Limbo’s Bimbo

“Well, since I’m already dirty, I may as well have a little fun.” The claws at your shoulder dig deeper, splitting the skin beneath them. She sneers down at you, showing fangs that glisten in the light of the hallway. Her eyes light up as the scent of your blood hits her nose.

“I forgot just how fragile and pathetic humans are. Hopefully you don’t taste as rotten as you look.” Her other hand raises towards your throat. Gripping the textbook in your hands tighter, you brace yourself as you swing the textbook at the side of her skull.

The impact knocks her back a step as she holds the aid of her face. A crowd of students begins to gather around your little altercation.

“Oh you little wretch. You think just because you’ve slept your way through the student council that you can stand up to an actual demon? That’s almost cute,” she spits out. She raises her hand as she brings down her claws towards your face. You manage to block her with the textbook, but her claws pierce it as she flings it to the side. You push her back with a knee into her stomach.

You aren’t stupid, you know you have no shot going toe to toe with an actual demon, but you’ll be damned if you’re going down without a fight. Besides, you’re not that far from the class you share with Mammon and Asmo, so maybe you can hold her off until one of them gets here.

Her claws come down at you again, and this time you don’t have a textbook to block them. You hold up your arm to protect your face, grimacing as her claws slice through your forearm. With your other arm, you bring your hand back to drive your fist into her nose. Your knuckles connect with a sickening crunch, sending her stumbling back a step.

“Do you really think this is a good idea? Directly defying Lord Diavolo?” You hope to appeal to reason, but it’s seems she is far beyond reason. Her eyes shimmer, and she lunges toward you, knocking you to the ground. In the collision, she slams your head against the ground. You taste blood starting to fill your mouth. Once on the ground, she begins to claw at you frantically, your arms the only thing keeping her from shredding your face.

As pain runs up your arms, along with the realization that you might die, right here on this floor, you feel a rush of strength run through you. You grab her wrists and flip your position, pinning her down as she writhes under you. After a few hits to her face, a sadistic grin begins to pull at your lips. The gasps and cheers from the crowd spur you on as you rain blow after blow against her perfect little face.

“What is going on here?” The powerful voice breaks you out of your violent haze as you lean back on your haunches, looking up to see Lucifer pushing through the crowd. Mammon and Asmo stand at the edge of the crowd, a cruel little smile tugging at Asmo’s lips and an unreadable expression gracing Mammon’s face.

You push yourself up from the ground as Lucifer approaches. You feel the buzz that flooded you earlier leave. You realize it was the pacts that you hold with some of the brothers that gave you that temporary wave of strength.

You spit the blood out of your mouth onto the floor next to where the demon lays curled up on the ground, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. Voice strained, you say the only thing you can think of.

“I don’t think she approves of the exchange program.”

—————

All Mammon hears is shouting. The hoots and hollers of random demons bounce off the walls is the hallway. He was walking to class with Asmo, definitely not talking about the stupid human he can’t stop thinking about, when he rounds a corner to see a large crowd gathered. He looks over at his brother, who is already smiling. Mammon shares his excitement as they both begin to push their way towards the front of the crowd.

It wasn’t uncommon for fights to break out at RAD. It was a school full of demons after all. But that doesn’t mean Mammon is about to pass out on a front row seat to some senseless violence. Can’t a demon enjoy a good show every now and then?

When the scent of human blood hit his nose, followed by a tug on his pact, any excitement in his body turned to ice cold fear. He shoves through the crowd with new force as panic rises in his throat.

By the time he makes it to the front of the crowd, the tables seem to have turned. There you are, in all of your bloody, human, glory beating in the face of some demon he doesn’t recognize.

Mammon’s feet become glued to the floor, frozen in what he’d like to call shock. His stomach flips, but this time it’s not out of fear.

Asmo emerges from the crowd soon after Mammon. Upon taking in the scene, he turns to his brother with a giggle. “It seems our human can handle themself.”

Mammon feels a heavy blush rising up his neck to his cheeks. His breath is caught in his throat, and he swears nothing else exists in this moment, only you.

Lucifer arrives soon after, effectively ending the fight. Mammon barely notices him as his eyes remained locked on you, pupils dilating as he takes in the sight of you.

You stand, in your uniform pants and white button-up that’s stained red, practically in tatters by now. Your chest heaves, and you are covered in blood, both your own and that of the demon lying at your feet. The look in your eyes should make Mammon’s blood run cold, but it only makes it run hotter. Your hair is ruffled, looking perfectly disheveled. Each of your knuckles is split, proof of the hell you rained on the idiot foolish enough to stand against you. A little sadistic grin tugs at your lips. You look strong. Like you’re in charge. Like a victor, a monarch.

He swears he’s never seen anything more beautiful.

A sharp elbow to his side breaks him out of his reverie. Asmo is looking at him with the most shit-eating grin he’s ever seen. “Discovering things about yourself Mammon? Like how you wish MC was-“

Mammon’s face flushes impossibly red as he slaps his hands over his brother’s mouth. It doesn’t stop his sunset eyes from sparkling at him over his hands.

“S-shut up! We should… we should ch-check on MC.” Your name feels like a prayer, too holy to be uttered by his sinful lips. He tries to push the feeling down as he turns away for Asmo to follow after Lucifer, who’s already ushering you out from the center of the crowd. He does his best to subtly adjust his pants as he follows after you.

—————

The next day, you convince the brothers to let you go home alone, as you plan to stop by the store with Simeon. You figure he’s the least likely to ask to many questions, and he’s certainly less overwhelming than your demons.

Simeon agrees to accompany you, and though he gives you a curious look when you order three ten-pound hellboar chops and a two foot long magma rat, the assumes you’re trying out a new recipe and offers to help you carry them back to the house.

The walk back was surprisingly peaceful, as you make pleasant conversation with your angel companion.

“Thank you so much Simeon, carrying these back by myself would have been a nightmare. I’ll take you out to lunch sometime next week as repayment,” you offer as you approach the front door of the house.

“While that certainly isn’t necessary, MC, I would be delighted to spend more time with you. And do tell me how this new recipe comes out.”

With that, you make your way into the House of Lamentation as quietly as possible. After all, if one of the brothers spots you, your whole plan will be ruined.

You manage to make your way down to the basement. It’s chillier than you remember, but oh so peacefully quiet. A little too quiet, it’s almost unsettling.

You lay out the blanket you brought, setting your savory bribes off to the side. Sitting down on the blanket, you open the book you’ve been meaning to read, but haven’t gotten the chance to.

As you finally start to relax, getting lost in the book, you’re stopped by a large shadow overtaking the page and yourself. You look up to see three giant maws staring down at you. The ground starts to rumble, and you faintly wonder is the Devildom has earthquakes before realizing the vibrations are the growl of the giant beast staring down its three noses at you.

“Hi, Cerberus. I promise I’m not an intruder, and I brought you a treat.” You speak gently and move slowly to bring out one of the steaks at your side. All six of Cerberus’ eyes track the movement, instantly locking on to the steak in your hand.

You toss the steak toward the hound’s feet, as all three heads dive towards it. The middle head grabs it first, but the other two heads latch on as they begin to fight amongst themselves.

“Down boy. Stop fighting.” The authority in your tone causes the heads to pause, still latched on to the steak. You bring out the other two steaks and toss them to the left and right. Pleased, the side heads let go of the first steak to enjoy their own.

You wait patiently, smiling as Cerberus’ massive tail begins to gently sway behind him. As the heads each swallow their last bites, you hold your hand out, doing your best to stay calm and keep your breathing even. You wait, allowing each head a chance to sniff your outstretched hand, before slowly reaching out to give the closest head a gentle scratch.

“Good boy,” you breathe out, relieved that you were not just swallowed whole. Cerberus leans into your hand, and you giggle as you use both arms to hold his giant head. His tail begins to pick up speed behind him. He lays down, causing you to stumble back a couple steps as he leans his weight forward against you.

“Aren’t you just the sweetest little thing? Those demons are so scared of you, but you’re just a big softie.” Cerberus lets out a content rumble as you continue petting him. You sit down and make yourself comfortable, petting and playing with the enormous dog in front of you.

Just as soon as Cerberus begins to calm down, becoming less demanding in his demands for head scritches, the ears of one of his heads perks up. The head turns toward one of the hallways, soon followed by the other two heads. Startled, you listen closely, trying to ignore your racing heart.

A giant reptilian head emerges from the doorway, followed by the slithering blue body that you soon recognize as Henry 1.0. Thankfully, you planned for this. As he slithers over, hissing wildly, you throw the rat towards him, causing him to pause. The inspects the offered rat, seemingly deeming it acceptable as he swallows it whole. He seems content as he starts moving again, curling up into a resting position close to where you sit with Cerberus.

With both Henry and Cerberus subdued, you return to your book, finally feeling all of the tension from the last two weeks fading away.

—————

The House of Lamentation is in utter chaos. You’re missing, no one has seen you since leaving RAD this afternoon, and you’re not answering your phone. Every single one of the brothers has searched the house high and low, and Lucifer has reached out to everyone he can think of to see if you are with them. While he tries to stay calm for the sake of his brothers, even Lucifer is starting to worry. The last person (or angel, in this case) to see you was Simeon, but that was over five hours ago when he dropped you off at the house.

Lucifer takes a deep breath as he tries to tune out his brothers, all frantic and worried about you.

You were at the house a few hours ago, and you haven’t teleported anywhere. If you had, the brothers would have felt the pact tug as you called on their powers. So you must have gone on foot. Maybe Cerberus can track you.

“Stay here. I have an idea. Let me know if MC shows up,” Lucifer announces, marching towards the stairway before he can be bombarded with questions that would only waste time.

Practically jogging across the house, Lucifer finally reaches the bottom of the stairs. He starts to call out to Cerberus, but his voice dies in his throat as his brain catches up to his eyes.

It’s you. And Cerberus and Henry 1.0. You’re practically sandwiched between the two, sleeping peacefully against Cerberus’ flank while Henry lays across your lap. All three of you are fast asleep, and Lucifer breathes a deep sigh of relief. He messages the group chat that he has found you, and you are safe. He doesn’t elaborate further as he tucks his phone back into his pocket and starts walking across the room towards you and your new friends.

Anger begins to rise in his chest as his worry dissipates. What were you doing down here? And why didn’t you tell anyone where you were? They were worried sick about you.

“MC.” Lucifer calls your name in the voice that only ever means that someone is about to be hung from the ceiling.

Groggy, you open your eyes to find Lucifer standing over you. You smile gently, always happy to see one of your favorite demons. Then you process the look on his face, and the fact that you’re both in the basement, and the smile falls from your face.

“What in Diavolo’s name are you doing down here? We’ve been searching for you for hours and you weren’t answering your phone. Do you have any idea how worried everyone was?” A pause as his voice softens. “How worried I was?”

“I’m sorry, Lucifer.” You feel guilt wash over you. “I didn’t mean to stay here that long, I just needed a couple hours of quiet time to get away from everything.” The heavy feeling in your chest causes you to fight back tears. You didn’t mean to worry any one, you just needed some time alone.

“Come here,” Lucifer orders. You slide out from under Henry 1.0 and stand up, head hung low as you walk towards Lucifer, both Cerberus and Henry watching silently.

As soon as you’re within range, Lucifer wraps you up in a tight hug, burying his face into the top of your head. You return the hug, leaning against his chest as you feel the tension melt out of his body.

“I understand needing to get away. Trust me, I do. But you have to tell someone where you are. You don’t have to tell everyone, but at least tell me. You know I’ll always respect your wish for alone time. We thought something happened to you.”

“I’m sorry, Lucifer,” you repeat, face still buried in his chest.

“Now come on, it’s time for you to face the consequences of your actions,” he smirks down at you. “You know my brothers aren’t going to give you a moment’s peace for the foreseeable future. Especially Mammon,” he teases.

You let out a groan, knowing that you’re going to have several demons glued to your side the second you face them.

“Hey Luci?”

“Yes, my dear?”

“Can you not tell anyone about my hiding place? I won’t just disappear again, but it’s nice to have somewhere quiet.”

“As you wish, love.” Lucifer begins to lead you back towards the staircase. “I still can’t believe you brought Cerberus to heel, and Henry 1.0 no less. So much for a ferocious guard dog.”

“What can I say?” You smile up at him. “I’m pretty good at taming ferocious beasts.”

Lucifer lets out a genuine laugh. “That you are, darling, that you are.”

Your mind continues to race as you stand up, all of your joints cracking in protest. You throw on your RAD uniform and regather your study materials before heading out into the hall. As you make your way down the stairs, the ever present headache throbs with each step. This is fine, it’s finals, it’ll be over in a few days.

Stepping into the dining room, the brothers are already engaged in lively conversation. Levi’s talking about a new anime he found, Mammon’s discussing a new poker strategy, Asmo is cooing over his newest lip gloss. Every word seems to rattle around the inside of your skull. You take a deep breath as you sit down at the table, blinking away the blur of your vision from sitting down too fast.

As always, the brothers are happy to see you, but you really don’t feel like being the center of attention, so you get away with a strained smile and the occasional nod before they go back to bickering amongst themselves. Thankfully, they don’t seem to notice your discomfort. You don’t know if you’d be able to deal with them fussing at you for not taking care of yourself. It’s only been a couple weeks of this, and everyone works extra hard during finals. Especially when they are learning subjects they’ve never even heard of, and are expected to preform at the same level as demons who grew up learning these things. Hell, some of them were even there for some of the historical events that took you days to get right in your mind.

‘It’s almost over,’ you tell yourself, ‘everyone struggles during finals week.’ Your stomach churns as you look at the food on your plate. After mixing it up a little so it at least looks like you ate some before pushing the plate in front of Beel. His eyes light up for a second before his brows furrow.

“Are you not hungry? You hardly ate any,” he says, showing just enough restraint to avoid digging in immediately.

“No, I’m not super hungry this morning. I’ll just have a big lunch later.” You send him the most convincing smile you can muster, hoping he’s distracted enough by the new plate of food in front of him to notice the insincerity in your tone.

Lucky, it seems to work as you breathe a sigh of relief. He starts eating and in the blink of an eye the food is gone. As you look away from Beel, you lock eyes with Lucifer. He has an intense look on his eyes, but you look away immediately to try to prevent him from reading you.

You stand up and grab your bag before speaking. “I think I’m going to head to school early, I’m trying to get some more studying in,” you announce in what you hope is a cheerful tone.

“I’ll go with you! The Great Mammon will keep you company. ” Mammon attempts to puff out his chest, but it loses all effect when he nearly trips over himself in an attempt to race to your side.

“No you will not! It’s your turn to clean the table.” Levi replies, and you see Mammon instantly droop in disappointment.

“You should just wait, and we can all go together.” Satan suggests.

You know if you walk with them you won’t get anything done before first period, and you were hoping to study your flashcards on the walk to school.

“I need to stop by purgatory hall on the way, so I’ll just head out early.” The lie slips out before you even really process it, but it seems to appease the brothers as they go back to finishing their breakfast.

“Just be careful! I can’t have any other demon gobbling up my favorite snack,” Asmo blows you a kiss as you walk towards the front door, and you try to ignore Lucifer’s eyes boring into the back of your skull.

—————

The walk to school is relatively uneventful, you only trip over a few pebbles as your focus stays glued to the flashcards in your hands.

You make it through morning classes, managing to hide the way your head spins every time you move.

You have a free period before lunch that you spend studying in a secluded corner of the library. You decide that if you get through the chapters you needed to, lunch with your favorite demons will be the perfect reward. It has been a while since you’ve had an actual meal, so it’s the perfect motivation to study hard.

But as time ticks by, you realize you’re getting through the content much slower than expected. As the lunch bell rings, it rattles around your skull for a few moments after it stops. Just a few more minutes, you’ll just be a little late to lunch.

You turn off your phone as messages from the brothers keep coming in. You end up studying through all of lunch. It becomes increasingly difficult to fight the blur of your vision as tears begin to force their way out.

It’s not that hard right? You haven’t even been studying that hard, haven’t missed that many meals, haven’t missed that much sleep. Sure, you know demons can tolerate more than humans, but you should be able to do this, right? You’re not the only exchange student, but Solomon and the angels don’t seem to be struggling. You should be able to handle this.

Your spiral into a full panic attack is interrupted by the alarm you set for the end of lunch. Two more classes, then your exam. Mammon sits with you during your next class. You have to pull it together before you see him. You can’t stand the idea of seeming weak in front of someone you care about so much.

After a few deep breaths, you stop to wash your face in the bathroom before you head to class.

As you walk into the classroom, Mammon glances up from his phone, eyes lighting up once he realizes it’s you. You make your way over and slide into the seat next to him.

“MC! Where were ya? Ya weren’t at lunch. Not that I was waitin’ for you specifically or anythin’,” he questions as soon as you sit down, a blush beginning to rise on his cheeks as his poorly concealed affection shows.

“Yeah, I ate in the library, just couldn’t handle the noise in the cafeteria today, y’know?” You lie, hoping it’s believable.

“Well ya should have told me! I texted ya, but didn’t get a response. Not that I was worried! I just know ya love spending time with the Great Mammon, and who doesn’t? And we haven’t gotten to hang out recently. After all, I-“

Your heart begins to swell with fondness at his clear failure to come off nonchalant. His ramble is cut off when the professor starts the lecture, and you force yourself to concentrate and take notes as best you can. This is the review for the final in two days, so you really need to absorb this information.

Throughout the lecture, Mammon looks at you, occasionally poking your side in an attempt to gain your attention. As much as you would love to goof off with him, you’re kind of struggling in this class, so you have to do well on the final. You ignore Mammon, giving him a light swat when he pokes you, causing him to pout like a scolded puppy.

Eventually the lecture ends, and your notes aren’t as complete as you’d like, but you guess they’ll have to do. Mammon always walks you to your next class, so he waits by your desk for you to gather your things. Finally free to talk, he yaps about some scheme or another, but you’re having a hard time concentrating on what he’s saying.

As you stand up, the room begins to spin, and Mammon’s panicked face is the last thing you see before you collapse.

—————

You come to in the infirmary. You look to your side to see Mammon in a chair next to your bed, chewing on his nails and staring off into space as his leg bounces violently.

You grumble as you stretch sore muscles, causing Mammon’s head to snap towards you as he jumps up and moves closer to your side. At this moment you notice Lucifer is also there, as he stands up from a seat across the room and moves towards the foot of your bed.

“What happened?” you ask, still groggy.

“You passed out when leaving one of your classes. Thankfully Mammon caught you before your head hit the ground.” Lucifer informs you, voice tight. “The nurse we had trained in human illness says it was likely due to stress and lack of proper nutrition and sleep. She believes you may have been studying too hard, since it is final exams. Was she correct in this assessment?”

Unable to hold his disappointed gaze, you look to the side. As you look away, you see the clock on the wall. Oh no. Your exam is in five minutes! And that professor hates you, there’s no way he’ll let you make it up on a different day.

You push Mammon back as you stand up from the bed. He holds your arms as you begin to sway, trying to get you to sit back down. He rambles, trying to convince you to take it easy as his voice shakes.

You feel a rush of irritation flare up inside you. “Let me go and get out of my way.”

You didn’t mean to say it as an order, but when your pact mark glows and Mammon stumbles back with a slight whine you realize you accidentally used the pact. Guilt washes over you but you ignore it as you move towards the door, only to be stopped as Lucifer steps in front of you.

“I have an exam in five minutes! Move, I can’t afford to miss it!” You tell Lucifer frantically, ignoring the dizziness that still swims around your skull.

“You are sick. The professor will understand. I will talk to him. Sit back down.” Lucifer orders, gently but firmly.

“You don’t understand! My grade is already borderline in that class, and that professor hates me! I have to do well on this exam! I can’t miss it!” Your voice cracks and you start to shake as you try to convince Lucifer to let you by.

Slowly, like he’s afraid of startling a cornered animal, he places his gloved hands on your shoulders. “Your health is more important than your grades. It pains me that you have pushed yourself to this point. I will speak to Diavolo, and we will talk to your professors. Please, sit back down.” His voice is gentle as he speaks.

All of the stress and anxiety and self-loathing you’ve been fighting the last couple weeks all come crashing down on you in an instant.

You flop down onto the bed, head in your hands as you sob. Lucifer’s hand gently rubs your back as you shake violently from the emotion that has overtaken you.

As you cry, your ears barely catch a shaky breath, as you glance up to see Mammon standing a few feet away, shifting the weight between his feet as he looks like he’s holding back tears.

The sight of him makes you sob harder as you throw open your arms towards him. “I’m so sorry Mammon.”

He rushes over to you, wrapping you up in a tight hug as he buries his face in your shoulder. “I was so scared. I thought I lost ya again. Please take better care of yourself. I don’t want to lose you.”

You feel the emotions running through both of you. You feel so guilty, but also so relieved. Relieved that you don’t have to carry this alone anymore, and your demons don’t think any less of you.

“I am going to speak to Diavolo. Stay here for a while, then when you’re ready head home and get some rest. You’re both dismissed from class for the rest of the day. I have to inform our brothers that you are awake and alright.”

You look up at the mention of the other brothers. How did they know you were here?

Lucifer seems to practically read your mind. “All of us felt something through the pact, and we ran to come find you. Mammon carried you to the infirmary, and all of us waited here while the nurse examined you. I sent my other brothers back to class when she told us you would be okay, since I didn’t want you to be overwhelmed when you woke up. But you will have a lot of questions to answer this evening. Now rest. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Lucifer gives your shoulder a comforting squeeze before leaving. As he walks out of the room, you feel any energy you had evaporate as you slump against Mammon.

“I’m sorry Mammon. I don’t mean to worry you all,” you whisper against his shoulder.

He pulls you closer against his side. “Jus’… don’t do that again, okay?”

You nod against his shoulder, finally relaxing as the sleep you’ve been running from finally catches up to you.