The Black Darling's Case: Luca Winner

A black chevrolet impala pulls up on the dark, quiet street just behind the Mulligan Casino. The waning moon is hanging in the middle of the cloudless sky. Two tall men in full black outfit emerges from the driver and passenger seat. The slightly shorter man with his hair tied in a bun swings his jacket he’s holding around his shoulder. “I'll stay here,” he says to the taller man by the driver’s seat. “I'll take care of Felix.” He adds. The man in dark suit nods once and turned on his heel. He headed straight toward a smaller alley with a poor, twinkling post light at the end of it. The way there is muddy. Holes with stagnant water are everywhere. It’s obvious the man hates it— as his perfectly polished leather shoes suffer in his every step, trying to avoid the said holes. But since there was not much light for him to be able to tell where the holes must be, he eventually would be stepping on one. He’s already near the door with a large man standing before it when he slipped on one, so frustration slips into his tone as he speak. “Would you mind..?” is what he said. His eyebrows are knitted together, with one eyebrow a little arched up than the other. The large man had to look up and gulp at the sight of the man's presence. He quickly pulled the door open and let the frustrated man in. Inside, the man wiggles his right foot— the unfortunate one— in attempt to get rid of the dirty water. “The street outside should be fixed by now, shouldn’t it?” The voice erupts from the other side of the room: a woman sitting by a desk. “Orphelia,” the man exasperated, walking towards her. The woman smirked at his presence, obviously blushing, as she pulls herself up a little further, leaning a little lower— a hint of cleavage on display. “Seek …" The woman cooed. "Hadn't seen you around since. From what I heard The Darlings have broken up, are you working solo now?” the woman in burning auburn hair asks, chewing on the bland gum between her right molars. “I wouldn't be here if we were.” The man deadpanned, leaning down in one arm, eye-leveling with Ophelia. "I'm here for your boss." The woman blushes from the force of eye contact. "Then, are you perhaps the Captain of the ship now?” She perks up, closing in on the man’s face. He could smell the mix of bubblegum and cigarette from her breath in this angle. He could notice her eyes glimmering with such joy— the kind he sees in every woman’s eyes he had met and surrounded presence with. The man sure knows he’s charming, and he gets a lot from that fact. “In the meantime.” The man called Seek straightens up. He lightly scrunches up his nose for a short second, trying to get rid of the woman’s tobacco breath. “Salem is still our Captain." Orphelia giggles and the man looks down at her, his eyebrow arches up, wondering what was there to be so giggly about. “I sure do miss the charms of your Captain, but I'd prefer it if was you instead." "What do you mean by that?" Seek raises his eyebrow. "You're more levelheaded than Captain Salem. He can be too impulsive, you know? And doesn't he leave most of the battles to you?" Seek clenches his jaw from what he heard. Orphelia notices the loom covering the handsome face of the man and chose a way out right away. "That was just a thought that crossed my mind, don't hold on too much on that." She chuckles nervously. "I wouldn’t hold you ‘round for long. He’s been waiting for you.” The man nods to her in silence before moving on to the elevator beside her desk. He clicks the last button at the end. The door slides open and he enters. He turns around and flashes the anticipating woman with a half smile. The door slides close and he instantly loses every hint of the emotion, going back to his straight face— the face he wears a lot. It doesn’t take long before he is already walking towards the door to the main office. He knocks with a pattern— a pattern only those deserving to enter the office knows: three slow knocks, followed by a fast one, two knocks, one, two then one. He waits five seconds before the door pushes itself open (it’s automatic). Cold toned light fills the dimmed hallway and inside it is an old man sitting before a table, seemingly busy with his nose buried in a folder. “You’re finally here.” “My bad, I had to get the main crew together before we could agree on one thing.” “Right. Is it safe to say you're the Captain of Black Darling now?” The old man asks, still looking through the files. It offers the man before him a sight: his own reflection, looking back at him through the bald spot of the old guy’s head. Does he use oil? I could see my face clearly! To get himself out of the trance, he clears his throat and replies monotonously, “That's what first mates become when the Captain is not around.” His eyes still on his reflection. The old man chuckles and finally looks up. “I could not believe Salem, of all Captains, is caught and held in prison. I'm quite envious of the bounty hunter. I bet that man is swimming in gold now.” Seek laughs dryly without moving his lips. “He sure is.” “Oh, so you know who was responsible for it?” “Of course.” Is what Seek replies. Theodore wanted to probe further but Seek knew there was no point talking about someone not around. “Anyway, the last time I remember, you called me for an assignment, not an interrogation about our Captain.” “Right, of course.” Theodore leans back on his chair and pulls the last drawer open. He takes out a long black folder (usually, important cases are in black folder) and The Darlings would always get black folder assignments from Theodore. “This is a 70/30 black folder case.” Theodore mutters, not loud but enough for Seek to hear. He licks his thumb before pushing the folder open. “Take your seat, please.” Seek raises his eyebrows. “Do you mean we take 70?” Theodore laughs. “What do you mean? Since when did pirates ever take the bigger piece?” “Are you seriously giving us 30? On a black folder case?" Seek looked awfully insulted. "The only thing you do is give us an assignment, and we do the job. We risk our lives, our ship, our identities while you sit here, just slacking and waiting for the gold to appear on your doorway.” Seek folds his arms and rests it in front of his chest, his piercing eyes looking down on Theodore. Theodore’s laugh fades into distance, and he turns his lips into a straight line. “You have a point there.” “So,” Theodore stops skimming and closes the black folder. “This means you pass?” “What pass? We never pass.” “Well it sure as hell sounds like you are. Captain Howl would surely be glad to take this.” Theodore grins, the kind of grin he uses when he knows he’s got the people wrapped around his finger. But! But this is Seek. One of The Darlings. The right hand man of Captain Salem. The infamous crew of the Black Darling ship, the best of South Mercedés. Their crew consists of 35-70 crew members, five of them belongs to the Notorious-10 pirates of the 30th century: There’s Seek, the first mate; the negotiator. Sublime, the surgeon. Gabion, the main gunner. Deedy, the navigator and Averdine, the main cook. Aside from the estimated number of crew members, these were the only pirates the police has information with. But obviously The Darlings is so much more than their ‘roles’ in the ship. They wouldn’t be called the greatest pirates for such small reasons. And Theodore must have forgotten considering that fact in this conversation. “Give it to Howl. If I knew we were part of the choices I should have just gone to Lilith first.” Seek casually adjusts the rim of his glassesd (some kind of habit) when he appears to be irritated. Theodore’s face changes. Grim washed over his wrinkled face and Seek caught a glimpse of it. This could only mean one thing: Lilith and Theodore might have the same black folder case. Seek smiles so little at that deduction. He begins to leave when Theodore spoke a little too loud. “60/40! That’s the best I could give.” Theodore’s hand is stretched forward as if he wants to get a hold of the negotiator who has halted. He looks over his shoulder and said, “Theodore," he sighs heavily. "Let me remind you who I am. I am Seek, the first mate of the Black Darling, part of a crew who only take 50/50 on black folder cases. Does that ring a bell?" Gabion unlocks the car doors as soon as Seek arrives. Before the man could enter, he throws in a black folder. He slips inside right after, sighing then shutting the door close. “Greedy motherfucker.” Seek unbuttons the top of his shirt. Gabion turns on the engine, his eyes trained towards the words plastered on the black folder. He reads: Case 3799 “Type?” Gabion asks. “It’s an Alpha case.” “And we are after what?” “Some kind of object and the person apparently keeping it.” “Hmm. A week?” “It’s going to take longer than that.” “Why?” “Lilith has the same assignment.” Gabion turns to Seek. The negotiator continues to speak, “Now I'm sure so as the other twelve mafias who called us are after the same thing.” “So you mean… the entire South Mercedés could be looking for this object?” “Yes.” “So that means this’ll be like the Ninth Wonders case?” “Exactly.” Seek nods. He starts to look through the window. “So it's time, then?” Gabion shifts the gear, the engine roaring as he hits on the gas. Seek nods. "It's time for the Captain to get out of his slumber."