[ Alberto, for his part, feels his fighting spirit waning by comparison — not his determination, no. Never that; he's determined as all get out no matter what he's doing. But he feels conflicted about how best to help. He has no magic powers, just a couple knives, so all he can manage are up-close attacks — but it's arguably a very good thing he has no opportunity for them since Isabela's long-range attacks are doing just fine to protect them from harm's way. He's a kid and despite his recklessness and stubborn self-sufficiency, a large part of him is still programmed to just follow adults and do what they say. His father emphasized how Alberto should do as he's told quite a lot growing up, in fact — which of course Alberto was never good at. And in this moment, too, he feels his natural rash impulsiveness tearing at his conscience. He's never fought in battle to save someone before. He's just winging this, and somehow ironically, once Isabela's knocked out all the demons on this level, his panic mounts. He rushes up to her and tugs at her arm a bit desperately, stammering as he tries and fails to articulate his racing thoughts. ]
Signora, aspetta—! Wha— I don't— I mean, I-I can't— How do I— ...What do we do?! There're a million of these demon things — b-but there's only one Bruno! We could fight all night! I-Is that what we're supposed to do? Just keep fighting? What're we supposed to do?!
[ Isabela hasn't known Alberto long, but Alberto admitting that he doesn't know something is a shock; an even bigger shock is Alberto wanting a plan of action, not just going entirely off instinct on the fly; but it's almost unheard of for Alberto to outright ask for instruction, begging a grownup to tell him what to do. He barely knows her, either, but she's a Madrigal so she gets an automatic green pass, and she's already more than proved herself clever and capable. Even this whole rescue mission, he just barreled into without many questions asked, having caught only bare bits of details about their available avenues and the forces at play here. But now that they're in the thick of it, this is way too much for him to just be winging it — there's too much at stake. It takes a lot for Alberto to relinquish control of any situation; but their present situation is, uh, much more than a lot... ]
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Signora, aspetta—! Wha— I don't— I mean, I-I can't— How do I— ...What do we do?! There're a million of these demon things — b-but there's only one Bruno! We could fight all night! I-Is that what we're supposed to do? Just keep fighting? What're we supposed to do?!
[ Isabela hasn't known Alberto long, but Alberto admitting that he doesn't know something is a shock; an even bigger shock is Alberto wanting a plan of action, not just going entirely off instinct on the fly; but it's almost unheard of for Alberto to outright ask for instruction, begging a grownup to tell him what to do. He barely knows her, either, but she's a Madrigal so she gets an automatic green pass, and she's already more than proved herself clever and capable. Even this whole rescue mission, he just barreled into without many questions asked, having caught only bare bits of details about their available avenues and the forces at play here. But now that they're in the thick of it, this is way too much for him to just be winging it — there's too much at stake. It takes a lot for Alberto to relinquish control of any situation; but their present situation is, uh, much more than a lot... ]