Chapter 6 Part 3: Poison

Jun hunched over a desk of neatly stacked papers, left hand rubbing at his temples. A deep sigh filled the air as he paused his motion to shift the pages around.

Keep up my skills on managing poisons: Find poisons by circulating prayer through myself or another person. Prayer will send back signals when something is amiss. Differentiate afflicted cells from functional cells. Identify if the toxins are neurotoxins or if they are affecting the mitochondria or influencing receptors.

Jun thumped his head against the table. As his hand came to rest on the desk, a moan escaped his lips. Mitochondria? Neurotoxins? More words he had no idea about.

A chuckle reached his ears and he rocked his head to the side.

“What did my old man write this time?” Mei was close, soulless burned eyes staring over his shoulder to the papers that barely peeked out. His lips tightened into a scowl as he sat up, watching as she poured over the papers. “Oh. Science. Blech.”

“Blech?”

“I just didn’t like it. Too gross.” Her eyes wandered around his study and then paused, steps pricking his ears before pausing. When she returned, she held a wax tablet and was scrawling on it. The light clatter of wood on wood echoed as she took a deep breath.

“Don’t laugh. Okay?”

Jun clamped his lips as he looked at the crude drawing. A round-ish shape with multiple round like objects took up a portion of the tablet. Then she drew a stick figure.

“I don’t remember which one is supposed to be the mitochondria, or receptors. I just know it’s supposed to look something like this. There is a micro world called cells. We won’t go into atoms.”

Jun’s brow dropped as the other rose. Atoms? Mei continued.

“One of these is the mitochondria. I think it makes energy, so he is saying that the cells are being sluggish, tired. Neurotoxins are tied to the brain which is in the head. But they can go through the nervous system.”

Her fingers traced along the stick figure and circular drawing.

“The worst poisons were the ones that confused the receptors. I couldn’t hope to explain that. But my old man complained about it a lot with the poisons the Matriarch gave to us.”

Jun leaned back, resting his elbow on the edge of the desk, propping his head up. If the Matriarch used it the most, he would need to understand those types the most.

“What did those poisons do?”

“Stopped our breathing, made our throats dry, our hearts raced, or we shook uncontrollably. That one was one of the worst.”

Jun closed his eyes, a faint memory began playing out. Seeing Mei convulsing as she dropped to the floor. That one. He traced his actions, following Jasper’s movements. His control and speed was beyond him. He could feel the poisons working in Mei, searching for afflicted ‘cells’ as he had put it, and finding the portions that had attached before burning them off with finesse. His breath caught as he clenched his fist. He could sense the watchful stares of the Matriarch’s spies. Did they carry those poisons? Was he only one meal away from passing? Could he protect Mei?

“Can you really not remember that?”

“It’s… not like that. I can remember doing it, but I don’t believe I could safely pull it off again.”

Mei shivered and he straightened. “Why don’t you remind me of which poisons did what and I’ll study them.” He offered and she nodded, listing off the poisons they had suffered from. Jun listened half heartedly. He offered a simple, internal prayer of gratitude as he listened, circulating it to the parts she talked about and recalling the motions while gritting his teeth. If only he hand’t forgotten that other world’s science.

Days passed unceasingly. Jun found himself staying behind in the herbalism class, arriving early, and asking to practice with the poisons and antidotes. Classmates snickered as he asked for repeats, citing that he hadn’t grasped the sensation of the recent poisons they had tried. With enough antidotes on hand, he felt safe enough to practice on himself, though each was a different experience.

While the poisons he practiced on were assisting his endeavors to decipher Jasper’s notes, they paled to the deadly poisons the Matriarch liked to employ.

The rainy season started to ease as the weeks passed and Jun sat outside in the green world, soaking in the sunlight as his hand held a small pouch of herbs. Inside, a mild poison that affected the stomach tract tickled as it brushed against his skin.

This is crazy. That thought kept him from devouring the herbs. His prayer already circulated as he sat there, heart pounding as his stomach already complained. As his face turned heavenward, his right ear began to tickle.

‘Not as easy as it once was.’

Jun closed his eyes, letting the wind tease his hair as he took a deep breath, slowly exhaling.

“It’s not.” He muttered, grateful she had prodded him to study this. He was sorely underprepared. The concerns that Jasper wrote of, falling for Mei, were a nonissue. He would never fall for her. He found watching her interactions with Arvad to be endearing. But, the confidence that Jasper had for his skill, even with Arvad’s warnings hadn’t been enough. Healing, he could tackle that all day, any day. Burning off disease? Easy. Poisons? Deadly. As for Elain, he was avoiding that one for the moment.

“Will you help?” he asked, feeling a warmth in his chest.

‘Where I can.’ The Silver Flame’s answer settled his stomach. He set the pouch down and fingered it open before pinching some of the herb. His throat dried as he held it close to his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut and forced the motions, ingesting the herbs.

He swallowed and then took a shaky breath, eyes remaining closed. His prayer sent warnings, signals similar but different to when he healed.

His throat didn’t burn, but with all the complaints from his prayer, he was surprised it wasn’t an inferno. His stomach adjusted a bit, trying to anticipate. The process was slow, too slow. Jun thought to speed it up, but stopped himself. He needed to process the poisons and then burn off the problems. In short he needed practice. He couldn’t stop poisons or prevent the reaction.

As he waited, time ticked by slowly. The herbs began to dissolve and he focused, watching as it moved and began to stick to his stomach. The micro world. He could barely sense it now. Instinct overrode his senses and he began to take out the cells that were complaining.

‘Don’t burn those off!’ The Silver Flame warned. Jun clutched at his stomach, a stifled groan barely contained.

“Little late.” He quipped as he leaned, falling to his side. Calm down. He reminded himself as he began to warm the area, stimulating the ‘cells’ to regenerate. The pain subsided and he circulated the prayer more slowly. He needed to see this micro world like Jasper had.

Consigning himself to this self-inflicted torture, he practiced. Consumption, patience, practice, healing, and repeat. His herbs dwindled and the final pinch entered his mouth. He waited and then allowed it further in before seeking the afflicted cells. Something was adhering to them. He slowly, methodically began to burn the foreign materials, relieved at the lessened pain.

Just as he finished off the task and sat there, healing himself, footsteps crashed through the underbrush. He turned, seeing Mei supporting a Kasai member as they stumbled to him.

“Jun!” her voice echoed and he stilled, eyes growing wide as a chill raced up his spine. His ear refused to process her next word. Poison.