge and some hope that it will be enough. I usually prefer to head into danger with something more concrete than that..."
He turned to Jaune again, gripping the two bottles tightly in his hands. "I don't want to perform something like this on the basis of something so flimsy. You deserve better Jaune, maybe we should go back to Marcus at the hospital, maybe he can-"
Jaune just looked back at him and smiled with a shake of his head. Ren stopped midway through his protestation. "-what? What's so funny?"
"Lie Ren having doubts about his Aura and Dust skills? Now I really have seen everything." Jaune smiled even more broadly at him. Ren returned it with a scowl.
"This isn't a joke Jaune! You must understand I've never done something like this before. You are putting yourself in grave danger by doing this, surely you understand that!"
Ren could tell Jaune was putting on a brave face for his sake. He had to know how serious this was. Yet if it was an act, it certainly was a convincing one. "No, what I'm doing is putting faith in my teammate, and being confident in the fact he knows more about Aura and dust than I'll probably ever know myself. I trust you Ren. Sure, I'm scared as hell right now, especially after what's been happening the last couple of days." He glanced at the holes in the wall before looking back, his face set with a determined look.
"But here's the thing. You've done things in Goodwitch's class with aura manipulation that I didn't think physically possible. And your tonic idea matches exactly what Marcus said to do! Fruits, vegetables, high fiber all of that jazz. I saw the groceries, you're not poisoning me, you're helping me. You can't feel wrong for doing that."
"But-"
Jaune threw up his hands with a shrug. "Look, one way or another, this dust has to come out of me somehow right? I'd rather have it happen surrounded by teammates rather than try to do it solo in case something goes wrong. And if something does go wrong, I won't hold it against you for doing something you thought to be right. I'm willing to face the dangers if it means getting myself on track to become a proper leader of this team."
Ren stood there slightly dumbstruck at what he was hearing. In the span of a brief conversation he had gone from doubting whether to proceed with the treatment method at all to eager to vindicate his team leader's faith in him. And the crazy part was Juane probably didn't even realize what he was doing, it was all just...trust and faith in his team. Blind faith perhaps? No, he decided after a moment's reflection. Jaune had mentioned his aura accomplishments so that at least showed his faith was not borne blindly out of simple loyalty. He really did trust him. He trusted him with his life and was facing it all with a soft smile and bloodshot blue eyes that met his own without blinking. This certainly was a new experience for him. He sighed then finally returned Jaune's smile.
"Alright Jaune, if you feel you are up to it." He got serious once again. "As I said earlier, this tonic will aggressively try to siphon the dust out of your system. In order for you to properly recover, the tonic will first target your digestive system. It does this because we have to get your body back on track to properly absorbing nutrients. The dust will be pulled into your GI tract where it will be...expelled. Hopefully smoothly, but it is the only way with this method."
"By expelled you mean..." Jaune started to ask.
"You're going to take a big poop silly!" Nora piped up with another bout of fresh giggles.
Jaune blushed at the thought. "Uhhh...I'll have time right? Like enough time to run to the bathroom?"
Ren smiled. "Yes you should. It works fast, but it doesn't work that fast. I'll be here with this bucket in case something goes amiss. Are you ready to begin?"
"Might as well..." He took a deep breath and stood up. Ren directed him to the center of the room where he had the most space and handed him the clear bottle and placed the bucket next to him. "Ok, drink this first. This will begin the process." He turned to the others. "Guys you'll want to give him a wide berth. If this tonic causes a reaction, I want to be sure you're not next to him if it happens."
"Wait. What kind of reaction are we talking about? What's going to happen?" Jaune was just about to pop open the clear bottle but had stopped at Ren's directions.
Ren looked back at him. "I can't discount the possibility that the dust in your body will react violently somehow when pulled out of your system like this. Based on what I have researched and from what you told me of your previous nightmares...well...It's possible that the dust in your system might cause another episode like you had this morning. I want to be ready for it if it happens again."
Jaune reflexively felt the sore spot at the base of his skull and nodded. "Make sure you have an icepack handy then? And some aspirin." He grinned and tipped back the contents of the clear bottle down his throat. Ren meanwhile moved off, placing himself between Jaune and the others, his hands raised in a defensive position.
The contents were...sweet actually. Kind of like drinking sugar syrup. In a few seconds he started losing feeling in his tongue followed quickly by the rest of his mouth and then pretty much the rest of his face. The cool numbing sensation spread down his throat and seemed to blossom out of his stomach, leaving him feeling relaxed and slightly sleepy.
He tried to speak but found speech difficult with a numb tongue. Through the use of very slurred speech (which resulted in a giggle fit by both Nora and Pyrrha) and hand gestures he got the go-ahead to drink the second blood red bottle.
He didn't really taste anything with his tongue being so numbed. He thought he felt something tingly, spicy maybe? Like drinking hot sauce. He drained the bottle in one gulp and turned to face them and gave them a thumbs up. Well that wasn't so bad. If just a spicy aftertaste is all I have to deal with then this should be no-
"HRRRKKK!" Jaune suddenly gagged loudly and doubled over, clutching his abdomen. Some claw made of acid and fire was trying to forcibly untangle his insides like a cat's cradle. The pain was beyond anything he had ever felt. His vision started going haywire. Colors of all types flashed across his eyes and everything was melting in and out of focus. Staggering around the room, he struggled to remain standing, his sense of balance thoroughly destroyed. Panicking and blinking furiously, he tried to clear his vision as the pain in his stomach threatened to break him apart. He saw Ren...he was shouting something...couldn't hear it...why was his skin...purple...?
His vision dissolved to inky blackness.