He grabbed his head, sitting up. His head was throbbing, and his gut felt like it was twisted into a knot. He felt like throwing up and passing out at the same time. Rudiger sat near him, hugging his knees. Tears stained his cheeks, and the fire gently crackled in the dark. Rudiger didn't seem to notice he was awake.

Dimentio cleared his throat to get the demon's attention. "Rudiger...What happened? I feel awful and you look like you've been crying, like a infant who's mother doesn't understand what they desire."

"So now I'm a baby? First annoying, stubborn, selfish, and smelly, and now this? Wow, you really don't care." He flicked his tail, which had been draped sadly around the rock he sat on.

He took his hand off his head, winching. "What are you talking about?"

"Bezzuluna only put me into a light sleep. I heard everything you said about me."

"Oh good, I was worried the message wouldn't get through to you. Don't you get it? I only did it to make you leave me alone, and you end up dragging both of us on this journey that wouldn't even have happened if you'd grown up and dealt with Astaroth yourself! When we get to the next ring, I'm leaving you there. I never liked you. Why else did you think I tried to convince you to deal with him when we first met back in Darethend's fake castle?"

He stood up and stormed off. Dimentio went to lay back down when he saw Rudiger had been sitting next to something. He got out of bed, ignoring his throbbing head and pained stomach and crossed to the rock. It was a plate of food, some looked half-eaten, with a small letter next to that.

"I started to get hungry when I was waiting for you to wake up, so I might have nibbled on a few things, sorry. You can take them off if you don't like people sharing food with you. Again, sorry. I would do it myself, but I have no idea how to use a 'fork' or other utensil. Sorry."

Dimentio looked at the plate. There were a few small animals like squirrel and birds on it, and they'd been skinned and roasted to perfection. The plate smelt faintly of fish, but the lack of it showed that Rudiger had eaten them instead of leaving it for him.

"He remembered...?" He looked to where the glutton demon had stormed off. "And I thought he couldn't hear me...Perhaps I am heartless. Even if he was, I shouldn't have said those things...I shouldn't have even thought harm on him."

Dimentio put the plate down and went to the cliff edge Rudiger was leaning over. He had been laying on his back, but sat up and faced away from Dimentio when he came over. Dimentio sat next to him.

"Rudiger I-"

"I don't want to hear it. You're right, I should have done it myself instead of pushing it onto a Half-Blood like you. Especially if they acted like you." He flicked his tail again, and it flopped lazily over the side of the cliff. "But I was scared that people would look down on me, since I betrayed my order. But looks like that happened anyways, since I was there when you killed him."

"Rudiger..." He tucked his knees into his chest and rested his face in them. "I can't do this...I can't keep going like this. I've already been through so much, too much, and I'm worried that if I go through any more...I don't want to lose myself again, I had just found how to trust people again. I had just started to make friends, and to realize that my father actually cares for me...I don't want to lose it all again."

"What are you on? Nobody cares for a heartless killer like you. You shoved me into a dimension inside your poncho just to avoid me! I'm lucky I could get out of there!"

"I don't want to go insane again...I'd just gotten everything back...My life, my friends, my love, my family, hobbies, myself...I don't want to lose it all again. I know I'm still insane, that's a part of me now, but what if I can't hide it anymore? What if I can't come back from it like I did? I don't want to hurt you, or anyone, because I snap again. I might not like you much, but I do want to protect you. I've hurt hundreds, thousands, maybe even billions of innocent souls. I don't want to do that again." He covered his ears. "I can still hear their screams...Dimentio, stop...Dimentio, have mercy...Dimentio, why us...Dimentio, Dimentio, Dimentio...I'm so broken I can't accept the fact I have a real name. I keep clinging to the past as if I could bring it back. But I can't, and I can't even go back to the way I was..."

Rudiger looked at him. "Are you okay, or is this some sort of sob story you're making to have me pity you?"

Dimentio started crying, shaking. "Rudiger, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. You are one of the few people who could trust me when we first met, and I asked for you to get murdered. I'm the worst human-demon being ever. I deserve to be killed, not you."

Rudiger scooched a bit closer. "Dimentio?"

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, Piper...I'm sorry, so sorry..."

"Piper? Dimentio, I think you're..."

He touched Dimentio's shoulder, and he jolted and grabbed Rudiger's wrist tightly. He realized, and let go of him.

"I-I'm sorry. I have no idea what came over me. I just came here to apologize. I find it hard to trust people. I try to push them away, and if they keep coming back then I know I can trust them. That's what Izuku did for me, he kept coming back; Olly did too. It's a terrible habit, I know, but I find it to help."

"Dimentio, most of the time people come back, it's because you can't trust them. They want you for something. I think the only reason why you can trust Olly and whoever this Izuku is, which is very rare, is because fate kept bringing you together. But if you push most people away when you could trust them, they'll back off and leave you for good. They'll think you don't care for them, and they'll respect your boundaries. They'll leave you if they love you."

Dimentio wrapped his tail around his ankles. "I always ruin everything. I keep making things worse and worse. I deserve to get killed. Queen Jaydes can torture me all she wants, and then I can show my mother what she's done to me."

"Don't be so pessimistic, Dimentio. I thought you were supposed to be a jester. Jesters make people laugh, remember?"

Dimentio smiled a bit. "I wish I could still be as positive as I used to be."

"We should head back to camp. It's getting late and we've got to go to the Greed Ring tomorrow. That place will have a lot to take in, so you'll need all your energy."

(seperation)

"I'm catching a pattern here. It seems like I'm part of some prophecy, and the demons causing issues is probably related. It's hard to guess what my duty is if I keep fainting before I get to finish the job. And you didn't see what happened either time, did you?"

Rudiger touched his neck. "Yeah, I missed what happened. All I know is that you keep killing the Demons of Sin, and it's whenever I'm not there. So let me help you with the next one. If you keep fainting, as what you say, I want to be there to witness what happens. I want to tell you what's been going on."

Dimentio stopped, sniffing the air. "There's someone here."

Rudiger smelt the air as well. "You're right. Do you recognize the scent?"

"No..." Dimentio straightened his stance. "Wait, when did I go into my demon form? Was it before I fainted?"

"I don't know, but you were like that when I found you after getting out of your poncho."

Dimentio's ear twitched. "It sounds like they're at the camp." His ears perked up. "Wait, the food you left me! Whatever is there must be after that!"

"We have to hurry! That's your dinner!"

(seperation)

The camp was torn apart, and the food was gone. The only trace of the camp left was the stomped-out fire and the faint trace of the beast that had rummaged through every bag and tent. Rudiger dug through the shredded tents.

"There's nothing left. Everything was either torn up or eaten."

Dimentio looked around. "It's still nearby, I can hear it."

He tied the ribbon back onto his tail and wriggled it, the bells on the ribbon ringing. Rudiger shook his head at Dimentio, who ignored him. He rung the bells again. Something grunted from the bushes, and a twig snapped.

"Bingo."

He tackled the bush, but hit the ground. The bushes on the other side rustled. He cleaned the dirt from his face.

"Whatever this creature is, it's fast."

Rudiger took flight, and charged for something. He hit a tree and fell to the dirt.

The creature finally became visible in the moonlight. It looked like a person, but they were mostly covered with a bearskin. They held a roasted bird in their mouth that they had supposedly stolen from the camp. Their eyes glew a brilliant red. They ran, on all fours, towards the cliff. Dimentio chased them. They jumped off the edge and took to the skies on a glider. Rudiger stopped next to him.

"Who was that?"

Dimentio tucked his hair back under his hat. "Likely a scavenger. They'll do anything to survive. I was one, once. I qualify myself more on the thief side of it, but I was still a scavenger. Let's go find a town. I have a bit of currency I could spare on an inn."

"The closest town is the town of Homurania. That's in the Greed Ring, and that would take a whole day's journey to get there from here."

"Well, we better get flying then. Do you think you can carry me all the way there?"

"Of course! I'm the best flyer in the Gluttony Ring!"

"Oho, wait until you see my abilities. You'll be eating those words in no time."

"Do you want to unblock your magic?"

"Hm? Do you know how to?"

"There's a magic user in the Wrath Ring that can do that for you. But that means we'll have to go through the rest of the rings to get there. Do you really want to do that, since you didn't want to be here anyways?"

"I'll survive. Let's go to the next town."