In Secrecy, Dear (Pt. 2) | Act I: There is No End

"I'm home!"

"Oh how swell! How was your--"

The woman stopped as she saw the girl bring the boy into the home. Her face shifted rather quick. In shock, she commented, "What-- What is the meaning of this, Kiri?"

So, her name was Kiri, huh? It was a strange name to give to a female, but I wasn't complaining. My name was anything but ordinary.

I mean, I don't know what went through my parent's head when naming their child Deus.

"Oh, well, I found this rather poor boy on the streets and he seemed quite hurt. So, I wanted to help him so I brought him here to try and patch him up." The girl replied.

It was strange hearing that. Normally, you would hear it in such a pessimistic manner but there... it sound rather sincere and positive.

Then again... I'm rather a little bit experienced in the language of the frauds so she could just be faking it.

"How now! How do you dare bring such a vermin into our home? Oh, how will your mother react? Or rather worse, your father? They would drop you out of this home at the very sight of him!" The nurse exclaims.

As one can tell, I wasn't received very highly.

Upon further inspection, it seemed to me that the woman was a nurse. You can tell from the very black, very nun-like clothing that she wore. She seemed rather frail and between the youthful and the old ages as she had some rags upon the bottom of her eyes.

And just like any elder, she was highly skeptical of me and gave me a look of disgust and horror.

'Like the filth I was.' I imagined her thoughts of me.

So, on with the conversation.

Kiri then replied "Oh, you mustn't worry about it, ma'am. I have only brought him to help him with his injuries. Right after, he will leave."

Like hell I wouldn't. The second all my 'injuries' were treated, I will bloody fly my way out of this neighborhood, just out of fear of what her parents could do to me.

"Hm... I'm not sure of this. Your parents will be very upset of this if they were to ever discover-"

"Do not worry about it. Just please fetch me a cloth."

The nurse stood there for a little, and slowly, she walked away, still wary of my presence.

Phew. That was tense.

"Come on, then. You may take a seat right there, mister. I will come back shortly."

The girl then left me in the rural area of the house, entering another room to rather fetch something.

I was now left all alone.

All alone.

So as I sat on some kind of seat, I was left to wonder and process all the surroundings around me.

The house... just was filled with many artistic ideas and paintings. Like I couldn't really comprehend it all.

All of this seemed so... foreign and out of reach. And yet... I could just easily touch it.

Right here and right now.

But I couldn't do it. Not if I wanted a death wish.

Although that's up for debate.

And that debate seemed to shift as I just looked everywhere else. The home was somewhat cozy, yet abstract. It was beautiful yet eerie. I didn't know what to think.

All I know is... Is it even fair?

Why do these people get all of these riches, all of these delicacies and while we...

We get the sweet silence of death.

It wasn't fair, I thought.

But I had to remember. If there's one thing this disaster of a life has taught me....

Nothing was ever going to be fair. To suffer was to grow... or to decay.

But was there an end to this 'growth'?

For me... there might be.

There has to be an end to the ending of all things.

But will I live until the end... ends me?

Please let me live to see the end.

"You alright, mister?"

Awaking me from the depths of the mind, after a moment of surprise, was the girl. She had come back with some wet cloth, water dripping from the ends of it.

A moment.

….

"Yeah. Just roamed a little around my mind." I said, with a slight chuckle.

The girl grinned a little, and then proceeded to put the cloth into the forehead.

As she slightly dipped the cloth, I couldn't help but some kind of synapse.

All of the sudden, I felt sudden and could no longer hold as I clamored, all to reaction to the pain that I felt.

"Oh. Sorry. Are you okay, mister?"

It took me a while to reply, as I couldn't feel nothing but a sense of stun at the forefront of my head.

All I said was... "Not so much, as you can clearly tell."

"Apologies. I'll be much softer now."

And she did. Slightly dabbing the cloth across my head, I felt much better, only reacting to slight pains that came from them.

"Tell me. How did you hurt yourself?" The girl asked.

Slightly looking at her, I replied, "Well, I seemed to have tripped on something and hit the ground pretty hard. Must've been some kind of clutter someone could've left behind."

"Hm... Then you've must've hit something pretty dull as you fell. Your head's quite banged up, did you know that?"

"Yes, it is."

The girl seemed satisfied with my answers. However, she then came up with "Then, how did it all came to be? Why did you fall in the first place?"

Quickly, I said to her "Oh well, you see, I was running around the city, sprinting all along each passage and each corner. I was not aware of just how dangerous was the terrain at the time."

"Why were you running then? Were you running from a certain somebody?"

I then paused. I had to be careful here. I did not want to speak of the man. The butcher. I did not want to speak about of my deeds. Not that it was gonna bring back any good moments.

So, I just told her that "I will not tell. I'm rather uncomfortable speaking more of it."

"I see." She said.

For a while, we just sat there, silently as she continued to treat my injuries. As she did, the pain started to go away, seemingly fading as the cloth continued to soak up more and more of my blood. Until...

"There we go. All nice and dry."

As she finished, I put my hand to my front, and as expected, it came back, no liquid attached.

"Do you feel better now?" She asked.

I replied "Yes, I do. Thank you, miss."

Smiling, she took the cloth and went back to the room she had went before.

Probably to get something.

As I continued to wait, I then continued to notice all the paintings all around the home, standing up to inspect them all. Most of these paintings consisted of family members of the past, from knights to noblemen to even the women and children, although they seemed to fade into the background.

There were others, all depicting some people crying on the floor, some people being dragged, or just generally, some depiction of a skeletons dancing across the piece.

All of them seemingly revolving one thing:

Death.

And I was just confused.

What, in any right, would someone decide to keep a constant reminder about impending doom? Especially when they seem not to fear it at all.

Or was I just in the wrong here? Did the rich also were well aware of the plague? Are they as scared as us?

And if they were... then why aren't doing anything about it?

Why do nothing but starve the people of food and of personality?

Why?

"These paintings interest you?"

God darn it. Again?

"God darn it. Would you stop coming out of nowhere? You're literally going get my heart to stop by just doing that." I said.

"Sorry then. You just seemed so intrigued with these works. I didn't want to interrupt your analyzation of these fine works."

"Heh. You interrupt me anyways. Best to intercept somewhere not so up close to my ears."

The girl grinned a little.

"I guess not."

"So, what do you think of them?" The girl prompted.

I looked back to the paintings. And upon further observing them once more...

"They're depressing, that's for sure."

The girl looks back at them for a little before commenting "Yeah. They really are."

She then continued with "I don't even know why we have them here. It's bad enough that the whole town is shallow and dark. Why should our own homes be?"

Nothing of these paintings seemed all well and fun. They were dramatic, yet accurate depictions of what horrors we face everyday. They were guresome and horrendous to see. It was horrifying to see.

Then again, seeing this kind of content wasn't really horrifying.

"I just don't get these pieces. Why do they have to be so... demoralizing?" She wondered.

"Because that's what they're trying to convey." I said.

"But what are they trying to convey then?"

"Well, what else do you think? Art is supposed to convey some sort of feeling. Some sort of emotion. It shouldn't just be for portraits. This kind of art is supposed to demoralize this tragic disease. Because if it's not, then what's so special about it?"

"I see. It seems like you have an eye for creativity." She commented.

"Oh, I don't believe that just talking about this is to show anything of my abilities. All I know is that there is an intention for making works such like this. And in some way, I respect those intentions."

She smiled and said "Well, well. I never expected a street boy to gardner up such humility."

"I don't believe you would find anyone that could gardner up some humility around these parts, period." I joked about.

She slightly chuckled. I slightly grinned.

I think I'm doing good. Just gotta keep my head straight and try not to do anything dumb.

"Missus Liushad?"

The maid came back in after a while. She was seemingly really nervous, but at the same time, still really wary about me.

"Yes?" Kiri responded.

"Your father's here."

Wait.... Liushad? But that means.... NO.

"Oh dear. Mister, we're gonna have to send you off right now." She quickly respirated about as she started to motion me out of the house.

"But where will I exit?"

"You may go through the garden. It's much safer through there."

As I got ready to go, she then grabbed me and said "Wait! I didn't catch your name."

I then replied "The name's Deus. Deus Alwight."

"I rather enjoyed our conversation together."

"Oh but it wasn't much."

"But it was just enough. Will I see you again?"

"Oh, well, other than finding me all muddy and wet, we could maybe meet on some days at the park. It's got a lovely atmosphere."

"Then shall we meet then, say, 2 moons time?"

"If you want then, sure."

"Then I will see you then."

She then let go of me and at the creaking of the front doors, I ran straight for the bushes, hiding behind them. I then took a peek through them to find the perfect time to head off.

"Greetings ladies." A man bellowed as he walked in, putting down his garments and his things.

"Greetings, father. How was your day?" Kiri replied.

"Oh, it was just a splendid day. Yes it was. Today, we produced twice as more resources. Soon enough, we'll be all ready for the harvest."

"Oh, what tindings!" Kiri said.

"Oh, what tindings indeed! By the way, I have found this peculiar thing..."

The voices seemed to fade away as they motioned themselves away from my vision and away from me. Slowly, I went through the garden door (It was open. Thank god) and sneaked my way out of the property.

Since then, we have meet many times and have gotten to learn a little bit about each other. Like how Kiri's favourite flower is the daisy, because of just how pure it seems.

Kiri was a strange woman indeed. But that's what made her so perfect. And while we may not able to be together anytime soon, we have formed quite the intimate relationship.

And so as we grew in intimacy, we started to long to be together more. So, that's why, in order to be with her a little more, I have to go through this stressful procedure of having to visit here at night. Here at the home of the Liushads.