Ten woke up screaming in agony over Daphne’s death. It was as if he'd become Q himself, sharing the same painful emotions. Tears were streaming down his face as he tried to make sense of his surroundings.

He tried to move his arms but they had been strapped down to a familiar chair in front of a familiar table in the center of a familiar room. It was not only the room he had been trapped in during his demonic withdrawal session, but it was also the room Daphne had been subdued in before her tragic demise. His heart rate began to race as he recalled witnessing Q’s memories in the mysterious black plane.

His eyes widened further when he saw a familiar tabloid of pills placed on the table in front of him. He remembered what Wolf had told Q. About the pills being laced with a drug used for assisted suicides. But even worse were the feelings of repulse when he saw them. Almost as if he had inherited Q’s deep-seated disgust for pharmaceuticals.

“GET THOSE AWAY FROM ME!” Ten screamed in fear, kicking his legs wildly.

The door opened and there stood Wolf menacingly. He entered the room with Q slowly following from behind. His face looked serious.

“What’s the matter? You don’t want them?” Wolf asked in a monotone and cold voice.

“NO!! JUST GET THEM OUT OF HERE! I DON’T WANNA SEE THEM EVER AGAIN!” Ten screeched.

“Very well…” Wolf grabbed the tabloid and stuffed them into his thick trench coat. He began walking towards the door, pausing briefly next to Q who was staring at Ten with a stoic expression.

“It seems like fate has taken a different route this time around…” he said as he stepped into the dark hallway.

Another cold one liner from Wolf’s grand archive.

Now it was just the two of them. Q continued to stare at Ten, completely unfazed.

As for Ten, he had finally started to calm down only to be met with a disorientating migraine. He winced in pain, these were the symptoms of his NGF withdrawal.

“You saw it… didn’t you…”

“W-what are you talking about…” Ten groaned in agony.

“My memories… of Daphne… the black plane of consciousness… your inscription…” Q spoke in fragmented sentences.

“I-I do remember…”

“Burn it into your memory… the horrors of addiction… it doesn’t only affect you… it affects everyone around you as well…”

“S-sorry… I… I really am…” Ten apologized as he recoiled back in pain.

“ARGH!!” 

It felt as if someone had pierced multiple swords through his thick skull.

“You’re going to have to bear with it… painful headaches are a common symptom of withdrawal… It’ll be tough for the first couple of weeks… but eventually it’ll become easier…”

Q said as he walked away, glancing back at a disheveled Ten as he closed the door shut.

Eventually the migraine began to subside, but things were far from over. Instead, the sharp jabs of pain were replaced with a deep wave of hopelessness. Ten found himself slumped in a dark depression. His eyes had become sunken as he stared at his grimy reflection on the iron table.

He looked away in disgust. It was then that the shadowy figure from before began to emerge from the shadows.

“Look at you… pathetic…”

No response from Ten.

“Look at how weak you are…” it snickered.

Ten began to mumble under his breath.

“You need me… I can make you strong…”

Ten continued to mumble.

“Stop resisting… just let go and give me control of the wheel…” it said in a condescending tone.

Ten snapped.

“AH SHUT UP!! WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU?!” Ten screamed back in anger.

“I already told you… I’m you…”

“THAT MAKES NO SENSE!”

All of a sudden the door shot open. The shadowy figure had disappeared, making it seem like Ten had been screaming by himself.

It was Mag. He slowly approached Ten with a plate of food, he was looking down in shame the whole time. When he finally reached the table, he placed the plate down with a loud metallic clang.

He remained silent as he uncuffed one of the Ten’s hands with a device he was holding.

Ten’s eye’s widened with guilt. He recalled what Q had said; about how addiction affects everyone around you as well.

“M-mag…”

He searched in his mind for something else to say, but by the time he found the words, Mag had already turned around and hurried out of the room.

He was alone once again.

When he motioned his right arm to pick up the spoon, his eyes widened with fear.

His right arm had been replaced with the same metallic-like armor that many inhabitants of this world wore. It was then that Ten realized. That these sleek pieces of sheetmetal could serve as limb replacements too. A painful memory ricocheted in Ten’s mind; recalling when his right arm had been severed in his altercation with Dreya.

He continued to scream in fear. The right arm of the strongest hero in all of Elysion. The same arm that slayed countless villains across his homeland.

It was gone… replaced with cheap and clanky cyberwear. It felt slow, delayed and unnatural.

After some more time had passed, he had grown exhausted from his manic outbursts. At his lowest, he slowly grew more and more accustomed to the dexterity of his fingers. Finally being able to grasp the spoon Mag had left him. The food had become cold, but regardless, he couldn’t even recall the last time he ate. Another withdrawal symptom. Lack of appetite.

He ate in silence. Slowly tearing up from the delicate flavors of Mag’s cooking. Even though it wasn’t at ideal temperatures, he couldn't help but feel a wave of ease wash over him.

After a while, Ten had completely lost track of the time. Falling asleep every now and then due to boredom or exhaustion. His mind would wander around aimlessly, unsure of what was next.

Minutes turned to hours, and then hours to days.

Occasionally, the shadowy figure would give him a visit, but he continued to ignore its voice. Mag would stop by to drop off meals, and the Captains would frequently check up on his progress. Briefly letting him out of the room whenever he needed to use the restroom or go outside. 

The days seemed to blur together in a dull and meaningless way.

It was only after he had taken a much deeper slumber that he was able to recollect his thoughts in between the painful headaches and panic attacks. He realized what he had to do. What Q had taught him during the earlier days of their training sessions.

He needed to clear his mind and meditate. After all, he knew how weak he was. So weak that he had fallen into the temptations of addiction, even though he had been clearly warned. He needed to train his mind. So he could become stronger. So he could figure out the overlooming mysteries that this world has thrown at him.

At first, it was difficult. His concentration would constantly be broken by the occasional migraine and other withdrawal symptoms like panic attacks, dizziness and depressive thoughts. He simply couldn’t maintain his focus. It felt like he had taken one step forward and three steps back.

But what else could he do? Whenever he had the chance, he would try and meditate. The short sessions of reprieve began to span into longer episodes of escape. Eventually he found himself back in the world of Elysion, albeit a much more dull and sunken version than the one he had visited during his addictive crash out.

But it was better than drowning in a pool of sorrow all day long.

***

Ten had been completely exhausted after the fight with the blue dragon warrior. His body was stuck under the remains of cobblestone walls. Kal and Zena were calling out to him, their voices getting louder and louder.

“There he is! I found him!” Shouted Zena as she ran over, a limping Kal slowly followed.

Ten groaned in pain, his vision had become badly distorted and he could barely make sense of what was going on. Zena had finally reached him, summoning vines that wrapped around the heavy rubble. He felt the weight of the rocks being lifted off of his back as a wave of ease washed over him. His wounds were slowly recovering as a light green hue outlined his entire body.

“Ten! Is he ok?!” Kal had finally caught up.

“It looks pretty bad, my healing magic won’t be enough. We need to take him to the nearest clinic as soon as possible!”

Ten tried to speak, but what came out seemed like complete gibberish to Kal and Zena.

“What is he saying Zena?”

“H-he must have hit his head pretty hard. He’s just tired and confused…” She said with a hint of worry.

But to Ten, he was speaking completely normal. Why couldn’t they understand him?

They lifted him off the ground and slowly made their way towards the nearest settlement with the help of Zena’s plant magic. Ten tried his hardest to remain conscious. To take in the familiar sights of the world he once belonged. But it was no use. He was slowly but surely slipping away. Just as he was about to pass out, there was a lone hooded figure standing in the middle of their path. He only caught a short glimpse of her face. It was a woman and for some reason she seemed familiar. Her words echoed in the back of his head as he finally lost consciousness.

She said, “Time to return back to the Fourth, Ten… Stay strong… and believe in them… believe in our promise…”

It was Ikara.

***

“Hey…”

No response.

“Hey! Wake up!”

“Is he alive?”

“He’s still breathing… Maybe he’s just tired.”

“He’s probably meditating…”

Ten’s eyes suddenly opened.

“Eep!” Naomi jolted upwards in surprise.

“Thank god… You had us worried there.” Mag sighed in relief.

“E-everyone… is… here…” Ten spoke softly.

“It seems like the withdrawal symptoms have somewhat subsided.” Said Q pushing up his glasses.

“B-but… You all seemed so cold… everyone… seems so different now…”

“Paranoia…” Wolf interjected.

“What?”

“It’s one of the symptoms of withdrawal. You begin to have feelings of alienation, making it seem like everyone has something against you.”

“You were quite vicious the other day, you know?” Q added.

“I’ve noticed that you’ve begun meditating again… the last couple of days, you were unresponsive when I came to check on you.” Wolf nodded with approval.

Ten couldn’t handle the situation. He began to apologize as if on instinct.

“I…I-I’m… I’m so sorry…”

Tears began to flow from Ten’s eyes as his voice cracked.

“Q warned me about the addictive nature of drugs… yet I…”

His voice began to rise.

“YET I STILL MESSED UP! I ENDED UP PUTTING Q THROUGH THE SAME THING THAT HAPPENED TWO YEARS AGO! EVER SINCE I’VE COME TO THE FOURTH, I’VE BEEN DOING NOTHING BUT CAUSING TROUBLE FOR EVERYONE ELSE!!”

Wolf, Q and Mag didn’t interrupt him. It was better if he could get everything out of his system.

“There, there…” Naomi said brushing Ten’s hair.

“I don’t know who you are and what happened… but don’t cry… everything’s gonna be ok!” She reassured him.

But her naivety only made Ten cry and apologize even more.

“It’s fine really… you helped me realize my own weakness when it came to drugs…” Q replied.

“BUT STILL! I HATE THIS! I HATE HOW WEAK I’VE BECOME!!”

“That’s why we’re here… It’s why we’re all here… We all have our own weaknesses that we have to sort out like Q said… Even as the Captain, I still have my shortcomings that I need to work on…”

Wolf approached Ten.

“You have a very special inscription, you know that? The first I’ve ever seen…”

Ten started to calm down a bit.

“I truly believe… with the Fourth’s help… you can become the hero you once were… perhaps even stronger…”

“I… can?”

“I’m certain of it… but you’re still very far… it’ll take time and patience… but you have to trust in the process…”

“But… I failed the training… if I can’t even get the training right… what makes you think I could do anything else right…”

“All of us have gone through failure and heartache at every turn… it’s also the reason why we ended up here in the Fourth… the weakest branch in the entirety of the AA…”

Ten looked at the other members of the Fourth who turned away embarrassed and flustered.

“Let me ask you Ten… back in your protocol… have you ever faced failure? Any hardships?”

“It was a difficult time when I lost my village to bandits but… even then it was still all a blur… ever since… thanks to the divine blessings that I obtained… sure there were some close battles here and there… but I always ended up victorious in the end, no matter how horrible my odds were…”

“It makes sense now…” Q nodded.

“And now that’s all gone… I’m left with nothing…”

“With a protocol like that… no wonder why you’ve been struggling so much…” Mag added.

Wolf clapped his hands together.

“Let’s have a change of pace then… let’s put the third phase of your training on pause for now…”

“What?” Ten looked confused.

“I’ve been taking the wrong approach to all of this and I apologize. Trying to force your neural potential to increase usually doesn’t end well, especially when your mind is not well-prepared. What you’re lacking right now is ‘the why.’”

“The why?”

“Why are we doing all of this?”

“Didn’t you say it was to fight against the AA?”

“The bigger picture, yes… but I’m talking more technically. Why did your addiction form and what caused it? Why do we train the way we do to increase neural potential? But most importantly, what exactly is neural potential, how does it work and why is it so important. A mage can’t cast powerful spells if they have no idea how magic works in the first place right?”

What Wolf was saying made some sense. There were still so many aspects of this world that Ten was oblivious to. He had been completely tunnel visioned on trying to become stronger for the sake of reuniting with Zena and Kal. So much so, that he had completely neglected the rules and foundations of this world. Up until now, he had just been winging it.

It wasn’t a bad suggestion either. Ever since witnessing Q’s tragic memories of Daphne, Ten had developed a slight fear of the drugs that had almost brought him to the same terrifying fate. He didn’t want anything to do with them for the time being. Not until he learned and experienced more.

In a way, it was as if he had received a portion of Q’s own subconscious fear of drugs, like how he’d obtained a fragment of Ikara’s identity when she passed away.

What exactly was this power of his that Wolf was so enamoured by?