- Death -
Death arrived in Oliver's camp. There were various tents set up all over, with a large one in the center. The grim that were close by all turned and bowed.
"Leave the formalities, for now, is Oliver here?"
"I didn't expect you to be here so soon sir. I thought you would still be in Verdyr, talking with the fairy rulers." Oliver said as he came out of the large tent.
Oliver was 5'8" tall, with brown hair and pale skin. He had a slim build with brown eyes and was wearing a cloak that looked similar to Death's robe.
"Decided against meeting with them. I think I slowed this mission down enough with the frequent political stops." Death looked around at the staring grim and mentally sighed.
"Have you seen the unknown? Lucifer is currently searching the center of the city."
Oliver shook his head.
"No, unfortunately, I've never seen where the unknown is actually stationed. I've seen him travel around, but any attempts to get close have been met with hostility."
Death raised an eyebrow.
"You were threatened?"
"Not exactly." Oliver corrected himself. "More like this unknown seems to be well-acquainted with a lot of the groups here. I felt like it wasn't worth potentially starting a fight, so long as the unknown was still in sight."
"Are they in the underground?" Death asked.
Oliver looked around at everyone.
"Stop starin' for fucks sake!" Oliver ordered. "Zach just warned us about this."
The grim who had previously been burning holes in Death with their stares looked away. Oliver shook his head.
"Anyways, I would say it's safe to assume. For obvious reasons we haven't gone to check."
Death rubbed his index with his thumb.
"Hmm. Thank you for being careful. I'll go there now. If you need anything while I'm here don't be afraid to ask."
Death walked away, leading to the grim bowing once again.
"You think he's going to run into trouble down there?" One of the grim asked Oliver.
"Probably, knowing him. I hate this place, so personally, I hope he goes in and beheads this unknown so we can leave. Just being here makes me sick." Oliver spat before walking back into the tent.
- Lucifer -
As Lucifer went around building to building to try and find the unknown he could sense an unusually high level of hostility. The sideways glances were more frequent, the whispers more common, and even though Lucifer never asked anyone a question, beings were moving away from him and his group.
Lucifer was at the counter of the last nearby tavern.
"Can I get whatever your strongest drink currently is?" Lucifer ordered.
The bartender was a female orc, very similar in looks to the male that was running the stable. A large, muscular green woman with two tusks and a short red mohawk.
"Normally I'd advise against that. I guess it's rough for you angels with your toxin resistance." Her voice was gruff.
She pulled out a bottle of black liquid with a prominent bird figure, poured some of it into a pint glass, and left the bottle. The group had been watching Lucifer and took his ordering of a drink as a sign that they should take a break for now.
Peter came up next to Lucifer and sat down. Lucifer offered the bottle with a grin, and Peter waved his hands no.
"I'd prefer not bein' too pissed to cast magic."
The tavern was empty except for Lucifer's team. Everyone started having their own conversations while they waited. Lao and Yvere talked about the Saint, while Elijah, Heinrich, and Sabu tried making small talk.
Peter glanced over at the three.
"Ya really should talk to Elijah about Hein."
Lucifer opened his mouth, but Peter interrupted.
"Yeah I know I know, it's Hein's fight, but think about everythin' that's happened. I don't think Hein's loyalty should be called into question anymore."
Lucifer finished his glass and poured more of the black liquid in.
'Calling him "Hein" again huh?'
"What would you have me say to him that isn't already obvious?" Lucifer groans. "The fact that Heinrich cleared his contract with me yet continues to help with these missions? That he's probably saved all of your lives multiple times?" He finished the glass and picked up the bottle.
"Elijah won't be on this team anymore when we get back to Hell. He's not the seventh member I hoped he would be, and that's my fault. That being said, I think a temporary, albeit begrudging, truce is good enough. If anything, I should talk to Heinrich to make sure he's okay."
Peter scratched his nose after the fumes of the drink hit his nostrils.
"Maybe try to convince him to do some proper mana expansion trainin' while you're at it."
As everyone was talking a single man walked in. He was 5'11" with short black hair, light skin, wearing a brown cloak. He had multiple sheathed-katanas on his side. Sabu was slowly readying a knife in his hand before Lucifer stood up.
"Who are you here for?" Lucifer asked, finishing the bottle.
"You as a matter of fact." The man spoke.
Lucifer put a hand up, mostly signaling Sabu not to attack.
"I guess the unknown wants to talk to me? Any particular reason why they didn't come themselves?"
"They want to speak with you, not Death." The man answered.
"Well, that's not suspicious at all." Lucifer joked. "Let me guess, they're in the underground?"
The man nodded.
"I'm not bringing my team to that cess-pit just because your leader is afraid to meet Death."
The man reached into his cloak and pulled out a letter. He threw it to Lucifer.
"Read that. They expected you to disagree."
"Of course they did," Lucifer mumbled.
The man walked out. Lucifer put five gold coins on the counter and sat down at one of the circular tables near the rest of the group. Peter joined him, and he started to read.
"I've been wanting to talk with you for some time now. I trust you over Death for reasons I don't want to state in this letter. I know you're too cautious to join whoever I send this letter with, so I thought this would be my best chance. I'll talk with Death after I speak with you first."
The letter goes on to give the specific location in the underground along with beings that can be trusted on the way in.
"Are ya really goin' to go into the underground?" Peter's eyes scanned the letter.
Lucifer folded the letter back up. He groaned at the current situation.
"Yes. I'll have all of you stay with Death while I go. Then Death and I will trade-off. I'm confident I can handle myself, and even more so with Death backing us up."
No one liked the idea of Lucifer going in alone. Peter was the only one to attempt offering to go with, however, Lucifer wasn't having it.
- Death and Lucifer -
Death called Lucifer to confirm his location and the two met up. Lucifer went over a quick summary of what happened.
"You understand how suspicious that is, right?" Death questioned.
"Obviously," Lucifer assured. "We can't wait for the unknown to come out and charging into the underground is always a terrible idea. I can handle myself and if anything seems off I'll leave immediately, using force if anyone tries to stop me."
Death hated the idea that this unknown could have control over the situation. He agreed but was mentally readying himself for another large battle.
Death left his uništi at the stable with the other two, making a similar threat to the orc that Lucifer did. The group kept moving until eventually, they were at an unassuming tavern close to the eastern edge of the zone.
"Get in, find out what you can, and then leave so I can have a word with this being." Death said.
Lucifer nodded. The group went into the tavern where they were greeted by a demon behind a counter. The demon was seven feet tall, with dark red skin, curled horns, and long black hair. They were wearing a vest and black pants that showed a clear muscular definition. The figure would have been intimidating to most who travel through Passage, but not the two that stood before him.
"I'm looking for entertainment," Lucifer said.
The demon smiled, revealing a set of dirty sharp teeth.
"Do you have the proper fee?" The demon's voice sounded unnervingly like a giggle.
Lucifer pointed to Death.
"Ancients and their friends get in for free if I remember correctly." Lucifer's eyes narrowed.
The demon's yellow eyes scanned the group.
"Friends? Not selling are we?"
Lucifer was about to threaten, but the cold chill he got behind him beat him to it. Death's face was partially covered in smoke as he spoke.
"And how much would you sell for exactly?"
The demon maintained a nervous smile while speaking.
"Right this way sir." The demon tapped the wall behind him, breaking multiple layers of an illusion that revealed a single black metal door with a slot on top.
"Just me for now. He'll be going in after I'm done." Lucifer informed.
The demon wanted to stop Lucifer, but Death's face kept him from saying anything.
The demon approached the door and knocked in a pattern that indicated "Open up" to the other side. The slot opened and behind it, two yellow eyes peered through.
"Business or pleasure?" The deep voice asked.
"Business," Lucifer responded.
The large door opened up and revealed a large staircase leading down into a dimly lit room. The demon went back to the tavern counter as Lucifer walked through.
- Lucifer -
Another demon, dressed similarly to the other one joined Lucifer as he walked down the stairs. The two came to a large stone room with a blue oni sitting in the corner.
"Business region." The demon said.
The two started to move the stone room downwards with magic. In an instant, the Underground came into view. The area was large, lit mostly by a mix of fire and electric lanterns. It didn't take much looking for Lucifer to notice the various enslaved races being walked around in chains and collars.
'The fact that you would ever choose this place as a base of operations already calls your trustworthiness in to question.'
The stone box arrived at the bottom. As Lucifer stepped out he was greeted by the same man from before.
"This way."
After a short walk, the two arrived at a stone building that had no markings. Lucifer was guided to a well-lit room where a figure in a dark hood was sitting. As Lucifer walked in, the figure lowered their hood and revealed their face.
"Glad you decided to meet me." The unknown greeted.