The Archer (Dr. Stone X OC)

Chapter 2

-Arisa POV-

When I came back from setting the traps I saw Senku explaining the miracle fluid to Taiju.
"Let me guess, you poor some of the miracle fluid stuff on it, the stone break and the bird wakes up" said Taiju.
"I wish it was so straightforward" said Senku. "That would rule"

Nothing happened to the bird stone.
"I've been working like a madman on this project" said Senku. "Using every last method I could think of. Over and over, again and again. It's like something out of a fantasy world. Is it all mineral? Are there living cells underneath? I don't have the laboratory for good analysis"

"So basically what you're telling me is... there are things even science can't explain" said Taiju.
"There we go, that tired old cliché" said Senku. "That's why you hypothesize and experiment over and over. Science is a slow process. If only I had liquor, though... with the alcohol in liquor I could combine the nitric acid and ethanol to make nital. It's literally an industrial-strength etching agent"

"What did you just say, Senku?" asked Taiju.
"Huh? I said nital" said Senku. "It gets into the ferrite grain boundary and..."
"Not that! I don't understand the brainy stuff" said Taiju.

"No normal teenager would understand Senku's science talk" I said.
"If only I had liquor?" repeated Taiju and showed us some grapes. "Couldn't we make wine out of grapes?"
"Not bad, you big oaf!" said Senku.

~

We began to stamp the grapes, but Taiju just went for it...
"Yeah, you can do all the grunt work from now on" I said.
"That does makes more sense" said Senku.

"Making wine couldn't be easier" said Senku when Taiju was done. "Crush grapes and raisins and stuff, put it in a container, and just mix it every day until it's done. Though it would have been a crime to make liquor without a license back in our day"

~

-Three weeks later-

"Three weeks" said Senku. "That should do it"
"You know, Senku, this would count as underage drinking though" said Taiju.
Senku gave me a glass with wine and I smelled it.

"Not a problem" said Senku. "We're well over 3700 years old"
"Oh, you're right!" said Taiju.
"Well, cheers boys" I said and drank the wine.

'So bad...'
"It's better than I thought it would be" said Senku. "Though it's about ten billion times worse than what's on the market"
"I never knew it was so easy to make with just grapes" said Taiju.

"One step at a time" said Senku. "Things are about to get a little more tedious though. Distilling Wine for Dummies, starting with brandy"
"Oh no, not distilling" I sighed. "That's gonna take forever"
"Distilling? No idea what that means!" said Taiju.

"Thought you'd say that" said Senku.
"It's heating, cooling and dripping, right?" I asked.
"Ten billion points to Arisa" said Senku. "It concentrates the alcohol. Don't worry. People in the Mesopotamian Civilization were doing it in 3000 B.C. using clay pots. There's nothing you can't do if you try"

We made a strange pot to distil the wine.
"This is exhilarating" said Senku, but the pot broke and the wine spilled all over him.
I snorted and he stared angrily at me.
"Sorry, too funny" I laughed.

~

Months passed, it became winter and we were still distilling the wine.
I cut my hair a little bit, since it became too long.
Senku made some bandages for me for my left hand, since I always wear a glove for archery.

When spring came around again, they tried the miracle fluid again.
But this time... it cracked and it revealed a feather.
They immeadiatly tried it on a real bird.

"Let me teach you, big oaf..." said Senku. "It's not that there are things that science can't explain"
The stone began to crack and the bird flew away...
"You look for the rules behind those things. Science is just the name for the steady, pain-in-the-ass effort that goes into doing it" said Senku.

"You did it" I whispered. "You did it!"
I hugged Senku, who just softly patted my back and I let him go.
"One year since I started experimenting..." said Senku. "It didn't take as long as I thought. It's a slow but steady effort. I'm going to beat fantasy with science"

"So, Senku, who are we reviving first?" asked Taiju.
"We're going to wake up everyone eventually" said Senku. "What does it matter who we start with? Although it would suck if we woke up a murderer right off the bat"
"I see" said Taiju.

"I don't feel like choosing who we wake up" said Senku. "Arisa, don't you think Taiju should choose?"
I smiled. "Sure, I know who I want to wake up, but I can't find him anywhere. So, Taiju, it's your choice"
"Thanks, Arisa, Senku" said Taiju. "My answer is obvious"