That night after the ball, everyone retreated to their rooms. Solomon went to bed almost immediately, the dance and cooking dinner for everyone having wiped him out. Asmo had once again laid claim to the bathroom, much to my chagrin, so I was left sitting on my bed as I waited for a hot shower. I managed to get out of my dress, slipping on some comfortable sweats as I worked my hair out of its side bun. As I did that, I caught sight of the diamond still on my hand. I looked at it, running my fingers over it before taking a deep breath and grabbing my D.D.D. I opened the messenger app and group messaged all the brothers I had under a pact.
Tinker Belle: Mammon, Levi, Beel, you up?
After a minute, I got replies from them all.
Mammoney: Yeah, I'm up. Haven't even gotten a chance to go to bed yet.
L3V1: Sleep is for normies!
Beelzeburger: Yup
Tinker Belle: Good. Listen, Operation: Photograph Lucifer Sleeping is back on. I need that photo to get a pact with Asmo.
As expected, Mammon was the first to complain.
Mammoney: Seriously? Why would Asmo want that? No way. It's impossible.
L3V1: Well, there goes that plan! That was quick. Lolol
Beelzeburger: I mean, we couldn't do it last time.
Tinker Belle: I know, I know. But if we're going to get Belphie and Lucifer to make nice, I need pacts from everyone, and this was Asmo's condition.
Mammoney: Man, I don't believe Asmo. He knows it's impossible, but he still tells you to do it anyway. What an ass.
I groaned, flopping onto my bed.
Tinker Belle: Mammon, you're the only one who knows where Lucifer's room is. We need you on this.
L3V1: I wouldn't mind going, personally.
That actually surprised me. I sat up and actually waited a moment to see if it was a typo. When he didn't correct it, I was stunned.
Tinker Belle: Seriously? You'll help?
L3V1: Sure. I mean, a picture of Lucifer's face while he's asleep? That'd totally blow up on social media. Plus, you didn't invite me along last time, so this time I'm going.
Tinker Belle: Sweet. Thanks Levi.
One down, two to go.
Tinker Belle: What about you, Beel? You in?
Beelzeburger: No thanks.
I gritted my teeth, trying to figure out a suitable bribe. Thankfully, Levi was way ahead of me.
L3V1: Would a Hellfire-Baked Cheesecake from Madame Devian change your mind? Because if you come along, I'll give you one.
The reply was almost instantaneous.
Beelzeburger: I'll be there.
I did a silent fist pump.
Tinker Belle: Nice one, Levi! Alright then, so it's me, you, and Beel. We'll meet up by the charmed Goddess Statue.
I smirked, then held up three fingers… then two… then one… and another message popped up.
Mammoney: Wait! Who said I wasn't going, huh?
Beelzeburger: You did. Just now.
Tinker Belle: So you'll come?
Mammoney: Yeah, yeah, I'll come. You three would be lost without me!
And I got them all.
Tinker Belle: Great. Goddess Statue. Five minutes.
With that, I stuffed my D.D.D. into my pocket. Sliding on my slippers and putting my hair in a ponytail, I made my way out into the hall.
…
We all met up in front of the charmed statue. As expected, all of us were in our pajamas. Hopefully, that made it easier for us to sneak around, given we were all in either slippers or sock feet.
"Alright," I began. "This time, we absolutely cannot fail. I need that photo."
"You can count on us, Belle," Levi swore.
"Where's my cheesecake?" Beel questioned, already drooling. "I'm hungry."
"You'll get it after we get the photo," Levi promised. "Now stop drooling on me, got it?"
"Okay Mammon," I declared, getting everyone's attention. "Take us to Lucifer's room."
"Right, it should be right at the end of this hall." He began walking, and all of us followed after him. "This way, and keep quiet. We do not want to get caught again."
Levi pulled out his D.D.D. and I quickly put my hand over it.
"Absolutely no posting anything, Levi. We do not want to risk Lucifer catching on."
"Right..." He put the D.D.D. away. "Sorry."
"I just hope he's actually asleep," Beel remarked.
"After the dance, and the disaster of a scavenger hunt, I'd say so," Mammon declared. "Now shut up. We're here."
We all fell silent as we gathered in front of the large wooden door that led to Lucifer's room. Mammon carefully opened it, and one by one we slipped inside. The room was completely pitch black, and we couldn't see a single thing. We couldn't risk lights because that could wake Lucifer, so we stuck close to one another.
"I can't see a thing..." Mammon whispered.
"We need to let our eyes adjust," Beel quietly pointed out. "Then we'll be able to see perfectly."
As he said that, a growl reached our ears. I turned to Beel, keeping my voice low.
"Beel, I know you were looking forward to that cheesecake, but try and control your stomach. It sounds like a monster."
"Belle… that wasn't me."
That made us both freeze. The growl sounded again, and this time it was followed by a disgusted sound from Levi.
"Beel, I thought I told you to stop drooling on me!" he angry whispered.
"Levi, Beel's over here by me," I pointed out. "He couldn't have drooled on you."
"If it wasn't Beel, then who's drooling on me?"
The growl sounded one more time, and I felt a warm wind hit my back. I jolted, and so did Mammon.
"You felt that, right Belle?" he asked nervously. "That warm… wet air… like something was… breathing on us?"
I just whimpered and nodded. The growling was much louder this time, and was coming from right behind us. Ever so slowly, we all turned around, coming face to face with the source of all our discomfort. It was a massive black dog, one that completely towered over all four of us. It had three heads, eyes like glowing embers, and was breathing literal fire. It roared at all of us, fire billowing from its three mouths as all of us were forced to hit the deck.
"CERBERUS!" Mammon shrieked
"HE'S REAL TOO?!" I exclaimed.
"NOT THE TIME!" Beel insisted, grabbing me and throwing me over his shoulder before scooping Levi under his other arm. "RUN!"
"HEY!" Mammon shouted. "WHAT ABOUT ME?!"
We rushed back to the door, but when Mammon tried to open it, it wouldn't budge.
"No, No, NO!" he screamed. "It's locked!"
"We're gonna die!" Levi cried.
"Find another door!" Beel insisted. "Hurry!"
"I found one!" Mammon declared. "C'mon! We're getting out of here!"
We couldn't see anything, but suddenly, Mammon grabbed the front of Beel's shirt and pulled him forward. The greedy demon then ripped open a door, blinding us with bright, white light. We stepped through, only to find there was no floor. We all screamed as we dropped, disappearing into the light as Cerberus growled and snapped through the opening.
...
After a good minute of just falling into nothingness, we finally hit the ground. Beel ended up taking the brunt of the fall for me and Levi, though we both still felt the aftershock. Mammon ended up face planting right next to us, groaning upon impact.
"Ow..." Levi groaned.
"Oh, you're in pain?" Mammon winced. "You're not the one who ended up eating concrete..."
"Beel," I let out, rolling off of the gluttonous demon before grunting in pain. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine..." he replied, sitting up and popping his back. "We've had worse falls..."
"Where are we?" Mammon questioned. "My head's still trying to catch up with my body."
I looked around, and my face fell when I saw the familiar dark brick of the underground labyrinth. I rubbed my eyes, blinking a bit to make sure I was actually seeing what was before me. When my surroundings didn't change, I groaned again.
"We're back in the Labyrinth… again..."
Mammon lifted his head, looked around, then dropped right back onto the Mammon-shaped dent in the ground.
"Of course we are..."
"Hang on a sec," I spoke up. "If we're down here again, and we just made a butt-ton of noise..."
That's when a hissing noise reached our ears, followed by the sound of something heavy sliding along the ground. Mammon finally got up, as did the rest of us as we gathered into a small huddle.
"Levi..." Mammon said nervously. "Please tell me you slipped into your demon form and that's your tail dragging on the ground."
"No, I'm not in demon form," Levi replied. "And even if I was, my tail's not that heavy."
"Then it can only be one thing..." Beel rationalized. "Henry 1.0."
As if on cue, the massive snake burst out of one of the hallways, round eyes locking onto us. We all screamed in fear, Beel grabbing me and Levi again as we all took off away from the snake. Immediately, Henry 1.0 gave chase, hissing angrily and showing off his massive fangs.
"Not again!" Mammon cried out. "Why does this keep happening to me?!"
"I thought Asmo charmed Henry 1.0!" I exclaimed. "Why is he coming after us?!"
"Charms don't last that long, Belle!" Levi explained. "It wore off a while ago!"
"That thing used to be your pet, right Levi?!" Beel recalled. "Do something!"
"Even if I wasn't being carried around like a piece of luggage, I couldn't! He won't listen to me anymore, remember! I don't think he even remembers being my pet!"
"Then grilled snake it is!" Beel decided.
"NO!" Levi and I both snapped.
"Well if either of you have a better idea, now's the time to speak up!" Mammon shrieked.
I was about to yell a retort, but that's when I spotted the diamond on my hand again. I looked at it, then remembered that I still had access to Solomon's power. An idea came to me and I quickly wriggled out of Beel's grip. Once I was on the ground, I got up and faced Henry 1.0, much to the horror of the brothers.
"BELLE!" they all screamed.
Henry 1.0 was coming in fast, but I stood my ground and placed two fingers on the diamond like I'd seen Solomon do. I took a deep breath, and began to recite the spell.
"Here 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!"
As I said this, I was suddenly engulfed in a blaze of cyan light. It covered me completely, illuminating the dark tunnels. Henry 1.0 actually stopped, blinded by the light. I continued with the spell, feeling like my whole body was pulsating with power.
"I call upon you to send forth one of your number! I summon the Avatar of Lust, Asmodeus!"
There was a loud boom, then a crack of light. All of a sudden, Asmo was standing before me, a sleep mask on his face and his silken pajamas slightly rumbled. He yawned as he removed the mask, blinking and rubbing his eyes.
"Solomon, what could you possibly need at this hour? You know that lack of sleep is bad for my skin, right?" He seemed to finally wake up enough to realize where he was, and was instantly on high alert. "Wha- huh? No way! How could I be here?!"
"Belle just summoned you..." Beel let out, still staring at me and the light show I was giving off.
"We can discuss that later!" Levi insisted. "Just hurry and do something! Henry 1.0 won't be stunned for very long!"
Indeed, Henry 1.0 was already shaking off the effects of the light. I was beginning to breath heavily, but I kept my ground and continued on.
"Denizens of the darkness, awaken! You who are born of shadow, hear me! I call upon you now to lend your power to Asmodeus, Avatar of Lust!"
The power I was giving off began swirling around a stunned Asmo. He shuddered hard as he was suddenly forced into his demon form from the sheer power he was forced to take on. He blinked as he looked down at himself, and at the light radiating off of him.
"I don't believe it..." he gasped, laughing in stunned surprise. "What is even going on right now? All this power… not even Solomon has ever been able to draw this much out of me." He smiled, then turned to Henry 1.0. "You can totally tell too, can't you, Henry?"
The angry snake's demeanor had taken a complete turn, his head lowering and his fangs retracting. He leaned against Asmo, and almost seemed to be purring. I let out a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall.
"Oh it worked… thank God..."
"Hang on..." Mammon spoke up, approaching me. "Belle, I thought you hadn't made a pact with Asmo yet. Let me see your bracelet!"
He grabbed my arm and checked the charms on my pact bracelet, seeing only the ones for himself, Levi, and Beel. He was about to drop my arm, then he saw the diamond on my palm.
"This is Solomon's mark..." he realized. "Just what happened?"
"Solomon lent me… his power..." I was beginning to feel really tired. "I'm just glad… I remembered the spell."
"Lent power or no, there is no way you should have been able to summon Asmo without a pact, much less draw out his power like that!"
"And not only that, but it seems you ended up using some of your own personal magic as well," Asmo spoke up, smiling as he rubbing Henry 1.0's head. "And from that lightshow, it's clear you possess way more power than Solomon does. Just what are you, darling?"
"I… I'm not..."
I was beginning to falture, and Beel quickly caught me. He pulled me onto his back as the last of my lightshow died down.
"We can talk about this after we get back to the castle," he insisted. "Belle needs sleep, and I want that Madame Devian's Hellfire-baked Cheesecake that Levi owes me."
"Right," Mammon nodded, his eyes never leaving me. "Let's get out of here."
…
Upon emerging from the Labyrinth for the second time since the retreat started, we were all met with the sight of everyone else waiting for us, each of them in their pajamas. Luke's night outfit was identical to Simeon's, though he was still wearing his beret for some reason. Solomon was wearing what looked like a loose robe made out of a starry fabric, and he was smiling at the sight of all of us. Diavolo wore pajamas almost identical to Lucifers, but his were red with golden accents, and he had a pair of matching slippers. Barbatos was wearing what looked like a vintage nightshirt from the 1800s, complete with a nightcap. Finally rounding out the group was Satan, who was wearing a light green t-shirt with dark green, flannel pants.
The second Lucifer saw us, he immediately demanded an explanation on what happened. I was still quite out of it, just leaning on Beel's back as the brothers explained the entire ordeal. They told him about our operation, which earned me a cold glare from the eldest brother, our encounter with Cerberus, and with Henry 1.0. When Asmo mentioned being summoned by me and the spell I cast, Diavolo looked surprised, Solomon looked pleased, and Lucifer was just pissed.
"It seems that no matter where you go, you always manage to stir up trouble," he snarled.
"Sorry Lucifer..." I muttered apologetically.
"I just wanted cheesecake," Beel remarked.
"Just so we're clear, all of this was Belle's idea!" Mammon insisted. "I tried to stop them, but they were all 'this'll blow up on social media' and 'I gotta have my cheesecake'. I didn't even want to be part of this, but they-!"
"Mammon!" Lucifer roared.
Mammon let out a terrified yelp as Satan just shook his head in disappointment.
"Honestly, you failed the first time, and yet you had to try again. You guys never learn..."
"No choice..." I groaned. "Needed photo… for Asmo."
"Besides, how were we supposed to know that Cerberus was in there?" Beel argued.
"R-right!" Mammon nodded. "Yeah! I thought that was supposed to be Lucifer and Diavolo's room!"
"I had a curse put on the door," Lucifer explained. "Anyone who opened it without knocking first would be transported straight to Cerberus' room."
"Really?" Luke questioned, turning to Lucifer with a confused expression of his face. "Why would you curse your own room?"
Lucifer locked eyes with Mammon, eyebrows furrowing as he spoke.
"To prevent a certain someone from breaking in and stealing any of the castle's decorative pieces to sell for profit."
That piece of information sank in, and the rage felt by both Beel and Levi could be felt radiating off of them. I too felt some anger seeping through my fatigue, enough for me to glare at Mammon along with Beel and Levi.
"So it's your fault it happened..." I growled. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Mammon..." Beel snarled.
"Drop dead, Mammon," Levi demanded. "Like, right now."
"Hey!" Mammon protested. "This wasn't my plan! I tried to warn you all! I did!"
"Fault hardly matters," Lucifer insisted. "However, I'm more concerned with Isabella's very clear signs of mana drain, and the fact that a certain someone very kindly lent his powers to an untrained novice." He turned to Solomon, glaring daggers at the sorcerer. "Isn't that right, Solomon?"
Solomon was completely unphased by Lucifer's gaze, just looking at me and grinning from ear.
"Hm?" he let out, not even physically acknowledging the eldest brother. "You mean there's actually someone out there in the Devildom who's that kind? Well, it's the first I've heard of this."
Lucifer made a disapproving noise, crossing his arms.
"Isabella does not have the same training in the magical arts that you do, and doing such a powerful set of spells right off the bat could have killed her. Just what exactly were you hoping to prove with this stunt?"
"I will admit, this was not what I was expecting in the slightest. Then again, I thought she was a magic-less human that would just use my borrowed power once and it would be over. I never imagined she'd actually unlock her own potential. In truth, what she's feeling now isn't mana drain, but her body working overtime to adjust to her new, magical energies. With some rest and a proper meal, she'll be fine."
All this time, Asmo, who had reverted back to his pajamas, had been seemingly pondering something. He kept looking at me, eyes sparkling as he did. After a brief moment, he gave a nod, then straightened up.
"I've made up my mind," he declared out of the blue. "I'll make a pact with Belle."
There was a good five seconds of just stunned silence, then all heads turned towards Asmo. He was beaming from ear to ear, walking over to me and carefully pulling me off of Beel's back. Once I was off his back, Asmo set me down on the ground, kneeling next to me and keeping me upright. The others were stunned beyond words, and Lucifer looked like he wanted to kill someone, most likely me.
"A pact?" I questioned. "But… I failed your test."
"You did, yes, but I mean, even if Solomon did lend his powers, it shouldn't have been possible for someone to draw that kind of power out of me. You're a special one, Belle, and I was super impressed with how calm and collected you were against Henry. Absolutely amazing!"
"Thanks..." I let out, still surprised. "Are you sure about this though?"
"Oh absolutely. I've already made up my mind, and I absolutely must make a pact with you." Asmo looked up at Lucifer, his smile never faltering. "I'm allowed to do that, right Lucifer?"
Lucifer remained silent, pointedly turning away from both of us. Asmo took that as an affirmative before taking my hand in his. He remained on his knees, holding my hand as if I was a highborn lady before resting his forehead against the back.
"I am Asmodeus, Avatar of Lust. I pledge myself to you, Isabella Collins, that we may be bound by an unbreakable pact. This I swear to you on both my name and the very blood that runs through my veins."
Power swirled around my hand and his, the light a brilliant pink color. It coalesced around his right wrist, as well as on my pact bracelet. When the light died, Asmo bore a metallic pink bangle that he began admiring happily. I glanced down at my bracelet, seeing a metallic pink charm that was identical to the mark Solomon had for Asmo.
"Oh look at this gorgeous pact symbol," Asmo gushed, showing off his bracelet like a newlywed would her engagement ring. "I have so many outfits that will work well with this pretty little thing. It's the perfect accessory."
"Well, I suppose congratulations are in order," Diavolo declared with a smile. "You've managed to make a total of four contracts." He let out a large yawn, still smiling as he came out of it. "But for now, I say we all return to bed. Tomorrow is the final day of the retreat, and I want us all to enjoy it without falling asleep."
"Yes," Lucifer said rather quickly and tersely. "Everyone back to your rooms."
Asmo's smile grew wider as he bent down and picked me up bridal style.
"Come along, Belle," he told me as he carried me off. "It's off to bed for us."
Too exhausted to protest or even care, I allowed myself to be carried out of the main hall towards our shared bedroom.