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Il matto
In the beginning, The Fool seeks his true path, his fate. There is no such thing for one who lives stuck in the same place, much like the heart is always caged in a bony torso. It serves its purpose, pumping blood through the whole body, never resting, following a rhythm and a script. If you asked modern science, it would tell you all takes place in the brain, and if one could replace every body part with mechanically functional others, it would not affect who one is. We think with our brain, we feel with our brain. If you asked Enoch O'Connor – but no one does, – he would tell you that free will depends on the brain, yet life itself depends on soaking bloody hearts, able to break and be mended. He was awfully sure he could not fix his own heart were it ever ripped apart.
I. Il Bagattel
The Magician is the first alchemist. His power lies in knowledge, his soul seeks the abyss hoping there would be more that meets the eye to it. Enoch is the first man to play God every day without losing himself in the process. He is wise not to use his gift seriously, he is foolish for thinking he cannot. Within every stitch there is a future heartbeat, and though his puppets are mixed and matched, each is, in a sense, unique. When he steps down in his little workshop taking revenge on life with staged fights, he takes deep breaths thinking of the future, or better yet, the present. He does not exist, but does anyone? Here he is more free than he ever would be, but is it freedom when there is no choice? So many questions could be asked, and he jots them down in a foul mood, his thick brows drawn together. He makes a habit of writing the current date, almost reciting 'Today is September the third, 2016', ignoring mulishly the old calendar proclaiming 'September the third, 1943'.
II. La Papessa
The High Priestess is as mysterious as she is sharp. She feels her wisdom coming from within. Much like Miss Peregrine, she knows more than she lets on. Smoking her pipe every moment of the day, because, after reset, the nicotine would no longer be in her system. When she winks at him, he feels as though he is finally allowed in a huge inside joke. He is vaguely aware of the same aura around him. They are alike, in some peculiar way. They are both masters of life. She is a time mistress. He is a resurrector, holding the very End in his rough palms. Her piercing eyes saw all there is to be seen, beyond this world, beyond age, cultivating an ever present manner of calm in face of imminent danger. One of her most astounding qualities was the way she held herself, well-fitting suit, golden pocket watch, like she was not the most powerful amongst them, and merely a stern governess. Enoch feels her femininity reflecting in her mother-like scoldings.
III. L'Imperatrice
The Empress is a symbol of health and fertility. Being happy with what one has will eventually lead to receiving more. He has a family, and while things are not particularly peachy, he could not fathom a life without them. His family had Abe, once, and they would prank Olive together, or scare the twins with gruesome fights between his puppets, but every once in a while, his eyes would stray to Emma's sunny hair, or towards her plump pale rosy lips. She would pretend not to notice, playing coy, looking like she could float no matter the heavy shoes keeping her grounded. Love was not one feeling Enoch held for an exact someone. He felt it would render him unable of seeing whatever needed to be seen. He felt it would expose him at the same time. He feared he would be easily manipulated, just like when he whispered in plastic ears and they heard him with respect. When Emma got her pretty heart broken she refused to let him mend it. Almost a punishment, more a reminder.
IIII. L'Imperatore
The Emperor is the king of kings. He is the final authority. Mr. Barron is the Hollow leader who has been chasing them for decades. His minions hunt and kill without hesitation. More than that, they enjoy it. They enjoy gouging fresh eyes brutally. Why eyes? Because they are the windows to the soul. Why consume souls, when one can eat hearts? Because hearts are never enough. Not when trying to bring somebody back, not when hating the world, not when falling dangerously in love. The Hollows do not know feelings. Enoch likes to believe he is not alike them when he wakes up to a void in his chest.
V. Il Papa
The Hierophant encourages morality. He observes and guides. He seems an estranged father who would always preach for whatever cause. Right and wrong, they are separated by a strong colourful line: those good shall be praised and reside in the garden of Heaven, those bad shall descend into the pit of fire from Hell. Never fall from Grace, never stray from your path. Do not lie. Do not cheat. Do not kill. Is it a sin if it does not feel like one? Yes, it is even more of a sin. Enoch does not remember his father very well. A tall man, always reeking. His hair was probably curly. He knew for sure his skin was deadly white. He died when Enoch was eight. He lived until Miss Peregrine showed up. Being only a child, he did the only thing he knew how to do. He cut open his father's chest and saw a human heart torn in half for the first time. It took him a day to sew back up. His first command was 'Be my dad'. Needless to say, it did not work. His appearance erased itself when Enoch took his heart back. He keeps it in a black jar on the highest shelf to remind him he had parents an eternity ago.
VI. Gli Amanti
The Lovers represent choices. To find a person to care for deeply. To find one your teenage body could lust for. To find one to marry. To find one who can love you. To love them in return. There always seemed to be so many choices, but in the end he only had one, from the cheesy moment Jacob Portman strolled in, wondrous confusion written on his face. Enoch cannot care less about him. Jealousy creeps in his mind, for various stray reasons. First, Jake has alternatives. He could choose anyone. Second, everybody is acting as though they have known him for such a long time and they could not wait to see him again. That is false. He is not his grandfather. Third, he is not his grandfather. He is his age, and he is from the present, born in 2000 or so, not in 1926.
VII. Il Carro
The Chariot brings the energy of self-control. Discipline is needed for assuming and learning from mistakes. Habits can be controlled through brutality. He does not punish himself for what he is. He is in control of his likes and dislikes once he accepts it. Horace had a most strange dream involving Enoch watching intently a khaki thick shirt, then lifting it to take a look at the label. Whatever was written there had rendered him speechless, mouth agape. The kids laughed, muttering something about Horace dreaming not only about his own clothes. Miss Peregrine looked at him like she suddenly understood a complicated problem and was waiting for him to catch up. Indeed, many resets later, as he was reading a new-looking book from the library, a word popped up in his mind and he stood dumbstruck on his bed for almost an entire day. Feeling helpless was not a mood he embraced, but, from time to time, he wished there was someone to take the reins.
VIII. La Giustizia
Justice relies on two revelations. The first one is about responsibility. Each person is responsible for their own actions. The second one is about equilibrium. What goes around, comes around. Enoch believes in both. When Olive brings Jake to the show his peculiarity is, he stands tall, an arrogant smirk on his face. He is taunting the poor sod, delighting in the way he falters, cautious and curious, all the same. She cheers as though it is not a bit sadistic, what they are doing, but she set fire to the pub not long ago, so maybe she knows it is. Enoch smiles cruelly when the fight is over, regarding Jake expectantly. He wants to chase him away as much as he wants him to stay, and this duality brings him nothing but pain.
IX. L'Eremita
The Fool becomes the Hermit because he seeks peace. Peace is not an option, no matter its light shining in moments of shared silence. Withdrawal is a break from the never-ending task of growth and matureness. The only light Enoch has reflects in the irises of clear eyes. He resides in a big jar, floating around in fluid, absorbing nutrients and electric impulses. He lives in his mind, then travels along his own body, fixing crooked bones and cleaning his lungs from the gas he purposely inhaled at the last reset, just to see if it would burn. He has his answer – had he the chance, he would truly live ten minutes in the present and turn into ash past eleven.
X. Ruot. Della For.
The Wheel of Fortune is a symbol for the ongoing cycle of life. Birth – a heartbeat. Growth – his whole existence. Fruition – never. Decay – his soul. Death – unattainable. Rebirth – not his own. Emma finally finds her luck. If he listens closely, he can almost hear her heart repairing itself. It is a beautiful phenomenon, and he is verily glad to feel it occur. His own bitterness is surprising because he had thought he would have more time. There are no small mercies in the cruel twist of Fate.
XI. La Forza
Strength is the ever present struggle in life that makes one stronger. No matter if fighting the beast or subduing it, both take an extraordinary amount of force. Jacob is strong. He does not look like it, but he could fight– and he has, – he could overcome fear with love and ambition. He seems undoubtedly selfish, demanding facts he has no right to know, messing with the children's feelings, disobeying orders and breaking careful promises. He is stubborn, herein lies his strength. Not in the way he mourns his grandfather's death by respecting his last wish, not in the way he looks through Enoch when he tries to get a rise out of him, not in the silly way he sways towards the azure fluid dress Emma wears. His determination outshines his rude manner or his complaints. His lanky body could muster up the guts to throw a good punch. His heart surely beats faster when he is scared, strange is that he lets it. Acceptance is courage. It would be cowardly for Enoch not to admit he admires him deeply, would bow in face of his greatness, at the same time knowing they could be equals.
XII. L'Appeso
The Hanged Man hangs not from his neck, but from his foot. His is a sacrifice to make. Abe wanted Jake to live a normal life. In doing so, he sacrificed himself to the very end. What he told him were perceived as stories, but they were his whole life, his second family. His gift was also a great curse, because he was the only one that could help, much like a chosen one, and there is a singular path for such beings. He tried, for his son, for his wife, but his morality did not let him deny duty. At first, to kill seemed an unspeakable act. After he saw eyes rolling on dusty floors for the first time, it became a dream. To banish monsters from this world seemed only right. To shoot them without trembling hands, a fortuitous occurrence. A monster perished, a child saved. A monster lived, a child fell into the hands of Death.
XIII.
Victor did not deserve it.
XIV. La Temperan.
Temperance pours the water of life from one vessel to another. It can mean moderation. Jake's idyll happened too fast. It can mean salvation. He runs because he is faced with a decision too big for him to think about. Enoch, strangely, can understand. He is suddenly full of anger, as though this has been the last drop in an already overflowing glass of tears. When one has options, the hardest thing of all is to know what to choose. When one has a Fate to follow, the only thing to be done is to abide by it. Somewhere in the middle lies the answer. For him, it is to fight for the others, because it would hurt him deeply to repair so many loved hearts.
XV. Il Diavolo
The Devil provides temptation. It is easy to forget the true nature of humans, ordinary and peculiar alike. It is easy to fall into a spiral of desire, to long for what could never be, to forget oneself in fantasies. He sees an arrangement of moles, like an undiscovered constellation, and wonders what would be like to drag his fingertips across them, connecting the dots smoothly, revering in the feeling of another's skin. Maybe his lips would be red ripe, and he would not be able to stop himself. He has never kissed someone. He wishes he knew the sensation. Enoch has never cared so much. When he looks at his sinuous neck, he wants to bite it. He is aroused by fear and pleasure, as though they were different. It is easy to forget he does not know him at all.
XVI. La Torre
The Tower crumbles, bricks and bodies rain down. Miss Avocet has lost her eyes. They are being hunted by an invisible predator. Only Jake can see it. Enoch thinks that if they are to die here, he might as well die for his family, so he pushes him back, terrified, stabbing the air with a pitchfork, hoping for the best. He distantly hears a shout, he is lifted up in the air. He has never been so scared. All of his never's are quickly happening, and it seems life does not pass before your eyes when you die. How he manages to escape, he could not remember. Terror builds up in his veins. How they manage to escape, he remembers perfectly. Together, much can be achieved.
XVII. Le Stelle
The Star is the ideal and the inspiration. They have a boat now, brought back to life with air and fire. He was not needed. He interrupts Jake and Emma without a blink, because he is a mean lonely teenager. This mission awoke his heart, sent adrenaline in his veins, so he feels giddy. There is a shimmer of hope, and their plan is far from perfect, still, it is what they have so far. He could say with his hand on his chest that they will save Miss Peregrine no matter the cost. Ideally, none of them will die, and Jacob is so determined despite his own fears that Enoch might just hug him briefly and blame it on trauma instead of love.
XVIII. La Luna
The Moon wields an unearthly power. It brings illusions, building them up and dropping them from the altitude of clouds. The Hollows think themselves almighty. They dread their form yet smile when they are feared. To be unstoppable does not mean immortality. To be immortal does not mean happiness. Even the Heavens laugh at people who cannot see clearly. To be blind to one's faults is to be doomed. To be hollow is to not know emotion. That is sadder than anything in this world. One may think it is not important, but one cannot be a machine, only the brain left. The illusion shatters when they die, one by one, slaughtered by funny skeletons and special children. The road to salvation leaves no room for right and wrong.
XIX. Il Sole
The Sun reveals all.
XX. Il Giudizio
The Judgement acknowledges higher power and purpose. Enoch can bring back the dead. His purpose is not to. He must fight, avoid any and all circumstances in which one could have one's heart broken. He hopes, for Emma's sake, that Jake will return. He hopes, for his own sake, that Jacob will stay away. He is not stupid, or slow, he is only lonely and full of decades old angst. In the end, all changed and nothing did. If his mother were there, she would stroke his hair gently, whispering in a thick accent nonsense words to soothe him. He has found himself, but lost a part of him as soon as he gained it. Should that make him sad? It does anyway. He finally feels alive.
XXI. Il Mondo
The Fool has come full circle in his journey. Jacob finds them in a spectacularly complex manner. He stays.