Stars floated over her hands, Gingee watching them with all the enthusiasm of an excitable puppy. It made Karla a little more eager, her brow furrowing as she tried to create more complex projections, putting a face on one of the stars. She even expanded its jaw so it could eat the others, devouring its brethren with a ravenous hunger. Gingee simply wagged their tail.

"You really don't get scared easily, do you, Gin?" she asked.

They tilted their head. "Bark. Why would I be scared? I like ghost friend."

"Never mind." She vanished the stars away, resting her chin on her knees. When was Lui coming back, again? The junkyard was too quiet without him. And the stupid wards kept the birds away.

Still, even with her complaints, she found the prospect of being a knight to a demon the most interesting thing she'd done in her undead lifetime. Even when she was alive she rarely did anything besides stay in a room all day. Her single greatest regret.

The fact that her burial ground was also their kingdom's hotspot helped her to grow accustomed to the everyday weirdness. Digging tunnels with Gingee. Luring strangers. Hiding from the police or whoever those guys in robes were. It was all part of her everyday routine now. A massive step up from scaring teenagers for eternity.

Granted, Lui was a bit of a pain at times, but when he was gone there wasn't much else to do besides play with Gingee and count the days before she either ascended, descended, or got ripped apart by the Angel of Death. Whichever came first.

"And these are my loyal followers. Don't be alarmed. They will not hurt you."

Karla looked over as she spotted the demon in question coming through the South entrance. Or was it West? Lui really needed to make a map or something. She flew over, Gingee rising as well. There was a new face following at his side. One obviously inhuman.

Its head reminded her of a gecko, though its body was scaly and humanoid. Almost like a reptilian body-builder. Gingee went over to give the newcomer a sniff. It responded by giving the pup a quick lick, much to Gingee's surprise.

"Sorry." Its tongue retracted. "That happens sometimes."

From the voice, Karla could only assume it was a guy. Then again, Gingee was a whole question mark on the spectrum, so the gechoman could have been the same. Lui stepped between the two.

"Ahem," he said. "Perhaps introductions are in order."

He gestured to the two of them.

"Minion Karla, Minion Gingee. This is Jeff. He'll be the newest member of the Kingdom of Luizitine."

Karla snickered. "Jeff?" She looked the geckoman over. "You're a lizardguy named...Jeff?"

His eyes flashed, going from dark pupils to narrow slits.

"It's Jeffrey, actually," he said. "And what are you supposed to be?"

She smiled. Of course she had to take advantage of the newbie's naivete. Assert her authority as a senior. Her body expanded in the blink of an eye, fur covering her ghostly skin as fangs and a tail grew out of her. It was her favorite form to take. That of a monstrous werewolf, which always seemed to make people wet themselves or run screaming. Or both. Usually both. And much to her delight, Jeff immediately did the screaming part, though he held back on the other, only falling on his butt. She'd almost forgotten how good it felt to scare people.

"Sweet hell!" he shouted. "You're a monster too?"

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She gnashed her teeth.

"That's right, mortal!" she roared. "And I'll swallow your soul!"

Jeff held up his hands as if they'd do much against a ghost. Lui killed the fun before it got any further.

"Minion Karla! Behave yourself!"

She flickered back into ghostly form, her undead sweater returning.

"Yeah yeah." She flashed a grin. "Don't crap yourself, newbie. You'll make Gingee hungry."

Jeff flinched. He was already her favorite addition to the junkyard.

Lui helped him up, flashing her a warning look before leading him through the rest of the junkyard. Not that there was much to see. They'd done a bit of renovating, creating a makeshift house out of car parts, but that was about it. Anything more required more money than Lui could afford on a nurse's aide salary.

"These are our lands, Jeff," the hellspawn said. "And let me again reassure you, you are completely safe in this domain. Consumption of ANY members of the Kingdom is STRICTLY forbidden."

She rolled her eyes.

"Bark. Gingee only eats humans," said the pup at her side.

"And I can't really eat anyway," Karla admitted. "Or grab things. Or do stuff that involves touching stuff."

Jeff gave them a wary look, which Karla was tempted to respond with another crazy transformation, but decided against it. No need to scare the guy too bad on his first day. There'd be plenty of time for that assuming he decided to stick around long enough. Besides. If there was one thing she'd learned from her years in the junkyard, it was the value of patience.

"Is this really where you all stay?" he asked. "It's so...open. You're not worried about getting caught?"

"The wards keep this place secure," Lui explained. "So long as we're careful, we need not worry about human interference. Speaking of which."

He turned to the geckoman, looking him over.

"Sir Jeff, we ought to do something about those wounds. Are you capable of self-restoration?"

"Self-what?"

"The Spirit of Restoration? Do you have access to such a spell?"

He looked at him confused. As did both Karla and Gingee. Even with her projection powers, she never really understood the nitty gritty behind how any of it worked. Magic was always Lui's area of expertise. The hellspawn sighed.

"Spirit of Restoration," he said. "It's the Holy branch's method of healing. Similar to how we of the Dark have the spell Soul of Decay to heal our wounds, you of the Light rely on a Restoration ability. Have you had no magical teachings?"

"I- Huh? You mean like...pulling rabbits out of hats?"

Karla snickered, which only seemed to annoy Lui further. She floated over.

"Yeah, I don't really get it either," she said. "Magic is weird.

"Bark. Master talks funny sometimes," Gingee added.

Luizitine pinched his forehead, muttering something under his breath. With a final sigh, he made his way over to their frozen carcass pile, coming out with a severed leg. Jeff looked at it completely lost, especially as Lui threw it at him.

"Eat," he said. "Our physiology may be different, but all beings can heal naturally through consumption."

Karla raised a hand.

"Yes, even ghosts, Karla. You simply consume energy passively."

She put her hand down.

Jeff looked the leg over a moment before shutting his eyes to take a tentative bite. He didn't look overly happier for it. Or disgusted. Frozen snacks weren't really her thing, so it was easy for Karla to empathize. If only Lui knew how to make actual fire like a real demon.

"Eat as much as you require," the hellspawn said. "Once you're at full strength, we can discuss your place in the new kingdom."

Jeff swallowed with a bit of effort.

"You wouldn't happen to have anything fresher, would you? The ice is a bit hard to chew."

Lui thought a moment. He held out his hand, Jeff returning the frozen meat.

"Soul of Cold."

The ice fell away, steam billowing off the severed leg. He handed it back.

"Better?" he asked.

Jeff marveled at the snack before hungrily devouring it, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

"Moch betta," he said, still chewing.

Lui smiled.