looking for heaven found the devil in me; any

[Rodrik]

He had everything he had wanted in the end. Even without knowing what he truly had wanted, it had come into his life. But there had to be sacrifice. He had to hold onto the things he wanted, and needed most, with a fight. The crown and the power that came with it had been something he wanted as a boy, but it did not stir him like it did before. He had wanted others to condemn themselves to him, to snatch their souls and lock them away. But it did nothing for him now—the darkness had been his undoing from the very beginning he had accepted it. And then he had wanted justice—justice for all those that had wronged him, turned against him with a blind eye and ever thought of crossing him. Blood had been the price of that, and so did it forever haunting his dreams and thoughts. But it was all for his family and his love, Brunhild. Every demon that came to tear him apart was fought down, every enemy he made was slayed. He found vengeance where it was needed, and he would do it all over again for them. He can feel his own failure when looking at the overo colt. The way he proclaims his love for his own mother remained him of Straia. The red devil had dismissed her, raised her without the love she had needed. Ultimately, he had abandoned her, forgotten her. She had been part of his undoing, the final piece of losing the crown of the evil kingdom. He can only feel heart break for the way the cold feels towards his mother, and part of him wishes to reconcile that piece. To mend what little he. If only it was possible. Maybe it was. The glimmer in the boy’s eyes and the smirk on his young face draw Rodrik in. He can feel the world around him, the familiar twisting of realms and spheres. The sentiment of knowing instantly that anything was possible. Anything in the dream world was. He watches with wide eyes—the thought hitting him hard. Kagerus, what have you done? It had been obvious from the start, but now he was certain. This boy was his own family (but a forgotten child shared by a love that did not exist anymore). Abysm was his own daughter, Straia, in another body of flesh and bone. Rodrik doesn’t need to think what to make the other dreamer dream. In the world of dreams it never came true—it was only a dream. Right? He doesn’t know the limits or the rules. What are the possibilities? It was something he could only try. With the risk of knowing what he is about to do he says it anyway: “Make them watch the person they love die, or have them hurt the person they love most.” But he must add something else, “Perhaps their mother.” He watches to see what the boy says and reacts to his suggestion. “Maybe your own mother? You don’t love her do you?” He pushes forward more. “You probably would let her die even if you had the chance to stop it.” He could not have stopped his own mother’s death all those years ago. While Hakeem had not been the killer directly, he had been the reason why she had fallen into depression. He had been the reason why his little sister had died and created the sadness that eventually killed Kagerou. It had been Hakeem, and he made sure that he had paid the price by killing him for it. Rodrik cannot help but wonder if this boy would do the same for his own mother he supposedly didn’t like so much. “What will it be,” he pushes again.

character info: here | character reference: here | image © rostyslav zagornov
@[abysm]