#sisters keeper

Entering the castle, you are surrounded by lavish walls, paintings taller than your entire body, gold and marble engulfing every inch of surface that you can lay your eyes on, and lush red velvet curtains adding emphasis to every arched window.

Yet despite all it's beauty, there's a cold heavy aura that fogs up the air around you buries itself in your lungs.

It's power. Pure, immeasurable power, built on the foundation of eons of loneliness and damnation. You tighten your grip on Harper, unsure of what you'll find around this corner or the next.

"MC! HARPER!"

You can't help but shriek at the sudden shout of your name before a white blur rushes up to you and clings onto you. You quickly push it off and blink as you see exactly who your attacker is. "Luke?"

The small angel beams and opens his mouth, but is suddenly yanked back by a scowling Mammon. "Hey! What's the big idea runnin' up and huggin' MC like that? Ya tryin' to scare 'em to death?"

Luke growls and squirms in Mammon's hold. "Lemme go! I was just saying hi!"

Levi huffs and rolls his eyes from his place in the back of the group. "Ugh! This is why I hate normies."

You narrow your eyes at the sudden reminder of Levi's presence before placing a hand on top of Mammon's arm, making eye contact with him as Luke continued to thrash. "It's fine Mammon. I don't mind."

He strangely gets tense at the casual, yet affirming touch. His eyes firmly fixed on the still hand, waiting for ... something. But when it stays there, and doesn't move, his cheeks warm and he roughly sets Luke down before looking away. "Whatever."

Luke takes a split second to glare at Leviathan and Mammon, inching closer to you. "I'm so happy you're okay," he huffs as he brings his attention back to you. "Everyone was talking about what happened at the competition," his eyes glisten as his bottom lip wobbles slightly. "I wasn't there to protect you and you got hurt! I'm supposed to keep you safe, but I-" he wipes furiously at this eyes as he struggles to take in a deep breath. "I won't leave your side again! I'll be the best guardian angel ever!"

"I'm sorry, guardian angel?" Satan, who has been nothing but silent toward you since the competition, finally speaks up. "What all this about?"

Mammon nods firmly. "Yeah! Since the fu-" he glances at Harper, "fiddle sticks when do you need some one else as a protector for ya? Ya know it was Satan and I that looked out for ya when Levi went psycho!"

Leviathan winces.

Luke steps forward before you can even get the chance to speak. "And a great job you all did! I heard they were bed ridden for days!"

"Hardly even a day," you mutter, but it doesn't go as ignored as you would hope as you hear Satan scoff from behind you.

"Only because you refused to actually listen to the advice of those you demanded to protect you and then continuously throw yourself into danger."

The words hit directly to your pride as you feel your haunches rise. "What are you even on about-"

Satan raises an unimpressed eyebrow. "Oh don't act so ignorant-"

"MY FRIENDS!" You flinch as a loud, bellowing voice calls out. At the top of the stairs, ever cloaked in crimson, stands Lord Diavolo with his butler, Barbatos. You feel Harper cling tighter to you, and you wrap your own arm around her in response.

The Prince beams a slightly tense smile as he comes down the staircase. "No need for raised voices. We're here for celebration and relaxation, are we not?"

You bite your tongue, eyes not once leaving Diavolo as he and his butler join everyone at the main level. Lucifer bows his head. "I apologize for my brothers and the humans," you bite your tongue harder at his words.

Simeon finally enters the room with Solomon behind him and moves closer to Luke and places a hand on the top of his head, giving Diavolo a smile. "You know how protective young angels can be," curiously enough, you catch his sapphire eyes glancing knowingly at Lucifer before returning to the Prince. "I assure you we are working on it." Luke pouts as Simeon ruffles his hair.

Diavolo laughs so loudly the painting shake slightly. "Indeed I do," he beams before clapping his hands. "Let us leave this meaningless arguing behind us! Now that we're all here, perhaps we should go ahead and explain how this retreat is going to work."

The butler steps forward, his hands perfectly positioned behind him. "Certainly, My Lord." his teal eyes scan over the group before him. "The aim of this retreat is for demons, angels, and humans to intermingle so that each may gain a better understanding of the other."

Mammon scoffs and nudges you as he looks over at you and Harper. "Well we're stayin' the night, I say the best way to intermingle is by havin' a pillow fight."

Harper gasps sharply, her eyes positively glowing at the idea. "A pillow fight?! Can we?!"

You sigh, giving Mammon a displeased look and lightly shake your head at your sister. "We'll have to see. Let's see what Mr. Barbatos has to say."

"As I was saying," Barbatos continues coolly. "I'll begin by explaining what we have planned for each day of the retreat," he gestures to a hall to the right. "After you've taken your belongings up to your rooms, we'll begin with a tour of the Demon Lord's castle, where you'll have a chance to learn about Devildom history. We'll be serving Devildom cuisine for dinner tonight, and I've take the liberty of volunteering to prepare tonight's meal myself."

You tilt your head at the statement as you assess the butler. Did he want a gold star for that? Wasn't it literally his job as a butler? Lucifer's heavy nearby presence and Beelzebub's praise for the offer was enough to make you keep your thoughts to yourself. Though you glance down as Harper tugs at your sleeve. "Are we gonna have to eat bat eyes or something?" She asks, looking a little green.

You snort and pull her closer to you. "Nah. But maybe you'll have to eat ghost tear soup." You chuckle quietly as Harper makes gagging noises at the thought.

"Tomorrow we'll be having a scavenger hunt," Barbatos continues. "Each day, we plan to have a representative from one of the three worlds prepare a meal for us."

You blink at the statement. Great. So now the 'relaxing' retreat now consisted of you needing to break into groups and most likely get lost in this absolutely haunted castle, and then be forced cook enough food to feed thirteen people with one of those people being the literal embodiment of greed. Fucking amazing.

And yet Barbatos continues with that eerie smile on his face. "So tomorrow, Luke will be making food from the Celestial Realm. I'm sure it will be quite a treat."

Harper gasps and looked over to her best friend. "You're cooking tomorrow?! Oh I can't wait to try your cooking! I bet it will be so yummy!"

Luke was positively glowing under the praise. "Of course it will be! The celestial realm has only the best food and I've been practicing really hard!"

Simeon chuckles. "You should see the amount of test baked goods we have at Purgatory Hall. There's hardly any room left in the fridge."

The room silenced as a loud growling noise rang out from Beel. He simply hummed as he held a hand over his stomach. "I will gladly help you out with that problem."

Simeon nods to the demon. "Sure. There's far more than the three of us will be able to eat, and it'd be a shame to put it to waste," his blue eyes glance back over to Luke. "Now remember Luke. You're making dinner. This means you have to make more than just sweets, understand?"

Luke's cheeks burn bright red as he pout. "Awwwww, okay."

"Incidentally," Barbatos's voice regathered everyone's attention, "there will also be a dance following dinner tomorrow."

Okay, someone really has to get better at passing memos because what the absolute fuck? These are the kind of things that would be nice to know in advance. You certainly didn't pack anything dance appropriate, and you didn't have anything packed like that for Harper either. Not to mention being in a loud overcrowded room with a bunch of demons sounded like a literal nightmare.

But you could hardly maintain your anger as Harper squeals. "A dance?! Like a ball! MC, we're gonna go to a ball like Cinderella!"

You forced a smile on your face for her. "We sure are kiddo. And by the sounds of things we're probably gonna be cooking up a storm the next day too."

Barbatos nods at you, a sheen of something that you couldn't quite put your finger on in his eye. "Very astute, MC. As our human representative, you will be in charge of cooking on our third day," he tilts his head as he looks at you. "Though you sound surprised. I did send notice regarding our plans."

Lucifer sighs. "Mammon, I believe I told you to let MC know about this?"

You slowly turn your head to look at Mammon, the sole reason for your current suffering, as he scratches the back of his neck, face bright red. "H-Huh? Wait a minute, didn't I um mention that? N-No? Well THAT'S weird, ahahahahaha," he laughs awkwardly.

You groan and face palm, wincing as it aggravates your still sensitive head. "It's fine, I guess. You were distracted. I'll figure it out."

He at the very least has the sense to look at least slightly guilty.

Barbatos clears his throat. "Well then. Why don't we move on to room assignments."

Right. To put icing on this already peachy cake, you were going to have to share a room and actually sleep around some of these people. You sigh and nod in acceptance. "Right," you look over to Mammon and Satan. "Harper and I share a room with you two? Maybe Luke too, since I imagine it's gonna be pretty hard to separate the two of them."

Satan purses his lips like he's about to say something in response to that when Barbatos speaks up once more. "Actually MC, your room assignments have already been arranged. I'm afraid this not a situation where you get to choose your roommates."

Your breathing paused, grip tightening on Harper as you stare at the demon butler. "What?"

He just continues to stare at you with that stupid smile that you now very much wanted to wipe off his face. "Yes. Lord Diavolo will be staying with Lucifer,"

"Doesn't he have his own bedroom here?"

"You have your own bedroom here," you and Lucifer speak in sync, sharing matching frowns. "Why share a room with me?" Lucifer continues with exhaustion tinging his voice.

Pure glee fills the Demon Lord's expression as he smirks at Lucifer. "Why do you think? Because this is a retreat of course!"

You roll your eyes as Lucifer grumbles, at least taking mild pleasure in the ass hats annoyance, and instinctively making eye contact with Satan to get his reaction as well, before looking away.

"Then Solomon, Satan, and Mammon will be sharing a room." you feel Mammon stiffen behind you, immediately getting defensive and see Satan's own expression sour. It's not ideal, but you could make it work. You and Harper would probably be paired with the angels so it's-

"Simeon, Asmodeus, and MC will be paired," Your heart dropped and your eyes immediately widened.

"Wait," you breathed.

"Meaning that Beelzebub, Leviathan, Luke, and Harper will be the final group."

"Hold on a second!" You bite out, gripping tightly onto Harper as you glare at the sly, arrogant looking butler who still continues to smile at you like he was anticipating your every reaction. It made goosebumps raise on your neck as you snarl. "That's not happening,"

"MC," Lucifer began testingly.

"NO!" You shout pointing defensively at Lucifer. "Don't. That is not happening. Harper stays with me. That's the deal."

Diavolo hums as he observes you. "This is part of the exchange program, MC. We are simply trying to get everyone to get to know each other a little better. Fear not. Your little sister will be safe with her dear friend, Luke, and-"

"And those two-" You gesture to Beel and Levi in disbelief. "One who has not stopped staring at her since we arrived and the other who literally knocked me unconscious just last week!" They both let out noises of protest but you refuse to give it any consideration. "Nope. Not happening. Try again."

Mammon nodded in agreement and stepped forward. "Y-Yeah! I should swap rooms with Asmodeus!"

Satan let out an aggravated sigh and shook his head. "No, you moron. You should swap rooms with Levi and stay with Harper. I should swap rooms with Asmo."

Mammon gawks at the blond. "I- You- Why do you get to- I mean I'm the-"

Demons. For Christ's sake. You run your hand through you hair as you glare at them. "You're both wrong. You should both switch with Levi and Me so that I'm with Harper," your hardened stare turns back to Diavolo. "And if you had any idea of what the hell has been happening in that house since we arrived, you would know this and let this be the arrangements!"

Barbatos's expression darkened as he stepped forward. "Please mind your tone around my lord," his voice resonates in a way that leave you with no choice but to snap your mouth shut. "I am afraid you have no say in this. The room assignments were carefully selected with everyone's best interest in mind, including yours and young Harper's."

You grit your teeth, ready to fight on this, when Harper taps your arm. "It's okay, MC," she smiles up at you. "Luke is your guardian angel, remember? He's like super good at protecting," Hardly comforting considering even Simeon said that Luke was not supposed to be a guardian angel yet. "And, Leviathan can't be a meanie anymore, remember?" Like you could forget. The stupid pact mark itched like a rash every night.

Besides, this all still left one demon in that room who was unaccounted for.

You glare over at Beelzebub, only to find him already staring at the two of you because of fucking course he was. He swallowed thickly and gave what was probably his best attempt at a comforting smile. "I promise Harper will be okay."

Yeah. Like you could trust that.

"She better be," you spat, and whipped your head around to look at Leviathan. "Leviathan-" you begin calling on the newest power within you.

"There you go again," you hear Satan mumble behind you, and immediately whirl around to face him.

"What?! There I go what?!"

"ENOUGH!" The floor shook under Lucifer's voice as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "How long do you all plan on goofing around? What's decided is decided. Time to take your belongings up to your rooms."

You bare your blunt teeth at the demon, but he is entirely unphased. "Not until-"

"Not until nothing," he bites back, narrowing his eyes at you, and in that second you feel a wave of infernal energy, far stronger than the presences of Mammon and Satan that you've become accustomed to, bare down at you as if trying to make you kneel beneath it. You felt your legs wobble against it, your heart pounding inside your ears. "Lord Diavolo has spoken. As a student of the exchange program you will listen. Luke will be with Harper. Now go."

If there was one thing you hated more than anything it was being told what to do. It always sounded far too much like the powdered wig judges and suit wearing care workers who always said that they were doing what was best for both of you, even if it never was.

You hated even more that, much like then, you didn't have a case in this situation.

"MC," your eyes snap over to see Simeon smiling gently at you. "Would you like to walk Luke and Harper to their rooms with me? Then we can unpack together."

A tightness began forming in your throat, and you could feel your hands trembling, even as they continue to hold onto Harper. Not trusting yourself to speak, you nod stiffly, and allow the angel to lead the two of you out of the room.

You weren't sure you were going to survive this weekend.

***And that is our first dive back into Sister's Keeper! Thank you all so very much for your patience with this. I know it has literally been over a year, and so much has happened, so I really appreciate the support and love that I still get from you guy. You're all truly the best. I'll see you in the next part! Love yas! -B***

TAGLIST:

@thegrimgrinningghost @henry-and-the-seven-lords @satans-beloved-riv @cosmixbun @sufzku @obey-mes-treasure @kissed-by-a-dementor @yukihaie @justtiarra @mammoneybb @poly-bi-mf @burrixino @salvationprodigy @pumpkins-mainside-blog @acousticpen @sucker-for-angst-and-fluff @itskrispy @10paradox10 @vallison-rea @ivoryclive @newfangled-artistry @pumpkinpatchkid @chirikoheina @sailboat21 @theother4 @todoroses @circus-of-freaks @mcx7demonbros @bloopthebat

Across from you, Leviathan pouted into his morning eggs — you got a sick wave of pleasure from the darkened bruise that surrounded the bridge of his nose. He stiffened as your eyes met, and quickly looked down in what could almost be called shame.

You couldn't help but scratch at the new orange mark branded into the back of your hand.

Satan eyed the movement, the corners of his mouth digging into a deep frown as he sipped his melancholy coffee. He hadn't spoken a word to you since the incident, other than checking to make sure you were unharmed — a quick checkup had determined that while you had a mild concussion, you were otherwise alright. There was a heavy tension that he carried on his shoulders like a cape, and you couldn't help but feel uneased by it.

You quickly pushed back the feeling, and wrapped an arm around Harper. You couldn't allow yourself to become distracted down here. Not by Leviathan, or Satan, or anyone else. You needed to focus on Harper and staying alive; last night had only further proved that.

Your sister nuzzled in close to you as she nibbled on a piece of cantaloupe. You ran a hand through her hair as you looked down at both of your empty plates. With a quick squeeze to Harper's shoulders, you shifted out of your seat and scooped up your dishes. "If anyone needs us, we'll be in our room," you explained in a flat tone as Harper clung silently to your hip.

"One moment," Lucifer interrupted, gaining the attention of the room. "I have been informed that Diavolo will be having an exchange party at his castle. We are all required to go to his castle for the weekend and partake in the activities he has planned."

You sighed and nodded, "If it's required for the program, then I suppose we don't have a choice."

Asmo giggled and leaned into the palm of his hand. "Don't act so glum, MC, this will be fun! A weekend at Diavolo's castle means a weekend of utter luxury. And who knows! Maybe we'll even get to be roommates!"

You resisted shuttering from the mere thought. "Let's hope not," you mumbled as you finally left the room, dishes in one hand and Harper in the other.

The two of you quickly swung by the kitchen — taking care to wash and put away your dishes, before moving to retreat to your room.

"MC!!!"

You yelped, jumping back and shoving Harper behind you as you whipped around to the shadow that had just leapt out from the hallway.

A sheepish Leviathan stood before, hands up carefully in defense.

Your eyes instantly hardened as a venomous scowl fixed onto your lips. "What do you want?" you spat, holding tightly onto Harper.

He chuckled awkwardly, maintaining his 'I-mean-no-harm' stance. "Woah. I'm not here to hurt you,"

"Only because you can't anymore, meany!" Harper shouted from behind you. "You have to listen to MC now, which means you don't get to be a bully anymore!"

Levi's nose scrunched as he physically reeled back, his shaky eyes remaining glued onto Harper's face. "I'm not a bully! Y-You ... You can't say that!"

"Well, you can't be one anymore," she huffed with her nose held high. "Meany."

A pained wheeze pressed from Leviathan's lungs.

Despite knowing that Harper's words were true, you couldn't help but hold her just a little closer to you. "We're trying to get back to our room so I can recover from the concussion you oh so gracefully gave me, so if you don't mind,"

"Will you wait?!" Levi hissed as he moved in front of the two of you once more. "I'm trying to- to um ..." he let out a heavy sigh as you swallowed down the fear climbing up your throat. "I'm sorry, okay? I took things too far. You ... You won that quiz fair and square and I never should've lashed out at you. I never even gave you a chance," a bubble of disgust formed in your gut as he smiled at you. "But now that I know that you really aren't a normie, I can help you out like the other two!"

You froze at the statement.

Leviathan wanted a place in your life. Him. The man who yelled at you. Who hurt you. Who demeaned you all before you had the chance to even show him who you really were — not some weak person. Not this fictional MC that he made of you in his mind already. You.

An ancient crack fractured deeper across your heart.

Your lip curled into a snarl and the demon took a step back, his eyes widened at the unsteadiness behind your gaze. "You are not forgiven," you whispered despite yourself — you were horrified as you recognized drops of grief trickle down your spine. "Pretty words mean nothing to me. You say your sorry? Prove it," his breath caught in his throat as you held up your hand and revealed the orange symbol glowing brightly on it. "Only apologize if you genuinely mean it." you ordered with ease as the demon shivered. "Well?"

Leviathan, quite literally, began to gag.

You placed a hand on Harper's head as she pulled herself closer to you. "That's what I thought," you mumbled, ignoring the confusing disappointment that settled in your stomach. "We're out of here. But in the mean time, don't pull that shit again unless you actually mean it."

Harper gently pulled on your hand as the demon whined. "Can you tell him to be nice to everyone too?"

Another strangled cry from Levi as continued to woefully open and close his mouth, attempting to force the words out. The light tears brimming his eyes as he starred, heartbroken, at your fearful sister made you hesitate.

You sighed, letting go of Harper's hand as your marched forward and grabbed the demon's face, forcing him to look you in the eyes. "Look. It's like Harper said. Right now, you're a bully. You've done nothing but antagonize us, so obviously, we aren't going to want you around. Think about that. Change that. The first time I went to your room, it was because Harper wanted to play games with you and watch TSL."

Levi's eyes widened at the relevation, the amber irises, momentarily flicking behind you. "I ... I-I didn't know that."

You scoffed as you dropped his face. "Yeah. Because instead of building a potential allyship, you burned it before I even had the chance to make an offer," you crossed your arms over your chest as the demon's head hung in shame. "Don't give me worthless apologies. Think about what you did. Do better," you finally looked away as you took Harper's hand back into your own and began to walk away. "Then we can talk ... I guess."

Leviathan pulled his freshly, marked hand to his chest as he watched you go — both of you unaware of the voyeur hidden in the doorway.

***

"Wait, you punched Leviathan and then basically scolded him for actually apologizing?" The man in the attic demanded with wide eyes as you finished recounting the weeks events.

You huffed as you leaned back against the railing. "Yeah, he fucking well deserved it," you raised an eyebrow as annoyance flickered across his expression. "I'm sorry. Is there a different way you would've done it?"

He shrugged falling slouching into the cross-legged position you had found him sitting in when you arrived. "I don't know. I mean, punching Lucifer I get. He's the reason we're both stuck here, but ..." His bangs hid his expression from you as he fiddled with his fingers. "The others don't even know what he's doing. He's ... He's insufferable and they're all just morons."

You narrowed your eyes at him. "You'd think that you'd have it out for all demons after they imprisoned you up here like this. I know I would."

"Well I'm not you," he spat, his purple eyes almost glowing as he glared up at you. "Forgive me for having a heart."

You couldn't help but bristle at the comment. You bit down on the inside of your cheek as you looked away. "You sound like Harper."

The man tilted his head. "Who's Harper?"

You laughed at the question as you whipped your head around to him. "No. No, no, no, no. You don't get an answer to that when I don't even know your name!"

His eye twitched with every laugh that spilled from you. "It's just a dumb question!"

"So is asking for your name! It's like the first thing people tell people! Look, I'll even show you. My name is MC, and you're ..." you dramatically swept your arm towards him for him to continue.

He pursed his lips, crossing his arms before he answered. "You can call me Bel."

You gasped as you pressed a hand to your chest. "And the sketchy attic man has a name! I have truly been blessed."

He winced at your choice in words as he shook his head. "You are seriously an asshole. How the hell you managed to get three of them under your pact already is a fucking miracle."

The insult was hardly one you hadn't heard before, but still stung none the less. You shrugged off the pain. "I may be an asshole, but I'm an asshole who's going to get your ass out of here."

The two of you sat in tense, midnight silence, tangled in your own mental swirls.

It was Bel, who shifted first, wiping his nose before clearing his throat. "Why are you helping me? I mean, don't stop. I really really want out of here. But what do you get out of this."

"Wow. So grateful," you snidely spoke as you stared at the ceiling. "To answer your question, I'm not just going to leave a person to imprisoned. That'd be screwed up in so many ways," you sighed running a hand through your hair as you shook your head. "I don't know. You mentioned your family and ... Family shouldn't be separated. They need you. And it sounds like you need them. So ... here I am."

Amethyst eyes observed you in the darkness. "Harper ... Are they your family?"

You instinctively stiffened at the question, silently nodding your head even as your stomach knotted.

"And what? Did they die or something?" He chuckled as you swiveled around to glare at him. "What? It's just a question. Us humans have to stick together, right? Maybe if we know a bit more about each other we could trust each other a little more."

You groaned, pressing the palms of your hands into your tired eyes — it had been much too long of a week for this.

"Fine," you gave in as exhaustion numbed your common sense.

"Harper is my sister. She isn't dead," you were nauseous at just the thought. "She's here with me. But ... It ..." You swallowed thickly, hugging your arms tightly around yourself. "It wasn't always like that. Things went to hell for a while and there was- was a few years where ..." you shook your head, trying to alleviate the burning behind your eyes. "Child Protective Services took her, okay? Is that what you wanted? We had been getting on just fine after th-they ... a-after Mom and Dad left, nobody even noticed, and then some nosey old crank next door reported us and we were thrown into a home."

You sniffled, trying to hold back the tired tears that were welling up in your eyes. "I was only there for two weeks at most. The one right thing my folks did with this whole thing was file for emancipation for me before they took off. But even if I was an adult on paper, it wasn't enough for the courts," your eyes squeezed shut as Harper's phantom shrieks and cries filled your ears. "I didn't see her for three years. I fought tooth and nail every single damned second of it to try and get her back, but no one wants to listen to a kid," you let out shaky breath as you wiped at your cheeks. "It doesn't matter though. She's with me now. She's not going anywhere. I'll make sure of it."

Bel looked at you with a complicated mixture of sympathy, understanding, and confliction. "I get it. You'd do anything for those you love. Even if it meant your down fall."

You nodded and tiredly pointed to him. "That."

Silence fell once more as you regathered yourself once more. You offered Bel one a sad smile as you shook out your now-numb-feet. "I will help you get back to your family, okay? I promise."

"I'm counting on it," he murmured, avoiding your eyes.

You made your way back down the metal spiral staircase to the main floor.

There was something so peaceful about walking through the hauntingly luxurious halls of the house with nothing except your thoughts and the steady sound of two sets of footsteps.

Wait. Two sets of-

You were cut off as you banged into a firm chest, "Ahhhhhhhhh!!!" You screamed as you scrambled back from the stranger.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!" Mammon screamed right back at you as he scrambled to catch the strange bag he was holding.

"SHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" You both simaltanously shushed the other as your hearts pounded in your chest.

"What are you doing?!" You hissed in a hushed whisper as you tried to will your pulse to slow.

"Me?! What are you doin'? You're the one who's concussed! You're supposed ta be restin'!" He whisper shouted, flailing his arms about. His eyes narrowed down at you as he poked your chest. "You ain't pullin' that all night patrolin' crap again, are ya? Cause I ain't gonna to take care you as a zombie again!" His gaze focused in as he got closer to your face. "Wait. Have you been cryin'?"

You scoffed and slapped his hand away. "You didn't take care of me; I took care of myself. Besides, I just wanted to take a little walk to clear my head. That's all," you raised an eyebrow as you eyed the bag he was holding. "What's that?"

Mammon's eyes flickered between you and the bag as he slowly hid it behind his back. "If I tell you, will you tell me why ya were cryin'?"

You threw your head back, letting out a loud groan as you began to make your way towards your room. "Forget it. It's too late for this. Goodnight."

"Woah, wait!" Mammon called out as he matched pace with you. "I'm serious. I ... It's not like ya to get all emotional and junk, so I'm ... I'm curious. I-I guess."

It didn't take a genius to read between his bolden lines. "I'm fine, Mammon. You don't have to be worried."

He growled and spun around to walk backwards in front of you. "One, I ain't worried! The Great Mammon don't get worried about nobody except me!" You rolled your eyes at the lie. "And number two, you and Harper been actin' weird since the quiz. Which, I get, ya know? It was scary, f-for puny humans anyway," he frowned as he stopped in front of you, putting an end to both of your movements. "Ya could'a died, MC. Like ... for real. And I ... I was your first pact, ya know? I shoulda been there to protect ya. And I know ya had Satan, and I know you were just tryin' to keep Harper safe too, but ..." he paused, gently butting a closed fist against your shoulder. "Don't do that again. Don't ... Don't ask me to leave ya to get hurt like that. It's my job to protect you. Me. Mammon's."

You blinked at the surprisingly genuine demon. "What are you saying, Mammon?"

His face turned bright red. "Just ... These past few weeks with you and Harper ain't been so bad, I-I guess. Sure, you're both brats and I'm clearly way more superior but ..." he finally met your eyes. "Don't go gettin' in the habit of doin' stupid shit and gettin' hurt. It freaks Harper out."

The 'and me' was translated as his hand unfolded from a fist and squeezed your shoulder.

"Harper's my priority, you know that, but ... I'll see what I can do."

Mammon let out a loud breath of relief as he let you go and started walking along side you again. "Phew. Good. Not that I'm concerned. I'm not. Never worried. Nope. B-But, uh, Satan! Satan was! He's been poutin' and pourin' over his books like crazy ever since the whole quiz thing started. You have him really shakin' up."

You rolled your eyes as you finally made it back to your door. "Then he can stop ignoring me, and scold me himself," you quietly opened your door, peaking in to see Harper still sleeping peacefully in the room. "I'm going to get some rest. Goodnight Mammon."

"Night, MC," he replied, peering around your shoulder to check on the sleeping girl himself. You didn't miss the way his shoulders relaxed as he spotted her. "I'll swing by ta help ya pack for Diavolo's tomorrow, since I'm so great and awesome! The castle's the best. There are all kinds of goodies hiding away in there. Mark my words! You, me, and Harper are gonna have the best weekend ever!"

A shiver ran down your spine as the demon happily marched away.

The best weekend over ...

You closed the door with a heavy thud, and allowed the lock to click into place.

We'll have to see about that.

*** And with that, we begin the Asmo/Dia's Castle arc! Stay tuned, and let me know what you think about the series so far! I love hearing your guys's feedback, comments, theories, questions and more, so don't be afraid to drop a comment or ask to tell me what you think! Love you guys! Thank you so much for all the support you've given this series! -B ***

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