Melody found it wasn’t too difficult to get used to Beel’s room. Other than being one hungry demon, Beel was very mild mannered otherwise. Apart from their initial conversation when she arrived in his room, he didn’t talk much, though he never gave her the impression that she shouldn’t talk to him when she felt the need to speak. Instead, he’d listen to her attentively and usually respond with a brief comment if he had something to say. If he didn’t, he’d just shrug or shake his head. Melody noticed that he spent a lot of time working out, when he wasn’t eating or studying. Some exercises he did in his room, and it just accented further how strong and fit he was.

It wasn’t long into her stay with Beel that something else interrupted, almost as if fate itself just wanted to make her Devildom experience as chaotic as possible. Melody got a message on her DDD from Luke of all people. She hadn’t had much to do with the tiny angel since meeting him, though sometimes they met in the halls at RAD and made idle chitchat. Luke’s conversation seemed to contain three things: hating demons, idolizing Michael, and baking. But this text had little to do with the last two. It was very simple, just a couple of lines:

- - Can you come outside now? - -

- - I’m in front of the House of Lamentation. - -

Although it was a strange request, Melody didn’t think twice. Slipping on some shoes, she went outside to meet Luke, never once suspecting foul play from an angel of all people. Especially not the small Luke, despite his anger. Never was that anger turned against her specifically, so she didn’t feel that Luke disliked her. He looked even smaller, standing outside the gates all alone, than he had at RAD. Perhaps because Simeon was no longer by his side, a rare sight indeed. As soon as he saw her, Luke gave her a big grin.

“Melody…! You came, thank you! I was worried… I don’t know what I’d do if someone saw me hanging out in a place like this.” True to form, Luke had nothing positive to say about anything demons did, said, or owned.

“Was there something you needed from me?” asked Melody, wondering what would have compelled the young angel to venture this far alone.

“Yeah. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have come to this den of demons.” Luke looked fairly indignant over the idea. While Melody couldn’t deny that there were demons in the house, it didn’t really feel like a den; it was a home. “Now, I’ll get right to the point. I need you to let me spend the night in your room tonight. Please, I’m begging you…!”

Melody tried to explain the situation, but being outside in the Devildom was making Luke jittery, and he hurried them inside. Feeling somewhat helpless, Melody brought him inside. Luke was on hyper alert, twitching at any sound or motion as they traversed the halls. When she finally made it to Beel’s room, they managed to slip inside without being seen. On the other side was one very stunned looking Beel, whose eyes went very wide at the sight of Luke coming in on Melody’s heels.

“What is he doing in here?” Beel and Luke asked at the same time, each referring to the other.

“This is Beel’s room…” Melody said, trailing off.

“Melody, this isn’t what I was talking about at all. I believe I asked to stay in your room… so what are we doing here in Beelzebub’s?!”

“You’re talking too loud. If you don’t want the others to know you’re here, you’d better keep it down,” said Beelzebub, looking rather apprehensive along with his confusion.

“Answer the question!” demanded Luke, despite the fact he really wasn’t in any position to demand anything of anyone. Melody tensed, looking over at Beel anxiously. So far she hadn’t seen him lose his temper in a case where food wasn’t involved, but that didn’t mean it was impossible.

“No one can use Melody’s room right now,” answered Beel, even though he didn’t have to. Melody gave him a grateful smile.

“Wha? What do you mean no one can use it?”

“It’s all because of the custard,” Beel explained. Melody still felt bad about that, and sighed.

“The custard…?”

“Melody and I have to share a room now. We don’t have a choice. Those were Lucifer’s orders. I don’t remember asking anyone to pick up a dog from the street and bring it back here, not to mention one that never stops barking.” Beel was obviously able to take verbal shots as well as his brothers, but Melody hadn’t realized it before then. She blinked at him a few times, but then her cheeks went red when she realized how inconsiderate it had been or her to bring him inside.

“I’m sorry Beel; I was just worried about leaving him out there on his own…”

But Melody was cut off by Luke freaking out about being compared to a dog again. Honestly, Melody had to agree with the others, even if it wasn’t kind: Luke only encouraged them by acting this exact way. Still, she didn’t excuse the behavior in the others, even if she understood it. There was a bit of back and forth between the two before Beel handed over a drink. This set off Luke on another tangent, until Beel explained that no, it wasn’t blood, just pomegranate juice. Even this was met with suspicion from Luke.

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“Wh…what?! Beelzebub, why are you being nice to me? It’s creeping me out,” protested Luke. Melody just shook her head; Luke had absolutely no tact. How he could be so much older than her seemed beyond believability.

“Because you gave me cake once.” Beel’s answer was simple, and very much in line with his personality. Still, Melody was surprised that he remembered when other people gave him food; she just always figured he promptly forgot it. He inhaled his food so quickly, she wondered if he even registered who gave it to him. She was curious if he remembered all the food she had pushed his way as well.

“Did I? …Ah, right, you’re talking about that one time…”

“When did this happen?” Melody asked. With how much Luke bad mouthed demons, she was surprised he would share any cake with one.

“It’s nothing important, really.” Luke launched into a narrative about wanting to make really good cakes to please Michael, of course, and that he was practicing making all sorts of cakes until he could make one good enough to present. Beel had mentioned being hungry, so Luke had given him one of the practice cakes. Even if it wasn’t made for Beel, Melody thought it was nice of Luke to give it to Beel, especially since he seemed to hate demons. But, it made her question if he really hated them, or just thought he should. From there, Luke kept going, explaining that Simeon was getting too friendly with the demons, and ignoring him. She wanted to tell him that being jealous was okay, but she thought better of it. Beel wasn’t quite so nice, muttering small things as an aside to Luke’s rant, but he didn’t fully interrupt the angry angel either.

“I told Simeon our friendship was over, and then I strode right out of Purgatory Hall— that’s our dorm— so I can’t go crawling back now, not after I did that. Which is why I’m asking you to let me stay here for a while.”

“Even though you hate demons?” asked Beel bluntly. Cake or not, he was obviously not impressed with Luke’s attitude.

“Well, what choice do I have?! …This is the only place I could think of to go.”

“I’m sorry, Luke, but the decision isn’t mine alone,” Melody said, shaking her head. If it was just her room, she wouldn’t mind the angel staying there. It was wrong for him to run away from Simeon, but she feared what would happen if she turned him out to. Still, her room was under repairs, and any trouble she got into would land on Beel’s head too. She couldn’t make the decision for both of them.

“…Okay, Luke can stay here. I do owe him for giving me that cake, after all,” Beel said, nodding his head. He didn’t look pleased over the arrangement, but he still agreed.

“…! Really? I can stay?!” Luke was smiling with relief.

“Just make sure that my brothers don’t find out about you. If they knew I was sheltering an angel, they’d kick me out of the dorm,” Beel cautioned. Melody doubted that it would actually happen, though the knowledge that they were once angels made the threat seem more severe, somehow. Still, she got the impression that apart from all the squabbling and insults, the brothers were quite close.

The next little bit was rather stressful for both Melody and Beel. At breakfast they both ate less than usual. While it didn’t make anyone bat an eyelash when Melody did it, Beel leaving food behind on his plate had all the brothers chiming in about the occasion. From the sounds of it, Beel’s unusual behavior was equated to the end times. And even when he said he wasn’t leaving the food, but taking it back to his room, there was a lot of speculation on the matter. Satan ended up guessing it had something to do with a cat that Beel had snuck in, which was the closest to the truth that any of them had guessed.

When Melody and Beel made it back to his room with food in tact, Luke was outside the room, excitedly exploring the hallway, and wouldn’t go back inside Beel’s room. He darted around so quickly that Beel couldn’t catch him, even when he handed the plate over to Melody so the food didn’t get everywhere. Not only was Luke moving around, but commenting on everything he saw, exactly like the excited child he appeared as. Melody was getting exhausted just watching him, and watching Beel try to grab a hold of him. Eventually they coaxed him back into Beel’s room, but not before he talked about how stir crazy he was getting. Beel had to excuse himself for a bit, leaving Melody alone with Luke.

“…So, you’ve heard the story about Lucifer and his brothers, right? They used to be angels. …Well, all except for Satan.” Luke seemed to be feeling talkative, so Melody let him speak. She took particular note of Satan being the exception; Beel hadn’t mentioned that part. As curious as she was, however, she didn’t interrupt Luke. “It was a long time ago. So long ago that you humans couldn’t even imagine how far back it was. Back then, Lucifer was the strongest and most beautiful of all the angels. He had six pure white wings, and light radiated from them…”

Melody tried to picture this image of Lucifer, but it was hard. Certainly there was something beautiful about the man: his poise and elegance alone were impossible to miss. The features of his face were finely sculpted, thin eyebrows expressive. But he looked so at home in the dark, almost as if he was a part of it. Imaging him with glowing white wings was difficult.

“…Now keep this between us, all right? You absolutely can’t tell anyone else, understand? Not Beelzebub or any of his brothers either.” Luke waited for Melody to agree, and she nodded her head, hoping it wasn’t a secret that she would feel guilty about keeping. “But back then, I admired Lucifer even more than Michael. And it wasn’t just me. Other angels felt the same way. I think everyone did. Hehe, remember… this is our little secret, okay?”

It was cute, really, but also sad in a way. Melody remembered looking up to her oldest brother when she was very small, only to realize that he was not the person she thought he was. Was that why Luke was so angry with Lucifer? It seemed oddly human to her. But she was beginning to strongly suspect that the difference between angels, demons, and humans was more about their strength and origin than their psychology.

“I understand, and I won’t tell anyone,” said Melody, nodding her head to confirm her words. It was a nice moment between them, but it was interrupted. At that juncture, Beel came back into the room. And he looked worried.

“We’re in big trouble. You’re about to be found out.”

“Huh?” The words had an immediate effect on Luke, who was now looking twice as worried as Beel had.

“We’re having a surprise inspection. Now.”