The Knightly Thing To Do

Rodolfo learned to wander, over time. As fragmented as his selves were, as unbalanced as he had learned he had become, there was a delicate play here that he understood. In times of danger, he could wake, and even though this crushed him to become conscious of himself and all of the things he had done before, he would allow himself to be awake now for the sake of self-protection. The mark of Eris on his back scarred him, filled his mind with scrabbles and desperate madness, which he, too, came to learn to adapt to. In the end, they were all lost children writhing in the darkness, calling for the light.

And it was with this renewed mindset that Rodolfo came to wander the Demon World, unafraid even though he hid his strength. He stood at his full height and showed the world that through his body language alone he could convey strength. He had sworn off scrabbles of power, rank and file to any organization. Over his age, he had learned that there was no purpose in following the mad power struggles. He had no ambition to join or follow or even help them. He did not want to fight anymore. He was struck with a deep and strong exhaustion, a desire for rest again. To allow Rudi to roam the earth, innocent and sweet.

And yet he was here. Here, in the Demon World, in the land of all he hated and despised. Here he was with his blade again at his belt, the mask again covering his handsome face and showing only a terrifying skull and crimson lights in the hollow caverns of the eye sockets. He was here to fight, again, where he had once thrown it all away. To rescue. To help.

In the whispers of rumors on the wind, Rodolfo had heard of a beautiful maiden girl. This maiden suffered untold agony at the hands of cruel villans, twisted her innocent, loving spirit into something almost beyond recognition. She had even tried to kill herself to escape, and that only brought her more torment as she found herself not even allowed to find the escape of death. This beautiful maiden, cursed with the same mark as his own, was trapped in a castle overseeing a city made of crystals darker than sin, in the world of all that is twisted and wrong.

To Rodolfo, he heard a sense of a cry for help in the darkness. He had bid Rudi to sleep, willingly crawled out into the horrible world he so despised to crawl around the Chaya Nation. He hated this place, and hated it more as he wandered to the capital, Chaos Point. The miasma burned his lungs, stung his throat even through the mask. He kept to make sure, through this whole journey, that his spirit went undetected. Condensed and hidden. In his reiatsu, he was as significant as a mouse. No sonido forward, nothing to announce his presence save for a single yawning garganta into this horrible world.

All to rescue the maiden of golden hair and beautiful eyes, trapped as a demon's plaything.

He wandered for days towards the Chaos Point capital and then days more within the capital's walls, scouting for information. He traded his knowledge of blood for information among the populace's less savory citizens, always careful to adopt the manner and behaviors of the group. Rodolfo had found he hated that he looked like a demon in every moment except for this one, where he understood that it was to his favor everyone saw him as the monster he saw himself. No point in hiding.

It reminded him of his days in Heuco Mundo. Combat was part stealth, part intelligence, part posture. In here, too, in the land of his enemy, on his mission, he found these skills useful yet again. Espionage and stealth, posture and unspoken threats. He learned how to pose as just another peon, something so insignficant it wouldn't even be noticed, not even by the owner of the realm.

This is what Rodolfo believed. No one stopped him. The legendary Inami did not show up to stop him. None of Inami's guards. Not even Inami's servants stopped him. And so Rodolfo wandered forth, circling the castle over days and days, studying his target. He found hidden entrances, servants willing to trade knowledge of the castle layout for the knowledge of their enemies through their blood. Most of all, he found where she was located. The maiden. Cael was her name.

Rodolfo spend days memorizing the movements of the guards and the servants both. He spent nights debating and exchanging information. How quickly could Inami come here? How quickly can Inami chase a target? How well could Inami track a target? Most importantly, where is Inami now, and is there a time Inami would be leaving anytime soon?

When the time was right, it was dark, Inami would not come back for at least a day... or was not expected to, anyways. Rodolfo found when most of the populace slept in this terrible place, some insult of what 'night' could be. Rodolfo snuck into the castle, stepped over the hallways he had memorized a hundred thousand times in his mind. It was a perfect plan. He saw no flaws. His intelligence was as perfect as he could make it. He would rescue Cael. Soothe her. Heal her wounds. Let her wander the world as the peaceful, free spirit she was meant to be.

And then he would go back to being Rudi, and try to live out the rest of eternity in the childish bliss that was all he had ever wanted to accomplish.

Rodolfo stood in front of the door. Cael's door. He would grab her and then garganta them both out. Even if Inami knew Cael had been taken, there were so many worlds. Inami could not search through them all, not every corner. He knocked the door with his gloved hands, adjusting his waistcoat, making sure his silk vest looked pristine. He must look the part of the knight in shining armor. Then he knocked three times, turned the door, and entered.

"Miss Cael, can you hear me? We do not have much time. Quickly, take my hand. I have come to get you out of this terrible place, and start life anew." Rodolfo's voice was smooth as honey, sweet and seductive, so easy to listen to, so warm and kind. He did not need to hide in front of her. He knew she was there- his mark throbbed in time with hers, pumping the same manic poison. She drew him to her, as she was no doubt drawn to him. Perhaps she had even felt him wander the castle the whole time, and so he was confident she would not be surprised by him.

Coding By: [THEFROST]