The Black Onyx Pact (47 page)

Guillaume lets him go and tries to regain control. Then points at the door.

«Get out. Come back with Sibylle or never come back at all.»

«Guillaume, you cannot force someone to love you.»

«Well, it seems Claude he is succeeding very well in doing so! Go and do it!»

Drakkar walks to the door.

«Romain?» calls Guillaume.

Drakkar turns to look at him and the mechanic smiles slyly.

«I am a father-in-law who punches easily. You have been warned.»

Drakkar smiles back.

«I am a man who punches to knock down. You have been warned.»
 

“What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls it a butterfly.”

—
Lao Tzu

~

That evening, Guillaume and Alma arrive in a fine restaurant with crystal chandeliers, wrought-iron candelabras, lace and satin tablecloths, crystal goblets, violinists playing in a elegant corner and beautiful paintings on the walls.

A waiter dressed distinctly accompanies them to the table they booked. Guillaume pulls out Alma's chair and guides it as she sits, and the woman sits thanking him with a smile. Once they are sitting facing each other they giggle softly, excited as teenagers. They decided to tell about their relationship to all their friends and family. They are in love, they are happy. What could be more beautiful?

«
Madame et monsieur
, my name is Antoine and I will cover the service at your table for this evening. For wines soon will come our
maître sommelier
to advise you, based on your dishes choice.»

Alma looks at Guillaume and smiles.

«Indeed we need an advice about the wine, since we must celebrate a special occasion.»

Guillaume frowns, while the waiter nods politely.

«Very well,
madame
, I immediately tell the
maître sommelier.
»

He leaves and Guillaume is still looking at Alma, waiting for an explanation.

«“Special occasion”, like what?»

The woman smiles softly, staring into his eyes.

«Like a baby on the way.»

Guillaume jumps on the chair, under the reproaching eyes of the other diners. His eyes are filled with tears.

«Alma
—
I
—
I'm too old to be a father.»

«Well, it seems that Mother Nature does not agree with you since she allowed you to got me pregnant. And it also seems that your child does not agree too since she chose you as her father.»

They hold each other hands and laugh softly with dreaming eyes.

Here is what could be more beautiful.

~

At the same time at the cemetery of
Montmartre
, Nora is sitting on Aurore's grave playing the cello while all around the cats stare at her. Some of them are on the highest tombs, some others in front of her, some others lying on the graves nearby.

The girl looks up at the full Moon and smiles, feeling at peace, as every time she plays among the graves for his feline friends. That evening is a evening dedicated to love, so she is playing the most romantic songs she knows. That's strange, is not like her, but that night she feels inspired.

~

In that moment, Virginie is demonstrating in the streets of Paris with banners, shouting and whistling against sexism and homophobia. There are hundreds of people who march together to defend their rights. Virginie is marching arm-to-arm with her drag queen friends, advancing shouting words of love and singing her heart out. She had other plans for the evening, but when her two friends have told her about the event she didn't think twice to join them. Maybe it wouldn't have helped, maybe things wouldn't changed, but they have to show their frustration. The aggression against a gay couple few days before upset the whole community. Besides, they're French. They are the descendants of that ancestry which has always asserted its rights, up to the extreme, without fearing anyone or anything. Certainly they don't want a revolution, they don't seek conflict, they don't ask for anyone's head, they just want respect and understanding.

The motto of their country is one of the finest existing:
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
—
Liberty, equality and brotherhood.

It is for the liberty that they are not afraid to march, because those that don't protect their freedom are people destined to live in chains. It is for the equality that they are not afraid to speak, because people who are silent are destined to be forgotten. It is for the brotherhood that they march side by side, because people divided are people destined to be subdued.

~

At Bercy, at the same time, Nathan is attending a concert with two colleagues of Drakkar, whom escorted him as if they were his bodyguards. On the other hand, Drakkar has been clear: he could go to the concert only if he agreed to be accompanied by those two muscular beasts. He couldn't say no, he always wanted to go to a concert of that duo which he loves viscerally. It is a dream for him to be there with tens of thousands of other young people who sing and jump lost in the pleasure of the musical vibrations.

What a night to remember!

~
 

At that moment in the villa of Amelie there is a masked ball going on. The ballroom is full of people all dressed in eighteenth-century dress, as she requested. A sextet is playing a minuet while almost all the guests dance in sync, smiling and commenting on that lovely evening. Amelie is sitting on a wrought iron throne next to the great windows watching her friends having a good time and enjoying themselves like children.

A man invites her to dance and she willingly accepts, beginning to move with incredible gracefulness for her age.

«What a lovely evening, Amelie, you did it again.» says the man making her twirl.
She chuckles.

«Oh, isn't thanks to me that these evenings a
w
e so unfo
w
gettable, da
w
ling, it's thanks to my f
w
iends.» She looks out of the window at the Moon in the sky, and then at the big painting of Sibylle on the wall. That beautiful painting of a man dressed in black sitting on a throne with a naked woman at his feet. She smiles. «It is a lovely evening indeed, but I feel that the
w
eal magic will come at dawn.»
 

~

That night is really a lively night, a strange night. Paris smells of excitement and laughter, smells of Spring and hope. It can be heard in the whispers of lovers who hug on the streets, it can be seen in the eyes of the couples dancing on the banks of the Seine.

At two in the morning, in the Palace, it's beginning the Iris weekly event: an open meeting, a dinner with people from all levels of the Club. It begins this late because the Club started the
‘vampires month’, in which
for the following four weeks the events won't start before
2
am and it will extend till dawn.

In the large Baroque ballroom there are dozens of people all dressed with extreme elegance. At least half of them are wearing fine masks. There are people sipping champagne; chatting and laughing sitting on velvet sofas; talking in front of the great windows. At the bottom there is a small group of people that sings a love song, accompanying an elderly couple playing the piano divinely. There are people watching Asterix and Obelix engaged in a complicated rope bondage on two naked girls, tied face to face one against the other. The two girls are having a lot of fun, laughing and talking with the people around them who ask them many questions about the sensations they are feeling.

There is also Tarasque
—
elegantly dressed and masked
—
sitting comfortably on a black armchair, which looks more like a throne, with Nymphe cuddled to him while he holds her in his arms as she kisses gently his neck.

There are people kissing passionately, touching each other intimately, but when the atmosphere becomes too intimate they walk out going into other rooms to have their privacy. In fact it is not allowed to have sex in that place; that isn't a room for orgies. For that there are other rooms.

Sibylle enters the ballroom with Claude. He is dressed in a blue suit while she is wearing a sequin red shirt, shiny blacks pants that accent her perfect legs, and a pair of elegant high-heeled red shoes.

Tarasque loses his beautiful smile as he sees Sibylle with Claude, and Nymphe pauses her kissing as she sees Tarasque looking that way, she turns her head too and when she sees Sibylle she greets her with a smile. Sibylle smiles warmly as well.

Even Asterix and Obelix greet Sibylle with a smile, returning immediately to focus on the two naked girls standing.

«Caligula», says a masked middle-aged gentleman going near Claude, «welcome! What a beautiful woman. Funny though, I know you prefer blonde girls with
—
»

«This is my wife.» interrupts Claude, more to avoid embarrassing revelations than for sincere pride.

The man looks speechless for a second.

«Oh, what a surprise! She doesn't look like a wife.» he tries to remedy with those stupid words.

Sibylle remains unmoved.

«Tell me: how a wife looks like?» she asks.

«Well, you are very beautiful,
madame
, and ah
—
», he looks around in embarrassment. «Excuse me, I must go.» he says before to run away.

«You scared him.» giggles Claude amused.

«I haven't done anything.»

«Oh, yes, you did. That look of yours could intimidate anyone.»

Sibylle stares at him.

«So, you like blondes?»

«Bille, please.»

Fortunately for him a lady dressed in a elegant black dress enters the room followed by five waiters
—
also dressed impeccably
—
who push crystal carts.

«
Mesdames et messieurs
, dinner is served.» announces the lady.

Everyone goes to take a seat with a cheerful murmur.

Asterix and Obelix untie the two girls, help them to get dressed and go to sit at the table with them.

Claude pulls out Sibylle's chair and then sits in front of her. Sibylle is fascinated by the luxury of the table: fine china plates, crystal goblets, black iron candlesticks, narrow glass vases with red roses inside.

She counts the people sitting at the long table: thirty.

The waiters serve the dishes with formality, then vanish, leaving them alone. A quintet at the bottom of the room begins to play a jazz music to accompany dinner. The buzz that rises is very intimate. Elegant comments, cute giggles and polite phrases is what can be heard.
At the end of the dinner the waiters clear the table in silence, smiling often to those who thank them for the service telling them that dinner was exquisite. Here's what Sibylle loves of that place: there is never a hint of arrogance from the members. Not even from those of the Black Onyx Pact. Especially from those of the Black Onyx Pact, who in fact are the most polite of all.

All guests get up, returning to enliven the living room.

Claude is soon absorbed in a conversation with the gentleman who approached him when he arrived, so Sibylle takes the opportunity to go and talk with Tarasque and Nymphe. And soon also Asterix and Obelix join them. Sibylle hears that the two young men have been chosen as members of the Black Onyx Pact. She is really surprised and deeply happy for them. She congratulates and hugs them tight.

«How is Silk?» asks Sibylle after a while.

The two exchange glances.

«Silk understood that both of us felt something for her and she decided not to see us anymore, fearing of ruining our friendship.»

Sibylle doesn't know what to say, but she is genuinely sorry. Suddenly, Tarasque gets up going quickly at the door. Sibylle turns around and sees Drakkar just entering the room. Many persons approach him to shake his hand and to exchange a few words, and he is always kind to everyone. He is dressed in elegant black suit and
—
obviously
—
he is wearing a dark mask.

Tarasque comes to him and gives him a big hug, then says something to his ear and they both come to the others. Sibylle feels the heart beating faster and begins to twitch her hands. Nymphe's hand squeezes her shoulder, realizing her agitation.

«Good evening.» greets Drakkar.

Oh, that voice
—
So warm, so masculine, she really missed it!