It let out a shallow, disappointed bark of laughter, and shook Castor's head.
"Alas, the green stuff," it said, staring significantly at the untouched pot of gelatin on its table, currently balanced atop two others of its ilk. "Feel free if you want it."
The demon placed both of Castor's hands on the top of the cane as it listened intently to the exorcist, taking a few milliseconds to recall this Nerida, and the reason for it requesting travel here. The cover story had been prepped over and over, and the words slid from Castor's tongue with ease.
"Well, I'd rather be in New York," it said slowly. "But Katerina and I were here before the... accident and Rome felt it would be easier to aid my recovery if I had a partner here to assist with it."
The demon paused, then, arranging Castor's features into a scowl.
"Not that it felt obliged to pay my rent during my absence, of course, so I'll be staying with her during my recuperation," it added quickly. "Besides, given what I know about this place, a couple extra Knights surely wouldn't go amiss."
It let out a long sigh, and paused before answering the real question, the one it knew was coming. Of course, the Vatican would be concerned about what it did or didn't find. The demon chuckled internally. And they called it monster.
Another pause, this one longer, as it angled Castor's head to look up into a blank corner of the room, eyes unfocused.
"The last thing I remember is the pilot on fire, and the trees rushing up in front of us. Then it's all blank, all of it, until I stumbled into that camp. Just brief flashes here and there. The docs said I must have had severe concussion, and perhaps repressed the rest of it, a kind of temporary amnesia. But they're running scans to see if... if it might be more than that."
It gave a sad smile, returning Castor's eyes to the exorcist. This would be the hardest sell. The Aine woman might be willing to take the demon at its word, or not push too hard, given her history with Castor, but other Knights would be the challenge, along with Rome. The best it could hope for, it knew, was buying enough time to do what it came here to do.
"From what I understand, the impact of the crash caused some geological instability in the area, and we were close to landing. When we went down, it caused a landslide over the ruins, and buried them completely. It's all gone," he said, adding a lilt of pain to its voice, as if its own injuries paled in comparison to the loss of history.
Sapper charges had taken care of that problem, of course, and any further aerial passes would corroborate the demon's story. It didn't know how much scrutiny it would endure were specialists to be sent on foot, but it doubted anyone would mount another expedition just to verify that.
It took a moment to take a deep breath, and glanced back at the exorcist.
"What I need to know is when I can get back to work, brother," it said. "I can't sit here all day like an invalid, being treated like I'm made of porcelain by Katerina, God bless her soul."