Ballad of L'Obscruite: Chapter 3 – Where Secrets Lie

Chapter 3 – Where Secrets Lie

I meet Lancetto at his house at night with my parents with me since they haven’t seen his family in a while. His house is just outside the city like mine and staffed with people cleaning and taking care of it. It has many decorations, paintings, and statues of political and religious saints, some of which are hundreds of years old. His parents and staff are glad to see my parents and me while Lancetto has a fake, uneasy smile on his face. While our parents talk and catch up, Lancetto and I go to talk in his room. He closes the door behind me as I sit down on the chair near his desk and look around the room.

“So, what game are we playing to pass the time while dinner is being made?” I ask, not knowing what else to say. “You still have to beat me in-”

“Oh, I have to beat you alright,” Lancetto says as he sits on his bed. He takes off his glasses, rubs his face, and continues, “When were you going to tell me? Were you going to tell me at all?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play stupid or lie to me, Timeo. You’re a faithful Catholic and should know better.”

I take a deep breath and breathe out.

“Okay, I didn’t really know when to tell you, so what happened earlier today was just me talking without thinking.”

Lancetto grunts and starts tapping his foot on the ground.

“I don’t know what to feel. I’m thankful for you saving my life, killing those criminals, and exposing the sins of others, but at the same time, you killed those people and many more in such…horrifying ways.”

Lancetto mentioning how horrifying my powers can be gives me pause as if I’m just realizing how scary they can be. I then say, “They deserved it and I don’t get to choose how they die. It’s up to God.”

“What? Did God give you those dark powers?”

“He did. It was after I beat my siblings within an inch of their lives and took care of a homeless person on the street.”

“You became a superhuman after that? L’Obscurité is blamed for all those deaths of criminals in the days before.”

“That was God’s wrath directly from Him. He wanted me to continue enacting His justice on Meridian and then He healed my parents. It’s been a while since I last directly heard from Him.”

“It all makes too much sense now to me. Your parents being healed and your thirst for justice and rooting it out of Meridian. Does anyone else know you’re L’Obscurité? Does Darcy know?”

“No, no one else knows. You’re the first.”

Lancetto sighs, thinks for a few seconds, and then says, “I guess I should be honored. Well, your secret is safe with me, closed doors and all that.”

“I knew I could trust you, brother.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now, to beat you in that game we still have to finish.”

“You’re on.”

Lancetto and I play video games and eat together as if we were kids again. It’s a nice time that comes and goes after four hours, and as per Affare Italian tradition, we go home with a box full of leftovers to eat for lunch and dinner for a week. I’m glad that the talk with Lancetto went well and he accepts my superhuman alter ego. With that bit of messy business done, I focus on my day with Darcy at one of the art museums. She eagerly asks me about the meeting yesterday.

“Tell me especially about what happened when L’Obscurité appeared,” she says.

“What can I say? It was horrifying, and yet, it was just,” I say.

“I see. Only divine justice can be both. I think L’Obscurité was sent by God, don’t you think?”

“I think so and subscribe to the theory that God is the reason why all superhumans obtain their powers.”

“Hmm. Yes, you really are an inspired person. Let’s go to the art room and make something with that vision of yours.”

“Already?”

“Yes! We must work while the memories of yesterday are still fresh in your head.”

Darcy takes me to a room where I can’t hear the noise of the museum or the noise of the city. It’s completely white from floor to roof and contains painting boards, various kinds of paper, and tools to draw with. Darcy sets up a painting board for me and gives me various tools to paint with.

“Paint a scene of what you saw,” she says.

“Okay, but don’t blame me if what I draw looks no different from something that a preschool kid would draw. I’m not that good at it,” I admit.

“Don’t worry. I’ll help you draw,” Darcy says as she takes my drawing hand. “Describe the scene for me. First, let’s start with the drabness of the meeting room. What was decided between you and Lancetto?”

“Basic deals to restore the reputation of the Affare family. They agreed to fund new job opportunities and expansions to what we own and we agreed to hold events at their buildings and give scholarships and discounts at our hospitals for their employees to begin with,” I say as I draw. “Honestly, I forgot what my businessmen decided because of the chaos that followed and I had to read my emails before I got here so I could tell you.”

“So, the scene is hardly recognizable and mostly taken by horror. We won’t worry about that then. What about L’Obscurité?”

“He’s…an agent of God, executioner of justice, knower of men’s sins…death.”

“He sounds like an interesting and dangerous man. It’s a shame that he’s presented as a self-righteous vigilante by the media and government.”

“He’s a force for good, whether they admit it or not.”

“That he is. There. I think that’s good.”

Looking at the image, I only see a man cloaked in the dark, standing in a scene of death and destruction, and a cross crushing a dragon.

“It’s pretty basic.”

“Sometimes it’s best to keep things that way. Overcomplicating a picture can make it look too busy and exhausting to look at. I like what you’ve created.” Darcy holds up the painting like a proud mom looking at her child’s drawing. “I think I’ll hang it in my personal gallery.”

“I’m honored.”

For the rest of our time at the art museum, Darcy walks me through it and only really stops at the interpretive art gallery to ask me my opinion on what the paintings represent. I see divinity, death, rebirth, suffering, innocence, and redemption.

Looking at Darcy to see if I answered to her liking, she smiles and says, “It’s a typical Catholic answer to take from these paintings. I see much the same, but the common theme in all these paintings is struggle. Conflict. Things to fight for such as the divine and innocent and the results of a life well lived.”

“I get it.”

“Do you? I find the mystery of it all more enlightening than the pure fact.”

Darcy’s words are profound and everything that she’s done has admittedly distracted me from asking her deeper questions about her beliefs and what she does explicitly, and yet, it seems like she’s giving me the answers in an artistic way. After a couple of hours in the art museum, we go to one of her family-owned libraries, the biggest in Meridian. It has the newest in literature and some of the oldest books, including those in different translations, including the originals in a museum part of the library that shows some of the most ancient and famous works of fiction and non-fiction. The first area that we look at is the mystery section which sits in between the romance and non-fiction sections.

“I love this part of the library,” Darcy says. “You could be reading stories all along this section and accidentally stumble into the non-fiction section without knowing about it. Reality can be more unbelievable than fiction, after all. What’s your favorite genre?”

“Thrillers, crime stories, and mysteries, so this is my section. When I was in college for a short time, I studied to be a criminologist since comics about criminals and heroes both fictional and real interested me so much,” I say.

“What about romance,” Darcy says as our hands touch while looking through the books. “It can be a mysterious thing. That’s why my family puts the two sections close together in our libraries. My parents met in a library like this and happened to bond over their favorite genres and stories.”

“Mine met and bonded while they went to medical school together,” I say, taking a book from the shelves, and pulling my hand away from Darcy’s. “They didn’t think they’d fall in love, but eventually they did because they kept running into one another, taking the same classes, found that they kept thinking about each other, and that they felt afraid and empty at the thought of being apart forever.”

“Love is divinity itself and true love is divine love. Do you think that’s why we’re together? Did God bring us together for that reason?”

“I…don’t know.” I shake my head as if shaking off a spell. “What’s the reason for this? What are you getting at?”

“Don’t leave me wanting with an ‘I don’t know’. Give me a yes or no because it’s only going to make me want you more.”

Darcy grabs me and is about to kiss me, but I put my fingers on her lips.

“You’re up to something and want me to fall for you. Why?”

She kisses my fingers, smiles, and says, “Maybe the darkness and want for justice is so alluring to me that it makes me fall for you.”

“There’s more to it than that.”

“Okay, then. I’ll tell you plainly. I want to work with you on art to inspire people to live virtuously and take justice into their own hands.”

“You want me to help you inspire more people to be vigilantes?”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, especially with how the vigilantes and heroes need to be legitimized by the government, so I’m not asking them to act outside of the law.”

“What about me? What do I get in return?”

“You want to expunge corruption from the four families and the only family left to ally with is the Geben family, right? I can tell you where Klinge is so the last piece of your puzzle falls in place. All you have to do is sign our contract,” Darcy says with a smile and a finger on her lips.

Already knowing where this is going to go, I kiss her on her lips and she pulls me in to make the kiss last longer. I push her away before she can introduce her tongue into it, but she holds onto my collar.

“I didn’t mention it, but our agreement could come with the benefit of romance. Your resisting me only makes me want you more. This is all so storybook.”

“I…‘signed’ our contract. Tell me what I need to know.”

“Such a tease. Okay.”

Darcy gives me the address of Klinge who is working at the docks today, and not just there, but an underground workshop where his family and allies meet. People know about it, however, it’s a secret club that only people trusted by the Geben family can enter and know when people will be there. I thank Darcy for the information, before promising to see her again and walking out of the library. Lancetto calls me and tells me to go somewhere private, so I duck into a dead-end ally where no one will eavesdrop on us.

“What is it?” I ask in a whisper.

“I talked to my contacts about the Geben family and I know where Klinge will be today. Even though Timeo Severe may not be able to see him face-to-face, I’m sure L’Obscurité can,” Lancetto says with a proud smile.

“Darcy told him where he is.”

“She did? How does she-wait…are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am why?”

My phone vibrates as Lancetto sends a request for a video call. I sigh as I accept.

“See? I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. Your face is all red and is that lipstick on your mouth?”

I wipe my mouth and say, “Don’t worry about it!”

“Haha! I was joking about your meetings being dates but-”

“But nothing! It was just…business. Closed door stuff.”

“And you’re the one who is supposed to expose scandalous dealings?”

“Shut up! It didn’t go beyond the kiss. Is there anything else you need to tell me?”

“Yeah, so back to business, not involving romance. Surely, she didn’t give you these?”

Lancetto shows me pictures of the maps and shares the scans of them with me through encrypted emails.

“No. They’ll help me know what is where in there. Thank you.”

“One more thing. I’m surprised Darcy knows where Klinge is today. It’s sensitive information that only those close to the Geben family would know where and when they would meet. There’s more to her than it seems. Since she knows where Klinge will be and many people in your organization, I have to check if she has allies in mine as well. I’m expecting it at this point. Has L’Obscurité found any corruption in her family’s museums, libraries, and guilds?”

“He hasn’t taken a deeper look yet.”

“You’re not doing a good job at convincing me that your time with Darcy hasn’t been just dates. He’s exposed all the corruption at my companies, but not at any of the Travail’s?”

“I’ll get to it. It can’t be that bad. She wants to make art with me to inspire more people to be vigilantes.”

“If that’s the case, you should look into it sooner rather than later.”

“Tomorrow I will because tonight, L’Obscurité will meet the mysterious Klinge Geben.”

Even though the Affare family is the most powerful one and most likely to be filled with corruption, I should’ve checked on the Geben family first. They have connections in all levels of society, and there are more middle-class and poor people in Meridian than rich, and the value of power is more corrupting than physical wealth and a person’s financial status can make them seem less powerful than they actually are. I get my driver to take me to the docks and tell him to leave until I call him again. After he leaves, I enter the shadows and cloak myself in darkness and enter them. While entering the buildings and traveling through the vents, I manifest myself in seclusion to see where I am with the maps that Lancetto gave me and start checking out certain spots, starting with an armory.

These people are already talking about giving these weapons to criminals on the streets and villains, making them easily recognizable targets. This is good because I need something to do to release the stress within me. I laugh, introduce myself, tell them their sins, and lock the doors that they try to escape out of.

“There’s no escaping what you’ve done! The blood of the innocents will be avenged!” I say.

“We give these guns to make criminals fight each other! They can kill each other for all I care!” one of the criminals says.

A mess of barbed wire appears around the man and crushes him into a ball.

“What of the innocent people who get caught in it? What about those among the criminals who could’ve been redeemed?” I ask.

“You can’t do this! You’ll pay for it, I swear!”

“Justice has nothing to pay for. Time runs short for your repentance and the fiery gates of Hell are opened for all of you!”

The people in the room say they repent, but none of them are honest. Because of this, I allow the spirits of the innocent to manifest in this room who were killed because of these people. The spirits grab guns from the room, shoot everyone in it, and then return to their rest in Heaven. Next, I turn my attention to a bar and dining hall that doubles as a meeting room. There, many of the lower-end criminals are discussing deals that would bring more people into its ranks and get rid of competition for the Geben family. Those who are overindulging themselves in alcohol start to puke until they die because of my power and I make those who are eating more than their fill choke to death on what they eat.

“Gluttonous pigs are found among the poor just as much as the rich. Both take advantage of the average man and are deserving of swift justice,” I say with a laugh.

“We’ve given those people jobs, ways to take care of their families and themselves! What’s so wrong with that?” one of the crime bosses says.

I crush one of the crime bosses to death in bars of gold that turn into flesh-eating cockroaches that go after the rest of the criminals until the insects are all crushed and shot.

“Sin kills the soul whether or not it’s done for ‘justifiable’ reasons. There is no good deed that can redeem them beyond repentance, penance, and never sinning again,” I say.

“We have nothing to repent for! We’ve done nothing but good things for ourselves and others!”

Starved, wild dogs come out of the darkness and start feeding on the criminals in the room.

“If you want to feed and help the poor, then how about you die for these dogs!” I say before laughing and leaving the rest of the criminals to be eaten alive.

Finally, I go to the last location where Klinge Geben should be. Searching through room after room, I don’t find the mutated man until I go to one of the buildings on the surface, working on cars by himself. He’s able to lift heavy machinery and party without any help and takes periodic swigs from a whiskey bottle. Multiple layers of teeth are visible on both sides of his face, his eyes are lizard-like, and his fingers are like claws.

“Klinge Geben,” I say from the dark.

He disinterestedly looks around and says, “Who’s there?”

“L’Obscurité, the manifestation of your punishment.”

“Punishment for what?”

“The criminals who you’ve allowed to operate within your family’s businesses such as the ones I’ve already killed downstairs.”

“Ah, so that’s the reason I hear so much commotion downstairs.” Klinge puts down his bottle of whiskey on a table. “Take a swig of it or I’ll get you a fresh bottle as thanks for the favor you’ve done for me. This stuff is like soda to me because of my mutation.”

“I don’t drink on the job. Hmm. I can see in your soul that you’re a simple and honest man.”

“I’m not involved with my family’s businesses besides helping the ‘lower’ workers. I like it since it isn’t headache-inducing like being in those higher positions. I just come in, do my job, and then leave, so I’m not guilty of anything.”

“That’s what you think.”

“Pardon?”

“You have a responsibility for your family’s businesses, and like I said, there were criminals just downstairs. You must’ve known they were there and know about the shady dealings that happen behind your back and under your feet.”

“I’ve heard about them, but that’s none of my business. The people who are involved with it are the ones you should worry about. I just stay out of it and they leave me alone.”

“And that is your sin. Sloth.”

“I’m no lazy man,” Klinge says as he picks up a car with both hands. “Can a lazy man pick up a car he’s put together with his own two hands like this?” I lessen Klinge’s power. He starts to weaken to the point where he struggles to hold up the car and is unable to throw it to the side. “What…is happening?”

“Nothing you have is anything you earned. The ‘accident’ that would’ve killed other men and given you your mutations was from God, the job that you have was given to you by your parents, and people fear to push you to do anything for the previous two reasons. You are the epitome of a spoiled child.”

“Fine…I get it. I’ll do something with my life and clean up my act. I swear!”

Sensing the honesty in him, I grant Klinge his strength back, allowing him to safely put down the car.

“Whew! That was close,” he says.

“It was. Your soul was almost damned forever and still may be if you don’t change,” I say.

“I will, starting with the scum downstairs. I think I’ll actually respond to those invitations from the other families that I keep getting, especially Timeo Severe’s and ones from the Travail family. Nothing says I’ve changed than spending time on charity, right?”

“Right,” I say as I leave the building while laughing.

With that done, I only have one more family left to investigate and one that I also should’ve been looking into from the beginning. Darcy, what are you hiding from me?