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“Are you actually scared?” You asked the white haired demon incredulously. You could hear the snickering from Levi behind you, the purple haired brother absolutely loving how mortified his older brother had become in the last couple of minutes.
“W-What?” He looked at you with wide eyes, a brief expression of panic on his face before he stomped it out. “Of course not! The Great Mammon isn’t scared of nothin’!” His confidence was false and you knew it. You almost felt bad for him. Keyword being almost.
“Well, there’s nothing to be scared over, Mammon. I’ve done this dozens of times when I was a kid. Easy peasy; you’re in and then right out.” You gestured over to the closed bathroom door. You could hear Asmodeus complaining from the other side about what good it was being in front of a mirror when the light was off. “Bloody Mary isn’t real.”
“Well, she is.” Satan interjected from where he stood in the hall, the book in his hands now closed.
“Well yes, historically she was real, depending on which version people believe.” You scratched at the back of your neck as Mammon crammed his hands into his pockets. “But I mean, she’s not going to actually pop out of the mirror and rip your face off.” You paused again. “Well, she didn’t in the human realm. I guess anything is fair game in the Devildom.” Mammon looked like he was about to faint.
Currently, you, Mammon, Levi, Satan, and Asmodeus were hanging out in the hallway by the main bathroom. You couldn’t remember how it started, but the topic of Bloody Mary came up and the brothers wanted to try it out. You knew Mammon didn’t actually want to, but he felt pressured to once he realized he was the only one who didn’t want to play. To top it off, once he learned that you had played this so called game as a child, he felt even more compelled to force himself to play. You had tried to reassure him that plenty of people were too nervous to participate in such a game, but that seemed to only make things worse.
“Bloody Mary is just something the humans made up when they got bored.” Levi poked Mammon’s cheek as he spoke. “Are you really scared of some ghost story from the human realm?” Mammon’s face reddened from embarrassment and you were ready to step in and salvage the little pride he had left before the bathroom door swung open. A timid and pale Asmodeus shuffled out, eyes wide and hands pulling at the bottom of his shirt.
“What’s wrong?” Satan asked with a raised eyebrow. You weren’t surprised that Asmodeus was spooked. Like Mammon, he also didn’t handle scary things well. You were pretty convinced that if he had denied playing the game earlier, that Mammon would have joined him and stayed by his side the entire time. You do a double take when noticing the tears that clung to his lashes. A small frown formed on your lips as you stepped toward the blond and ran a hand through his hair.
“Are you alright?” Maybe you shouldn’t have informed the brothers of such a thing. He leaned into your touch before he suddenly cried out and buried his face in the crook of your neck. “Oh, it was awful!” He sobbed out your name, clinging to you tightly. “I was so convinced that something was going to pop out! I couldn’t wait to leave, it was too creepy!” You pat him on the back a few times as Satan looked between the two of you.
“Well, the hard part is over.” Satan reassured the distraught blond. “And nothing ate you, so you can relax now.” Now that Asmodeus was done, that only left… Mammon. A quick glance back at the second oldest brother and you decided maybe you should call the entire thing off. He was paler than Asmodeus and he hadn’t even gone into the bathroom yet. You could see a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. When you opened your mouth to reassure the brother, Asmodeus only started crying louder. That’s right, you nearly forgot that you were still being clung to by the demon.
“Maybe we should stop for the day. I think we should let Asmo rest, and I’m actually feeling a little tired as well.” You tried to subtly end the game by pushing the focus on yourself and Asmodeus instead of on Mammon.
“What?” Levi looked at you with a raised eyebrow. “Mammon hasn’t gone yet. Wouldn’t it be unfair to have everyone else go but him?” You sighed inwardly while throwing a pointed look at the purple haired boy. You should’ve known that Levi would be the one to make sure Mammon went through with it. The second oldest awkwardly shifted next to you, hands curled up into fists. You try to wiggle out of Asmodeus’ grip so you could comfort the anxious demon.
“Ah, Asmodeus, you need to let go--”
“Fine! I don’t care anyway! It’s not like I’m scared or nothin’, because I’m not. The Great Mammon never gets scared. Ever.” Your eyes narrowed as you accepted your fate of being glued to Asmodeus’ side for the rest of your days.
“I know!” You snapped your fingers at the sudden thought. “I haven’t gone yet either, why don’t I go with you, Mammon?” You’ve done this so many times that you could probably do it in your sleep. It was nothing but a story meant to scare children; it’s nothing you haven’t done before anyway. Besides, you figured by being there that Mammon might calm down. You knew he’d never ask you himself, that’s why you had to be the one to do it. “I’m getting a little jealous that everyone is having so much fun. I want to do it again! It’ll be so nostalgic for me.”
“That’s a weird version of nostalgia ya have.” Mammon muttered under his breath with a red tint to his cheeks. “It’s not like I need ya to join me or anythin’. I didn’t ask for this.”
“Of course not.” If you weren’t too busy trying to save Mammon’s pride and paid more attention to your surroundings, you might have caught the panicked looks on the others’ faces. “Never thought you would anyway. But I figured that we don’t have much longer before Lucifer gets suspicious of us and chews us out for goofing around in the hallway. We probably only have this last round left anyway. So we can do it together! Two birds with one stone.” You gave him a cheeky wink.
“Ah, w-wait!” Levi grasped your sleeve as the two of you started to head to the bathroom. “Uh, t-that’s not fair! We didn’t get to have you with us for our turn!”
“Hey! Hands off my human!” Mammon swats Levi’s hand away before you can respond and tugs you toward him. It was then, right as Mammon closed and locked the door, that you caught the panicked look on everyone’s face. Your eyes squinted as an odd feeling washed over you. Somehow you felt like you just walked into something that wasn’t meant for you. “So how do we do this?”
Snapping out of your thoughts and bringing your attention back to Mammon, you suddenly feel a cold sweat break out over you. “R-Right.”
“Huh? Don’t tell me you’re gettin’ all scared now!”
“Of course I’m not! I’ve told you that I’ve done this a million times! Nothing happens!” You couldn’t shake the feeling off, however. You rubbed your now sweaty palms over the front of your pants. Why were you so nervous? You glanced over at the half melted candle that sat on the counter (and it reeked strongly of roses; apparently the House of Lamentation lacked scentless candles and Asmodeus was the only one to go to) before flipping the light switch. It took a moment for your eyes to adjust, but you could still make out Mammon’s tense figure.
“Now what?” His voice was quiet and you could just barely make out a tremble.
“You just repeat the phrase “Bloody Mary” thirteen times.” You rocked on the backs of your heels, hands tucked behind your back as you watched on keenly. “Technically you’re supposed to do it alone, but I don’t think it’ll change anything.” You stayed close to the door, trying to see if you could hear anything from the other side, something that could explain the odd behavior of the brothers, but you couldn’t hear anything.
“I did it. Now what?”
“Huh?” You turned your attention back to Mammon. “You said it thirteen times already? How fast did you go?” An eyebrow quirked up and a grin appeared on your face. He really was adorable when he was nervous about something. “Well, I suppose if you really did do it thirteen times, now you just have to stare into the mirror.” You come up behind Mammon, tilting your head to the side as you watch him. He stared into the mirror with narrowed eyes, cautiously taking a step back after a few passing seconds. “Just make sure you stand out of arms’ reach.” He turned around with a quizzical look. “So she can’t reach out and grab you.”
“I regret wanting to know.”
“It doesn’t matter; nothing appears in the mirror anyway.” You brushed him off with a pat on his back. “Congratulations, you did it. Now you can tell your brothers you’re as brave as them.” You wrapped your hand around his wrist with the intention of pulling him out of the bathroom, however, he refused to move from the spot he stood. “What? Do you want to do it again that badly? Or are you looking for a dramatic exit?” Your grip on him tightened in an attempt to pull him out of the bathroom. As it would turn out, trying to force a demon to move was a lot harder than you thought. “Mammon, seriously--”
“It moved.” Your eyes traveled up to his face, moving to his side so you could look at him properly. “My reflection. It moved.” He repeated again, though this time his voice was a bit louder and his eyes were blown wide open. Suddenly, a cold weight settled in your stomach and you found yourself too scared to look at the mirror.
“That wasn’t funny.”
“Good, because I ain’t jokin’!”
“What do you mean it moved?”
“I mean my reflection moved; it moved ! I turned to look at ya and my reflection was still starin’ at me!” With the clear panic in Mammon’s voice, you decided to suck it up and look at the mirror. With your eyebrows furrowed, you glanced between Mammon and his reflection. It appeared to be the same; nothing about the situation sticking out or appearing to be odd. Could it have been that he had become paranoid due to the dark?
“I’ll turn the light back on.” But you couldn’t move. Mammon had your wrist in an iron grip and you wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon. “Mammon, I need you to let go of me so I can turn the light back on. And then I can unlock the door and we can leave…” Your voice trailed off when you caught a glimpse of movement out of the side of your eye. Your attention shot to the mirror, eyes widened when seeing Mammon’s reflection smiling at the two of you. “U-Uh…” You’d never had this happen before; as far as you were aware, this game was completely made up. You were frozen in place as you continued to gaze at Mammon’s eerie reflection. This was fine; this was completely fine. At least, that’s what you were telling yourself until the bathroom lights started to flicker.
“No.”
Mammon turned to look at you with a bewildered face. “No?”
“Hell no. We are not doing this today or ever.” You had been struggling to get out of Mammon’s grip, but you eventually freed yourself. You lunged for the lightswitch but came to a sudden halt when you saw Mammon’s reflection attempting to grab him through the mirror. “Back up, Mammon! You can’t stand at arms’ length or she can grab you and pull you in; that’s what the rules of the game always said.” At this point, you weren’t sure if she even needed you at arms’ length, but you figured you’d warn him anyway.
“Do ya know how to make her go away?” Mammon’s voice was full of panic as he spoke, eyes anxiously darting around the bathroom. You clumsily flipped on the switch, only to feel your stomach drop when the lights didn’t turn on. You go for the doorknob, only to realize that it’s locked.
“No clue.” None of your friends ever thought you’d actually encounter her, so no one ever explained to you how to make her go away. You were feeling like the world’s biggest idiot right about now. “J-Just stay by my side and avoid her!” You quickly made your way back to the demon’s side, gripping onto his sleeve as you forced him a few steps back. “We should cover the mirror with something, right?” It was more of a question you were asking yourself, but Mammon went ahead with looking for something anyway.
“Just make sure ya don’t leave my side. Lucifer would kill me if he found out I let some demon eat ya.” Not that you would be leaving his side anyway. You couldn’t keep your eyes off Mammon’s reflection, watching anxiously as it kept its gaze on your figures.
“C-Can you just kick the door down?” You asked timidly. Sure, Lucifer would probably be seething when stumbling upon the busted bathroom door, but you thought you could justify it if needed. You watched as Mammon prepared to kick down the door when you caught something out of the side of your eye. “M-Mammon!” You watched in absolute horror as his reflection began to climb out of the mirror, its hands gripping onto the framing. “Mammon!” You were certain you’d never heard your voice raise so high before, but you’d also never been in this situation before. You could feel your eyes start to sting as warm tears blurred your vision; you had never been so scared. Was this seriously how you were going to die?
You felt yourself getting lifted off the ground, Mammon’s grip on you strong as he held you against himself. “I told ya I’d never let anythin’ happen to ya, didn’t I?” You didn’t answer him, only burying your face in the safety of his chest as hot tears streamed down your cheeks. Just as he lifted his leg to kick the door down, it swung open.
“We’re sorry, we didn’t think-- oof!”
You slowly moved your face away from Mammon’s chest to see Levi lying on the floor, clutching his stomach in his hands. Mammon blinked several times as he stared down at his younger brother. “What are ya doin’ on the floor?”
“What am I doing? You kicked me!”
“Why were ya in the way?”
“I was opening the door for you!”
“I didn’t ask ya to!”
“Is that how you thank me?”
Satan and Asmodeus were at your side within seconds, apologies spilling from their lips as Asmodeus delicately wiped your tears away with his thumbs. “We only meant to prank Mammon; you weren’t supposed to go in there with him!” The fifth oldest explained while Mammon and Levi continued to bicker in the background. Realizing you were still being held by the demon, you awkwardly shifted in his hold.
“So it wasn’t real?” You’re too scared to look behind you, so you clung to Mammon tighter.
“Of course not.” This time it’s Satan who was speaking. “If it had been real, we all would have been in there within seconds. We really didn’t think you’d offer to go in with him. We were trying to warn you but Mammon threw you into the bathroom before we could say anything.”
“So ya decided it would be funny to prank me, is that it?” Mammon’s back in the conversation as he carefully puts you down. “Normally that wouldn’t piss me off too much, but ya had to drag my human into your stupid mess? Ya made them cry! I would never make them cry!” Mammon pulls you away from the three brothers, keeping an arm around your waist as he pulls you closer to his side.
“Mammon, it’s not a big deal. They already apologized--”
“Who made you cry?” A silence swept over the hallway, everyone turning to see where the new voice came from.
“L-Lucifer!” Levi’s already hiding behind Satan as he addresses the eldest brother. “Crazy seeing you here.”
“I live here.” Lucifer was not in the mood for nonsense today, you could sense it. You could also tell he wouldn’t let you get out of this so easily. “I will not ask again after this. Who made you cry?”
“Satan, Asmodeus, and Levi.” Mammon answered for you. “They made them cry! Who pulls a prank like that, huh? That’s just mean!” You try to hide your snort from how bitter Mammon was from all of this. A devilish grin forms on Lucifer’s lips as he looks over the three brothers.
“I’ll be seeing you three in my room later then, won’t I?” The three awkwardly looked between each other before sighing and giving in.
“Yes, Lucifer.” They say in unison.
“As for you,” his eyes were on you now, “no more of these nonsense games, understood?”
“Yes, Lucifer.”
He seemed content with that, taking his gaze off you and placing it on the brothers again. “Now then, you three with me.” You and Mammon let out a breath you didn’t realize the two of you were holding when Lucifer turned away and left, the three brothers trailing after him. While you were relieved to find out that it had been an elaborate prank set up by Satan and the others, you were pretty confident that you would never be playing that game again. So no, you didn’t need to be told that twice.