The night of Diavolo's party, almost everyone in the House of Lamentation was excited, almost uncharacteristically so. Still, I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially since all the brothers were together once more, and fighting had been reduced by a rather large margin. I figured the brothers would all be in their demon forms, as they had been during the retreat's ball, but I still needed to get ready.

Thankfully, Asmo came to my rescue. And by rescue, I mean he barged into my room, grabbed me and the outfit he'd given me the other day, and dragged me back into his room. He had me change into the outfit, then plopped me down at his vanity before giving me a full make-over. I'll admit, I felt like I was going to my senior prom with the treatment I was getting. He used lighter make-ups since I'd expressed to him that I wasn't a big fan of the stuff, and even did my hair in an elaborate side braid with a golden ribbon woven through it.

Once I was deemed ready by the Avatar of Lust, I joined the brothers as we all made our way to the Demon Lord's Palace. Walking side by side with the brothers in their full demonic glory, I'd never felt more at home or safe.

Once we got inside, the party was already in full swing. There was a massive spread of food set out in a buffet, which Beel instantly went to devour. Mammon was instantly chasing after him, no doubt hoping to snag some of the food himself before it all got eaten. Asmo almost immediately went to go and flirt with a new succubus working as a footman for the palace. From how read the succubus was turning, I was pretty sure those two were probably gonna end up making out in some corner, or worse.

"Well, seems everybody's enjoying themselves," I remarked, glancing around the party.

"Maybe a little too much," Satan replied, holding two glasses of Demonus before offering me one. "Here. I managed to snag this for you."

"Thanks Satan," I replied, taking the glass and enjoying a sip as I looked around. "Y'know, I was a little worried about this thing devolving into a big mess, but I guess I was worried for nothing. Everything seems to be going smoothly."

"I think that depends on who you ask," Satan argued, gesturing towards a column.

I glanced over at the column, seeing Levi curled up against it. His tail was wrapped around him tightly, as if he was hugging himself, and he seemed twitchy and nervous. Curious, and more than a little worried, I walked over to him.

"Hey, Levi?" I called out, causing the poor demon to jump. "Are you okay?"

"No..." he sobbed, curling up tighter. "I can't take it anymore! So many people… I wanna go back to my room..."

"Must be hard, being socially awkward," Satan lamented, gently patting his brother on the shoulder.

I leaned against the column, taking another sip of my drink as I spotted Mammon off to the side. I guess he must have given up on the buffet table… or he was eying a large, golden apple that was on display along the wall.

"Oh Mammon..." I muttered under my breath, sighing when I saw him pocket the thing. "Damn scummy demon..."

"Mammon?" Barbatos called out, materializing next to Mammon and causing the greedy demon to nearly jump out of his skin. "Would that happen to be the Golden Fruit you just slipped into your pocket? One of the most treasured items in the Demon Lord's castle?"

"Wh? Whaaa? ...Wha?!" Mammon stammered, fumbling for the apple in his pocket. "W-well, look at that! How'd that get in there?!" He made a big show of putting the apple back onto the pedestal, sweating like a pig as Barbatos remained completely unconvinced. "Ugh, unbelievable! This treasure here is such a prankster, am I right? What's the big idea, jumping into my pocket like that, huh?! Bad treasure."

"Sheesh," I muttered, shaking my head. "The sad thing is I'm certain part of him thinks his little ruse is totally working."

"What's this I hear, Mammon?" Lucifer snarled, coming up behind his brother, wings flared and an angry smile on his face. "Not only are you attempting to steal the castle's ornamental treasures, but you have to go and lie about it too?"

Before Mammon could try and defend himself, Lucifer grabbed him by his horn and dragged him off, no doubt to lecture him or punish him. Most likely, both. Belphie came and joined our little trio by the column, switching out my now empty glass for a full one before slipping the old one on one of the footmen's trays.

"Careful, Belle," he warned. "Mammon's stupidity levels are so off the charts that watching him might cause your brain cells to rot."

"Well, that would explain the various stupid and wreckless decisions I've made these past few months," I quipped, getting a laugh out of both of us.

"Are you having a good time?" Belphie asked.

"Yeah, I am. What about you?"

"Me…?" Belphie repeated, gesturing to himself before giving a shrug. "I dunno. To be honest, I wasn't particularly enthused about coming here."

"Not a big party person?" I asked.

"He's almost as socially awkward as me," Levi piped up. "Usually, we try to avoid these parties and just hang out elsewhere."

"And I guess this being Diavolo's party, Lucifer strong armed you both into coming," I mused.

"Sort of," Belphie admitted. "But if I'm honest, I figured if you were going, I had to come."

"Same with me," Levi chimed in, waving a hand.

"Awww, you guys..."

I hugged them both, Levi turning bright red as Belphie just seemed to melt into my grip. As I finally, let them go, I heard the sound of a spoon against a glass. The general chatter of the party died down as everyone turned towards the source of the noise: Diavolo. Lucifer even returned with a cowed Mammon. Considering his lack of visible bruises, I'm guessing the second brother only got a lecture rather than a beating.

"Good evening everyone," Diavolo began, lowering his spoon while keeping his glass aloft. "I'd like to start by thanking everyone for coming tonight to celebrate my birthday. By the way, could anyone here possibly tell me how old I am? Because I'd like to know myself."

Everyone laughed at that, including myself and my demonic companions. The laughter only lasted for about three seconds, but it seemed to make Diavolo's chipper mood even more so.

"All jokes aside, I'd like it if you all used my birthday as an excuse to have a good time. So enjoy yourself!"

There were some scattered cheers and more than a little applause. I made sure to clap politely, watching as Diavolo seemed to scan the crowd for a moment.

"And lastly, I'd like to introduce our other guest of honor tonight," he declared, eyes locking on me as his smile grew wider. "Come on up here, Belle."

I nearly dropped my glass from complete and utter shock. Applause broke out once more as all the brothers grinned at me. Barbatos came over and ushered me over to where Lord Diavolo was, all while I was left too stunned to even utter a word. As the applause finally died down, I took a breath to try and reclaim control of my scattered thoughts.

"What's going on?" I questioned. "It's not my birthday, I'm certain."

Diavolo's eyebrows furrowed at that.

"Hmm… I take it that Lucifer and his brothers wanted this to be a surprise for you." His face softened as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "You see, Belle, tonight's party is being thrown for you as well. It seems that the student council would all like to express their appreciation."

"Is… are you serious?" I let out, still stunned beyond measure.

"Of course," Diavolo replied, gently relieving me of my Demonus glass. "Did you really think all those presents were for me alone?"

At the word presents, I was reminded of how Mammon had been acting when Belphie and I confronted him about the present. He had gotten so flustered about it, and considering his tsundere attitude, I'm appalled that I didn't piece things together sooner. As if on cue, Mammon came up to me, a small box wrapped in golden paper with an orange bow in his hands.

"I want you to know that the Mammon actually worked part time at Hell's Kitchen to save up the money to buy ya this present," he declared, sounding sincerely proud of himself as he handed it to me. "I didn't borrow money from any witches to pay for it. I didn't steal or pawn stuff, either. Everything was done on the up and up, okay?"

I opened the box, finding what looked like a golden hairpin. It was shaped like a crow in flight, and I couldn't help but smile at it. I slid it into my hair, clipping it into place. Seeing me to that, Mammon lit up like a christmas tree, doing a silent fist pump as he rejoined the crowd. Levi came up next with a large brown bag filled with orange paper. I took it and began pulling out the paper, noting how Barbatos discretely collected it so it wouldn't make a mess. When I finally reached the present, I found that it was a collection of hardback editions of Tales of the Seven Lords.

"I know you own the DVD boxset, but I figured you'd enjoy reading the actual series that started it all," Levi began. "I could only get my hands on the first seven though, but I'll gladly lend you the other 131 volumes I have, provided you make sure to take good care of them, and don't dog ear the pages, and don't eat anything while reading-"

I hugged him, cutting off his rant before it could really get going.

"Thank you, Levi. I love them."

He turned as red as a tomato as I let him go. I set the books down next to me, Barbatos ferreting them away. No doubt I would find them waiting for me back in my room when I returned to the House of Lamentation tonight. The next demon to come give me a gift was Satan, who had a book of his own in his hand.

"Books enrich one's life," the fourth brother mused. "That's true whether you're a human or a demon. And this one here is one of my favorites. I hope it ends up making your life a little richer."

I took the book, glancing at the title to see it was an epic fantasy novel, one I had seen him reading on more than one occasion. I smiled at it, nodding and hugging him too. I nearly choked on the feathers of his massive boa, but he simply adjusted it before hugging me back.

"I can't wait to read it," I told him.

When we parted, he readjusted his boa, then rejoined his others. Barbatos once again slipped off with the book, no doubt for it to join the ones Levi gave me. Asmo then flounced towards me, smiling as he took my hands in his.

"My present to you is that outfit you're wearing," he declared. "Also, if you ever want me to do your make-up again, all you have to do is ask. I'll gladly make my beautiful human even more so whenever you wish."

I'll admit, his praise was making me blush like crazy, a dopey smile on my face. He kissed me on the cheek, then leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"I've also got a special strawberry perfume that I absolutely know you'll love. I remember how you were eying it this afternoon, and I've ordered you your own bottle."

"Thanks Asmo," I said, laughing lightly. "For everything."

He squeezed my hand, then bounced off to join his brothers. Beel then came up to join me. He had a strange ticket in his hand that I realized was some sort of coupon. He held it out to me, looking more than a little sheepish.

"Here," he said after a moment. "It's a ticket for one years worth of free meals at Hell's Kitchen."

"Wait, really?" I questioned, taking the ticket and looking at it. "You're seriously giving this to me?"

"I'll admit, it kills me to give it away, but…" Beel smiled warmly at it, "for you, I'll do it Belle."

I slid the ticket into my pocket, then gave Beel a hug like I had the others. He bent down slightly and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me up so I was a good foot off the ground. I accepted the hug happily, holding on tight until he finally put me down. Once I was back on my feet, he stepped away, and Lucifer approached. With a flourish only Lucifer could pull off, he held out a hand, which contained a small, black jewelry box with a red ribbon. I undid the ribbon, opening the box to reveal a beautiful silver broach. There was a stone centered in the middle of the broach that looked as if someone had taken a scoop out of the night sky.

"This broach is embedded with a midnight stone," Lucifer explained, plucking the jewel out of the box while carefully affixing it to my scarf. "Even here in the Devildom, it's considered a rare gem. When we went shopping together, this was in the display window at Hocus Pocus. I believe it caught your eye."

"It did, yeah," I nodded, recalling the shop he mentioned. "I remember feeling embarrassed because I sounded so childish when I declared 'it has stars' louder than I intended."

"Well now, it's yours," Lucifer declared, stepping back. "I want you to have it as a memento of your time here in the Devildom." He took my hand in his, giving me the warmest smile I think I've ever seen him give. "I wanted you to understand how much I appreciate you, as did each of me brothers. But without an opportunity like this, we wouldn't have been able to properly communicate that, would we?" He squeezed my hand. "Thank you, Belle. For everything."

"No, thank you," I said, turning to the others. "All of you. When I first came here, I was scared. I didn't think I'd survive a week. But now..." I could feel tears welling in my eyes. "Now… I feel like I'm where I belong. I feel like a part of me I didn't know I was missing is finally back where it belongs. Thank you. Just… thank you..."

"Aw… Bella," Asmo gushed, a hand on his heart as his eyes sparkled with emotion.

"Hey, wait a minute," Satan let out, glancing around the room. "Has anyone seen Belphie around?"

"He must have slipped off," Levi mused, giving a shrug. "He always was better at that then I was."

"Maybe so, but don't you think he'd at least give Belle a present before disappearing?" Asmo retorted, crossing his arms.

"Dammit," Mammon growled, already searching the crowd. "Where'd he go?"

"Easy guys," I insisted, waving them all down. "I got this. I'll find him and bring him back."

Leaving me to do just that, I slipped away from the party to find Belphie.

…

It didn't take long to find him, as I had an idea of where he would go. I found a path that led out towards the massive garden surrounding the castle. There was a lake with a gazebo that was surrounded by a cobblestone path, a stunningly beautiful place that almost didn't look like it belonged in a place called the Devildom. Belphie was sitting in the gazebo, perched on the fencing while looking out at the starry sky. I lightly knocked on one of the wooden pillars as I approached, drawing Belphie's attention.

"Hm?" he let out, turning around and smiling when he saw me. "Oh, I was wondering who was there."

"Just me," I answered, coming and sitting down across from him.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to be heading off by yourself and coming to a spot like this? Surely the others have told you by now that you're tonight's guest of honor."

"Yeah, they did," I nodded, one hand going to the crow hairpin while the other went to my midnight stone broach. "Still, I wanted to come find you, make sure you were alright."

"Really?" Belphie laughed lightly, shaking his head. "Well, you certainly are a strange one, Belle. Have you become some sort of expert at finding me or something? Even after I went through all the trouble of slipping out of the party unnoticed and coming here to relax."

"If you want some time to yourself, I can leave if you wish," I offered, making to slide off the railing.

"No," Belphie said a bit too quickly, moving to stop me. "No… if I'm being honest, I had a feeling you might come after me."

I arranged myself back on the railing so I was comfortable. Belphie did the same, and we both looked out at the stars for a bit. I'd still not been able to solve the enigma of the eternal night of the Devildom, nor did I think I ever would. Still, I couldn't deny the beauty of the endless starry sky.

"I guess the others have already given you their gifts," Belphie mused, gesturing to my new accessories. "Did you like them?"

"Yeah, they were so sweet. Even Mammon put in an honest effort on the gift."

"That's good to hear." Belphie adjusted himself again so he could face me fully, and I did the same. "You know, I had a hard time deciding what to get you for a present, and maybe this isn't very original of me, but..."

He hesitated, and I could tell he was a bit nervous. I straightened up, giving him my most patient smile. Seeing that seemed to fill him with confidence and he got to his feet.

"Belle," he began before sliding onto one knee, "how would you like to make me yours?"

My words caught in my throat. My eyes bulged out of my head, and my jaw hit the ground. I don't even think I was able to speak. Was… Was Belphie offering to make a pact with me?! My expression must have been as amusing as it felt because Belphie's facade crumbled and he chuckled.

"Don't be so shocked," he quipped. "I'm asking if you'll make a pact with me."

"No, no," I squeeked. "I got that part. I just- I thought you weren't going to consider making a pact for awhile. I don't want you to force yourself to make one just because you feel you have to."

"I did say something like that before, I'll admit," Belphie nodded, "When Solomon asked the other day, I know I made it sound like I didn't want a pact with anyone at all. But you, you care enough to actually take my opinion into account. I know you won't turn me into your own personal servant, working me like a slave and making absurd demands and stuff."

"No, never," I agreed. "The only reason I order Mammon around is because it's the only way he'll actually get shit done. And secretly, I think he enjoys it."

That got a rather loud snort out of Belphie and he actually bent over while trying to stifle his laughter.

"Sounds like Mammon," Belphie nodded before clearing his throat. "But there's more to it than that, Belle. I want to be the closest demon to you… the first one you turn to for help whenever you need it. I want to do this right, and finally make up for everything I put you through."

"Belphie..."

"So… please Belle?"

Belphie held out a hand for me, his eyes pleading for me to say yes. Melting at his glittering pink eyes, I gave in and nodded, placing my right hand in his offered one. He clasped it gently, closing his eyes.

"I am Belphegor, Avatar of Sloth. 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."

Magic immediately gathered around our hands, coalescing into a purple light. When it faded, a metallic purple bangle was looped around Belphie's wrist, and I had gained a new charm. It was the same metallic purple color, and looked like an inverted trident with two legs coming out of the opposite side of the main crescent. Between these two legs was a five pointed star.

"Purple," I mused. "My favorite color."

Belphie looked at his bangle, smiling warmly.

"Here's to a long and lasting relationship, Belle," he declared.

I reached down and pulled him to his feet, giving him a big hug. He returned it in kind, burying his face in my neck. For the first time since his release, I didn't feel self conscious about his presence. Like with the rest of the brothers, I felt safe with Belphie, and it wasn't just because of the pact. What happened between us was all in the past, and we were ready to face the future together.

"Oi!" Asmo's voice called, cutting through the calmness of the night. "What are you doing all the way over there, Belle?"

"Belphie's with her," Beel spoke up, joining the fifth brother.

"Hey!" Mammon shouted. "Belle! Whaddya think you're doin?! Did ya forget you're the guest of honor?! Get back to the party, on the double!"

Both Belphie and I laughed, breaking our hug before turning towards the brothers.

"It's hard to have much time alone to talk when you're that popular, huh?" Belphie mused.

"Trust me, I don't think I've been alone since I got down here," I replied, holding out a hand. "Ready to return to the party?"

"Yeah," he nodded, taking the offered hand. "Let's head back."

We began walking to join the others and he pulled me a bit closer.

"Just so you know, it's not because you're Lilith's descendant that I want to protect you and keep you safe," he said quietly. "Lilith was very special to me, she was my sister… But you're not her, Belle. I want to do it because you're you. And don't you forget it."

I can't even begin to describe the warmth that flooded me when I said that. His voice was filled with so much love and sincerity, and I knew he meant every word. I wasn't a replacement for Lilith, like I had secretly wondered. I was me, and that's all I had to be. With those kind words making my heart soar, we rejoined the others and went back to the party.