Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chap 21: The House of Discontent
It was evening/nighttime and we were outside. We were also no longer sharing a chicken body. The effects of what they did were only temporary thankfully. Winter was also gone and was now back in Atlas. Though, I have a feeling she thinks that everything that just happened was all a bad dream. All the other Atlas Soldiers were also gone from Nowhere. Currently, we were standing next to a wilted flower that Eustace had planted recently.
"And as we honor the land, may the blessing of the Harvest Moon, fill this lovely plant with life and beauty..." Muriel said while closing the book she was reading. "...If possible."
It was the night of the Harvest Moon. And as I am told, we are supposed to harvest our crops and giving offerings to the Harvest Moon as thanks for a bountiful year and to bless the next one. It is apparently tradition for farmers to do this every year. But seeing as Eustace is a terrible farmer, if you could even call him a farmer, we have nothing to offer except this one plant he planted a few days ago. But it has wilted and essentially is dead. We tried to bring it back to life by saying some blessings from an old book but it failed. Courage even tried to ring a bell to help but it didn't.
"Don't waste your breath, Muriel. Nothing ever grows here. Nothing ever will. I'm done trying. Rotten soil." Eustace told her before stomping on the flower. "Let's eat."
"Oh, my." Muriel said sadly as she looked at the flower.
"Sorry Muriel." I told her as I kneeled down and tried to recall anything I knew of plants to try and help but came up short.
"It's okay Jaune. Let us head inside and I'll prepare dinner." She said as she gave the book to me.
"Alright." I said getting up and following her. Courage, instead of following, went over to Eustace's tuck and began to eat the cushion in the seats.
One Hour Later
I was in the living room watching a monster movie. Muriel was in the kitchen washing dishes while Eustace was upstairs taking his weekly bath which I wish he took more of honestly. Courage was still in the truck eating the cushion. Yawning, I was about to get up and go to my room but a knock drew me to the doors.
'Who could that be?' I thought as I looked over to the grandfather clock and saw that it was nearing midnight.
Heading over to the door, I opened and got yet another surprise in the form of another teacher. This one being Professor Oobleck. Or as he prefers to be called, Doctor Oobleck. Beacon Academie's resident history teacher. Though, he is the second least favorite teacher there as he is really strict and speaks almost too fast for people to understand him. But he means well and always pushed students to their best. Mainly because he is really passionate about history and believes if we don't learn from it, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
"Doctor Oobleck?" I asked confused. But also remembering to call him by his preferred title as I did not want a lecture again. Especially this late at night where I can easily fall asleep standing.
"Ah, hello Jaune. Nice to see you. And thank you for remembering to use my actual title." He replied extremely fast that I barely understood him. He then took a sip of what I can assume is coffee from his thermos. Which also serves as his weapon when it transforms. "May I come in?"
"Sure." I answered while stepping to the side to let him in and closing the door right after. "If you don't mind me asking Doctor Oobleck, but what are you doing here in Nowhere?"
"I do not mind. And to answer your question, when I heard of this place, I want to come here and learn it's history. Especially after learning that Port has two brothers here. And I learned quite a lot. Especially in the strange occurrences that happen. Unfortunately, I was not paying attention when I was writing down what I learned and now am lost. After an hour of walking, I stumbled upon this farmhouse." He answered before taking another sip of his coffee.
"And what do you think of these strange occurrences?" I asked.
"Fascinating occurrences. While I still have not pinpointed what caused them or when do they occur, I do believe they can shed light on a whole new world and life Remnant has not yet encountered nor embraced." He answered.
"Well then. Give me a second while I head to my room and bring down a map so I can show you the path on how to get back to Nowhere town." I told him.
"Much appreciated Jau-" He began but stopped when we heard a loud ghostly male voice.
'GET OUT!' It demanded.
"Um, did you hear that Doctor Oobleck?" I asked. Only to see that he already took out a notebook and began writing it down. "I'll take that as a yes."
He then put the book away and was about to say something but stopped when all of a sudden, the entire room essentially came to life. The television started flickering on and off while the lamp did the same. The couches and chairs started moving towards us and then suddenly flew to us. We managed to dodge out of the way to avoid getting hit. Getting up from the floor, we saw that the furniture destroyed the television and also created a hole in the wall.
'GET OUT!' The voice demanded again.
"This is definitely a strange and unique event." Oobleck said as he wrote down what just happened. I was about slap my head in frustration, but didn't when I heard a scream come from the kitchen.
"AAAHHHHH! HELP! HELP" Muriel screamed in terror.
"MURIEL!" I shouted and raced to the kitchen with Oobleck right behind me. Opening the door, we saw that Muriel was being attacked by fruit and appliances of all things. I ran over to her and tried to get all the food and appliances off with Oobleck helping as well but they simply kept throwing us off and attacking Muriel again.
"Hmm." Oobleck hummed as he tried to think of a way to solve this or figure out what is causing this. I was about to go and try and help Muriel again but stopped when I heard banging on the door. I then realized that Courage was still outside. Hurrying to the door, I tried to open but found that it wouldn't budge.
'Stand clear Jaune.' Courage shouted before going away. I was confused by what he meant and what he was going to do but received my answer when I heard the truck turn on. Knowing what he was about to do, I moved to the other side of the room. And not a moment later, the truck crashed through the wall surprising everyone.
'Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha.' Courage laughed dazed from the crash.
"You alright Courage?" I asked as I pulled him from the truck.
"Your dog just drove the truck into the house?" Oobleck asked.
"Yes, he did. He's a dog of many talents." I answered.
"Is this also the same dog in which Ms. Belladona, Ms. Scarlatina, Ms. Valkyrie and Professor Peach all claim that they can understand what he says?" He asked again.
"Um, yes." I answered hesitantly as I did not know where this was going and sort of afraid at what he might do. Luckily, he just pulled out a notebook and wrote it down before putting it away. But a scream brought our attention back to focus.
'Muriel!' Courage shouted before running over to her. He tried to remove the fruit from her but failed as well. He then gulped before picking up Muriel and putting her in his mouth to eat all the food that was covering her before bringing her back out.
"Muriel, are you all right?" I asked.
"I'm fine dear. Thak you Courage." Muriel said gasping for some air.
'OOOHHHH!' Courage moaned as he felt incredibly and painfully full. He then burped from how much he ate.
"And who is this Jaune?" Muriel asked when she spotted Oobleck.
"I'm Doctor Oobleck. I'm a teacher at Beacon Academy and former teacher of Jaune." He answered while extending his hand.
"Oh, a doctor. So exciting. What kind of doctor are you?" Muriel asked.
"A doctor of history." He answered.
"How lovely." Muriel replied with a smile. But before their conversation could go on, the voice came back again.
'GET OUT!' It demanded.
"AAAHHHH!" Muriel and Courage screamed in terror. But stopped when we all heard Eustace scream from upstairs and heard what sounded like waves as well.
"What's going on?" Oobleck asked curious. We were about to go up but stopped when we noticed a leak coming from the ceiling. But the leak soon turned into a waterfall when the ceiling gave way from the weight of the water. A second later, Eustace came down as well along with the bathtub. And a moment after he hit the floor, it gave out from under us and we fell into the basement.
"Oh, doh." Eustace groaned in pain as he slowly climbed out of the tub.
'Oooh.' Courage groaned as he slowly stood up.
"Is everyone alright?" Oobleck asked as he helped Muriel up.
"OH! Oh, my!" Muriel gasped suddenly and the color suddenly left her face. Turning to where she was facing, I nearly screamed when I saw a giant floating ghost head. Its eyes were black as night yet the mouth seemed close to that of a real person and not a ghost which freaked me out even more.
"Would you look at that?" Eustace growled.
"It's a floating head." Muriel said shocked.
"I was talking about that leaky pipe." Eustace corrected while pointing to the pipe behind the ghost. "Waste of money, got to fix that leaky pipe."
'GET OOOOUUUT' The ghost head threatened stopping Eustace in his tracks.
"That's not very polite." Muriel scolded.
"You didn't let me finish." The ghost countered.
"I'm sorry." Muriel apologized.
"It's time to hit the road." The ghost finished.
"Well, that's not much better." Muriel said crossing her arms.
"Just who do you think you are head?" Eustace demanded.
"I'm the Spirit if the Harvest Moon." The ghost answered.
"Amazing. The actual spirit of the harvest moon." Oobleck said amazed.
"And I'm a bucket of sardines." Eustace mocked.
"What do we owe the pleasure for your arrival Spirit?" Oobleck asked ignoring Eustace.
"I have come for on this night of the Harvest Moon, when all that grows from the soil is celebrated, and offerings are made, you have nothing." The spirit answered with his vice echoing off at the end.
"Lousy soil." Eustace argued.
"It's not the soil. Because you don't respect your land, you must leave it." The spirit declared.
"I ain't leaving nothing." Eustace complained.
"We've been here almost all our lives, Mr. Ghost—Spirit—Head. We can't just leave." Muriel told the spirit.
"I ain't going nowhere." Eustace said again bitterly.
"Then you will suffer the consequences." The spirit warned.
"You got big ears, but you ain't hearing me. I ain't going nowhere." Eustace said while crossing his arms.
"Please have mercy on us. We're a poor farm family." Muriel begged. She was about to say more, but Oobleck stepped up.
"Spirit of the Harvest Moon." He began getting the spirit's attention. "Perhaps we can come to some sort of deal?"
"All right. You all have until midnight to grow something and if you can't. Well, you were warned." The spirit answered before giving his proposition. I looked over to the grandfather clock that fell down with us for some reason despite being in the living room. Checking the time, I saw that it was ten to midnight.
"But that only gives us ten minutes. Please give us more time." I begged the spirit.
"By midnight, you either grow, or go." The spirit threatened before using his powers and making the basement doors fly open.
"Blah, blah, blah. I ain't growing, and I ain't going." Eustace declared as he got into the tub again.
"I don't believe you man! What a stubborn old goat you are!" Muriel scolded Eustace.
"You can't grow a thing and you won't admit it." Muriel scolded.
"You don't know nothing about farming. I'm a farmer. I got a green thumb." Eustace falsely countered.
"You're no farmer." The spirit interjected causing Eustace to growl in anger.
"Jaune." Oobleck said getting my attention.
"Yes?" I asked.
"I saw a plant outside. Assuming that one of you plant, if you can give it life again, I am sure the spirit will accept it. Go and try and bring it back to life." Oobleck said.
"But we have only ten minutes." I told him. "We need more time."
"I will try and distract the Spirit to give you as much time as I can. Go, hurry." He told me.
"Just because you move to the side, does not mean I can no longer hear you and I will not give you extra time. However, the plant you speak of will suffice." The spirit suddenly said. "But you best get going, time is running out."
"Come on Courage. Let's go." I said running out of the basement to the plant with Courage on my heels following.
"Spirit, might I ask you a few questions until they get back?" Oobleck asked.
"Hmm. You will not trick me into giving more time. But I will answer your questions. What would you like to know?" The spirit asked.
Outside next to the plant
We came rushing out of the basment and rad directly to the plant. Taking out my scroll, I saw that we only had eight minutes left before it reaches midnight.
'Grow, grow.' Courage said as he picked up the plant and started tapping it.
"Courage, that ain't going to work. Think, what can we do?" I asked him.
'Well, what do plants need to grow?' He asked,
"They need sunlight and warmth." I answered.
'Right, warmth.' Courage said cutting me off. He then pulled out a tanning light and turned it on. Hoping to get something from the plant. But after a minute or so, we gave up on that.
"Okay, what else could it need?" I said trying to think of what could be missing to give this plant life again. But I stopped when I saw Courage attach an I.V. line to the plant and turned on the machine associated with it. Some fluid started go from the giant bag into the plant. I was tempted to ask what it was but didn't as we were running out of time. Soon the bag emptied and a flatline noise came from the machine.
'NNNOOOOO!' Courage howled when he saw this.
"Wait! I know what this plant needs." I suddenly said.
'What?! What?! What?!' Courage asked impatiently.
"Water. It's probably never been watered." I answered.
'Your right. Be right back.' Courage said as he ran off only to return a second later with the watering can. But to our horror, when we tried to use it, only dust came out.
"NO, NO, NO" I shouted worried that we were not going to make it in time.
'Wait, the leaky pipe from the basement.' Courage said remembering what could potentially save us.
"Good thinking Courage. Let's go." I said as I dug up the plant to take it with us. Once dug up, we raced over to the basement steps only to find that they were shut and locked up tight. I tried to force them open but they did not budge one bit. I took out my scroll to check the time and saw that it was exactly midnight now. We were too late.
'Hold onto the plant Jaune.' Courage said giving me the plant. I was about to ask him what he planned to do, but he answered it by digging through the ground into the basement. Knowing this was our only chance, I jumped into the hole with him and began to help. After a quick minute, we were inside the basement. And it was hot as hell in here.
"What the hell, it's like a volcano in here." I said as I began to sweat heavily. But I instantly forgot about that when I saw Muriel and Eustace about to faint from the heat. Oobleck on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine and kept talking with the spirit.
'AAAHHHHHH!' Courage suddenly screamed.
"What is it Courage?" I asked.
'The pipe!' He answered. I quickly turned to it and saw that because of the heat, the pipe had melted and the water evaporated leaving behind only sand.
"I see you still haven't grown anything. And so, you shall suffer the consequences." The spirit said menacingly while referring to the plant in my hands. Looking around, I saw something that could potentially still save us.
"We're not done yet." I declared. They seemed confused when I said this. Running over to Eustace, I placed the plant under his head to allow the sweat to water the plant. And it worked for after a few drops landed on it, the plant sprung to life. And as soon as it did, the temperature immediately dropped to normal with the basement doors flying open. And because the temperature lowered, Muriel and Eustace were able to snap to focus again and stand up.
"Eh, what's that?" Eustace asked spotting the plant.
"It's your plant Eustace. It's alive." Muriel answered happy that everything is returning to normal.
"Did I do that?" Eustace asked.
"Of course, you did." I answered. Even though it was mostly a lie, he did plant it and got it to grow a bit.
"I didn't know I could grow something. That's- That's pretty. I did that?" Eustace asked happily and not in the greedy way which creeped me out a bit.
"You did say you have a green thumb." Muriel said.
"Uh, yeah, well, I do. I'm a farmer you know." Eustace said returning back to his egotistical self.
"For the first time. You are. You have grown more than a plant. Happy planting." The spirit announced before disappearing. Apparently pleased with the plant.
"What did he mean by that?" Eustace demanded to know.
"It means, you grew something inside of you." Oobleck said walking up to us.
"Yeah... A great big hungry hole in me stomach." Eustace said agreeing in usual way. With that Muriel and Eustace went back upstairs from the outside as the steps inside melted away.
"Well, this was certainly an informative night." Oobleck said next to me.
"How so?" I asked.
"The spirit told me everything it knew and all the traditions and corrected all the misconceptions and rumors about it." He answered.
"That nice. Now shall we get that map?" I asked. He nodded and we quickly went to my room to get the map. Mainly because it was still hot in the basement and I was tired as it was past midnight now.
Next Day Morning
Me, Muriel and Courage were standing on the porch of the house. Oobleck left a few hours ago and everything was back to normal for the most part. Though, I did make a mental note to take up gardening tips in the future so as to prevent another incident like this from happening.
"Well, I guess Eustace really did learn something under the Harvest Moon. In his own way." Muriel said as we watched Eustace try to sell the plant that saved his life last night.
"And then I'll grow hundreds of plants. Thousands of plants. And I'll be rich! Rich! Rich!" Eustace greedily told himself. "I got me a green thumb Muriel! Green like money."
"Some things will never change. Right Courage?" I asked him. He just nodded with a smile as we have grown used to Eustace's antics.
Note:
A bit shorter as most of the episode is just telling Eustace that he is stubborn and not a farmer.
(1) Human Habitrail with Coco. (2) The Quilt Club with Coco. (3) Ride of the Valkyries with Nora, Ren and Iris. (4) Hard Drive Courage with Penny (5) Conway the Contaminationist with Weiss.
Windmill Vandals, Magic Tree of Nowhere and Mission to the Sun. Who to appear? And Should Iris as well?