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“I’ve never seen him look at anything with words for so long…”
“It’s a damn miracle, that’s what…”
Beelzebub popped his head into the dining room, hands and arms full of a variety of snacks and even had a stick of pocky poking out of his lips. “Hm? What’s going on?” he asked, voice muffled slightly by the sugary treat in his mouth.
Satan turned to face his younger brother with his arms crossed over his chest. “Mammon’s been going through all of my books regarding random facts for the past couple of days and has gotten through about a full third of my collection so far. I didn’t think he had enough attention span to read a sentence, let alone a whole book.”
Leviathan glanced up from his game to nod towards Beel then over at Mammon, who was practically nose-deep into a book and surrounded by several others. “It’s still a miracle that he can read. Especially with his test scores.”
Beel simply blinked then finished off the pocky stick in his mouth. “Why is it so bad that he can read? And why is he like that?”
“No clue. He’s not responding to anyone and barely moves for food and to take care of himself.” The fourth-born pressed his lips together, fighting the urge to shake his head. Instead, he curled up the corner of his lip, a small growl coming from the back of his throat. “I’d say it’s commendable that he’s throwing himself into his studies, but then I’d sound like Lucifer.”
“Hm… Have you checked to see if he’s up to something? Like the lottery or anything like that? Maybe he’s counting down the days to the next big one…” the ginger trailed off as he completely ignored the other. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember anything that Mammon had said to him in the past about lottery drawings.
“The big draw was a couple days ago, and he threw a fit when he lost by one number,” Leviathan piped in, turning off whatever handheld game he had. “Almost put Satan here to shame.”
A louder growl left the fourthborn as he turned to face Leviathan. “Don’t compare me to him either!”
Beel pressed his lips together in a pout, moving between the arguing brothers and towards Mammon. “Hey… You okay?”
“Can’t talk. Studyin’.”
The entire living room fell quiet, everyone staring at Mammon.
Leviathan merely blinked. “… Get Lucifer.”
———
With as many times as they all held their breaths, each brother should have collapsed several times over. There was no way that their brother - Mammon, of all people - had gotten himself on a trivia show and aced every single question thus far. None of them had known the intelligence that the second-born had stored away. None but Lucifer.
The eldest was leaning forward, elbows on his knees with a finger pressed against his lips. His brothers and himself were sitting in Mammon’s room, attention turned to the large flat screen television. Mammon had ended up on a Devildom national program. A game show, nonetheless.
“Is this why he’s been throwing himself into his studies recently?” he spoke lowly, muting the television as it went to commercial.
Asmodeus was to his left, a stunned look on his face. “There’s no way he actually knows all this stuff…” he muttered as one of his legs bounced on top of the other.
Belphegor curled his arms around his pillow as he made himself comfortable on the floor, nodding slowly. “He’s also been staying after class and asking the professors for help. I’m amazed he could do that.”
“As am I. Plus with all the books he’s been going through, I’ve been able to reorganize my room.” Satan stood behind the couch Lucifer was seated on with his arms crossed over his chest. “It’s never been so clean.”
“It looks like Solomon’s cooking spit up books, Satan. It’s not clean.” Asmodeus scoffed, examining his nails. “Aw… I chipped one…”
Satan breathed out heavily from his nose as he narrowed his eyes at Asmodeus. “Never compare my collection to that death sentence again,” he hissed. His nails dug into the palms of his hands forcibly enough to draw little pricks of blood.
A mound of snacks was dropped to the right of Lucifer followed by a sound plop of Beelzebub next to the snacks. He had a bowl of popcorn in his arms and a licorice stick hanging out of his mouth. “What’d I miss?” he asked.
“Nothing you haven’t already seen. Mammon’s S-ranking his way through this level, and we hate how he did it!” Leviathan slammed down his game, setting himself down on the floor to the left of Lucifer’s legs. “He’s totally cheating! That’s it!”
Lucifer held up a hand as he unmuted the television, paying no mind to the chatter of his brothers. “Quiet. All of you.”
———
The host of the game show smiled into the camera. “Mammon. This question is worth one million Grimm. If you get this right, you get to go home a millionaire. Are you ready?”
With a bright, winning grin, Mammon nodded firmly, hands folded on the table in front of him. “Bring it on, Steve!”
Steve’s smile only widened as his eyes flicked down to the question card. “Alright. Your question is…” His smile dropped as he stared across the stable at the second-born with a serious expression. “What is the name of our current ruler?”
The sin of greed’s smile dropped as well, his own expression fading into one of careful consideration. “Depends on the language. Everyone in the human realm calls him something different. What country are we talkin’ about?” He crossed his arms over his chest as he sat back in his chair. “They’re all names for him either way.”
Steve shook his head, tucking the question card into his suit. “There is only one name for him in our realm, Mammon.”
Mammon stayed quiet for a few long, drawn-out seconds, running a hand through his hair slowly. “Ain’t there a hint ya could give me?”
“Nope. This is the final question, and you have to answer it on your own. So, Mammon, what’s your final answer?”
The demon of greed slapped his hand on the table. “Prince Diablo. Final answer.”
———
Satan didn’t even have to look over at his eldest brother to feel the wrath coming off of him in suffocating waves. He had hardly noticed his own sin until his tail flicked behind him and snapped at the pool table. “This idiot…”
Lucifer shut off the television and stood up, slowly walking over to the screen. He matched paces with Satan before both put their fists through the screen. Both ignored the glass embedded into their hands as they both walked out of the room (though Satan went first, his tail breaking the door in half).
Asmodeus’s eyes widened as the room fell completely silent. “... Pay up, Belphegor.”
The sloth demon grunted and pulled out a wallet from his pillow, slamming it into Asmodeus’s awaiting hand. “This sucks…”
Beelzebub pulled his head out of the popcorn bucket, looking around. “He lost? Aw… Maybe next time.”