Luchino B. Campanella

Luchino B. Campanella (ルキノ・B・カンパネルラ, Rukino B Kanpanerura) is a descendant of Huey Laforet and Monica Campanella, and the current leader of the Mask Makers. He is a magician and is nicknamed "Rookie".

Appearance
Luchino takes after his ancestor Monica in looks, with blond hair and blue eyes. When killing, his expression becomes stony and mask-like, radiating an iciness in order to cover up his inner feelings of disgust and nausea. He wears the same cold expression when acting as the president of the Mask Makers.

Personality
As the current leader of the Mask Makers, Luchino is known to be a cold, merciless assassin who is highly respected by his subordinates. He puts on a professional air, and refuses to let his true emotions show. However, he has some psychological issues when it comes to actual murder, often vomiting in disgust after the act. He is also quite adamant when in pursuit of something, which is shown through his determination to know the truth about the murder of his ancestor Monica Campanella.

In addition to the hardened persona he demonstrates as the Mask Maker, Luchino shows another side as the Rookie Warlock; here he is less aloof and more charismatic, determined to bring smiles to the faces of his audience. He sees this as a means of redeeming himself for the acts he commits as the Mask Maker ("The filth that built up within himself each time he killed someone (...) seemed to dissipate ever-so-slightly each time he someone's smile, just as he had seen now. (...) And as a result, the two-faced Rookie could not let go of the smiles of others."). He is also shown to let his mask of professionalism unwittingly drop around Aging at times, showing the more immature, childish nature he attempts to suppress by bickering with her.

2002: (B Side) Blood Sabbath
Following the death of his wife, Luchino's father, the former leader of the Mask Makers, betrays the organization and leaves with a good portion of their trained mercenaries. Luchino is left behind and takes on full responsibility as acting head of the Mask Makers, making use of the "mob of thugs" who chose to remain loyal. His position of authority is generally accepted in spite of his coming into the role as a teenager.

Sometime before 2002, he explains the history of the Mask Makers to a reporter in Lotto Valentino. Luchino has already tortured him (he notes that he "can't see anymore", and that it will be difficult for him to struggle "with those broken limbs and back"), but still speaks calmly and recounts his understanding of the story in full. He believes that Huey Laforet is responsible for the death of Monica Campanella, and intends to avenge her even if it means fighting his own ancestor. Avenging Monica is a longstanding goal of the Mask Makers, but Luchino seems to have cultivated a personal hatred for Huey and his crime, and is determined to see revenge through to the end personally. After giving the reporter this information, Luchino explains that now that he knows the truth he must be taken care of. He references his cover as a stage magician by saying that he'll show him a magic trick --- making his stiletto disappear --- then stabs and kills him.

Luchino orders the other Mask Makers to dispose of the body quickly, but does not stay to oversee or help with the cleanup job. In spite of his stoic exterior, he struggles with the thought of the violent act he committed. While his subordinates handle the corpse, he locks himself in the restroom and succumbs to nausea, throwing up as he recalls every person he has killed. This is a regular occurrence, and he reacts to it routinely, counting the amount of times he vomits and ensuring that his eyes are not bloodshot before leaving the bathroom.

Aging is waiting for him outside. She overhears him vomiting, or is at least aware that he has a tendency to following their jobs. She mocks his ability to stomach mercenary work, and Luchino becomes defensive, reverting to a more childish demeanour. Aging tells him that it's normal for someone his age to find killing people difficult, and that Illness has the same problem, then promptly changes the subject to their next mission.

Aging questions whether Luchino is sure about going with them on the ship, to which Luchino replies: "I have to bring an end to this matter personally". She then asks if Luchino intends to avenge Death, and he tells her she would have to pay them, suggesting that he does not act on personal grudges. She points out that he involves his own personal feelings in their work by plotting revenge. Luchino regains the cold expression of the Mask Maker and insists that even his hatred for Huey is just "business" to him. The job they have been commissioned for requires them to capture an immortal, and, since there will be several of them on the ship, it won't conflict with that goal if he "takes care" of one of them.

Aging mocks him, reminding him that he throws up every time he kills someone, and in response Luchino hardens his mask and tells her that she and the other Four Agonies are tools and do not have the right to speak back to him. Aging remarks that if this was really the case he would not speak to them as individuals, and questions why he feels the need to put up such a cold front, listing off a number of theories ("Responsibility to the 'bloodline' that made you inherit this organization? For revenge against some monster you've never even met? Or are you scared that one of us is going to take over the organization if you show your weakness? You think you're gonna be killed? Or is it self-loathing? Lack of self-confidence?"). Luchino grows anxious at her ability to see through his mask and makes a swift escape, leaving Aging to look through the photos of their targets --- the immortals.

Luchino boards the Exit under his cover identity as the Rookie Warlock, a stage magician who is well-known in several countries. Although his father suggested other career options, he went out of the way to chose this one himself. The reason for this becomes clear when he is approached by a young boy and asked to show him a magic trick; seeing the boy smile at his performance alleviates a great deal of the anxiety he feels going into the job ahead of him. He feels that each time he makes someone smile with his magic, some of the "filth" that builds up inside him when he kills people dissipates. He notes to himself that this is just a means of running away from his problems, but also concludes that since he cannot stop hurting people he must continue in whatever way he can. He returns the boy's smile, feeling as though "his mask could become his real face, if only for this moment", unable to let the go of the smile he caused.

Luchino schedules a magic show during the first night of the cruise at the 'Ristorante Cuculo', and makes a point of including the fact that he is from Lotto Valentino on the pamphlet in order to draw the immortals to the performance. Contrary to the title 'Rookie', Luchino is shown to be a highly skilled magician, impressing his audience with an advanced and varied repertoire. Although he maintains a calm persona, he spends the show consumed by thoughts of how to best deal with the immortals, having not expected them to fall into his trap so easily. When he suspects that they have noticed him staring at their table, he finds himself conflicted between the impulse to put on a cold mask of indifference and the need to continue smiling and performing for his audience. He plays his attention to them off by choosing Sylvie as his assistant for his next trick. The show ends with both himself and Sylvie smiling in earnest.

Later, after the show has ended, Luchino sits alone in the closed restaurant drinking coffee. He briefly feels guilt over using the manager's establishment in his plot, then moves his thoughts along to the mission. As he considers his get-away plan, a visitor from his hometown asks to see him. The visitor is Elmer, who thanks him for the show and explains his own connections to Lotto Valentino, openly admitting that he lived there three-hundred years earlier. Luchino is taken aback by his honesty, but pretends to view it as a joke, not wanting to give away his own identity. They have a conversation which lasts about ten minutes before Elmer takes his cue to leave. Luchino tells him he should visit Lotto Valentino again someday, and notes to himself that he will be coming along with him there, anyway, if his plan is carried out.

Before Elmer parts with him he comments that Luchino resembles someone he knows. Luchino assumes that he is referring to Monica, to whom he bears a physical resemblance, but Elmer only elaborates that all he has shown him is fake smiles --- suggesting that it was not a reference to Monica's appearance, but to Huey's comportment. The realisation that his enemy and target has seen through his mask shakes Luchino's composure further, setting off alarm bells in his head. Seeing his discomfort, Elmer quickly assures that noticing fake smiles is his speciality, and that the smile Luchino wore on stage was a real, genuine one. He advises him to hold onto his magic, because if it makes him smile and laugh like that it "won't betray him", and leaves. In spite of the kindness of these words, Luchino finds himself on the verge of crying as he watches him disappear. He is thrown off by Elmer's disposition, and struggles to fathom why a man such as this did not prevent Huey from killing Monica.

At the start of the second day of the cruise, Luchino receives reports that the Mask Makers have succeeded in taking over the communications office, the control room, and the bridge of the ship without problems. He takes a walk through the shopping mall to observe the passengers, and notices that many of them are wearing a similar red and black pattern. When gunshots erupt, the mall is thrown into chaos. He plans to return to his room to notify the other Mask Makers of this development, but on the way a group of the people in red and black approach him, wielding weapons. He realizes two things at once: first, that these people are smiling genuine smiles, and second, that they have lost interest in the passengers and are coming after him. His instincts tell him to escape. He memorised the layout of the ship in order to lure the immortals into a trap, and he uses the knowledge to run to the nearest hiding place, a storage room.

He briefly makes contact with Aging before he is found by the people in red and black. Unarmed, he attempts to make a covert escape behind the cargo, but he is attacked by one of the men before he can get out. He points a submachine gun at Luchino's head, but before he can fire Aging leaps onto the scene and snaps the man's neck.

Luchino's fears ease when Aging joins him. Now calm enough to regain his proffessional mask, he asks her how the mission has gone. Aging admits that she thinks the rest of the Mask Makers on the Exit have already been wiped out. As she laughs the situation off, Luchino collapses from shock. She catches him in her arms and gently embraces him, assuring him that he can rebuild the company once the mission is over since he still has her and the other Mask Makers on the Entrance.

(Full chronology section under construction)

Aging
Aging is one of the Four Agonies, and the one who Luchino is most often seen speaking to. Although she mocks him, she also looks out for him, telling him that he shouldn't push himself to kill people if he can't deal with it and rescuing him from harm on several occassions. He speaks to her harshly, referring to her as a mere 'tool', but is shown to put down his mask around her, suggesting that he may trust her more than he lets on. Aging suggests that he lets her see through him, in reality, because he wants someone to tell him to stop trying so hard. During the events of 2002, when the Mask Makers are split between the two ships, Aging is teamed up with Luchino on the Exit.

Huey Laforet
Huey is Luchino's ancestor whom he has never met. At first, Luchino harbored a great hate for Huey, but this is only because he believed that Huey killed Monica.

Elmer C. Albatross
Although Elmer was originally his primary target, Luchino eventually comes to trust him. This occurs when Elmer joins the Mask Makers and informs Luchino that Monica's death was actually by the hands of Lebreau Fermet Viralesque.

Trivia

 * His nickname is a pun on the first two syllables of "Luchino" - ルキ (Ruki) - which sound like "Rookie".
 * As a weapon, Luchino uses the same stiletto as Monica, the original Mask Maker.