Chapter Text
“Come on, Marley~” A small voice begged.
“Nope, not gonna happen.”
“But you gotta finish your story!” Another voice demanded.
“Nope, the next part is too scary for little seals. I’ll finish the story when you’re older.”
“Liar!”
Marley stuck her tongue out as the sound of little feet followed her to the living room. It’s been around a month since she returned from her adventure in Devildom and the pups refused to let go of the enticing story she started. While she had stretched the truth and sugarcoated what she could, Marley couldn’t bring herself to talk about everything that happened, she barely could understand it herself. She sighed as she tossed herself on the couch next to her new pelt, giving it a gingered rub before grabbing a clean shirt from the laundry bin. However, she was smothered by the pups that invaded her personal space which caused her to release a large sigh.
“If you don’t tell us, we’ll just have to get the rest of the story from Nixie.” Gell, the oldest, claimed plainly.
“Good luck with that since I didn’t tell Nixie the ending either.” She snorted.
She soon found herself surrounded by the booing of various tones which started to grind against her nerves.
“Knock it off! If you’re not going to help with the laundry then go for a swim and cool your heads!” She commanded firmly pointing to the backdoor.
“Fine, but you’re gonna have to tell us the rest eventually.” Rem, the second oldest claimed while Gell herded the younglings from the room.
“Make sure the little ones don’t go too far from shore and keep an eye out for humans. I’m counting on you boys.”
“Yeah, yeah, what else is new?” Gell called out with a snort as he led the others to the back door.
Once she heard the back door close, Marley sighed heavily in relief.
“Finally, geez, they’re worse than seagulls.” She mumbled as she tried to fold laundry once more.
Suddenly, a hearty knock echoed from the front door, causing Marley to flatten on the couch with a huff, grabbing her pelt.
“Of course, because why not.” She groaned before peeling herself off the couch to answer the door.
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“Do you think she’ll ever tell us what happened to her?” Rem asked with a sigh as he dug his feet into the warm sand.
“I doubt it.” Gell answered while staring at the younglings playing in the waves.
“I mean, I know she makes up stories to tell us but do you really think she was kidnapped by demons?”
Gell just scoffed as his brother gave a snarky smirk in his direction. He then rested his head in the palm of his hand.
“Yeah right, she probably got caught by some poachers or drunk sailors and had to fight her way off the boat.”
Rem snorted out a laugh in response.
“Or she was fighting a kraken while doing a deep dive.” He managed to chuckle out.
“Nah, if she did, we would still be eating calamari. On top of that, when was the last time she came home empty-handed?”
“But she didn’t, she got that new pelt, remember?”
Gell sighed before turning to his brother.
“Then where’s her old one? What happened to it? Have you ever heard about a selkie getting a new pelt before? Let alone one that looks that strange.”
Rem blinked in disbelief.
“Woah, you’ve been really thinking about this.”
Gell sighed as he scratched his head through his thick hair. Rem patted his brother on the shoulder and gave a light smile.
“Come on, don’t think too hard about it. Let’s just let Nixie handle it. It’s not like she’s crying for help or something.”
“Get your fucking hands off of me!”
The boys suddenly jumped from their seats as Marley’s loud protest penetrated the house’s walls. Wasting no time, Gell told his brother to wait with the others as he rushed into the house from the back door. In a huff, he scanned the living room and headed toward the front door to see Marley tossed over the shoulder of a blue cloaked figure, banging on his back furiously. Cursing at him to put her down, the stranger simply scoffed as he headed out the door. Gell stood frozen as Marley continued to curse at the black-haired stranger who looked back at her with crimson eyes. His knees nearly gave out from underneath him as he tried to charge forward to help his guardian but he lost his steam as a rush of black feathers blocked his vision. Once the torrent was over, nothing was left but a single black feather laying in the door frame. His knees buckled in as he dropped to the floor and reached for the large feather with a shaky hand.
“Gell, Gell! What’s going on?!” Rem yelled from the back door to his brother.
“Demons are real!!!” Gell answered back with a shrill wail.
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“Put me down already!” Marley screamed in Lucifer’s ear.
“Gladly.” Lucifer answered as he roughly dropped her on the chair in his office.
Marley rubbed her bottom gingerly while Lucifer crossed his arms and stared at her with steel-like eyes.
“What the hell, Lucifer!? Who stuffed a bee in your collar!?” She protested loudly.
Lucifer didn’t answer, instead, his form slowly shifted as his clothing turned black and his horns pierced his ebony hair. His demonic aura crept upon the floor and encased the ground beneath Marley’s chair in jet-black shadow. Looking down at her feet and taking in the warping surroundings, Marley returned her vision to the now winged demon in front of her. Reading the room, Marley crossed her legs and pulled down her oversized hoodie before addressing Lucifer.
“You seem upset.” She calmly pointed out.
“Upset doesn’t begin to describe how I felt in the past month. Livid is a better word to use.”
“Hmm, I see. Well, it must have been very stressful.”
“You can say that.”
Marley smoothly got up from her seat and took in a gentle breath.
“Well, it’s been wonderful to see you again, give your brothers my love and you can send me back now.”
“Not a chance, especially considering the stunt you’ve pulled upon your first departure.”
“Come on, I have laundry and I want to fold it while it’s still warm.” Marley whined as her shoulders slumped.
“Is that truly your main concern right now!?” Lucifer hissed as his aura grew darker.
“Yeah, considering that I was kidnapped from my home this time! Seriously, what’s with the kidnapping, what the fuck is wrong with a letter!?”
“Don’t change the subject!”
“I’m not changing the subject, I’m just getting to the subtext!”
At this point, Lucifer and Marley’s conversation devolved from yelling to inhuman noises that echoed in the office. Since neither refused to budge, their base instincts came to the surface in the form of demonic growling and seal barking. Unfortunately, the sound of conflict spilled out of the room and attracted unwanted attention as a group of demon brothers poured themselves into the room. Marley turned her gaze only to be engulfed in layers of arguing demons.
“Get off of me, I was here first!” Levi claimed as he tried to push Mammon and Asmo away.
“Like hell, nerd! I ain’t got a chance to hang out with her yet!” Mammon hissed as he pushed back.
Asmo just took the opportunity to hold her closer, kissing her cheeks over and over.
“Mochi, I missed you soooo much, I’ve been so lonely without you~” Asmo cooed between kisses.
“Oi, get your hands off of her, Asmo! Don’t think you can run off with her!” Mammon yelled.
“Yeah, besides I’m her first demon and I get first dibs!” Levi added.
Satan kept close to the door as he watched his brothers tugging the surprised selkie back and forth between them. Finally having enough, an annoyed Marley released a wave of cold that repelled Asmo and Mammon, leaving Levi grasping onto her stubbornly.
“S-See? I’m the w-winner!” Levi claimed through his chattering teeth at his pouting brothers.
“You too, Geek Boy.” Marley claimed flatly as she lowered the temperature again, causing Levi to pull away to warm himself up.
The trio stared at her with puppy eyes only to receive a cold stern glare in return.
“Don’t give me that look, I’ve already had to deal with enough of that today!” She barked at the pouting demons.
She turned her attention back to the eldest brother who remained unfazed from the sudden cold.
“Send me back now, Lucy, and if my bedsheets get wrinkled, I swear to God.” Marley threatened slowly.
Lucifer didn’t even get a chance to respond before his brothers forced their opinions out in the open.
“W-wait, you’re going back already?” Levi questioned with big eyes.
“But you just got back here and you were gone forever!” Mammon added.
“Yeah, there’s so much we need to talk about, Mochi~” Asmo whined.
Marley snapped her gaze back to the trio with a surprised expression.
“I’ve. Been. Gone. For a month! What have you all been doing since I left?”
“Waiting for you to get back...” The trio said in a united pout.
Marley rolled her eyes as she turned back to the waiting Lucifer. Eventually, the trio began to beg Lucifer to let her stay while finding themselves clinging to Marley’s body once more. As the volume continued to rise, Lucifer’s anger began to boil to the point where his dark aura finally overtook the room and grabbed everyone’s attention.
“Can we focus on the true matter of hand?” He claimed coldly.
“And that would be?” She asked.
“Your sudden departure message, the picture that you decided to post on Devilgram.” Lucifer growled.
Marley thought for a moment to remember the picture before a genuine look of surprise came across her face.
“That’s why you have your panties in a bunch? For a picture? On the internet!?”
“It wasn’t a normal picture and you know that.”
Marley snorted out air as she turned her gaze away from the angered demon.
“Ok, so what? I put my pic on Devilgram, big deal.”
“You posted it on Lord Diavolo’s Devilgram, it’s a very big deal!”
Marley just tossed her arms in the air and scoffed at the issue, showing more concern for her laundry than the prince’s profile. Reading her expression, Lucifer’s rage peaked only to break away to an eerie calm that washed over his being. Seeing this, Marley stood on guard of the demon who put away his blackened wings and horns and took out a cold smile.
“What’s with that smile on your face, Lucifer?”
“I’m just thinking about how much school work you have to catch up on.”
“Excuse me?”
“You left in the middle of the term, without notice, so you have to make up all of the missed assignments. And you better maintain those impressive grades you’ve earned while you were sliding around. So you’re not going anywhere until it’s all finished.”
“EXCUSE ME!!?” Marley repeated louder.
However, her concerns were drowned out by the excited shrieks of the clinging demons on her body, all excited by the fact she would be living with them once more.
“Aww, Mochi, you get to live with us again~” Asmo chimed with his brothers in agreement.
“We have so many anime and manga to catch up on, not to mention the behind-the-scenes and director’s cut!” Levi added.
“BUT MY FUCKING LAUNDRY!!!” She screamed.