From that point on, it became more obvious that Melody and Levi were getting along. At least, to the brothers. To an outsider, it wasn’t very noticeable. Levi would raise his head when Melody came to the table to eat, and stopped calling her ‘Normie’. Sometimes, he even greeted her with a wave, taking one hand off his game to do so. Of course, whenever anyone teased him about warming up to Melody, he would blush bright red and claim he was still true to Ruri-Chan. For her part, Melody thought the devotion was sweet, if a little odd. And, it seemed to say a lot about Levi himself. Asmodeus, as the Avatar of Lust, was pretty vocal about the kinds of things he found attractive, often to the point that Melody could feel her own cheeks going red before someone cut him off. But Levi was devoted to this very innocent looking character, and rarely commented about any of the female characters in his other games as objects to be gawked at.

Melody took all this with a grain of salt, though she wished everyone else would stop teasing Levi about the matter. Since there was nothing romantic between her and Levi, her feelings weren’t hurt when he denied any sort of interest in her. But, she did wonder if that was because he didn’t like real girls at all, if it was because she was human, or too normal, or if it was her in specific that he objected to. Whatever the case, Levi certainly marched to the beat of his own drum, and she admired that, though a lot of the intimidation factor had worn off. She still didn’t talk much in his room, but sometimes they would be playing Mononoke Land together, and then he could be quite vocal, asking about what spirits she had, and if she had anything rare, while showing off his rare items. Sometimes Melody would feel a bit envious about his progress in the game, and in those moments, she felt his eyes on her, in a very intense fashion. But, usually the moment would pass and he would blush in embarrassment and turn away.

Sometimes he would get angry at one thing or another. In these cases, Melody would usually just sit in place and try to make herself look small. Anger made her anxious, though after a few outbursts from Levi, she started to get used to those too. Gamer rage was a real thing, after all, but still less threatening than road rage, since most games couldn’t physically affect the outside world. Usually Levi calmed down after a bit. The first major outburst, of course, was the worst. There had been banging, yelling, and Melody could have sworn his eyes were glowing orange, but it could have been a reflection off the screen. However, when he calmed down, he looked embarrassed.

“I hope people weren’t hacking again,” Melody offered. Her wish was honest, but mostly she spoke to avoid an awkward silence. Levi looked a bit relieved.

“No, it wasn’t cheating this time. I just hate when people camp my spawn,” Levi muttered, scuffing his foot against the floor.

“It’s why I stopped playing games like that,” Melody responded quickly, not thinking about how it might be taken.

“Wait, you played games like that? What have you played before? If you don’t play those games anymore, what do you play now? How long have you been playing for?” The questions came out so quickly that Melody couldn’t process any of them at first, and she laughed a little nervously.

“I’ve been playing since I was little,” Melody answered slowly, tackling the last question first. “I… my family situation was a little tricky, and I think my mom found it easier to keep me quiet with games,” she admitted, not knowing anything about demon families. The seven demons she lived with called each other brothers, so she simply accepted that they had some notion of family, and left it at that. “Most of the ones I play now are either really relaxing, like Animal Crossing and Pokemon Snap, or at least are more about making tactical choices than being able to mash the button faster than someone else,” Melody adds, trying to answer the questions. “I got tired of being yelled at in games becau…” Melody trailed off because Levi had been yelling into his mic just a few minutes ago.

“They’re not for everyone,” Levi agreed, either not noticing the fact that Melody dropped her sentence, or simply not caring. “It takes a lot of skill and concentration for those kinds of games. So it’s fine to stop playing; at least you know what camping a spawn is. Beel always asks if they toasted any marshmallows,” the Avatar of Envy said, rolling his eyes. Melody laughed at this; it wasn’t forced. She could see the large Avatar of Gluttony tying it back to food. Everything seemed to be about eating with him, but he also seemed less inclined to pick on his brothers, as long as they left his food alone.

“I agree,” Melody said. “When I realized I wasn’t very good at the games, it just seemed like a better idea to focus on the ones I was good at,” she smiled, a little bit shyly. While a lot of people wouldn’t think of playing video games as a skill, Levi felt that Melody understood this, and it made him feel just a tiny bit better about himself.

One night, however, things took a turn for the worse. It started out fairly peacefully. Melody was curled up on one of the beanbags, tapping away at Mononoke Land to catch up because she had fallen behind. Honestly, she didn’t know how Levi could keep up with all the things he did. Maybe demons needed less sleep than humans? It wasn’t as if Melody was in any of their rooms when they fell asleep. Soon enough, however, Levi started to get heated, but since he often had outbursts, Melody tried her best to ignore the familiar tightening in her stomach when she heard someone raise their voice. Breathing deeply, she reminded herself it would be fine when Levi calmed down.

But, this time, Levi did not calm down. Instead he pushed away from his desk hard enough that his chair rolled away, hands slamming into fists against the desk as he shouted into the mic. Within seconds, a shimmer of light rippled across his form, and he changed before Melody’s widening eyes. Gone was was the rather unassuming and awkward Otaku who was usually slouched over a computer desk or handheld. Now Levi was standing at his full height, made even taller by the coral-like antlers on his head. A long, powerful tail coiled out behind him, lashing back and forth with envious rage. He had completely forgotten about Melody behind him; his tunneled vision was on his screen.

“How…!” Crash! His tail smashed into a shelf. “Dare…!” Thud! The tail whipped to the other side, smashing dully against the very strong glass of the tank. Henry swam back into the far reaches of his home. “YOU!” This time, when the tail lashed back, there was a scream and the sickening sound of flesh impacting flesh. Levi never finished his sentence. Turning around, he saw Melody lying on the ground, a welt already forming on her arm and cheek where his tail had struck her. Panicking, Levi switched back to his more human form. Generally he didn’t want to draw attention to his room, but this time he didn’t care. Running out into the hall, he screamed for help.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

From his room, Mammon heard the panicked yell for help, and his first instinct was to ignore it. Levi was always getting excited, or upset, about something, and so he didn’t much of it. Then he remembered his earlier concerns about Melody being in the third-born’s room. What if she was in there now? Like a shot, Mammon was out of his seat and down the hall, grabbing Levi by the shoulders and shaking him.

“What happened?”

“It’s Melody!” It was all Levi could manage to say before Mammon had run into the room. It was a harsh reminder of how fragile humans were. A bump that would have barely phased him, or his brothers, had rendered the human unconscious. She looked a little too still, lying there, with a look of panic still on her face.

“What did you do Levi!” The otaku’s panic was catching. Mammon was, of course, worried about losing Goldie again, as well as Lucifer’s wrath if he failed to protect the human and something truly bad happened to her. What if she didn’t recover? Would he be back at the witches’ mercy? But, even beyond that, he was worried about the girl. She seemed so helpless half the time. She could have tugged on the pact and hoped that he arrived, but he hadn’t felt the vaguest hint. Maybe she couldn’t summon him the way Solomon had summoned Asmodeus from the middle of family dinner a few times. He’d have to look into that. He was so used to witches and their greedy paws that he didn’t know much about non magical humans. He cursed his ignorance. He cursed Levi’s carelessness. He cursed the human’s trusting nature.

“I got mad at a game. Someone had a super rare, impossible to fi…”

“I don’t need the details; skip to the part where the human got hurt, ya blockhead!” Mammon cut off Levi quickly; he knew his brother would go on forever, without taking a breath, before they got to the important part. Levi glared, temper rising, but he forced himself to get to the point; he could be mad at Mammon later.

“She got hit with my tail,” he admitted sullenly. “But I didn’t do it on purpose; I forgot she was back there!” To his credit, he felt really bad about hurting Melody; it hadn’t been his intention at all. Mammon could sense this; usually Levi would whine a lot more about it, trying to put all the blame on the other person.

“We’re going ta have to get help; I don’t know how to fix a broken human,” Mammon admits. “You go get Satan; I’ll get Asmo.” It turned out to be unnecessary. Both the other brothers were outside the door. Satan was holding a book in his hand, looking very cross. Asmo was pouting more than angry, but he definitely wasn’t pleased.

“Why are you two always making such a fuss; I was just getting to the good part of this book,” grumbled Satan. It was a warning; everyone knew that he was a wrecking ball of rage when he got going.

“I almost spilled my new nail polish all over the place, you were being so obnoxious,” added Asmo, looking incredibly indignant. He didn’t scowl though; that created wrinkles.

“Cut it out, both of ya,” Mammon growled. About to protest, Asmo and Satan exchanged glances. That wasn’t Mammon’s usual huffing sound of protest; he wasn’t playing games now.

“Melody’s hurt,” Levi pointed out. “But neither of us know anything about first aid.”

“Tempting as it is to get egg on Lucifer’s face, this isn’t the time for it,” Satan agreed, going in to look at the damaged human. Asmo, however, was already on his way to get something to use. While he was generally more interested in cosmetics, he always had items on hand to make injuries go away quickly, and without scarring. A body needed to be cared for in all ways necessary, not just makeup, bathing, and other methods of pampering. And humans were so very fragile, after all.

By the time Asmo had zipped back to the room, Satan was already rising to his feet from a kneeling position, having assessed Melody’s current state of health. He nodded his head, waving Asmo to come on over, and the two of them worked to apply cold compresses to the welts. Melody’s wrist was bandaged carefully, just loose enough that it wasn’t going to cut off circulation. Satan’s excellent memory served him well, and Asmo’s practiced and steady hands were smooth and efficient. He could draw things out, when it was a matter of fun, but he could work quickly when it was needed. Satan and Mammon then lifted the unconscious human between them, and carried her back to her room, with Asmo leading the way in case her door was closed. Levi was left alone in his room, forlornly looking at the damages left behind. With a sigh that came from deep in his belly, he started picking up the mess.

Meanwhile Melody was deposited into her bed. Her expression eventually evened out, perhaps because she sensed she was in her bed, perhaps because her pain had lessened. The three brothers remaining looked between each other: someone would have to tell Lucifer. Mammon could feel his brothers eyes boring a whole into him. Of course it would fall on his shoulders. On the bright side, at least Satan and Asmodeus generally got along with each other; Satan’s anger would often keep Asmo in line, while Asmo’s charming ways could add some warmth to Satan’s more reserved personality. And, Mammon wouldn’t be left alone with either one to snipe at him, so he trudged down the hall to Lucifer’s office.

Lucifer himself, once apprised of the situation, had to choose which took priority: scolding Leviathan for his carelessness, or checking on the human. He decided on the latter: if anything needed to be done further for Melody, then it was better to do it sooner; Levi wouldn’t be any more, or any less, in trouble when Lucifer got around to him. When he got to Melody’s room, he could tell the damage wasn’t a small matter, but the human was not in harm’s way anymore. At least Diavolo would be spared any great embarrassment in this case. Naturally he would have to tell the Prince what happened, but no one else outside the inner circle would have to know. And if the human missed a few classes due to some human sickness, no one would think twice about her absence. The only problem was if Melody herself kicked up a fuss.

Leviathan was oddly quiet during the entire scolding. He bravely bore the ‘what were you thinking’ segment, suppressed his retorts during the ‘think of Diavolo and the program’ section, hung his head during the ‘learn to control your temper’ portion, and sighed deeply at the end when Lucifer told him he couldn’t have Melody in his room anymore until he found a better way to keep her safe. That was the part that hurt the most to hear; the rest was mostly old news to him. But Levi took the whole thing so well, Lucifer fixed him with a discerning stare. Levi didn’t brush off the lecture, or try to displace the blame, or minimize the danger. He just accepted it all with the occasional nod of his head. Lucifer decided to forgo hanging him, upside down or otherwise, from the ceiling. It was a good sign, in his opinion, that he seemed to care about the well-being of someone that wasn’t a fictional character.