Asmodeus came back to the room about fifteen minutes later. He plunked himself down on his bed with an over-dramatic sigh, fanning himself as if he had worked up a sweat, which Melody couldn’t see a trace of. The Avatar of Lust looked as good as he always did. As much as he fretted over his appearance, Melody wondered if he actually could look bad, or if the fear was all in his head. Or, maybe it was his own way of humble-bragging. Honestly, she couldn’t tell. What she did know, however, was that he always made sure he was noticed, even if the reason for it was negative.

“I don’t like those sorts of adventures at all!” he complained, fixing his amber gaze on Melody, who slid her gaze away. Instead of being offended, Asmodeus just giggled. He was about to say more when the door opened once more. Simeon stepped inside, and Melody could feel herself relaxing, just a little. As worried as the angel made her, at least his presence ensured that she wouldn’t be alone with Asmodeus.

“How are you doing, Melody?” he asked, his tone gentle. “It sounds like you’ve gone through quite the ordeal.”

“I’m mostly okay now,” Melody ventured to say. “Thank you for asking. Did you enjoy the rest of the tour?”

“I think it’s fair to say I would have enjoyed it more if we all hadn’t been so worried about you and the others being sucked into the portrait; we had no idea when or how you’d be able to get out,” admitted Simeon. “Luke was beside himself; he had just assured himself you were safe after the incident at the House of Lamentation, only to see you disappear again.”

“Well, time for me to get some sleep. Nighty-night, you two!” exclaimed Asmodeus, suddenly getting up off the bed and moving into the washroom with a bundle of clothes in his arms. It seemed that he wasn’t interested in talking more about the adventure, having already gotten his fill during dinner. Simeon blinked in surprise.

“You’re going to bed already? It’s awfully early for that.”

“Lack of sleep leads to unhealthy skin, and I don’t want that! I’m sure both of you want to see me looking my best, right?” he called from behind the door, amid the sounds of fabric moving around. Melody blushed and looked away, not wanting to think too hard about Asmo getting ready for bed. She also wasn’t going to tell him that she’d rather see him look less than his best; he’d be less intimidating that way.

“Well, I suppose that means that I’ll get to enjoy some peace and quiet tonight, which is much appreciated,” mused Simeon, giving Melody a conspiratorial smile.

“You don’t think I’ll be a disturbance?” she asked him.

“I haven’t seen any evidence that you are a troublemaker, Melody. Just, very unlucky. Hopefully, you’ve used up your bad luck for the week, and it will be smooth sailing from now on.”

“HEEEEEY!” The door opened and Mammon stepped inside, calling loudly. “Look who’s here… it’s Mammon! And you know what that means?! You ain’t gonna be gettin’ ANY sleep tonight! AHAHAHA!” He was loud, even bordering on obnoxious, but Melody couldn’t be upset that he was there. Asmodeus, who had just exited the bathroom, looked quite annoyed, on the other hand. “All right all right all right! Time for a pillow fight deathmatch with the Avatar of Greed himself! LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLE!”

Melody was less certain about having any sort of ‘deathmatch’ even if it was just pillows. But, she assumed that either Mammon didn’t think this over, or he must just think his phrasing wouldn’t be a problem. He had been very supportive, even protective, when Solomon had used his dirty tactics, and she felt she could forgive Mammon almost anything except an outright betrayal. Even so, it wasn’t the way she would want to spend the evening, and by the look on Simeon’s face, she guessed he didn’t want it either.

“…Asmo, he’s your brother, isn’t he? Do you think you could possibly do something about him?” Simeon asked, looking over to where Asmo had already crawled into bed and seemed to be asleep. His only response was light breathing at any rate. Whether he was truly asleep or not wasn’t discernible from that distance. Melody pressed her lips together. She had a pact with Mammon, and technically could make him stop. But Simeon didn’t even look her way. Did that mean he didn’t know about the pacts? Or perhaps, as an angel, it would be unseemly to encourage her to use one.

“OH NO, UH-UH! You’re not gonna fool ME, pretendin’ to be asleep!” Mammon said, already crossing the room towards Asmodeus. Honestly, Melody would rather let sleeping demons lie, even if the demon was only faking it. Idly Melody wondered what Mammon had to eat or drink, at dinner. He seemed more hyper than usual. “Right, so it’s gonna be me and Melody versus Simeon and Asmo! So c’mon, get up already, Asmo!” Annoying or not, it was touching that Mammon wanted Melody on his team, especially since a human and a demon would have a strong disadvantage against an angel and a demon. “All right all right all right! Let’s get started before that ass Lucifer comes ‘round on patrol and starts botherin’ us!”

“I’m sorry. Who did you just call an ass?” Lucifer’s deep voice cut through Mammon’s hyper talking, causing Melody to squeak in surprise, even though she hadn’t been doing anything wrong. Lucifer still wasn’t a comforting person to her, and to have him suddenly in her room was a bit nerve-wracking. She didn’t hold the previous altercation against him, but, he was still very dangerous. And being angry with Mammon didn’t help. She also wondered if Mammon hadn’t insulted him, if he would have still walked in at that moment, or if Mammon somehow invoked him simply by complaining about him.

“Gah…!” Mammon wasn’t eloquent in his surprise and displeasure at being caught insulting Lucifer. His older brother sighed and shook his head, his expression showing dismay more than anger now.

“You know, I don’t want to spend my evening patrolling the halls, nor did I want to bother you,” he said, looking at Melody, a hint of apology in his tone. But then he was scowling again as he faced Mammon. “But I received word that a certain dimwit tried to sneak inside the castle vault. So, as much as I’d like to rest now, I can’t. …Isn’t that right, Mammon?”

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“Ah… y’know what? I suddenly feel sooo tired… Maybe I’ll just… go back to my room and, uh… sleep,” Mammon hedged, starting to inch back towards the door.

“MAAAAAMMOOOOON?” Lucifer growled.

“Yikes!” Mammon squeaked at the same time Melody hiccuped, both of them reacting to Lucifer’s irritation. Melody wasn’t sure how Mammon managed to get her and Levi settled, attend dinner, and attempt to sneak into the castle vault, and still have enough energy to barge into her room and demand a pillow fight.

“You’re coming to my room. Now. And tonight it’s not going to be just me in there, but Diavolo as well. I have a feeling we’re going to have all sorts of fun, don’t you?” Lucifer’s expression belied his words, and Melody was sure she’d never heard anyone mention ‘fun’ in that tone of voice before. He grabbed Mammon by the arm and ushered him out of the room, Mammon pleading for mercy the whole time. It left Melody trembling. But, when she glanced over toward Simeon, the angel was definitely smiling.

“…Well. It seems as though we’ll get a peaceful night’s sleep after all, doesn’t it?” he asked pleasantly.

“Don’t you think that’s a little too indifferent?” Melody asked.

“It might seem that way, yes,” Simeon conceded. “But I’ve known them both for a very long time. I know you’ve seen a lot of scary things since coming here, Melody, but you have to remember that they’ve been living with each other for much longer than you’ve been alive. They both know what to expect from each other, no matter how much they might act otherwise. You’re the wild card here. More than Luke and I. Even more than Solomon.” His voice was gentle but firm. “I can almost guarantee that by morning, Mammon will have a lot to complain about, but he’ll be no worse off than he was when he left this room.” Simeon seemed so serene about the matter, that Melody found herself calming down quite quickly.

“Thank you, Simeon.”

“Don’t mention it. Now, get a good night’s sleep. We still have one full day left, and another half day,” he reminded her.

“I will.” And, with that, Melody snuggled down under her covers and quickly fell asleep.

Despite falling asleep relatively early, Melody was slow to wake up. Asmo was already up, prepped, and out of the room before she even stirred. Simeon gently woke her before any of the other brothers came in to loudly demand where she was, thinking that it might be better that way. Even so, she was startled when the first face she saw that morning was Simeon’s. Then she looked away, in embarrassment.

“Sorry for almost shouting at you; I guess I’ve already gotten used to everyone else,” she said meekly.

“That’s quite alright, Melody. And I’m pretty sure it’s exactly why Lord Diavolo put us in the same room; he knows we haven’t interacted as much. I would like to say thank you for standing up for Luke that one time. It was very brave of you,” Simeon said earnestly, causing Melody to blush at the compliment. The last time the incident had been brought up, they had been in a room full of people.

“I was terrified, but… I didn’t want that sort of thing on my conscience. I really should have told you right away that Luke was with us, even if he was mad at you,” Melody said, frowning slightly.

“You certainly could have made that choice, and I wouldn’t have judged you for it. But, sometimes, we’re stuck in a situation where there are no good choices. If you have called me, he might have been safer, but he wouldn’t have trusted you, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t have taken offense and run off where neither of us could have found him. You’re a human without magic, living among demons. You’re making a lot of decisions that most people never have to make, in any of the realms. As long as you are doing things because you think they are right, I don’t think you’ll be led astray,” Simeon said with a gentle smile. Melody nodded her head. Angels in some stories were depicted as quite fierce, while others were shown to be serene and mild, yet others were described as firm and unbending. While Simeon didn’t seem like a doormat, he didn’t seem terribly harsh either.

“That makes me feel a little better; thank you. I think I’m going to get up now.”

“I’ll wait outside while you get ready, if you like, then we can walk together to the main hall,” Simeon suggested.

“I would like that, yes,” Melody agreed. Simeon just nodded once and stepped outside the room. When she was alone, Melody quickly got dressed and ran a brush through her hair, pulling it back into a loose bun. The formal dinner and dance were supposed to be that evening, but for a scavenger hunt, her normal clothes would be good enough. She pushed down any nervousness about that evening and focused on the upcoming activity. She remembered doing things like that in school, and usually, they were pretty fun. Except this time she’d be in a castle. She had missed so much during the tour that she was looking forward to seeing things for the first time, even if she came in last as far as the hunt went.

So, she was in fairly good spirits as she exited her room, DDD in hand. As promised, Simeon was waiting outside their room, effectively standing guard so none of the brothers barged in while she was changing. She would have died of mortification if any of them had wandered in while she was at any stage of undress, no matter what Asmodeus had been saying the day before. When he saw that she was done, he dropped into step beside her and they made their way to the main hall. They were met on the way by a rather anxious-looking Luke, who probably hadn’t felt comfortable milling about with demons when his guardian was elsewhere. When he saw them, his expression brightened.

“Melody! Simeon! I’m so glad to see you. Those demons are so…” He struggled to find the words, and he balled his hands into fists.

“It’s alright, Luke, we’re here now.”

“You look like you’re doing okay Melody, but I was so worried when you got sucked into that picture. They should let you move to Purgatory Hall with Simeon and me! These demons are nothing but trouble,” he said. Melody just shook her head, though she gave him a little smile; she didn’t want to bring up the point that Solomon had proven he was just as willing to put her at risk as the demons.

“They’re not so bad once I got used to them,” she tells the little angel. “Remember how much Beel was willing to help you?” was her gentle reminder. From the corner of her eye, she saw Simeon smile in approval.

“Aww, you’re right, but, still…”

“It must be hard for you to trust any of them. But, even though some of them have scared and hurt me, it was always because they were angry or had the wrong information. There are actually demons out there who might hurt me just because I’m human, and if I was staying with you and Simeon, they might hurt you two as well,” she said seriously. She remembered what Lucifer had told her the first day, about vulgar demons who would try to attack her. When Lucifer had lost his temper and almost killed her… he had thought that someone was trying to control him and his brothers. He was wrong, but it wasn’t from a place of malice that he acted.

“That’s why they should never have invited a non-magical human in the first place,” protested Luke. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Luke, if you keep going on this way, you’ll just scare Melody,” Simeon warned, though he was still smiling. Luke’s shoulders drooped, and he looked at the floor.

“It’s okay, both of you. I think you both care what happens to me, and to each other. But, as long as I’m careful, things should turn out in the end.” Whether Melody truly believed this herself, she wasn’t sure. She only had to convince the angels so that it didn’t turn into a subject of contention between them. “And, we have a scavenger hunt to get to, so, let’s get to it!” She sounded more chipper than she felt, but it seemed to put Luke more at ease, and his posture bounced back. The three of them continued on their way to the great hall in better spirits.