The recording has ended, and the two were silent after hearing the voice of Lolo Juan on the recorder. Sancho is the first to recover from their trance and glance at the two phones on the box. No wonder it looks a bit off in his eyes, they weren't real phones to begin with, but an imitation to fool the eyes of other people without raising an eyebrow for keeping booklets. A phone is indeed more sneaky and a bit more crafty in terms of blending in with the current society.
"Should we even start the rite? I am a bit scared, to be honest, Sancho," Arcana said while her stare did not leave the phones in the box. She looks uneasy, and she is nervous about their next move.
"I am nervous too, Sis. But if we wanted to even carry the torch that our grandfather left behind, then this is the only thing we can do, and we have no choice but to do this."
Sancho grabs the second recorder, but before he can even press play, Arcana stops him.
"Sis?" Sancho frowned.
"Let's...let's take a break before we do this."
Realizing that Arcana is still trying to keep herself ready, Sancho sighed and nodded.
"Alright, but first, let's carry these stuff to the living room. I will also ask the ghosts around the house for any information related about the phone and the rite and if they know anything about it."
"What? You are going to talk with g-ghosts now?" Arcana stuttered after hearing what Sancho is about to do.
"Relax, Sis. They may be ghosts, but they are nice ghosts, and they are once people too, they just died and couldn't pass on since they still have some lingering regrets, but they are not that scary if you know them. Besides, you also have a third eye now, you should also need to get used to the ghosts soon enough, or you might end up scaring yourself every time."
"You are making this sound so easy even though it isn't!" Arcana clenches her fist as she glances around the white apparitions around her. Unlike Sancho, who can see the ghosts clearly, Arcana can only see their vague silhouettes, making them look like hazy apparitions.
Sancho grinned and tapped Arcana on the shoulders. "Don't worry, this spookiness will fade as you get used to them. Just take things slow," he reassured her.
"That doesn't help to reassure me at all!"
...
...
...
Even though Arcana is a bit reluctant to continue, with Sancho's insistence, they have decided to proceed with the rite. Grabbing the second recorder, Sancho press play.
"Good job Sancho for convincing your sister to undertake the rite. Even if she wanted to not participate, the enemy has already marked her as a potential person that is connected to our lineage. She will not be living a peaceful life as long as she is still alive. Therefore, we will instead fight back and have this enemy of ours repelled. Your sister will act as your support and the one who will help you in your future cases. Since you two are the only people carrying the pure blood of the last Albularyo.
We will begin the rite. Please prepare the materials that I will be mentioning here. Feel free to pause the recording if you need."
Sancho and Arcana looked at each other and nodded as the recording continues to play.
"Alright, first, the phone. That is our main catalyst and that will also act as the "booklet" you young ones will be using. Next, is head to my drawer. There is a white bone sitting there alongside a small paper attached to it. Take that as well."
Sancho quickly head to the drawer then pull the drawer open. There a lot of things present there like dried roots, bones of unknown creatures, dried leaves bundled up and many more. Sancho inspected the bones one by one until he found a bone that is sharpened. Aside from being sharpened, this bone is also currently tied with a small paper. Based on the color of the paper alone, it is clear that the paper is much older than him. Even the edges of the paper seems to be pretty much on the brittle side. Sancho didn't want to fully damage it so he carefully handled the paper and the bone with him and bring it to where Arcana is waiting.
"Is that chicken bone?" Arcana asked as she examined the bone that Sancho got.
"It looks harder than a regular chicken bone, Sis. But it is indeed a bone to me. There's also the paper as well tied on this bone. I haven't checked it yet since it looked brittle and easily broken but I think we needed it as well."
"How about we take it from the bone and read whatever it is inside?" Arcana asked.
"Let's listen the recorder first in case we make a mistake. It might be crucial for the rite if grandpa asked for this," Sancho grabs the recorder and press the play button again.
"So, have you all got the bone and paper with you? Good. Remove the paper from the bone and check the paper. There should be a drawing there that looks like a magic circle. Copy that and draw the drawing to the floor using the bone. The bone should be capable enough to draw on the floor. If it can't draw, then try to draw it with a bit of pressure to the floor. Make sure it is big enough for the two of you to stand on. Feel free to pause the recording and replay my message once you are done with it."
Sancho unties the paper from the bone and carefully ensures the paper won't be torn apart accidentally. He can tell it is getting brittle and one light pull can tear the paper to pieces. Once he unties the folded paper and unfold it open, the paper reveals a simple drawing. It is a drawing of the Star of David, with only the difference of having some symbols around inside the circle accompanying the Star of David.
"Isn't this the Seal of Solomon?" Arcana frowned when she inspected the drawing.
"You know this? Isn't this the Star of David?" Sancho frowned. He is sure that the one in the drawing is none other than the Star of David since it is an interlinked triangle and he have seen it on pendants and even on some catholic churches.
"I have read in some books that a Star of David will be considered as Seal of Solomon if there are some markings like Hebraic symbols and others included. And the Star of David, contrary to the belief, is not interlinked and only appears as two triangles together while the Seal of Solomon appears interlocked like the one in the drawing. It's often used for magical purposes or something like that. But I only read it once so I am not that sure."
Sancho sighed. "Well, that doesn't matter, we need to draw this symbol. Let me go ahead and do this."
Arcana didn't mind Sancho's initiative to draw the magic circle, and let the boy meticulously draw the whole thing. She just observe her brother do the task while eating some snacks.
Around half an hour later, Sancho is finally done drawing the magic circle. He took a bit of time drawing the star itself since unlike the non-interwoven star, the one on the drawing is a bit harder to do and some of the symbols alongside the star is also a bit hard to draw correctly. It also doesn't help much that he is using a bone to draw the drawing on the floor. It took him a bit of trial and error, and a bit of effort as well to copy the drawing from the paper.
"Hah...dang. This is a bit complicated. I thought I would have trouble doing it, but finally I am done."
"Here, have some juice and wipe off that sweat on your forehead. Rest for a bit while we listen to the next step," Arcana hands Sancho a glass of orange juice which the latter immediately gulped in one go.
Arcana holds the recorder and press play once more, allowing the voice of their grandfather to speak again.
"Looks like you all have finished drawing the symbol, yes? I apologize if it was a bit hard to draw especially since you guys are using the bone but it is necessary to begin the rite needed to activate the equipment. Now, get the two phones ready. That will be our main vessel that will receive the power that will be bestowed on this rite. Also ready something that can allow you two to prick your fingers as we will need a drop of your blood to ensure that these devices will only work with you two or only those who partake the same rite and the same vessel is used. Any needle will do, just ensure to disinfect the needle. The next part will be the actual rite process so pause it here and gather everything you will need."
"Pricking our fingers? Do we actually need our blood as well? I am not sure if this is actually some sort of witchcraft stuff now..." Arcana is a bit hesitant.
"Doesn't matter now. We are already knee deep on this thing, let's just go and proceed," Sancho grab the two inactive phones and place them both in the middle of the Seal of Solomon.
Arcana sighed but she didn't disagree with Sancho. She left the room for a few minutes before returning with a small cushion with two needles. Sancho recognizes the small cushion as the pin cushion she uses for her needles whenever she sews clothes. She also carries a small bottle of alcohol, a few balls of cotton and two band-aids.
"These needles are doused in alcohol so they should be disinfected already. Still, this will sting once we prick our fingers." Arcana said as she put down the small cushion on the bed.
"Alright. Play the recorder. We will need to finish this."
Arcana nodded and press the recorder.
"Alright, with the two phones on the magic circle, stand both of you on the side of each phone and ready to prick your fingers."
The two stand in the middle of the magic circle. Although nervous, they needed to begin.
"Now, follow my words:
"Vos a nobis expellimus"
"V-vos a nobis expellimus..." the two followed.
"quicumque sitis, spiritus immundos"
quicumque sitis, spiritus immundos..." Arcana gulps, feeling nervous.
"potestates Satanicas, invasores infernales"
potestates Satanicas, invasores infernales..." Sancho's sweat is already showing on his forehead.
"legiones nefarias, coetus et sectas."
"legiones nefarias, coetus et sectas..." the two are now shaking. They are not sure what the words they were talking about.
"In nomine Domini, liberate nos a malo."
"In nomine Domini, liberate nos a malo."
"Now, prick your fingers and let the blood flow, let it drop to the magic circle. It doesn't matter if it drops to the phone, let it drop."
The two looked at each other before they pricked their fingers. They both felt a slight pain after doing so as the blood on their fingers started to flow out of their fingers. They put both of their fingers above the magic circle and let the drop flow freely.
As soon as their blood drops to the magic circle, the magic circle glows and the phones laying on the floor floats as they glow and start to turn on. The rite is now completed.