𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 (𝐎𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐌𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐱𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

Missing Link

Trigger warning: Some events in the following chapter may be disturbing to some readers. Proceed with caution. Contains sexual elements.

"Solomon" disappeared the following day. Naturally, the news that he was y/n's brother and not the actual Solomon was the driving factor in his departure. No one bothered searching for him. Not when the news about Lucifer had a much more significant impact on the demons. The news had been kept from the public, for the time being, to minimize panic.

Four hours. That's how long it's been since Lucifer died. It was a sentence you couldn't think about without disbelief. Lucifer was dead? It was a nightmare. One of their strongest allies was gone. Even worse, their eldest brother was no longer around to scold them. To reprimand them and to keep them in line.  

The brothers were stunned. A veil of silence and mourning had fallen over the house. No one dared to even speak. No one moved. Six bodies scattered around the home. Six brothers, dealing with the loss of someone they couldn't stand, yet loved all the same. Six. It was an ugly number. It should be seven. Why six? Six was wrong. There were seven sins. Not six. 

Not.

Six.

When news had made it to the demon lord's castle, the very ground shook. There was nothing natural about that quake. One strong enough to shatter boulders and cave in temples. The raw anguish felt by a friend was stronger than any villain in any fairytale. 

Whereas Diavolo expressed his emotions through power, the remaining six brothers expressed theirs through behavior. The group had found themselves straightening paintings, brushing away dirt, lining books, and folding fabric to distract themselves during the first hour after the discovery and recovery of the body. Orderliness. Lucifer's desire. Work work work. In a daze, they functioned, until the crippling weight of sorrow stopped them in their tracks and secluded them all. No one cried. No one dared to. 

The only exception to this behavior, however, was Mammon. He was up on his feet, pacing the floors of the infirmary while a worried-looking y/n watched him with steady eyes. She had not been made aware of what happened to Lucifer. How could they tell her? A person so beloved by Lucifer, yet one who did not hold any fondness for him? Stolen memories. It would be cruel to tell her he was gone. For now, she would be kept in the dark. That had been the unspoken plan between the brothers.

"Mammon, you'll wear a path into the floor if you continue," She pointed out, growing tired of seeing the demon pace like this. Mammon hesitated for a moment before nodding and sitting at the foot of her bed.

"Right. I'm sorry. I don't know what's up with me," He told her, though his grim expression told another story. He knew exactly what was getting to him. He decided to leave Lucifer alone. He had let him die by himself. In his head, he knew it was probably the best decision at the time. Lucifer had told them to leave, after all. So why did it hurt so much? Leaving. It shouldn't have been such a hard decision to make. A poison that turned you against your loved ones wasn't something he knew how to counteract. If they had been made aware of the curse before it had been activated then maybe they could have done something. Right? Or was this wishful thinking? Hopeless torture he was putting himself through for the sake of his conscious. Satan wanted to stay. Maybe they should have. 

Mammon groaned softly and let his head fall into his hands. He had chosen to leave. To take Satan away upon the request of their older brother. Of course, that meant that he was now the eldest. He could never fill in the void that Lucifer had left behind. How could he, an immature slack-off, possibly uphold the image and responsibility of the eldest? He was not Lucifer. He was not supposed to be in charge. He was supposed to be the headache. The annoying brother that loved his family but troubled them all the same. He was not pride. He was greed. And perhaps it was that greed that made him want to stay in his second-place bubble that ravaged his mind. To want things to stay the same for the sake of himself.