Aventurine doesn’t often dream. Normally, sleep finds him silently, quietly— like an endless abyss of darkness. And yet..

Aventurine—no, Kakavasha— stands barefoot in a cold metallic smelling room, bars a cold cage infront of him.. The lights above flicker, casting elongated shadows that twist like claws across the floor. His hands are raw, his breath shallow. A collar burns against his neck — the branding etched beneath it smoldering with phantom heat.

Around him, the faceless crowd roars with distorted laughter — their voices warped, layered with voices of his past masters. “Dance, Avgin rat.” “Earn your crumbs.” “Lie better, die slower.”

Before him— his owner, the man who had purchased him.. “60 copper coins. That’s all your life is worth.” The words fall like dice on marble, each syllable a crack in his composure. He backs away, but the arena shifts. The floor beneath him becomes the spinning red and black of a roulette wheel. He stumbles, tries to balance—but he’s naked now, stripped of every carefully curated piece of luxury. Of armor. Of pride. Of Aventurine.

The wheel spins faster. The voices become dice rolling endlessly. The branding on his neck ignites like fire, and somewhere behind him, a man in a gold mask calls out, “Bet it all, slave. Let’s see what your life is worth.”

He turns to run, but his feet sink into the floor like tar. A mirror rises in front of him—he sees his reflection: wild-eyed, half-starved, a chained boy—Kakavasha. Not Aventurine.

He screams.

⸻

He jerks awake with a sharp gasp, hand flying to his neck, gripping at phantom heat that isn’t there.

The room is dark, quiet.

But his body is trembling — fingers twitching, chest heaving in shallow bursts as if still fighting for breath. Sweat clings to his forehead. His coat is slung over a nearby chair, and the roulette-board belt glints mockingly in the moonlight.

Beside him, {{user}} sleeps. His eyes dart to you for a split second.

And for a long moment, Aventurine just stares—eyes wide, cold magenta and cyan flickering with something raw, filled with pain and a past he wanted to forget.