Arc 2, Chapter 8: Motivation to Continue

Back Home, Jacob was streaming Hardcore Nuzlocke attempts. He’d been stuck in the early game for the longest time now.

 

Every time, he lost to Roxanne.

 

Roxanne is calling.

 

Roxanne is calling, Jacob.

 

Will you answer?

 

 

---

 

 

When Maxie got up that morning, something felt oddly amiss. Sure, he was sleeping somewhere he wasn’t used to, but that had happened for the past few days in a row now. When he got up, stretching, it was like there was something… different about this place. Like he’d be there much longer than he anticipated.

 

He’d figure out why eventually, but for now, he let the feeling be.

 

After brushing his teeth, Maxie walked into the living room, where he soon realized that he was awake by himself. Blaise wouldn’t mind too much if I took from the icebox myself, would he? Maxie lazily opened the thing up himself, and saw… an empty fridge.

 

“I guess any food he kept in here for too long would go bad, huh?” Maxie muttered to himself a bit too loudly.

 

“That is my rationale, yes.”

 

Maxie nearly jumped when he heard Blaise’s voice, but he quickly collected himself, and calmly closed the icebox. “I guess we need to do some food shopping, huh?”

 

“I’ll take care of that in the afternoon,” Blaise said with a wave of his paw. “We’re going to be meeting Wally’s father for breakfast to discuss something.”

 

“He probably wants to talk about the deal he had with Courtney,” Maxie pointed out.

 

“He had a deal with Courtney?” Blaise asked. “Hm… I feel like I’m about to disappoint him.”

 

“Well, that depends on if I was remembering correctly or not. It’s been going on for years at this point, so I should really know, but it was kind of a while ago, so I don’t.”

 

“That’s a roundabout way of saying you weren’t paying attention.”

 

“…Yes,” Maxie replied, having no other responses.

 

The walk to the hotel was much shorter than Maxie expected. It seemed like quite a hike on a map, but something about the way the city was designed allowed Maxie, Joshua, and Blaise to move far more directly to their destination. Maxie would come to greatly appreciate this later.

 

The hotel itself stood out noticeably from the surrounding area. The structure itself had an almost marble-like quality, sharply contrasting with the surrounding buildings, which instead used a greyer stone. There were almost comically out-of-place palm trees planted near the front of the building, with what appeared to be spotlights placed beneath them.

 

“Do those go on at night?” Maxie asked.

 

“If they do, it’s very tacky,” Blaise agreed. “But we’re not here to roleplay architects. Let’s go.”

 

Upon stepping inside, Maxie was immediately blasted with… air conditioning? They have AC in this time period? Jesus, Wally’s parents spare no expense in these places. No wonder they get big business.

 

“It’s so high-end, I almost feel out of place,” Joshua commented. “I wonder how much they charge.”

 

“If what I’ve heard is correct,” Blaise started, “You get what you pay for in these places.”

 

“I can imagine…” Maxie commented, looking around the lobby. It was almost spotlessly clean. Part of him felt that he was offending it by not wiping his feet before coming in.

 

“You three,” a rather commanding voice called out.

 

Immediately, the trio turned to their right, and saw a Gallade sitting down at a table. Right next to him was Wally. Preston motioned for them to sit down. “Please, make yourselves comfortable.”

 

Maxie had admittedly scant memories of Preston—he rarely stuck around to listen in to the few times he saw him interacting with Courtney—but what he did remember was the power he seemed to project. The way he conducted himself just screamed authority.

 

“Is this about the negotiations that you were apparently having with my sister?” Blaise said, getting the question Maxie had prompted him to ask earlier out of the way. “Because if it is, your time would be better spent talking to Tabitha Glaceon.”

 

“It is not,” Preston said. “Not necessarily, anyway. I already suspected that you might’ve been a bit hands-off with the estate. In fact, I had plans to talk to Tabitha later this month. I am interested in you today, Blaise. Now please, sit.”

 

Blaise seemed to be taken aback by this, as if he didn’t even suspect it. That might be my fault, Jacob speculated. Regardless, the trio took their seats at the table, feeling some rather comfortable chairs.

 

“I’ll make my intentions clear,” Preston started. “When I allowed Wally to accompany you, that was more of a token gesture. Really, it was meant to benefit him more than any of you. But I can offer you more. Far more.”

 

“And the catch is?” Blaise asked.

 

“You’re getting ahead of me,” Preston said. “In any case, I can provide the manpower to do a far more thorough investigation than you’re currently capable of. In my employ are several experienced private investigators that would all drop what they’re doing to help you. I also have a limited network of spies, but they are unlikely to be as useful, as they are all occupied at the moment, and small in number.”

 

“I don’t really need that many extra hands to get done what I need done,” Blaise replied. “Too many cooks will spoil the broth anyway. More importantly, I’d assume you’re asking for something big in return for all of this.”

 

“My only request,” Preston began. “Is that you give me whatever intel you might currently have on a number of individuals. I’m aware that you’re a bit notorious for using otherwise private information to get leverage over those who displease you. There are a few people who aren’t necessarily behaving as I’d like. If you were to have any information on these individuals—”

 

“Let’s stop right there,” Blaise interrupted. “Any indication that what I know can be bought and sold might change the relationship with anyone I’m blackmailing right now.”

 

“I could make it seem as if I stumbled upon the information myself,” Preston said, tapping his forehead. “I am a psychic, you know. I can make it seem believable. There are plenty of ways to obfuscate how I got the information.”

 

“That’s a fair point,” Blaise admitted. “However, what if I don’t have what you’re looking for? Quite frankly, I’m not going to go out of my way to get the information you want.”

 

“Then we can discuss that right now,” Preston replied, handing Blaise a small envelope. “This should be a complete list. It’s large enough that you should have the dirt on at least a few of them.”

 

“It is a rather long list…” Blaise muttered, taking out a mechanical pen. After several seconds of silence, punctuated by the sounds of pen on paper, Blaise handed it back. “I can get you those four and no more. I have yet to touch anyone else.”

 

“Very well,” Preston said, putting on some reading glasses. “What do you know?”

 

“After the investigation,” Blaise clarified. “I can’t give you everything right now.”

 

Preston was silent for a while, as if he was considering retracting his support. “That is… acceptable. I can wait. However, I would need a timeline on how long any theoretical investigation would take.”

 

“Based on past experience?” Blaise started. “It could be as long as half a year. At minimum, it’s going to be at least a month.”

 

“That’s better than I expected,” Preston replied. “I suppose you don’t mind if I hold you to that?”

 

“That’s perfectly fine,” Blaise replied. “Honestly, I appreciate that you’re being clear about your terms.”

 

“Then we have a deal,” Preston replied. “Would you like to stay for breakfast as we work out some of the finer details?”

 

“Gladly,” Blaise replied. “We haven’t eaten anything ourselves.”

 

The next several minutes passed without Maxie or Wally contributing anything meaningful to the conversation, only jumping in every now and then to clarify something. At some point, they decided to move over to a nearby table to have a separate conversation.

 

“Are you okay, dude?” Maxie asked. “You seem like you’ve been kinda out of it this whole time.”

 

“I’m, uh, still recovering from my headache from last night. I overdid it a little.”

 

“…Are you going to be able to do that again today?” Maxie asked for a variety of reasons.

 

“Hopefully. My dad gave me this Persim Band, which should stop me from getting anything similar.”

 

Briefly, Maxie looked away.

 

!dt Persim Band

 

A type of scarf known to calm the nerves and allow for clearer thoughts. Popular among psychic types for its ability to dull headaches.

 

That is pretty clever of his father… Jacob thought, looking back to Wally. “Does it even work?”

 

“Well, I felt better after putting it on last night,” Wally commented. “Also, where were you looking just now?”

 

“That’s not important,” Maxie deflected. “You do still remember what the minds from that night felt like?”

 

“I’ve been committing it to memory as best as I can,” Wally replied. “I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t miss them.”

“Good, good,” Maxie replied. “So, if you had to make a bet, how long do you think it’ll take to get to this Tucker Weavile guy?”

 

“I honestly don’t think it’ll take long,” Wally started, “Because if you really do think that his beef with your mom was petty, then he doesn’t really have a motive, right?”

 

“Probably,” Maxie replied. “That doesn’t mean we can rule him out entirely, though.”

 

“But wasn’t the point of the three people Blaise singled out was that they all had a potential motive? Wouldn’t it make more sense to cut the chaff?”

 

“Honestly, I’m more than willing to just go along with what Blaise says for now,” Maxie replied. “He said himself that we’ll end up going where the evidence leads once we get some.”

 

“Hm…” Wally said. “It’s a little bit frustrating to me. I can’t shake the feeling that we’re just losing time, you know?”

 

“Wally, we can’t just jump into things willy-nilly,” Blaise said, overhearing their conversation. “We have to take this slowly, lest anyone decides that they don’t like what we’re doing.”

 

Wally sighed. “Alright…”

One admittedly pretty good, but not great, breakfast later, the group was walking down the road, making small talk on the way to the market to buy food.

 

“This feels like such a normal thing to be doing,” Maxie commented. How long has it been since I went food shopping? Literally the final day of my human life? That’s crazy…

 

“Being a member of the nobility doesn’t preclude me from having chores,” Blaise replied. “I certainly hope you had chores growing up.”

 

“Is it bad that I feel very comfortable saying I didn’t?” Maxie asked.

 

“Same here,” Wally said, apparently mid-scanning.

 

“Spoiled brats,” Joshua commented with a chuckle.

 

“We should get something healthy,” Maxie commented. “Do you think they’ll have—”

 

With no warning, Wally froze. It took a few seconds for everyone to notice he’d stopped walking behind them.

 

“Uh, Wally?” Maxie asked. “Did you—”

 

“Guys,” he started. “I think I have something.”

 

Immediately, everyone was on edge.

 

“Point Joshua in their direction, and stop talking about it right now. Not another word in public.”

 

A few seconds of silence followed.

 

“…Do you have them? Joshua?” Blaise asked quietly.

 

“Yes,” Joshua said, as quick as Blaise was quiet. “I’m in now.”

 

“Good,” Blaise replied, keeping his voice low.. “Now everybody stop talking until we get back to my place. We don’t want anyone else hearing about this.”

 

The shopping ‘spree’ that followed was extremely tense. Jacob’s mind raced with the possibilities. Was it Anabel? Tucker? Noland? Someone else entirely? The chatter of the marketplace, and the need to actually pay attention to his surroundings, didn’t stem these thoughts in the slightest. The entire time, Maxie gave the absolute minimum effort needed to buy things as Jacob spent the entirety of their collective energy speculating wildly.

 

When they finally got back to Blaise’s place, Maxie practically dropped his bags on the countertop and threw his question out there.

 

“WHO?”

 

“Y-you should probably ask Joshua that…” Wally pointed out, a little spooked by Maxie’s sudden shout.

 

“Well, they seem like they work for the church, that’s for sure,” Joshua said. “I need more time. Doing this without being caught from this distance is difficult.”

 

“Please work more quickly,” Maxie asked.

 

“If I get caught, that would be much worse for all of us,” Joshua replied. “Don’t worry, this is definitely someone who was involved in the murder.”

 

“In any case,” Blaise said. “It’s not entirely surprising the church is up to something. The real question from here is how deeply they were involved.”

 

“How do you figure?” Wally asked.

 

“Sometimes, they’re the sole mastermind behind the attack, which usually means that they were being hindered slightly by whoever they targeted. Other times, they’re just involved, which means that whoever was really behind it got their blessing somehow. It’s an important distinction to make, because the church is very hard to deal with on its own. Someone else working with the church is much easier.”

 

“What makes it harder if it’s the church?” Maxie asked.

 

“Simple,” Blaise replied. “The church is very large and has lots of leverage. It’s very hard to persuade them to act the way they want you to act, which is why working with them as an outsider usually means a paper trail.”

 

Maxie was quiet for a while. “Have you tried going after them directly before?”

 

“Yes,” Blaise replied. “And it was nearly my undoing. The church has a way of getting what it wants.”

 

After a long silence, Joshua finally spoke. “Alright, I think I’ve gotten everything we need to dive deeper.”

 

“Shoot,” Maxie said quickly. He couldn’t wait much longer.

 

“This guy’s a Vileplume who used to work for the churches’ branch in Petalworth, before moving here just after the murder. He was apparently responsible for putting your mother to sleep and dragging her off to the place where she was eventually killed.”

 

Just being reminded of that horrid scene made Maxie shake with anger a little. “Continue.”

 

“He doesn’t know who ordered her to be killed, but he did hear a rumor that Steven himself was involved somehow.”

 

“That’s a big hint,” Blaise commented. “If Steven himself was involved, then if it wasn’t him, the actual mastermind is someone powerful. Anything else?”

 

“He seemed like he was warned months in advance that he’d have to do it, and was put in charge of finding a convenient time to do it. He apparently got wind of that group of thieves’ plan, and decided to let them take the fall.”

 

“So this was a while in the making,” Blaise observed. “That gives us a timeline to follow. What was your mother doing a few months ago?”

 

“Uh…” Maxie started, racking his brains for clues. He knew that it had to be in there somewhere, but… “I don’t know, I think she had a meeting with someone? I’d have to ask someone who actually does record-keeping at the manor.”

 

“Hm…” Blaise fell silent for a while, seemingly taking in all of this information. It was strangely riveting, watching him just sit there, lost in thought. It was like he couldn’t respond to anyone or anything until he finished thinking. Like he was somewhere else.

 

Finally, he responded. “We’re still going to look into Tucker, but he’s much lower priority now. Anabel is higher priority, and Noland is probably out. Anabel is probably the only one who could really have enough sway to speak to Steven directly. We should also seriously consider the idea that the church acted alone in the murder.”

 

“And if they did…” Maxie started.

 

“There isn’t much we can do about them,” Blaise finished. “I’m sorry, but trying to bring consequences to the church is more likely to get us killed.”

 

Something about that statement left a deep knot of dissatisfaction in Maxie’s stomach. Something that Jacob wouldn’t stand for.

 

 

---

 

 

The next day, Maxie was using a rotary phone for the first time. It wasn’t that he didn’t know—he’d seen the butlers in the manor use them before—it was just that he wasn’t used to it. The fact that he needed to ask Blaise what the number to the Manor was didn’t help matters.

 

“Hello?” Maxie said, feeling a tiny bit exasperated.

 

After a bit of static, he heard a voice. “Yes?”

 

“Morton?” Maxie asked. “That is you, right? This is Maxie.”

 

“What do you need, Prince Maxie?”

 

“Do you know who my Mom was meeting with a couple of months ago? It came up in the investigation.”

 

“One moment…”

 

The silence that followed was mildly stressful, if only for the fact that Maxie was being denied information. Maxie gently tapped a pen to an empty page in his journal, where he was planning to write all of this down. Eventually, Morton did pick back up.

 

“It seems that your mother refused to have a meeting with Tucker Weavile and the church about four months back. She also met with Anabel Thievul the month before that.”

 

Maxie was silent.

 

“Thanks. I’ll be back eventually,” Maxie said, restraining himself from slamming down the phone as he hung up.

 

“God fucking damnit…”

 

Blaise and Joshua had apparently left that morning to do some allegedly dangerous espionage, leaving Maxie to call the Manor to confirm what he’d been unable to remember the previous day. Maxie would’ve been perfectly fine with that if it actually narrowed down the pool of suspects, but it really hadn’t.

 

He could feel the time being wasted. There’s no point in writing any of this down, Jacob thought. I’ll just tell Blaise it led nowhere when he comes back.

 

Frustrated, Maxie stood up and walked over to what could only be described as the conspiracy board table, where Blaise had placed the massive map he’d brought with him on the trip here. On it were several crossed-off names, but the area around Rusty Boroughs was circled, and several names were highlighted.

 

Roxanne Probopass, huh?

 

!dt Roxanne Probopass

 

The Probopass who is largely responsible for the Holy League of Heavenly Kings’ activities in and around Rusty Boroughs. Often feuds with Norman, who she views as operating within her domain. Is also one of the larger actors in the church as a whole.

 

She does sound pretty important… Jacob thought. I don’t really see how she’s more important than Steven, though.

 

What am I saying? She reports directly to Steven. I think. Of course she’s less important!

 

But we’re in Rusty Boroughs.

 

…I’m probably overthinking this.

 

Still unable to shake that lingering frustration from the non-clue he’d gotten from Morton, he walked over to the counter, picked up his journal, and headed over to his room. After shoving it in his drawer, he sighed.

 

I guess I’m just not able to do anything right now… Jacob thought. How do I kill the time, then?

 

Wally probably wasn’t coming to visit that day, since they didn’t really need him anymore. What else was there to do around here?

 

Maxie walked over to the living room, and started fishing through the drawers, looking for something, anything to quell his boredom. Eventually, he found what appeared to be a book about common chess positions, and a chess board to match.

 

“Well, I can deal with that…” Maxie muttered to himself.

 

Maxie somewhat haphazardly set up the board, and stared at it for a while. The black queen on a6 seemed to be dangerous, but it was also pinned by the fact that anything that could take it was protected. Maxie wasn’t exactly sure how one ended up with bishops on c4 and f4 with a pawn on e3, but he wasn’t going to question it. This was a thought experiment to him, more than anything.

 

I guess the plan for black here would be to take this one bishop with a knight… but then it just gets sacked to a pawn, so it’s more of a trade…

 

Maxie referenced the book again, but found he was having trouble understanding some of the terminology. It was a little easy to get lost in the sea of words and numbers, and…

 

“We’re back!” Blaise’s voice called out.

 

Maxie, relieved to finally be back to doing productive things, quickly ran over to Blaise. “Calling the manor to check records was a total waste of time. Mom’s spat with Tucker was around that time, and she also had a meeting with Anabel the month before. Also, it seems like the church was connected to the meeting with Tucker.”

 

“Tucker, you say?” Blaise asked. “That’s not nothing. It shows that the church might’ve been acting alone.”

 

Maxie blinked slowly. “How so?”

 

“If we don’t consider Tucker a suspect, then it’s unlikely that the church was working with him. It could mean that the church was independently annoyed at having to go through your mother, and decided to deal with it by disposing of her.”

 

“I… didn’t consider that.” I guess that shows the difference in experience between us… “How did you come up with that so fast?”

 

“It’s just a matter of being used to thinking like this,” Blaise responded, before looking at the counter. “I see you got bored.”

 

“Yeah. Having nothing productive to do was a little stressful. I had to occupy myself somehow,” Maxie admitted. “I don’t actually play chess…”

 

Blaise laughed. “I don’t either. I find the people who play it a bit egotistical.” He then gave Maxie a pat on the back. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk.”

 

“Huh? Where?” Maxie asked.

 

“Nowhere in particular,” Blaise replied. “I just thought you and I need to have a talk about where all of this is headed.”

 

The warm afternoon breeze felt surprisingly nice on Maxie’s fur. Maybe it was something to do with it being close to the start of fall, but the weather as of late had been beautiful.

 

“Lovely day we’re having,” Maxie commented.

 

“Days in the city are usually rather nice, despite the factories producing all of that smoke,” Blaise responded. “A good walk does wonders for the mind, too.”

 

“Is that what we’re doing?” Maxie asked. “Just… clearing our minds?”

 

“No. I did have something I needed to discuss with you.”

 

“Which is…?”

 

“Maxie,” Blaise started, “Deep down, you feel a deep anger towards those who would conspire to have killed your mother, yes?”

 

“Yeah,” Maxie said.

 

“And you long to bring whoever organized it to justice, yes?”

 

“Yes…” Maxie didn’t like where this conversation was headed already.

 

“What if I told you that it wasn’t going to be possible?”

 

Maxie didn’t reply to that.

 

“Maxie,” Blaise started. “I want to see those who would kill her punished as well. But sometimes, life is unfair.”

 

“What are you saying?”

 

“I’m saying that it might not be possible to bring them to justice,” Blaise replied. “As we’ve been following the trail of evidence that started yesterday, more and more signs are pointing to the potential of the church acting alone.”

 

“And?” Maxie said. “What’s so scary about them?”

 

Blaise simply sighed. “Maxie, with anyone else, you’d just be taking down a single person. People are vulnerable, and have weaknesses. They can be isolated. But the church is an institution. They’ve got their tendrils everywhere in the isles, more than even the king, and they’d be able to come after you hard. Do you remember what I said about them having a lot of leverage?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“It’s widely speculated that the church has power over the king himself. In multiple instances, there’s been incidents where the church managed to get the king to declare someone a criminal because they disliked them.”

 

“…Really?” Maxie asked.

 

“Yes, really,” Blaise replied. “If there is anyone we can do pretty much nothing about, it’s the church.”

 

Maxie was silent for a long time. Something about this entire discussion made a pit form in his stomach.

“Maxie?” Blaise asked.

 

“Yes?”

 

“In the event that it really is the church, can you promise me something?”

 

“What?”

 

“Don’t get hotheaded and try to go after them yourself. It will only end badly.”

 

Maxie was silent again. He didn’t want to make a promise like that, but it was hard to argue. “…Alright,” Maxie said. “I’ll try.”

 

Seemingly satisfied with this response, Blaise nodded. “Good. Please try your hardest.”

 

Maxie sighed. “I will.”

 

For a while, Blaise and Maxie kept walking in that same direction, filling the time with small talk. Eventually, though, they came across a Probopass, hogging the narrow alleyway.

 

“Uh, excuse us,” Blaise said. “We’re trying to go this way?”

“And?” a surprisingly deep, feminine voice responded. “I don’t see anywhere to go around here.”

 

“What are you even saying?” Maxie asked. “Look, we—”

“You’re speaking to Roxanne Probopass,” the Probopass replied. “You will treat me with respect.”

 

“Erm…” Maxie started. What a coincidence. Joshua should still be nearby. Maybe we can get him to read her mind? “What brings you here?”

 

“I am minding my own business, and you should too,” Roxanne replied. “Take another route. I was trying to find somewhere quiet.”

 

Maxie didn’t know how to respond to that, except by looking at Blaise, who had an unreadable expression.

 

“Apologies,” Blaise replied. “We’ll be on our way shortly,” he said, nudging Maxie.

 

There was an awkward pause.

 

Finally, Roxanne blinked, and then turned around. “You’re in luck, boys. I’m actually needed somewhere.” She then left without saying another word, as if she’d explained anything.

 

“Well, that was strange,” Maxie observed. “Was that the real Roxanne?”

 

“Most likely,” Blaise replied. “She always behaves like that. I think it’s because she knows she can’t be touched easily, so she can get away with quite a bit.”

 

Maxie stared at the empty space where the Probopass was. I could probably get more now, right?

 

Once they were inside, Maxie went into his room, and closed the door behind him.

 

!dt Roxanne Probopass

 

Roxanne Probopass

Age: 28

Does not Qualify for Typing Magic

Ability: Magnet Pull

• Allows the user to slow down steel types and influence their movements.

Constitution -> 6/10

Physical power -> 6/10

Physical resistance -> 9/10

Special power -> 4/10

Special resistance -> 8/10

Agility ->3/10

Stamina -> 5/10

Intelligence -> 4/10

Charisma -> 2/10

 

Known moves:

• Magnet rise
• Block
• Harden
• Rock throw
• Iron defense
• Tri attack
• Smack down
• Thunder wave
• Rest
• Explosion
• Rock slide
• Stone edge
• Body press
• Sandstorm
• Earthquake
• Bulldoze

 

The Probopass who is largely responsible for the Holy League of Heavenly Kings’ activities in and around Rusty Boroughs. Often feuds with Norman, who she views as operating within her domain. Is also one of the larger actors in the church as a whole.

 

Wow, she seems pretty tough in her own right, Jacob thought to himself. I should start writing all of this down…

 

For the next several minutes, Maxie wrote down everything his blessing told him about Roxanne in his journal, down to the letter. By the time he was done, he’d filled an entire page. Now that I think about it, it’s probably not needed. I can just conjure this information whenever I want…

 

It can’t hurt, though, can it?

 

Now that I think about it, aren’t I kind of breaking my promise already by preparing for a hypothetical encounter with her?

 

…Can I even keep that promise?

 

Jacob couldn’t answer this question, so Maxie just shoved his journal back into the desk. If he didn’t drop it now, it would probably consume him for the next several minutes.

 

It would be better answered tomorrow, he figured.

 

---