About half an hour after Melody met Mammon in the kitchen, she was assembled outside of his room with a couple of large garbage bags, a broom, a dustpan, a pair of cleaning gloves, and a bottle of water. Even though Mammon had texted her, she knocked on the door, since it was a room she’d never been in. A mumbled response from inside told her to come in. Though she had seen Levi’s room, Mammon’s surprised her quite a bit. The fact that he had space for a whole car, a pool table, entertainment equipment, couches, a table, his bed, and an extensive closet, surprised her. So did the very modern aesthetic, compared to the House of Lamentation as a whole. And, as Levi had described before, the place was a mess. Still, Melody had been pressed into cleaning several of her siblings’ rooms on multiple occasions, so she wasn’t too concerned.

“Oh, you came after all. Guess you were serious. Well, go ahead. I’ll just be relaxin’.” There was something indulgent about sitting there while someone cleaned his room. And for free. True, Lucifer would throw a fit if he hired someone, and he would definitely disapprove if he pressed one of his younger brothers into doing it for him, but he could hardly object when the human offered, without even a hint from him. Mammon had been completely surprised when Melody offered, and even a little suspicious that he was being set up somehow. But, as he watched her work, he started to feel somewhat at ease.

Melody worked diligently, and with organization. Part way through, she did find the elusive Seraphina figurine. It was in a bag, buried under trash. The box itself was slightly dinged, and she worried it might upset Levi, but at least it would be in his hands to make a decision. She did take a cloth and carefully clean away any smudges on it, painstakingly making sure that the cardboard didn’t get soaked or warped. And, even after she found it, she continued to clean Mammon’s room. After he had felt that she was going to be true to her word, and explained the things he did not want touched, Mammon started playing a game and paid less attention to Melody. He barely even heard her when she quietly said good night and slipped back out of his room. And though she was exhausted from work, she had the prized figurine in her hands and a strong sense of accomplishment. But, it was late enough that she didn’t feel up to disturbing Levi.

That night, she had a dream. Someone was calling for help, someone so far away their voice sounded faded. But every time she tried to reach them, they seemed to call her from another direction. She climbed up stairs, climbed down a well, climbed up a ladder, and climbed out a window, all trying to find the mystery voice. Black and white birds often swooped in front of her face, some of them hovering in place, while others dove at her, trying to scratch her cheeks. At one point she fell down and hurt herself. She never found the source of the voice, and she woke up feeling utterly exhausted, and with an odd pain on her hip. Feeling around, she discovered that a bruise had started to form. Frowning, she tried to recall if she had done anything during her clean-up session that would have resulted in such a bruise. Her mind came up blank.

Regardless of the source of the bruise, Melody had to get up, shower, and dress. It was only her third day at RAD and she was already feeling like it had been forever since she first ended up in the Devildom. It didn’t help that the sun didn’t rise and set; it screwed around with her natural rhythm. The nuance between night and day in the Devildom was too subtle for her eyes, used to the more distinct times in the human realm. Again she walked to school with Mammon, and again he was fast to dart off when they arrived at her first classroom. She was definitely getting more accustomed to being in classes, being able to put her worries aside long enough to focus on the lessons. But in the last few minutes of each class, her anxiety would return, as she always felt more vulnerable walking the halls. Not only was she bound to be approached by demon students, but even social interactions were more unpredictable outside of the stricter setting of the classrooms.

What’s more, Melody still had the Seraphina figure in her room, waiting. She hoped that delivering the box to Leviathan wouldn’t backfire. Even though she had agreed to the pact with Mammon, she wasn’t sure where she stood with Levi. The Avatar of Envy, with his striking purple hair, seemed mostly content to ignore her. But, he was also good at ignoring everyone in the room when absorbed in his games. Not that she blamed him; she knew how interesting a good video game could be. Still, the fact that she had let him down once, and almost let him down twice, was sure to be a mark against her. She just didn’t know for how long. So she was determined to at least give him the figure he wanted, that Mammon had promised. By the time her last class was dismissed, she was in a great hurry to get home.

Despite the fact she had no reason to believe that the figure wouldn’t be in her room, she was relieved when it was still there, sitting serenely in its box. Carefully Melody picked up the coveted object and carried it down the hall to Levi’s room, though part of her mind was worried she’d get the wrong room somehow. Because of that, her hand was shaking slightly as she raised it and knocked three times on the door. There was a bit of a wait, and she could hear some movement from inside. Seconds later, she heard a voice speak from right behind the door, almost causing her to jump back with how close it was.

“What do you want?” Levi’s voice was distinctly cranky.

“Oh, I’m sorry to bother you, but…” Melody hesitated, her courage drying up in her throat.

“Hm. It’s the human. Didn’t expect it to be you. Well, hurry up; you’re lucky you caught me between games.”

“I can… come back later… if that’s better.” Melody was half tempted to just run back down the hall, but that would be rude and most likely damage any chance of getting along with Levi in the future. But she didn’t want to intrude either.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“You might as well just come out with it now. If I get into a game, it could be hours before I’ll want to come to the door again, and then, after that, I have so many more animes to watch, and posts to check, message to send, and I certainly don’t want to be interrupted by a normie for a second time in the evening. Or even the week. So, just spit it out, already.” Melody was pretty sure he barely stopped for breath during that whole thing.

“I brought something for you; that’s all. It won’t take more than a few seconds, but, I can’t give it to you through the door,” Melody said. There was a brief silence.

“Why didn’t you just say that then?” Melody stepped back a pace when she heard the doorknob start to turn. Soon she was staring back at Levi, who had opened the door. Quickly she stuck out the box she was holding. Upon seeing the box, Levi’s eyes lit up, and he had a boyish grin on his face as he reached for it. Then his hand stopped short.

“Mammon was supposed to give it to me; why did he send you?” he asked warily.

“That’s because I was the one who found it. Mammon didn’t know where it was; you remember he seemed confused about it when you asked for it before?” Melody said mildly. “So, I offered to clean his room if I could take the figurine for you,” she added. Levi’s eyes widened.

“Wait, you CLEANED Mammon’s room. On PURPOSE?! You’re braver than I thought. His room is about as scummy as he is, and that’s saying a lot.” Anxiously, Levi looked around, then gestured for Melody to go into his room, the motion urgent as though it was a matter of life or death. Not wanting to agitate the easily disturbed Leviathan, Melody slipped into the room, still holding the box in her hand.

“You’re like a hero Melody, you rushed into no man’s land to rescue the Elf Queen herself! I could hug you… that is… if you weren’t 3D, and a normie, and I wasn’t already spoken for…” said Levi, his words pouring out quickly at first, until he realized what he had said, and stumbled over himself trying to backpedal. His cheeks had gone bright red, and Melody looked away, not wanting to stare and make him feel more self-conscious. She held the box out again and felt, rather than saw, Levi take it from her. While she was still staring a hole in Levi’s floor, she heard him bustling around, probably rearranging his figures to find a place for his new acquisition.

As for Melody, she was happy that this was going well, even more so that Levi had used her name. True, he hadn’t given up calling her normie, but at least he was aware that she had a name and knew what it was. And, she was glad he didn’t hug her, not that she objected to hugs in general, but she just didn’t know him well enough to get a sudden hug. Especially since Levi didn’t seem to like people at all.

“It was just cleaning,” Melody said, thinking that Levi was giving her far too much credit.

“I guess, if you just focus on that part, it isn’t a big deal. But, Mammon is really possessive of his possessions. He wouldn’t let any of us rifle through his stuff. Guess he figured he could outrun you. Still, he’s the one who should have had to clean his room.” Levi paused for a moment. “In fact, you could have made him clean his own room. You have that power now, so why would you do it yourself?” Levi noticed that Melody had gone pale when he mentioned the pact. He peered at her with curiosity. “You’re not going to be sick are you? I hope you’re not going to be sick!”

“Um, no, not sick,” Melody said, making sure she stayed steady on her feet. “It… it really wasn’t too much trouble. After all, he has been walking me to school and everything.” Melody tried to steer the subject away from the pact.

“But why did it matter? You could have just left Mammon to sort it out on his own,” Levi persisted. He couldn’t quite figure out the human. At first he had dismissed her out of hand because his focus was on Mammon and getting his money back. Then he had only wanted to pay attention to Melody to use her to force Mammon to return what he owed. He hadn’t been happy when Melody turned him down, taking it personally; in his mind it was just more proof that no one really wanted to help the yucky shut-in. Yet, here she was, not only delivering the figurine he wanted, but she had been the one to dig through the trash pile that was Mammon’s floor to secure it. And for what?

“B… because you really seemed to want it,” Melody said, brows furrowing. “If Mammon didn’t want it, and you did, then what good would she do sitting on his floor,” she reasons. Though, when she thought about it, that wasn’t everything. “And it was part of the deal.” That didn’t seem completely right either, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“And what do you want for it?”

“What do you mean?”

“No one just gives something away for nothing,” Levi said. He just couldn’t bring himself to believe she was doing this out of the kindness of her heart, especially not for him. Maybe it was pity? She felt sorry for him. Of course, that had to be it, if she didn’t want something in return. She must just be tossing him a bone.

“I’m not the one giving it away though; it was never mine to begin with,” Melody said. “I’m just the messenger.”

“Oh.” Levi felt like he had been deflated, yet he was also oddly relieved. He had been over thinking it, and his thoughts gradually started to slow down and become more organized. And, really, she was a lot more tolerable to deal with than Mammon. She seemed generally respectful and not terribly loud. She wasn’t insulting him or yelling over every tiny thing. This wasn’t so bad, really, and Levi started to relax, just a little.

“I should let you get back to your games,” Melody said, turning towards the door. “Though, sometime, if it’s okay, I’d like to see some of the games you have here,” she said, surprising herself at her request. After all, he didn’t seem fond of visitors, and had been responsible for bullying her into a pact. But she was starting to think it was never about her; Levi wanted something so badly he was going to do anything to get it. “You must have some in the Devildom that we don’t have in the human realm.”

“I suppose that would be okay, maybe, once in a while,” Levi agreed tentatively. He didn’t really like company; people were nosy, judgmental, and unpredictable. On the bright side, Melody was a human, and a non-magical one to boot. If he didn’t like what she was doing, it would be an easy thing for even him to kick her out. And if she was actually interested in games, it might be nice to talk to someone about his favorites; if she didn’t, well, it was her own fault for asking if she got bored.

“Then I’ll see you later,” Melody said with a little shy smile. And then she was gone. Levi took a deep breath and got back to his computer. But, whenever he caught sight of the Seraphina figurine from the corner of his eye, he found himself smiling too.