There Is No Cure

Ivory was absent for the next week. On the following Monday, Owen was going to tell the professors that she was dead, when she limped into class with a cane in her hand. She got the homework assignments and lecture notes from the T.A. then was gone again.

"Owen," Professor Fortis said. "Can I see you in my office after class?"

"Sure," he replied.

The lecture went by quickly and soon Owen was in Professor Fortis' office. Persimmon sat in one of the chairs by the professor's desk. She looked pale and sickly.

"Thank you for coming, Owen," Persimmon said. Her voice was strong despite her appearance.

Professor Fortis sat in his chair behind the desk. Owen hadn't moved from where he stood, but his hands were shaking.

"Have a seat, Owen," Professor Fortis said.

Owen sat hard in the chair behind him and rested his head in his hands. "How is she?" he asked Persimmon, not daring to look up.

"Still very weak," Persimmon replied, "but she's a fighter."

"That may not be enough," he whispered.

"Owen," Professor Fortis said. "I take it you are familiar with Ivory's illness? What can you tell us about it?"

He was on the verge of tears, his shaking increasing. This was too similar to what happened to Althea. "She's been poisoned," he finally managed. "The poison is called Night's Hell. It's made from the deadly nightshade and arsenic. It spreads through the system quickly, but it takes hours for the person to die. The fact alone that Ivory has lived this long is a miracle."

"Is there an anti-toxin for it?" Persimmon asked.

"No."

"You say that with confidence, Owen," the professor said. "I take it you have done your research?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Then we should see that she's comfortable," Professor Fortis said.

"I'm not willing to give up on her yet," Persimmon said. "The fact that Ivory has been able to live longer than a few hours is proof that something can still be done." She stood. "Thank you for your input, Owen."

After she left the office, the professor told Owen he could go. Owen was able to catch up to Persimmon before she disappeared.

"Persimmon, can I see her?"

"No, Owen."

"Why not?"

"Because I need her to keep a positive outlook in order to fight this."

"By fighting she is only delaying the inevitable! I wouldn't expect a freshman like you to understand!"

"Then let me lay it out for you this way, Owen. Ivory is dying and the minute she believes it's hopeless she will die. So if you wish to bury another body that much then by all means come see her and tell her it's hopeless. But if you wish to see her alive again then you will keep your negativity to yourself."

Persimmon turned and walked away.

Owen's tears fell. Persimmon's words cut at his heart like Bruce's garlic oiled knives. Turning for home he hid in his room. From his window he could see most of campus. He stood there until he saw Ivory walking slowly to the library. He turned to go to her, but Persimmon's words came back to him. Sitting at his desk instead, he finished up his assignments. He had gotten to know the material so well it took him little time to complete it all.

For the next several hours he paced in his room like a caged animal. Finally he grabbed his research on Night's Hell and went to the lab to experiment. He spent the rest of the afternoon trying different things. He could get the nightshade neutralized, but then the arsenic remained. He tried several things to counteract its effect to no avail. He tried cleansing the cell, by using water to flush out the toxins or by using other chemicals to try and pull them out, but that didn't work either.

"It's impossible, Persimmon," he muttered to himself. "Give it up."

The next week, Ivory stayed for half the lecture before she left.

Later that day, Owen found himself in the kitchen hoping that Persimmon would be there so he could tell her to stop. She was. He didn't understand why she used their kitchen instead of her own. His family never used it, but he didn't mind finding her here every once in a while since it made finding her that much easier.

"Persimmon, it's hopeless. Don't make her suffer anymore."

"You give up on her too easily."

"It's hopeless, Persimmon! I've done the research."

"Then I am sure you are aware that research says bees shouldn't be able to fly and yet they fly anyway. Ivory is a bee. Don't pull her wings off." Then she left.

It wasn't until two weeks later that Owen saw Ivory again. She was sitting by the door with one of her sleeves rolled up. Her arm was resting palm up on the desk; veins a reddish-grey color. Owen knew that color. Persimmon had been able to cleanse the nightshade from Ivory's body and now the arsenic was being released. He wanted to approach her so she could tell Persimmon to stop, but she waved the professor over so he was unable to. After class, she left, still using her cane. Owen thought she would be easy to spot in the crowd because of the limp, but she wasn't.

That night, Owen and Ivory usually had their lab together with a handful of other students, but Persimmon showed up instead. The professor let her use one of the camera microscopes to continue her research on Night's Hell. Persimmon inserted a disc into the computer before pulling out some small vials of blood. Each was a slightly different color and each had a different date on them. Owen completed the lab and approached her.

"Persimmon," he said quietly. "You need to stop; there is no way to remove the arsenic without killing her."

"Give it three more weeks," she replied.

Then she took the disc that had the photos and cleaned up.

'Three weeks?' he thought.

The research paper was due then. Was Persimmon helping Ivory with hers?

For the rest of those three weeks Ivory was in and out of class. Once he saw her in the lab, working late, someone else was helping her finish whatever she was working on. The last two days of classes they were to present their research.

Owen, Ivory, and one other student presented the second day. The other student presented first then Owen. He had tried to get Persimmon to stop, but she had refused. So now, he would go straight to Ivory. He presented all of his research on Night's Hell, concluding with an apology to Ivory.

Then it was Ivory' turn to present. In her slideshow, she had little audio clips of Persimmon's voice, putting to words what Ivory could not. Her presentation was on Night's Hell also. Included in the presentation was her story of being poisoned by Night's Hell and everything that followed. She and Persimmon had worked tirelessly on this. A lot of her slides were pictures of her veins, corresponding blood microscope pictures, and brief explanations. When she got to the arsenic, Owen thought it was over, but she had a few more slides as the arsenic was lessening and then it was gone.

"That's impossible!" Owen cried.

Ivory pulled up her sleeves and showed every member of the class.

"I know that's you, Persimmon," Owen said quietly, believing Persimmon to be standing in for Ivory.

Ivory just pointed to the door and there leaning against the frame was Persimmon. For a minute he didn't believe it. Then he watched as Persimmon straightened and left with a bow of respect towards Ivory. Ivory hurried after her, but returned a short time later, with something in hand, to collect her things. It was amazing. Persimmon had succeeded where he had failed. How could a freshman out-think him? He had researched it for years!

Now the semester was over. Owen was so dumbfounded that he missed Ivory putting a copy of all her research in front of him and leaving. When he looked down, he saw it and the little note stuck on top.

You may need this more than I.

–Ivory

Owen took it with him and set off to find her. But she had already left.

"Do you know when she will be back?" he asked the resident manager.

"I'm sorry. She won't be coming back. She's decided to pursue another degree elsewhere."

"Did she leave an address?"

"No, she didn't."

"Okay, thank you."

Owen ran for his back door and into the dark kitchen, but Persimmon wasn't there. The smell of the herbs had faded. He took the secret entrance up to his room. Pulling out Ivory's research he noticed two distinct hand writings: Ivory's and Persimmon's. He had to assume that it was Persimmon's since the two had worked together. It outlined a high nutrition diet and a slow but steady cleansing that was employed to remove the arsenic. As he finished he had the feeling that someone was watching him. Looking up, he saw something fall from the tree just outside his bedroom door. Opening his window he saw Persimmon lying at the base of the tree.

"Shoot!" he said, rushing out to see if she was okay.

When he got out there, she was standing and dusting herself off.

"Persimmon, are you okay?"

She looked up at the branch she had been sitting on. "Need to lean back faster next time."

Then she moved to where there was more grass and started practicing her katas. Owen watched her, dumbfounded. That had been a 15 foot fall and she didn't seem phased at all. Most humans wouldn't survive the fall, let alone walk away uninjured. As he watched her, he noticed she was wearing Ivory's gloves.

"Persimmon, where is Ivory?"

"She's still here."

"No, she's not. She's already left campus."

Persimmon pulled her hood up and kept practicing.

"Persimmon, please. Where is she?"

She stopped and put a hand on his shoulder. Owen felt a wave of concern as he had the first week of the semester from Ivory.

"Stop it!" he yelled, removing her hand and pulling her hood down. "Just tell me where she's gone."

"I told you, Owen. She never left. She stands in front of you."

"Don't lie, Human!"

"Forgive me, Sir. I meant no offense." Persimmon calmly bowed and walked away.