Chapter Text
I’m lost without you dear.
“Doesn’t look like much has changed,” Rin says to herself.
The halls of the palace have always been grand. Giant marble pillars support arched ceilings, fantastic paintings depicting famous scenes from Hell’s history sprawled all over them. She knows that if she looks up there was a chance her own figure would be standing there to greet her. Despite how many millennia it had been since she was last here, she knew the layout of Lord Diavolo’s castle by heart. It didn’t matter how much time would pass - the halls would forever be burned into her mind; reds, whites, and golds forever embedded into her soul.
“My Lady.” Barbatos greeted her at the door, the butler dressed to the nines as expected.
Under normal circumstances, she would have felt severely underdressed in her sweater and jeans but it was more a show that she didn’t care about what Diavolo had to say today. A political statement perhaps. Her painted lips smirked at the thought as she walked through the door, spotting the Prince behind his desk.
His office was equally as majestic, a room far too big for the one demon alone. Books lined the walls composed of old scriptures and historical texts that the royal family collected. A giant window overlooked the Devildom, a physical representation of how much higher he held himself in regard to the other demons he ruled over. It always unnerved her to be in the room alone, not liking just how formal and stiff the air felt. It was suffocating.
“Aiya, it’s lovely to see you again,” Diavolo says, smiling at her charmingly. Perhaps it would have worked on her in her youth but today she wasn’t having any of it.
“I told you to call me Rin. What is it you want?” she corrects him, crossing her legs. “I don’t exactly recall telling you I missed being down here.”
“I want to prepare an exchange program,” he says simply. “One that will require the cooperation of the three realms. The other two realms have already agreed. It’s a matter of when I begin the program at this point.”
“Alright. Why am I here?”
“You’re the only demon I can think of from the human realm who can hold her own against the seven brothers. I wanted to ask you to pilot the program as the human representative.” He rests his hands on the desks as he speaks, leaning in closer to her. Instinctively she backs away, not liking how close he was to her.
“What do you mean? And as a human? We both know that’s not what I am.” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her? An exchange program? Seven brothers? It had been a while since she saw them all.
Diavolo sighs, standing back up and walking over to the window that sat behind his desk. The Devildom nights were always something she found beautiful, even though they didn’t look too different from the days. There was just something different about them. Something comfortable to her.
“I wish for two humans to come from the Earthly Realm. One of them will be Solomon. The other is undecided,” he explains. “However, an actual human would be in too much danger. Solomon will be staying at Purgatory Hall. Another human needs to stay at the House of Lamentation where the brothers stay.”
“So instead of, oh I don’t know, finding a human who’s skilled in magic like Solomon you decided to ask me?” A scoff leaves her lips as she sits there, incredulous at the offer.
“I thought I made it clear when I left. I don’t want anything to do with you people,” she reiterates, tapping her heel impatiently.
“I’m aware Aiya.” His blatant disregard for her correction annoyed her even more, making her scowl.
“However, I am willing to make it worth your while.” At this her eyebrow raises. This was a good opportunity.
“Alright, I’m listening.” Their gazes meet, black against gold.
“The other two lords have agreed to present you with one favour. You can ask them for anything. I am willing to offer you three.” She whistles lowly at his offer.
“Three favours? And I can ask you for anything?” Diavolo nodded, seeming incredibly serious.
“Think of yourself acting as the pilot for this program. I want this to be as successful as possible. In order to manage that, I need to see how the brothers will deal with someone they believe to be human, how they’ll treat you in their home. You can’t let it slip who you are or what you are. Can you do that?” She scoffs at his offer, annoyed that he assumed she agreed.
“Oi, I didn’ say that I agreed to it asshole. I’m considerin’ your deal, got it? Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” she growls.
Her palms went to brace her weight on the table as she vaulted over his desk, landing to stand on his chair to meet his height, being much smaller than he was, or most demons on average. He walked back over to her, bracing himself against the back of the leather as they continued to stare each other down, now standing so close at this point that their noses touched.
“Five favours in total. Three from you, one each from the others. I got other things you gotta do for me. Ready to listen?” The same smile returned to his lips as he listened to her, not placating her in the least.
“Of course, My Lady,” he teased. She straightened her back, beginning to count off her requests.
“One. I can only do this if they don’t know who I am. If they somehow recognise me which they shouldn’t, I won’t do it. Two. You don’t get to interfere with anything. You’re only going to make sure I don’t get myself killed. You don’t make any decisions for me. Three. You don’t get to meddle in our relationships. Whatever happens, happens. You aren’t allowed to tell me I can’t be friends with them, become their mortal enemy, whatever. It's MY rules, not yours. And finally, you have to get me food from the human realm. I hate the food down here. Got it Prince?” she mocks, tempted to spit on him.
Thanks to their proximity it made it easy for him to grab her waist, pulling her into his much larger body as a hand came to cup her chin. She didn’t bother struggling against his grasp and waited for him to do whatever it was he wanted. It wouldn’t be too big an issue for her to bite down hard enough that he’d let go. Or so she hoped.
“Of course. I agree with all these conditions if you’ll agree to do this for me. It’s a big job I can’t ask just anybody.” His breath fanned across her face uncomfortably and she decided she had enough.
“Alright then, let me go now.” For a moment it looked like he wouldn’t, eyes raking over her form.
“You’re still as beautiful as the day Luciel introduced us,” he says suddenly. Her hands fly up to push against his chest, forcing him to let her go.
“When do I start?” she asked, annoyance obvious in her voice. “And what’s the exchange program like? Am I just going to be doing shadow work or something?” He seemed a little startled at how abruptly the subject changed, staring at the space she used to occupy.
“You’ll start in the next month. You’ll be attending the Royal Academy of Diavolo or R.A.D for short. I expect that you’ll perform well in class.” She stared at him open-mouthed.
“You-I-Demons go to school?!” A sharp peal of laughter rang through the air as she struggles to catch her breath.
“You put demons through school?! What’s the point?! Oh no, I can’t do algebra! What am I going to do? What if the human I’m trying to seduce only gets aroused by a perfect sinusoidal function?!” Rin fell back into the armchair, running her fingers through her hair as she continued to cackle. He waits for her to calm down before speaking again.
“The logistics of this aren’t important. What is important is your cooperation. Can you give it to me?”
“Yeah, yeah I will. Christ, that wasn’t what I was expecting,” she wiped a tear out of her eyes as she spoke, still finding the idea of a demon school hilarious. Diavolo flinched a bit at the exclamation.
“I don’t suggest speaking like that around the brothers. It’d be much better for you to find…different exclamations.” Her eyes roll at the suggestion.
“I’m not that idiotic. I got some ideas as to what else I can say. But seriously, what the fuck man?” He stays silent at her question and she sighed.
“Got it, got it. I’ll go home and pack. Don’t worry too much about it. How long are you thinking?”
“I think at least one academic year. I want you to be able to experience everything.” For some reason, he seemed relieved. His body softened and his voice seemed more relaxed.
“Thank you so much for agreeing. Hopefully, with this, I can achieve my dream of uniting all three realms.” Now he seems like a happy child who got what he wanted but she guesses that wasn’t too far from the truth.
“Alright then. Thanks for offerin’. I guess. At least you asked before kidnapping me. If you kidnapped me I’d be pretty fucking pissed. Have a good time Diavolo- I’ll see you when I see you.” She turned away from him, opening the door and walking out of the palace. Her surroundings shifted until she got back home, flopping back onto her bed.
Her eyes slide to the wedding photo she kept on her bedside table.
How long had it been at this point? The metal on her finger seems to weight more than usual as she sighs, flipping the photo onto the wood. Her body hums with a need she was much too familiar with. She tries to ignore it, staring blankly at her ceiling.
“I have a feeling something’s going to happen darlin’.” She says to nobody in particular.
“I hope you’re alright with that.”