“…Melody. …Melody.”

The sound of her name being called brought her back from unconsciousness. It took Melody a few moments to open her eyes and get them to focus on the face in front of her. It was really dark, the dim lights high up the wall offering little illumination. Eventually, she could make out Solomon’s features. Her mind was a bit fuzzy, but she was sure it was Asmo who had grabbed onto her in those last moments. Rubbing her eyes, she realized she was in a strange corridor, slumped awkwardly against a wall. Solomon was standing, and he looked concerned.

“Ah, good. You’re awake…” He smiled with relief. She mused that he looked nicer when he smiled in a genuine sort of way.

“I thought it was Asmodeus that latched onto my arm. So, what happened to him?” she asked, that little detail really nagging at her mind. Her thoughts were so fuzzy, but they kept coming back to that. Solomon pinched his chin thoughtfully.

“Asmodeus? …Well, I grabbed onto his arm as I was being dragged inside the painting, so he should have gotten sucked in too. But it looks like you and I are the only ones who ended up in this particular spot.”

“Where is the witch, Helene?” She remembered that Helene had said ‘capture’ so she had thought they’d all be brought to the witch. Looking down each direction of the hall, she didn’t see anyone. And this didn’t look like the background of the portrait.

“Perhaps the spell was incomplete or misdirected. Until we find out more, I can only make an educated guess,” Solomon admitted with a shrug. But then he frowned. “Two humans alone together in an unfamiliar area of the Devildom… this isn’t safe.” Melody stopped breathing for a few moments. It was pretty much established that Solomon was fairly powerful, but he was still saying this wasn’t safe. Which meant that demons were more powerful than even a human with great magical abilities. This wasn’t very encouraging. Melody nodded weakly. “I’d better go ahead and call Asmodeus over.” Oh! Melody knew that Solomon had multiple pacts; was one of them with Asmodeus? Or was that just a general sorcerer ability?

“How can you do that?” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her, despite their situation.

“By summoning him. If you have a pact with a demon, you can call them to your side whenever you want.” Melody had seen the pact in action, a little bit, the time she told Mammon to duck. Otherwise, she hadn’t used it, though she had felt them humming in the back of her mind from time to time, especially when she wanted something from one of her pacted demons. She wondered if he felt that too. “Though I’m guessing it would be a difficult task for you, since you have almost no magical power.” It was another point of curiosity. Could Solomon sense her lack of magic? Did he cast a spell to do that? Or was he told by Lord Diavolo or Lucifer? “Here, watch.”

Solomon stepped a few paces back from Melody; she stayed where she was, assuming this was part of the summoning. He took a deep breath, and when he started to speak again, his voice was a bit deeper, holding a hint of an echo to it. Purple wisps of power emanated from him. His expression was both fierce and highly focused.

“…Hear me, denizens of the darkness, you who are born of shadow and you who give birth to it. Hear me and do as I command!” Melody wasn’t a demon, but his tone was so authoritative she would have listened to it just because of the sheer assurance in it. It wasn’t hard to believe the man had been alive for centuries and held strong magic. Though, she did wonder what her mother’s power would be like, stacked against his. And, she then realized how little she had thought of home in the last little while. But, she shoved that thought away; it wouldn’t help her here.

“I, Solomon, call upon you to send forth one of your number! I summon the Avatar of Lust, Asmodeus…!”

A loud crack split the air, and a few flashes of light almost blinded Melody. Then there was a slight popping sound and Asmodeus appeared in the space between her and Solomon, yelping with surprise as he was suddenly relocated. His hands were up in the air, and he looked dismayed, and a bit disheveled. Seeing Solomon, he made a chiding sound in his direction.

“Ow… that hurt… Solomon, how many times have I told you to be more gentle when summoning me? What if I had injured my face, hm? What then?” From the sounds of it, Solomon must have summoned Asmodeus several times over the years. Even after everything that happened, Asmo still only seemed worried about his appearance. Instead of being angry, Solomon gave a short laugh.

“Stop complaining, Asmo. This is your fault. …Anyway, where are we?” Solomon apparently wasn’t going to let Asmodeus off the hook.

“Don’t ask me! From the looks of it, I’m guessing we’re in that underground labyrinth or whatever that’s supposed to be beneath the Demon Lord’s Castle—the one Satan and Mammon mentioned.”

“What happened to the others?” Solomon asked, looking only mildly annoyed that Asmo didn’t have a better answer to give.

“How should I know? But I’ll tell you this much: We’d better find Beel before he gets REALLY hungry. We have to get him out of here, or we’ll have a real problem on our hands. If he gets too hungry, he’ll lose control and go on a rampage. He could end up destroying the entire castle, and then Lucifer would be SUPER mad!” Somehow Asmo being more worried about Lucifer’s anger than the destruction of a whole castle, especially one that might fall right on their collective heads, left Melody feeling unsure of whether she should be annoyed with him, or amused. Either way, he seemed rather consistent with his priorities.

“Hmm. I have to say, I’d enjoy watching Lucifer tear into you brothers for doing something like that. But yeah, I’ve got no interest in being involved myself,” Solomon admitted. Melody wondered if he included her in that callous assessment; would he enjoy seeing Lucifer ‘tear into’ her too? She hoped not. But she did agree with Asmo; she had seen Beel crash through a wall already, just for the sake of one custard. How he would be if he missed an entire meal after a prolonged amount of time was something she didn’t want to witness. Especially since she didn’t know if her pact would protect her at that point. “I guess we should start by finding Mammon and Leviathan since they were sucked in as well,” was Solomon’s pragmatic suggestion.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

For a while they walked in silence, following one wall carefully. Even though Melody was curious about a lot of things, she was also feeling a bit worn out, and she had no idea how far they had to walk, or what troubles might find them down there. She had to conserve her strength. Neither Solomon nor Asmodeus seemed tired, but neither of them seemed inclined to talk either. Quietly Melody counted her steps in her mind, but after a while a stray thought made her lose track and she didn’t bother trying a second time. Eventually, Asmodeus broke the silence between the three of them.

“…Solomoooon, how far does this labyrinth go? Are you even sure we’re going the right way?” Asmodeus whined.

“Quiet, Asmo. You’re the reason we’re in this mess to begin with.” He sounded more like a parent chiding an unruly child for poor behavior than someone talking to a thousands-year-old demon.

“Meee? It’s not like I did anything wrong. Melody, you agree with me, don’t you?” Asmodeus turned his eyes on Melody, his expression pleading with her to take his side.

“I don’t know,” Melody hedged. “I wasn’t there, so I don’t know what you told her, or what she told you. Maybe you should have apologized.” That’s what the after-school specials always mentioned. She doubted they had those in the Devildom, or at least no the kind she grew up with.

“Apologize? Me? I’m sorry, but I’m not quite sure why you’d want me to do that. I mean, true, I suppose an entire country was destroyed in the end, but how could I have known that would happen, hm?”

“Even if you couldn’t know what would happen, bad things did happen to her, and, if you gave her some kind of condolence, maybe she wouldn’t have gotten as mad,” she suggested hesitantly. It wasn’t the same as an apology, even if Helene deserved it.

“It’s not like I manipulated Helene, after all. I simply gave her an opportunity to have what she wanted—to unleash her inner desire,” Asmo said, his voice lowering for a bit. He let that hang in the air for a moment before he giggled again. “You see, everyone desires something. Everyone has lust in their heart. No matter how noble and saintly they may be, they’re always keeping something locked up in there.” He placed a long, well-manicured finger against Melody’s forehead. She wanted to pull away but found she couldn’t make herself. She couldn’t even look away from Asmodeus to see what Solomon was making of this interaction. “As hard as they may try to control it, deep inside, they wish they could do what they want and have what they want. They’re constantly fighting the urge to stop suppressing it, to set desire free.” Asmo leaned closer, and Melody froze up. “…And it’s the same with you as well, isn’t it, Melody?”

“I…” Melody’s words got stuck in her throat, but Asmodeus didn’t seem to mind. He moved his finger from her forehead down to the center of her lips.

“I wonder… who is it you desire? What sort of secret, shameful thoughts are hidden inside that heart of yours?” Images flickered through Melody’s mind as Asmodeus spoke. The brothers she lived with, were all attractive in their own ways, and while it hadn’t been comfortable living with them all the time, her bonds with them so far had been entirely platonic. But with Asmo thinking that way, her mind started to wander, to pour over the possibilities… No, there were no possibilities. Not only were they demons, but, they were way out of her league. Unless… Her head felt heavy, and she was struggling to make sense of her thoughts.

“Why not let me help you reach inside and unleash it?” Asmo’s eyes were fixed on hers. Usually, Melody would have pulled away already, a blushing, stammering mess. Instead, she stared back. Even though her heart was now hammering like crazy, and she was starting to feel faint, she couldn’t tear her gaze from his.

“…Hey!” Solomon’s voice was sharp, breaking the tension that hang in the air between Asmodeus and Melody. Gasping, she finally looked away, turning towards the sound.

“Quiet Solomon. We’re having a moment here,” complained Asmodeus, his tone sharper than Melody had ever heard it. And it wasn’t that facetious annoyance that usually crept into his voice. No, this was definitely a demon speaking, not a peevish prima donna.

“Are you sure now’s the time for that?” asked Solomon thoughtfully.

“Yes, things are just starting to get good…” Asmodeus said with a smile, and even that much was enough to set Melody blushing again.

“Okay, but you should probably know that Mammon, Leviathan, and Beelzebub are being chased by a giant snake right now,” Solomon said, his tone somewhat sarcastic. Asmodeus paled. Melody hiccuped.

“…Come again?” It was all Asmo could think of to say; it sounded so ridiculous, but at the same time, threatening. Only then did Melody see and hear the other demon brothers in the distance, calling for help.

“So hungry… can’t… run…” Beel didn’t look like he was doing well at all.

Sure enough, there was a gigantic snake chasing the three other demons. While Melody liked snakes well enough to say it was a very beautifully colored snake, she had no experience with snakes of the proportion. The fact that three very powerful demon lords were fleeing from it meant that it was a serious threat, and if they couldn’t stand up against such a creature, then she surely would be a mere hors d'oeuvre.

“…Wait. What is that thing chasing them?” asked Asmo, looking as though he was going to be ill.

“It’s a snake, and a really big one at that,” replied Solomon with an almost eerie calmness. His expression was thoughtful, eyes narrowed as he considered the problem.

“Gah… it’s giant. And disgusting! Ugh, I hate having to look at unattractive things,” was Asmo’s sole complaint.

“If it wasn’t chasing down your brothers, I would say it’s very pretty, for a giant snake,” Melody observed, her tone meek. Asmo gave her a look as though she’d suddenly grown a second head. Then he shook his own.

“I guess there’s no accounting for taste.”

“Hey, how ‘bout you stop talking’ and HEEEEEELP!” screamed Mammon. Melody was sure, even with all his yelps and signs of fear, this was the first time she’d actually seen him terrified. Her stomach lurched.

“I’m a fan of eating, but I’m not interested in being eaten,” Beel stated with a scowl.

“As if we didn’t already have enough problems as it is, they had to go and bring us another one,” said Solomon, bemoaning his luck. With a sigh of resignation, he added, “Well, we’d better get out of here.” There were a few objections and questions, but Solomon silenced them all. It amazed Melody that he was the one to take charge. As far as she knew, Asmodeus was the only one who could be compelled to follow him, yet they all did. Perhaps he really was that wise. Or, perhaps he just was the one who could be the most convincing leader at that moment. Honestly, Melody was more worried about getting safe than caring about who got her there.

Eventually, they came to a section that looked like it was a dungeon of sorts, with barred-off cells. It wasn’t a comforting location, but at least it was empty, other than the demons and sorcerer she had arrived with. Exhausted, they all leaned against the walls, taking a bit of respite. Melody was breathing heavily; she wasn’t used to running like that, at all. She might have asked for help from Beel, except she worried that his hunger would get worse if she imposed, and she truly didn’t know if any of the others could scoop her up and run with her without risking both of them being eaten.