#Jack sweetie I’m so sorry but looks like L*ona ji-JACK-ed your tarot day

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Twisted Tarot VIII — Strength

"Strong people stand up for themselves, but stronger people stand up for others.”

Strength, Upright: strength, courage, persuasion, influence, compassion

Strength, Reversed: inner strength, self-doubt, low energy, raw emotion

He is strong in every sense of the word, boasting both physical and mental fortitude. During moments of danger and distress, he displays his inner strength and compassion, choosing to stand for what is right over what is easy. When the world stands against him, he will bear his fangs against the world, lending his strength to pursue a righteous path.

Reveal the Shape of thy Soul...

... Jack Howl!

All his life, he had heard these words: “Jack is such a good boy. He always listens to his parents and doesn’t stray from the path.”

And indeed, it was the truth.

If a task or an errand needed to be done, he’d do it. If a classmate was being bullied, Jack was the first to stand up for them. If an injustice existed, he would call it out. It was simply how he was, gravitating to those in need of help while wearing a slight scowl and sighing gruffly.

But as much as he huffed and puffed, he’d lend a helping hand anyway. He couldn’t help it, he was just good—and that was how he wanted the world to be, all shifting in accordance with the same moral compass.

“You’re such a good boy, Jack. Too good, in fact,” his dorm leader purred, slowly circling his junior like a shark. Those familiar words, set in his velvety voice, felt dishonest.

Moonlight spilled into the room, illuminating the high points of their faces as they followed each other. Teeth gnashing, eyes burning furiously. Predators sizing each other up.

Ruggie snickered quietly as he observed them.

Of the two, the lion struck first.

“Good boys like you should just keep their traps shut.”

“What you’re doing is wrong, Leona-senpai!” Jack protested. His entire body tensed, as if preparing for a fight--but all he did was glare at his dorm leader. “This... This definitely isn’t right. You need to stop this!!”

“Are you listening to yourself? Right? Wrong?” Leona scoffed. “The world isn’t as black and white as you make it out to be, first year.”

“But...”

“You would rather condemn your dormmates?” Leona challenged, cutting him off. “Many them are relying on the outcome of this tournament for their careers. You want to be the one to look them in the face and tell them they have no futures anymore? They all know what needs to be done to secure a future littered with prizes.”

“Even so...! I just can’t stand by your methods. They’re too underhanded!!”

“Underhanded?” Ruggie chortled. “Man, you’re so cute I could almost cry. Nice guys like you won’t last long at NRC~”

“You’re a doe-eyed fool if you think fair play will get you far in this lifetime,” Leona added with a smirk. “If you’re not willing to hunt and to fight for your spot in the circle of life, then you’ll burn out like a star. That’s how it works around here.”

“Nghh...!!” Jack clenched his jaw, biting back the torrent of choice words he wanted to unleash--many of them repetitive, phrases dismissed as ‘a moral superiority complex’ by his seniors. Frustration bubbled deep within him.

Was there truly nothing he could do? Nothing he could say to reverse this fortune?

“Awww, what’s wrong?” Ruggie teased, a lazy grin overtaking his face. “Cat got your tongue? Well... Maybe if Leona-san was the cat!”

The lion laughed cruelly, and the sky and the ceiling seemed to shake--but it didn’t take long for the laugh to turn into a snarl. “Enough of this. Tuck your tail between your legs and get out of my sight.”

The wolf beastman’s hands balled.

In wisdom, in power, in seniority--Ruggie and Leona surpassed him on all levels. They were leaders in the pack, and Jack? Just a newborn.

“... Yes, sir. Sorry for disturbing you.”

“Hmph. You’d better be.”

Jack bolted out like a swift wind upon the night.

Damn it.

Damn it all...!

He slammed a fist into the wall. His bones and muscles screeched in agony, burning just as his insides were. 

A hiss of pain escaped through his teeth, and he cradled his hand in the other. Adrenaline somewhat dulled and tempered the feeling, but anger sharpened it. Jack kept it close to his chest, and the hand grew even more hot.

The moon shone its spotlight on him in the darkness, his shadow stretching along the walkway to his room. Most nights, he thought the quiet and the stillness comforting. Today, it was near suffocating, and the light, accusatory.

Was he to just stand by, to remain silent?

Down the silver-painted and path he wandered, gradually slowing as he neared his destination. That single though permeated every pore of his brain, dominating his thoughts.

“... Good boys keep their traps shut, huh?” Jack raised his head to the moon, seeking the answer to his question but expecting no response.

Its glow and guidance were steady all throughout the evening. A shimmering, splendid orb, an all-seeing, all-knowing eye suspended in the sky.

Revealing all manner of truths in Twisted Wonderland.

The moon did not discern between good and evil, nor right and wrong. It only exposed what was there.

Jack’s resolve reinvigorated.

... He knew what he had to do.