Melody was very relieved to make it to RAD in one piece on that second morning. It had been a close call with Mammon, but, now he seemed to at least be backing off, though he took care to make a show of not treating her much different. Most of the traces of her anxiety were gone by the time they walked in the front doors. Mammon even managed to walk her all the way to class, though he was quick to sprint off the moment she crossed the room’s threshold. Almost immediately she heard some demons chatting.

“Did you hear the news? Apparently that human forged a pact with Mammon.”

“Seriously? I don’t get it. Why forge a pact with an ordinary human?” a second demon chimed in. Off to the side another demon, one with dark green hair and a splash of teal, was peering at them with a curious look. Melody didn’t recognize him, but the demon beside him was hard to miss; Lord Diavolo cut quite a striking figure, after all. Lucifer, who was on the other side of Diavolo, was also still just as impressive.

“Huh. Whenever you make an important announcement, the demons here couldn’t care less. But rumors… they really do spread like wildfire. Just when I thought the uproar about the new exchange student from the human world had started to subside some, now they’re all freaking out about this.” The demon didn’t look at all impressed, and Melody wasn’t sure if that was aimed at her, or the gossiping demons.

“Come now, don’t say that, Barbatos.” Diavolo laughed, apparently finding the whole thing amusing. “Actually, I’d say that all this gossip is a good thing. It means that everyone will be watching this human, which makes it hard for any demon to go after Melody’s soul when no one is looking.” As always, talk of her soul made Melody uncomfortable, and she shifted from one foot to another.

“Yes. Since Mammon’s not doing a very good job as a guardian. I told him he was to look after Melody, but he’s off somewhere shirking his responsibilities. Though I figured this would happen.” Lucifer was definitely not impressed; the narrowing of his eyes distinctly showed his displeasure. But Diavolo laughed it off, perhaps a bit too easily. He turned his attention to Melody directly now.

“I must say, I can’t believe you managed to forge a pact with Mammon, Melody. That’s no small feat. And what’s more, you did it in such a short time.”

Melody held back a sigh. Everyone seemed so completely blase about the pact; they didn’t seem to realize how much it troubled her. And it bothered her that they weren’t bothered at all, but seemed to think it was great fun.

“I suppose it stands as proof that you chose well bringing this human here, Lord Diavolo,” said the green-haired demon, who was smiling now. Seeing the rather lost look on Melody’s face, he inclined his head politely towards her. “… Ah yes, pardon me. I suppose we haven’t met before, have we? My name is Barbatos. I apologize for not introducing myself sooner. I have the honor of serving as steward to Lord Diavolo. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Well, at least he seemed polite, which was nice. Melody managed a smile in return.

“Barbatos here is a smart and talented individual, so much so that I wish I could trade a certain idiot brother of mine for him instead.”

It struck Melody as a rather unkind statement to make, but she was starting to expect that from, well, pretty much everyone, when it came to Mammon. She held in a deep sigh. Her thoughts started to wander as the demons discussed several points. But then another voice joined the conversation, and Melody looked up again to see an unfamiliar man. He was dressed very differently, in white, black, and blue fading to teal, with accents of gold. His clothes were rather tight fitting across his chest, and his shoulders were bare.

“If I might offer my own opinion, out of you seven brothers, you’re without a doubt the most troublesome, Lucifer.” The soft spoken man spoke with a familiarity that indicated he must have known Lucifer for some time. Melody found herself staring, and quickly looked away.

“Is that meant as a compliment, Simeon?” Lucifer’s eyes were narrowed again, and he didn’t look as if he trusted the other man’s words… or intentions.

“Pff, of course not! Duh! That was a put-down. An insult! He’s taunting you!” A much younger voice startled Melody, and she saw a much shorter person step out from behind the one called Simeon. He looked like a child, and definitely didn’t fit in. He wore similar colors to Simeon, but without any black, and his clothes were fully concealing. But, for his small stature, he seemed to have a lot of anger, and his little hands were balled into fists.

“Ah, I see you’ve brought your chihuahua along with you.” Lucifer was unfazed by the angry outburst of the boy, and returned the childish exclamation with a smooth, cutting remark. This only riled the boy up further.

“I am NOT a chihuahua! How many times do I have to tell you that, demon?!” By those words, Melody surmised that he was not, in fact, a demon. She had already met the other human exchange student. Did that make him…

“Well, what do you expect? I am a demon, after all. Now then, stop yipping at me. C’mere boy… shake! Who’s a good boy?” Lucifer was really pushing that particular insult. Melody couldn’t tell whose behavior she disliked more in this scenario that was unfolding before her eyes.

“Quit it! Don’t you make fun of me! And don’t tell me to shake! I’m not a dog!”

“Allow me to introduce you, Melody,” Lord Diavolo said, neatly cutting into the verbal war between Lucifer and the child. Melody shot him a thankful look, but didn’t interrupt. He gestured towards the man who had spoken to Lucifer. “This is Simeon. He’s an exchange student from the Celestial Realm. Which is to say, he’s an angel.”

“Well, hello, Melody. I’ve heard a lot of rumors!” Simeon’s benign smile was soothing, and part of Melody relaxed. The other part, however, wanted to run away and hide. Did he know she had a pact? Had he overheard that? What would an angel think of such a thing? Could he see her soul too? And why was an angel dressed like that? But before she could say much of anything, Diavolo continued on, gesturing towards the child.

“And this is Luke. Let’s see, you’re… a chihuahua, was it? Or are you an angel?”

Luke’s face turned bright red, and he uttered a sound of protest. Personally, Melody felt bad for him; he was obviously the youngest person there, and that was something she could sympathize with. And no one seemed to be treating him kindly. On the other hand, the first thing out of his mouth had been a verbal attack on Lucifer, which probably didn’t help. She wasn’t sure what to think.

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“Wh…! Diavolo, now YOU’RE getting in on the act, too?! I am NOT a chihuahua! I’m an angel!” Finally he turned to Melody, and continued to talk. “Listen up! As you can probably tell, I’m a low-ranking angel. BUT I’ll have you know that in the Celestial Realm I report directly to Michael the Archangel, as—” Luke seemed to really be getting into his introduction, but Simeon shook his head and interrupted.

“Luke, calm down. You need to learn not to make such a huge fuss about everything.”

“But Simeon…!”

“He’s right. That’s exactly why people call you a chihuahua, you know?” Lucifer’s interjection probably wasn’t going to help. But the little angel didn’t seem at all intimidated by Lucifer.

“Usually the only one who calls me chihuahua is YOU, Lucifer!” he shot back. In a way, he was a bit like a small dog who didn’t know when to back down from a bigger threat. But Melody felt that if they didn’t treat him that way, he wouldn’t have a reason to be so defensive. She feared the back and forth could go on forever, but then Barbatos stepped in.

“It’s nearly time for the first bell to sound.”

“Yes, you’re right. I apologize for any trouble we’ve caused, Melody.” Simeon’s words were gentle, and Melody felt soothed by them, giving the older angel a timid smile.

“In any event, I’m relieved to see that things seem to be going well for you here,” said Diavolo.

“Melody, look after Mammon for me, would you?” Lucifer smiled as he spoke.

Melody blinked, staring at Lucifer with a stunned expression on her face. It had seemed before, that he cared little for Mammon, and had said a lot of bad things, not to mention hitting him, at least twice in her sight. Yet, here he was asking her, of all people, to take care of him. Was this because of the pact? A warning, perhaps, not to abuse that power? She couldn’t be sure.

“As I remember it, Mammon was supposed to be the one looking after Melody, correct?” Barbatos asked, looking mildly surprised. Melody was relieved she wasn’t the only one.

“Yes, that’s how I remember it as well. Your point?” That seemed to be the end of the matter for Lucifer. He turned and left the classroom, as did Barbatos, Diavolo, and Simeon. Luke stayed behind.

“Never trust…mmmrmhrm…” Luke mumbled.

“Pardon me?” Melody hadn’t caught the end of that, and just needed him to clarify his words. She worried about offending even a… what had he called himself? …a low-ranking angel.

“…Never trust a demon. Especially when that demon is Lucifer. Listen to me. He’s a monster and a brute. He’s uncivilized, immoral, and… and also…” That sounded a lot more like the depiction of a demon than what Melody had seen so far. Though there was often something dangerous and brutal about Lucifer’s methods, she couldn’t quite agree that he was uncivilized. In fact, he had all the trappings of a very civil person. Then again, civilized didn’t mean kind or benevolent. Whether he was a monster, or immoral, Melody couldn’t say.

“Also what?” Melody asked, not sure why Luke had stopped there; it seemed he had already said a mouthful about how poorly he thought of Lucifer. It also struck her that Luke told her not to trust Lucifer, while Lucifer told her not to trust Solomon. Did that mean Luke would trust Solomon, or was no one trustworthy? It was a frightening thought.

“He’s the most sadistic of sadists! …I was against this from the beginning. What are they thinking, bringing humans to the Devildom as exchange students…” That seemed a little too extreme for Melody. So far Lucifer struck her as more cold, aloof, and domineering rather than being sadistic. Then again, she wasn’t trying to pit herself against him. Luke seemed about to say more on the matter, but the bell buzzed again. “So, you’ve been warned. You get what I’m saying, right? Okay.” And then he sped off to his class before Melody could ask any questions.

The rest of the day droned by. Classes seemed to be pretty standard. Melody hadn’t been a great student in the past, but she was feeling a little more motivated to do well now. Perhaps because there were fewer comforts waiting at home, perhaps because failure seemed more dangerous. Or, perhaps, she was simply more mentally mature now and better equipped to learn. Whatever the reason, she found she was doing a pretty good job listening to the professors, taking notes, and other common student tasks.

During any of her spare time, she worked on the specialty tasks on her phone. Sometimes demon students would challenge her, and she would use the program on her DDD to bolster her defenses. She still couldn’t fully understand what was happening, but it seemed to stop the demons from making a move on her, and it made her feel a little more safe. Even so, it was a bother being stopped in the halls. At least there seemed to be a general rule that they couldn’t accost her while in class, or during the first half at lunch, or else she’d probably miss lectures and go hungry.

When she finally got back to the House of Lamentation, she stayed in her room, except during dinner. It seemed all the brothers were out that evening, though Levi was probably just in his room, so she had a simple supper on her own. As intimidating as they all were, having the large dining room to herself seemed worse, so she ate in the kitchen. Even though it was big, at least it was less fancy, and the space seemed more evenly distributed. Fortunately for her, there was enough human items, or food that was similar enough, to fill her belly. She was just finishing up when Mammon walked into the kitchen and went straight to the fridge.

“Um… hello Mammon,” Melody said, swallowing the last bit of her drink. Startled, Mammon pulled his head back out of the fridge.

“Daaaah! Don’t startle me like that.” He paused a beat. “Not that The Great Mammon is scared of anythin’. It’s just a bad idea to startle a demon, ya know.” Looking Melody over, he shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the task at hand.

“Are you home for the evening?” Melody scrounged around the courage to ask. An idea had occurred to her, and she wanted to see if it was possible. Mammon almost hit his head on the freezer handle as he turned around a second time to face her.

“You’d better not be askin’ me to do any favors for you,” he said with a fair amount of bluster. Either he wasn’t thinking of the pact, he didn’t believe she would use it, or maybe he was simply blustering out of habit and hoping that she didn’t force his hand. Not that Melody planned to do any such thing. Instead she looked shyly at the ground.

“I just wanted to ask if I could maybe straighten up your room a bit to look for that figure that Levi wanted from you,” Melody explained. Then, seeing the look on Mammon’s face, she hastily added, “You wouldn’t have to do anything except just be there, since it’s your room and your things.” She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. “You did say that you would give him is figure and… I just thought… it would be a show of good faith.” Melody was starting to feel really self-conscious about her request. Mammon shrugged and shook his head.

“That’s really between Levi and me, but I’m not gonna object to someone wantin’ to clean my room. Means it’ll be that much longer before Lucifer gets on my case about it bein’ a mess,” Mammon said, laughing. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell ya you’ll be really sorry if ya try to take any of my things, or mess with stuff I tell ya not to.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t disturb anything of yours you don’t want disturbed,” Melody assured him. Mammon stared at her so long, she could feel her face turn bright red.

“You’re a strange human, I’ll give you that much. But I’m famished, so I’m just gonna grab somethin’ to eat. When I’m back in my room, I’ll beep your DDD. Sound good?”

“That’s fine; thank you!”

“Why are ya thankin’ me for bein’ allowed to clean my room? I don’t think I’ll ever understand how that human mind of yours works.” It was muttered under Mammon’s breath as Melody was walking out of the room, but she caught the first little bit of it before she closed the kitchen door behind her.