"I did NOT think I'd ever have to see that again!" Mammon loudly exclaimed as Lucifer shut the door behind him and was now single handedly pushing Satan away from the room. Levi was silent, but also in agreement with Mammon as he cautiously watched how the first, second, and fourth born interacted.
"Likewise…" Lucifer grumbled. He and Satan refused to meet each other's eyes. It seemed that they both were digging themselves deeper and deeper in thought, but Satan was the one to be drawn out first.
"Satan? Are you…?" Beel trailed off, seemingly looking for an end to the question that would never come. Satan didn't know what he was, so he responded with the only thing that made sense right now.
"I am… I… I remember." Once again, Mammon's hand returned to his shoulder where Lucifer had drawn back to himself. At that, Lucifer's head snapped his direction.
Satan and Lucifer were well aware that there was much hanging between them that had yet to be acknowledged, dealt with, or left behind, but neither had seemed open to it for the past century. Could this be the event that forced them to confront their issues?
"Regardless… we are the only ones who have been through… this… before. The King has passed on, and we must support Diavolo as he accepts the crown. I expect you all to be pulling your weight in taking care of this situation with the creature." Lucifer's big brother mode was rearing its head again as all of the brothers tried to shake off the scene they had just witnessed. Satan, on the other hand, felt the rage begin to simmer under his skin at Lucifer's diction. The creature. Was that all that Satan had been? All that he would be? Was it not enough to view his spawn as a rejected part of himself, but also less than a person?
"Satan, hey, buddy-" Mammon hovered a hand over his back hesitantly. Satan had missed that his demon form had slipped out and he was glaring directly at Lucifer now with fangs, claws, and wings all out and tense. He only realized his tail was whipping violently behind him when Mammon winced slightly at the strike to his shin. "Let's get you some air, okay?" Now realizing his anger, Satan did his best to still his transformation and allowed Mammon to guide him out to a balcony while the other five stepped closer to Lucifer who stood stationary.
Out on the balcony, Mammon leaned on the railing with his elbows and clasped his hands together while looking out at the view of RAD campus. Satan had his arms straightened as he braced himself rigidly on the railing–hands gripping it for dear life as he tried to calm the wrath burning him from the inside out. After a few moments, Mammon looked over at him–seemingly studying him with more focus than he had given any of his academics in the last century. He didn't know what his older brother was looking for. Mammon was the brother who knew him best of any of the brothers; after all, he had practically raised Satan.
Recalling his early years after being separated from Lucifer, the memories of struggling to understand the world around him were painful. He was in no way a child when he was born, but he was still new to having a physical body. His mind was also now missing the pieces that Lucifer had kept; things like preferences and muscle memory had to be taught or learnt again. Mammon had been the one to guide him through learning to speak with his mouth, walk up stairs, and control his thoughts from immediately becoming actions. Mammon had been at his side when he seemed to be learning how to learn, and he had encouraged the young demon to find what brought him joy. Mammon had been the one to introduce him to his first cat, and had been the first to gift him a book as a present-granted, it was during one of his shopping sprees with Lucifer's credit card, but it was still greatly appreciated since the other demon brothers barely took interest in the child-like brother they had just gained.
Lucifer had not wanted anything to do with him during his first year in the physical world. He often would speak in a hushed voice with Mammon before Mammon would turn his attention back to Satan, and the second born always said that Lucifer was just being a grouchy old man with back pain. The back pain was from his slowly regrowing wings, and this Satan knew, so he coached himself to accept Lucifer's absence and become uncaring for Lucifer's pain.
Thinking back, Mammon had been the one to cover for Lucifer a lot. After a few years of covering for his older brother, it seemed like the greed demon had gotten tired of the charade, as he no longer excused his absence as anything justifiable. Satan wouldn't ask about Lucifer anymore due to this change in behaviour. When the greed demon would barge into his room with a new book in hand and a scowl on his face, he came to expect the muttered 'lazy fucker' and of course his favourite 'Lucifer can go fuck himself' which Satan clearly took to heart.
Much later, Satan had realized the debt he would always owe to Mammon for his kindness in those first few years. Lucifer clearly wanted nothing to do with him, and Mammon stepped in to make sure he became an actual person rather than the creature that Lucifer still clearly saw in him. He had pointed out and apologized for the excessive shit that the family gave Mammon, but the second born never took it to heart. Mammon was extremely comfortable with his position in their family; he knew that his behaviour was scummy and that he would forever be told that exactly, but he also knew that the reason they still tolerate him and keep him as a part of their lives was because he would always be family.
Once, in a drunken stupor, Mammon had said that one of the reasons he was so attentive to making sure Satan was okay in his early years was because Mammon had nothing but family when he fell. He hadn't wanted Satan to feel as though he didn't have that one crucial connection. Satan had paused briefly, almost dropping Mammon onto the sidewalk, but he simply shook his head and pretended not to have heard. He had lied to a very hungover Mammon the following morning about having any sensitive secrets spilled.
So when Satan finally met Mammon's eyes on the royal balcony, he searched for the mask that Mammon had worn for his early years. The mask that looked like his now usual cocky and scheming self, but at the time it hid his pain from losing everything and distracting himself with caring for the child-like demon. Now, he saw remnants of the mask, but not being worn.
"Your birth was a lot less… controlled than that. We were afraid, and you were so powerful… that's why we-" Satan shook his head with a sigh. His demon form had receded again, but he still did not want to look down at his hands in case his eyes were met with bloody talons again.
"You don't need to explain anything. I remember. You were just protecting each other." Those first moments were the clearest memories of his wrath that he had. Often, his mind would not collect any significant memories when wrapped in a cage of wrath, but this was the exception. He was a feral animal. He remembered looking over at Lucifer's bloodied back as he woke in his own pool of blood. When the brothers had stepped in front of Lucifer and blocked his view, he had thought that meant Lucifer was dead. The blood covering his body meant that he had killed Lucifer. Lucifer was all that he knew, and he had killed him. That was what had enraged him, and led him to attack Levi when he approached. He didn't process it at the time–too blinded by pain, confusion, and anger–but Lucifer had been the one to cast the orders for the brothers to grab his chains.
"Yeah, well… Now there's someone who you understand better than anyone. If you know what we should have done, then we can do it now." He allowed Mammon's words to wash over him, but he felt the rage burn again. This wasn't the same. This spawn was Diavolo's, not Lucifer's. That made all the difference.
"I don't remember doing that." Whatever the new being had ripped from Diavolo clearly brought the being immense pain and given Diavolo strength. No one wanted to say it, but Diavolo looked much better after that. The crack in his usually happy eyes had vanished afterwards, and the shoulders that hunched when the being was still breaking free now were back to their usual pulled back position as his chest puffed out with pride. Barbatos had told them when they arrived to the palace that the King had passed, and they had all seen the state that Diavolo was in during the… birthing process… but none of them thought he would bounce back as quickly as this. It had to be some power of the new being, but what that power was? They were yet to find out.
Mammon let out an empty huff of laughter at Satan's snarky question, yet he still shook his head. Just then, Barbatos and Lucifer made their presence known behind them. Satan had successfully tamed his anger this time, and turned around to meet Lucifer with his usual look of disdain.
"Lord Diavolo has requested your presence, young Satan." He nodded to the butler and exhaled deeply as he fell to the other side of Barbatos from Lucifer. When they began their leave, though, Lucifer turned to place a hand on Mammon's chest. He shook his head and stared into the eyes of the second born. By some miracle, Mammon nodded and sighed in obedient acceptance. When Lucifer turned to rejoin Satan and Barbatos, Mammon grabbed his arm to share a deep glance. He seemed to send an unspoken message that Satan couldn't interpret, but Lucifer ducked his head slightly and nodded before sliding out of Mammon's grasp again.
Don't forget.
Alternate title for this chapter was gonna be Mammon the Single Mom