Though Gingee was always a handful to deal with, the devildog's digging ability was nothing to downplay. Moving through the spacious burrow had become a daily routine, Luizitine making sure to fix his wards every few weeks to keep them viable. Every now and again a small creature would try to make a home inside only to be turned around back to the city above. Karla had even made a game of it, though Luizitine often declined to play. Such matters were better left in Gingee's hands.

Combing through the tunnels, he found multiple paths which diverged depending on where he chose to go. As it stood, Gingee had a tunnel connecting to Justin's house, the hospital, and the junkyard. The one near the junkyard, however, had recently been expanded. He stopped when he reached the empty tunnel section, the light of a human-made facility shining ahead.

It was where they'd built their irrigation systems. What the humans referred to as sewers.

Doesn't look like I've been followed. And I don't sense any humans around.

He tentatively stepped past his ward, walking into the light. The reek of bile and liquids made his nose wrinkle. It was like walking through a hydra's nesting grounds. But he didn't spot any tails coming out of the water or mountains of skulls. Only the smells of human remains and blood. He checked his phone, pulling up his target's image.

"Craaaaaaaaaaaagh."

He raised his head.

"Craaaaaaaaaagh. Mkaaaaaaaaaaa."

Was that a cry of some sort? He listened closer, sounds echoing off the concrete walls. It wasn't any cry recognized. Nor any language he could understand. As he moved towards it, the cry became a touch louder.

"Craaaagh. Craaaaagh! CRAAAAAAAAAGH!"

It must have been trying to scare him. Though why? He suspected anything so loud was more than powerful enough to fend off the average intruder. In fact, given the picture on his phone, it must have done so in the past. So why make such a show of scaring him away? Was it just caution? Luizitine scanned the sewers, still seeing no signs of humans around.

What he did see, however, were the green splotches along the walls.

Trails of it lay dragging against the floor. Moving from platform to platform. A bit even went towards the water, though it didn't seem to enter. Had it fled here to recover? The place certainly smelled like it had been used, though it was harder to tell given all the bile clogging his senses. How can humans live with these? Disgusting. He pinched his nose, following along the trail.

"Do not come any closer!"

Luizitine stopped. So it does know the common tongue?

He looked ahead, spotting a section of tattered clothes and animal carcasses. Hairs and feathers scattered across the wet cement. And at the center of it all, a creature stood tall, its body obscured by shadows. Or at least, that's what Luizitine assumed it was trying to do. Through the hellspawn's gaze, no creature was ever invisible in darkness. He could see its large reptilian frame as clearly as if it were standing in the sun. The stranger's tail slammed against the ground, yellow slits glaring at him.

"Do not come closer," it said, its voice a visceral groan. "Do not make me kill you."

He obeyed the reptile's request, even going so far as to hold his hands above his head.

"I mean you no harm, creature," he said.

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Its eyes flashed. Did it not like that title? Luizitine corrected himself.

"Reptile," he said. "Or would you prefer Lord Reptile? Sir Creature?"

It didn't respond, its tail slamming the ground again. Beasts were always a tricky subject, for humans and demons alike.

While demonlings like Gingee were more inclined to side with their fellow creatures of darkness, beasts tended to be more abrasive. As they were technically creatures of light, much the same as humans, their allegiances were prone to sway from beast to beast. A reptile could be an enemy of humanity as well as it could be their demise. Seeing the reptile in the sewer, it was difficult to tell where its allegiances fell.

"Perhaps I should get to the point," Luizitine went on. "My name is-"

"Leave!"

The reptile made its intentions clear as it stepped into the light, the scales of its body shining a gray-green. Luizitine didn't move.

"You're- You're one of them, aren't you?" it asked. "Here to kill me too?"

He didn't respond, though he did take note of the gashes in the reptile's chest. Its skin must have been hard as stone, and yet the scars appeared so deep. Nothing a normal Earthling should have been able to pull off. Just what had it been tangling with? The reptile got down to the ground.

"Why won't you people just leave me alone? Wasn't taking Harley, enough?"

Luizitine frowned. Harley? He looked from the blood trail to the injured reptile. Was that it? The pieces slowly began to fall into place in his mind.

The reptile charged, the beast clearing the distance between them as it hoped from platform to wall and straight towards him. Despite its injuries, the beast was fast. Not quite as fast as Gingee, but enough he had little doubt the average human would have been easy prey. Luizitine dodged its claws, ducking tail thrusts as he turned his attention back to the reptile's den.

I see. A lost beast, then? Must have been attacked recently. And this Harley person...

He ducked jaws, a hand running over the beast's scales. They felt worn.

How long has it been on the run, I wonder? How long's it been living here?

As fresh as the blood smelled, he doubted the beast had been hiding in the sewers for very long. Perhaps a few days. A week. He came out of his thoughts, catching the reptile's tail.

"Soul of Darkness."

The lights disappeared around them.

Luizitine sighed, letting the reptile go. As one of the many downsides of being a creature of the light, the beast was overly reliant on vision. Luizitine stepped back, watching the reptile flailing about to try to get at him. He'd fix that in time. But first things were first. While the darkness was active, the hellspawn pleaded his case.

"Peace, my dear reptile," he said. "I am not one of those who hurt you."

It kept flailing. "Liar! Show yourself!"

"I intend to. Only if it will calm your doubts."

He let the magic flow through him, light gradually flooding back into the room. The reptile turned ready to claw him again.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD!"

It immediately fell backward, nearly tipping straight into the water in the process. Luizitine let out a breath, his demonic form fizzling away until he was once again the human known as Justin. Transforming was always a danger given how getting caught would uproot his new life, but he could tell by how much the reptile trembled it wasn't planning to file a report.

"W-what are you?" it asked. "Some kind of monster?"

Luizitine smiled.

"I am no human," he said. "Just a simple creature of the night. Like you, it would seem."

He held out a hand, the reptile's fear remaining even if it seemed to somewhat consider the gesture.

"Y-you're not with the others?" it asked. "You're not a hunter?"

He wasn't sure what a hunter was, but he answered him as honestly as he could.

"I have been hunted, yes. But I do not associate with those that attack our kind."

He held out his hand again, which the reptile didn't seem as wary of the second time. It reached out, scalely fingers wrapping against his own.

"Do you have a name, Sir Reptile?" he asked as he helped it up. "I am Luizitine, though I also go by Justin."

It seemed hesitant but gave a simple response.

"Jeffrey. But I like to go by Jeff."