Obey Me Rewrite - Drizzm in the Devildom

Congratulations!

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Royal Academy of Diavolo.

Please return this letter with your signature to confirm your participation.

We are looking forward to welcoming you as part of our new exchange program.

Yours Sincerely,

Diavolo

The floating black letter in front of me was odd. I don’t know what’s odder though; the fact that it appeared out of nowhere and is floating, or the content of the letter itself. I suppose I can sign it and see where this goes. It’ll take time anyways, so I can search this place up and see what comes up.

I swung my bag from my back and onto one arm, pulling out my pen. I signed my name half-heartedly and the letter disappeared in a little black puff. The lingering smoke suddenly flashed a bright light in my eyes, temporarily blinding me.

When I opened my eyes I found myself in a castle style meeting room, with a panel of seats along the back wall and a long rectangular table in front of it and me. The table was empty but the panel of seats was not. There was a tan man with short red hair and golden eyes wearing a red school uniform in the center, who spoke to me.

“Welcome to the Devildom, Michael,” he formally greeted, ”I’m pleased to have you as the newest member of our new exchange program. I will have Lucifer explain the program to you. Please?”

A pale man with short black hair that faded to gray at the tips, styled in a sort of up and over, red eyes, and a dark gray version of the uniform, stood. In fact, only the tan one, who I assumed was Diavolo, had the red uniform.

“Before I start, may I ask something,” Lucifer started with full intention to ask anyways,” Is there a different name you’re comfortable with?”

I gave him a confused stare before I remembered about the archangel. I thought aloud, ”Uh, I never really thought about it. I just sorta chose this name because I like the sound,” I thought silently for a moment before suggesting,”What about Drizzm? It’s my username, so I’m already used to it.”

“Just say Drizzm next time then,” he curtly responded, annoyed. I lightly glared at him, also annoyed. Diavolo chuckled in amusement while he wrote my new name down. I noticed he used a fountain pen. Lucifer started,”The demon sitting here in the center is Lord Diavolo. He’s the Future King of the Devildom and ruler of all demons. You are currently standing in the student council room of the school he started, the Royal Academy of Diavolo, or RAD for short.”

What a RAD school, lol. What a name for a school. Lucifer continued,” You’ve been selected as the second representative of the Human World for Lord Diavolo’s exchange program. The intent is to strengthen the Devildom’s relationship with the Human World and the Celestial Realm. There is another human exchange student and two from the Celestial Realm. You four will stay in the Devildom for one year while going to school at RAD.”

Lucifer approached me and handed me a smartphone,”This is a Diavolo Devildom Device, or D.D.D.”

I looked at Diavolo as he spoke up,”I had it designed after Human World smartphones, so hopefully you’ll find it intuitive.”

“I see,” I said politely. I couldn’t tell him, but the way he named the phone is ridiculous. Only time will tell if he names everything after himself because of ego, or he’s just bad at naming things. I unlocked the phone and started looking at the available apps.

“You’ll be calling my brother, Mammon,” Lucifer instructed,”He’ll be in charge of you during your stay.”

I acknowledged the instructions and tapped on the app labeled ‘Contacts’. I pressed the call button next to his name and put the phone to my ear. It rang a few times before he answered.

“The Great Mammon speaking,” came a loud, arrogant voice.

“I’m Drizzm, the human exchange student you’re in charge of,” I told him matter-of-factly.

“Whaaa? I dunno what you’re talkin’ about!”

“Well, that’s what Lucifer said.”

“Ya think I just listen to whatever that guy says? Just because he thinks he’s sO SCARY!”

Lucifer interrupted, ”Put him on speaker.”

I did as he said and Lucifer made quick work of threatening Mammon that he will being obliterated if he didn’t get to the council room ASAP. I didn’t really get the meaning but Mammon immediately changed his tune and confirmed that he’s on his way before quickly hanging up.

“Oh boy,” I sighed.

“Mammon is the the Avatar of Greed, and Second Born,” Lucifer explained, the pointed to each of the three other demons sitting on the panel,” That’s Asmodeus, Avatar of Lust and Fifth Born; Satan, Avatar of Wrath and Fourth Born; and Beelzebub, Avatar of Gluttony and Sixth Born. There is also the Avatar of Envy and Third Born, Leviathan, who appears to have also skipped out on today’s meeting.”

Lucifer stood fuming about it while Diavolo spoke,” You’ll be staying with Lucifer and his brothers in the House of Lamentation during your stay.”

“Is the other exchange student staying there as well,” I inquired.

Diavolo shook his head,” The other human exchange student is a powerful mage and thus is safe in the Devildom alone. You, however, have no such powers. But demons will be less likely to do something if you are under the protection of the powers of the brothers.”

I didn’t see why the other student, or I don’t know, the angels, protect me. But I didn’t argue. Not like I would have had the chance, since the door slammed open and a tan demon with white hair stomped in.

“Why do I gotta babysit some weakling human,” he complained loudly,” Why don’t you do it Asmo?”

“Oh, no,” Asmodeus flipped his champagne colored hair,” I don’t want to.”

Mood Asmodeus, mood.

“What about you Satan?”

“No, don’t you get out of this,” Satan objected, he had blonde hair and green eyes,” This will be very fun to watch.”

Mammon was running out of demons to beg, but there was one left,” Beel?”

“I’ll probably eat them when I get hungry,” Beelzebub answered honestly, his stomach growling right on time. He had carrot orange hair and purple-pink eyes, which looked to Lucifer,” I’m hungry. Are we done yet, Lucifer?”

“Almost Beel,” Lucifer reassured before he reprimanded Mammon,” I can always annihilate you, Mammon, if you’d like.”

Mammon tensed up, quickly put in his place again. He finally burst out,” Whatever! Ya better be grateful you’ve got the Great Mammon looking after you! It’s an honor, ya know.”

“A horror maybe,” I mumbled, Lucifer apparently heard me and chuckled.

“At the end of the year, you will be required to write a paper on your time here,” he said as a closing statement.

“Okay,” I nodded, adjusting my bag and putting my pen away. Suddenly, I remembered,” Oh, is there a way to get my medication?”

Diavolo answered,” Of course. I didn’t realize you had medication, or I would have given you time to grab it. How soon do you need it?”

“I’ll need it by the end of the weekend.”

He nodded,” Alright. This weekend I’ll send you home briefly to grab any items you need.”

“Sounds good. Thank you.”

“Of course. Welcome once again, and I hope you enjoy your time here in the Devildom.”

Mammon “led” me out of the council room, through RAD, and the Devildom. In reality, he just walked quickly, and I had to keep up with my short ass. Thankfully, his white hair is easily visible. The entire way to the house he complained that he had better things to do and he may as well let Beel eat me, and yada yada. I droned him out after the first few sentences.

“Hey! Are ya even listenin’ to me,” he eventually asked. We were in front of a large two-story house. It was basically a mansion to me and it looked like it was haunted, or something I’d find in a Tim Burton movie.

“Honestly,” I flatly replied,” No.

That got him ranting again as he unlocked the door and I followed him inside. The entryway had a double staircase and a hallway underneath the stairs, which I assumed led to the rest of the first floor. Suddenly a voice came from the top of the stairs.

“Mammon,” the voice yelled. It belongs to a demon with blue hair in a sort of bowl cut, with extra long bangs that flick to the side. He began coming down the stairs,” GIve me back the money you borrowed!”

“Oh, no,” Mammon pushed me towards the stairs, then ran off, yelling back,” I don’t have any money for you Levi! Leave me alone!”

Levi stopped at the bottom of the stairs, obviously not intent on a foot chase, glaring at the front door. He turned his glare to me, “I need that money back, and you’re gonna help me human.”

“The name’s Drizzm,” I told him.

“I don’t care. It’s bad enough I have to talk to a normie.”

“That’s the most offensive thing someone has said to me in a long while. A normie?! I’d rather die, thanks.”

Leviathan gave me a sorta odd look before going upstairs, gesturing for me to follow him. We entered a room with a lot of metal bookshelves filled with manga and other books. Anime posters were neatly on the walls, except the back wall that was an aquarium from the top to halfway down. There was a computer in the back right corner and a bathtub just sorta in the middle, just a little to the left.

He went to the computer and I began looking at the books. I never would have thought there would be manga and anime here, but I’m gonna consume them. I came across a long series of books that gave me Lord of the Rings vibes.

“Hey Leviathan,” I asked, looking at him, “What’s the Tale of the Seven Lords?”

“You’ve never heard of TSL,” he was incredulous that I’d never heard of it. He went on a bit of a special interest rant that I was barely to keep track of since I don’t know the characters, “My goldfish is named after the main character, Henry. This is Henry 2.0!”

I greeted the single goldfish in the giant tank, “He’s a cute goldfish. Hello, Henry. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You’re a strange human,” he gave me an odd look again.

“True, true.”

“The reason I brought you here is because I need Mammon to give me my money back. But since he’s second born I’m not strong enough to take it from him by force. Instead, we are going to get him to form a pact with you and you’ll force him to pay me back.”

“So, how do I get a pact? This whole angels and demons thing is new to me.”

“How useless. Normally you offer your soul in exchange. But there’s no way he’d accept that offer. Instead, we need to have you offer something he’d do ANYTHING to get.”

“Any ideas?”

“Lucifer has hidden Mammon’s credit card. You’re going to help me find it. But go to your room until we have more information. I’m busy.”

“Which room is that? Mammon was supposed to show me around.”

Leviathan sighed dramatically, “Across the kitchen. I’m not taking you.”

“I didn’t expect you to. Thank you.”

I left his room and wandered around downstairs, trying to figure out where my room was. There was a common room, library, music room, dining/living room combo, the kitchen, with a bedroom across from it, and a planetarium just downstairs. Which was crazy. I entered the one bedroom. My bedroom for the next year.

It was really big, just like every other room. There was a queen sized bed on the back wall with the headboard facing my left and it’s side against the wall. The head and foot boards were wooden vines coming from next to the headboard where there was a tree growing, for some reason. On the other side of the tree was a 6 seat table with 4 chairs, with shelves and a countertop along the left wall. On the right side of the room was a double doored closet. On the same wall as the entry door, to the right was a TV. It was an almost overwhelmingly big room to me.

I put my bag down and pulled my phone out, finding like 10 missed texts from my mom. I can’t believe my phone still has service down here. I gave her a call and she answered after a single ring.

“Where are you,” she worriedly asked, “I didn’t see you leave, but you’re not home.”

“So, the first thing is, I’m safe,” I assured her, “probably.”

“Really?”

“You’re gonna need to believe me with I tell you this.”

She sighed, “Okay?”

“So, when I was about to leave, a black letter appeared in front of me. Floating by the way. It said that I was accepted into an exchange program at some prestigious sounding academy. It just asked for my signature to confirm the exchange.”

“And you signed it?!”

“You know better than to ask that. Of course I needed to see what would happen if I signed the floating letter.”

“Okay,” she sighed again, probably wondering why she deals with me, “Then what?”

“It disappeared in a little black puff. Before it fucking flash banged me and I found myself in a castle council room at the Royal Academy of Diavolo. Or RAD.”

“That’s sounds so pompous. But RAD is pretty funny.”

“Ye. Diavolo himself greeted me. He’s the Future King of the Devildom.”

“Devildom?”

“Yeah, it’s where demons live. So, I guess kinda like Hell? But, no fire and brimstone. It’s actually kinda Halloween-y and it’s like cobblestone streets. Very much our vibe. The school is like the fancy indoor schools rich kids go to, but it’s castle-like, with giant natural stones.”

“Are there dorms? Will you get to stay in the boy’s dorm?”

“Actually, for the year that I’ll be here, I’m staying with six brothers. They’re ‘Avatars’, as they call them, of the seven sins. The only one no one has even spoken of is the Avatar of Sloth. And I’m not exactly about to ask. I think Diavolo is the only reason why they don’t hurt me, so I don’t really wanna push it.”

“Then why are you there?”

“With the brothers? I dunno. They said the program is to strengthen relations with the three realms. Oh, the Celestial Realm is a thing, and there are two students from there, as well as another human student.”

“You’re not staying with them?”

“I guess not. I can’t see why they can’t protect me. Apparently, the human is a powerful sorcerer. And even if they didn’t trust the sorcerer to protect me, the angels absolutely will. So, I dunno.”

“And you’re just gonna go along with all this?”

“Yeah,” I had wandered over to the closet and opened it to find it already stocked with the school uniform.

“What about your testosterone?”

“Diavolo is having me come home this weekend to get the stuff I need. Do you mind putting my stuff together?”

“Yeah, of course. Just send me the list.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. What about your cats? I assume you can’t bring them?”

“Doubtful, I don’t really like leaving them for a year but I really wanna do this.”

“I’ll take care of them, don’t worry. Just be safe.”

“I’ll try. We’ll see how long it takes for my mouth to get me in trouble.”

“As long as you’re in one piece I’ll call it a success.”

“Damn, such a low bar,” I joked as I closed the closet and sat on the bed.

“You said they weren’t happy about a human.”

“No, but I’m not worried about the brothers. Well, except maybe Beelzebub. He’s the Avatar of Gluttony and he might actually eat me. I’ll have to keep snacks stocked.”

“You’ll have to figure out how to earn money first.”

“I’ll figure something out. I start school tomorrow actually. So I’m diving head first into this.”

“Then I’ll let you rest up. Stay safe and I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

We hung up and I brought my bag to the table. I grabbed my fountain pen and refilled it to ensure I won’t run out. This one has a massive capacity but I’ll have to find somewhere to get ink pretty soon. I can’t imagine the amount of writing I’m going to be doing. A knock came as I was cleaning the excess ink off the outside.

“Come in,” I called, putting my pen back together.

Lucifer stepped in, “It’s time for dinner.”

“Thank you,” I put my pen in my bag, and took a quick look at my inky hands. Every time. I followed him out of my room.

“Did Mammon give you a tour of the house?”

“No, he bounced right after we got here. I gave myself a tour of the first floor. Is there only a bathroom on the second floor?”

“Yes, I can show you where it is after dinner.”

“Please, and thank you.”

“You have good manners. Some of my brothers could learn from you.”

“I’m casual, not rude. Though, some people take my casualness as rudeness,” we approached the table, Lucifer sat on one end. The brothers sat on the long sides. I didn’t think they would like me sitting next to them, so I sat at the other end of the table.

Everyone was already eating so I scanned the food for choices. The monster and giant animal parts were weird, sure, but honestly not much worse than some of the stuff humans eat. I just didn’t know what was what or how they should be eaten. My cup was already filled with a liquid.

I knew I should be more cautious, but I trusted that they wouldn’t do something on the first day. You always wait before bullying someone if you’re smart about it. I took a drink while I thought about what to try first. The drink was actually pretty good.

“Are you put off by the food,” Asmodues smiled at me.

“Other than not knowing how things are meant to be eaten, not particularly,” I continued, “Human food can be pretty weird too.”

He looked surprised, “Oh, I see. Well, let me help you,” he gave me a little direction on how things are meant to be eaten. I thanked him for his help when my plate had a good selection. There was no way I would be able to try all the dishes. There were too many. But the amount of dishes seemed to be due to the fact that Beelzebub had already completely eaten many. After dinner, Lucifer kept his word and showed me where the bathroom was located, as well as where the bedrooms for each brother were. I took the opportunity to take a shower before heading back to my room. This walk is going to be torture when I desperately need to pee.

Back in my room I set my alarm on my phone to wake up early. I did a morning stretch routine and wanted to make sure I had time. I called my friend, Emily, and explained to her what was going on while I made a list for my mom. She insisted that I take a bunch of photos while I’m here. I promised her I will, and after a bit more chatting we hung up.

I plugged both of my phones in preparation for going to bed soon. I planned on a night of fighting my insomnia so I tried to relax as much as possible. My DDD vibrated. It was Diavolo. He was letting me know that I can contact him if anything happens. All the brothers texted me as well, even though I already had them in my contacts, but whatever.

I sent them all responses. But only received a response from Diavolo. He sent an angry sticker before sending another message saying that he’s not used to the DDD yet. Then he sent a different, happy sticker. I let him know that it’s okay and sent him a dancing sticker. It felt odd texting a prince, but that’s like, the least weird thing that’s happened to me today.

I, again, thought I was not going to sleep well. Which was true. I didn’t get that much sleep, but not any worse than I was expecting so I didn’t feel too bad when I turned off my alarm and got up. I did my stretching routine, slowly waking up and making sure my joints were set correctly for the day.

I went to the bathroom with my school uniform and quickly did my shower and hair routine. It felt like it took me way too long to put on the uniform. There were quite a few pieces and there were accessories, like a badge, and cape. I also didn’t do a great job with the tie. I’d only tied one a few times, so I wasn’t very good at it. But the uniform actually fit me really well, which was surprising. It was thick enough material that I wasn’t worried about my binder being obvious. I just wasn’t expecting it to fit like it was tailored specifically for me.

I snapped a quick pic to send to my mom and Em. Then, I brought my dirty clothes back to my room and put them in the hamper. I grabbed my bag, which had backpack straps, and put on my shoes. I sent my mom the pic and a funny text about not being murdered in my sleep, as well as sent the photo to Em.

During breakfast I just listened to Asmodeus chat with Satan while I ate and texted. Lucifer reminded Mammon that he needed to show me where my classes were and if I was late then he would get in trouble instead of me.

Mammon didn’t even bother to argue this time. Instead, he just hurried me along. I quickly finished my food and followed him to RAD. I noticed that the sky was still nighttime. In fact, the sky seemingly never became day, it was dark when I arrived yesterday as well. That was actually nice because the sun is bright and hurts my eyes. He showed me my classes, starting with the last one and ending with the first. I made note of the bathroom locations and any other places I may need to go, like the cafeteria.

Once we got to my first class, he bounced. I expected as much and just introduced myself to the teacher. She was obviously made aware of my arrival to her class, but she didn’t particularly seem to care and just told me where my seat is.

As long as I don’t have to introduce myself to the class, then I don’t care if she didn’t have me do it because they as demons don’t care about that sort of stuff, or because she doesn’t think it’s worth introducing a human. She didn’t seem unfriendly, just sort of whatever about it. I hope all the teachers are at least whatever about me. I don’t care if they hate me for being a human, I just don’t want to deal with an asshole teacher.

I sat at my designated spot and brought out the things that I would need for class. I gave my pen a little test write, to make sure it was working. Which it was, like usual. This class was Devildom History so I expected that I’d be doing quite a lot of writing. There were no textbooks, so it’s on you to write the information you need down. But there were reference books that the teacher would suggest for greater reading. Or required for homework.

Each class was quite long so there were only 4 classes a day, meeting twice a week, with Wednesday acting as an electives/clubs day. After morning class was a half hour long recess. During which, someone with short white hair approached me.

“Hello,” he cheerfully greeted, “I’m Solomon, the other human exchange student. I wanted to introduce myself.”

“Hi, my name is Drizzm,” I returned, “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise. I was wondering if you would be interested in exchanging numbers? Us humans should stick together while we are here.”

“I’m not sure how I could help you, if you’re as powerful as the others make you out to be. But I would appreciate the help."

“I actually don’t know what Diavolo was thinking bringing a human with no magical powers as an exchange student. It seems very reckless,” he mused as we exchanged numbers.

“I dunno, but I’m here now, and I’m determined to have a good time.”

“I like your spirit,” he laughed, “But I just want to warn you to be careful. You’re an outsider here and you’ll be treated as such.”

“Yes,” I answered plainly, “I’m aware of how racism works. I’ve been watched by basically everyone since I got here. If it wasn’t for being under the protection of Diavolo and the brothers I would be having a much harder time.”

“I see you’re well aware. I’d love to stay and chat, but I actually need to go do something. I’ll see you around, Drizzm.”

“See ya.”

I grabbed my things and was on my way to my next class, Home Economics, when I was stopped by Lucifer, “I’d be careful trusting Solomon.”

I thought about being passive aggressive that he didn’t greet me first but I decided against it, “I trust him about as much as I trust anyone else here so far.”

“He wields powerful magic and has the Ring of Wisdom, giving him control of lower demons. He may be friendly, but no one can understand what he’s thinking.”

“Okay,” I wasn’t really sure what to do with this information. It didn’t really change my approach down here so I just said, “Maybe he can use that Ring of Wisdom to realize that going after me probably isn’t worth it. I mean, what would he even gain?”

Lucifer gave me an annoyed look, “Next time I won’t warn you then.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t appreciate it. I just don’t see how that information changes anything. For me, people’s actions will tell me their trustworthiness.”

“Did Mammon show you the location of your classes?”

Guess he’s done with that conversation. I have Mammon recon to do anyways, “Yep, he bounced as soon as he was done, but he did it. How do you keep him under control? Threats of violence seems to barely work. So, you have to do something in addition.”

He looked amused and gave me a smile, “Let’s just say I froze something of his.”

Damn, he was already cute, but that smile is so cute, “I see.”

He excused himself and I didn’t have a whole lot more time left in morning recess so I went straight to my class. This teacher also didn’t really seem to care. So far so good. Can’t wait to see what makes the nice demon teacher streak end. This class was perfect for learning about preparing food here, and how demons live their day to day lives.

There was no cooking today though, so when the bell rang for lunch I headed to the cafeteria. I passed the board saying the weekly menu without a glance. I wouldn’t know what anything was anyways. Just pointing to a random food probably immediately outed me as the outsider, but I needed food and no one was there to help me. At least the food was already made and I could see them so I didn’t have to worry about anyone doing anything to it.

After getting my food I scanned the cafeteria for somewhere to eat when I spotted Beelzebub with an absolute pile of food. Satan was sitting near him with a book and I didn’t really spot anyone else. So to Satan I go I guess.

“Do you mind if I sit here,” I politely asked, sitting when he gestured to the seat. I just ate in silence. I know better than to bother someone reading a book. And honestly, I just didn’t want to sit by myself with all the bodies around. It didn’t bother me that they were demons, there was just a lot of them. I needed the comfort of being around someone that I at least know the name of.

Satan also was being pretty nice to me, he really didn’t need to let me sit here. He didn’t even know whether or not I would try to interrupt his reading. I know I’m massively protected and the reward of hurting me doesn’t outway the consequences that would probably happen, but still. I expected a lot more push back. If not from the brothers, then at the very least the other demons. It’s still early in my time here though, so that very well may change.

We didn’t speak for the entirety of lunch. I just used the rest of the time to look at the homework I’ve already been assigned. I’m at such a major disadvantage because I know literally nothing, so I have to put more work into learning everything than most other students. I got pretty good grades in school without any effort, but I knew I couldn’t really slack off here. I didn’t know the grade requirement for staying in the exchange, or if there was one at all. But I wanted to show that I really wanted to learn, because I do, and maybe I’ll get invited back.

My first afternoon class was Mathematics. Great. I’m not bad at math, but it’s a subject that really requires me to pay attention and put more work into. Or, at least, it feels like that in comparison to my brother, who is a total math wiz.

After math was afternoon recess. These breaks were so long and it felt odd. But I actually kinda liked it, I could get homework done, visit the library, or go the school store that sold snacks and stationary. It honestly felt like I was attending a really fancy college. Which, in a way, I was? This is the only school but there were only what appeared to be adult demons that attended.

Wait, how do they know how to read and write then? Do they just get born with that knowledge? Did their parents teach them? I suddenly have a lot of questions. But no time to think about it because it was time for my last class. Devildom Law. This sounds like it’s gonna be such a dry class. It’s important for me to know the laws though, I suppose.

I finally made it through my first day and made my way back to the House of Lamentation with Asmodeus. He just chatted about wanting to go shopping at places that I didn’t recognize. I don’t really do much in the way of shopping, but it’d be a good idea to get some everyday clothes. Wearing the school uniform as my only outfit didn’t feel practical. In the meantime I have some clothes my mom set aside when I get to go pick those up.

“Why don’t you come with me,” Asmodeus offered, “Though I can’t promise we’ll be done soon.”

“I think it should be fine,” I replied, “I already finished most of my homework, and I have no problem heading home early if I need to.”

“You mean you’d leave there myself?”

“Don’t you shop alone all the time?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he didn’t seem bothered in the least, “Let’s go~!”

Off we went. First to a place called Majolish, it seemed really popular because there were a lot of demons shopping. We all sorta went different directions in the store as our tastes differed. He seemed to be into more cutesy attire. I tend to dress really plain personally. I just don’t really have a good fashion sense so it’s just a shirt and pants usually.

I wandered through the aisles, Asmodeus could be heard no matter where I went. It’s not that he was particularly loud, though he did sometimes get very excited. I found his voice just carried through the air. It sort of weaved it’s way around other noises. I think it contributes to his captivating nature as the Avatar of Lust. I wonder if he even knew his voice had that effect, or if it’s an innate ability he has.

To be honest I don’t really know why I agreed to go shopping. It’s not like I can expect Asmo to pay for my clothes. Nor do I have Devildom money. What was it called again?

“Asmo lend me some Grimm,” Mammon’s voice jingled like coins through the air. How is he both everywhere and also always missing? I spotted the two of them by the watches.

“Ugh,” Asmo scoffed, gripping, but not pulling, his hair in irritation, “You still haven’t paid me back for the last time!”

“It’s just one watch Asmo!”

He scoffed at Mammon before spotting me as he turned to walk away, “Drizzm, there you are!”

Pretty sure I was just a good excuse to get out of the conversation, but I waved nonetheless. Mammon followed him as he came to where I was, “What’s up?”

“Mammon is just being scummy like usual,” he huffed, gripping his hair again.

“Who ya callin’ scummy,” Mammon put his hands on his hips defiantly, “I just want a new watch. What’s so wrong with that, huh?!”

“Because you never pay me pack!”

“That’s not true! I paid ya back last month!”

“Guys,” I interrupted firmly, “shut the fuck up about this. Mammon, pay your debts before acquiring new ones, especially with familial debt. You can leave if you insist on begging.”

They both looked at me shocked before Mammon got defensive, “I ain’t beggin’! I was just askin’! The Great Mammon never begs!”

“Whatever,” I turned away, tired of the conversation already, “Asmodeus, would you like to leave? Cause I don’t really feel like shopping. Not like I can buy anything.”

“Hmmm,” he hesitantly hummed, “But we haven’t even been shopping long.”

“Sorry. Never been much of a clothes shopper.”

“Well if you wanna leave sweetie then go ahead. I’m going to shop a little more,” he smiled before going through the aisles, “Oh, and you can just call me Asmo. We’re shopping buddies now~!”

Mammon was still on his tail. God speed Asmo. But I also hope he doesn’t want me to go shopping with him too much. I’m a homebody. Speaking of home, I began my walk back to the House of Lamentation. I knew I probably shouldn’t walk alone, but I honestly didn’t expect anyone to go out of their way to walk home with me.

“Drizzm?”

I turned to my right to see Satan with new books in his arms, “Hi Satan. Did you go to the bookstore?”

He nodded, “What are you doing here?”

“I was shopping with Asmo but I decided to go back before him.”

“Good choice, he’ll shop all night if you let him. Would you like me to show you the way back?”

“I’m actually okay on navigation. But I would appreciate the company and protection.”

“Shall we go then,” he stepped in time with me as we walked through the winding cobblestone streets. I’d only walked on cobblestone a few times before now and I’d always enjoyed the way footsteps sound.

“What books did you get,” I asked, both making conversation and genuinely curious.

He looked at me, “Do you like books?”

“Yeah, if you have any recommendations that would help me during my time here I would really appreciate it. Or any that I would find just enjoyable.”

“What kind of books do you normally read?”

“Well I already know that I gotta get a copy of The Seven Lords series. Sounds right up my alley.”

“So fantasy?”

“Yes a lot of the time. But, I read all sorts of books, and there’s so many to read down here. I just don’t really know where to start.”

He hummed, “I’ll send you a list later, I already have some ideas.”

“I appreciate it.”

We continued chatting the whole way back but parted right after walking in, with Satan going to his room. I barely made it a few steps towards mine before being interrupted by Levi.

“There you are,” he huffed his way down the stairs, glaring at me, “Where were you? I hope making yourself useful?”

“Do you need something,” I knew what he wanted but he was going to be an adult about it.

“Did you forget already? Stupid human. You were supposed to learn about Mammon?”

“Shut up, I didn’t forget. You were being rude and unless you drop it then I won’t help you.”

“Who do you think you are,” he puffed up and even though he doesn’t do a whole lot, he’s still considered powerful and I don’t know if I necessarily wanna try that yet… However.

“Someone who has the ability to text the Prince,” I said simply yet confidently.

Levi glared so hard his eyes became slits, I actually think his pupils thinned too. It was very snake-like. But he didn’t try anything. He just glared. Until after a few moments he calmed, “Whatever, normie. Did you learn anything?”

I took it as a success, “Lucifer said he froze something of Mammon’s.”

“Yeah his credit card probably.”

“But what if it’s also literal?”

“What?”

“He froze something of Mammon’s. He probably froze it through the bank and literally. I don’t think he would have said it in such a way otherwise.”

“Hm,” he thought for a second, “You might just be right. Let’s test it later tonight, I’ll text you.”

I didn’t have time to answer as he just walked away. At least I’ll finally get to my room. I put my bag down on a chair at the table before sitting on my bed with a sigh. It’s only day one and my will for school is already gone. Well, honestly, it’s just that I was on guard all day and I still have Levi and Mammon to deal with later.

Speaking of Mammon. I don’t really care to have a pact with him. He’s loud and annoying and has almost no sense of responsibility. But if I do have a pact with him, then I do have a guaranteed body guard, whether he likes it or not. Not that I particularly liked the idea of taking away his free will. I’ll just see where this goes, because I may not get a pact either way. Something could happen to keep me from getting a pact with him, or he straight up refuses. Levi seems like he’s thought about how to manipulate him so I’ll just leave it to him.

With another sigh I got up and sat at the table to do the rest of my homework. Because of my escapades after school I just finished when Lucifer knocked on my door for dinner. Asmo and Mammon didn’t get back till dinner was almost finished. Meaning they had few dishes to pick from, as Beelzebub had eaten most of it already.

I fiddled around in my room, wasting time, but not committing to anything while I waited for Levi. A couple hours after dinner I finally received a text from Levi to meet him in the kitchen. He also said to not keep him waiting as if my room wasn’t directly across from it. I just sent him the sticker of a little guy in a red hood saluting before putting my D.D.D. in my pocket and going to the kitchen.

Inside I found Beel raiding the fridge. Their food bill must be truly insane with Beel living here. I also spotted the chain and padlock used to keep the fridge locked on the floor, in pieces. Just a reminder of how strong these demons are, but Beel seemed at least polite like Asmo and Satan.

“Hi, Beelzebub,” I greeted.

“Oh, hi Drizzm,” he nodded at me before shoving some food in his mouth, “You can just call me Beel.”

“Okay,” I kinda stood there awkwardly for a second. Suddenly I remembered that I wanted to know if there was a seventh brother and this seemed as good a time as any, “Hey Beel, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Um, is there a seventh brother?”

His face fell and the look on his face was mournful, “Don’t bring him up around the others. He’s in the Human World on exchange.”

“I’m sorry for asking. My curiosity got the better of me,” I wasn’t going to ask him any more questions but now I need to know what happened to cause the seventh to be basically dead to them.

“It’s alright, you didn’t know,” he left the kitchen, seemingly feeling a bit better as he said, “I already ate everything in the fridge.”

Yeah I’m sure you did. Not that I mean that negatively. I’ve just seen how he eats and it makes sense for the Avatar of Gluttony. I stood there waiting for Levi, scrolling on my D.D.D. when he came through the doorway suddenly.

“About time,” he said.

“I was here before you,” I corrected him, “So are we looking in the freezer?”

“Exactly, must be nice being so smart,” he went into the very back of the freezer as I ignored him and pulled out a block of ice, “Ugh. Why did he put it in a block of ice?”

“Can’t make it too easy on Mammon I guess.”

Levi just hummed in annoyance and shoved the block in the microwave. I was about to stop him when Mammon burst into the kitchen.

“Don’t do that! You’ll ruin her,” he shrieked. Levi hovered his finger over the start button as he stared Mammon down. “If you want your credit card unharmed, then make a pact with Drizzm. Do it or I’ll press start.”

“NO! No, no, no! I’ll do it! All I gotta do is make a pact? Okay! Anything for Goldie!”

God he was so desperate. And Goldie? Of course he named his credit card. He faced me and a light came from each of us, blue from me and gold for Mammon, merging together in a swirl before solidifying into a blue crescent moon with a gold four-pointed star nestled inside. It glowed brightly before it split in two. One copy disappeared into my chest and the other into Mammon’s. I felt an odd feeling of connection him, signaling the pact was complete.

Upon seeing this Levi opened the microwave. Mammon quickly swiped the ice and melted it magically, leaving his precious Goldie in tact. He even began crying over it.

“He’s like a less menacing Gollum,” I muttered aloud.

It didn’t take long for Levi to get annoyed, “Give me back my money Mammon! Or I’ll have Drizzm use his pact!”

“No need! I’ll just use Goldie for whatever you need,” Mammon seemed emotionally stressed so he really didn’t need any more pushing. They both left to Levi’s room and I tiredly went to mine. Though I do wonder why Levi couldn’t have just threatened him with the card instead of having me form a pact, but whatever. I dressed in my pjs and fell onto my bed, socially exhausted for the day.

The next morning I got into the dining room when it was still just Satan and Asmo at the table. They were discussing something with excitement. Satan addressed me as I approached my seat.

“It’s impressive you were able to make a pact on your second day,” he praised me with the most genuine amusement I’ve seen yet.

“It’s even crazier that Levi teamed up with them to do it,” Asmo added before turning to me, “Which one of us would you want to make a pact with next?”

I looked at him, confused, “I have no intentions of making pacts. That’s not my goal. I didn’t even know they were a real thing until Levi told me.”

“Then what is your goal,” Satan’s eyes bore into me.

“To enjoy my time here and make friends.”

Asmo smiled, almost threateningly, “Well, either way. Don’t think we’re as stupid and easy to trick as Mammon.”

“Stop lookin’ down on me,” speak of the devil, here he is, “You guys think you’re so much smarter than me!”

Oh boy here he goes again. Sure they aren’t nice to him but he’s not doing himself many favors.

“This is all Lucifer’s fault anyways,” he continued ranting, “Who puts my precious Goldie in a block of ice? Is that his lame attempt at a dad joke?”

Ah, the phrase appears again. Lucifer smacked Mammon upside the head, annoyed. He then smiled at me, “Good job on making a pact so soon. Even though Mammon is the easiest to trick. It’s still a feat to make a pact so soon, and with a demon so strong.”

It was weird enough hearing him compliment me, let alone compliment Mammon so highly and back-handedly, “How strong is Mammon?”

“I must never have explained. We are in order of strength, not birth.”

“Kinda weird, but okay.”

Mammon apparently decided he had had enough because he stormed out of the room. Weirdly, he took me with him. I was going to ask why he was dragging me around but he wouldn’t shut up about how everything was my fault.

“Whatever, dude,” I dismissed, irritated, ripping my arm from his grip, “I don’t care about the opinion of someone that doesn’t even bother with my name. I bet you don’t even remember what it is.”

“Of course I do,” he lied, “I just don’t care to call you anything other than human.”

“So you wanna test the power of the pact?”

“Whatever, hu-”

“Drizzm,” I corrected, my body flowing with energy as the pact activated, “You will call me by my name. Understand? You can just not speak until you learn if you’d like.”

He tried to yell, but the harder he tried to resist my order, the more he seemed in physical pain. Before eventually, he relented, “Drizzm! Fine! Happy?”

I smiled, “Yes.”

I released him and left him to realize next time to not try me. He followed me wordlessly as I got my bag and went to school. As we walked he actually just sorta chatted with me for the first time. Unfortunately, I didn’t really relate. Mostly he talked about gambling and partying. Two activities I don’t really participate in.

He still bounced when we got to school, which was fine. I grabbed a snack since he made me skip breakfast and went to the library with my remaining time. The library was huge. Two huge floors with rows upon rows of bookcases. I walked past a few before I heard Satan call out to me.

“Hi Satan,” I greeted, “this library is huge."

“Indeed,” he nodded, “Are you looking for something?”

I shook my head.

“Then let’s get you started. I have a few books that come to mind. Follow me.”

He led me to a different section and grabbed a couple thicc tomes for me to check out. Though, the librarian seemed really hesitant to actually let me. I don’t think they would if Satan wasn’t with me and the possible threat of Diavolo exists.

Satan spoke as we left the library, “It’s not just the fact I was with you.”

“Pardon?”

“Your pact with Mammon means you’re worth noting and demons will be more likely to respect you now.”

“How did the news travel so fast?”

“Demons love their gossip. Also, Asmo posted about it.”

“I see.”

“You seem unbothered by demons treating you different.”

“I expected worse to be honest. I also never really fit in with humans either, so I guess I’m sorta used to it.”

“I see.”

The bell rang and we parted ways for class. The day passed as normal as I expect it to. During afternoon recess I was sitting with Mammon, who was chatting about some horse race. A pale demon with short straight hair, with a longer left bang that looked dipped in the most gorgeous teal approached us.

“Pardon me, but would you happen to have seen the Young Master,” he politely asked.

“Is he dodgin’ his work again,” Mammon asked, somewhat amused, “Haven’t seen him though, sorry.”

“It’s quite alright. I apologize for interrupting,” he then spoke to me, “Ah, how rude of me. I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Barbatos, Lord Diavolo’s butler. It’s a pleasure to meet you Drizzm.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Barbatos,” I returned. Before we could continue, two more people approached. They didn’t wear the uniforms like everyone else. One of them was short like a child, pale, with short shaggy blond hair. The other was tall, dark, with short wavy dark brown hair.

“Hello, we wanted to finally introduce ourselves to the other human exchange student,” the taller one began, “We’re the angel exchange students. I’m Simeon, and this is Luke.”

Luke seemed really apprehensive and stared intently at me. I introduced myself, “My name is Drizzm. It’s nice to finally meet both of you.”

“See Luke? He seems friendly, right?”

“Yeah,” Luke hesitantly nodded.

“So quiet Luke,” teased Lucifer, who approached with Diavolo. It was a party in here, “That’s unlike you. Normally you bark a lot more. Scared of all the demons?”

Luke’s face flushed red, “I am not scared of such lowly demons. I’ll have you know I report directly to Michael!”

“Yeah, yeah Chihuahua,” Mammon chimed in, “keep yappin’.”

“I’m not a chihuahua!”

“He does indeed remind me of one,” Lucifer concurred. Diavolo agreed along with him, as cheerful as ever. Diavolo in fact seemed very amused by all the back and forth. Luke was fuming, not enjoying the teasing.

“That’s enough now,” Simeon stepped in before it got too far, “I know you like teasing Luke, but that’s enough.”

“Don’t step in Simeon, I’m fine!”

Simeon agreed, placating him. We swapped numbers right as the bell rang. The others left for class. Well, Diavolo was dragged off sadly by Barbatos. Luke stalled behind, staring at me intensely again.

“Yes, Luke,” I inquired.

“Don’t trust the demons,” he warned me seriously, “None of them are any good for you. Especially Lucifer.”

A lot of people are giving me advice that I already implement but I know they mean well, “Okay, I’ll make sure to remember that.”

He nodded, satisfied, then left for his own class when Simeon called for him. So those are the angels. Luke is more high strung than Simeon it seems. But Simeon called me ‘he’. Does he know? I kinda hope he does and it’s just the angels don’t care. I always thought it was weird that heaven would dislike queer people. Though I’m still gonna ask him at some point.

The rest of the day went by with no more interesting things happening. I finished my last class, went back, did homework, had dinner, read the books from the library. That actually caused me to stay up pretty late and I needed to go to the bathroom before I laid down for bed.

As I left my room I heard something. It sounded like someone asking for help. I didn’t recognize any of the brother’s voices and I didn’t usually hear Levi’s games. I followed the voice, going upstairs, past the rooms, to a circular staircase leading to I assume the attic.

“Can’t sleep Drizzm,” Lucifer got between me and the staircase.

“I lost track of time reading and I was headed to the bathroom,” I clarified, “but I heard someone calling out.”

“It was probably your imagination. Or Levi is playing games late again.”

“And he’s playing up the stairs?”

“No, that’s the attic and he doesn’t leave his room when gaming.”

I eyed the staircase again without meaning to.

“Don’t think about it. The attic is dangerous for humans. I’ll escort you to bed.”

It was clear that this was not up for discussion and he was trying to be polite. I know it’s not worth arguing with him so I let him escort me to the bathroom then my room. He told me to sleep well and left to continue his rounds. The mystery of the attic and what I heard filled my head until I fell asleep.

The next day went normally. Wake up, classes, homework, dinner, read until too late and hear the voice again.

It didn’t take a genius to realize that Lucifer was hiding something. Was it actually dangerous? Solid chance honestly. The real question is does Lucifer patrol every night? If so, then it’s something serious. And unfortunately for Lucifer, I’m not one to ignore a cry for help.

So, up the stairs I went, walking like I’m half asleep as a cover. Right as I got the the spiral staircase he appeared to stop me again. He stood with his arms crossed, visibly annoyed.

“Reading too late again,” he was barely being polite, “You’re just like Satan.”

“Sorry, got turned around,” I lied, trying to sound half-asleep, “What’s up there anyways?”

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Now go to bed, and if you have a hard time sleeping I have a tea that will put you right to sleep.”

I didn’t like where this was going.

“Though I must warn that the effects are particularly potent for humans. I’m sure you understand?”

I thought so, “Yes, sir. I’m going to bed now.”

“Good. I’ll escort you, so you don’t get turned around again.”

I was deeply unsure whether or not he knew I was lying or not. But I just nodded and played along, letting him lead me back to my room. He watched me until my door closed and I didn’t hear him walk away until about 5 minutes after I turned my lights out and laid in bed. I turned the situation in my brain, trying to figure out the next step until I fell asleep.

Mammon has taken to sitting next to me and chatting during breakfast. I wasn’t really paying attention as I continued to think about how to get into the attic. I can’t be the only person hearing it right? But I can’t imagine Lucifer is stupid enough to let sound out like that if he really was keeping someone hostage up there. And I’m not stupid enough to try and get up there without making sure I won’t get caught. Actually, I have heard of a certain Grimm hungry demon that will steal things to pawn them off. Maybe he tried to get up there searching for valuables and knows something?

“Hey Mammon,” I interrupted whatever he was saying, “What’s up the attic stairs?” “Why the sudden interest,” he asked.

“Well, it’s the only place I haven’t been to in the house and I’m curious.”

“There’s nothin’ up there.”

“Really.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then why’d ya ask me?!”

“Wow, I thought we were closer than that. Come on, I can tell you know something. You’ve probably tried to get up there, right? What’s up there?”

“Why should I tell ya? What’s in it for the Great Mammon?”

“I don’t force you with the pact,” I threatened matter-of-factly.

He squirmed in his seat as I looked at him expectantly. It seemed that instead of denying me directly, he’s decided to just stonewall me. Whatever, I’ll just come back to this conversation later.

“Fine,” I sighed, “I’ll just have to sneak around Lucifer myself.”

“Whoa,” he suddenly became invested, “You’ll get caught!”

“I know. I already have twice. I wanna distract him somehow.”

He had an internal debate before groaning, “Alright. I don’t know what’s up there. Honest. But, I’ll help ya distract Lucifer.”

“Thank you,” I beamed, “How are we gonna distract him?”

“Lucifer really loves records, cursed ones most of all. He’s currently got an interest in a cursed vinyl from that ‘Tale of’ series Levi loves.”

“Oh, ‘The Tale of The Seven Lords’? I gotta get those and read them.”

“Well, ya can ask Levi when ya see him for the record.”

“I thought you were helping me.”

“I gave ya information! That’s plenty of help from the Great Mammon!”

“You said, and I quote, ‘I’ll help ya distract Lucifer.’ I won’t take no for an answer.”

“I don’t wanna. Talk to Levi yourself!”

I sighed, I debated whether or not it would be worth it, “Okay, fine, I will.”

Before Mammon could reply with whatever he wanted I left the table. I made my way to Levi’s room and knocked softly but firmly three times.

“Levi, it’s Drizzm,” I called to him, “Can I talk with you, please?”

“What’s the secret phrase,” his muffled distant voice demanded.

“How would I know that? I just wanna know more about TSL.”

“Look elsewhere. No secret phrase, no entry.”

I sighed, some of these guys really just refuse to open up even a touch. We even tricked Mammon together.

“Outta my way, the Great Mammon will get the door open for ya,” he pushed me away from the door, chest puffed with false confidence.

Yeah, that didn’t happen. Mammon just tried to boss him around by throwing around his big bro status. This is why I decided he wasn’t worth the trouble, he isn’t very tactful in social situations. He doesn’t even seem that great at stealing or gambling to be honest. I turned to leave when I almost ran into Solomon.

“Oh, I’m sorry Solomon,” I stepped back, giving us both space, “What are you up to?”

“Hi Drizzm,” he greeted me, “I’m here to see Levi. I see you’re trying too?”

“Yea, but I don’t know the secret phrase. I assume you know if you’re here to see him?”

He just smiled at me and knocked on the door. He gave the secret phrase and was allowed in. However, when Mammon and I tried to use it Levi said that the secret phrase had changed. Well, there goes that. We went back downstairs and into my room to brainstorm.

“Looks like you’ll need to become an expert in TSL for Levi to just let ya in,” Mammon announced, “So let’s get started with the movies. That’s the fastest way to go through everything.”

“I love the excitement,” I paused him, “But it’ll have to wait until we get back.”

“Where are we goin’?”

“School.”

I grabbed my bag and we walked to school together. I thought Solomon and Levi had school as well, but I ain’t their dad so it’s not my problem. Mammon texted me at some point trying to get me to skip with him to get snacks for our marathon. But, to me, the consequences for skipping are way more work than is worth the enjoyment of not being at school. I told him to just do it without me, much to his frustration. He called me a boring goody-two-shoes. No, just lazy.

I had enough time to finish my homework before Mammon came back, throwing my door open way too energetically. He’s gonna break my door I swear. He got an absolute load on snacks, obviously none I recognize. Except they have a version of popcorn? With absolutely confusing flavors. That he happily grabbed a couple of and went to the kitchen to make, as well as gather our drinks.

When he came back he was closely followed by Beel, who kept trying to eat the popcorn. I had no problem with Beel joining us. Even if he was just here for the snacks. We settled in and I pressed play on the remote. While this was going to take like all night, I’m a Lord of the Rings fan, so I’ll be alright.

It didn’t take long for me to have strong suspicions that the characters are based on the brothers. I mean the Lord of Fools’ lover’s name is Geldie. Seriously. Changed one letter. It’s as bad as Drizzm being one letter different from Drizzt, the character I stole my name from.

Mammon got supremely invested in the story, crying over Geldie’s sad story. The story was good and the main character Henry was likable enough. I can see how it got to be held in such high regard. This just solidified how badly I need to get my hands on the books and read what the movies had to leave out.

The engrossing nature meant that before long the movies were over and the final credits were rolling accompanied by bittersweet yet uplifting music. I stretched while Mammon collected himself. Beel on the other hand collected the rest of the snacks, much to Mammon’s chagrin. I gently shooed them out of my room so I could get ready for bed and fall exhausted onto my mattress.

The next morning Mammon decided to quiz me on TSL trivia. I was surprised he remembered everything so well himself. Well, he was awfully invested. While we were talking Levi came stomping down the stairs like he does.

“I heard you guys had a TSL movie marathon,” he accused like we stole the movies from him, “It’s so not fair. I have so much anime to watch and games to play I can’t just do a TSL marathon like you normies.”

“But I’ve tried to talk to about TSL multiple times now,” I reminded him, “You brushed me off. Now you don’t get to be the only expert anymore.”

“Expert?! You think you’re an expert after one watch?”

“What? You gonna gatekeep? Like a normie?”

“Don’t call me a normie! You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Stop yelling,” I snapped, he was starting to really annoy me and I goaded him, “If you want me to prove it then why not have a competition with me.”

“I don’t need to prove myself to you,” he scoffed.

“Oh I see. You’re just scared that you’ll lose a trivia competition about your special interest.”

“Fine,” he huffed, as annoyed as me, “Let’s have a TSL competition. Look forward to losing normie.”

He bumped shoulders with me as he left for school. How juvenile. Though now I have a way to guarantee he gives me the record if I can manage to win somehow. Getting the win is gonna be the difficult part tho. Mammon and I brainstormed how to fudge a win while continuously quizzing me to keep information fresh.

I was getting a drink during morning break when I was approached by Beel and Satan, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Beel greeted first, “I heard you were having some kind of competition with Levi.”

I nodded.

“I wanted to give you a piece of advice. If you make him jealous, he gets really mad.”

“Thank you,” I had already guessed that but I was confused about something else, “But, out of curiosity, why are you helping me?”

“You’ve been nice to me so far and you let me eat your snacks during the marathon.”

“Well, I didn’t pay for them, Mammon did. But I appreciate it, you’ve been kind as well and that’s been really nice as I’ve tried to settle in.”

He smiled then got himself a drink and left as Satan spoke, “If you want to make him jealous you’ll have to know something related to TSL he doesn’t. I suggest going to Simeon.”

“I appreciate it. But, why are you helping me too?”

“I have my reasons. Mostly to annoy that pompous prick Lucifer.”

“I’m not sure how that relates to my competition, but thank you.”

He was satisfied and left for his next class, as did I. Why would Simeon know about TSL? There are a lot of fans of TSL around here, like Solomon. Though I want to see Simeon because I want to know how he connects to it. Solomon is obviously just a fan and probably has some sort of collectible Levi doesn’t. But what about Simeon?

I texted Mammon what happened and he agreed that we’ll try to get Simeon’s help first, then Solomon’s if Simeon wasn’t able to help. I then sent a text to Simeon asking if he would help me with the competition. He said yes, not without some struggle tho. Simeon seems to be a bit of a boomer with technology and he often sent mistyped words and stickers at the wrong time.

After classes Mammon joined me in going over to Purgatory Hall, the dorm that the angels and Solomon stayed in. Luke seemed upset to let Mammon in so we just stayed in the common room, while he hid in his room. Simeon came in with what were obviously writer’s notes for an in-progress novel. He told me what he was planning to have happen in the next book. Spoilers. Perfect rage bait for a nerd’s special interest. At some point Mammon got up to go to the bathroom, leaving me and Simeon alone.

“Can I ask a question,” I steeled myself.

“Of course,” he smiled. There is something oddly calming when the angels smile.

“Well I have two very different questions. The first is, did you write TSL and base it off the brothers?”

“You picked that up fast. Yes, I did.”

“I thought so, since Geldie in Volume 1,” I rubbed my hands together, “Um, this next question makes me nervous.”

“You don’t have to ask it right now.”

“No, it’s important to me that I ask this.”

Simeon became more serious when he realized how much this meant.

“How does the Celestial Realm and the angels feel about queer people like me?”

He blinked, surprised, “Why would you ask such a question? Of course we love you all, regardless of your sexuality or gender. That’s something for you individual humans. We care about the purity of your soul. You’ve always been you. Nothing will change that and you have nothing to worry about.”

“I thought so,” I sighed to release the anxiety, “There are just so many people that hate me for being me. They use their religion to justify it, saying that we are abominations and going to Hell. So I just felt the need to ask.”

“I understand,” he spoke gently, “The only reason a soul ends up down here is by being sinful and blasphemous. And between the both of us, they sound less pure than you.”

I smiled, “Thank you. I feel better now.”

“That’s good.”

I check my D.D.D., “Oh, it’s close to dinnertime. I’ll grab Mammon and we’ll get outta your hair. Thank you for everything.”

I grabbed our bags and went into the hallway, waving Simeon and almost running into Mammon on his way back from the bathroom.

“Oops,” I step back, handing him his bag, “We should head back. It’s about time for dinner.”

“Alright,” he agreed, swinging the bag onto one shoulder, “You think you’re ready for the competition?”

“Well, if I can get him to take the rage bait. Y’know, it’s funny. First, Levi and I paired up to trick you. And now we’re pairing up to trick him.”

“What goes around comes around, I suppose. He deserves it for being such a bad-natured shut-in.”

“The poor guy’s self-esteem is in the gutter. Though I suppose that’s fitting for the Avatar of Envy. Can’t be envious if you think highly of yourself.”

“Ya think?”

“I dunno,” I shrugged, “maybe. I don’t know anything, just saying what comes to mind.”

“Huh,” he started quizzing me on the spoilers for the rest of the way back. He may still annoy me a lot of the time, it was nice that we found a level of comfort together. Though I do wonder how much the pact pays into how much time he spends with me. I’m still new to all this so I might be wrong and I just don’t tell him to go away.

Back at the House of Lamentation I had just enough time to put my bag down before it was time for dinner. Levi wasn’t at dinner. However it was a flip of a coin if he was out for dinner or breakfast. I spent the time after dinner with my door locked to make sure no one could come in. Other than the fact that I was done socializing for the day, I wanted to spend time without my binder on. So off that went when I dressed in my pj’s, with a sigh of relief, and I did my homework until I went to bed.

The next day was the competition as it was the weekend. The whole crew went to RAD’s student council room where it was taking place. Asmo was the emcee, with Beel for commentary for some reason. He just ate the whole time. Diavolo was also here because he finds the whole thing very fun and amusing.

“Alright, the beautiful Asmo will be starting this off,” Asmo announced, “Drizzm, here’s your question. List the first three Lords in order of age.”

“Lord of Corruption, Lord of Fools, and Lord of Shadow.”

“That’s right! Wonderful! Levi, what is written on page 724 of Volume 3?”

Levi confidently recited it word for word then gloated, “See, Drizzm? You have no hope of beating me?”

“Yeah we’ll see,” I taunted, “I know things you wish you could know.”

“How could you know anything I don’t,” he glared at me.

“I know what happens in Volume 9.”

“Volume 9 isn’t even out yet! No one knows what happens!”

“Then you won’t mind if I say it right?”

He didn’t answer so I just started saying what Simeon told me. With every new piece of information he became more and more upset. He didn’t think that it would unfold the way I was saying. The online forums say so after all.

“This absolutely has to be a lie! Right, Diavolo?!” Why ask Diavolo?

“I can discern whether someone is lying or not,” he explained, as if he read my mind, “Drizzm, however, is telling the truth.”

Levi became irate, “You mean they know more?! After just one watching?! This is absurd! I can’t stand normies like you! Just die!”

While I expected him to explode in anger, I did not expect him to transform. There was just a blur as he launched himself to attack me. I went to dodge to the side out of instinct when Lucifer stepped in. He had 4 large, glossy, black, feathered wings, and a pair of spiral horns. It was a gorgeous form. The black in his feathers shined rainbow like oil slick.

Lucifer managed to get Levi to calm down, with him running off when Diavolo called our competition a tie. He approached me, still in his demon form, “Are you alright, Drizzm?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” I tried not to stare and check him out. He looked so good. God, I’m so gay.

“I think that’s enough excitement for one day. You’re all free to go,” he dismissed as he changed back. His human form was cute but his demon form was something else.

We all broke off to do our own things. I chose to go back to my room, followed by both Mammon and Beel. Unsure why Beel has started to hang out in here too, but whatever. They tend to keep each other distracted while I do other things and just chime in. My D.D.D. dinged when Levi texted me to meet him in the planetarium. I excused myself and went there.

“Hey, Levi,” I greeted, “I’m sorry for making you upset earlier.”

He blinked, surprised, “Oh. Thanks I guess. Um. I know Diavolo called it a draw but I think you deserve the win because of my behavior.”

“Really? I don’t mind it being a draw.”

“Just take it before I regret it.”

“Alright. Can I borrow the TSL cursed vinyl?”

He looked surprised again, “You don’t want a pact?”

Now I looked surprised, “What made you think that?”

“Mammon said that you wanted a pact if you win.”

“I wonder if that’s payback for tricking him into a pact? But no, that wasn’t what I wanted. If you would like a pact with me then I would be honored.”

“You want me to want it?”

“Of course. I know we tricked Mammon. But I’m not in the habit of tricking people or forcing them to do things against their will. I want us to form the pact as friends and TSL buddies.”

“You’re so nice,” he was tearing up, “Even after I tried to kill you and give you a free pass for a pact. You’re just like Henry! I definitely want a pact with someone like you now.”

I smiled and the same blue light came from me while an orange light came from Levi. They merged together into the blue crescent moon, with an orange four-pointed star nestled inside. It split in two and we each had a copy fade into our chests, completing the pact.

“I’ll also let you borrow the vinyl,” he reluctantly gave it to me, “Make sure you take good care of it! Don’t eat or drink around it! And you better not leave any fingerprints on it!”

“Thank you Levi! I’ll make sure to return it unharmed and pristine,” I carefully held it in my hands.

“You better! Now I’ve got anime and games to catch up on,” he waved as he left to his room.

Well, I had the goods. Time to distract Lucifer. I texted Mammon the success, including the pact he so graciously added. That’s sarcasm, I really do not care either way for these pacts. But I guess it means I’m less likely to get messed with and that’s good enough for now. I went to Lucifer’s room and knocked on his door. His muffled voice called me in.

“Hello, Drizzm,” he stood from his couch, “What can I do for you?”

“I actually have a gift for you,” I said, presenting the vinyl to his surprised form, “I heard you were after this TSL vinyl. So I borrowed it from Levi.”

“Why?”

“To apologize for my curiosity, both in the past, and preemptively for the future. I’m sure I’ll accidentally cause you headaches in the future.”

“That’s awfully aware of you,” he still took the vinyl with barely contained glee, “Besides, us demons can’t help but fall to our temptations. I shall be listening to this all night. Do you know the story of this vinyl?”

I shook my head, enjoying his excitement. He proceeded to tell me how it became cursed and that the curse killed all those who listen to it.

“Wait, then won’t you die?”

“I’m more powerful than the majority of curses so I have nothing to worry about. Now I’d like to start listening to this. So please go back to your room and don’t even think about going to the attic.”

He ushered me out of his room and I waited in mine until everyone was asleep. The sound of muffled music from Lucifer’s room accompanied me as I snuck my way up the spiral staircase. Finally up into the attic. At the top was a door with a barred window. A pale, tired man with short messy blue hair with some white streaks on his emo bang that covered his right eye came into view.

“You’ve finally managed to get past Lucifer,” he sounded relieved, “I need your help.”

“Who are you,” I reasonably asked.

“A human Lucifer has had locked up for who knows how long. I’ve been trying to get out but the door is magically sealed. Only the power of Lucifer and his six brothers can break it.”

“Why are you locked up?”

“I have no idea! He won’t tell me! Will you help me?”

“How do you know how to open the door?”

“Because it needed all of them to lock it.”

I knew that wasn’t true because Mammon was none-the-wiser about him. But something about this was still weird. I can always back out if I need to, “So how do I get them to open the door?”

“By forming pacts with them one-by-one.”

“Well, that may be a problem since the seventh-born isn’t here.”

“We’ll deal with that when we get there. Until then, I recommend forming a pact with either Mammon or Beelzebub first.”

And why would he have that opinion about the brothers? It’s almost as if he knows them more than he’s letting on. Either way, “I already have pacts with Mammon and Levi. So, next is Beel I suppose.” “You already have two pacts,” his shock was I think the most genuine emotion I’ve seen from him yet, “Impressive. You’ll have no problem with Beelzebub then.”

And why would he have that opinion about the brothers? It’s almost as if he knows them more than he’s letting on. Either way, “I already have pacts with Mammon and Levi. So, next is Beel I suppose.” “You already have two pacts,” his shock was I think the most genuine emotion I’ve seen from him yet, “Impressive. You’ll have no problem with Beelzebub then.”

“I understand. I hope you understand where I’m coming from as well. But I wish you luck either way. You’re my only hope of getting out of this attic.”

I nodded and left him as I snuck back to my room.

The next morning Lucifer caught me in the hallway on the way to the dining room. I greeted him.

“Good morning,” he returned, smug, “Have an eventful night?”

“Pardon?”

“I know you went into the attic. I let you.”

“I’m gonna be honest. I know,” his smug high-horse attitude irritated me, “You laid it on so thick it was almost funny.”

He glared at me, “Well, that curiosity you apologized for must be satisfied, correct? Just forget your curiosity and focus on surviving the exchange. Don’t forget you’ve already had your life threatened.”

“Wasn’t the first and certainly won’t be the last.”

I decided to cut the conversation short. It was doing nothing but wasting my time so he could posture and feel proud about “tricking me”. I walked away towards the dining room. He may as well gain the power of laser eyes with how well I could feel his glare bore into the back of my head. After a moment I could hear his shoes clack on the floor as he followed me. At least I learned that he doesn’t know I met with that guy in the attic.

After breakfast I made sure to grab my bag, which I emptied. Today was the day that I got to home and get some things. The best part? A nice long walk with an annoyed Lucifer. He stood waiting for me in the entryway.

“Are you excited to see the Demon Lord’s Castle,” he surprisingly didn’t try to scold me for earlier. We left on our way as we continued talking.

“I’ve never been in a castle, period, so I’d definitely say so,” I smiled. In reality I was super excited, but I was trying to be normal about it, “I’m surprised I haven’t tried to learn about it yet. But there are so many new things to learn. I guess I just haven’t gotten there yet.”

“You’re very curious.”

“That’s true. I’ve annoyed many a people with my questions. My favorite is ‘Why?”

“Is that so?”

I nodded.

“You haven’t asked very many questions yet.”

“Because of the aforementioned annoyed people. I’ve learned to keep to myself and slowly test the waters before coming at them full weird.”

“I see,” he chuckled, “Do you have any questions right now?”

“Oh boy. Too many. When asked like that it just turns to white noise. You’ll have to narrow it down to a smaller topic,” I laughed. There were some pretty obvious questions but I’m trying to hide the fact that I’m in cahoots with his captive.

“Be careful that your curiosity does not get you into situations you cannot get yourself out of.”

That felt like another threat but I honestly couldn’t tell, “But do you like unknowns? Especially if asking would just give you peace of mind?”

“They are just a fact of life.”

“Doesn’t mean I gotta like it.”

We came upon the castle gates and I took in as much of the courtyard as I could. The garden and plants around were meticulously maintained, including a large amount of flowering plants. Lucifer stayed silent while I’m sure I looked like a tourist. We approached a large door. Easily 15 foot tall or more.

“Here’s a question,” I craned my head all the way back to look at the top of the door, “Are there demons so tall it requires a door like this? Or is it just for looks?”

“It is true that demons tend to be on the tall side for humans. However, there are not many demons of a height to warrant such a door,” he explained, knocking on the door.

“I see. That’s sorta what I thought but you wanted questions.”

“That I did.” The door opened to reveal Barbatos, “Good morning.”

“Good morning Barbatos,” I greeted him as we walked inside, “How are you?”

“I’m doing well, thank you for asking. Unfortunately the Young Master is quite busy and he is unable to leave his office.”

“Yes. A lot of work indeed,” Lucifer sighed and left to help Diavolo, the main reason he is here.

“Good luck,” I called at his retreating form before addressing Barbatos again, “Don’t worry, I didn’t him to come greet me. There are far more pressing matters than exchanging pleasantries with someone who doesn’t understand them I’m sure. His work must be unending as it is.”

“You seem pleasant to me,” it felt like there was a joke in there but I wasn’t sure, “I’m sure his work feels unending to him.”

As Barbatos led me I looked around the castle, admiring the art, both paintings and the other art forms needed to make such a fancy place come together, “Out of curiosity, why are we heading deeper into the castle?”

“I have the ability to connect two doors and cross between them. Others can cross without me as well.”

“Well that’s super cool. Would I be able to request a specific door in my house, please?”

"When you ask so politely. How can I refuse?”

“There is a door in the garage that connects to the backyard. Can you connect it so I go into the garage, please?”

“Of course. May I inquire as to why?”

“I have a cat that tries to go out the door with me. I can have the garage as a fail safe, in case he sneaks through my legs.”

“Ah, that’s understandable.”

We had gone to a pretty remote-seeming part of the castle before coming up to a door.

“This is just a storage room, but we will be using its door,” he explained, “When you’re finished, just use the same door your entered in.”

I nodded, “I’d say that’s how doors work. But, this is magic so I’m glad you clarified.”

Barbatos smiled and opened the door, my garage on the other side. I stepped through and closed the door behind me. It was really weird to walk into my garage but I didn’t think too hard about it. I walked back into my house for the first time in a week. Though it felt much longer.

The family dogs, 2 huskies, acted like I was missing for years. I had to spend a few minutes just petting them before they calmed down. I’m glad I decided to wear the clothes from when I arrived and not my uniform. That’d be a nightmare. After the dogs were my 2 cats, Jack and Holly. They were both black cats. Holly is older at 13 and Jack is a heathen at 5.

“Here’s the stuff you wanted,” my mom handed me my companion bag to my big one, a black box with blue letters ‘HRT’ with my medication stuff, and a small tote bag with other things, like bathroom items.

“Thank you,” I put some other stuff in my big bag that I wasn’t sure how to describe to my mom or needed to be placed a certain way.

“How have you been down there?”

“Good, surprisingly. I have two pacts.”

“You made pacts with demons?!”

“Yes, with two of the most powerful demons. So really you should be proud of me.”

She sighed.

“More importantly, I’m investigating an attic mystery.”

“Attic mystery?”

“Yeah Lucifer has someone locked up in the attic. But only Lucifer knows that this guy is up there. The others don’t know.”

“Can you trust the guy locked up?”

“Of course I can’t. I don’t know why he’s locked up and he knows way more than he’s saying. So the first mystery is figuring out who this guy is and what he did. Then I can decided whether or not I’ll actually help him.”

“Are you sure you want to do something like that? Don’t the demons already dislike you?”

“Most are actually pretty chill and keep their bigotry, if any, to themselves. The real worry is Lucifer. But I’ll take my chances against one demon,” I leaned my weight on on leg and put my hand on that hip, “Besides, you’d be more disappointed if I left that man to rot without at least figuring out whether or not he deserves this.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” she sighed again, “Just be careful. I don’t want you to join that man.”

“I will. I’ve gotta go. I don’t want to keep Barbatos waiting.”

“Who is that again?”

“The demon prince’s butler.”

“Oh, no, yeah, get on back. He’s probably super busy.”

“Exactly,” I went into the garage, making sure Jack didn’t follow me, then went through the door I originally came from. Barbatos awaited me on the other side.

“Welcome back,” he smiled.

“Sorry about the wait. The animals are insistent,” I closed the door behind me. My hand lingered on the door handle as a part of my wanted to open it to see if actually opened to a storage room. But, I know it’s rude, so I didn’t. Until.

“I can see the fur stuck to you… You can open the door. I can tell you’re curious.”

“Sorry, I really am,” I smiled sheepishly before opening the door to reveal, yes indeed, a storage room. It was filled with an assortment of boxes and covered panels. I closed the door.

“Curiosity is a good trait.”

“We’ll see how many questions that opinion lasts with me,” I joked.

He chuckled, leading me back through the castle, “It seems to be getting close to lunchtime. Would you like to join us?”

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t be imposing?”

“Of course not. I’m sure the Young Master will be thrilled to have the chance to speak with you.”

“Alright, I’ll join. Thank you.”

“Is there anything you’d like to request?”

“Hm? I mean I’ve only had a handful of Devildom dishes at this point so I don’t really know. You can just make what you normally might.”

I thanked him and he left for the tea. I put my bags neatly on the round and the box on the coffee table. I reached into the small bag and pulled out my portable digital drawing tablet. It wasn’t very expensive. But it did what it needed to, and at the end of the day that’s what matters. So, I started sketching. I had my physical sketchbook already, since I have like a thousand, so it’s not like I hadn’t been drawing. I just had an idea on how to make money while here and it required my tablet. Digital commissions. I’d need to open a bank account though. Mammon probably knows in great detail how to open accounts. Though I could probably just ask Levi, like I planned to do for the website.

There was Devilgram already on my D.D.D. so I had a place to get followers. I just needed help transferring files between devices and getting the aforementioned website set up. For now, pictures of my sketchbook has been what I’ve posted, and I’ll add my tablet alongside with it.

Barbatos brought the tea and promptly left to finish making lunch. I continued drawing, texting Mammon and reminding him that he had to come pick me up at some point. He did not answer me. Whatever.

Before too long Barbatos came to fetch me for lunch and take the tea set. I followed him to a dining room, small I imagine for a castle. There was an 8-person table with Diavolo at the head and Lucifer to his right. Food hadn’t been brought out yet but there was a plate set to the left of Diavolo. It was safe to assume that was for me and I sat there.

“Hello Drizzm,” Diavolo greeted warmly, “How are you enjoying your time in the Devildom so far? You’ve had quite the week it seems.”

“I’m doing good. I’m liking the Devildom so far,” I honestly replied, “How have you been doing?”

“I can’t really complain,” he smiled with reserved excitement, “Besides, I’m excited to get the chance to speak with you.”

“With me, or a human in general,” I asked. His eyes widened, taken aback by my question. Barbatos brought out the food and I thought I should clarify, “I don’t mean anything by my question. There’s no deeper meaning being it. Just curiosity. I don’t mind either way.”

He shook his head as we began to eat, “It’s a valid question. It just took me by surprise. I suppose both would be the most accurate answer. It’s true, I haven’t had many chances to speak with humans. But, I’m also interested in you. You formed two pacts in one week, you’ve proven to be interesting.”

I sorta laughed,” Well, I suppose a lot of humans would be interesting if you had some time with them. I’ve been reading about the Devildom’s history, so I get it.

“You don’t seem particularly interested in demons.”

“Oh, yeah, I am. Even specific demons?”

“Oh?”

“I feel like it should be obvious. The brothers of course. But, also you and Barbatos.”

“I see. That’s natural. I am curious to know what you’re hoping to learn.”

“Can I be honest?”

Lucifer looked nervous.

“Of course.”

“While, Lord Diavolo, Ruler of Demons and Future King of the Devildom is a sick title. That’s not really you. I’m interested in getting to know Diavolo, the normal demon dude.”

Diavolo laughed heartily,” That’s such a wonderful sentiment! I’ve never been called a ‘demon dude’ before. How amusing!”

Lucifer looked tired already. Poor guy… Kinda.

“Yeah sorry about that,” I sheepishly rubbed my neck, “I’m super casual normally. It’s been an adjustment calling you ‘Lord’ as well. We don’t have any lords in my country.”

Diavolo thought for a second before nodding, coming to an internal decision, “You have permission to call me just ‘Diavolo’.”

“It’s not disrespectful?”

“You’re quite right Drizzm,” Lucifer finally spoke up, ‘You should call him ‘Lord Diavolo’.”

Diavolo’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Lucifer, upset, “I think I get final say on what Drizzm calls me, Lucifer.”

“Yes, Lord Diavolo,” he sighed.

“Excellent,” he spoke to me again,” I would love for you to be more casual and yourself.”

“I’ll become more casual as I become more comfy don’t worry. I’m sure it won’t take long.”

“Wonderful! I look forward to seeing you comfortable in the Devildom.”

I looked at from him to my plate, debating whether or not to ask a question. I decided against it and just continued eating. Diavolo and I did most of the chatting, while Lucifer occasionally had something to say. When the main part of our lunch was finished Barbatos brought out a slice of cake for each of us. It was so amazing I subconsciously did a little wiggle before I caught myself.

“Barbatos makes wonderful desserts, does he not,” Diavolo chuckled, thoroughly amused.

I stiffened as I felt my face heat up with embarrassment, “I’d be happy if my baked items were half as delicious. This is my first Devildom dessert and I’m glad it is. Though it may have ruined me from every other person making desserts.”

“I’m thrilled to receive such praise,” his smile felt more genuine than the usual one he wears.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Diavolo apologized upon seeing my red face, “It was just very cute.”

“Well there goes my veneer of coolness,” I pretended to be dejected, “No one can be cool after being caught dancing in happiness from dessert,” I dropped the act, “Ah well, I wasn’t cool anyways.”

I made eye contact with Lucifer as I took a bite and smiled at him around the fork. He just gave me his usual blank, slightly bored expression. Before long I had consumed my dessert and Mammon was forced by Lucifer to come get me so he didn’t have to take me back to the house himself.

When we got back I worked with Levi to figure out how to transfer files between my human world devices and my Devildom devices. He was sort of hesitant at first because he had anime to watch but when I offered to draw him 5 commissions, with restrictions to reign his imagination in, if he helped me set everything up. He folded and we spent the rest of the day doing that.

“You’ve only been here one week and you already have a thousand followers,” Levi was shocked but mostly jealous.

“I just think it’s because I’m a human. Not really me in particular they’re interested in. Although, I guess I do have pacts with 2 of the most powerful demons. I suppose that’s notable,” I ended sarcastically.

“Must be so nice to be you.”

“Well, I mean, I did get isekai’d into a different realm.”

“That’s just like that one anime…”

And there he goes. It’s honestly incredible how there seems to be an anime for just about anything in the Devildom. Like some of the most hyper specific scenarios. Kinda reminds of those titles for light novels.

After a handful of hours, and dinner, I was getting my things in order before going to bed. My phone dinged on the table, a notification bubble showing that I had a new text from Mammon. He told me to meet him in the kitchen immediately. I sighed. This gonna become a regular thing, huh?

I did as he instructed though, and walked across the hallway to the kitchen. He was rummaging through the fridge, turning to face me as he heard my footsteps.

“There ya are,” he went back to the fridge, “Ya gotta be faster when the Great Mammon calls ya. Drop everything, understood?”

“Yes, sir,” I blandly answered, just going along with it, “But why do you need me here?”

“In case we get caught I have an accomplice.”

“So you just don’t wanna face Lucifer alone?”

“That’s not what I meant! I ain’t scared of him!”

“Uh-huh.”

He retreated from the fridge, a pudding in hand, “This looks good.”

I eyed the the handwritten note, “That says ‘Beel’s. Eat it and you DIE,” I looked at Mammon, “You sure that’s a good idea?”

“If you take a bite then it’ll be fine!” “I have no idea how you came to that conclusion, but no.”

He lunged forward, faster than I had any hope of reacting to, to pin me against the island and shoved some pudding in my mouth. It was honestly pretty good.

“I saw you eat it too!”

His childishness knows no bounds. He finally gave me space as he ate the pudding, free from any guilt. I wonder if it’s his greed that makes him think it’s okay to do this kind of stuff. Even something as simple as pudding isn’t safe from Mammon’s sense of greed.Unfortunately, someone came in and interrupted us.

Good news is it wasn’t Lucifer.

Bad news is it was Beel. And he was big mad.

“Mammon,” he bellowed, “Why are you eating my pudding?!”

Mammon jumped and stammered, “U-uh I didn’t know it was yours!”

What a bad lie.

“It says on there ‘Beel’s. Eat it and you DIE!”

“W-well… Drizzm had some too!”

You motherfucker.

“I don’t care! I bet you forced him! Prepare to die Mammon!”

I quickly ran out of the kitchen as Beel transformed into his demon form. Mammon basically shoved me out of the way in his escape. A blur of orange and black rushed past us and into my room. I quickly got up and made my way upstairs.

This was my first time seeing Beel in one of his food fueled rages, and it was the first time I was genuinely scared of Beel. But at least I know as long as I don’t eat his food I should be good. I hope.

I ran directly into Lucifer as he came to investigate the noise.

“Lucifer, Beel’s gone on a rampage!”

He just sighed, “Again. Move and I’ll take care of it.”

I followed him back downstairs as I heard Mammon was still being chased by Beel. Lucifer stopped me at a certain distance away and went to subdue Beel. It didn’t take very long thankfully but Lucifer forced all three of us to his room to lecture us.

“What happened,” he interrogated, arms crossed as we sat on our knees. My knees are gonna kill me after this.

“Beel just went crazy,” Mammon downplayed, which only earned a piercing glare from Lucifer.

“Mammon ate my pudding,” Beel was at least accurate. Though they just started bickering again, with poor me being in the middle.

“Enough,” Lucifer scolded, and they quickly shut their mouths, “Drizzm what happened?”

“Mammon was looking for food and made me eat some of Beel’s pudding so he could have an accomplice, even though I warned him it would be a bad idea. Then Beel came in and got so mad that he transformed and raged,” I gave him the cliffnotes but made sure to be clear that I did not have anything to do with Mammon’s bad decisions.

“Mammon you should not have eaten Beel’s pudding, especially if it was labeled. However, Beel, that was a larger reaction than you should have had…” Lucifer started scolding and lecturing them back and forth.

Why was I even here? He went on for fucking hours and none of it had to do with me. This is why I try not to get in trouble. It’s way too annoying to deal with the consequences most of the time. But I had a feeling that this would not be the last time I would get roped into stupid shit and get lectured at.

He finally set us free, much to our relief. However, my room was sorta unusable considering the missing wall. So Lucifer ordered me to stay in Beel’s room. For some reason, Mammon can’t keep his mouth shut and tried to complain and negotiate that I stay in his room. That just earned him more scolding. I’m also going to have to have a talk with Mammon about how he’s acting around me.

I grabbed whatever I needed from my room and followed Beel to his. His room had two beds, one was for his twin, who I haven’t seen or asked about since I got here. I assumed that Beel’s bed was the sun side, considering the moon and nighttime is sleep time for people.

“Sorry about all this Drizzm,” Beel apologized.

“It’s alright Beel,” I assured him, “That temper of yours in regards to food is quite intense. I’m not sure why Mammon thinks it’s a good idea to take your food. I know he forced me, but I’m sorry for eating it as well.” “Well, let’s just call it even then.”

“Sounds good,” I smiled, “Which bed should I use?”

“Use mine on the left. I’ll sleep on the couch. I don’t want anyone using Belphie’s bed.”

“In that case, give me the couch. I don’t do much sleeping anyways.”

“You’re not gonna ask about Belphie?"

“It makes you sad, and you said not to bring him up, so I’m not going to. You’re going to have to offer it up yourself.”

He looked away, reminding me of a sad puppy. He took a second before quietly saying, “I do kind of want to tell you.”

“Well, I’ll listen,” I pulled out a chair and gave him my full attention. He sat on his bed and fiddled with his hands before speaking.

“Belphie’s currently in the Human World with another demon on the exchange. He actually really didn’t want to go. He’s not a fan of humans,” Beel paused, debating something in his head, “You see… Back when we were angels we had a sister. Lilith. We were all close to her but she was especially close to Belphie and I. But… she’s not around anymore.”

With the look on his face, she was either dead, or may as well be. “This sounds like it’s been hard on you. Are you okay?”

“Not really.”

My heart broke a little for him, he was so kind, “This may be overstepping. But would you like a hug?”

“Huh,” he looked at me, confused and surprised.

“Sorry, nevermind.” This is why I’m not a Simeon.

“No, you just caught me off-guard. I think I’d like that.”

I wordlessly got up and held my arms out, waiting for him to hug me. He hesitated before hugging me tightly, like a child hugging a stuffed animal. Due to the pretty big height difference he was holding me aloft. Though I don’t think I really weighed much to him. He held me like that for a while, his fists clenching my clothes.

When he finally put me back on the ground I gently asked, “Can I see a picture of Belphegor?”

“Oh, sure,” he led me through the halls, “We should have a picture of him in the portrait room.”

As we walked Beel spoke up again, “You’re very considerate of other people.”

“Thank you,” I was somewhat confused but I guess he’s used to being around demons, “My niceness is a choice, though.”

“Really?”

“Yep, I’m naturally quite an angry person. But it’s exhausting getting mad at everything and living in anger. It feels a lot better to be kind. You also learn that most of the things you get mad at don’t really matter in the long run. So it helps others and keeps yourself in a positive mindset to be kind.”

“I see,” we entered a room covered in portraits of the brothers and Beel stood us in front of a specific portrait. A demon I didn’t recognize, “Here he is.”

Bingo.

The “human” trapped in the attic is none other than Belphegor. I wonder why he’s locked up. Do any of the brothers, other than Lucifer of course, even know he’s still in the house? Did Diavolo agree to this? Does Belphegor really hate humans that much?

“I see. You all look so incredibly different. It’s very fun.”

“Fun?”

“Yeah, most human families share a strong resemblance.”

We kep chatting as we went back to his room. Beel tried to insist on giving me the bed and I eventually relented. Boy was about as stubborn as me. But, just like I thought, I couldn’t sleep and decided to confront Belphegor. I guess Lucifer doesn’t find it necessary to guard the attic anymore. He must think his threat really worked and I wouldn’t go against him. Sucks to have that pride, huh Lucifer?

“There you are,” Belphegor met me at his door, “Any news?”

“Yes, in fact. I know you’re Belphegor,” I said matter-of-factly, “I mean, there’s literally a portrait of you in the house.”

He smiled apologetically, “Well, I didn’t think you’d want to help me if I was a demon.”

“I’m more resistant because you hate humans enough to be locked up. Nothing to do with your demon status.”

“I see… So Bell must have told you?”

“You’re sort of a ‘Don’t talk about’ kinda dude at the moment. So yes. Your twin misses you.”

“Don’t torture me like that. Doesn’t do anything to help my hate you know.”

“What did humans even do? Not that I really blame you, but I thought high ranking angels were pretty hands-off with humanity.”

Belphegor glared at me, “You don’t understand what humans did to Lilith.”

I was surprised, “Wait, are you saying humans hurt Lilith?”

He ignored my question, “Will you just leave me here then?”

“Of course not. My life’s been in danger before so this isn’t that different. Besides, you have to get out to do something, so it’s fairly safe for now. Also, I’ll have pacts with all the brothers so at least some of the brothers would protect me. Maybe attacking me really isn’t worth it.”

“Maybe,” he got his nonchalant smile back on his face. Definitely still wants to kill me, “But you said you’d help so that’s good enough.”

“Don’t worry. It’s not specifically for you. I just can’t stand watching this and what it’s doing to your family. It isn’t a good situation and no one seems to be really trying to fix it. And unfortunately I was instilled with a strong sense of responsibility.”

“So, you’ll do it yourself?”

“Exactly, I’ll help you guys reconnect and get past this.”

“Your confidence is impressive.”

“Someone has to be resolute. Though the hard work still lands on you and your brothers. If you guys don’t want to reconnect there is nothing others can do. Good night, Belphegor.”

“Good night, Drizzm.”

I went back to Beel’s room and laid thinking on his bed until it was time to get ready to get up.

Beel had left room before me and while I was on my way to the bathroom I overheard Lucifer and Beel. I’m not one to eavesdrop so I continued on my way, they just happened to be in my way. I heard that Lucifer apparently pledged his loyalty to Diavolo after they fell to the Devildom, though Beel doesn’t seem to know why. No surprise to be honest. If he doesn’t want you to know, that’s that. When they finally realized I was walking towards them they quickly stopped their conversation.

“Pardon me,” I said, “I’m heading to the bathroom. Sorry to interrupt.”

“That’s quite alright,” Lucifer spoke first, of course, “this conversation was over anyways. Right, Beel?”

“Yeah, right,” Beel lied, “I’m gonna go downstairs for breakfast now.”

He left and Lucifer addressed me again, “So, what did you hear?”

“I wasn’t eavesdropping I’ll have you know. I’m literally going to the bathroom. Excuse me, please.”

I pushed past him to the bathroom to do my morning routine. I’m sure I annoyed Lucifer but I honestly really needed to pee. It’s their fault for having what was obviously a private conversation in the middle of the damn hallway. After I was done getting ready for the day I dropped my dirty clothes in my hamper in Beel’s room. Lucifer was awaiting me outside the door.

“This is starting to feel a bit stalker-y,” I joked. He was not amused.

“You didn’t answer my question earlier. But now we have plenty of time to walk to the dining room,” he left no room for discussion in his voice.

“I wasn’t trying to, you guys were having it in the middle of the only hallway to the bathroom. All I heard was that you pledged your loyalty to Diavolo. And, like, okay? Doesn’t really change anything.”

He didn’t really know how to take my nonchalant answer, “You’re not going to ask why? I thought you were the curious sort?”

“Of course I’m curious. But, I generally know when not to ask certain questions. If you wanted me to know, you’d tell me. The attic was a silly little thing. A reason to pledge loyalty is much more intimate, and if your brother’s don’t know. Then why should I?

A sort of sad smile formed on his face, “Make sure that kindness of yours doesn’t get you killed. Demons are sure to take advantage of it.”

“So do humans, demons ain’t that special,” I smiled, hoping at some point I’d find a joke he’d find amusing.

“I suppose that’s true,” he mused, “Doesn’t take much to kill a human.”

“Seriously though, a human can drown in two inches of water. But, on the other hand humans have survived insanely high falls with minimal injury. Our durability is very unreliable.”

That actually got a chuckle out of him and we finally joined the others for breakfast and went about our own days. I did a bunch of random things, drawing, reading, studying for the week, etc. I was able to get Beel to actually take his bed that night and went to speak to Belphegor when everyone was asleep.

“Hello again, Drizzm,” he greeted me at the door, “Any news?”

“Not particularly,” I wanted to get more information about the situation, “I know you probably won’t tell me, but why is your hatred for humanity stronger than your love for your family? What did humans do to Lilith?”

He glared at me, “What would you know?”

“I don’t. That’s why I’m asking,” I sighed, “I’m not in the habit to force people to talk about stuff but if you guys don’t start communication then your family will be broken forever.”

“It already is,” he seemed genuinely sad.

“Look. I don’t know what happened, no one wants to tell me so I can help. But, if this is related to her then I think you all could use some group therapy. You guys need to learn to listen and communicate.”

“Are you finished lecturing me on something you know nothing about?”

“Are you finished keeping me in the dark so I can be better informed?”

He didn’t answer.

“Don’t forget that I’m your hope out of the attic. You’d do well to think about what I said. Is your hatred for humanity more important than your family? Including Beel? Good night Belphegor. I hope you can help me.”

I left him, leaving no room to continue the conversation. I was feeling particularly awake so I went to the planetarium. I spend time here when I can’t sleep. It’s always night in the Devildom so the stars are always out, but the planetarium showed the constellations. Crazy that this house has a planetarium but only one bathroom. And they think that’s fine for 6 people to share a single bathroom. If only I had my own bathroom like Asmo. Maybe I could ask Lucifer if when they fix my room they could add a bathroom to it. I stared at the stars for a few hours before going to Beel’s room and laying on the couch to rest my body a bit more before school.

I found Lucifer after breakfast, catching him as he was leaving for school, “Hey Lucifer, can I ask for something?”

“Hm,” his eyebrow raised, “Make it quick as I need to leave.”

“Well, we can walk and talk then, I have my backpack,” I slipped my shoes on and I walked with him to school, “I was wondering if it was possible to add a bathroom to my room.”

“And why would I do that?”

“The only bathroom being upstairs is pretty brutal for such a big house. And having to fight for the bathroom in the morning quite honestly sucks. I’d say just put a bathroom on the ground floor in general but my room is already getting rebuilt, so it’d be a pretty easy addition to make.”

He chuckled, apparently amused, “How thought out. I will consider it.”

“I’ll take it. I didn’t really expect you to outright agree anyways.”

We continued to make small talk as Lucifer took us a different path to school. He normally left pretty early but today he left even earlier. I almost didn’t catch him before he left. My assumption was that there was something pressing at school but apparently he just wanted to stop by a coffee shop on the way to school. Cafe Lament.

“Would you like a coffee,” Lucifer offered.

“Sure, I haven’t been to a coffee shop yet,” I went through the door as he held it open for me.

“Really? It’s a popular coffee shop amongst the students.”

“I’ve only been here two weeks and the morning gets spent fighting for the bathroom.”

“Point taken,” he smirked playfully.

It felt really nice to have a normal conversation with him. I know he’s still got mile-thick walls but some progress is better than no progress. These back and forths also made me realize that he’s quite cute when he’s not scolding someone.

Since it was my first time at the cafe I just went with their original blend, while Lucifer got extra Devildom espresso added to his. We had a pleasant walk to school and I sat in the courtyard until school started. The day went by without incident, along with the next few days.

On Thursday, during afternoon recess, I was hanging out with Mammon and Beel in the classroom of my final class. They were bickering because Beel ate some of Mammon’s food. While I was just watching the show the angels approached us. I smiled and greeted them, while Beel used this to try and get out of the consequences of eating Mammon’s food.

“Hey Simeon,” Beel greeted, “Hey Luke.”

“Good afternoon Beel,” Simeon politely returned, “What are you two fighting about?”

“He ate my sandwich,” Mammon piped up, frustrated all over again.

“I see,” Simeon laughed, “Seems as though things are going well then.”

“What are you two up to,” I asked.

“I was just talking with Luke about how fun a camping retreat would be. But he thinks it’d be dangerous.”

“Of course it’d be dangerous,” Luke exclaimed, completely serious, “Who knows what kind of creatures exist in the Devildom woods?”

“I dunno,” I said, “I’d wanna go camping.”

“Ya like campin’ Drizzm,” Mammon asked, “I can’t stand it. There’s none of the comforts of my bed and stuff when campin’.”

“Camping is fun. Besides, making s’mores while camping is just peak.”

“I love making s’mores,” Beel agreed.

“I can’t believe you’d want to camp in such a dangerous place Drizzm,” Luke sighed.

“It wouldn’t be all that dangerous if it was all of us,” I explained, “I’m sure someone amongst the demons, Simeon, or Solomon could handle what may come.”

“Are you saying I wouldn’t be able to protect you?”

“Would you be able to,” I asked genuinely.

He looked sad, “I don’t know.” “Don’t worry about it Luke. You have plenty of time to come into your own.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

The rest of the day and week passed by without much else to really talk about.

The rest of the day and week passed by without much else to really talk about. That was until Friday night when I received a text from Luke saying he was outside and needed to stay the night in my room. While I still don’t have a room I couldn’t say no to Luke. So, I went outside to the front and sure enough, he was waiting by the gate.

“What are you doing here so late, Luke,” I opened the gate to let him in, “What happened?”

“I’m not speaking to Simeon,” he was very upset over whatever they fought about, “So I need to stay with you.”

“I guess you forgot, but my room is still missing a wall. I’m happy to help you but we have to get Beel’s permission first.”

He suddenly looked as though he regretted coming here, “Well, this sucks.”

“Come on. I’m sure Beel will be fine with you staying. He’s the nicest out of the brothers.”

There was hesitation before he decided that this was going back to Purgatory Hall and facing Simeon. So I brought him to Beel’s room, who was surprised.

“Why do you have the chihuahua,” he asked, wary.

“I’m not a-!”

“Calm down Luke,” I cut him off before talking to Beel, “I think he had a fight with Simeon. Just let him stay one night so everyone can calm down.”

“I don’t want an angel in my room.”

I’m sure you didn’t want a human in here either, but here we are. Just one night Beel. I promise to return the favor.”

“Fine,” he sighed, “Luke gives me snacks. I guess it would be rude to refuse him.”

Luke seemed really tired so we let him take the bed and I told Beel to take the couch.

“What about you,” he asked me, “You said for Beel to take the couch.”

“Drizzm can take the couch,” Beel suggested, “I’ll sleep on the floor.” “Yeah, no,” I shut down the idea, “I don’t sleep much so it’s better for you guys to have the good spots. I’ll just be drawing at the table anyways.”

“You don’t sleep,” Luke questioned innocently.

“No, not really. I have insomnia, which causes me to have trouble both falling and staying asleep. My chronic pain also contributes quite a bit now.”

“Pain? Are you hurt? Did the demons do this to you?”

Why did I mention my pain?

“Calm down Luke. I’ve been in pain my whole life. I’m just built like this. It’s as much a fact of life for me as being trans or having blue eyes.”

“Doesn’t that suck?”

Something about the genuineness about the question made me break my front a little. With a pained expression I explained, “I hate it. I don’t know what it’s like to grab something and not feel pain. A shower can feel like getting pelted with rocks that leave a lingering heat.”

“You live like this,” Beel was incredulous, and I recognized his look of pity.

“It’s that or die.”

“Don’t say that,” Luke exclaimed, “I’d rather you stay alive!”

“Be quiet, Luke, or do want Lucifer to know you’re here,” he covered his mouth with his hands to keep himself quiet, “I don’t plan on dying anytime soon. Now get to bed. I may not sleep but I know you both are tired.”

I ushered them off to bed and whittled the night away working on commissions that have already come in.

The next morning at breakfast I was leaving food on my plate to bring to Luke. That probably would have worked with minimal suspicion. The problem was that Beel decided to do the same thing, causing quite a stir with his brothers. They assumed he was sick and something was wrong. It was nice confirmation that they did indeed still care deeply for each other, so maybe this family is still salvageable.

We managed to escape one problem with breakfast just to run into another. Luke was wandering the halls.

“Luke,” I scolded, “What are you doing out here? You know you can’t be spotted.”

“But staying in Beel’s room is boring,” he whined. He really is like a child, I wonder how old he actually is.

“Well, get on back if you want food. I’ll bring up some art on my tablet and you can color them, okay?”

“Okay!”

He happily marched on back to Beel’s room while Beel and I shared a tired look. I followed Luke back and was showing him art on my tablet as he munched on some food. The door opened in a rush as Beel announced a new problem. Great.

“What’s wrong,” I pressed, annoyed at how much stuff goes wrong here.

“Lucifer is doing a surprise inspection of the rooms.”

“So we gotta hide Luke.”

“That’s the problem. Lucifer can find anything. Satan tried to keep a cat by turning it into a spider. But when he did the inspection, he still found it.”

“Well do you have any ideas then? I don’t have any magic to try and hide Luke.”

A knock on the door cut our brainstorming short and Beel panic-shoved Luke into Belphie’s closet. I opened the door as Beel stepped away.

“Good morning,” Lucifer greeted smugly. Oh, fuck. “I’m here to do an inspection.”

I moved aside and he began going through the room. Checking underneath the bed, both the frame and the mattress itself, under the couch cushions, in tight corners. Just everywhere. As he approached the closet Luke was in Beel opened his mouth to try and stop him. But I motioned for him to stay quiet.

I was hoping Luke found a little nook to hide in and Beel saying something would definitely tip Lucifer off to us hiding something. We held our breaths as Lucifer opened the closet, revealing clothes. Luke was nowhere to be seen.

“I thought your behavior this morning was odd,” Lucifer shut the closet and turned to us, “Anything to tell me?”

Beel obviously wasn’t good at thinking on his feet so I answered first, “I’ve not been sleeping so my appetite is small. But, I need to eat so I was bringing food back to snack on. I guess Beel noticed and was trying to make sure I had enough to eat.”

“Right,” Beel nodded, “If humans don’t eat enough they die and it would be a problem if Drizzm dies.”

“I see,” it was hard to tell if we actually convinced him or not, “I thought you may have snuck a stray in here.”

“The only stray here is me,” I joked.

“Seems so. Well, have a good day.”

Beel and I visibly relaxed when Lucifer’s footsteps faded away. I opened the closet door.

“Okay Luke, come on out,” I sighed tiredly. But he wasn’t there, “Beel, we have a new problem.”

“What now? I’m too hungry for this,” his stomach rumbling on queue as he took the food we smuggled for Luke.

“Well, Luke’s missing.”

“What? But that closet doesn’t go anywhere.”

“Let me test it,” I climbed in the closet, “Close the door. I wanna see what happens.”

“What if you disappear too?”

“I’m smart. I’ll get Luke and I back.”

He looked really unsure but closed the door. After a few seconds he opened it, “You’re still here.”

“Appears so,” I got out and crossed my arms as I thought, “We gotta find Luke. Who knows where he is. Let’s split up.”

Beel nodded and we spent the entire day scouring the house for Luke but with no luck. We convened after dinner as we tried to brainstorm where Luke could possibly be. If he was in the walls, someone would have heard him by now. I had already inspected the closet for any false walls or trap doors but I didn’t see anything like that. I had another sleepless night while Beel tossed and turned on his bed.

The next day we did a morning search of the house before convening in the upstairs hallway. Simeon sent me a text thanking us for taking care of Luke while he was going through this. That just shot my anxiety and guilt up.

I spoke first, “Find anything?”

“No,” he shook his head, “What about you?”

“No. Is there anything we’re missing? You know this house better than I do.”

“Let’s check the dollhouse. It’s an exact replica of the house.”

I nodded and followed him downstairs to the replica. I began checking off the rooms one-by-one. When I got to the second floor though, something was wrong.

“Hey Beel. What’s this room,” I pointed out an extra room by Lucifer’s.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “I’ve never seen a room there.”

“Let’s check it out.”

He agreed and we went to were the room was supposed to be. But there was just a wall.

“This is where the room should be, right,” I looked to Beel for confirmation.

“Right,” he agreed, “There’s a plaque. It’s about Lilith.”

Suddenly a door appeared.

“Oh. That makes sense I suppose. Magic exists,” I don’t know how I keep forgetting that."

Beel opened the door and we entered what seemed to be a bedroom. I scanned the room as Beel touched a side table by a chair with the gentlest touch of his fingers. As though the table would disappear upon touch. He got that sad look on his face again.

“This is Lilith’s room,” he whispered, “Back in the Celestial Realm.”

“I know this is a rough subject,” I gently prodded, “But what happened to her?”

He looked at me for a moment before sighing, “You’ve heard of the Great Celestial War, right?”

“Yeah, that’s when you all fell, right?”

“That’s right. It was a huge battle... Lilith didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that. That’s awful.”

“Thanks. But I have a lot of guilt,” his eyes fell, “I could have saved her. Both her and Belphie at the same time. I saved Belphie and not her. I hate remembering the look on her face.”

“I know my words may not mean much. But I don’t think you’d be happy, no matter which one you saved. You feel guilty for not saving her, but I’m sure she’s happy you twins weren’t separated.”

“For some reason,” he smiled softly at me, “I believe you when you say that. Thank you, Drizzm.”

Our heart-to-heart got cut off when I received a call from Mammon.

“What’s up,” I answered.

“Whattya mean ‘What’s up?’,” he yelled, panicked, “You gotta get to the underground tomb! Luke’s down here and Lucifer’s ‘bout ready to kill him!”

“Calm down, I’ll be right there,” I hung up, “Luke’s in the underground tomb?”

“We gotta go quickly then,” he suddenly picked me up, “Sorry, this will be faster.”

Then he bolted through the house so fast I saw nothing but a blur of color. Within seconds he reached the tomb and set me down next to Mammon and the others observing. Observing what?

Lucifer in his demon form, angry as all hell at Luke, who was clutching a book.

“You think you can sneak in here and take our grimoire,” Lucifer bellowed, he voice literally shaking the ground.

“N-n-no I-I didn’t sneak-,” Luke got too scared to speak as Lucifer puffed bigger. I didn’t realize just how big they get in their demon forms. Lucifer is usually around 6’, but now he’s closer to 7’. And considering he’s still growing, he might just surpass it.

“Lucifer,” Beel ran to Luke and pleaded, “Please calm down.”

“You,” now his wrath was on Beel, “You let an angel in the house and now he has our grimoire. Do you not see the problem?!”

This was bad. Mammon even said what I was thinking aloud. This wasn’t their fault. It was mine. Without thinking I ran in front of Beel and Luke, arms out and knees bent, protecting them in what little way I could.

“Drizzm! What are you doing,” Beel panicked, but not leaving the more scared Luke, “He’s gonna hurt you!”

“Yes. What do you think you’re doing,” Lucifer hissed, “Do you think a human like you can protect them?”

“My abilities mean naught when it’s the principle of protecting others and taking responsibility when your actions put them in harm’s way.”

“Your actions?”

“That’s right. Don’t punish either Beel or Luke. I’m the one who persuaded Beel to hide Luke. I deserve the punishment, right?”

Lucifer about popped a vein.

“YOU!”

The room shook so aggressively pieces of the roof fell. But I stood my ground.

“You dare make decisions like that!”

He took a step forward.

“Do you think I’m going to allow a lowly human such as yourself make that choice?!”

Definitely taller than 7’ now.

“That you can do whatever it is that you WANT?! NO!!!”

Here we go.

He launched himself at me and I braced for impact.

It all went black.

I heard a faint voice calling me. It was incessant. I opened my eyes, blinking as I came back to consciousness. I was in Beel’s bed with him sitting at the bedside.

“Thank goodness. You’re awake,” he sighed heavily, relieved, “Humans are so fragile I was worried.”

“I ain’t that fragile,” I sat up, “What happened after Lucifer attacked me?”

“Diavolo stepped in and stopped him. But I think the shockwave of his arrival knocked you out.”

“What happened to Luke?”

“Simeon came and picked him up. He’s pretty shaken up.”

“Understandable. And you didn’t hurt either?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry for causing all this.”

“Why are you sorry? I’m the one who knows Lucifer’s temper. I should have warned you better before.”

“Then let’s call it even,” I smiled.

He sighed, smiling, “Yeah, sure,” he became serious again, “But, why did you do that? You almost got yourself killed.”

“Because I’m responsible for the situation we found ourselves in. If I die, then it’s my fault. For the record, I doubt I’ll stay mad at Lucifer either.”

“Why?”

“What’s a grimoire?”

“Huh? It’s a book that allows you control the demon or demons connected to it without a pact.”

“I see. So it’s like the physical manifestation of your free will. Then, I’ll completely forgive him. While he shouldn’t have lost his cool like that, it makes sense that he just wants to protect his family.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. If he just attacked with anger for no reason but to be unreasonable, then we’d have to have a serious talk. But protecting those you care about tends to get people heated.”

“I still want to do something to make up for you almost getting killed when I should have done something.”

“This may seem weird. But, I’d like a pact.”

He was immediately suspicious, “Why? I thought you didn’t care about making pacts with us?”

“I didn’t. But now I have a reason. I want to help Lucifer and Belphegor make up. But, as you know, Lucifer doesn’t actually respect me or truly take what I say to heart. If I make pacts with all of you, maybe I can convince him that I’m able to help.”

“You want to help us?”

“Yes. Seeing your family fractured as it is breaks my heart. If I can, I want to help.”

“In that case,” he steeled himself, “I’ll do it. I want my family together again.”

I shook him, “Stahp, you’re gonna make me cry. I’m already helping you.”

He chuckled and we formed our pact, the color is orange this time.

“Since the pact is for Belphie I still feel like I owe you. Why don’t I treat you to Hell’s Kitchen?”

“Sure,” I smiled, the bond between us buzzing pleasantly in my brain. It’s still kinda weird to have these sensations in my brain.

I took a shower and got dressed to leave with Beel. On our way out we were accosted by Mammon and Levi. They insisted that they come along. The more the merrier I suppose. Beel made it clear that he wasn’t happy about it. Probably because Mammon saw it as a chance at free food. Either way the four of us made our loud way to Hell’s Kitchen and took a seat at one of the tables.

“Go on and pick whatever you like Drizzm,” Beel told me. I didn’t get a chance to speak before Mammon.

“Yeah,” he yelled excitedly, “I’m gonna order a whole lot!”

“I’m not paying for you,” he firmly explained, “I only agreed to pay for Drizzm.”

“Come on Beel. Don’t be so stingy. Ya won’t even notice with how much you’ll be getting for yourself.”

“I’m still not doing it.”

“Whatever, man,” he spoke to me, “Hey Drizzm. You’ve got a pact with all three of us, right? Why’d ya keep making pacts after you said you weren’t interested?”

I explained to Mammon and Levi my plan to get Lucifer and Belphegor to make up.

“Ya really think that’s gonna work?”

“There’s no way it works,” interjected Levi, “You’ll never be able to convince Lucifer. Not after what just happened.”

“Actually,” I smugly leaned in, “I won’t know until I do it. Besides, I don’t see any of you guys trying anything.”

“Rude, but fair. So, your plan right now is to get pacts with us? And then what?”

“I haven’t gotten there yet. There’s still plenty of time to figure out how to talk to Lucifer.”

“Your nonchalant attitude is gonna be the death of me,” Mammon sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“Don’t worry,” I leaned back, flipping through the menu, “I’ll die first.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better!”

I laughed, “Dude, before long y’all are really gonna bring me outta my shell and see how much of a fuckin’ weirdo I am.”

They stared at me silently and intently. It was very weird.

“Why are you guys staring at me?”

“You just cursed,” Levi said, shocked.

“Yes? I’ve got a sailor’s mouth. I’ve just been trying to keep myself under wraps.”

“I think ya gotta cut loose,” Mammon insisted, “I didn’t knew ya spoke so casually.”

“A big thing is, also, I don’t want to constantly explain my slang.”

“Ya think that stops Levi?”

“Yeah, me and Levi are gonna be talking around you in circles, no cap.”

“No cap???”

“Exactly,” I laughed. We had a good time eating and chatting away. I let myself relax I think the most I have so far. Not completely, but I spoke more freely and goofy. It felt good to feel like I was making friends and helping the brothers get closer. I mean, the shut-in Levi is here chatting with us instead of dwelling on his negativity. When we got back to the house Lucifer approached us.

“You all seem to be enjoying yourselves,” his eyes never left mine though, “Your room is fixed. So, you can go back to it tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I replied, “Thank you.”

“Goodnight,” he nodded and left to another part of the house.

“Man that was tense,” Mammon and the others visibly relaxed. Levi agreed with him and Beel nodded along.

“Not? Really? He just told me my room was ready. Besides he probably doesn’t wanna do anything. He looks so tired.”

“He always looks tired.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.”

We all went to our respective rooms. I’m not sure why i couldn’t sleep in my room tonight. But, whatever. Not like I’d do much sleeping anyways. Beel tried to argue with me about the bed. Again. Doesn’t he learn? Do we really need to fight every night about sleeping arrangements?

“Beel, I swear to God,” I was exacerbated, “If you don’t sleep in your bed I’mma kick you.”

“Fine,” he grumbled, “Can I ask a favor?”

“What’s up?”

“Can you hold my hand? Just until I fall asleep?”

“Of course. Say no more.”

“I really wish Lilith could have met you. You two would have gotten along really well.”

“Well, she’s your sister. So, I have no doubt.”

Beel laid down to go to sleep and I pulled up a chair with a book. The book was for after he fell asleep. We said goodnight and I held his hand. It was huge compared to mine. I felt a tinge of envy and dysphoria but pushed it away.

It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep. But, that didn’t mean his grip loosened on my hand. Which was fine, I just read the book I prepared. At some point I almost fell asleep in the chair. I went to go sleep on the couch but his grip was still too strong and I’d definitely wake him up if I kept trying. So I just sat on the ground, using the bed as a pillow. I fell asleep surprisingly quickly.

I woke up when the bed shifted and Beel’s hand left mine. I blinked tiredly at him, “Good morning,Beel,” my voice raspy and words slightly slurred.

“Did you sleep like that,” he was smiling, but also looked worried.

“Yeah, why,” I got up, my joints popping as I stretched.

“Wasn’t that uncomfortable? Why’d you sleep there?”

“You’re chatty this morning,” I yawned, “You were still holding my hand.”

“Could you not remove your hand? I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, it comforted you so that’s a good enough reason to stay.”

“Couldn’t have slept in the bed, at least?”

“That felt weird. Just because you asked to hold my hand doesn’t mean I can get into bed with you.”

“Well, next time sleep in the bed with me.”

“Okay,” I didn’t really expect there to be a next time.

We got ready for school and went to the dining room for breakfast. Everyone was tense since it was the first time we’d all be together since Lucifer attacked me yesterday. No one really spoke during breakfast. It was such a stifling atmosphere I couldn’t hardly eat. Lucifer’s guilty ass face wasn’t helping either.

Eventually I gave up and sighed, “I can’t stand this anymore. Y’all are so fucking tense. I’m going to school.”

They all looked surprised at my attitude as I got up. Before I got far Lucifer called to me, “Drizzm, I need to speak to you. Meet me in the music room before you head to school.” “Okay,” I plainly responded as Asmo acted like it was hot, new gossip. At least the tense atmosphere wouldn’t last long. I grabbed my bad and met Lucifer where he said.

“Hello, Drizzm,” he greeted pensively, “I wanted to apologize for my actions yesterday.”

“You’re forgiven,” I immediately said, “Beel explained the grimoire and I hold no hard feelings when you’re just protecting your family.”

He seemed very surprised, but still forced an apology, “Either way, my actions and words were incorrect of me.”

“Diavolo’s making you do this, isn’t he?”

“Excuse you,” he glared. Oops, made him angry again.

“If you were going to apologize you would have done so last night when I got back with the others. I don’t care either way. I forgave you yesterday.”

“While you are not necessarily wrong. Why must you point it out?”

“Because I like communication and I want you to know I’m not stupid.”

“You sure don’t act like it,” it was my turn to glare at him, “Which leads me to my next point. I don’t know why you’re forming pacts with my brothers, but you need keep your nose out where it doesn’t belong. Focus on surviving your year here. Then you can go back to your normal life.”

I sighed, “At least the others were obvious with their hatred. People like you make me more nervous because you’re kind to me but don’t actually want to be. At least it won’t be for a totally stupid reason. It’ll probably be my own dumb ass fault.”

He didn’t really say anything so I excused myself. During the school day I received a text in the group chat saying that there would be a meeting in the council room after school. I was supposed to be there as well. Which was why Lucifer bothered to use that group chat.

After school I joined the others in the student council room. Where Diavolo addressed us, “I called this meeting to announce that there will be a retreat at the Demon Lord’s Castle with all of you. The intent is to strengthen the bonds between those involved with the exchange.”

And that was sorta it really. There’s just a sleepover at the castle. Which was pretty cool, not gonna lie. We all chatted excitedly about it for the rest of the week. The angels and Solomon would obviously be there too but Luke has been keeping his distance from any of the brother’s and I barely get any time away from the brothers at this point.

Friday morning we got up early and gathered in the entryway, waiting for Lucifer. I was texting my friend in the Human World while Mammon chatted away at me.

“The Demon Lord’s Castle isn’t as great as it seems, Drizzm,” he warned seriously.

“Dude, I’ve literally been there,” I put my phone away, “What’s so scary about it?”

“Well, I heard Barbatos has a torture room and you can hear screams of those throughout the castle.”

“Bull. Barbatos would never be so careless as to let screams out.”

“Wha? Why is that what ya took from that? Well, there’s a labyrinth that no one returns from.”

I was about to call bull again when Lucifer showed up, hitting Mammon upside the head, “Shut up. Everyone get moving. I want to get there before the angels and Solomon.”

Avatar of Pride indeed. But I didn’t argue, no use to, and grabbed my bad. We of course chatted while on the way. Causing quite the ruckus. But it meant that the travel went quickly and soon enough Barbatos greeted us into the castle’s entryway. Mammon’s attitude also did a 180°. First, the castle is scary. Now, it’s ripe with treasures to pawn off. Never change Mammon. You don’t know how.

“Good morning Drizzm,” Barbatos greeted me.

“Good morning Barbatos,” I returned, “How are you? Ready for it to be noisy for the next three days?”

He smiled, amused, “The brothers certainly liven things up.”

“Ain’t that the truth. They kinda remind me of my guard.”

“You had a guard?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. I was in marching band color guard in high school. We danced and stuff with flags, rifles, and sabers.”

“Ah, yes. I’m actually familiar with them. We have marching bands as well. What did you do in your color guard?”

“Well, music is enjoyed everywhere. I was actually captain of my guard and these guys remind me of them a lot. It’s heartwarming sometimes.”

“Sometimes?”

“Both groups are idiots. I don’t mean that negatively. The guardies were indeed my idiots. They called me Papa Bear, or the Guardfather. But my favorite was swan.”

“I definitely see the resemblance,” he mused, chuckling as he went to answer the door. The other three arrived. Luke ran and hugged me immediately.

“Oh, Drizzm,” he cried, “You’re alright!”

“Of course I am,” I reassured him, “You must have seen me walk around school. How are you feeling? That must have been scary, huh?”

“Why does it sound like you’re comforting me? You almost died, you know?”

“He didn’t even touch me. So it may as well not have happened, right?”

“No! I really thought they were going to do something. They’re demons after all!”

“You know, Luke. Judging people based on something they cannot change, like being an angel, demon, or human, is very rude. It reflects more on you than those you’re talking about.”

He looked dejected, “B-but…”

“No ‘buts’. I’m not telling you to make you feel bad. I’m telling you so you can learn. In my opinion, it’s not very angelic to be racist.”

“Well… Lucifer’s so scary when he’s angry.”

“Yes, that’s true. But that’s a Lucifer problem, not a demon problem.”

“You need to let me make it up to you! You protected me when as an angel I should have protected you.”

“You don’t need to to Luke. I did as I wanted. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“But. I can make you a dessert.”

“Dessert, you say,” I may not need to be repaid, but I like dessert, “Why don’t we swap recipes?”

“You BAKE?!” His eyes glittered.

“Yeah! I love baking. I’ve loved since I was little.”

“Yay! Let’s do that! I can’t wait!”

“Well, you’ll have to wait a while longer Luke,” Diavolo finally joined us, “I’d like to start now that everyone is here.”

We gave him our full attention as he explained the retreat. Day one, today, was a tour of the castle, then dinner by Barbatos. Day two was a scavenger hunt, then dinner by Luke, and a dance afterwards. Day three was lunch by me, not that I knew because they trusted Mammon to tell me, then we all head back home.

“We also have assigned rooms,” Diavolo announced, “the room will be Beelzebub, Luke, and Levi; Mammon, Satan, and Solomon; Simeon, Asmodues, and Drizzm; finally Lucifer and I.”

“Wait,” Lucifer interrupted, “You have your own bedroom. Why are you sharing one with me?”

“Because it’s a retreat of course!” He was so genuinely excited. Very amusing that the ruler of the Devildom is such a ray of sunshine.

“Asmo,” Mammon begged, “switch rooms with me!”

“Why,” Asmo asked before realizing, looking at me, “Oh, I see. You want to share a room with Drizzm. In that case…”

Mammon got happy.

“No.”

Poor guy was inconsolable and Asmo enjoyed every second of it. We got ushered to go put our things in our rooms. I think I got a pretty good room assignment. Simeon was great and Amso was fine, just self-assured. In some aspects it feels like every sin connects to the others. I wonder if they even noticed.

“You guys have no idea how lucky you are to be sharing a room with me,” Asmo just proving my point by having outright pride greater than Lucifer, “So many people would do anything to see me in these vulnerable moments.”

I raised my eyebrow as Simeon amusedly said, “well, you were popular, even in the Celestial Realm.”

“Yeah, there must not be a single person in the world who doesn’t love me. Right, Drizzm?”

“Don’t involve me in this,” I was not ready to deal such a blow to Asmo.

“Why? Do you think there’s possibly someone out there not in love with me?”

“I’m not answering you, Asmo. Drop it.”

“Fine,” he huffed. It only took about five seconds for hims to start some other conversation gloating about his beauty. Thankfully Satan saved us by coming and getting us for the tour. I followed him to were Mammon and Solomon were discussing something.

“Whatcha doin’,” I asked.

“We’re planning on making off with some of the castle’s treasure to sell,” Mammon explained, rubbing his hands together like a cartoon villain.

“That feels like a bad idea.”

“Like you’re one to talk.”

“I’m actually after some magical items,” Solomon clarified, as if it wasn’t still stealing.

“I just want to give Lucifer a black eye,” Satan had a mischievous glint in his eye.

“Do you need to steal to give a black eye,” I asked, genuinely confused.

“Who cared about that,” Mammon interrupted loudly, “I can’t wait to see how much Grimm I get from those treasures! There’s gotta be some crazy valuable stuff!”

“Mammon,” Lucifer appeared behind him, “I expect you to come to my room later.”

Mammon immediately deflated, Solomon was disappointed, and Satan was annoyed. All is normal, I suppose. Suddenly a little black demon ball appeared.

“Hi! How’s it goin’,” he cheerfully introduced himself, “I’m Little D. No. 2, but call me No. 2!”

I waved at No. 2.

“You must be Drizzm! I’ve heard a lot about you. You’re a cutie in person! No wonder Mammon likes you. I know, I’m his counterpart after all!”

I was surprised. But Mammon about imploded.

“Whaddya talkin’ about?! Ya don’t know nothin’ about how I think,” he desperately tried to deny. Yeah I’m gonna have to have a talk with him.

“Mammon, calm down,” Lucifer ordered, annoyed. Mammon clammed up immediately.

“Not that that guys has calmed down, allow me to continue,” No. 2 began our tour. We passed by paintings and statues as No.2 told us important notes from Devildom history. He lead us to a portrait of a large, imposing demon, “Thi is the current Demon King, Diavolo’s father.”

“I last saw him at a ceremony over a thousand years ago,” Luke commented. I looked at him in shock. I knew he was older than me but over a thousand years and still a child? Do angels evolve like Pokemon?

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my father as well,” Diavolo added, “He’s been sleeping at the bottom of the Devildom for several hundred years now.”

I had so many questions but I didn’t know which ones were appropriate so I just kept quiet. Instead I looked at the details of the painting.

“I wonder why he’s sleeping,” Luke pondered aloud. Thank god.

“I don’t know. I guess he just isn’t interested in the world right now.”

“Wow, Drizzm,” No. 2 spoke up, “You’re really looking at this painting.”

“If given time I look at all art like this,” I explained, “As an artist I’m just like that.”

“Ya mean weird,” Mammon teased.

“That I am, for suresies.”

“Well let’s get a move on,” No. 2 continued to lead us through the hallways. We passed by a stairway when we heard screaming.

“Wha,” Mammon looked frightened, “A-a g-g-g-ghost?!”

Ain’t no way he’s scared of ghosts.

“I’m not a ghost,” a woman in one of the portraits protested, “Asmo you awful demon!”

“Oh, dear,” Asmo didn’t really seem all that bothered, “Who are you?”

OOF!

“Who am I?! I’m -was- the great with Helene!”

“Oh! It’s been foreverrr! How are you?”

His awareness is zero.

“I’m dead! Thanks to you, by the way! I got burned at the stake!”

“Well, of course. You were a witch. Don’t go blaming me.”

RIP.

“Well, thankfully, I still have enough power to get back at you! I hate you Asmodeus!”

She began magically vacuuming Asmo into the portrait. He grabbed onto Beel, who grabbed Levi, who grabbed Solomon, who happily grabbed Mammon, who tearfully grabbed me. This was ridiculous.

“Goddammit, Mammon, you fucking idiot,” I snapped, “What fucking USE AM I?!”

“Moral support,” he pouted at me, to try and get pity.

“Support deez nuts, you dip-!”

In the painting we went. I blacked out when going through the painting and was awoken by Solomon, “Are you alright, Drizzm?”

“About ready to kick Mammon’s ass. But, yes, otherwise fine,” I complained. Solomon laughed.

“I’m glad you’re taking this well.”

“Where are we?”

“It seems to be an underground labyrinth.”

“Well what do you know? Mammon was actually right about something. Where are the others anyways?”

“I’m not sure. When I came to it was just the two of us. However, I can summon Asmo to our location.”

“How?”

“I have a pact with him and it allows you to summon them,” He proceeded to say an incantation and Asmo appeared, who did not understand that he was in the wrong.

“Why did you summon me like that,” he whined, “Don’t you know how fragile I am?”

“This is your fault Asmo.”

“Aw, don’t be like that Solomon,” he looked at me, “You don’t think it’s my fault, right?"

“I don’t think you’d like my answer,” I replied.

“Why do you keep dodging my questions?”

“Because it’s not worth making you upset.”

He suddenly got closer and stared deeply into my eyes, while his gained a faint glow. His voice changed, the tone was the same, but it seemed to ooze, dampening the ambient noise of the labyrinth, “C’mon, don’t you just love this face? You wouldn’t say anything to make this upset.”

“What are you doing?”

“Asmo, that’s enough,” Solomon intervened, “Now’s not the time for that.”

Asmo pouted but relented. Giving me space as we searched for the others. At some point I noticed something odd.

“Hey,” I said, “What’s that sound?”

“I don’t know,” Solomon listened, “but it’s getting closer.”

Asmo put his hand to his ear, “I think I hear screaming too.”

Suddenly around a corner, a ways ahead of us, came the other being chased by a giant snake. What the fuck, dude.

“Solomon you can do something right,” Asmo grabbed him in a panic.

Solomon shook his head, “Unfortunately, no. We’ll have to them in running away.”

“My tiny ass legs ain’t made for this,” I complained, turning on my heels. We all booked it but I was significantly shorter than them so I had a hard time keeping up. Beel grabbed me as he passed by, carrying me until we got to a cell block. The entry door was much too small for the snake to get through so we were able to catch our breaths. But, this was a dead end. We would have to eventually go out and face the snake again.

“Where did Diavolo even find a snake like that,” Mammon panted.

“I know,” Asmo whined, “Snakes are so gross and that one is huge! Ugh, my hair is all ruined.”

“It’s Henry 1.0,” Levi stated matter-of-factly.

“Wait 1.0,” I asked, “Is that why Henry and the house is 2.0?”

“Yeah, all of his pets are named after Henry,” Mammon explained, “And why are you still holding Drizzm, Beel?”

“Because I want to,” Beel replied simply, but he still put me down.

“Why is Henry 1.0 here,” I questioned.

“Are ya even sure it’s him,” Mammon added.

“Of course I know it’s him,” Levi snapped, “One day he just left while I was at school. I had no idea he was here! He looks so healthy. I’m so happy!”

“Henry 1.0 did seem to remember ya, though.”

“Well, it’s been a long time. I’m not that surprised.”

“I don’t care,” whined Asmo, “Someone just make the snake leave! All this stress is bad for my skin.”

Solomon piped up, “I actually have idea. I can use my magic to amplify Asmo’s charming ability.”

“Well, not like we have many options,” I motioned for him to do his thing. Amso didn’t really want to but we reminded him that this was, once again, his fault. So, through grumbles and complaints, Solomon was able to amplify Asmo’s power by chanting a different incantation.

Thankfully it worked like a charm, heh. Asmo managed to charm Henry 1.0 and convince him to lead us out of the labyrinth. We happily followed him out, coming out in a remote part of the garden outside the castle. Much to Beel’s delight we made it back in time for dinner. Diavolo found the entire situation very amusing. He’s so light-hearted and personable for a prince. Not that I’ve ever met a prince before him.

“Certainly sounds like you all had fun,” he almost sounded jealous that we got to have an adventure, “Though, I must admit I was surprised by you, Drizzm. That was quite the fiery side we saw.”

“Yeahhh,” I sighed, “I told you I’ve been keeping myself in check. But I think that situation was quite abnormal, no?”

“True, but that seemed to come so naturally. Including that phrase you said.”

“That’s how I normally speak, yeah. Quite a lot of slang.”

“He knows more slang than I do,” Levi said in a jokingly sad manner, “even a normie known more than me. Must be nice knowing so much.”

That phrase had kinda become an inside joke between us, “Quit slackin’ and get on my level the. I can’t wait to have someone to speak in memes to.”

“What did you say to Mammon before getting transported,” Diavolo inquired.

“Oh, you mean ‘Support deez nuts?’,” I laughed, “Yeah, that was a pretty good use of that meme.”

“I don’t get it.”

“The meme is just the words ‘deez nuts’. Like these nuts but D-E-E-Z. So, plainly, ‘Support these nuts. But said funny I guess.”

“What does it mean, though?”

“Is nuts not used as a slang for testicles here?”

Lucifer about choked on his food.

“You okay Lucifer,” I asked worriedly.

“That’s not appropriate,” he scolded, taking a drink.

“He asked,” I defended myself, “Am I supposed to just ignore him?”

Diavolo was silent as he processed everything I told him. Then burst out in a booming, belly laugh, “S-so -hehe- So, you told Mammon -haha- to support your testicles -wheeze- in response to saying you’re moral support?” He kept giggling.

“Yes.” Another laughing fit, he was crying with laughter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone find a ‘deez nuts’ joke so funny. He’s so precious. Barbatos sighed, “The Young Master appears to be enjoying himself.”

Diavolo could hardly breathe, “B-b-but you don’t -haha- you don’t even HAVE nuts!”

More laughing.

“Is he gonna be okay,” I asked, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him laugh that hard. Nor anyone find it that funny.”

“Just ignore him,” Lucifer deadpanned, this doesn’t seem to be his first rodeo. We finished up dinner, with Diavolo periodically giggling for the rest of the night. Poor Lucifer is going to be so tired of that joke by tomorrow. He’s probably already tired of it. Sucks to suck Lucifer. Back in our room we were all winding down for the night. I was sitting on my bed drawing, Simeon was at the table reading, and Asmo was yapping away.

“So, Drizzm,” Asmo got close to me, “Ready to tell me?”

“Tell you what,” I genuinely asked.

“If there’s anyone who doesn’t love me?!”

I sighed, I didn’t wanna do this, “How do you define love?”

“Huh? When you can’t get enough of me, of course! Doesn’t have to be romantic, I’m an idol to many you know,” he blew a kiss and winked. I blinked.

“You are the Avatar of Lust, so I guess that makes sense.”

“Well?! Don’t keep me waiting!”

I shifted uncomfortably. Now’s a good a time as any I suppose, “Well, right now I consider myself in the non-love camp. You’re fun enough to be around so I like you. But like a friend, you know? I’m asexual so I’ve got literally negative interest in sex and lust. You must have been able to sense that, right?”

He got upset, “What do you mean? O-of course I could tell! But everyone loves me!”

“Why are you so upset?”

“Because you said you didn’t love me!”

“I’ve known you for, like, what? 3 weeks? I don’t love anyone here yet. Way too early for that.”

“That’s a lie!”

“Excuse you?”

“I’ve seen the way you look at Lucifer!”

“HUH?!” I had no words, except, “The fuck you mean? That dude wants nothing more than to waterboard me. I find him fun to tease, that’s all.”

“Yeah, you tell him, Drizzm,” Mammon appeared at our door, “You obviously only have sights for the Great Mammon.”

“What are you doing here,” I asked, spying the pillow under his arm. He whipped the pillow out.

“A pillow fight, of course! I dodged that idiot Lucifer and now we’re gonna party all night!”

“Why don’t you come party in my room then,” it was Lucifer’s turn to appear. Right behind Mammon, who screamed. “I’m sure Lord Diavolo would love the company.”

He said it nicely but he literally dragged Mammon by the collar.

“RIP bozo,” I said. Thankfully that distracted Asmo’s train of thought and we were back to our normal conversations. I put my art down and began repainting my nails. I wanted them to look good for the dance the next evening. It was a dark blue polish with silver sparkles that remind me of stars.

Before long Asmo announced bedtime. It was still super early for me to sleep so I made sure to sit at the table with my tablet screen away from them. Simeon stayed awake for a few hours after Asmo, who apparently needs like 12 hours of sleep. He offered to send me to sleep with his powers. I really hadn’t done much sleeping so I was happy he could do such a thing.

The next day we all gathered for the scavenger hunt and Mammon was complaining about how he got no sleep because of Lucifer. Oh no, you have to face the consequences of your actions. No wonder he never learns. Consequences don’t make sense to him. Diavolo explained how the scavenger hunt would work.

The scavenger hunt works as follows; each group is given a riddle and must take a picture with the historical item the riddle corresponds to. Groups are based on room designations.

It was easy as far as scavenger hunts go. But Asmo kept getting in the way of other people’s photos.

“Come on,” he was blissfully unaware, “Wouldn’t you rather have a picture of my beautiful face than that artifact?”

“No, Asmo,” Satan scolded, “You’re in our way. I don’t want a photo of you. You’re not even part of our group. Get out of here!”

“Fine,” Asmo stomped off, “I don’t have to listen to your lecture anyways!”

Simeon just looked at me. Guess I had to deal with this. I sighed and went after Asmo.

“Hey, Asmo,” I called, “Wait for me!”

He stopped and faced me, “Oh, it’s you, Drizzm. I thought you were Satan. Worried about me?”

“What was that back there? Why are you getting in the way of their photos?”

“Like I said. They’d be much better off with pictures of me, rather than some dusty relic.”

“It’s not about you, or beauty, Asmo. This is an assignment. You can’t get in the way of something because you think something else is better. You have consent problems. You don’t get to make decisions for people.”

“Ugh, why are you lecturing me too? Just look into my eyes,” his eyes gained that faint glow again, along with his voice carrying differently, “You don’t wanna make them sad, right?”

“That’s what I mean! You’re trying to charm me against my consent just to get out of facing the consequences of your actions.”

“Wait, it doesn’t seem to be working.”

“Good,” I glared at him, “Don’t you do that shit again.”

“Don’t talk to me like that!”

“Well don’t try to violate my consent.”

“That’s not how charming works!”

“Never have I been so happy to be ace.”

Asmo huffed, “I’ve never met anyone resistant to me like you. It’s kinda doing something for me.”

I sighed, “Oh my god.”

“You know,” he changed the subject suddenly, “I almost expected you to ask me for a pact. You’ve been going through my brother like I go through lotion.”

“First, weird. Second, these are mutual pacts. I am open to pacts with all of you, but you have to want to have a pact with me first. I respect your free will.”

“Ooo, how chivalrous,” he didn’t seem condescending, just the way he usually is, “Maybe you do love me and don’t know it. But I’m not gonna make a pact just like that. I want you to do something first.”

“Okay,” I was slightly anxious, “What is it?”

“I want a picture of Lucifer’s sleeping face!”

“...Pardon?”

“You see, Mammon tried to get a picture, to sell of course, but he got caught. I don’t want to sell it, I just want to see what he looks like sleeping?”

“You’ve never seen him sleep?”

“I have, but anytime we try to get a photo he catches us.”

“This is a very odd request. But you have to stay out of people’s photos when it’s an assignment. Deal?”

He nodded and now that he was satisfied everyone was able to finish their scavenger hunts and we gathered for dinner. The demons were in their normal attire but the rest of us were dress for the dance after. I was lost in thought, trying to figure out how to get into Lucifer’s room.

“Drizzm,” Lucifer broke my train of thought. He looked as though he had called for me a few times, “Can you pass the sauce, please?”

“Oh, sure,” I passed it to him, “Here you go.”

“Thank you. Are you alright?”

“Is the Lucifer worried for me?”

“Forget I asked.”

“Aw, why are you suddenly not playing along with my teasing.”

“Because I’ve had to listen to Diavolo giggling since last night.”

“Let him have fun. Being a prince seems stressful.”

“That was maybe too much fun.”

I chuckled, before pausing, “Hey Lucifer?”

“Yes?”

“Can you show the different painting later,” I anxiously prodded at my food, “I’ve wanted to take a look at them but I’m afraid I’ll get lost.”

He smiled, a rare but beautiful sight, “Of course, I almost forgot you’re an artist. I’ll take you on a tour after the dance.”

“Thank you.”

“That meek way you asked was interesting. Quite unlike you.”

“Well, I wasn’t sure if you’d say yes. Considering we don’t really seem to get along.”

“I wonder why,” he did not wonder why. I knew he blamed me entirely.

I sighed, but continued eating. I was trying so hard not to snap at him. But that would be counterproductive so I just opted for silence. When we all finished Diavolo magicked the table and chairs away and set the stage for the dance. The demons transformed into their demon forms and it was my first time seeing Diavolo in his demon form.

He was much taller than his normal about 6.5’. Now standing at about 8’ or 8.5’. He had horns that came out from behind his head sideways then curved in and slightly down towards his face. They were a gradient of deep fiery red at the base fading quickly to black for the rest of the horns, tipped with golden filigree. He had 4 large dragon wings with the wing “thumb” in the middle tipped in a similar golden filigree. His hair was a much more saturated red and his skin darkened to a deeper shade a warm brown. Like stone lit up by fire.

And there was plenty of skin to look at considering he wasn’t wearing a shirt but instead has a large fur stole of charcoal color. He also had a wide black color with gold accents and golden coins hanging from the bottom edge. It had a chain coming down from the center of the collar and was connected to two other chains that hung and wrapped around his sides by a massive pendant. It also appeared to act as the way the stole clasped together. The pendant was a large, round, deep red ruby in the center with symmetrical golden dragon wings on either side.

Considering Diavolo’s current increased size, that ruby had to by the size of a baseball, or even softball. The golden wings had a total wingspan of probably 3 feet. He also wore a large A-line skirt over knee high boots and white pants. The skirt had triangular gold tassels cascading down the front of where each leg is. There were also two gold chains that hung and wrapped around his hips, like the ones hung around his torso. There was also a white cloth that matched his pants that hung over the font of his skirt.

Yeah be normal I say as I probably spent five minutes just staring at him. Thankfully Mammon finally broke me out of my stupor stammering about something.

“H-hey, Drizzm,” he awkwardly asked, “Do you- I mean…”

Poor guy can’t ask for a dance. I was going to use the opportunity to let him know I’m not interested him in that way but I’d still be interested in a dance. However, Lucifer interrupted us.

“Drizzm. Would you take the first dance with me,” he asked, holding out his hand. No real choice here.

“Of course,” I took it while Mammon malfunctioned. When Lucifer turned to face me I finally took in his demon form. He was about 7’ tall, black horns curling upward. 4 large, black feathered wings on his back. He still wore a suit but it was very peacock coded, with peacock eyes on the tails of his coat and a peacock feather necklace. He was also breathtaking in his demon form.

“Do you know how to dance?”

I gave him a modified bow/courtsey I made up on the spot. Drawing a little ballet circle on the floor with my toe, bending my knees like a small courtesy, but bending at the waist with my arms in a bow position. I wasn’t sure if his amusement was because he was laughing at me, or with me. But I’ll take it.

“I see you’ll have no problem then.”

We got into dancing position as the song began, with him leading obviously. I almost forgot he hated me. Almost.

“Now, we can have this conversation without interruptions,” he was stern.

I sighed heavily, “You’re gonna threaten me again, aren’t you?”

“This isn’t a light matter,” he scolded. Yes, I know, sir, “I don’t know what you’re planning getting pacts with my brothers. But if you try anything that threatens my brothers or Lord Diavolo I will take care of you myself.”

He was starting to squeeze my hand sorta tight. But my pain tolerance allowed me to ignore it, “What did I ever do that makes you think I want to hurt anyone? I’m literally just trying to be friends.”

“You don’t need to do that. Keep your nose out of our business.”

I was finally sick and tired of him. I glared at him, my anger blinding me to Lucifer’s increasing grip strength.

“Why the fuck do you think you get to make decisions for me, huh? Or your brother’s for that matter? Isn’t the purpose of the exchange to increase relations? Don’t you believe in that? Or are you just lying? You’re not a protective brother if you think you can control your brothers. You’re a fucking dictator,” I seethed.

“How dare you speak to me like that,” he leaned down to stare me down better. The squeezing on my hand was increasingly rapidly. My face turned to worry.

“Wait, Lucifer, if you keep squeezing my hand like that it’s gonna-”

CRACK

My face paled and my mouth shut as Lucifer and I stared at each other in mutual shock and panic. He meant to threaten me sure, not severely injure me. He immediately loosened his grip. I slowly looked at my hand. I rarely wear gloves like Lucifer so I could watch in real time as the bruise formed on my slightly mangled hand. Before we could do anything about our predicament Solomon showed up.

“The song is over,” he cheerfully said, “Mind if I have the next dance?”

I was barely keeping it together and I needed to hide my hand, “Uh, yeah. I just gotta go to the bathroom. Excuse me.”

I didn’t wait for an answer and walked as normally as I could to my room. My knuckles weren’t really aligned right so a glove would hide my hand until I fixed the alignment. I took a deep breath before placing the back of my hand on the floor and placed my knee above the knuckles. I took another deep breath and shoved my knee down with all my weight. More cracking came from my hand as a small high-pitched whimper escaped my gritted teeth.

My eyes were watering and I took a few deep breaths as I sat on the floor. I looked back at my hand and while the bruising was severe, the alignment was good enough. At least it was my left hand. I rummaged for the one pair of gloves that I have and gently put the left one on and used my teeth to pull the right one on. I took another few breaths before returning to the dance.

“I’m sorry about that,” I apologized to Solomon as he stood at the wall in the main hall, waiting for me, “Would you still like to dance?”

“Of course,” he smiled. My jaw clenched when he grabbed my left hand. This was gonna fucking suck, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I lied. I don’t think it was convincing.

“You should be careful. Demons still look down on humans. Don’t forget, you’re an outsider here.”

I sighed, already tired, “I don’t fit anywhere, Solomon. But continue.”

“The good news is you have pacts with three of the strongest demons in the Devildom. The bad news is you don’t have the power to properly command them.”

“Okay. I know this.”

“I’m glad you have an accurate view of the situation.”

“Does everyone just think I’m an idiot?”

“I’m. Sorry?”

“No, sorry. I’m just tired of people complimenting basic awareness. I’ve been attacked by the brothers twice now. I know it’s dangerous here.”

“Let me help you, then.”

“Why,” I was suspicious. He didn’t want to help me at any point before this.

“Because I think humans should stick together,” my point still stands, “And I’m curious to see what comes out of this.”

Ah, there it is, “Okay, sure. How do you help me though?”

Suddenly I felt something surge into my body, it reminded me of the pacts, but felt different. Solomon explained, “I’m lending you some of my power for the next six hours, you’ll be able to summon Asmo with this power.”

“You can do that but not stop a giant snake?"

“Hush. I’m helping you.”

“Thank you. But, hopefully I won’t need to use them.”

“Let me remind you of the incantations for Asmo.”

He reiterated the ones he used yesterday, instructing me to change his name with mine. After that song ended I got bounced from person to person. I was hoping to eventually dance with Diavolo but I couldn’t bring myself to ask him and he was always surrounded by people. Understandable.

The dance finally ended and my hand ached. But my night wasn’t over, I was still supposed to look at paintings with Lucifer. Although I don’t think he’d be up for that anymore. Either way, I looked for him, but couldn’t find him.

“Are you looking for someone,” Barbatos questioned as I passed by him.

“Oh, yeah,” I stopped to ask him, “Do you happen to know where Lucifer is?”

“I believe he’s retired to his room.”

“Oh… He said he’d show me the paintings in the castle.”

“Would you like me to take you to him?”

I hesitated, “No, thank you. It’s alright he forgot. He’s got a lot to worry about.” I immediately regretted not taking the offer. I need to figure out where his room is. Mammon apparently has the worst sense of directions and can’t remember how to get there. They were going to help me with the picture but they were sorta useless until we know where Lucifer’s room is.

“Are you sure,” I almost forgot Barbatos was here, “You seem quite sad about it. I heard how much you wanted to see the art as an artist.”

“Yeah, I mean. It’s okay.”

Barbatos looked me for a moment while all I could think about was how my hand throbbed and I wanted to go to bed, “Why don’t I give you a small tour?”

“What?”

“It’s not often we get guests that enjoy the art as much as you seem to. Although, one painting is in Lucifer’s room. If that doesn’t bother you, we can start there.”

“Are you sure,” I need to stop being kind, “Aren’t you super busy?”

“I can spare time for this. Come with me.”

Barbatos led me to the room Lucifer was sharing with Diavolo. He knocked on the door and Diavolo called us in.

“Barbatos, Drizzm,” Diavolo cheerfully greeted us, “What can I do for you?”

“Drizzm wanted a tour of the paintings and I believed the painting in here would be best to start with. Isn’t that right, Lucifer?”

Lucifer avoided eye contact while Diavolo asked in surprise, “Do you know anything about this?”

“If I remember right,” Barbatos answered for him, “Lucifer was the one who agreed to give the tour in the first place. But it seems he enjoyed the dance so much he forgot.”

“That doesn’t sound like you Lucifer.”

“I apologize,” he still avoided eye contact. I didn’t care with the way my hand ached, “I can still do it, Barbatos. No need to continue to waste your time.”

“Too late for that, I suppose. Drizzm insisted on not bothering you because they wanted you to rest. So, I chose to help relieve his disappointment.”

Barbatos out here changing my words. Not that I don’t appreciate the scolding he gave Lucifer. I quietly spoke up, “Um, not that I don’t appreciate you speaking up for me. But, can I just look at the painting now? Lucifer and I’s relationship is as rocky as it is.”

Barbatos looked at my tired face with pity, “Ah, of course. I apologize. This painting was…”

Barbatos proceeded to tell me about the painting and while I was enjoying th art. I wasn’t enjoying the pain in my hand and the tense atmosphere with me and Lucifer in the same room. Diavolo thankfully didn’t ask about what was going on and Barbatos announced our leave soon enough. We bid them goodnight and continued on the tour.

“Are you alright, Drizzm,” Barbatos inquired after a few paintings, “You’re looking quite worn out.”

“Yeah, I guess I’m more tired than I thought,” I repled honestly, “I’m sorry about all this Barbatos. I didn’t mean to be a bother.”

“You weren’t a bother at all. I quite enjoyed seeing that look on Lucifer’s face. I do wonder what’s happened between you two.”

I huffed, “Where do I start? Thank you, Barbatos. It’s been quite the day and I’ve enjoyed the art so much,” when my hand isn’t hurting I’ll enjoy it even more, “ I’ll get out of your hair now. Thank you again. Goodnight, sleep well.”

“My pleasure. Goodnight, Drizzm.”

I went to my room and waited until everyone was asleep. I slipped out of my room and met up with the boys, Mammon, Levi, and Beelzebub. Operation Photograph Sleeping Lucifer was a go. We snuck through the halls to Lucifer’s room and stood outside his door. The other three suddenly getting cold feet. I got tired of waiting for them.

“Oh, my goodness. Move,” I whispered sternly. I silently grabbed the handle, carefully turning it to make sure it didn’t make any noise. Gently opening the door we snuck into the pitch black room. I got the feeling I should have just done this myself because the others were stomping around like fucking elephants. No wonder Lucifer always woke up before they could take a photo of him.

“Wait,” Mammon whispered, “Something’s wrong. The room shouldn’t be this big and empty right?”

I didn’t even notice because I was so annoyed by them but, “You’re right. Unfortunately, it seems Lucifer set a trap.”

“C’mere Drizzm! I-I know you’re scared, right?!”

“Mammon, shut up,” Beel ordered, “Something’s here with us.”

I heard a deep animalistic growl, “What is that?”

“That sounds like-”

A HUGE three-headed hound burst alight with flames, cutting Beel off and lighting the area around us. We were indeed not in Lucifer’s room.

“CERBERUS!!!” Both Mammon and Levi screamed. We all bolted through the door we came from. Just to find ourselves falling. We fell back into-

“The damn labyrinth again,” Mammon yelled in frustration. We all landed on him, “GET OFFA ME ALREADY!”

My hand really ached and I avoided using it to get up. We huddled together to try and make a plan.

“So, how do we get out of here,” Levi started, “We don’t know the way out and it’s only a matter of time until Henry 1.0 shows up.”

“Yup,” Beel agreed, “I can hear him already.”

“Wait,” I remembered Solomon leant me his powers. I stepped back from the others and recited the incantation to summon Asmo.

“Ow! Solomon I told you not to summon me so hard,” he looked at me and realized Solomon did not summon him, “Drizzm? Did you summon me?”

“While I’d love to know the story,” Mammon interrupted in a panic, “But it looks like Henry 1.0 has spotted us!”

I recited the incantation to amplify Asmo’s powers as Henry 1.0 approached. Solomon didn’t show me how to limit the power so I just let do it’s thing unchecked.

“Ohh, this feeling,” Asmo low-key moaned, “This is greater than anything Solomon has done.”

“Well. DO SOMETHIN’ ABOUT THE SNAKE!”

“Calm down, Mammon!”

Asmo recharmed Henry 1.0 and he led us out, much like yesterday. Thankfully we were pretty close to the exit and it didn’t take long to get back to the castle. Lucifer and the other demons were waiting in the entry way.

“I see you all decided to do something stupid again,” he scolded, “I had a trap set up so if anyone enters without knocking it transports them to Cerberus. Think of it as a precaution against a certain thief.”

We all looked at Mammon, who deflated as he knew he couldn’t argue out of this one.

“I hope you all learned your lesson.”

Asmo, unbothered as usual, approached me, “Drizzm. I know you didn’t get the photo, but I still want to make a pact with you? “Why,” I was confused.

“Why, indeed,” Lucifer seethed. Bitch, don’t forget you broke my hand like 3 hours ago.

“The power I felt was greater than anything Solomon has shown,” Asmo explained, “By a lot. It’s really impressive and I’d love to have a pact with someone with as much potential as you and see how you grow.”

The genuine praise made me blush, “Well, I’m happy to have exceed your expectations. I’d love to make a pact as well, then.”

“Oh stop being so formal,” he solidified our pact, the color glowing pink. Lucifer sighed and ushed everyone to their rooms and Asmo dragged me to ours. I know pacts seem to have a weird effect on the demons but I don’t really see Asmo like this with Solomon. Or maybe I never noticed?

“Oh, you’re back,” Simeon greeted, “I was wondering where you two were.”

“We ended up in the labyrinth again trying to sneak into Lucifer’s room,” I explained.

“I see. Lucifer really is ready for anything.”

“With his brothers? Yeah, for sure.”

“I never noticed how cute your features are, Drizzm,” Asmo had his arms around my shoulders, holding me gently but close.

“Oi,” came Mammon’s voice, “Quite snuggling up on Drizzm!”

“Drizzm doesn’t mind it,” he pulled me closer, “Right, Drizzm?”

“No! Tell him you hate it and he’s too clingy!”

“Mammon, let go of Drizzm!”

I was too tired for this and sighed and they both gently tried to pull me from the other. Eventually, they moved to just insulting each other and finally letting me go. After a few insults Mammon threw a pillow at Asmo’s face. Who then got mad that Mammon ruined his hair and threw a pillow back. But, Mammon dodged it and it hit Satan who was coming into the room for some reason. And suddenly, a pillow fight started as everyone in the castle started showing up. The only one not participating was me, just hiding due to my hand.

“What is going on,” Lucifer bellowed. He and Diavolo finally showed up, “I’m so sorry, Lord Diavolo. I’ll have a-”

“A pillow fight,” Diavolo exclaimed with so much excitement, “Lucifer, it’s just like in the book ‘Retreats 101’! It talks about the youthful joy of pillow fights.”

I am going to protect that man at all costs. Suddenly, a stray pillow hit Diavolo.

“Oh,” apologized Mammon, “My bad, Lord Diavolo.”

“Anyone who lays a hand on Lord Diavolo,” Lucifer picked up the pillow, “will die!”

He threw the pillow back at mach 5 and it set on fucking fire, sending a hole through the spare bed. Diavolo joyfully tossed pillows to Lucifer as it became Dodge-the-Flaming-Pillow. I sighed, my hand ached.

Eventually everyone got knocked out except me, Diavolo, and Lucifer. I heard footsteps leaving so I assumed it was safe and left my hiding spot. A pillow flew at me from my left and I blocked it with my hand out of reflex. It made my hand fucking hurt all over again. I was so sick of it already.

I threw the pillow back angrily, “What?! I’m not fucking hurt enough for you Lucifer?!”

“You’re hurt,” Diavolo worriedly asked as the pillow he threw hit him square on the chest. He approached me, “What happened?”

“Nothing,” I lied.

“I know you’re lying. I can’t allow you to get hurt under my watch.”

I shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t know what to say to get out of this so I stayed silent.

“Take off your gloves Drizzm. You didn’t have gloves before the dance and you left to get them. This isn’t a request.”

I sighed, “It was an accident. Don’t get too mad, okay?”

It took me a few moments as I gently worked the glove off my left hand. It was the first time I took the glove off since the dance and it looked fucking awful. Bruised, purple, blue, and black, and my hand shook unsteadily, “He, uh, crushed my hand.”

Diavolo grew bigger as he got angry, his size intimidating me instead of enthralling me like earlier.

“He hurt you?! Even after what he did in the tombs?!”

“It was an accident! I have a high pain tolerance and-”

“That’s enough, Drizzm. I don’t know why you’re trying to protect him. But, he should take a lesson or two from you,” he marched off. I sighed. God, I sigh a lot lately.

“Drizzm,” Satan exclaimed, “Your hand!”

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

“Satan, forgive me when I say this. Either shut the fuck up or get the fuck out. I’m fucking over today.”

“You need to get that fixed,” he shook Simeon awake. I sank oh so tiredly on my bed. I was reaching my limit.

“Oh, no, Drizzm,” Simeon rushed to my side, “How have you been able to keep quiet about this?”

“That’s my secret, Simeon,” I snuck in a meme to try and lighten my mood, my coping mechanism, “I’m always in pain,” I sighed, my front breaking in front of Simeon’s concerned gaze, “I’m fucking sick of it to be honest. But, what am I gonna do? I’ve been like this my whole life, and that won’t change. So a crushed hand is just another thing. Hard to ignore, but not impossible. At least, if people would stop touching it.”

“Here,” Simeon stood up, “let me help you. Lay down properly. It may take a while so I’m going to put you to sleep.”

“It’s okay Simeon. You do-”

“Lay down.”

“Yes, sir.” I did has he said. He covered my eyes with his hand and I was asleep.

Simeon hovered his hands over Drizzm’s body and a gentle glow appeared all over Drizzm’s body, with an especially bright spot on his left hand. Simeon gasped in shock as Satan left, confident in Simeon’s abilities.

“What are you doing, Simeon,” Luke rubbed his eyes sleepily.

“Healing Drizzm,” he quietly explained, “Be quiet so you don’t wake the others.”

Luke took this very seriously, so he whispered, “What happened to Drizzm?”

“His hand was badly hurt somehow. It seems that’s why he’s suddenly wearing gloves.”

“Really? Is he gonna be okay? How did we not know?”

“Apparently, he lives with chronic pain. That’s why his whole body is glowing. The glow only appears where there is pain.”

“I remember he talked about this, but I didn’t realize how bad it was,” he huddled close to the edge of the bed, “You’re gonna fix it, right?”

“Yes, Luke. Drizzm is such a kind soul that I can’t think of a better way to bless them.”

“I’m glad you think so too. This is a much better thank you than my baking.”

Simeon spent the next couple hours healing Drizzm as Luke left to his own room, being careful not to wake anyone else.

When I woke up the next morning, the pain in my hand was gone. But, oddly, so was the pain in the rest of my body. I sat up, my joints not cracking back into place, as they were where they should be already. I blinked a few times in confusion. My feet touched the cool stone floor and instead of sharp cold needles of pain on every rough bump, it was cool, soothing almost.

It confused me so much. Did Simeon heal my chronic pain along with my hand? As I sat there soaking in the fact things didn’t hurt I fought back tears. I took a deep, shaky breath.

I owed him so much.

But that would have to wait. He was still asleep and I needed to go get started on lunch. I got dressed for cooking and padded out of my room. I was usually light on my feet to reduce the pain of stepping. But now I was light on my feet because there was no pain to moving freely. It was still odd to do things without a side of pain.

“Good morning, Drizzm,” Barbatos greeted as I practically floated around a corner, “You’re up early.”

“Am I,” I questioned, “I slept about as much as I normally do.”

“Is that so? It seems that everyone else will be asleep for a while longer. Would you like some tea?”

“Sure, thank you. I’m gonna go grab my tablet real quick though. I forgot it.”

He nodded and I went to my room to grab it, then made my way back to the kitchen. While I use it mostly as a drawing tablet, it can also be used like a normal ass tablet. So I pulled up some recipes I liked a lot so I could get started on some of the longer ones. I had a lot of dishes because I picked one for each person.

“You’re quite prepared,” Barbatos remarked.

“Well, I want everyone to have at least one thing they would like,” I explained, “And I’ve been dying for cinnamon rolls.”

I heard him chuckle as I kneaded the dough. I got the other things set up that needed to rest for a while. The noise of tea preparations accompanying me. After putting things aside I took a seat with Barbatos, who poured me a cup as I sat. The handle of the cup didn’t feel like a dull knife digging into my finger. I sipped the tea happily.

“You’re in quite high spirits this morning,” he pointed out, “Most genuinely so, as far as I’ve seen.”

“Oh, well,” I guess I should have expected he would notice. He notices everything, “ I suppose there’s a reason for that. Simeon healed my chronic pain last night after the pillow fight.”

“You had chronic pain?”

I nodded, surprised he didn’t notice that out of all things, “One of those invisible problems, y’know? But, I’m free from it now. It’s weird. Picking up this cup didn’t hurt, and the stone floor doesn’t cause sharp pain in my feet. I don’t know how I’m going to repay him.”

“Why don’t you ask Luke?”

“Yeah, that was probably gonna be part of the plan. But he’s also an author so maybe I can pick out an extra nice fountain pen? Or a vintage one?”

“Whatever you think of I’m sure Simeon will appreciate it.”

“I could probably give him a cool rock and he’d appreciate it. He cares about the intent.”

He chuckled and we kept chatting as I continued working on my dishes. He helped me figure out how to use the oven and where all the kitchen utensils and ingredients are. Soon enough Solomon joined us in the kitchen. And Barbatos was not a fan. It didn’t take long for me to find out why. The food looked like it was supposed to, good even. But the ingredients were just all wrong.

Thankfully the kitchen was big enough that I could keep my dishes completely separate from his. Though what he made wasn’t food. He made science experiments dressed up as food.

It was afternoon by the time everyone got up and gathered together to eat. Barbatos promised that he safely hid Diavolo’s and Lucifer’s dishes so they could eat it when they woke up. Apparently they stayed up until dawn talking. I’m sure they did.

While packing I approached Simeon, “Simeon, I wanted to say thank you. I’ve never experienced life like this and it’s so overwhelming it makes me want to cry.”

“Aw,” he hugged me, “You’re very welcome. Your joy is everything I could have hoped for.”

“I still feel like I need to repay you. You didn’t have to do that for me.”

“Drizzm. It’s my choice. I want you to repay me by living happily.”

We smiled at each other. I guess he really is an angel, huh? We finished packing and left to go back to our respective dorms. So, back to the House of Lamentation with the others. On the way back I made my way to the front of the group where Lucifer was leading.

“Hey, Lucifer,” I gently called, nervous about how Diavolo may have chewed him out, “Can we please talk when we get back?”

“Must we,” he sighed tiredly. As if you gave me any choice before, so.

“Unfortunately, yes. It’s better to communicate than ruminate. Trust me, I’d rather we not have to do this. But I can’t stand feeling like this anymore.”

“Drizzm-”

“OI! No hoggin’ Drizzm,” Mammon suddenly pulled me away as I yelped in surprise. I ended up getting bounced around from brother to brother, mostly Mammon and Asmo, the rest of the way back. I told the others to inform Asmo of our plan, but to make sure to leave Satan in the dark.

After putting my stuff in my room I went to Lucifer’s and knocked, calling out to him. His footsteps got louder until he opened the door. It took him a second to actually step aside and let me in, motioning to the sofa. I sat on it. I stared around his room since it was the first time I had really been in here. It was a massive ass room, I think the biggest in the house. Wonder what he needed all that space for.

“Are you just going to stare at my room,” he sat across from me, “I believe you wanted to talk?”

“I do,” I nodded, then sighed, “But now, I’m not really sure where to start.”

“Then, you won’t mind if I do, right,” he leaned forward, “Why didn’t you tell Lord Diavolo until he forced you?”

“Because I genuinely don’t think you intended on crushing my hand. I also didn’t wanna cause a fuss. Can you imagine what would have happened if everyone knew?”

The look on his face told me everything, “You still kept it a secret even though we don’t have a good relationship.”

“And who’s fault is that Lucifer?”

“Don’t put all the blame on me.”

“Trust me, *I* know how to take responsibility. Remember the *tomb*?”

He sighed, “if you just listened to me…”

“That’s not a good relationship Lucifer. I don’t want a fucking business partnership where we shake hands and go about our lives completely separately. I want to actually get to know you and be your damn friend! But you’re so fucking blinded by your attempts at “protecting” your family or making sure that Diavolo’s “magic” plan doesn’t fail that you’re fucking sabatoging it!”

I took a breath. I was standing now, yelling at him. Surprisingly, he didn’t really try to stop me, “Is that all?”

That smug ass attitude made me so angry, “No. I fucking hate that you hate me. It hurts, that’s why I’m so mad.”

That smug ass attitude made me so angry, “No. I fucking hate that you hate me. It hurts, that’s why I’m so mad.”

“Drizzm, wait,” Lucifer grabbed my shoulder, turning towards him. I moved my shoulder from his hand, “Look at me.”

I sighed, trying to not look sad. I guess it didn’t work very well, “I’m sorry,” I looked away again. “Why do you insist on befriending me?”

“Because I can tell that this front you put on isn’t you. It’s part of you, sure. But I want to know *you* Lucifer. Who you are underneath the miles of walls to keep others out. I know you said you didn’t want to be friends. But, why? Why do you insist at keeping me away?”

He didn’t answer.

“I could give a convincing reason on why you should be my friend, if you’d like.”

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“This is a good one. You want Diavolo’s exchange to be a success right?”

“Yes?”

“Well, while it’s good enough I don’t die, I suppose. But that’s not very convincing that it’s a good plan. But if the Avatar of Pride himself is able to form a genuine connection with a human? Now that’s interesting.”

“That’s quite convincing indeed,” he seemed amused, “As for my reason for refusing your efforts? I suppose you could they were reasons similar to the others,” he paused, before giving a sheepish smile. Oh? “That still wasn’t very honest of me, was it?”

“Certainly a half truth, at least.”

“I suppose I should be honest right now,” he sighed.

“Please,” I quietly begged, “I just want to know you.”

Something flashed in his eyes, “I shouldn’t like that as much as I do.”

“Huh,” my cheeks flushed as I absorbed what he said.

The panic in his wide eyes told me that he didn’t want to say that out loud, “That’s not what I meant.”

“Enlighten me because there are two ways I can take that.”

“I meant that you look adorable,” he explained painfully, this is not the conversation he wanted, “When you asked for the art tour you gave similar look.”

“Oh,” I had no words. He found me adorable? The way my heart skipped I knew my face was like a tomato.

“You know,” he suddenly teased, “I quite like that too. I haven’t seen that look before.”

Heart. Please. Beat normal. I looked away. I can’t believe that’s all it takes for this demon to make me feel like this. A gentle touch under my chin as he lifted my head to look at him. He was smiling, definitely enjoying this. I was supposed to be scolding him not falling for him!

CRASH!

We jumped as the others began arguing outside the door. I held my hand on my chest to try and calm my heart beat. We both sighed as I gave him a smile and opened the door.

“Y’all done eavesdroppin’,” I crossed my arms at their pile.

“Actually Drizzm,” Satan pulled himself out of the pile, “I heard you were forming pacts to gain Lucifer’s respect.”

I glared at the others and they didn’t even try to explain themselves. I literally just had a cute moment with Lucifer and now we’re gonna fucking fight again.

“My respect,” Lucifer asked behind me, “Why?”

God fucking damn it, dude.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Satan cut him off, “I know the pacts are annoying to Lucifer, so I want to form one with you.”

“What?!” Both me and Lucifer yelled, but they were very different.

“Satan, you can’t do that,” Lucifer scolded, “A pact-”

I don’t have to listen to you,” Satan snapped, “You’re always telling us what to do! If I want to make a pact, then you can’t stop me.”

“As long as you are under this roof I can,” he pushed me to side to fight with Satan, blocking my way out of his room. After a few minutes of them yelling, “If you hate it, then get out of the house!”

Satan recoiled then glared, “Fine! I will,” he stomped off to his room and Lucifer stepped back into his room and shut the door, locking it again. I was still in there and I had no idea what to do next. I didn’t want to say anything and make him upset. But also staying silent and staying here wasn’t really an option.

“Would you like me to leave,” I asked softly, a worried look on my face.

“Why do they want pacts with you,” Lucifer lamented, “Why couldn’t they just resist you? You’re just a human.”

“Lucifer? Do you really think I’m trying to take your family?”

“No,” he sighed sadly, “It feels like that.”

I grabbed his hands in mine and looked him in the eyes, “I promise you. The last thing I want to do is take your family.”

He just looked at me sadly. I really hoped this whole thing with Belphegor worked out.

“I hate seeing that look,” I hugged him, “My heart breaks with you.”

He tensed but surprisingly hugged me back. I expected him to shove me away. But, I’ll take this over how we usually interact. He never relaxed, trying to keep as much of his pride as possible. Avatar of Pride indeed.

“You don’t need to say anything,” I softly told him, “I’ll be here for you either way.”

“Why?”

So quiet.

“Because I want to. You’re so stressed taking care of others and making sure everything is moving along as it should. But, you don’t really seem to have someone to lean on for emotional help. Don’t take what I say as pity. It’s kindness, and it’s a deliberate choice. I want to be here for you. You deserve peace like this too.”

He hugged me tighter, “I believe you. It’s just hard to comprehend.”

“Comprehend me? You might have better luck getting Mammon to pay his debts,” I joked, “As long as you believe me, then that’s good enough.”

He did a short sharp exhale through his nose. Wow, he did the scrolling on the phone and you see something funny thing. I hope he was laughing at the Mammon joke. I felt him lean over, just barely touching what I assumed to be his lips to the top of my head. Then he took a slow deep breath, before sighing. While still very tense, he did relax just a little.

“You should go speak to Satan,” Lucifer sighed, his breath heating my head “He’s only likely to talk to you right now.”

I quietly whined, not wanting the moment to end, “Fine. I guess I gotta go be responsible.”

“Don’t you have a strong sense of responsibility?”

“Haha,” I sarcastically laughed, pulling myself away from him. I smiled at him one last time as I closed his door behind me. Upon approaching Satan’s door I could hear him moving things and talking inside. I knocked.

“Satan,” I called, “It’s me, Drizzm.”

“Come in,” his muffled voice came through the door, he didn’t sound that upset. I opened the door and saw him rummaging through his books, “I’m trying to decide which book to take with me. I have more books that I thought.”

I got curious and began looking at the books. I wanted to ease into the conversation to prevent him from getting mad and defensive.

“Be careful. Don’t touch any books without my permission. Some books are cursed.”

“I honestly should just know better by now,” I laughed, “What kind of cursed books do you have?”

“There’s this one,” he grabbed a large red book, “When two people touch it at the same time they temporarily switch bodies.”

That. Is something. But I said, “Switching bodies is a classic.”

“I wish my brothers were as interested in books as you.”

This seemed like as good a segue as any, “So, you’re really gonna leave?”

“Yes,” he was determined, “I’m tired of them anyways.”

“But, none of us want you to go.”

“Lucifer does.”

“And suddenly you’re gonna listen to him?”

“Why do you care, anyways?”

“Why do I care?!”

All this work to fix this family and be kind and Satan asks a dumb ass question like ‘why do I care?’

“I dunno,” I was incensed, “Maybe I fucking like you guys? Including you by the way. Why do I care? You’re smart, dude. You should know better.”

“Well, if you care that much then make a pact for me to stay. I can’t wait to see Lucifer’s face.”

“I take it back,” I glared at him.

“What,” he was confused.

“That’s a stupid reason for a pact. I’m not doing it. How stupid do you think I am?”

“You think I’m giving you a choice?!”

“Pacts require both parties to agree. So, I do have a choice. Whether you like it or not.”

“I may play nice most of the time. But, don’t forget that I’m the Avatar of Wrath. I won’t just kill you. I’ll make it nice and slow,” he seemed to vibrate, like he was trying to keep himself from growing bigger with his rage.

“Whatever, dude,” I scoffed, “You’re not the only one playing nice. And what a fucking generic ass threat. Ooo, I’m gonna torture youuu. Yeah, existence is torture and a fucking dedicated squirrel from the Human World could kill me. You ain’t that fuckin’ special.”

His height suddenly grew by a foot as I struck a nerve, “How dare you speak to me like that?! I’ll show you exactly how much worse I am!”

“You were supposed to convince him to stay, not make him angrier,” Lucifer appeared in the doorway, arms crossed.

“So you two are all buddy-buddy now,” Satan grew slightly bigger, “Get out Lucifer, this doesn’t involve you!”

“Satan calm down-”

A book flew across the room. God damn it. Books were flying from both side. It’s like a worse version of the pillow fight. Suddenly a white light appeared as they both grabbed the same book.

“Lucifer,” Lucifer yelled,” Why do you have my form? Is this some kind of joke?”

Ain’t no fucking way, dude.

“Satan, calm down,” Lucifer-in-Satan’s body said, “It seems as though we switched bodies.”

Satan looked at the book in his hand, “Of course we touched this book.”

I fucking knew that was gonna happen. Why would Satan have a book like that anyways?

“How long do the effects last?”

“Several days. So, we should stay home to avoid attention.”

“No, if we suddenly stay home Lord Diavolo is going to ask questions. We have to keep going to school.”

“Ugh, it’s always ‘Lord Diavolo this’ and ‘Lord Diavolo that’ with you.”

Lucifer ignored him, “Also, I don’t trust you with my body so you’ll be staying in my room so I can keep an eye on you.”

“No! No way! If we have to share a room, it’s my room!”

Lucifer looked pensively at the books scattered all over the room, “There’s so many books that I don’t have space to sleep.”

“Well, that only leaves one option.”

No.

“Indeed it does.”

They both looked at me.

Yeah of fucking course.

“Well, come on, then,” I sighed, “Before I accidentally touch a cursed book.”

We all made our way to my room, where Mammon and Asmo were hanging out.

“Why did my room turn into the hangout spot,” I questioned.

“I just wanted to see what cute undies you had,” Asmo shamelessly admitted.

“I’d say that’s a violation of my privacy but to be honest my room doesn’t feel very private at this point. Also, I’m sure you’re disappointed the asexual has non-cute underwear.”

“But I did find some crop tops you’ve never worn around us. Why not? You’d look so good in them.”

“Crop tops,” Satan wondered, “You have crop tops?”

“No,” I corrected, it was weird hearing that come from Lucifer’s body, “Those are my binders.”

“That explains why they were so tight,” Asmo mindlessly said.

“Did you wear my binder?”

“But the stripes were so cute.”

“You wore my trans pride binder?! Where is it?”

“Why are you so upset?”

I shot him a dirty look, “They are the only ones I have and I really like that one.”

“I’m sorry,” he bashfully gave me the binder, it’s seams torn, “It was hard to take off.”

“Yeah because it’s not your size,” I sighed, “Whatever, we have bigger problems anyways,” I tossed it dismissively in the trash.

“Bigger problems?”

I gestured to Lucifer and Satan in their switched bodies and explained what happed. Lucifer also decided to set house rules for him and Satan until they switch back. Neither of them could enter the other’s room without the other one present and don’t do anything to attract attention. Most basic ass rules but these guys love getting into shit.

With all that settled I grabbed my tablet and rested against my headboard to draw. Lucifer joined me, sitting at the foot of the bed, as Satan was impersonating him dramatically to entertain himself and his brothers. I heard him sigh in dismay at the show.

“Just ignore them, Lucifer,” I didn’t look away from the commission.

“It’s easier said that done when they’re right in front of me,” he sighed again. This man would never survive being bullied in the Human World.

“Then come watch me draw or something.”

I scooted over so he could sit next to me and he did so. Even though he was in Satan’s body, it was nice that we could be so close physically so casually, with him sitting close to watch over my shoulder.

“What are you drawing?”

“A commission of someone’s character.”

“You’re taking commissions?”

“Yep, I’ve got an account on Devilgram and Levi helped me set up a website and all that.”

“I’m surprised.”

I looked at him, confused and low-key offended, “The fuck’s that supposed to mean?”

“Apologies, that came out wrong. I’m not saying anything about your art. I’m just surprised that demons would commission a human, and so soon after you arrived.”

“All in the marketing. I also charge a pretty penny.”

“What’s you’re website,” he pulled out his phone as I told him, “That’s quite the premium. How do charge so much?”

“Think about it. I’m a normal ass human on exchange in literal hell and within 2 days I had a pact with the second strongest Ruler of the Devildom. Then quickly got pacts again and again. You said demons can’t resist temptation, right? What’s more tempting than getting a limited spot for such a person’s skills. There are only so many commissions that can be made before I have to go back. So, people will pay out the ass just to say they got one.”

“That’s some impressive thinking.”

“Thanks, I guess. I had to learn marketing in the Human World. But, I’m not as interesting there so it’s not easy.”

“You’re just one of many humans.”

I laughed, agreeing, and we continued hanging out until it was time for bed. Which meant time for another argument. Lucifer and Satan were fighting about who would get to sleep in my bed. Good thing I still have insomnia I suppose. It is pretty weird that as a human I sleep less than the literal demons, but meh. Satan won the argument and I got up, sighing, and sat at the table with my tablet.

“What are you doing,” Satan inquired, “Why aren’t you going to bed?”

“For one, you sorta commandeered it. For two, I don’t much to begin with.”

“You look exhausted, though?”

“It’s fine.” Honestly my chest was bothering me more than my tiredness.

“What are you doing with your shirt?”

“I haven’t really been able to take my binder off in days because of the retreat. It aches. But it looks like I’ll be continuing that trend.”

“Why don’t you take it off, then,” Lucifer offered like it was obvious, “You seem uncomfortable.”

“And have you guys see me as a girl? No thanks, I’d literally rather die.”

“Is it that serious?”

“Yes. I am deeply uncomfortable in my skin as it looks. I hate the body I was born in. It’s not me. I feel like my body is totally separate. That’s why I wear the binders. So I don’t try to crawl out of my skin.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Satan genuinely apologized.

“Of course you didn’t,” I was matter-of-fact, “I never told you. And trust me, it’s worse than I say. But I hate putting words to it more because I have to face it.”

“Then, that’s enough of that,” Lucifer declared, “Let’s go to bed, including you, Drizzm.”

“Where do I sleep? On the ground with you?”

“No,” Satan interjected, “you’ll be sleeping with me in your bed. I won’t take no for an answer.”

I looked him in the eyes, “No.”

“You sonofa-,” he picked me up and plopped me on the bed, “Now go to bed. Lucifer, get the lights.”

“Got it,” he turned off the lights without a second thought. Do they only work together when they work against someone else? Satan stood with his hands on his hips, like a parent. I sighed, giving up and laying down. He joined me and soon enough, the others were asleep.

“Ow,” I got whacked in the face by Satan’s fist, “Dude, fuck this.”

He was tossing and turning, grumbling all the while, so not like I was getting any sleep.I got up and sat at the table. Lucifer tossed and turned uncomfortably on the floor. This has been the busiest month of my life. But, I was making so many friends and the new environment has been so great. I do miss my cats, though.

I tapped the table a few times before realized that I should actually go check on Belphegor. So up to the attic I went, with him meeting me at his door, like usual.

“Hello Belphegor,” I greeted.

“Good evening,” he stared at me, “You look tired.

“Tell me about it. I came to give you an update since apparently I have King Kong in my bed.”

“What?!”

“Nothing. So there was a retreat at the castle and I formed a pact with Asmo.”

“I’m impressed at how quickly this is progressing.”

“Yeah, maybe I oughta slow down. You still probably wanna kill me.”

“You don’t seem that upset, though?”

“No? At least, not anymore, I guess. It’s just a fact of the situation, and honestly, once I’m dead it’s not really my problem anymore, right?”

“You’re very odd.”

“Thank you, I’m aware,” I replied blandly, “Also, Lucifer and Satan got into a fight. They ended up touching a cursed book that switched their bodies.”

“Woah, really? I wish I could see this,” he reminded me a lot of the brothers right now, “How long are they stuck like that?”

“Satan said a few days.”

“Well, you certainly have your hands full.”

“Yes, it seems no matter where I go I’m managing people and their problems.”

“Sounds rough.”

“Don’t forget I’m trying to fix yours too.”

“Yes, and I appreciate it.”

I sighed, “I don’t want to go back to King Kong. Maybe I’ll grab a blanket and sleep in the planetarium.”

“You visit the planetarium?”

“Yes, I love stars.”

“I see. Well, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

I left and went back to my room. Satan was still thrashing on my bed.

“This sucks,” I sighed. After debating for a moment I just sat at the table, grabbing my headphones on the way. I worked on commissions for the rest of the night.

“Why are you sleeping at the table,” his hand on my back as he stopped gently shaking me awake.

“Satan’s a menace in his sleep,” I sleepily responded, rubbing my eyes. Lucifer seemed to have put my stuff away before waking me.

“Was he thrashing?”

“Yes, and I got whacked in the face,” I stood up and stretched, pulling at the collar of my binder.

“I’m fine,” I groaned and continued to pull at my binder. I wanted to take it off so bad, “I’m gonna take a shower so I can take this thing off.”

“The bathroom is occupied, and there’s a queue already.”

“This is why I wanted a bathroom,” I complained, wiggling uncomfortably.

“Just take it off,” he sighed.

“No.”

“Drizzm.”

“No.”

“Stop acting like a child.”

“Hmph,” I pouted, crossing my arms. I was super, mega uncomfortable with the idea.

“It’s just me in here,” he gently consoled.

“And how does that change anything? You’ll still see me as a girl.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You will.”

“I won’t.”

“How do you know? How would I know?”

“Because, Drizzm, I see you for who you are underneath it all. Like you see me.”

I blushed, the Satan face saying Lucifer words dulled the effect, but boy did he have an effect. Then I got kinda sad, “But, you don’t let me see you.”

He recoiled in shock, then leaned in, “I’m sorry, Drizzm. But you still always see past my words and actions to get to my core. I promise you I see your core.”

How dare he be so good at this. I still wasn’t very comfortable with the idea, however. I whined nervously then took a deep breath, “Fine, but turn around.”

“Of course,” he turned his back to me and I made sure there were no reflections I could show up in.

I took my shirt off and fiddled with the hem of my binder. Then I tore it off, breathing a sigh of relief. I put my shirt back on but suddenly regretted my decision when I had to tell Lucifer he could look. I held my shirt from my chest in an attempt to make myself feel better, “Okay. I guess you can turn around now.”

“What are you doing,” he asked flatly.

“I immediately regret this.”

“You’re fine. Stop pulling on your shirt, you’ll stretch it out.”

“No, thank you.”

“Drizzm.”

“I really hate this. I’m so uncomfortable. Why did I do this? Why was I born like this? Why can’t I just be happy with my body?”

“Drizzm, calm down. You’re safe?”

“Can you turn back around? I’d rather the crushing pressure of the binder.”

He pulled me into a hug, “Calm down. You’re not a girl. I don’t see a girl, never have, never will. You’re Drizzm, my annoying human exchange student.”

I cried, the pressure of everything so far finally finding a crack in the levy. My fists gripped his clothes as he gently rubbed my back.

“Okay,” I pulled away slightly, wiping my remaining tears, “I’m calm now. I’m sorry. I never wanted you to see me like that.”

“You want to see more of me but I can’t see more of you,” he teased, but I guess he was right. He still had his hands on my waist, “Besides, I’m the one who pushed you to do something you were obviously uncomfortable with. I apologize. But, if I may, I look forward to seeing you after your body looks the way it should. Your confidence will be radiant, I’m sure.”

I blushed but teased him back, “You mean I’m gonna be full of pride, like you?”

He chuckled and finally let me go. I wish he was in his body. It was really weird doing all this staring at Satan. Speaking of which, he thankfully never came back to the room. I was eventually able to get a shower and we all went to school after breakfast.

Lucifer, Satan, and I were wandering the halls during lunch when Diavolo and Barbatos approached us.

“There you are Lucifer,” called Diavolo, “Why weren’t you in the assembly hall this morning? You always visit.”

He’s so pure. Satan thought about what to say for a second before going with, “Hello, hello, Lord Diavolo! I’m soo happy to see you! You’re all I think about, honey!”

Diavolo and Barbatos were shocked. I had to hide behind Lucifer to try and stop myself from laughing.

“I ended up dreaming about you all night, and ended up oversleeping. That’s why I wasn’t in the assembly hall.”

Mammon didn’t even try to hide his laughter as Diavolo just stared blankly at Satan.

“Diavolo, is it just me, or do you look tense? Want me to give you a shoulder massage? If you’re feeling tired, just let me know, okay?”

“I’m not actually like that, am I? I’m not, right, Drizzm? Stop laughing, please,” Lucifer quietly begged.

“I’m feeling alright, actually,” Diavolo said, smiling, “So, Satan. What are you doing in Lucifer’s body?”

“Woah,” Mammon exclaimed, “He could tell right of the bat ya ain’t Lucifer! That’s impressive!”

“Ah,” Diavolo turned his attention to Lucifer-in-Satan’s-body, “that must mean Lucifer is over there in Satan’s body?”

“You can tell it’s me,” Lucifer questioned.

“Of course I can. We’ve known each other a long time,” he chuckled, “Also, Drizzm is vibrating so hard I can hear it.”

“Drizzm, please stop,” Lucifer sighed, “Just laugh already.”

I immediately started wheeze-laughing, “Never in a million fucking years would I have guessed you’d say that,” I breathed, laughing again, “Why did you think that’d work?”

I leaned on Lucifer’s shoulder to keep myself up, starting to cry with laughter, “This was a lost cause from the start. You guys don’t even stand the same.”

“Are you done,” Lucifer was very done with me.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry,” I took a few breaths, and got off of Lucifer, “That was so funny. It might be the sleep deprivation though.”

“You really need to sleep more.”

“So, Lucifer,” Diavolo interjected, “What happened?”

“Well, you see…,” Lucifer explained what happened.

“I see. That hopefully won’t be a problem for the speech you have to give to the student body the day after tomorrow.”

Lucifer tensed as Diavolo bid us a farewell. He sighed, “Seems as though if we don’t switch back by then, Satan will have to give the speech.”

“I don’t want to,” Satan huffed, “I hope we switch back.”

Lucifer nodded and the rest of the school day went by smoothly. That evening in my room, as always, Satan was doing more bad impressions for Levi and Beel. Lucifer was trying his best to ignore them by watching me draw and chatting with me. He sat closer to me tonight than yesterday, not that I particularly minded. When it came to bedtime I sat at the table again.

“Really,” Satan was incredulous.

“Dude,” I said, “You hit me in the face. I ain’t doing that again.”

“I did?”

“Yes. You thrash a lot in your sleep. Not your fault, but I don’t need to deal with it.”

“I’m sorry. So, you’ll just stay up all night?”

“Probably,” suddenly I had an idea, “Why don’t one of you magic us another or a bigger bed? Or make the floor soft and comfortable?”

They looked at each other, “We don’t know how to do that.”

I squinted at them slack-jawed, just dumbstruck, “Then what have you done with your magic in thousands of years? You’ve never once needed to create a bed?”

“You don’t even have magic,” Satan clapped back.

“Asmo says I do.”

“Well, Asmo doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Whatever, dude. In that case, yeah, I’ll be here all night. I’ll be your guardian while you sleep,” I joked.

“Just sleep on the floor with me,” Lucifer sighed, “I’ve gathered more blankets to cushion the ground.”

I gave up, I was too tired to argue anymore. I laid down on the ground as Satan did the same on my bed and Lucifer turned off the lights before joining me. It didn’t take long for Satan to fall asleep, noted by the grumbling and thrashing. Lucifer scooted closer to me.

“Drizzm,” he whispered, I turned to look at him, “You shouldn’t sleep in your binder.”

“Really,” I quietly groaned, “But Satan will see me when he wakes up.”

He furrowed his eyebrows, “You’ve been wearing it too much and Satan won’t care. Trust me, he’s having too much fun in my body.”

I sighed. He was right. I’ve been wearing it far too much. I pushed myself up and motioned from him to turn around. He did so and I took off my binder, taking a deep breath. After putting my shirt back on I laid down underneath the covers. Lucifer, apparently satisfied, stayed as he was. I turned to look at his back.

These last few days have me questioning a whole lot. There’s just something about Lucifer that pulls me towards him. I wonder if it’s his loneliness. I know what it’s like, including the peace I have with being alone. But when you’re surrounded by those forming bonds that you feel you can’t have, eventually you feel lonely.

I wonder if Diavolo feels the same. Those two are like two sides of the same coin, from what I’ve seen. They both hold a strong sense of responsibility and very protective. Lucifer is just very serious and calculated, while Diavolo is jovial and adorable.

Honestly if someone asked me if I had a crush on Diavolo I’d say yes. I know I do. The pillow fight excitement just really sold me on him. He’s too precious and making him laugh brings me so much joy. But, he’s sorta the prince, so my chances are slim to none.

But, at the same time, the way Lucifer and I have been acting made me realize that I actually like Lucifer. Like, we fight, but when we don’t there’s a strong pull between us. It’s electrifying to be honest.

I need to reel myself in. I rolled over and closed my eyes, trying to sleep.

The next morning I was awoken by movement under my arms. Huh? I opened my eyes and I was apparently hugging Lucifer in my sleep.

“Good morning,” Lucifer smiled, amused.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I moved away from him and stretched, “I usually run away from people in my sleep. I didn’t know I’d do that.”

“It’s quite alright, let’s get ready for school.”

I nodded and did so. After school Lucifer drug me and Mammon with him shopping. He said it was to keep Mammon and Satan from getting in trouble using Lucifer’s body. After some time we stopped at Hell’s Kitchen to eat.

“Order whatever you’d like, both of you,” Lucifer said, “It’s my treat.”

Mammon took the bait, while I know him too well, “That seems… awfully nice.”

“No need to be suspicious, Drizzm.”

“Yeah,” interrupted Mammon, “Let’s eat a lot!”

I gave Lucifer another suspicious look before ordering. While waiting for our food Mammon went to the bathroom and I took the opportunity to ask, “So, what’s this all about, really?”

“You are hard to trick,” Lucifer sighed.

“Look, if you feel the need to trick Mammon, then go ahead. But, please don’t try to trick me. I thought we’d be past that.”

He looked apologetic, “I need your help in the Human World.”

“The Human World?”

“I’ll explain when we’re done eating.”

“Okay. But, next time, just ask for my help. I told you I’d be here for you. I don’t desire payment for my help.”

“I’m learning.”

“Hopefully.”

He shot me a look as Mammon came back, at the same time our food arrived. We finished our food and once outside Lucifer addressed why he tricked us. Apparently, he tracked down the witch responsible for the curse and he needs our help to get her to reverse it. Why we needed Mammon? I dunno.

“Wait,” I asked, “How do we get to the Human World?”

“There’s many paths to the Human World,” Lucifer explained, “It used to be that demons could travel freely. But, thanks to a certain demon,” he looks directly at Mammon, “You now need special permission. Except for a few select demons, such as myself, can cross freely.”

“Well, that’s convenient.”

“Indeed. Now let’s go through the checkpoint,” he led us through, except, he didn’t, “Wait, why isn’t it working?”

“Maybe it’s ‘cause ya ain’t in ya own body,” Mammon postulated.

“Ugh, this is a problem.”

“No, it’s not,” Satan appeared, “I’m not fond of the idea of giving that speech either. So, I’ll come with. You need me anyways, right?”

“Let’s go then,” Lucifer nodded. Satan came up to us and for some reason they held hands during this process. But, I didn’t dwell on it long as light poured into my eyes. We were in what looked like a train station, but the sun was still bright. I blinked and squinted.

“Where are we,” I asked.

“Victoria Station in London,” Lucifer answered, “Are you alright?”

"Yeah, I’m just not used to the sun anymore.”

“Oh, hey, Drizzm,” Mammon called us over to a vendor, “They’ve got Harrison Porter merch here!”

“That’s neat,” I said, “You like Harrison Porter?”

“What? Do ya not?”

“I’m pretty neutral on it.”

“Look,” he got excited, “They’ve got chocolate lizard keychains! You can only find them here!”

“Then get one.”

“We should both get one, as a memory of today.”

“Do you mean that or do you just have no money?”

He tensed, “What? Do you?”

“Yes, actually,” I laughed. He was so excited that I felt bad not getting it. But first I turned to Lucifer and Satan, “Would you two like one as well?”

“Sure,” they both replied.

“Wait, this is supposed to be for us two. I don’t want to share keychains with them.”

“Mammon,” I scolded, “I know the pacts give us a closer bond. But, you do not get to hoard me. I know greed is your thing, but I am not your boyfriend. So, do you want one or not?”

“Yes,” he hung his head, “I’m sorry.”

I went up to the vendor and bought 4 of the keychains. Mammon’s mood immediately lifted when I handed him his. At least he doesn’t stay upset for long. When I gave the others theirs Lucifer handed me a pair of sunglasses.

“I’m tired of watching you squint,” he told me, “If it’s that bright, you should wear these.”

“Did you buy them,” I asked, wondering where he suddenly pulled those out.

“Do you really think I would steal?”

“That’s not what I meant,” I sighed, “Whatever, doesn’t matter. Thank you.”

Our train pulled in and we got into a private cabin. I don’t know how much that costs but apparently Lucifer has quite a lot of human world cash. Is there an exchange rate for Grimm? That has to be a thing right? Otherwise, how does Lucifer have enough British currency to rent a private cabin?

“Look, Drizzm,” Mammon exclaimed, pointing out of the window, “It’s sheep! I wonder if they taste good?”

I peeked out the window at the sheep on the hillside, “They look like wool sheep. Probably okay tasting, but bred for their wool quality.”

“You know a lot about sheep.”

“Yeah, I spin yarn and knit.”

“What are you, an old lady?”

“Says the guy who lives in the Devildom where you don’t even have rice cookers?”

"Don’t you just make it in a pot?”

“Yeah but we have devices made to cook rice, or other things, to be perfect every time. You can also make rice in advance and it won’t get cold or soggy.”

“Wow, that’s incredible! All this talk about food is making me hungry. Isn’t there a dining car? I’m gonna go there and take pictures to send to Beel. He’s gonna be so jealous,” he happily left the car.

“I’m glad I paid for the private cabin,” Lucifer sighed, “He’s such an embarrassment.”

I chuckled and stretched, lounging absurdly low in the chair. Needless to say the lack of sleep has been getting to me.

“Why are you sitting like that,” Satan questioned.

“That’s how tired I feel,” I nonchalantly answered.

“That cannot be comfortable.”

“Meh, not the worst.”

“So, Lucifer,” Satan turned to him, “How do you plan to convince her to switch us back?”

A woman’s scream kept Lucifer from answering and PA system announced that there was a man matching Mammon’s description is suspected of murder.

“Oh, goddam it,” I sighed, sliding down and off the chair before standing up, “Why’d you bring him again, Lucifer?”

He sighed, “I don’t know.”

We went to the dining car and sure enough, there was a woman on the ground, stabbed in the back. Why is there no security on this train? There were also two men and another woman. They accused Mammon because the woman said his name and he confirmed it. They became more hysterical until Lucifer hypnotized them to get them to go back to their cabin.

We went back to ours to formulate a plan. I feel like seeing a dead body should have affected me, but instead of becoming upset, I became focused. As we sat a ghost appeared, sending Mammon into oblivion. It was Grisella’s ghost. She made a deal with us.

If we solve her murder, then she’ll lift the curse, restoring Lucifer and Satan to their respective bodies.

“In that case,” Lucifer suggested, “We torture the information out. That would be fastest.”

The other two agreed, but I apparently had to be the responsible one, “Yeah, no. That’s a terrible way to go about it. That’s like, a last resort. It’s not even that difficult of a mystery, I bet.”

“Oh, really,” Satan was intrigued.

“Just watch how someone with intelligence does it,” I turned to Grisella, “Do you mind telling me everything you remember?”

“Sure,” she agreed, her voice like wind, “I was doing a seance for the brother and sister, Lucas and Sophia, with my would-be apprentice, Noah. He’s the one in the flashy garb. It was going well until that white haired idiot opened the door. I turned to him and that’s when I was stabbed.”

“Okay, thank you. Mammon, what did you see?”

“It was dark,” he stared, thinking, “there was only a single candle on their table and they had all the other lights out. Grisella was closest to me, then the guy in flashy clothes, then the other two on the far side.”

“Thank you. Yeah, this is a stupid easy riddle. Grisella, why didn’t you make Noah your apprentice?”

“Because I foresaw myself dying today. He begged me but I didn’t want to die so soon after making him my apprentice.”

“This was recent?”

“A few months ago.”

“Noah for sure did it. You denying him that opportunity he so desperately wanted caused him to be your death. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“Yes, it is unfortunate.”

Satan and Mammon went to get the siblings, while Lucifer went to grab Noah. I walked with Grisella to the dining car she died in.

“Drizzm,” Grisella was serious, “I have a warning for you.” “Oh,” I asked.

“You’ll soon lose every bit of trust Lucifer has in you.”

My hear sank, but I sorta expected I’d do something eventually, “May I ask a follow-up question?”

“Normally, I charge, but I’ll let it slide.”

“Will I die then as well?”

She was silent for a long time, “No, but your future is hard to see after that.”

“I see. Well, I’ll just have to work as hard as I can to regain that trust. Thank you, Grisella. I hope you find peace after today.”

She didn’t answer as we reconvened with the others. Noah was acting like a dickhead.

“So, did you finally decide on something?”

I glared at him, “Shut the fuck up, murderer.”

The siblings gasped, “Noah?!”

“How dare you accuse me, “he shouted, “You have no proof!”

“Explain to me how someone two feet away can stab another person in the back when facing each other,” I demanded, eyebrow raised.

He tensed, almost shaking with anger.

“No,” I continued, “Mammon couldn’t do that. But, you, the person who was literally behind her absolutely can. And there’s motive. She rejected you as an apprentice. So, as humans do, especially men like you, you murdered her.”

“Is that true, Noah,” Sophia asked meekly.

“Yes! Fine, it’s true! I killed her,” he threw his hands up in exacerbation, “She never should have refused me!”

“She didn’t want to,” I explained, “She just foresaw she wouldn’t live past today and didn’t want to leave her apprentice high and dry. And this is how you repay her.”

He was shocked and gave up, collapsing into a chair. He was willing to give himself over to Scotland Yard and the siblings decided that they would keep a close eye on him so he faces the punishment he deserved. So, we left them to go back to our cabin.

“Thank you,” Grisella lifted the curse before fading away.

The two tried to pretend it didn’t work, immediately catching Mammon hook, line, and sinker.

I laughed, “Yay! You two are back to normal!”

“Huh,” Mammon was slack-jawed, “They’re pretending?”

“Yeah,” Satan glowed, “That was great Drizzm! It was right out of my murder mystery novels! There can only be one true answer!”

He giggled like a school kid. I smiled.

“I didn’t even need to bring up the angle of the knife. And that guy’s gonna be regretting being a dick every day he rots in jail.”

“Wow.”

“What? Fuck that guy.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I just get surprised when you act like that.”

We chatted the rest of the way to the station. Lucifer announced that since we were here, we should spend the rest of the day here. I put on my sunglasses as we left the station. Mammon tried to get us to go gambling, as he tends to do. But, since the rest of us didn’t, we went to see a play. As resistant as he is to do non-gambling activities, he always gets the most invested.

Afterwards we visited a bookstore, with me and Satan wandering around together, “Satan! Look at this one! The cover’s so goofy.”

“Oh, that’s actually a super rare misprint! In mint condition too,” he was so excited and I’m sure you could hear us from anywhere in the store.

We were passing by shops in a center when I spotted an art store. A big one. I stopped for a second, about to go in, but didn’t want to bother the others so I continued following after them.

“Would you like to go in,” Lucifer inquired, of course he’s the one to notice.

“No, it’s okay,” I assured, “I don’t need to buy art supplies and start a new hoard.”

“You really look like you want to go in.”

“It’s okay, really. We’re doing enough. I’m happy just following you guys.”

“Alright,” he accepted the challenge, “Satan, Mammon, we’re going in here.”

When the other two noticed it was an art store I was interested in they dragged me in.

“You said, you were happy to follow us,” Lucifer teased.

“Yeah, yeah. Rude,” I joked, already getting distracted. I grabbed some sketchbooks, pencils, ink for my fountain pens, a nice fountain pen with ink to gift to Simeon, and notebooks. I also grabbed a couple impulsive purchases, as one does. We walked out with a smile on my face, carrying a very full bag.

“Aren’t you glad we went in,” Lucifer had a fun glint in his eyes, “Next time, just go in. We’ll shop with you.”

“Yeah,” Mammon intervened, “Even if I don’t understand anything ya say in there. Ya smile’s worth it.”

“That’s awfully honest of you, Mammon.”

“Whaddya mean,” he blushed, “Next time, I won’t say anythin’.”

“But it’s such a good look. Honestly is a pretty attractive trait, for real, for real.”

“Oh, no, he’s memeing again.”

“I can really meme on ya, if ya’d like. Make y’all real confused, real fast.”

We continued joking before they decided that they wanted to go to a pub. Thankfully I was in my late 20’s so I was of legal age. That would have been awkward.

“Human World alcohol is the best,” Mammon drank a big gulp of his beer.

“It’s the novelty I’m sure,” I replied, taking a drink of my stout.

“I’m surprised you get such a dark beer,” Satan commented, drinking a different type of beer. I dunno, I don’t drink beer outside of places like this.

“Yeah, I’m actually not a big fan of this kind of alcohol. But, a stout is most tolerable, and occasionally enjoyable.”

“What alcohol do you like, then?”

“I love apple flavored alcohols, especially apple whiskey or hard ciders. Mead infused with fruits is really good too. Maybe one day I can take you to my favorite place to drink.”

“That would be nice. But, whiskey? That’s surprising.”

“I actually don’t keep it around because I’m not responsible when I drink it. It just tastes too good. Mmm.”

“You’re starting to sound like Beel.”

“Yeah, probably best to keep it away from me,” I laughed as we continued drinking.

“Hey, Drizzm,” Mammon grabbed me, “Let’s go dance!”

“Yes,” Lucifer agreed, “Let’s dance, Drizzm.”

Satan also joined us and I took turns dancing with each brother.

“Do you miss the Human World now that we’re here,” Lucifer asked me while dancing with me.

“No,” I laughed, the alcohol making me feel warm and loose, “I love being with you guys. If anything, I’d just want a repeat of today.”

“Today?”

“Yeah, everything after the Grisella stuff has probably been the most fun I’ve had with you all since I’ve gotten to the Devildom.”

“That’s good to hear,” he was suddenly yanked away as the song ended. Mammon took turns very seriously lol.

After more fun and shenanigans we made our way back to the Devildom. Lucifer asked Satan to give the speech in his place.

Satan was surprised at first but then agreed, stating, “It’ll be the best speech they’ve ever had.”

Yeah, okay buddy.

The next night we were all celebrating the success of the speech and Lucifer and Satan returning to their own bodies. The only person absent was Levi, who had a new game come in. Lucifer led us in a toast to the lifting of the curse, and him and Satan pretended to be each other again. I smiled, seeing the brothers act more and more like brothers is incredibly fulfilling to me.

“Drizzm,” Diavolo spoke from my left, “I wanted to thank you.”

“For what,” I asked.

“For helping Lucifer and the brothers. I’ve not seen him that happy in a very, very long time. I’m glad you were chosen for the exchange.”

“Why was I chosen anyways? I’m sure there were better options.”

“I actually didn’t. Lucifer did and I just approved it.”

“Well, why did you approve me?”

“Because I trust his judgement.”

“I hope he doesn’t still regret it.”

“If he does, just know I’m on your side.”

I put my hand over my heart,” That’s so nice. I’m glad that I get to know you, Diavolo. It means a lot to spend time with you when you’re so busy.”

“I hope to get more opportunities to spend time with you, then.”

We kept chatting until it was time to head home. On the way back Lucifer and I lagged a little behind the others. We were chatting, just the two of us.

“So, what did you and Diavolo talk about,” Lucifer questioned.

“Feeling nosy, are we,” I joked, smiling at him, “I asked him why I was chosen for the exchange.”

“And what did he say?”

“That you chose me and he just trusted your decision. Which begs the question. Why *did* you pick me?”

“By chance, a breeze came through and scattered the papers. Yours was the only one that fell at me feet… Are you disappointed that it wasn’t something special?” “Well, you could say that the fact only mine landed at your feet is pretty special, right?”

“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” he chuckled, “But, I want you to know, more than that, you’ve become special to me on a personal level.”

My heartbeat quickened as I tried not to blush, “Special in what way?”

He stopped and I turned to look at him. He looked at me deeply but his phone rang. He hesitated to answer but I gestured to his ringing pocket. He sighed as he answered the phone. The only thing we heard was Levi screaming before it cut out. Apparently, Levi’s in trouble.

We all rushed back to the house and Lucifer checked Levi’s room as we stood in the hallway, but only his phone was there.

“Where’s Beel,” he asked, rejoining us. I looked around, how did such a big guy disappear? Lucifer made a plan, “We should split into groups to search for them. Satan, Drizzm, you’re with me. Mammon and Asmo, you search the first floor.”

Mammon looked like he wanted to disagree, but surprisingly didn’t. They went off together, leaving the three of us outside Levi’s room.

“This reminds me of the story of the House of Lamentation,” Lucifer mused.

“Oh, yeah, isn’t it from the Human World,” I remembered, “I always why?”

The story of the house is that, apparently, one day, the oldest son ran into the constable’s office saying that the servant had killed the entire family, then took his own life. There was circumstantial evidence that the son had actually killed everyone, but since no one could prove it, he continued to live in the house. He eventually died of old age and at some point the locals began referring to it as ‘The House of Lamentation.’”

“Oh, that’s actually similar to the Lizzie Borden case.”

“You’re not scared of anything, are you?”

“Of course I am. But, if I’m being honest, it’s hard to feel scared with both of you with me. And that may as well be a folk tale to me. Happened far away to someone else.”

“Drizzm,” Satan interrupted, “I’d like to make a pact with you.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Don’t get me wrong. This has nothing to do with Lucifer. I decided that I won’t let what Lucifer does bother me anymore. You’ve helped me realize that I can still work out my identity and also be confident in who I am until then.”

“I’m so proud of you. Though the timing is a bit odd. I’m happy to form a pact if that’s you’re reasoning.”

He smiled and we formed the pact, a new bond forming between us. Lucifer looked uncomfortable, but didn’t stop us and verbally supported Satan’s decision.

With that done we continued on our search. Mammon and Asmo suddenly screamed, from the direction of the portrait room. When going up the stairs we decided that the order would be Lucifer, in case a monster showed up, me, then Satan, to keep an eye on me.

“Wait,” I objected, “Who’s gonna look after you, Satan?”

“Aw, thanks for worrying about me, but I’ll be fine.”

“No, hold onto my shirt, so I know if you disappear.”

He opened his mouth like he was going to continue arguing but he realized I wasn’t giving him a choice. So, up the stairs we went with him gripping onto my shirt. We were discussing possible theories as to what was happening when the pull on my shirt disappeared.

“Satan,” I called worriedly, grabbing Lucifer’s arm and turning to check on Satan, “What happened? Oh, he’s gone too.”

“Well, this is certainly concerning,” Lucifer said, standing on the same step as me, “What shall we do?”

“Should we double-check Levi’s room? He did get a new game remember?”

“He needs to stop buying these games,” Lucifer sighed, irritated.

“Lucifer, can I hold on to you? I don’t know what I’d do if you disappeared too.”

“Are you scared,” he held my hand, smiling teasingly.

“Of losing you,” I told him honestly, gripping his hand. I tried not to think about how much I liked holding his hand.

“Honestly is indeed a good look,” he mumbled. I didn’t say anything, though, and we made our way back to Levi’s room. I went straight to his computer and, sure enough, he had a game running. Lucifer picked up the packaging. A horror game called ‘The Demon House’ that also describes exactly what’s going on.

“Y’know,” I sighed tiredly, “I always thought entering video games would be fun. But, I’ve never thought about a horror game before.”

“Then we will have to beat it to get out,” Lucifer explained.

“Let me find a guide,” I quickly searched for guides and found exactly one, “Well, that’s better than nothing. Let’s see, the big bad is Lucifer, classic.”

“Ugh, of course.”

“To beat the game, you need to defeat Lucifer.”

“That won’t work, I can’t promise I wouldn’t retaliate.”

“I don’t want to kill you anyways… Oh, there’s a secret ending. That’s pretty common. Well, that’s not.”

“What is it?”

“The secret ending is to romance Lucifer.”

“Why?”

“I dunno, but at least I don’t have to try, and fail, to kill you.”

“That’s true. Let’s continue discussing this in the library.”

So, to the library we went, sitting across from each other on the couches.

“Was there anything on achieving the romantic ending,” Lucifer asked.

“No, and I could only find the only find the one guide since it’s still so new,” I sighed, “I wonder I get you to like me, let alone love me.”

“What if we simply leave things as they are? This isn’t so bad, right? I mean, do we really need them anyways?”

“Is liking me that much worse? Or do you want to keep me all for yourself?”

“Stop joking,” the light blush told me otherwise, “Why don’t we start with the fundamentals?”

“The fundamentals?”

“If you want to develop feelings for someone, you need to know each other. Isn’t that right?”

“Sure, I suppose, but we already know each other pretty well, I think. At least in how we fight, I guess.”

“Then, I’ll start by asking you some questions, and you should be honest with your answers. Understood?”

“I promise.”

“How do you really feel about what’s going on.”

“Confused and tired, mostly. I do suppose it’s a little fun, though. I mean, we get to talk and get to know each other more. That’s nice.”

“I see. It does make it easier we relax and enjoy this. Alright, next question. Which one of us brothers are you interested in?”

“I feel like I’ve been pretty obvious about it, but I guess I’m hiding better than I thought. It’s you, Lucifer.”

He looked caught off-guard, “Then, that’s very… convenient.”

“I don’t know how to feel about that reaction.”

“Well, until then, you get to ask me a question. You may never get a chance like this again. So, choose your question carefully.”

“You’re so dramatic,” I chuckled, then thought for a second. Since we’re going romance an obvious one is, “What’s your type? If you have one.”

"Hmm. That’s a good question,” he thought for a second, “Someone pure, genuine, and worthy of respect.”

RIP my chances I guess.

“I don’t know if you know this,” he continued,” but demons are most attracted to the souls of people like that. Oh, wait. You asked the type of person, not soul.”

Still RIP my chances.

“Anything else you’d like to ask?”

“What do you think of humans?”

“I think you mean ‘What do I think of you?”

I blushed, caught red-handed.

“That’s also a good question… You’re an exchange student from the Human World. When you first arrived, all I wanted was just to make sure you survived your year here. But, that was difficult, considering you tend to do what you want, regardless of consequences And you stick your nose in others’ business. Not to mention, one-by-one you made pacts with my brothers. Why did you do that? I want to finally know why.”

“You’ve been so difficult to deal with. But you’re more special that you are difficult,” he was really opening up. My heart ached as I realized this is what Grisella was referring to, “You’re changing me, and my brothers. The truth is…,” he stopped himself, “What’s that guilty look?”

I breathed heavily, steeling myself, “Lucifer, I’m so sorry,” I could barely get the words out, trying not to cry with anxiety and guilt, “I met with Belphegor.”

“... What did you say?”

I could barely bring myself to look at his face as he realized what I’ve done.

“Wait, you actually met with him… You went to that room… and you MET Belphegor?!”

He transformed into his demon form in a rage, his rapidly growing height making me feel even smaller and worse.

“You went up those stairs, even though you knew you weren’t allowed to! You went up there… and *you met Belphegor*?! Do you really love sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong and stirring up trouble?”

“Lucifer, please,” I begged, a few tears starting to fall, “Let me-”

“NO! YOU… a mere HUMAN?! YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT!”

He attacked me in anger but a voice called out from the doorway and the others ran into the room. They got between us and stopped Lucifer from reaching me. I stared at them in confusion and panic.

“Woah, this looks genuinely bad,” Asmo remarked, he knelt next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, “You okay?”

“All of you out of the way,” Lucifer bellowed, “I’m going to tear that human limb from limb.”

My heart felt like it was being put in a blender.

Mammon spoke up, “Whoa! We ain’t about to let you do somethin’ like that!”

Lucifer was about to say something when Beel cut him off, “That stuff about Belphie… What’s going on? Are you saying he’s not in the Human World? That *you locked him the attic*?!”

Lucifer hesitated. This is not the way I wanted things to go at all.

“Answer me Lucifer! NOW!”

Beel transformed and attacked Lucifer, who only got angrier and actually ended up hurting Beel. Everyone started hounding Lucifer for how he was acting when Belphegor appeared in front of us.

“Well, hello, brothers. I can’t tell you how much I missed you all…,” he greeted them.

“Belphegor,” Lucifer seethed, “What are you doing here?”

“I finally got our the attic that *you* locked me in!”

I couldn’t handle this anymore and I just listened to them argue with my head in my hands. I wanted to disappear. I just wanted to help, but like always, I fucked it up. Why did I ever think I could fix their family? Lucifer was right.

Suddenly Beel’s voice boomed and I was getting dragged by the twins out of the house. While walking the streets Belphegor was enjoying his freedom and getting one on Lucifer.

“I’m sorry for dragging you, Drizzm,” Belphegor apologized, “I just didn’t think it’d be safe leaving you with Lucifer.”

“Yeah, unfortunately,” I quietly said, not really meeting his eyes, “Where’d you guys come from Beel? You all disappeared. I was so worried.”

“I’m sorry,” Beel hugged me, “We disappeared so that you and Lucifer could get closer. We could all see that you two just needed a little push. You guys were taking so lon, though, I’m really hungry.”

Belphegor chuckled as Beel’s stomach roared,” That takes me back. Actually, something really does smell good.” “That’s Simeon’s BLT devil sandwich,” Beel was like a bloodhound. Sure enough, he led us right to Simeon.

“Oh, Belphegor,” Simeon was shocked, “What are you doing in the Devildom?”

“Hello, Simeon,” Belphegor ignored his question, “I’m really sorry to ask, but can the three of us stay at Purgatory Hall?”

“Sure,” Simeon agreed, looking at me, “Though, based on Drizzm’s face, something big is happening. Are you alright, Drizzm?”

“Yeah,” I lied. He didn’t look convinced but didn’t push, bringing us to Purgatory Hall. When we got there Beel went over everything that happened. Solomon and Simeon were shocked at Lucifer’s actions.

“The curse that kept me locked up requires the power of the six other brothers. That’s why I had Drizzm form pacts with them,” Belphegor explained.

“One problem,” I interjected, “I don’t *have* a pact with Lucifer, so there’s no way I could let you out. I just got Satan’s pact yesterday.”

“Doesn’t matter either way,” Solomon told me, “You don’t have the ability to control the brothers’ powers. You wouldn’t get it to open, even with pacts.”

“Someone must have taken place of the sixth brother,” Simeon theorized.

“But, who? That’s the real question, because they must have let Belphegor out,” I pointed out. But, we really didn’t get much farther than that. There isn’t enough information yet to continue theorizing. Also, I was very, very tired and very, very sad and guilty.

We ended up taking over Luke’s room since me and Beel hid him before. Belphegor was laying on the bed, enjoying his newfound freedom. I sat on a chair nearby, just existing, while Beel spoke with his brother.

“Why did Lucifer lock you in the attic, Belphie?”

“Because he would have destroyed the Human World,” replied Diavolo, walking in with Barbatos.

That’s didn’t seem good. Beel was confused, “Diavolo? What are you two doing here?”

“Because we need to talk. Come over here, please.”

We all gathered together for the talk. “When I announced the exchange program,” Diavolo told us, “Belphegor fiercely objected to it. He went to Lucifer with his concerts. However, Lucifer supported the program so his complaints never went anywhere.

“Belphegor despises humanity and could accept my proposal to unite the three reams. He was so upset that he threatened to either kill the human on exchange or go to the Human World and raze it to the ground. So, Lucifer locked him up for his protection.”

“Protection,” Belphegor angrily scoffed, “I was a prisoner in there. That’s not protecting me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Belphegor. Lucifer was protecting you from me. Belphegor, you are under arrest for treason.”

Oh, no. Beel got up to try and stop them, but I grabbed him, “Beel, no, you’ll make it worse.”

“Drizzm’s right,” Diavolo said, “I’m sorry, but I cannot make an exception. And Drizzm, this is a matter between demons. You need to stay out of this, as a human.”

We watched as they took Belphegor away. Beel looked dejected, “But, I just got Belphie back…”

“Don’t worry, Beel,” I comforted, “We’ll figure something out.”

“I need to talk to Lucifer about Belphie. You should stay here, Drizzm. Diavolo’s right, this doesn’t involve you.”

“The fuck you mean? I care about you all and have pacts with you. Also, when have I ever not gotten involved.”

“But, this could get really bad.”

“It’s my fault that Belphegor ended up getting arrested. Also, things getting bad hasn’t stopped me before and it sure as fuck won’t now. Let’s go get your family back together.”

Beel smiled, confident again, and we went back to the house. Beel went to get Satan and Asmo. We were gathering everyone so we could confront Lucifer together. I went to Mammon’s room, knocking on his door and calling out to him. He didn’t answer. I kicked the door.

“Alright, jeez,” he opened the door, “Don’t break it down.”

“I’m sorry, Mammon,” I hugged him, “I wanted to tell you guys so bad.”

He sighed and hugged me back, “I’m gonna be honest. It hurt me that ya kept it from me… But, I also understand you didn’t have much choice. We never would have gotten this far if ya told us.”

“Than you. Will you still help me? Belphegor’s been arrested and we’re trying to get information from Lucifer.”

“Good luck, he’s locked himself in his room. You’ll need all the help ya can get. And luckily, ya’ve got the Great Mammon by your side.”

I smiled at him, “The Great Mammon truly is a good demon.”

He blushed, “Alright, enough of that! Let’s go get Levi. He hasn’t been taking it well.”

“Bee’s getting Asmo and Satan,” I looked at my phone, “When we’re ready, they’re waiting in the underground tomb.”

He nodded and we went to Levi’s room. He obviously didn’t answer so Mammon forced the door open. Levi had his back to us, talking to Henry 2.0.

“Aren’t humans just the worst,” he loudly said, very much wanting me to hear it, “They’ll just lie to your face and betray you.”

“Levi, stop it man,” Mammon tried to intervene but Levi was stone-walling us, “Your guys’ pact had nothing to do with Belphegor.”

“Humans are so untrustworthy.”

“You know, Levi,” I spoke softly, “Henry made mistakes too, and the Lord of Shadows never completely shut him out when he apologizes. I’m sorry, Levi, I hurt you and that was wrong of me. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?”

Levi finally looked at me, throwing his arms around my neck, “You’re right! Henry’s allowed to make mistakes like you. You’re my true friend.”

I hugged him back and explained the plan. He agreed to help us and we met up with the others in the underground tomb.

“So, the plan is for Drizzm to touch the grimoire to lure Lucifer out of his room,” Satan explained, “The only problem we have is to make it past Cerberus. Who’s on patrol right now.”

We carefully made our way down, thankfully Cerberus was nowhere to be seen. I went up to the grimoire and when I tried to grab it, a light blinded me. I was suddenly watching Lucifer after they first fell, holding a woman, Lilith I assumed. Diavolo and Barbatos were there. Lucifer begged Diavolo to save Lilith’s life. Diavolo agreed, but said that she would be reborn as a human, and the condition, Lucifer’s unwavering loyalty. Lucifer, of course, agreed, saving Lilith.

Then I was back, Mammon screaming about something. I looked and Cerberus was fast approaching. I tried to grab the grimoire while the others yelled in panic, but it was covered in vines.

“Cerberus, SIT,” Lucifer approached us, “I wondered who would be so bold. Of course it’s all of you. I also see a certain *someone* with you.”

Seeing him made all the guilt come back up, I lied to him the most and forced him to watch his family sell their free will to a human. My face scrunched and I ran and hugged him, basically tackling him.

“I’m so sorry, Lucifer,” I choked, crying and gripping his clothes, “I’m so sorry. I just wanted to help your family be together again.”

He sighed, “You really make it difficult to stay mad when you apologize like that,” he held me close, “Calm down now. Enough wailing.”

“I-I’m n-not wailing.”

He stroked my back, and after I finally got a hold of myself we went back inside the house, specifically the library, to talk. Lucifer explained that Belphegor’s hatred for humanity was uncontainable, so he locked Belphegor up to keep Diavolo from having to step in. Lucifer was just trying to not lose any more family.

“Uhm,” I hesitantly asked, “Why *does* he hate humanity? He implied that humans did something to Lilith.”

They explained that when they were angels, Belphegor actually loved humans, same with Lilith. Well, Lilith fell in love with a human who fell ill. It was incurable, so she gave him forbidden food from the Celestial Realm. Altering a human’s lifespan is forbidden, so she was sentenced to be wiped from existence when she got caught. The brothers refused to accept this, leading to the Great Celestial Ware and their fall to the Devildom.

“Belphegor blamed the human Lilith fell in love with,” Bell said, “He’d say that she’d still be alive if that human, or all humans, were gone.”

“Lilith actually didn’t die,” Lucifer explained, “I swore my allegiance to Diavolo in return for her life being saved. However, she was reborn as a human with no memories of being an angel.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I’m sorry. Things were already so hard on you all that I didn’t want to make it harder by telling you Lilith was alive, but we couldn’t form any contact with her.”

“You carried this the entire time? Next time, trust us.”

Lucifer looked like a scolded child, “So, what’s next?”

“Getting the fam back together,” I declared, “You wanted my goal Lucifer. Getting you all back together. That’s it.”

“Then we’d better go to Lord Diavolo and not waste your efforts.”

We rallied together, determined to make this work, and marched to the castle, busting in like a SWAT team. Lucifer demanded his brother back.

“I’m surprised,” Diavolo stated, “Though I believe one of you aren’t like the others.”

“Drizzm’s part of the family,” Beel was firm, “He has as much a right to be here as us.”

“While that sentiment is nice, he’s still a human, and this is a demon affair.”

“The fuck it is,” I interjected, startling Diavolo and making Barbatos glare at me, “He hates humanity, right? Well, I’m the representative from the Human World and I think I’m as involved as the others.”

“I see. If that’s how you all feel, then I’ll release Belphegor on one condition,” he looked at me, “Drizzm, go back in time and figure who released Belphegor.”

“Done,” I immediately agreed, “Just tell me what to do.”

“Whoa! Drizzm,” Mammon intervened, “Ya can’t just go in the past.”

“Sure I can.”

“Drizzm should as least have one of us accompanying him,” Lucifer bargained.

“No. If I need to sneak around it’s best done by myself. I’m incredibly stealthy, you of all people should know. So, don’t worry.”

“Exactly,” Diavolo agreed, “And Drizzm must prove that they can be humanity’s representative.”

The brothers all looked uncomfortable with the idea. I smiled at them, “Don’t worry, you guys. I’ll get through this like I have everything so far. I’m on a win streak and I ain’t about to lose here. I’ll be back before you know it.”

They finally let me go with Barbatos, who led me through the castle.

“Are you nervous,” Barbatos inquired.

“I don’t want to mess this up for everyone. I want them to be together again,” I told him honestly.

“I know this is hard, but I have faith that you’ll succeed.”

“That means a lot coming from you. I need to fix my mistakes… How am I going to get to the past anyways?”

“I didn’t tell you? When I connect two doors I can also choose what time.”

“That sounds so overpowered. So, where are going then?”

“We’ll be using a door in my bedroom. You know, in all the years I’ve been alive I’ve never invited a human into my room,” he opens his bedroom door to reveal an MC Escher-style room. Nonsensical stairs leading through impossible archways.

“This is quite the honor then,” I looked at all the doors in his room, “So, you must not peek into the future much, right? Otherwise, you would know all this and where Belphegor was.”

“Very intuitive of you. It’s not good to know everything.”

“No, it honestly sounds torturous.”

He looked surprised, “Very few agree with me.”

“Fools, then.”

He laughed, “Do you remember the rules?”

“Enter back from the door I came.”

“And do not meet your past self.”

“Paradoxes. Got it.”

“I knew you’d understand,” he gestured through a door and I went through, a white light blinding me. It’s always a flashbang, dude.

“Drizzm,” Mammon was surprised I walked into his room. Everyone was there except Belphegor and Lucifer, “You should be with Lucifer?”

“Uh, I got separated,” I lied.

“Well, go find him,” he shoved me out of the room. I wanted to make sure I knew where past me was. So, I went to Levi’s room to check. I was able to hear muffled voices when suddenly they came up to the door. I panicked and ran into Lilith’s room. I got strange flashbacks in the room of Belphegor and Lucifer arguing about the exchange program.

After the visions faded I gained my bearings and listened at the door. No voices.

I carefully snuck out of the room and made my way to the attic. Upon getting to Belphegor’s room I realized his door was gone. I touched the wall in it’s stead in confusion. But, when I did, the door appeared and opened.

Belphegor watched in disbelief as the door swung open to reveal me on the other side. Then he cheered and hugged me, all before I could really understand what happened, “Thank you! Thanks to you I’m free!”

He suddenly gripped me way, way tighter. I gasped for air, as I wiggled futilely, “Thank you for being so stupid! I get free AND I get to kill a human, ruining Diavolo’s exchange. It ends here!”

A choked sound came out of my mouth as he crushed me, before it all went black.

I felt sorta floaty, dream-like.

“Drizzm,” a female voice called out to me, “Can you hear me?”

“Lilith,” I foggily called, “Is that you?”

“Yes,” she confirmed, “I’ve been watching over my brothers since I died. I had no memory when I was alive. But, when I passed I regained my memories. Since watching them I’ve also ended up watching you. Thank you for helping them so far. But, they still need you help. I’ll lend you my powers, so please, save them.”

“Always.”

I found myself back in the attic room, not dead. I didn’t get too long to orient myself before hearing Mammon’s panicked yelling. I rushed to them down in the entryway. In Mammon’s arms was my gravely injured, but no dead, body.

“No, Drizzm,” he pleaded, “Ya can’t die on us!”

Belphegor laughed, relishing every moment.

“Drizzm,” Lucifer spotted me, in disbelief.

They all turned to me, Belphegor seemed to be the most confused, “There’s two of you? Well, no matter, I just get to enjoy it twice.”

He moved to attack me.

“Lilith lived,” I yelled, making him pause.

“What?”

“Lilith never died. On that day Lucifer pledged his loyalty to Diavolo to save her. She lived as a human.”

“How do you know this,” Lucifer squinted at me.

“Lucifer told me, and Lilith showed me herself.”

“You’re lying,” Belphegor yelled.

“It’s true,” Diavolo and Barbatos came in, “Everything Drizzm said was true. Lilith was reborn as a human.”

“Then,” Belphegor deflated, “She’s human?”

“Yes, in fact, Drizzm,” he turned to me, “You said Lilth has shown you her memories?”

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“I have an answer to that. It was very difficult to track the information down. But, I’ve confirmed that Drizzm is Lilith’s descendent.”

We were all blindsided, “I am?”

“He is,” they parroted.

“Yes,” Diavolo affirmed. The brothers all stared at me for a second, before becoming ecstatic. My old body disappeared from Mammon’s arms due to Barabatos’s power. They all hugged me at once. Except for Belphegor.

“I’m sorry, Drizzm,” he bowed his head sadly, “I blamed myself for Lilith’s death but I turned my frustrations on humanity instead.”

“Belphegor,” I firmly said, he looked at me nervously, “What you did to me was shitty and it hurt like a bitch.”

He winced.

“But, I already know you blamed yourself. You’re much like Beel in that way. You loved your sister, but you allowed your trauma to blind you. You changed into someone unlike who she would call Belphegor. It will take time for me to forgive you, but I accept your apology. Now come get in on this.”

I waved him over and he happily joined our group hug. It was so warm between all the bodies but I was so happy that I was able to get them all together again. Everyone cheered for my safety and Lilith’s happy life as a human.

Afterwards we convened in the library. While I was glad that I was able to get the family back together. The revelation that I was related to Lilith made a lot of the brothers act very oddly. They were fawning over me and calling me Lilith occasionally. It was very uncomfortable.

“Back up,” Barbatos told them, “Drizzm look like he can barely breathe.”

“Can you blame them,” Diavolo chuckled, amused, “They feel like they got their sister back.”

I know he didn’t mean it like that but it still hit me right in the dysphoria. Between that and the smothering behavior of the brothers in treating me like their sister, I couldn’t handle it anymore.

“Excuse me,” I got up, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

I went immediately to my room to pace and try to calm down.

“You’re okay. They don’t see you as a girl. It’s not about you. You’re not a girl. You’re okay. It’s okay. You’re not a girl.”

I was pulling on my binder, pacing back and forth until I suddenly caught sight of myself in the mirror. I wasn’t able to stop myself from scrutinizing everything I perceived as negatively feminine. My face slowly scrunching as I got more and more upset.

“Fuck,” I snapped, aggressively turning the mirror away, surprised I didn’t accidentally break it, “ I fucking hate it! Why was I born like this?! I hate my fucking body,” I crumbled onto the ground, barely choking out, “Why am I girl?”

I cried on my knees, hands gripping my hair. Though, it may be closer to say I wailed. The pain in my chest was too much to bear anymore.

Arms gently wrapped around me, a familiar stroking of my back. I climbed into his lap to hug him with my whole body, gripping his clothes tightly as I sobbed. He whispered soothing words into my ear, “Remember, I see you. I can see you at your core, Drizzm. You can trust me.”

I nuzzled into him. Thankful that he remembered and that I really did feel like I could trust him. We’ve been through so much in just a month. It feels like so much longer than that and the more time I get to spend with him, the more I find it hard to push my feelings away.

My breathing calmed and I loosened my grip to just hug him.

“Thank you,” my voice was thick, “And I’m sorry you have to keep dealing with my dysphoria.”

“I’ll always be here,” Lucifer assured, “Come to me anytime you feel like this and I’ll hold you as long as it takes.”

“Stooop,” I gently rocked back and forth a few times, “I already like you. You don’t need to make me fall harder.”

“How hard are you willing to fall,” he smirked.

“For you? As hard as demonly possible.”

He chuckled then looked me in the eyes intently.

“Lucifer?”

“Hm?”

“Can I kiss you?”

The red in his eyes grew brighter, “Yes.”

I leaned forward and we kissed, gripping each other closer. When we parted I put my forehead on his. I brought my hands to cup his face, stroking it with my thumbs, my eyes closed, enjoying the moment.

“Can I kiss you, again,” Lucifer breathed.

“Anytime, you don’t even need to ask,” I pulled his face in. This was totally worth the dysphoria. I had him to help me with that now, anyways.

KNOCK

We jumped, Diavolo called to us from the other side.

“How about we just ignore him, “ Lucifer whispered in my ear.

“Don’t tempt me,” I resisted kissing him again.

“I’m a demon, remember? I’m suppose to.”

“And I was taught to resist demons.”

“You’re doing a poor job.”

“I can’t argue there. Totally worth it,” I was about to kiss him again with Diavolo just opened the door, freezing in the doorway. I definitely know I had the fawn look, eyes wide.

“I apologize for interrupting,” Diavolo looked back and forth between Lucifer and my blushing face, “But, I have to depart and I wanted to make sure you were okay. It seems you’re feeling fine now.”

My face flushed more, “Uhm, yeah. I’m really sorry about that.”

“No need to apologize. I’m just glad you’re okay. I’ll be taking my leave now. Have fun and take it easy on Drizzm. I’d like to see him around RAD tomorrow.”

He then left, closing the door. Barbatos waved at us with an amused smile while the door shut. We were left alone again.

“I guess he doesn’t know I’m ace,” I nervously chuckled, I looked at Lucifer, “Actually, did you know that?”

“I believe I’ve overheard Asmo speaking about it,” he told me.

“That doesn’t bother you?”

“Should it?”

I was surprised, “It’s just. I know that sex is a significant and important part of most people’s relationships. And I was concerned that it would be a problem.”

“Are you saying you want a relationship?”

“Yes? Why do you think I kissed you and blush like an idiot when we interact?”

“Well, good news, then,” he smiled, “That doesn’t bother me, but I may need that every now and then.”

“I’m sex-neutral, so that won’t be a problem. Quite honestly, you can just ask whenever and I’ll let you know if I’m okay with it.”

“That doesn’t annoy you?”

“Not particularly. I don’t mind having sex fairly regularly. I just like being able to say no if I’m really not in the mood.”

“I’d never force you, so you’re free to tell me no.”

“So, you’ll date me?”

“Yes,” he kissed me again. The best day of my life so far. It was getting late so we let the others know I was okay and got ready for bed separately. I went to bed and thankfully fell asleep fairly quickly. The day has really taken a lot out of me.

The next morning while eating breakfast Lucifer announced that Diavolo’s birthday was coming up soon. On October 31st. So, we need to make sure that we get gifts gathered before then.

“His birthday is on Halloween,” I questioned.

“Yes, that’s right,” Lucifer confirmed.

“Lucky. Me and my family love Halloween. That’s why I made my cat’s birthday Halloween.”

“You have a cat,” Satan inquired, very interested.

“Two actually, both black cats. The older one is Holly, she’ll be turning the unlucky 13 this year. She’s a big baby and lazy bones,” I smiled softly as I reminisced, “Jack is 6 and he’s my wild child. I call him a heathen because he’s always bringing animals into the house, like lizards or birds.”

“Sounds like a prolific hunter.”

“Except the fact that they are often alive and I have to catch them and release them.”

“I wonder if we’ll see either of them down here?”

“Hm? Aren’t the cats here like spirits or something?”

“I’m not sure where you got that idea. But, no. For some reason cats have the ability to walk between the Human World and Devildom.”

“While, I don’t have to worry about Holly, as she doesn’t leave the house. You did just add a new anxiety to my brain of Jack finding his way here.”

“Demons are generally pretty kind with cats, or at least ignore them.”

“I worry about humans doing something to Jack. I just don’t trust most people with animals. They’re generally the easiest target for asshats.”

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to add extra worry onto you.”

“It’s okay. I’m a worrywart.”

I spent the rest of the day thinking out what to get Diavolo for his birthday but couldn’t really think of anything I could get him and he couldn’t already get. So, I should make something, right? I mean as an artist gifting my art is something he couldn’t otherwise get. Only thing is, I have no idea what I would draw for him. I haven’t known him long enough.

The next day I was wandering the halls of RAD during afternoon recess when I passed by Diavolo, Barbatos, and Lucifer in the student council room. They were doing paperwork as Barbatos kept things moving along and serving them tea. Diavolo capped his fountain pen and took a calm sip of his tea, closing his eyes.

Wait.

A fountain pen. That’s it.

I left before I was spotted and pulled out my D.D.D. to search for shops in the area that sold what I needed. There were more than I anticipated, though, I guess computers are still fairly rare here. The D.D.D. has only been around for like a year before I arrived so technology is still behind a decent bit from humanity. The amount of options for places to look meant I didn’t really know where I should go. I can probably trust Barbatos to keep a secret. But, maybe Lucifer will know too. We could maybe even shop for Diavolo’s present together.

I sent Lucifer a text, asking if he would join me to shop for Diavolo’s present when he has the time. Even though I know he’s working he sent me a response immediately. He’d be busy for the next few days but he was free during the weekend. With our plans made I excited waited until then. Trying to not tell myself it was a date, because it wasn’t. But, at the same time I love any quality time with my partner. Doing everyday things with my partner is probably my favorite thing about being in a relationship.

So, when the day came that we would be shopping together, I anxiously thought about what to wear. It was getting fairly chilly now, but not cold, so I decided on my dark blue pants and long sleeve shirt with my turquoise poncho I made. I met him in the entranceway, with him wearing his usual clothes. He looked me up and down.

“You’re looking quite cute today,” he smiled.

I blushed, god he’s so cute, “Thank you. I made my poncho.”

“You’re quite skilled. Though, I wasn’t aware knitting was still popular in the human world.”

“There’s been a resurgence in recent years. Along with spinning yarn, which I also do. Including this poncho,” I explained as we walked into town, “The only thing I didn’t do it process the fiber or dye it.”

“You seem to enjoy the process.”

“Yeah it’s meditative, sorta like drawing. Would you like anything made?”

“You’d make me something?”

“Of course. My friend crochets and none of my family like to wear knits. So I can really only make things for myself, and I can only make so many things before I want to do something else.”

“In that case, as it is getting colder, can you make gloves? I was looking to buy new ones anyways.”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

On our way deeper into town we stopped to get hot coffees to-go. I sighed contently, very glad that things could be more like this during my time here instead of nonstop life-threatening situations. Walking the cobblestone streets of the Devildom with the warm glow of the shops and lanterns was something I hoped I’d be able to do freely without the brothers eventually. I wonder if Solomon would be willing to teach me magic? Probably not.

We finally arrived at the store Lucifer recommended. Thankfully, I’m not like Mammon and spend all my money as soon as I get it. I had a decent savings already and that allowed me to worry more about finding a pen that gives me Diavolo vibes, rather than budget. But, that did mean I spent quite a lot of time looking at all the pens, making sure I took each one in.

Then, I saw it. A mostly gray pen with taupe-brown marbling. It had a very subtle shimmer and the trim, clip, and nib were a matching silver.

“Can I see this one, please,” I asked the clerk. They pulled out the box containing it with a clawed hand and I knew that was the one. It cost a nice chunk of change but it was totally worth it. I found a deep, slightly rusty, red ink to go along with it. He didn’t have to use that ink but I thought the red would go nice with the brown.

We left the store as I asked Lucifer, “Do you think he’ll like it?”

“I’m sure he will,” Lucifer assured, “Although, I still need to find a gift for him. Do you mind making another stop? We can get something to eat afterwards.”

“Of course not. I’m happy to spend all the time I can with you.”

“Are you now,” he teased as he led us to the store he wanted to shop at. We chatted along the way and as we passed a storefront something caught my eye.

“Oh, wow, that’s so pretty,” I admired an earring in the window. It was one that was both a lobe and cartilage piercing, with a chain connecting them. From the cartilage piercing hung a moon and from the lobe hung a 4 point star. The metal was silver but the moon and star was made of some sort of blue crystal.

“Do you like it,” Lucifer inquired. Glancing at the price tag told me, no.

“I don’t think I’d pay that price for it. Especially not after what I spent for Diavolo’s present.”

“I see.”

We continued on our way and did the shopping for Lucifer’s present. But the whole time I was thinking of that earring. I used to have my lobes pierced but I took them out for color guard and never really put them in again. Though, I never really saw any earrings that made me want to get my ears repierced. Well, before today. I’d be totally willing to repierce my ear for that earring. Interesting that it was just one though.

“Drizzm,” Lucifer broke me out of my thoughts as we sat at Ristorante Six, “I wanted to thank you for helping reunite my brothers.”

“It’s my pleasure,” I smiled, “I’m glad it all worked out. Even if dying did hurt,” I laughed, letting him know that I wasn’t that upset about it.

“I do wish we could have not had the heart attack of seeing your broken body.”

“Well, I’m fine, I didn’t actually die. Though, that’s now the second time I’ve technically died.”

“Second time? When have you died?”

“As a baby. I got some freak mutation of an illness and at some point they lost my heart rate.”

“I’m glad you survived.”

“You think if I beat death a third time I become immortal?”

“Nevermind.”

We laughed, enjoying the rest of the night together, with me sleeping in his room that night. The next week went by with the Devildom gaining more and more decorations as Diavolo’s birthday approached. The whole weekend would be a festival and it started with his party on Friday.

Asmo dragged me around clothing stores to try on a bunch of clothes on Thursday since I didn’t really have any formal wear. It was exhausting trying on so many outfits and Asmo bought a lot of clothes, both for me and him.

“Why don’t we take a break,” he suggested, probably seeing how tired I was.

“Sure, do you want a coffee,” I asked.

“Hm,” he thought, “What about Madam Devian’s?”

“That’s a sweets shop right?”

“Yeah, they have some drinks too if you’re thirsty.”

“Alright. Lead the way, then.”

I followed him through the streets and he started a conversation after we sat with our snacks, “Magma Pudding, huh?”

“Yeah, it seemed interesting,” I took a sip of my coffee and cracked through the crisp brown top to reveal a fiery pudding underneath, “What did you get?”

“A Devil Strawberry Rose Parfait. It looks like a dress doesn’t it?”

“Yeah it’s really well constructed. Looks good too.”

He took a few photos of his parfait before digging in, “So, Drizzm. What’s going on between you and Lucifer?”

“What do you mean?”

“You two seem awfully close lately. He visits you during recess far more often than he used to.”

“Oh, well we started dating.”

He dropped his spoon into his parfait, “What?! Since when?!”

“That night Belphie killed me.”

“How did I not hear about this,” he scoffed, “I need to post about this.”

“Hope Lucifer is okay with that.”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about, sweetie.”

“If you say so,” I took another bite of my pudding, “I wanna keep eating. This is pretty good.”

He actually didn’t make a post yet, probably because his parfait was rapidly deteriorating. After our detour we made our way back home. I never thought I’d be happy to have such a big closet. Although I’m sure I’ll lose quite a few of these clothes as Asmo takes them for random outfits. I don’t particularly mind. He can tell which clothes I really like and leaves those alone.

Then next day came and since it was Diavolo’s birthday we didn’t have school. I spent the day fiddling around and getting ready until Lucifer picked me up from my room. We walked arm in arm to the castle. I told him that I let Asmo know about our relationship. So even if he wanted it a secret, that wouldn’t be possible. He didn’t see a problem with it and decided that it just saved him the work of dealing with tabloids.

The castle doors were propped open as demons poured in and out of the castle. Oh boy, that’s a big crowd. I should’ve expected it, with it being a prince’s birthday and all, but I was going to have to do a lot of socializing. Thankfully the brothers took up most of my time, until Diavolo’s speech.

“I am grateful to everyone who came to celebrate my birthday,” his deep voice carried and cut through any noise, unable to be ignored, “While, I no longer really know how old I am. Let’s use this night as an excuse to cut loose and relax. Also, this party is not just for me, but to celebrate the amazing achievements of Drizzm.”

My eyes widened as he motioned me to join him. I anxiously walked up the stairs as he continued.

“It is thanks to Drizzm’s dedication and hard work that I am able to have such confidence in my mission to bring peaceful relations to the three realms. He has gone out of his way to show me what human kindness can do. From reuniting the brothers, to quelling a human-hungry demon, let us celebrate the bright future we may see for him.”

I was standing next to him as he had his hand on my back, presenting me to the massive crowd of demons, Solomon, and the angels. I hoped I didn’t look as nervous as I felt. After his closing words the demons cheered and continued on partying. Diavolo and I both turned to each other.

“Is this a good time to give you your present,” I asked, having been holding the small bag.

“Of course,” he beamed.

I handed him the bag and he eagerly, but carefully, unpackaged his present. Upon seeing the pen his eyes widened with his smile. What a wonderful reaction.

“Drizzm, it’s magnificent,” he praised, then he pulled out the ink, “Oh, and what a wonderfully coordinating ink!”

I smiled, relieved, “I’m so glad you like it.”

“I see you’ve gotten started without us,” came Lucifer’s voice. He was standing with his brothers, and they all had presents. Except, Belphie was missing.

“Are you here to give your presents to Diavolo?”

“Not quite. These are for you.”

“Me?”

“Correct,” Diavolo explained, “Since I announced that I wanted to have you as part of what we are celebrating, they have been searching for presents for you.”

“Awe, that’s so sweet guys,” I know it’s Diavolo’s birthday, but it almost feels more special for me.

One by one they gave me their presents. Beel gave me a year-long coupon for Hell’s Kitchen. Satan gave me a complete set of his current favorite mystery trilogy. Asmo said my clothes were part of my present and he also gave me some cologne. Levi gave me a nice new pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Mammon actually got me a fountain pen, one that he said he paid for by actually working a job. Every present was so like them and I loved each one./p>

But, one I loved more than the others. Lucifer’s present. He handed me a small, dark blue, velvet box with a light blue ribbon. The shape seemed familiar. I opened it to find the earring that I saw in the shop window. I gasped and beamed at him.

“Thank you so much,” I hugged him, “I’m so happy you remembered this.”

“I haven’t seen you so happy at something,” he hugged me back and kissed the top of my head, “Would you like me to put it on?”

“But my cartilage isn’t pierced.”

He smirked and gently took the earring, placing it where the holes should be on my ear. I felt a pinch, and viola, it was attached like a normal earring.

“Ah, right,” I nodded, “Magic. Incredible that I keep forgetting that.”

I turned my head to show off the earring to Lucifer. He chuckled.

“It suits you well,” he complimented.

"Wait, we’re missing someone,” Asmo mused, “Where’s Belphie? He hasn’t given you your present yet.”

“I’ll find him,” I told them, leaving to do so. As I passed a window I spotted him in the garden. I went to him and called out, “Hey, Belphie. Getting away from the noise?”

“Yeah,” he awkwardly smiled, “Never have been good with crowds.”

“Me neither. It’s nice to be out here.”

“Oh,” he spotted my earring, “Did they hand out presents to you already?”

“Yeah, and we noticed you were missing.”

“Sorry, I meant to go back before that.”

“It’s alright. It gives me a break from it all too.”

He shuffled his feet, “Uhm. I don’t actually have a physical gift for you. I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course. What is it?”

“A pact with me.”

My eyebrows raised, “What? Why? You just got your free will back and you want to just give it to me?”

“It’s because of you that I’m free. Also, I won’t be able to attack you if I have a pact with you.”

“A-are you saying you’d attack me again?”

“No! No no no,” he put his hands up for emphasis, then sighs, “If I’m being honest. I feel a bit jealous that the others have such a close bond with you. I’m the last one to get a pact with you and I don’t want to be left out.”

“Huh? I don’t have a pact with Lucifer.”

“You don’t?”

“No, I just somehow managed that.”

“That’s more impressive than getting a pact with him. But, does that mean you won’t accept my gift,” he looked at the l

“Belphie, I know how important pacts are with demons. Ever since I got here my rule has been that you want to do it of your own free will, not that you feel like you have to. For whatever reason. So, are you sure?”

He looked me confidently in the eyes and nodded.

“Alright,” I nodded back, “Then I’m happy to accept such a personal gift.”

He smiled and our pact formed, with the color purple for the star.

“Now I’m not the last one to get a pact with you,” he announced happily.

“I doubt Lucifer would want a pact with me anyways,” I told him.

“Why?”

“He’s the Avatar of Pride. Nothing would cut his pride more than to have a human in control of him.”

He thought, “I don’t know. But you’re the one that managed to date him.”

“There you two are,” Asmo and Beel waved at us from the door into the castle, “Come on! Everyone is missing you both!”

I smiled at Belphie, “Looks like our break is over.”

“Seems so,” he agreed as we made our way back. The party went on for the next several hours and I was pretty ready to leave by the end. There were significantly less demons now and I was hoping to actually speak to Diavolo before I left. Say bye and all that.

“Drizzm,” called just the demon I wanted to talk to, “I’m glad you haven’t left yet.”

“I was almost about to give up talking to you,” I half-joked, turning to look at him, “Have you enjoyed your birthday?”

“I think it is my favorite one so far! But, Drizzm, I actually have a gift for you.”

“You do?”

He nodded, and he led me through the garden, “I worked with Lucifer to understand what would help you most right now. I wanted to present you something with the same magnitude of gratitude I feel.”

“Stop, I don’t deserve all the praise,” I blushed, “I questioned whether or not I was on the right path a lot. I’m just glad it all worked out.”

“Either way, I have arranged for you to receive top surgery at the end of your exchange here.”

I stopped, “What?”

“Are you alright,” he faced me.

“Did you say that I’m getting top surgery?” “Yes. About a month or so after you get back.”

My chin trembled as I started crying, covering my eyes with my hands.

“Did I say something,” I heard his concerned voice get closer as he put a hand on my shoulder.

“T-t-th-thank yo-u-u,” I barely choked out, hugging him tightly.

He jumped at my sudden hug but returned it, “I was scared I made the wrong choice. I’m glad you’re so happy.”

He patted my back as I calmed down. I wiped the last of the tears away, “Sorry about that.”

“Why are you apologizing,” he asked as we made our way back, “If anything, I’m glad that out of everyone, my present is the one that made you cry with joy.”

“I guess that’s one way to see it,” I mused, “But, thank you again. I don’t know if I can express how much it really means to me.”

He smiled and we chatted until we reached the castle. Lucifer was waiting for me and we made our way back to the house after bidding Diavolo goodnight. He was a bit drunk, walking with his arm around me shoulder and being very affectionate. Not that I minded at all. It just meant it took longer to get home.

When we got back I joined him in his room, where he pulled out two bottles of alcohol.

“Whiskey,” I questioned as he poured me a glass.

“I remember you mentioned apple whiskey back in the Human World,” he explained as he handed me my glass, before pouring himself some Demonus from the other bottle.

“So, you’re trying to get me drunk,” I joked as I took a sip, the apple flavor making it go down smooth as a comfortable warmth grew within me, “Considering how I said I’m irresponsible with it.”

He smirked, the drunk blush on his cheeks very cute. He clinked his glass with mine and I took a larger sip, “It would be a lie to say I’m not at least a little curious.”

“Well, I hope you don’t think I’m clingy. Because it’s going to get worse.”

“Oh, really?”

I don’t know where he got this whiskey but it was really good and the glass was already empty. He poured me more and I took another sip before setting the glass down. If I held it I was going to spill it as I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaning into him.

“Why don’t we have a seat,” I whispered, lightly pushing him to sit on the sofa. He kissed me before lounging on the sofa. I grabbed my drink and straddled his lap, taking a sip, “This is really good whiskey. Would you like a taste?”

He reached for my glass but I moved it away from him, smirking. I took a sip, holding the alcohol in my mouth and then kissing him, sharing the drink with him. The way he gripped me made me chuckle. Teasing the Avatar of Pride was great fun. We spent the rest of the night drinking and having fun.