“I wasn’t expecting you to invite us all for lunch, friend,” Capitaine said with a grin as he used one hand to scoop the aromas into his nose. “A what a strange traiteur you’ve taken us to. It smells like a Portuguese barque laden with spices.”

“How did you find this place so quickly?” Yoshitsune asked with a curious tone.

We sat in the back corner of a Chinese-American side-street restaurant only a few blocks away from my fateful reunion with Charles. Large placards covered in photos of familiar dishes hung over the counter. A sardonic looking crane passed messages to a trio of scaly demons behind a curtain. Burners and steam filled the kitchen and spilled the aromas into my sensitive nose. It reminded me of the restaurants that Charles owned to hide money in; empty, outside of a trickle of demons that came in to pick up their orders at the counter. The food disappeared into the inventories of the customers.

I wondered how long food would last in an inventory slot. The tar crab that I placed inside of there had died at some point, but I hadn’t been tracking it properly.

Gölge escorted me here immediately after my meeting. He delivered a message to the owner and the restaurant was closed, leaving a comfortable amount of private space by the time that the others arrived.

But, that did not mean it was private. I could feel the attention of several demons. An eyeless demon with milky skin wiped the tables, ears twitching with every sound. A bear slumped over his table with numerous alcohol bottles surrounding him; but, definitely not drunk. A pair of insectoids loitered across the street with a cigarette clamped in their mandibles. They chatted while people-watching. A red-scaled woman wearing as little clothes as possible patrolled around the block. She shortly stopped to light up one of the insectoid’s cigarettes.

“My contact recommended it,” I replied evasively. “It’s a good place to avoid harassment from the locals.”

“I’m grateful for it,” Vendetta remarked with a relaxed sigh, fire wafting from her mask’s eyeholes. “Everywhere I’ve gone, it’s nothing but demons trying to get me to join their faction or enter their pleasure ring. Not to mention that the Grigori have been trying to follow me everywhere. Drag me into a nearby church and disappear.”

“I agree that it appears that who your connections are matters far more than it did before," Capitaine said with a nod. “Yoshitsune and I didn’t face anything nearly as aggressive as what Vendetta did, but we got our fair share of demons hawking for a new recruit.”

“We turned them down, but they didn’t seem like the type that would let us leave unscathed when we depart from the city,” Yoshitsune added. “Accept the good deal now or be forced to take the bad deal later.”

“You went together?” I asked with narrowed eyes.

“I didn’t think exploring alone was a wise idea,” Capitaine shrugged while Yoshitsune nodded in agreement. “Our fiery friend insisted on taking her own path through the city. I wonder if that added to the attention she received.”

“What of you, Ishmael-san?” Yoshitsune asked.

“It was also a recruitment attempt,” I replied. “A quest offer.”

Before I could continue, the eyeless busser approached our table. They rubbed their spiny hands on a tattered hand towel tied to their apron. They bowed twice, only speaking when they fully had our attention.

“Apologies for interrupting, but do you plan on ordering anything?” The busser questioned innocently.

“I would love to,” Capitaine replied jovially, clapping their hands together and craning their neck to read the menu. “Your spicy lo mein sounds quite appetizing. What meat do you have?”

“Whoever is on ice,” the crane replied gruffly from behind the counter.

“Ethically sourced from only the most willing of demons,” the faux-drunken bear raised his head from the table and added. He laughed for a few seconds before descending back to his well-acted nap.

“Then, the vegetarian option for me, please.”

“Your egg fried rice sounds appetizing. Where do you get your eggs?” Yoshitsune asked with dreaded curiosity.

The crane tilted her head with an annoyed look on her face. She slapped her hip with a feathered hand and barely smiled. Yoshitsune’s face sharply turned down towards her hands resting on the table.

“That…sounds fine,” she replied sheepishly.

“Get me your special, I don’t care what poor bastard is in it,” Vendetta ordered without bothering to look at the menu.

The crane raised an eyebrow in pleasant surprise towards the new blood’s lack of reservations. She quickly turned her expectant gaze my way.

My lizard brain hungered for meat. It wanted flesh, any kind, to slide down its gullet and fuel further survival. I forced it into silence. I did not liken myself to the Hannibal Lecter’s or any other cannibal killer of the bygone world. But, it did not appear that the genteel folk of Styx had such reluctance for long.

“I’ll take what the dog ordered,” I requested, saving a further descent of morality for another day.

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The crane’s eyes flickered with color, informing the cooks in the back to start the orders. The sounds of sizzling and a plume of steam from the back brought a renewed wave of sharp odors to our table.

Perhaps by virtue of magic or skill, it only took a few short minutes for several steaming bowls to slide from the kitchen and onto the counter beside the crane. The eyeless demon lifted the tray and brought it to our table, placing each bowl down gently. A set of chopsticks and a fork were set down on a napkin. The busser bowed again and scuttled away from our table to resume whatever other activities demanded of them.

I could feel myself salivate. The dormant sensations of hunger renewed themselves inside of my mind. I did not bother with the chopsticks. Like a woman with overly long fake nails, my claws would not allow for such dexterity. The fork also sat uncomfortably in between my scaled hands.

There was one request from my inner lizard that I did grant. I slammed my snout into the bowl and started chomping down on the soy-sauce and chili-oil infused noodles.

It tasted like the back alley behind Wong’s Hong Kong Chinese. The owner, who simply called himself “Dan” because we hillbillies either couldn’t or wouldn’t pronounce his name properly, would give me free dinner as an extra bribe in addition to the fees he would pay to Charles. I’m not above saying that it worked. Being treated with even the most basic form of respect motivated me to give a shit about Dan’s place.

At the very least, I made sure that nobody was fucking with his kids. I had to beat a coworker into the hospital when they thought about adding Dan’s teen daughter to Charles’ network. Had to work doubles for a month; ruined my summer.

“Did you take it?” Yoshitsune’s voice broke through my memories.

“What?” I asked back, a few noodles draped inside of my teeth.

“Did you take that job offer that you mentioned?” She reiterated. “You never finished what you were saying earlier.”

“Oh,” I answered, slurping the spiced noodles into my mouth. “I said I needed a moment to think about it. That’s part of the reason why I invited the rest of you here. Vendetta and Capitaine have said the right things, this place is all about connections. And, if we don’t want to get fucked as soon as we set foot out of the city, we need to understand what we are all thinking.”

“How unexpe-“ Capitaine began to say.

I snarled at the hyena, stopping their snide remark as quickly as I could. My eyes flicked to the bear and the busser before scratching my ear slit with a claw.

“It’s sensible,” Vendetta agreed, filling in the empty air that Capitaine left. She swirled her fork about, a slice of mystery meat on the end. “We should be aware of our plans so that we may properly support each other in our weakest forms. As for myself, while most offers irked me, there was one that I found to be worth my time. Have any of you heard of the Demon in Red?”

“Haven’t had the pleasure,” Capitaine remarked.

“I have heard of them recently,” I replied, thinking about the gluttonous cockatrice that was made their prized disciple. “They possess quite the reputation up here.”

“They reached out to me personally,” Vendetta explained. “Something about the way that they wrote told me that they were someone worth visiting. And, unlike every other faction, they reached out to me personally.”

“I…I also received a personal invitation that I would like to look more into,” Yoshitsune spoke up. “If that’s alright.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” I replied.

Yoshitsune seemed as though she expected me to show more resistance to her splitting up. Loathe Charles as I might, I knew that he would be true enough to his word to prevent serious harm from befalling her.

I wasn’t sure how to navigate the predicament facing me. I could say something romantic, but sorely out of character. Revealing that I was going to have her tailed by one of Charles’ thugs would only imply that I didn’t trust her. Ignoring it would only leave bad emotions to harbor over the time that we were apart. The last thing I needed was a change in opinions from my staunchest ally.

“What I meant to say is that you should take advantage of any opportunity to get stronger. It’s the only way that we can support each other,” I reassured, finding a combination of words suitable enough to diffuse the rising emotions.

“It seems we are all popular in our own way,” Capitaine said with a jovial laugh. “I don’t feel too warmly toward my newest admirer, but I’ve never been the kind of person to lead a potential lover on. You always need to give them at least one first date. Owner, how much for the meal?”

“Already paid for,” she replied. “Courtesy of the owner of Desire.”

“Ah, well give him my warmest regards,” Capitaine said with a flourished bow that the crane wholly ignored. “Friends, until next time.”

A small bell attached to the door jingled as Capitaine departed the restaurant. Vendetta wasn’t too far behind. She left as soon as she finished her meal, the temperature of the room going down significantly upon her exit.

“Who is this demon that wishes to meet with you,” I asked now that it was just the two of us.

“They call themselves the Chivalrous Demon,” Yoshitsune answered. “They said they believe that I have the potential to remain a kind person. The person I went with Capitaine to meet gave me a sword technique and an invitation to meet with the Chivalrous Demon as a reward for my performance on the Hell Express.”

“I’ve never heard of them before.”

“I hadn’t either,” Yoshitsune confirmed. “But, there was something about their sword technique that told me that they were someone worth trusting. There is an honesty in the way that someone handles their sword that is hard to hide. This person may be a good person now.”

I started to chuckle, but Yoshitsune cut me off.

“Don’t laugh at that,” she commanded.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “There’s nothing wrong with trusting your gut. If you come across any trouble, tell me and I’ll abandon the job and come for you.”

“When we reunite, let’s meet back here,” she said with a soft smile.

And with that, she was gone. The final bell jingled, leaving me alone with the staff and Charles’ ears. I sat in silence for a few moments. I don’t know how I expected that conversation to go, but it seemed to have gone against my plans. Those three were strong, I shouldn’t have been surprised that all of them had gained notable sponsors so quickly while I reverted back to my jobs in life. A bad taste in my mouth started to overpower the lingering spice of my meal.

I needed to check my ego. I wasn’t the only one that was capable.

A message of confirmation was sent back to Charles. The mask of disguise slipped over my face, hiding the demon known as Ishmael from the world and replacing him with some stranger.

The deposit instantly reached my account. I looked at the total in my stat sheet and sighed. It was only going to be enough for a few levels or a fancy trinket. Charles was right, I lacked the funds to survive Wrath’s hunt. I would need XP; much more than what I received from the deposit.

My eyes turned towards the kitchen. Now that my guests had departed, the rush of take-out orders returned and the scent of cooking meat dominated the room. The odor brought an idea into my mind.

“Hey,” I called towards the crane behind the counter who lazily turned their head towards me. “How much do you pay per limb?”

“Seven-hundred for an arm, one thousand for a leg.”

I touched my elbow with my hand, dragging my finger across the joint. It’d hurt like a bitch, but there was no way that I was going to turn down what would be free money.

“I’d like to make a trade.”