Note: Introducing another character from the game who was not mentioned in the anime :) Most of the details about him are as per the facts in the game but with a few creative liberties regarding the timeline and events.
"That's all I could get!"
Irisu placed the bag on the table.
Jolly gave a slight nod and continued reading his book.
"Where's Lucia?" Asked Irisu pushing aside the mess on the table. She sat on the edge and glanced at the book Jolly was reading.
"Out with Elmo" He replied.
Irisu was silent for a few minutes as she continued to read the book from an awkward angle.
"Those are symbols of the Arcana right? What are you looking into?"
Jolly sat back with a sigh. It wasn't that he was annoyed by the intrusion but he was unsure if he should discuss his vague thoughts now.
Of all the people on the island, Irisu was the one person he knew, who would listen to what he had to say with genuine seriousness.
Of course she might laugh at him behind his back, but that wasn't in his control.
"When are you training Cecil?" He asked trying to sound interested.
"Ha! Why do you care? Asked him to go with Pace now and get acquainted with his team. Maybe later! Now, what are you worrying about?"
"Nothing. Just trying to understand some stuff. What about the others?"
"Stop beating about the bush!" Irisu rolled her eyes.
"They are all away now! If you have something to say do it now! If not, I'm going out to sketch! "
Jolly was silent for a moment. Then he pointed at the book in front of him.
"You are right. It is a book about the arcana. I was reading it again to see if I can make sense of certain things but it is only making it more confusing. "
Irisu nodded patiently and motioned him to go on.
"Irisu... Do you remember that incident from before? That house with the rouge arcana?"
Irisu blinked her eyes. It had been so long back.
"Not really.... "
"We encountered other Arcana there right? Atleast you remember that?"
"Yes. So?"
Jolly fidgeted in his chair slightly.
"I don't know how to explain it to you. So I'll make it simpler. The Arcana is effectively a contract. According to what we assume now, we host an Arcana. Clear?"
"Ok. I know. "
"But based on our encounters we have seen multiple people host the same Arcana right?"
Jolly paused and waited for it to sink in.
Irisu mused over this silently.
"Jolly... You mean to say... But that's-"
"I know. It sounds strange. Then I assumed maybe once a host is dead the Arcana moves to another. But there are so many discrepancies in that line of thinking too.
So the final conclusion is, it is actually a contract. Which means any number of people can contract a single Arcana."
"That.... It sounds strange.... It's like an infinite power then?"
"I don't know. Irisu, think about this from the other side. What if it is not us hosting an Arcana but an Arcana contracting us?"
"As if they are alive...... " Irisu murmured softly.
It wasn't that the idea had never crossed her mind. But to think that it was truly alive was quite scary.
"I experimented on this man before.... I don't remember his name. He was an.... insufficient host. But he returned later, contracted with the very same Arcana and using it's powers.
He was still useless though and rather foolish. But it intrigued me that the Arcana he had was The Empress which is the same one Yukino is contracted to now. "
"Wait Jolly! Are you saying they are related?"
"No idiot! Are you even listening?! The point is Yukino who was contracted to The Empress from when she was a child and this man who was contracted to it later; both existed at the same time!!!"
"How am I supposed to know?! I wasn't even there!" Irisu said sulkily trying to hide the bitterness in her voice.
Jolly softened slightly. He reached out and patted her hand.
"I don't really know what any of this means either. I was just working on it in case this comes back to bite us someday. If the Arcana truly have a life of their own it also explains certain peculiar side effects on the host. "
Irisu nodded quietly as she thought about Cecil.
"Jolly! Did you also recognise Mikino's power from somewhere? You had a strange look during that match- Oh wait! I have seen that skill before!"
"Yes.... You have. But I remembered someone else actually. "
"Who?"
Jolly didn't respond immediately. Irisu prodded him again.
"Irisu.... You know that Mondo was married before right?"
"Yeah!"
"He had a son, Joshua. You don't know him. But he was contracted to Justice too. "
Jolly trailed off thoughtfully. He then sat up and began leafing through the book in front of him, as he rapidly scanned the pages.
"What? Tell me!"
"I think..... I think I may have been wrong."
"About what? You are wrong about a lot of stuff. "
Jolly gave her a glare before landing at a page.
"Based on all the research so far, I had assumed that arcana contracted from birth are hereditary. As in how they can be hosted only by those who share the same family blood. "
Irisu narrowed her eyes.
"You idiot! You mean to say all of us are related?!"
"Just listen! That's what I thought! But with all these others.... The trio had it from birth; it doesn't make sense. Which leads to the conclusion arcana make the contract to the host not based on blood. "
"Forget all these new kids! Pace?! Debito?!"
"I contracted them. They were not hosts from birth." Said Jolly with a smirk.
"Liberta?!"
Jolly was silent for a second and looked away.
"What? " Irisu asked suspiciously.
"There's something.... You don't know about Liberta."
"Huh? He's not..... "
"No." Jolly wasn't sure what she was thinking but he knew it was going to be definitely worse than the truth.
Jolly wasn't sure if he should tell Irisu, but even if he didn't she would find out eventually.
"Liberta is Joshua's son"
There was no reaction from Irisu for some time. Then she let out a gasp.
"Wait! You mean he's Papa's grandson?! "
"Yes"
"Does he know?!"
"He... looks a lot like Joshua. I think he knows. We never talked about it."
"How do you know?"
Jolly tried to avoid her gaze but she leaned forward and tilted his face back.
"Explain. Now. "
"Joshua... Was a friend. He left the island with his mother. We kept in touch for a while but due to certain reasons he and Mondo fell out and I didn't try to communicate further either. So it was a bit of a surprise when he contacted me first. "
"When was all this?" Irisu asked hesitantly.
"After you had left the island."
There was an awkward moment of silence.
"Go on. That explains stuff. What did he want?"
"He wanted me to keep an eye on his wife and child. He didn't explain his circumstances; just that he didn't want to involve them in his current work and wanted to know if I can help with finding them a place. "
"What work was he doing?"
"I.... don't know. He was not an alchemist but a researcher. He said he wanted to keep his wife and child safe from his life now. I didn't ask too much.
It wasn't possible to let them stay here because his wife was a reason for the rift between him and Mondo. Instead I gave him a few contacts who could take in his family."
"The place where Liberta was rescued from..... " Irisu's eyes narrowed, "That was your experimental facility wasn't it?"
Jolly avoided her gaze.
"It was a place I was affiliated with. When Dante brought him here, I recognised Liberta but Mondo took him in and I didn't say anything more.
I think Mondo knows. He's far more perceptive than he looks. But all this makes me wonder....
If there are really so many people who are contracted to the same arcana, then it's powers and how it is used may depend on the strength and intentions of the host."
"Which makes you wonder if we have the 'best' ones here."
Jolly didn't refute the statement.
That was the truth.
And if there really are others..... What are they doing now?