Four of Coins

Ten is greeted by the ceiling of the sanctuary when he opens his eyes once again. He’s back in his corporeal form, laying on a medical cot as a nurse tends to his wounds.

“Ah, finally awake, are we?” The nurse says as she continues her work. “I have to commend you, that was some impressive work you did. Haven’t seen many people of any race able to stave off desert beast venom the way that you did out there.”

“...Venom?” Ten asks. He hadn’t felt ill when he’d sustained the wounds at the beginning of the trial. Was it possible he was immune..?

“That’s right. Turns a person’s own power against them. Terrifying when you really think about it.” 

Ten’s stomach drops and his whole body feels heavy.

Illusions. All of it. And all thanks to his own ability to manipulate dreams.

Ten doesn't say anymore after that.

He just fights back the constant urge to vomit as silent tears well up in his eyes, threatening to fall if he moves too abruptly.

When Ten comes to, he’s in a bedroom that’s both strange and familiar all at once.

“Morning princess,” a sultry voice whispers in Ten’s ear as an arm wraps around his waist to pull him closer. Ten melts into the warm sensation of skin against skin while kisses are pressed against the length of his neck, slow and tantalizing. Ten closes his eyes again, basking in the familiar touch.

“Thought you had something to do this morning,” Ten mumbles, body still laden with sleep.

“Indeed. And that something is right-” a hand snakes to the front of Ten’s boxers, palming at the bulge that’s forming beneath the fabric, “-here.”

A giggle escapes Ten’s lips. The sound is light and bubbly and… foreign.

When did he last laugh like this?

The hand begins massaging him before any words of protest can leave Ten’s lips, morphing his breathing into moans and gasps of pleasure as he’s worked up until . 

“Feel better?”

“Hmm?” Ten replies with a blissed out hum, head too hazy to pretend to understand the question.

“You sounded like you were having a nightmare last night. Wanted to get your mind off of whatever was troubling you.”

Troubling him..?

“What did I say…?” Ten asks cautiously, his eyes blinking open to stare at the wall while he awaits the answer. Something is wrong.

“Not a lot - at least, not a lot that I could actually understand. You did keep repeating the word ‘trials’ over and over, though.”

Trials…?

Trials…

…TRIALS.

!

Ten rolls over to look at the demon behind him, ice blue eyes looking at him with both a notable confusion and a fondness that Ten in no way deserves. Ten’s heart drops into his stomach, his desire sinking into a pit of acid, ready to eat him up alive.

“My love…?” Ten says, his hand trembling as he the cheekbone of the face before him, his voice shaky. “I can’t stay here.”

“What?”

“I…I have to go.”

“Tennie, what are you talking about? Go where?”

‘Tennie’…? He hadn’t even been called ‘Ten’ yet… Not back when he was still an angel…

Ten’s heart shatters like broken glass as reality fully sets in, shaking his mind loose of the hallucination’s hold.

Ten doesn’t know how he got here, but he knows that there’s no way he can stay. Not in this lie.

“I have to go become the person I always wanted to be when I was with you.”

The demon’s eyebrows furrow in confusion but Ten ignores the expression as he takes the demon’s head in both of his hands and kisses him fiercely, like it’s the last time they’ll ever be together.

Because Ten knows it is.

The demon’s body disintegrates beneath his fingers until Ten is left kissing nothing but ash.

Ten feels a familiar presence behind him, an energy he still remembers, even after his fall from Heaven.

“Iophiel,” Ten’s former brother calls to him.

“Michael,” Ten growls as he whips around, rage instantly building up inside of him, boiling under pressure. He shifts into his demon form without hesitation. He doesn’t tower over Michael the way that other demons might, but what Ten lacks in height he makes up for in speed, his wings cutting through the air faster than Michael’s sword, bringing them face to face within a matter of seconds. Ten’s blue eyes bore into Michael’s, the feelings of betrayal, exploitation, and contempt all creating a vicious whirlpool inside of him.

He wraps his clawed fingers around his brother’s throat and shakes him, a shrill, feral shriek exploding from Ten’s throat as he squeezes so tight that bruises begin to form as Michael tries to swing at him.

Ten doesn’t stop choking Michael until he can see the light leave his eyes.

The world around him slowly catches fire, and he allows it to scorch every inch of his body until he fades into nothing but ash himself.

A guard rips Ten’s blindfold away just before shoving him through the portal that drops him into the middle of a desert. He stumbles to his feet, investigating the magicked handcuffs that bind his wrists as he walks in a randomly chosen direction. Whatever the cuffs are imbued with is suppressing his ability to transform - an intentional handicap, he presumes, due to the maximum strength of his Lunar Blessing.

The sun bears down on Ten as he pushes onward, sweat trickling down his face and gluing his clothing to his skin. He considers using his levitation powers to move quicker, but with the heat sapping his energy with each passing second, he thinks better of it. Trudging through the endless sands on foot is awful, but it beats not having any energy reserves for defense against potential threats.

The sun finally begins setting below the horizon, providing a drop in temperature that allows Ten to pick up his pace. He’s near fainting when he miraculously arrives at an oasis that he doesn’t even think twice about drinking from, his thirst too great for him to ignore. He continues to gulp down his fill until he’s met with a sharp, clenching pain around his ankles. He tries to flip around to see what’s happening over his shoulder and catches a glimpse of a giant beast at each of his legs, the two of them working together to drag Ten somewhere.

Ten struggles against them until one eases off his ankle and lunges towards his face in an attempt to subdue him. He blocks the beast with the handcuff chain, and when the beast clamps its jaws down there’s a shockwave that shoots the creature back as the chain breaks. Ten stares in disbelief, but only for a moment before trying to shift into his demon form again. This time he’s successful and he battles the remaining beast until it’s sent home packing.

Ten hobbles away from the fight, not even entirely sure where he is going, and he doesn’t get far before he blacks out.

* rolls dice * gets a 3

* rolls dice * gets a 3

* rolls dice * gets a 5

Strengths & Weaknesses

STRENGTHS
+broad-minded
+resilient
+justice-seeking

WEAKNESSES
-self-seeking
-opportunistic
-headstrong