The Fool and the High Priestess

Rituals and Memories

    "No one knows we're here!?" Pace yelled. 

    "Exactly," said Aiyana in a monotone voice. She dropped in an undignified way onto a cushion. She heard her mother's voice saying, "Posture, Aiyana Rosaria Serafin! You will act in a way that befits your station!" One little problem: She didn't care.

    Aiyana felt Alessandro's eyes boring into her back, but she had long learned to ignore the stares. She was the cumulation of two of the strongest magical families in history and heir to one of them, after all. Everyone stared when you had power and rank like that. She raised her head with dignity and said, "The reason Libertà and I invoked the Stad Ama is because we need to release Il Matto. The world was thrown into imbalance when the oldest Tarocco was sealed-" Dante at least had the decency to look ashamed "-and the price of the unbinding ritual is for all of the holder's memories to be projected. Libertà and I agreed that you need to know his past for you to actually understand him."

    "What past?" Felicità inquired in confusion. It was then that Aiyana realized that all of the Tarocco Team members, sans Dante, had no idea how Libertà was raised. Great. Just great.

    I know, right?

    Li-ber-tà! Aiyana whined, though she had no idea why. Probably because of his general annoyingness. 

    I am not annoying!

    "Keep telling yourself that," she told him.

    "Why, you-"

    "Awesome heiress to two noble families?"

    "Shut up!" 

    Everyone just stared at the pair of mind-linked Tarocco holders Jolly/Alessandro's mind was going into overdrive, trying to figure out what was going on. The rest of them had decided that Aiyana and Libertà were crazy and refused to think about it. 

    "Wait...." Jolly murmured. "This doesn't have to do with your trip to Ombra Rosa Orphanage ten years ago, does it?"

     Libertà flinched. Aiyana comfortingly placed her hand on his wrist. "Unfortunately, yes. It does. Now, do you mind? We need to release the seal." 

    "I will help you." It was a statement of fact. Let it not be said that Alessandro Serafin abandoned his family in their time of need, even if they wouldn't admit that they needed help. He could feel that Aiyana and Libertà's power wouldn't be enough, even with Aiyana's D'Argento lineage.

     Aiyana scowled. 

    "Aiyana, we should let him." Libertà sounded unusually timid, as if he were afraid of something. "I just want to get this over with."

    Aiyana nodded, and the three of them spread out. She produced ceremonial daggers. Jolly recognized the power of the materials used to make them. Gold for strength amplification and the masculine, silver for calming and the feminine. Steel for protection. Ruby for life energy, turquoise for the spirit. Alessandro's eyes widened as he saw iron swirled in some of the daggers. At his questioning look, Aiyana explained, "for protection, in case the magic gets out of hand."

    They used the daggers to draw a simple thaumaturgic triangle, and Aiyana proceeded to carve runes on the edges. 

    The three of them stood at the vertices of the triangle. They channeled their magic into the circle, causing it to glow red, then purple, and finally silver. Throughout this, the three chanted, "Hecate Dominae mysterii atrox iniuria ius vos voco. Summus sacerdos ex vincula relaxare stulte et volnera sananda sinunt."

    Nothing happened, but then-

    "Libertà!" The blonde had collapsed. Aiyana stiffened and crumpled as well. 

Thank you guys SO much for waiting on me! I don't know how ling it's been since I've updated, and I haven't found the motivation to type up Guiding Time: Mahouka, but my writer's block has been resolved! Hopefully the next chapter won't take half a year to post. Also, thank you to 1hiddendragon for agreeing to beta this story!