Chapter 4

J

"Oh I am so proud of you! You see, Diavolo likes you, and you thought everyone here was going to hate you." Asmo hugged me close and I looked around the room at all the demons and I could barely see Elizaveta and Riley in the distance laughing and talking to what I took to be their own guides. Riley wore a simple turtleneck and blazer combo and She wore a black lace dress that looked to come from another era, I wanted to go over and talk to them but it was far and I wasn't sure what to say when I got there.

"And might I add that you look absolutely stunning; I would have gone with diamonds and a shorter dress but you pull this off well!" he still had his chin rested on my shoulder and his arms around my waist.

"Asmo, please this is inappropriate!" he let go and I huffed in annoyance but looking at the way he smiled I couldn't stay mad.

"No harm intended! I am off to dance before dinner; just call my name if you ever need me!" He sang as he bounded away and I was left with Beel who looked just as uncomfortable as I felt.

"You're hungry?"

"Starving." I checked my purse and found an energy bar.

"Here, always keep an emergency snack on your person just in case of situations like this." His eyes lit up and he took it graciously.

"Wow, thanks a lot!" If these brothers were epitomes of their embodied sins then I could use the basic information of the infamous seven deadly sins to understand them and get along….i needed to get along with them. I looked over and saw Mammon talking to some other guys and I wondered if I should go over and talk to him. Last time I tried to smooth things over he screamed at me and on the way here he didn't acknowledge me at all. No. I learned in middle school that to be timid was to be weak and atrocious people prey on weakness. I ran back and asked Beel for a favor and then held my head high as I strode over to Mammon and tapped him on the shoulder.

"I need to talk to you, please."

"Why, did I do somethin' else wrong? Are you going to report to Lucifer on me? Or are you planning to grovel at my mercy because you finally understand your situation? You are in my care see, and I can let any demon around eat you; why I should sell you to the highest bidder, unless you want to change my mind. So Any begging you need to do, you can do here in front of my brothers."

"I'm sure from what others have said she's only going to tell him about himself again, that will humiliate him."

"If that's the case I have to see this! My followers will love it!" I stammered looking at the three of them, the two at Mammon's side seemed amused at this encounter; they both had violet colored hair but one with violet eyes seemed to have white frosted tips. So these were his brothers too? I wonder what avatars they were, were they already against me?

"Helloooo? You alive in there? I said start beggin my forgiveness!"

"No!" he looked surprised and then irritated.

"Then what do you want with me then? Unless you are ready to cry and plead for me to give mercy I have nothing to say to ya!"

"I'm not going to beg; I will never get on my knees for someone who thinks they can pick on me for the hell of it!" never again…

"What are you deaf? Then what are you hear for?"

"We have gotten off on the wrong foot, I want to make a little wager to settle things between us." He perked up and his eyes began to shine; being he was the avatar of greed, he fell into my trap before I even had it set.

"How much?"

"Eighty Grim."

"Please, that's pocket change to me; you have to make it sweeter."

"So you are agreeing to the terms?"

"I didn't say that!"

"If I raise the stakes then it means you agree to the terms and there is no going back and that goes for either of us. But take the stakes as they are and you can always back out." He fidgeted for a minute wracking his brain.

"I'll raise you!"

"Then I propose 300 grim."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!"

"To the first person to make Lucifer laugh during the dinner." The three of sucked in their breath simultaneously and Mammon began to sweat.

"oof."

"Well looks Like we're in for a fun night after all."

"This is some sort of trick to get me in trouble again isn't it? You love making other people bleed don't you!"

"Nothing of the kind, if I fail to make him laugh before you, 300 grim goes to you and vice versa."

"But what if neither of you makes him laugh?"

"Yeah Belphie's right, this is an impossible job!"

"If no one makes him laugh then no one wins. Are you afraid Mammon, where is your drive?" he looked angry again and threw out his hand.

"You got a deal Kia."

"My name is Jetèa, and by the end of this you won't forget it." he stepped away I figured to plan out his "attack"

"So what exactly is your goal here? You already humiliated Mammon once and now you want him to be thrashed in front of half the student body? I know this is Mammon, but this is pretty low." The one named Belphie spoke in a low and calm voice like he were tired. This one may be….sloth? No, Can't assume yet.

"I have rubbed him the wrong way before but I want to make it right."

"By degrading him?"

"By helping him."

"And how will this do that?"

"You will see."

"I don't like it… but I am going to post this to my vlog regardless; my followers are going to flip when they hear of this exclusive!" The other brother took out his phone and began typing.

"Hello all of my fellow Denizens; I am pleased to announce the beginning of year four of our exchange program. I first want to congratulate the five students who have been qualified to grace our lovely school with their presence and to influence our learning experience with their many talents. If you could please step forward as I call your names. From the Celestial Realm we have Azrael and Luke. Luke has been with us before and is opted to return, we missed you Luke!" The assembly applauded as the two angels stood onto the stage. One was a blonde male the other a young woman with pale blue hair who looked quite frightened.

And from the human world, I would like to present to you from Esperance Australia, Riley Brown. From terekhovo Russia we have Miss Elizaveta Morozov and from Mushiyori Japan we have Jetèa Minamino." My heart nearly exploded as I walked onto the platform with the other four students. The students clapped and Riley looked me up and down and gave me a thumbs up. Diavolo turned to us and gave a very gentlemanly bow.

"On behalf of RAD I would like to bid you welcome and may you have a very fruitful year with us." The students erupted with applause and we waved and bowed at their praise. Then the food arrived and everyone sat at the many tables scattered throughout the large room. I had to think of how to get to the table Lucifer Barbatos and Diavolo were sitting without looking like I had a devious reason for being there. Mammon wandered by still deep in thought and I tapped his shoulder startling him

"Hey Mammon, Have you gotten any ideas on how to do this?"

"I see what you're doin' you're trying to get pointers and steal my idea but it's not gonna happen!" he laughed as he walked away, part two of my plan was now in play. I stood from my table and strolled over to Diavolo.

"I just want to thank you again for the wonderful evening and your kind and very eloquent words Diavolo." He and Barbatos seemed genuinely happy to see me standing there and that put my mind at ease; Lucifer however was less than amused. Could he think I was schmoozing with Diavolo because he had power? He would be the type to think I would do that, no…no mind reading, be good.

"The pleasure is all mine, you know I looked over your application and qualifications and you know what I said, 'this girl has to be in my school!' I would love to hear about your research on plant mutation and genetic factors. The information seems very intriguing; but unfortunately we don't have any courses of that caliper in this academy, at least not as advanced as yours."

"I would hardly call it advanced, I have scores of information left to uncover and many new species to discover."

"Well you will find plenty of those here; and I will allow you to use them to your fancy as long as you be careful with the poisonous ones!"

"Thank you so much for that Sir!" Diavolo looked over to Lucifer who was off in his own world it seemed, and elbowed him.

"You know, this guy was the one who brought me your application; completely fawned over your research and how qualified you were."

"I did no such thing."

"Oh come off it, you know as well as I do that out of the many application you went through she was the one that caught your eye. It was you that found her; he won't admit it because he doesn't want the glory. And between you and me, neither of us expected you to be this pretty." He continued to nudge him and he looked just a bit embarrassed.

"Well then, I owe my presence here to you both; thank you so much for the opportunity Lucifer." He looked at me with cold and hateful eyes that surprised me.

"Thank you for applying; your attendance here will most certainly be of good use to this program." This was going to be much harder than I thought. I leaned in just between the two of them so that I know he could hear me when I said this.

"Diavolo one more thing; Mammon and I have placed a little wager, all in good fun of course, but we want to see who can be the first to make you laugh tonight."

"Oh how fun! You are already getting along with your housemates; see this is going well indeed! Alright give me your best shot." I scooted a chair over and sat down. Levi was nearby but just out of sight with his phone ready.

"What do you call half of a train with a cold?"

"I…I don't know, what?"

"A-choo."

"Gesundheit." Lucifer snorted in response but quickly stifled it.

"Darn…nothing. I will have to think of something else and try back in a little bit."

"Well hurry back and you can explain the joke to me."

"Once you explain it, it is no longer funny." I shrugged and walked away, the third piece was in play.

"Oh darn ladies and gents, she got a snort but was just short of a chuckle; will she make a comeback in round two? Annndd….post!"

"Levi is it, might I ask you what avatar you are?"

"Oh, me? I'm envy, why what have you heard."

"Nothing I was curious, it is nice to meet you." We stopped walking and shook hands.

"Nice to meet you too, it's short for Leviathan." I looked him over; his uniform was disheveled, his hair covered his eyes a tad and he had a slumped type of posture. He was socially awkward and timid, I could tell from that and yet there was something else there…but if I pointed it out to him I would sour my plan.

"I like Leviathan…I think it's a very unique and beautiful name!" he blushed and turned away shaking his hand.

"No it's not that great, my friends and family call me Levi anyway."

"Well then now I'm torn."

"Why?"

"Because I want to call you Leviathan, but I want to be your friend too." What was I saying? Did I not say that friends were not on the objective here? This only made him more red in the face and he stammered.

"You want to be friends with me? You, a normie would associate with an Otaku like me? I don't believe it!"

"An Otaku…you enjoy computers and anime?"

"Yes and Manga as well, I am currently doing a rewatch of Tales of the seven Lords, and I'm thinking of vloging my own thoughts to my viewers. Sort of get a conversation going."

"I see…"

"You think it's stupid don't you!?"

"Well no, I was just thinking, sometimes a person has to review things in order to take a greater appreciation to it. I think your viewers would appreciate that."

"Yeah like when I first watched it I was all about the story but after the second I was beginning to see the deeper symbolism going on! And By the third I was able to understand just what the author was coming from in his mind."

"That is just like my baby sister; she has this odd plush doll, what was her name, Ruri-"

"Your sister has a Limited edition Ruri-chan plush?! there were only 300 ever made! I searched all over for her and yet to no avail, it's so unfair."

"Yes, she never lets it out of her sight; it sits in a specific place in her room. You know merchandise in Japan is much less expensive, maybe I can help you out sometime? My sister would make the purchases and send them here if I asked." If I bribed I mean.

"That is amazing! Thank you so much, I must go over my list…oh this is amazing!" The coincidence couldn't have worked more in my favor; now I had to work on buttering up my sister; so much for my savings.

"Oh and what was the deal with Diavolo, I thought the goal was to get Lucifer to laugh."

"Well think about it, if one is told they are going to laugh that person will try to resist simply from reflex."

"Ohh, so Lucifer wouldn't be as resistant and be okay with you being at the table."

"Also I see that he follows Diavolo's lead, if he is relaxed and laughing then so will Lucifer to an extent. That on top of him not being the target will soften him up just enough to maybe get a chuckle from him; but it won't be easy."

"You really are smart."

"It's psychology, that is my mother's forte; she would have him in tears with one try." Because she can control demons…thanks to Papa Maku's bloodline.

"I bet you have a load of friends at your old school."

"Well, no…I don't pursue friendships, it had been proven that 100% of the people you keep from your life will never betray you. Betrayal only comes from friends."

"That's deep and sad…I feel that on a powerful level. But what about here, do you want to make friends?" No, tell him no! That was not the plan!

"I…don't know. I do seem to rub people the wrong way, but when I keep my mouth shut I seem to make people happy."

"Yeah, I heard about that you even corrected Lucifer yikes. But still you shouldn't change who you are to please anyone else. I like who I am and have no plans to change! If people don't like you for who you are then they aren't right for you."

"You know something Levi, that is a very mature and sweet thing to say."

"You called me Levi!"

"I have decided I want to be your friend." He blushed at that, I could tell that it was hard making real friends as well but if he could like me for myself maybe I shouldn't change…much.

"I wanted to tell you that your posture was quite slouched and your uniform was not correct for the dress code and representation of the school was gravely important in order to show pride and you weren't doing that. Also that from your obvious awkwardness you show high signs of insecurity in public which makes me feel that you have poor communication skills. But….even though I know these things are important, I didn't want to tell you when I saw it." he looked over himself and stared at me.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"That is what I want to know; would you have agreed to be my friend if it was the first thing out of my mouth? Be honest please, I need feedback."

"Well I would have seen you to be sort of stuck up and a know it all, I would have thought you were judging me and I would have been offended. So no I don't think so. I mean who are you to tell someone how they are supposed to be or what they are supposed to do? Am I less of a demon because my posture isn't it's best? I don't even know you and you seem to feel you know everything wrong with me and I may not like 3d people but at least they don't sit back and pick me apart like you do. I may be an Otaku but I like my lifestyle so screw you! Or…that's what I would have said."

"I see, I have never heard feedback like this before, usually it's just insults and angry words, but never what feelings caused them. Thank you very much for your feedback; now how can I adjust this error?" he stared at me again.

"I have no idea…" I felt dejected at this; I was so close to finding the answer.

"Alright then Levi, I have a favor to ask you as a new friend."

"Sure I guess.."

"I need you to help me with this wager."