Strength was a short woman. Being on the latter half of the height chart, only a few Arcana distancing her from the last place. Even though it was not visible from the wide dress she was wearing, she was a bit on the heavier side. As humans would call „chubby“. Her arms were only light in muscle, hence the card name „Strength“.

Her skin was completely white, as she had NEVER been to the Awake World. Her pupils were the glowing gold as in everybody else. Her lips were plump but like with Papissa, always kept a straight line. Though Strength didn't look as intimidating as her. Everyone said this was a fault of switching sides. Papissa was the one who should've had a neutral but caring face. While Strength, the deathly intimidating and frightening to many. Her hair was blonde and almost went below her shoulders. It was wavy, and often on top of it stood a flower crown of colorful flowers. Above her head floated an infinity sign.

She wore a white dress, the sleeves ended at half her wrists and the neck line was at a reasonable place. Below the breast line of her dress was a belt made of flowers. The belt wrapped around and then fell from the left side to the right end of the dress. The dress reached to the floor but didn't pool around.

Strength had a companion with her. The companion being the object of the trial that was about to start. A lion. Its mane was enormous and wavy, the red of his coat giving the mane a look of raging fire. Its eyes were a duller golden color than Strength's and its size was equal to a half-grown elephant. Inside his mouth was a set of needle sharp teeth. They seemed to have been always polished and sharpened after each trial that that passed.

Strength was currently walking through the desert with her companion. She was trying to follow Folle's directions that still went unclear to her. She was searching for any signs of human life. The sand shifted under her feet, but the footprints never came to light. The dragging of her dress smoothing all them down.

A glint of hope flashed across her eyes. A dome! According to Folle, these domes were where the humans arrived for the first time. She quickened her pace over the sand as she tried to reach the dome as soon as she could. Leaving her companion a bit distanced from her as it couldn't walk over the stubborn sand that fast.

Once she reached the dome and heard nothing, she speculated that they were already gone. She let out a defeated sigh as she looked behind her to see how far her companion was from her. As soon as it caught up to her, both begun walking again, in the search of the four trial goers.

Linh woke up in the sand. She bolted into the air as sand poured off her as if a fluid. She let out a sharp exhale through her nose as a bunch of sand and some mucus jolted out.

„Jesus fucking Christ.“, she grunted as she picked some of the sand out of her ears and proceeded to shake herself off.

'Guess I'm still stuck here'

She looked around her, finding only desert in every corner of her vision. She didn't know where she was and where the others were within here. So, she decided to wander in one single direction, hoping she found them and didn't die on the way.

She started going to what she assumed was north. She didn't know if there was even a north, but she guessed a direction and went with it.

After some time of wandering and the only thing in her view being sand, she was about to give up and lay in the sand again. But a dark speck in the distance gave her hope to go on.

„Hey!“, Linh yelled out as the speck grew bigger, turning into a figure.

„Oh, she returned.“, Rosa's voice that was soon heard was a neutral tone mixed with toxic annoyance. Oh God, they hated her by that.

„Yeah, bitches. Guess who came back with a good ol' stitched and healed stomach?“, Linh announced, obnoxious.

Theo seemed fine until she came back, he retracted back away from her and refused to talk more.

Linh looked around to see if Emil was fine. As much as she didn't care for neither of them, she wanted to check on their wellbeing, at least glance at them. She found Emil by the door of the dome, not too far from the others. His wounds seemed to have gotten stitched and were no longer visible.

'How about I apologize?', a thought came across her head, this was rather unusual. But, would it hurt to try and repair the tiny bit or reputation she had with the three of them? She started walking towards Emil, her steps rather stiff. Only to, in the end, get stopped dead in her tracks when an unknown female voice called out to them.

„Trial goers! We finally meet!“, Linh turned to see who was making such a ruckus.

Blonde hair, golden eyes, pale skin.

The first Arcana trial? Damn, she got her wounds fixed and now she must fight again.

„Please come closer, I need to say some things before we start.“

Everybody approached Strength with caution, still standing at a distance well away from her.

Linh stood excluded from the group. All them came closer to each other and left her at a large distance between them.

„It has passed exactly 24 hours since The Fool made the announcement of the trial's start. I hope you've prepared.“, Strength said. She held the lion beside her by the lower jaw and holding its head up.

„I apologize, but how did 24 hours pass already?“, Rosa questioned Strength.

„The time in this world is in its own will. You will find that when you look at a clock here, the time moves fast but can stop at random.“, Strength explained.

„I see.“

„Anyways, welcome to the Strength trial. One of the four random selected trials in your stay here. This here is my companion lion, do not get too attached.“, she said. Her demeanor turned back to a serious one. While talking, she let go of the lion, who lowered its head back and watched the four with burning eyes.

„The purpose of this trial is to develop strength in the trial goers. I know what you think strength is but think of other strengths you have on your own. You will soon find the solution.“, the group nodded along to the explanation of the trial.

„Please. Be careful. The lion is a part of the trial. If you get hurt and bleed out without getting healed, you all will fail the trial.“, she warned the bunch. Strength took a few steps back, pulling her lion with her by the tail, that as soon as she grabbed it connected to her skin.

„Alright,“, she inhaled, „Trial start!“.

As soon as she said this, nothing happened. The four stood confused, ready to fight anything but nothing came to them.

Strength stopped and cleared her throat, „Lionel, Trial Mode: Fifty-Seven start!“.

As soon as these words left her mouth, the lion that stood connected to her skin prior ripped itself off her. It took a running start and launched itself running in the direction of the four.

The group dispersed as soon as the lion was close and every one of them ended up at one side of the four directions.

Letting out a horrendous, loud roar, the lion showed its large teeth that now threatened to rip flesh. It took a side and dashed.

Rosa's side.

Rosa felt stress shoot up her as her skin felt like it had gone cold. It took moments for her to pose her palms up and shoot a fuming ball of liquid in the direction of the lion. The liquid hit the space between its eyes and burned through the fur. It exposed its chemical burned skin underneath. The acid was also able to drop into both of its eyes, leaving the big cat to fall onto the ground and let out a loud whine.

„Wrong.“, Strength's voice boomed as the whining lion disappeared into dust. At first the bunch stood confused once again. The confusion turned into thrill as two lions arose from the ground. Both were now roaring the same monstrous roar.

They both dashed towards Linh.

'No way they can reach me from here', Linh felt a smirk on her face. This soon proved to be wrong as one of the lions bolted right into the air and got ahold of her left leg. The sharp teeth tearing into it with maximal force.

Linh's smirk wiped off her face. It got replaced with a terrified shriek that pierced ears. The lion returned to the ground with a large part of her torn leg. The remaining stump bled, threatening to bleed out in any moment.

When Theo turned to see the sight, the vomit of mixed flowers, mucus and stomach acids hit the sand in seconds. He collapsed down to his knees, gripping at his throat. But, he didn't move to go help.

„Come on, Theo! Heal her or we will lose the trial!“

Theo didn't move a muscle. He didn't want to heal someone who attacked the most important person in his life in front of him. Almost leaving them crippled.

Linh found herself in the sand, blood pooling around her and clumping the sand on the ground. She was bleeding fast and would not make it if Theo wasn't fast. The other lion started approaching her now that she was on the ground.

Emil could not quite make out what was happening on the other side with Linh, but felt the need to help deep within. He took a deep breath as he reached for a knife in his pocket, feeling at its tip. The knife's blade felt ragged and had what seemed to be a hook near the end. He took it out and launched it in the calculated direction of the other lion. He prayed hard to all the fortune gods that he aimed in the correct direction. But he heard nothing, fearing for the worst.

Emil had luck though, as through the heavy breathing Linh managed to squeeze a 'Th..ank you...'. The lion coming towards her didn't let out a sound when the blade buried itself in the back of its skull. It collapsed onto its side.

„Wrong!“, three lions came from the ashes, now making it a pack of four lions.

„Come on, Theo!“, Rosa yelled, seeing that the trial was soon to failed if he didn't do something. „Don't you know what happens if we fail?! If Emil forgave her, you sure do have the power to, too!“

This gave Theo a shiver. His eyes widened as he yanked the biggest possible flower from the puddle and ran towards Linh.

To everyone's surprise, the lions didn't dash at him. They went back in Rosa's direction instead.

„I'll distract them!“, she yelled out as she ran as far as she could, the lions chasing at her tail.

Theo stumbled over to Linh, shooting a glare at her but at the same time feeling rather sorry for her. He put the big petal over the missing flesh, managing to stop the bleeding. He reached into a large pocket in his new shirt, taking out a handful of dried petals. As he put the petals onto eachother, they morphed into skin tissue. Soon enough the leg was back intact and Linh was back in the air.

„Thanks Theo“, Linh thanked him, for the first time since they actually appeared here.

„We have a problem!“, a yell from Rosa bought everyone's attention to her. Behind her ran a whole crowd of around ten to twenty lions.

„Oh my God.“, Emil uttered, able to make out many brown spots that he guessed were lions. A ton of lions.

„The answer does not lay in violence, how come you haven't realized yet?“, Strength yelled at the group.

Rosa was getting closer and closer. If the group didn't think of an alternate strength to use, they would fail the trial and end up who knows where.

„Use something you never would when you battled a lion in your world. Do not use strength to conquer a lion, but something else.“, Strength yelled once again.

The lions were close now and everyone was losing hope.

As Theo heard the last words that came from Strength, there was a flash of something in his mind.

'Fear'

Theo had it all connected now. Sure, they had physical strength, but what about the strength of overcoming fears? Strength it takes to change something mentally?

Theo took a deep breath. It was now or never.

„Rosa! Run towards me!“, he yelled at Rosa, who was currently running away from the group.

„What do you mean? That is pretty much suicide on the spot!“, she shouted back, not wanting to turn in his direction.

„I have the conclusion to the trial. Trust me. Please!“, he replied. Theo was confident in this conclusion.

Rosa sighed, it was visible that she felt distressed even from that far away. She took a sharp turn, almost stopping because of a jumping lion that aimed right at her left leg.

„I'm sorry, Theo!“, she said when she got close enough to him. Taking a sharp turn to the right and letting him get swarmed by the lions.

Rosa stopped in her tracks.

She and Emil stood devastated, he was dead for sure.

„I congratulate you, Theo.“, Strength said, clapping her hands as she walked into the middle of them.

„What? What do you mean congratulate him?! He is dead for sure now, those lions mauled him to death as soon as they got to him!“, Rosa snarled at the Arcana. Strength stood there, calm as ever.

She walked up towards the swarm of lions, putting her palm on one of the lion's backs. The lion crumbled under her palm, turning into the same kind of ash it rose from. After the first, all the lions crumbled together, leaving everyone to see Theo in the middle of the ashes.

He was squatting down, his face and hands covered in scratches. He had his arms wrapped around one of the lions that didn't disappear, holding it in a soft embrace. His eyes closed tight as he pat the mane of the large lion.

„Theo?“, Rosa called out to him.

Theo fluttered his eyes open before they widened with amazement.

„Did… Did we pass?“, were the first words to come out of his mouth.

„Good job, yes you did.“, Strength said with a small smile forming at the corners of her lips.

„Oh my God.“, he sighed in relief.

Strength walked up to Theo, before putting her palm onto the lion's back. The lion disappeared into dust, leaving in its ashes a Siamese cat.

„Holly?“, Theo whispered as he reached towards the cat and pet it. The cat rubbed itself around his legs, purring.

„Thank y-„, Theo was about to thank Strength, but she was already gone.

Rosa watched Theo interact with the cat. Holly was his cat when they were teens. She knew how important Holly was to him, so she advised others to let him deal with it on his own.

Out of the distance, a black mist laughed in a maniac-like way at the whole trial.

'Oh, kekeke. Only two more~ Fight on, beauties.'