There was a conversation going on between everyone when Melody and the two angels arrived. By the blush on Mammon’s face, and the expressions of everyone else, it looked like they were at it again, teasing him. She moved away from Simeon’s side and stood beside Mammon. It was true they hadn’t started off very smoothly, but, once they had talked it over, Mammon really had been trying to watch out for her, and she appreciated that. His brothers might not appreciate him, but Melody did. He smiled, a bit awkwardly, as she approached him, the relief on his face obvious: he was glad she didn’t hear any of what they had been discussing, and even more relieved that it had come to a stop.

“So, back to business,” said Solomon smoothly as it appeared the whole group was there. “I think you mentioned that day two of the retreat was supposed to be-” He was facing Diavolo and Lucifer specifically, but Simeon cut in.

“A scavenger hunt, right?” He had noticed that Melody was looking a bit uncomfortable, and it didn’t miss anyone’s notice that she had moved even further behind Mammon, sort of wedging herself between him and Levi.

“Yes, we’ll be having a scavenger hunt,” confirmed Lucifer, his eyes only briefly taking in the sight of Melody shying away from Solomon. Well, he had told her not to trust the sorcerer; but, given the circumstances, she had had little choice. He wondered how such an innocuous human got into so much trouble. Especially one that seemed to try actively to avoid it. Maybe he should start looking into possible curses that might have afflicted her with bad luck; after all, she was related to witches. His brother had been surprised, but he also hadn’t seen the girl’s profile when the choices had been made. “Each group will be given riddles to solve. Each riddle hints at one of the works of art or historical items here in the castle. Once you figure out the answer, you find and take a picture of the item in question,” he explained. “The things you learned during yesterday’s tour of the castle should come in handy as you try solving your riddles.”

Melody’s stomach sank. She had missed most of the tour, because of the little adventure in the labyrinth, and its aftermath. She barely knew anything. Plus, she didn’t have the long life and historical background of pretty much everyone else there. Even Luke knew more about Devildom history than she did. And, she was still a little fuzzy on how long she had been out for after she passed out. Were Solomon, Mammon, Beel, Levi, and Asmo also going to be at a disadvantage? Even if she tried her best, this wouldn’t end well for her. On the bright side, there were no real stakes here; it was for fun, right?

“We’re doing this in groups, huh? In that case, I’m groupin’ up with Melody,” announced Mammon. Melody bit her lip; it was nice that he wanted to group with her, but neither of them had seen the whole tour. But, she didn’t want to seem ungrateful either. She didn’t have time to fret about it though, because Diavolo spoke up.

“Why don’t we just say that the groups will be made up of the same people you share a room with?” suggested Diavolo. At least, his words made it sound like a suggestion, but his tone was rather final, despite sounding as friendly as always. Mammon grumbled about this, but Melody wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t group with her, or because he didn’t like the group he was in. Maybe a bit of both? Either way, as Melody recounted who was in which group in her mind, she concluded that it was probably the fairest outcome; each group had someone who had been lost in the labyrinth, and someone who had been there for the whole tour: Satan, Luke, and Simeon had safely made it through the entire tour, and thus could help their group along.

The lists were given out to the groups, and they split up to find the various things on the list. Some items were the same with the same clues, some items were the same, but had different clues, and some items were unique to each group. Lucifer, Diavolo, and Barbatos oversaw the endeavor, so they mostly wandered around to make sure that no problems cropped up, such as a portrait with a thirst for revenge. Fortunately, they didn’t come across any such thing. However, Asmo soon lost interest and sprinted off ahead to see what everyone else was up to, leaving Simeon and Melody alone to look for things.

Simeon was gentle in his approach, letting Melody try to sort out some of the clues for herself before stepping in with his much older wisdom and experience. He didn’t rush her, or fault her for any mistakes. Shoulders aside, it wasn’t hard for Melody to think of him as an angel. She couldn’t bring herself to feel bad that Asmo had left them to their own devices; neither Simeon nor Luke had ever expressed anything that indicated they wished her harm. While she was still a little wary of them, it wasn’t because of ill intent. She simply feared to disappoint them.

Eventually, they heard voices up ahead, and the two of them quickened their paces. Everyone else had ended up in the same room where Helene’s portrait had once graced the walls. She was no longer there, for safety reasons. Idly Melody wondered if Diavolo would hang the picture back up once they were all gone, or if the unfortunate witch would be relegated to some dusty back room forever… or for a few centuries at any rate. She felt a little bad for the woman, even if she had almost gotten her, and others, eaten by a giant snake. Whether that was her plan, or not, Melody had no idea.

“Hey there, Satan. How’re things going for your team? Well, I hope?” Simeon was just a little ahead of her, trying to strike up a conversation with Satan. But, Satan shook his head looking disappointed in the questions.

“Oh please. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You hatched a plot to keep us from winning, didn’t you?” Satan accused, though he sounded more weary than angry. Melody sometimes forgot he was the Avatar of Wrath. Simeon, however, looked as shocked as Melody felt at these words. What would have given Satan that idea?

“I’m sorry, what are you referring to?” Simeon asked. Solomon stepped up beside Satan, shaking his head. Melody forced herself to not move away, but her eyes darted to the floor.

“He’s referring to Asmo, who’s preventing us from making any progress at the moment.” It was a curious thing; Melody knew that Solomon had the power to stop Asmo, so she wondered if he was truly as upset as he seemed. Then again, maybe it would strain their relationship if he ordered Asmo around in situations like this. It was just a friendly competition, not a death-threatening trap, after all.

“Check it out! We found what we were lookin’ for, so we tried to take a picture. But then HE went and jumped in front of it so we can’t get a clear shot…!” complained Mammon, seeing that the rest of Asmo’s team had arrived. Melody gave him a bit of a smile; she hoped he didn’t think it was a plot too. She wouldn’t have done something like that, and she hoped that Simeon wouldn’t either. If Asmo was doing this to cheat, he had chosen that path on his own.

“Whaaat? Oh, come on. Wouldn’t you rather have a picture of ME than this boring old piece of art? I’m much better looking. Your camera will thank you!” Asmodeus went on to look at the photo on Mammon’s screen and gushed over how good it was, and the best angles by which to photograph him in the future. Melody could only think about how badly he was missing the entire point of their protests. Especially since Mammon lived with Asmo; he certainly didn’t need pictures of him on his DDD. Partway through Asmo’s raving about himself, Luke made a startled sound of dismay. Simeon was quick to get to the younger angel’s side.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Luke, what’s wrong?”

For a few moments the little angel could barely speak. But, finally, after taking a few deep breaths, he said, “I was trying to take a picture of the goddess statue here, but before I could get the shot, Asmodeus CHARMED the statue…!” Wait… no one had told Melody that Asmodeus could charm inanimate objects! How was that even possible? Beel mumbled something which Melody couldn’t make heads or tails of, due to a large donut that he was munching on.

“Beel, how about you swallow that doughnut you’re eating before trying to talk?” chastized Satan, who looked very close to being done with the entire retreat. Meanwhile, Levi was aggressively tapping away at his DDD screen, probably sending another complaint update to his followers. The anger in the room towards Asmodeus was nearly reaching the boiling point. The Avatar of Lust’s narcissism seemed to be on the verge of undoing Diavolo’s plan without him even realizing it.

“Hey, Asmo! Whaddya think you’re doin’ huh?!” demanded Mammon. Asmo just defended himself, claiming he couldn’t help how charming he was. As much as Melody could admit he was a good-looking individual, she doubted that he would get as far as he did on looks alone. His power, and his position, did a lot of the work. And, that was something he could help, to some extent. But she wasn’t about to say these things out loud.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going? We’re not done talking to you, Asmo!” Satan shouted, his voice thin from his efforts to keep his wrath from bursting out of control. Melody shrank back, feeling Beel’s hand rest reassuringly against her shoulder.

“Where am I going? Oh, I dunno, maybe somewhere where I don’t have to listen to someone lecturing me?” Asmo spat back as he flounced off out of the room. Melody had to fight back a laugh. Asmodeus seemed so much like one of Melody’s sisters after having a fight with their older brother, or their mother. The similarities in tone and body language were so close, it was almost surreal. Simeon sighed and gave a helpless gesture.

“He really is a handful. But, he’s our teammate, so we should go after him,” he said, his tone regretful. It would be so much easier to go on without Asmo, but it would also defeat the purpose of the retreat. Melody’s shoulder slumped, but she nodded.

“Okay, Simeon.” She turned towards the rest of the room. “Good luck finishing up; I don’t know if we’ll be back in time. And… I’m sorry we weren’t able to keep him in check.” She didn’t know if they could have stopped it, even if they had followed him the whole time. But, she felt like she should have at least tried. Then again, hindsight was 20/20.

The two of them made it out into the hall, but there was no trace of Asmo. He might not have been the fastest of the demons, but he could move quickly when it suited him. They had no way of knowing where he went. Would he have retreated back to his room, or gone somewhere else in the castle? Melody felt a headache coming on and imagined that Lucifer felt that way almost perpetually by the way he frequently reacted to his younger brothers. She gave Simeon a questioning look.

“Now what?”

“I suppose it’s best to split up to cover more ground. I’ll check back in our room, you go down the other hall there,” Simeon said. “He has a list too, and he might have gone ahead and tried to finish some of these on his own. Or, maybe he’s just going to sabotage it further since everyone has been banding against him.” Sadly, Melody could imagine Asmo doing any of those things. She just hoped that Simeon found Asmo first; she wasn’t sure she was ready to face him alone when he was in a mood like this.

“I’ll see you later then, Simeon,” Melody agreed, putting on a brave face. Then she turned and went down the hallway Simeon had indicated. She heard him walking away behind her, each step taking him further from her, and further from being able to aid her. It was only when she couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore that she let out a deep sigh. However, she almost turned back on her heels when she found Asmodeus alone in a room, peering between his DDD and a piece of sculpture. But, he turned around before she had a chance to leave quietly.

“…Hm? Ah, I was wondering who was behind me. So it’s you, Melody.” He gave her a wicked smile. “What? Did you follow me hoping we could have a little alone time?” That was so not what Melody was looking for, but she struggled to find the words to say it. So she side-stepped the question.

“Come on, let’s go back,” she said, hoping that Asmo would, though doubting it very much. It wasn’t like he had been given enough time to cool down from his little fit.

“Go back? Eew, no. I don’t want to have to deal with them,” exclaimed Asmo, looking quite peevish. Again the similarities between him and Melody’s sister were hard to miss. But, then he smiled at her, and she felt her knees get weak. “What? So now you’ve come to lecture me too? Is that it?” he asked, almost daring her with his tone. Melody’s throat went dry. She didn’t follow him to lecture him, exactly. She just wanted to finish the scavenger hunt, as a team.

“No, I didn’t come to lecture you, but I don’t think that’s how the scavenger hunt was meant to go…” Melody protested.

“You don’t think I should’ve done that? Reeeally?” Asmo was practically purring now, perhaps at her distress, eyes gleaming with mischief. Or… was it something else? Melody swallowed her response.

“I… I don’t know,” she said, her voice coming out in a hollow tone that sounded strange in her ears.

“It’s okay, Melody, just tell me what you really think. It’s not hard,” Amso cooed, taking a step towards her. She backed away from him until she bumped against a wall. Then she froze still. Casually Asmo leaned against the wall, elbow bent slightly as he rested his arm above her head. “Do you really think I shouldn’t have made this game a little more fun, a little more challenging?”

“Well… you did miss the tour, so, I guess it makes sense to try to get an advantage,” Melody said, the words still sounding a bit off to her. Part of her was screaming at her to move, but all she could do was gaze upwards into Asmodeus’ eyes. They looked like a mix of amber and honey, with a hint of pink. Like a sunset.

“And after I had done so splendidly in the labyrinth, I deserve to have a little fun, don’t you think?” he asked, still looking her in the eyes. Melody nodded, her lips feeling strangely heavy. Actually, everything was feeling heavy to her, and she leaned more against the wall behind her for support. “Now, now, don’t be modest, Melody. You don’t need to be shy about speaking up.”

“It seems fair to want a little fun,” Melody answered, her mind feeling dull, as though it was wading through molasses.

“Do you remember what we talked about, in the labyrinth, before Solomon so rudely interrupted us?” Asmo asked. He didn’t miss the way Melody flinched at the name of his pact-holder. It was little surprise, considering how the sorcerer had treated Melody. Not that Asmo would do something so… brutish. No, he had more grace than that. Or so he liked to tell himself. His charm could get people to do things, it was true, but it was easier to convince someone to act out on hidden desires than it was to hide things that troubled them. His power was very useful, but it really only worked in the direction of uncovering things, not hiding them. Anything he wanted to remain hidden, he had to manage on his own.

“Yes,” replied Melody, sucking on her bottom lip. It only took the slightest nudge from Asmo’s power to bring that scene back quite clearly to her mind.

“Good girl, Melody,” Asmo purred, putting a hand gently under her chin. “Now, why don’t we get to the bottom of things? What is it… or should I ask who is it… that you desire?”

“I… I want…” Melody’s mind flickered rapidly. What did she want, deep down? What would she desire, really, if she was free to have anything she wanted? There was no face that stayed in her mind long enough to generate the sort of response that she was being prompted to give, no place or object that clicked into place.

“Go on…” breathed Asmo.

“I want… someone to want me,” she finally said, the words bursting forth as though they had been held back for far too long.

Asmo just stared at her in silence.