Chapter 35 - Rising Action

Beatrice restocked the books on the shelves, hoping Maya would come back soon.

It'd been a while since she'd seen her or Peter. Work did get a little harder, with her having to manage everything instead of delegating tasks to others. But the main burden was the loneliness. With the both of them gone, she had nobody to converse with. Nobody to share memories with. Sure, the townsfolk were always friendly to her, but those kinds of bonds weren't the same. She wondered how they were doing. Did they succeed in their journey, or did they take a misstep through a forest and die? She forced the thought of the latter out of her head. Maya was an adult now. She could handle herself.

Just as she went behind the counter, a man with a crew cut and a peculiar looking box stepped inside the store.

He surveyed the store, holding still the longsword at his waist, until he turned to face her. "Hey, Miss, I have a question." His raspy voice betrayed his intentions. "Could I ask you a question?"

"Sure. What is it you need?"

He placed a peculiar looking box on the counter. "Would you happen to know anything about how to open this box?"

"No, I wouldn't. The locksmith's two towns over."

"Oh, I'm not looking for a locksmith. I have the key with me. But even with the key, I can't open it! I just have no clue! No matter how much I pull on the lid, it won't budge!"

"If that's the case, then there's probably a magical lock on it. You should take it back to its rightful owner."

"Its rightful owner, huh..." He took the box and almost left, before turning back to her. "Wait a minute... Miss, you look quite familiar."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"You look like a particular person I've read about before. Yes, your clothes are different, but your facial features are the same. Would you mind lifting your eyepatch for me?"

She frowned. "That's quite rude of you to ask."

The man slammed the counter with his hands. "Pull up your eyepatch, lady. I ain't asking."

"And I'm not lifting it."

The man grabbed her by the neck with one hand, lifting her off the ground. As he grabbed her eyepatch, she punched him in the face, knocking him back a bit. He unhanded her, shielding his nose. Her eyepatch was torn off, revealing her right eye: a bright blue eye, standing out in comparison to her brown left eye.

The man laughed loudly. "I knew it was you! Who knew the Lockpick of Burnan would be running a bookstore in the middle of nowhere?"

"Only my enemies know me by that name. Isn't that right, Ferdinand Jaw?"

"You've got quite the memory, Lockpick." He pulled out his sword and swung it, stopping right at the edge of her neck. "Now, you're coming with me."

"And why would I do that?"

"I need you to unlock that box. You'll break open the box, and I'll get whatever it is that's inside. If you don't, well... I still have enough men to raze this town down. Surely, you have loved ones here, right?"

She clicked her tongue. Jaw was many things, but his bark often matched his bite. "Fine. I'll go with you."

"Hmm? You accepted that quite easily."

"You're going to take me anyway. If I can avoid mindless violence, then I'll do so."

He chuckled. "Now isn't that precious? I did have a contingency planned in case you said no, but luckily for you, I can't spare the resources right now. Come with me. Don't act suspicious."

And so, she followed him, all the way to a camp hidden in a Hylokans forest.

. . .

After a whole week of unconsciousness, Peter finally woke up.

He opened his eyes, his mind groggy. He looked around the best he could. Maya held her rifle, surveying the land around her. Claire slept, lying on the side of the wagon. And Alanis was reading a newspaper, the headline currently unreadable to him.

He pushed himself up, groaning as he did so. He yelped in pain, his wound screaming at him to sit down. The yelp got the attention of everyone on the wagon. As the three women stared at him, he shook his head, trying to clear his vision.

"What day is it?" He asked.

Immediately, Claire pulled him in for a hug. He yelped again; she apologized and pulled away, keeping her hands on his shoulders. "Are you alright? Anything wrong?"

"Aside from this horrible pain, I don't think anything's particularly wrong with me."

"Good, good." She pulled out another healing elixir, holding it out to him. "Drink this. It'll help with the pain."

"Fine with me." He popped the cap and started drinking. Despite the different bottle, it still tasted like Granny Smith apples.

Alanis smiled. "It's a good thing you woke up. Claire was stuck in a bad place for a while. Never talked, even to direct questions."

Claire looked at her. "You didn't need to say that."

"But it's true!" Feeling Claire's stare burrow into her soul, she got out a baked potato, wrapped in paper. "Here, eat this. You haven't eaten anything for about a week."

He took it, biting off a piece. "Oh, hot!"

"Take your time. You don't want to burn your tongue, do you?"

. . .

After his impromptu meal, the three caught him up on what happened.

"Jesus, that's a lot. And right after we freed Alanis too... that's a lot to be happening."

Alanis leaned in closer. "Who is this 'Jesus' that you mention?"

"Oh, he's a messianic figure in a religion that exists where I'm from. It's a bit like saying 'By the Gods' here."

"That's interesting. I don't think I've heard of a Jesus anywhere in Deusterra."

Wanting to change the topic, Claire cleared her throat. "We're about to be arriving at Holdenville soon. What are we doing there?"

Maya chipped in. "We're going to the bookstore. I want to read up everything related to the Jawbreakers. I have a feeling we'll be dealing with them again quite soon."

And thus, after the wagon arrived, they immediately followed Maya to Beatrice's bookstore. She jiggled the doorknob. Strangely, the door remained closed.

"That's odd... she should be here still. Is she off doing a chore?"

"You've got a key?" Peter asked.

She fetched the key from one of her pouches. "You know I do." She unlocked the door and went inside to find nobody.

A passing elderly neighbor looked inside. "Oh, Maya! I haven't seen you in so long! And with a new gun too!"

"Hey, Mrs. Bodinger. Do you know where Beatrice is?"

"Oh, I do! She left thirty minutes ago with another man."

"Can you describe him?"

"Why? Do you need to find her?"

"Yes, I need to find her soon."

"He was a rather tall man. Brown hair and a brown beard. He had this box with him. Old mahogany box, I think. It was the strangest thing though. I always thought Beatrice had no right eye. But it turns out, she's got one! It's blue! Strange thing, isn't it? Did you know about this, Maya?"

Her face went pale. "Yes, I knew that," she stammered.

"Well, I have to go now. Good luck!"

She waved bye to Mrs. Bodinger, her body shaking slightly. She leaned her rifle against the wall. Confused, Peter walked up to her, letting her use his body to support herself.

"What's gotten you shaken up, Maya?"

"Beatrice... Beatrice is with the Jawbreakers."