"...Libertá! Libertá! Oi!" The voice of Nova broke through the blonde's musing. "What do you want, chickpea?!" Irritated, Libertá snapped at the blue-haired boy.
Nova raised an eyebrow in surprise. "It's unusual for your nind to wander off so, even if you are Il Matto. Whatever. Felicitá asks me to fetch you, Debito, Pace, Luca, Dante and Jolly for an excursion to the I Piatti Travelling Theatre." "Eh... Theatre?"
"Yes. Papa told Felicitá to go. The theatre focuses on various torture techniques, so it's a bit gory, but Papa is Papa. Felicitá agrees, simply because she's interested. Jolly would love this." Nova sighed, obviously bemoaning Jolly's bizarre behaviour.
Libertá grinned. "Anything for ojou!" Nova cast him an annoyed glance before moving away to look for the others.
...….…
"So Bambina, we're basically going to watch a show on how to torture people?" Debito drawled, lounging on the seat of the carriage they were driving in. Pace was gorging himself on a bowl of Luca-made lemon pie that moment.
"Not exactly. The I Piatti trys to reenact any horrifying happenings in whatever timeline they're focusing on. It might be the present, the past or might be the future, but that's another story. Papa told me it would be about Nord Country and Regalo this time. It's an open-air theatre, so anything can happen." Felicitá explained carefully, noticing how Dante stiffened beside Jolly.
Libertá waved his arms. "Whoopee! I can't wait to watch it!"
...
The Arcana Famiglia filed in the front seats, with Nova leading, Jolly the last person to sit. Pace was still gobbling, but now on a bowl of lasagna. Luca was fussing over Felicitá and Debito was talking with Dante, pointedly trying to ignore Jolly's quiet snickers.
Suddenly the curtains swished open. The audience immediately shushed, all anticipating the start. The lights slowly brightened, illuminating the stage. Dante held a hiss at the scene.
The panorama depicts an orphanage, 'Casa Nero' sloppily painted above its door. The main character seems to be the a blonde young boy, a new member of the orphanage. It started of bright but soon, the acting turned so realistic it hurt.
Felicitá and her family watched in horror as the new caretakers at the orphanage murdered the elder ones and tortured the boys and girls until they bled. Food and water were neglected, cleanliness were ignored and wounds uncleaned. It was terrifying, but it was nothing compared to the torture undergone by the blonde boy. All for experimenting, they say.
During the early stages of the play, the boy was shown to be a happy-go-lucky and cheerful boy. But then, a caretaker discovered that he had the power to make his words come true.
That was the start of darkness for the boy.
He was beaten unconcious, his hair pulled until it ripped, irritants poured over him, poison injected into his body, his limbs pulled with chains. His weak body was subjected to so much pain, pain that even an adult wouldn't be able to endure.
But the worse thing was the boy was forced to use his power to heal himself all the time. The more power he used, the weaker he is and the harder he'll get beaten.
But one day, a masked man rescued him. The boy then unconciously used his power to burn the orphanage down, and the flames burned brightly, as if to set all the pain the boy had gone through to flames.
The play finally ended, the boy travelling far away with masked man, away to have his freedom.
When the curtains swished down, the audience stood simultaneously, crying, sobbing, yet clapping so hard. Dante and Felicitá both stared at Libertá, who was clapping just as hard as everyone, yet his eyes were so distracted and unfocused.
It remained that way in the carriage. Nobody bothered him, too busy talking about the play. Dante too, was quiet, keeping a wary eye on the blonde. Libertá was unnaturally quiet that day.
...
Dinner was good, as usual. Today it was pasta, with a side gelatino al cioccolato and limonata. But someone ate so little it was doubtful he really ate.
Libertá played with his food and hardly took a bite. He sipped his limonata and stared off into the distance, not partaking in any conversations at all. A few more minutes into the meal, he got up quietly and disappeared, probably off to sleep.
Dante, Felicitá, Nova, Pace, Luca, Debito all stared at the blonde's retreating back. Confusion was drawn on their faces, while concern was present in Dante and Felicitá's eyes. Jolly was solemn for once, eyes narrowed.
After the meal was over, the whole group excluding Libertá relaxed in the mansion's library. It wasn't far from his room anyway.
"Ojou-sama, what is wrong with Libertá today? He seems so withdrawn..." Luca inquired tentatively. Dante sighed. Felicitá looked at him and he nodded.
"The play just now was the depiction of his childhood." Sharp intakes of air resounded through the room, tension so thick a knife could probably cut it. "And Libertá is the blonde boy."
The silence was electrical. Nobody said a word as they tried to absorb the astonishing news they had just received.
Suddenly a piercing scream sliced the quiet night. 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Stop! It hurts!"
The scream seemed to come from Libertá's room. Dante stood up so abruptly and rushed so quickly out of the library that it froze the others for a while. Nova then followed, running. He lead the others to the source of the scream.
They burst into Libertá's room and came to a halt. The said man was thrashing on his bed, sweat soaking his body. Dante was shaking him, trying in vain to wake him up.
"Stop... It hurts... Don't... Why are you... Studying me..?" Libertá moans, clutching at his body. Suddenly he tenses up. "Ropes... Flames... No... Not that..." He continued crying.
Jolly wordlessly swiped out a small potion from his pocket. He poured a drop of it on everyone, and splashed it onto Libertá's face. "I don't have the potion to release someone from their memories, but I have one that can share the memories or dreams of a person with others. Let's share his pain."
With that, the Arcana Famiglia Heads of Series, the Family Advisor and the Director, all witnessed everything the Fool had gone through to achieve his Freedom.
...
It was a few days later. Libertá woke up with all the memories of his childhood restored. His fear almost returned, but the caring and loving faces of everyone around him made him relax.
"We, the Arcana Famiglia, accept you, Libertá, Il Matto, as a member of our family. Hear that? Family. Accept your past. We'll help you through." Mondo appeared before him, such pride decorating his face. His comrades all grinned at him, silently urging him to stand up and move forward.
Libertá felt content. Safe. And most of all, loved. It's worth the pain of his childhood. He'll get stronger and make sure his Arcana doesn't wreak havoc anymore.
That is why he loves his family very much. Arcana Famiglia. It's his home.