“Archie, we have a problem.”

“Did he not bring the rice? I told you I should have gone with you.”

“Oh, he did.”

“Where is it?”

“Second floor pantry.”

“You left it in the pantry?” Archie pushed past Nori, half-jogging to the pantry in the hopes that their contraband hadn’t been discovered. He nodded at other students as he passed them in a horrible attempt to appear inconspicuous. “Why would you leave it there?”

“Well, that’s the problem.”

Archie rushed into the pantry expecting to have to look hard for what Nori had surely hidden. But it was easy to find. Too easy.

“Don’t tell me this is it,” he whined.

“That’s why I had to leave it here. I can’t get it up the ladder by myself. Did you not tell him how much we needed?”

Archie rubbed his temples and groaned as he looked at what must have been a twenty-pound bag of rice. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding. We were supposed to make three servings. Three! This—we can’t do this!”

Archie kicked the bag, underestimating how much twenty pounds of rice could hurt. He doubled over and doubled his groaning.

“Shut up and get it up here,” Nori bickered. She grabbed a long metal rod with a hook on the end and found the clasp of the trapdoor going to the attic, a ladder unfolding from the door.

“And where are we cooking this? You said you had an idea.”

“Yeah, I told you to trust me. I forgot to add ‘shut up.’ Come on.”

With a groan of helplessness and a groan of exertion, Archie managed to get the giant bag of rice up the ladder and into the attic. He threw the bag on the ground, producing a cloud of dust that sent him into a coughing fit.

The room was a maze of abandoned furniture covered in cloths and decades-old dust. It seemed as if anything broken or unused in the Academy’s entire history had ended up in this room.

“Come on,” Nori commanded as she pulled the trapdoor up behind her. “Pick that up and hurry it up.”

Nori walked ahead, waving for Archie to hurry as she weaved between old armoires and forgotten couches. Archie pushed through the mess and saw why Nori had led him here.

A quarter-circle stone platform had been built into the corner of the wall. The center of the platform dipped into a small pit filled with firewood, a little cauldron hanging over it. In the corner nearest the wall, a piece of metal went over the fire, serving as a stovetop. Compared to the intricate stoves of the Academy’s kitchens, this was a crude, undeserving machination.

“See?” Nori pointed to the chute in the wall that went outside. “It’s a little chimney. We can cook the kulkida risotto here.”

“Why…are we doing it here?” Archie looked around. He didn’t believe in ghosts, but in a room like this, belief didn’t factor into fear.

“Do I need to remind you that what we’re doing is highly illegal?”

“I mean—technically it’s not, right?”

Nori flared her nostrils and clenched her fists. “I think the term applies to anything that could result in a prince burning your restaurant down or having you killed.”

Archie threw up his hands in defeat. “Alright. So, you got the recipe from Sutton?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s the same steps as normal risotto. Mostly. But the tricky thing is the essence.” Nori flipped the cauldron over and shook it, dumping out a bit of dust. “So first, we toast the rice in oil, right? Well, the rice won’t change at all unless it’s being stirred with essence at the same time.”

“Like, it just won’t cook.”

“Yes.” Nori unrolled a piece of parchment and looked it over. “The kulkida rice only grows in the path of the Kuutsu. It shares their stubbornness for change. Apparently, you could put this in the hottest fire and it wouldn’t even warm up until you applied essence.”

Archie sighed. “Well, that makes things difficult.”

Nori sucked in her bottom lip.

“Nori…what is it?”

She swallowed. “Well, there is an advantage to that. You see, it doesn’t get warm without essence, but it doesn’t really cool without essence, either. You can start and stop the process at any time.”

“That’s—wait.” Archie smiled and shook his head. “That’s amazing. That makes this so much easier…Wait—why—why do you look so nervous?”

“Well…if it weren’t for that…it wouldn’t be possible to make, I think.”

“Why’s that?”

Nori looked back at the recipe, then back at Archie, then back at the recipe, then back at Archie, then back at the recipe again. He snatched a corner of it, bending it so he could read.

“Estimated cook time…two weeks?!”

Nori pulled the recipe back to her chest, her words going as fast as her heart. “I think it’ll be okay. This number—it’s not saying you have to cook it all day for that long. It’s based on essence consumption. How much the average Chef can stir it per day.”

“And how long is that?”

Nori looked at her foot and kicked at the ground. “Five minutes.”

“Five minutes?! Per day?! Nori, we’re not average Chefs! We’re beginners!”

“Look, it’s fine. We can take turns, and we’ll just work really hard at it. We’ll cut the time in half. Just a week. That’s not so bad.”

Archie bit his lip and looked away. “Nori, I don’t…I don’t know if I can.”

“What do you mean?”

Archie chewed on his lip even harder.

“Oh,” Nori sighed. “Archie, I…I won’t push you…”

“I’ll go first,” he said. “While it still doesn’t have much essence. I’ll go first. The first day. And then you do it from there.”

“Okay. Okay, we’ll make that work.”

Archie growled with exasperation. “We’re supposed to feed three. This’ll feed over a hundred!”

“It’ll be fine, Archie. It’s just more that we can sell.”

Archie paced across the wooden floors of the attic, leaving footprints in the dust and running his hands through his hair. “First we’re a catering service, now we’re an underground drug empire. Great.”

Nori put her hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Nori asserted. “But this is the way it is. If we do it right, I’m sure they’ll want more. That’s the thing with these people, right? They always want more. There have been a couple of Gluttons at the parties, even. Maybe they’re some of those three servings.”

Archie thought of a young Rowan hitching his star to the Gluttonous grandpa Kent.

“Okay,” Archie said, more for himself than for Nori. “Okay. Let’s just take this one step at a time. We toast it, right?”

Archie started the fire while Nori got the ingredients together. They poured olive oil into the cauldron.

“What about garlic? Shallots? Mushrooms?” Archie asked.

“Doesn’t need them. We toast it, give it some wine, and then give it broth as we mix. Apparently the rice has enough flavor to not need anything else.”

“Well if it takes weeks to make, I’d hope so.”

Nori scooped out a cup of rice and frowned at Archie.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“So…you’re okay with this?” she asked.

“Does it say how long to toast it for?”

“Until the edges are translucent.”

“Doesn’t mention a time?”

“No.”

“Okay…” Archie grabbed the cup of rice. It felt normal. “Here we go.”

He pulled his face away from the cauldron as he poured the rice in. He didn’t know exactly what to expect, but he expected something. A fire. An explosion. A boom. A vacuum. Something.

Instead, he just got the plinkplinkplinkplink of the rice hitting the metal bottom. No explosion. No spectacle. Not even a sizzle from the rice entering the hot oil. He looked at Nori.

“It doesn’t cook until you make it cook,” Nori said with a shrug.

“Here goes nothing,” Archie said. He just needed to stay calm. Like Sutton said. No negative emotions. No fear. He took a deep breath. Grabbed a large wooden spoon. Lowered it beyond the edge of the cauldron. Put it in the rice. Took another breath. Stirred once.

His hand went numb as all of his essence up to his shoulder was sucked out.

He let go out of the spoon, its handle clanging against the cauldron. He waved his hand through the air as if it had been burned.

“Archie! Are you okay?” Nori grabbed his wrist and inspected his hand.

Archie flexed his hand open and closed.

“I felt it immediately.”

“Are you okay?”

Archie nodded and grabbed the spoon again. He lifted it out of the rice, feeling nothing. But the moment he used it to move the rice, he felt his essence pour out of his hand. It was the same thing he felt when he held the noodle with Chip Sampson—but significantly stronger.

Once around, twice around, numb. The static trickled up from his wrist to his elbow. The sizzling of the rice kept him going.

He felt something like a floodgate open halfway up his bicep. A new stream of essence flowed down from his shoulders, the rice stealing it from his body at an alarming rate. He tried to slow it down, imagining closing that floodgate enough to lower the stream.

He felt it work—barely. But the momentum of the pull was already too strong. He felt another floodgate start to open at his shoulders and let go of the spoon. The flow stopped, leaving an emptiness so profound that Archie, despite still being a novice, could feel his body stabilize and redistribute essence from the rest of his body to fill the void.

Archie and Nori both looked into the cauldron.

“No difference,” Archie said.

“It was definitely cooking…How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay now.”

“What’s it like?”

Archie motioned to the spoon and stepped back. Nori grabbed it, dropping it after just half of a stir. She took a deep breath and tried again. Once around, twice around, stop. She withdrew her hand again.

“I don’t like it,” she said. It’s like I’m being sucked in.”

“Does the recipe have any advice?”

She grabbed the papers. “The kulkida rice will always take more essence than it needs. This extra essence will not enhance the finished risotto. Therefore, controlling the flow of essence to a drip feed will create the same quality product with a much lesser cost.”

Archie grabbed the spoon again. He had diminished like a draining lake, but he still had something left. For Nori. The rice siphoned from what little stream of essence remained inside him. Still, he stirred. The rice started to sizzle in the oil. The river flowed.

Slow it down.

He forgot everything—forgot the school, forgot the room, forgot Nori. Forgot his grandfather, forgot his father, forgot Rowan. Forgot his name, forgot his favorite food, forgot himself. His entire mind narrowed down to a single image—a sluice gate dropping into the water to cut off its flow.

The stream slowed, but not enough. Archie knew that the majority of his essence was going to waste. But he stirred and stirred. Tendrils of emptiness shifted up his arm and into his chest. They wrapped around his heart, his stomach, his lungs. Nausea, breathlessness, fatigue. Hunger.

He let go.

His head spun. Closed eyes. Deep breath. Open eyes.

“All good?” Nori asked. Archie nodded. “You made some progress.”

“I’m going to be tapped out before we’re even done toasting it.”

Nori bit her bottom lip and looked at her bag. “It’s okay. I thought we would have some trouble. I have an idea.”

She rummaged through her bag, producing a waterskin and handing it to Archie. He unscrewed the lid and recoiled as the smell burned his nostrils.

“What is that?!”

“It’s packed with essence. Just drink it!”

Archie took a sip and nearly spat it out. “That’s…strong! Did Oliver make this?”

“Well if it tastes like medicine that’s how you know it’s gonna work. Now drink up.”

Nori lifted the bottom of the waterskin toward Archie’s mouth. He took another sip—no more pleasant than the first. Nori started stirring.

“Drink it all. And be quick about it.”

“Nori, I don’t know about this. It’s not making me feel any—”

“Drink it.”

Archie drank. Warmth attacked his throat and swirled around inside his body. He drank more. His body overflowed with life. He drank more. The room spun. What a funny room it was, all these broken and abandoned things. All just sitting above them all this time, forgotten.

“Nori—I—”

“Just drink.”

Archie felt unusually compelled by Nori. Each drink was easier than the one before it. He drank and drank and drank until there was nothing left to drink. He no longer feared having an episode or how they would cook all the rice or how to pay for Nori or how to do anything.

“All done,” he said, swaying from the ordeal. “Nori. Nori. Nori.” He poked clumsily at her shoulder. “I think it worked. I feel better now.”

Nori raised her eyebrows and grinned. A laugh threatened to slip out. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I feel it. Here.” He grabbed his stomach. “It’s here.”

Nori laughed.

Archie laughed at her laughing. “I felt it go down. I feel it coming up, too.” He grinned.

“What?”

Nori jumped out of the way as Archie threw up on the ground between them.

“Oh no—the essence,” Archie said as he bent down to try to scoop the puddle up.

“Archie!” Nori grabbed his arm and pulled him away. “Stop. Stop! It’s not full of essence. I lied.”

“It’s not?” Archie wiped at his mouth and smiled. Nori was so silly.

“I had Oliver make a drink. I told him to make it strong.”

“Oh.” Archie knew all about Oliver’s drinks. They got you drunk. Too drunk. He felt his stomach turn and threw up again.

Nori screamed as the vomit splashed on her shoes.

“Why’d you do that?” Archie asked.

“I had a good reason, I swear. You’ll be okay. We just have to get you to the infirmary now.”

Archie woke up the next morning in the infirmary with vague memories of stumbling over broken furniture, throwing up in a bucket, and Anise feeding him crackers.

A plate of bacon and pancakes sat on the counter next to a glass of orange juice. Archie got up, his consciousness lingering on the bed for a few more seconds before rejoining his body. He grabbed a note from under the plate.

For the hangover. Sorry. Meet me at the place.

Archie fought a wave of nausea and put the note in his pocket.

Well that’s cryptic enough.

“Nori?” Archie called out as he entered the attic.

“I’m here! Come look!”

Archie dragged his feet through the rubble of forgotten things. Nori stood over the cauldron, stirring. Stirring, stirring, stirring. She looked back at him. Her jaw smacked on something while she smiled.

“What’re you eating?”

She pointed at a glass jar near the wall. Two large lasagna noodles, one slightly torn, resided within. Archie had seen it before. He looked down at the jagged, white scar on his leg.

“Wh—how’d you get those?”

“I’m really sorry about last night. I needed it to seem real so that Head Chef Anise would leave her lair.”

Archie scowled at her. “You stole these! And you used me for it!”

“What? It was either get you drunk or break your leg.” Nori laughed. “You got off easy.”

“Why? Why’d you take them?”

“Essence.” She pointed at her mouth. Still chewing. Still stirring. “I’ve been stirring for like…half an hour! And I feel fine!”

“You’re…eating the noodles for their essence?”

“Yeah. Just a little pinch. I actually think I overdid it a bit. Anyways, come look.”

Archie looked into the cauldron to see translucent rice that had already absorbed some of the liquid. Nori heated broth in a second pot on the stovetop, ladling it in and stirring one spoonful at a time.

“Honestly Archie, this stuff is amazing.” Nori overflowed with energy, her words blending together and her body twitching. “It replenishes me as quickly as the rice drains me. I think we’ll be able to finish this batch without even taking a quarter of one noodle. And we have two!”

Archie couldn’t believe her cavalier attitude. “This is dangerous. They told me if I tried to manipulate the essence in those noodles it could be…catastrophic.”

“So don’t manipulate it. We just have to let it flow through us and into the rice. We don’t have to change it, Archie. We just have to slow it down.”

Archie shook his head and sighed. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

Nori’s impatience flared up in her voice. “You don’t have to do it, Archie. You can’t. I’m doing it.”

“Well you shouldn’t!”

“Archie, it’s fine! Look, at this rate, I’ll be done with this pot in a few hours.”

Archie looked at the jar of noodles. He looked at the bag of rice. At this point, there was no stopping Nori. He just had to try to mitigate the damage. “Yeah, okay. Okay. But let’s slow it down.”

“What?”

“We don’t have to finish it today. We need to finish it by next week. So slow it down. Don’t eat as much. We’ll do it naturally as much as we can. Who knows what kind of side effects you’re gonna face.”

Nori rolled her eyes. Archie couldn’t appeal to her caution, but he could appeal to her sense of economics.

“Besides,” he said. “We need to ration these.”

“Why?”

Archie took a deep breath to lower his guard, allowing himself to chuckle. If he couldn’t stop her, he might as well join her. “Well, you bought the whole bag.” He kicked the bag of rice. “Might as well cook it all.”

Nori’s mouth hung open in a big grin. “I knew you’d come around.”