Sister's Keeper - Pt. 8
***We're baaaack! So excited to be working on this series again! I hope you're all as happy about this as I am, even though I know it has been so so long since we last look into the lives of Harper and MC. But I suddenly got inspired to revisit them because this series really is one of my favourite things I've written on this account and it would be a shame to leave it unfinished and honestly, I need to get back to writing more. So let's go! -B***
Summary: MC wasn’t pleased about being forced out of their home and into the Devildom for this so-called exchange program, however, they were pissed that their little sister Harper was brought with them. MC wants nothing more than to make sure their sister stays alive and safe while in the Devildom, but first they need to figure out why these Demon bastards won’t stop gawking at her.
Previous Part, Series Masterlist
You didn't know how you continued to get yourself into these situations, but fuck your luck had to improve at some point, right?
Evidently, that day was not today as you now stood in the entrance way of the Prince of Hell's castle. The Prince was the entire reason why you were trapped here with a bunch of unnecessarily prying, stubborn demons and not in your lovely apartment where you and your precious sister were actually safe.
At the very least, perhaps this would give you the chance to have a few choice words with his royal highness yourself.
You smile slyly at the thought as you take a bouncing Harper's hand into your own, earning a side glance from Lucifer.
The morningstar moves subtly closer to you. "I want you on your best behavior," he murmurs as he looms next you and reaches out to open the next set of doors. "I'm watching you."
Even as you roll your eyes, your stomach tightens around itself.
Entering the castle, you are surrounded by lavish walls, paintings taller than your entire body, gold and marble engulfing every inch of surface that you can lay your eyes on, and lush red velvet curtains adding emphasis to every arched window.
Yet despite all it's beauty, there's a cold heavy aura that fogs up the air around you buries itself in your lungs.
It's power. Pure, immeasurable power, built on the foundation of eons of loneliness and damnation. You tighten your grip on Harper, unsure of what you'll find around this corner or the next.
"MC! HARPER!"
You can't help but shriek at the sudden shout of your name before a white blur rushes up to you and clings onto you. You quickly push it off and blink as you see exactly who your attacker is. "Luke?"
The small angel beams and opens his mouth, but is suddenly yanked back by a scowling Mammon. "Hey! What's the big idea runnin' up and huggin' MC like that? Ya tryin' to scare 'em to death?"
Luke growls and squirms in Mammon's hold. "Lemme go! I was just saying hi!"
Levi huffs and rolls his eyes from his place in the back of the group. "Ugh! This is why I hate normies."
You narrow your eyes at the sudden reminder of Levi's presence before placing a hand on top of Mammon's arm, making eye contact with him as Luke continued to thrash. "It's fine Mammon. I don't mind."
He strangely gets tense at the casual, yet affirming touch. His eyes firmly fixed on the still hand, waiting for ... something. But when it stays there, and doesn't move, his cheeks warm and he roughly sets Luke down before looking away. "Whatever."
Luke takes a split second to glare at Leviathan and Mammon, inching closer to you. "I'm so happy you're okay," he huffs as he brings his attention back to you. "Everyone was talking about what happened at the competition," his eyes glisten as his bottom lip wobbles slightly. "I wasn't there to protect you and you got hurt! I'm supposed to keep you safe, but I-" he wipes furiously at this eyes as he struggles to take in a deep breath. "I won't leave your side again! I'll be the best guardian angel ever!"
"I'm sorry, guardian angel?" Satan, who has been nothing but silent toward you since the competition, finally speaks up. "What all this about?"
Mammon nods firmly. "Yeah! Since the fu-" he glances at Harper, "fiddle sticks when do you need some one else as a protector for ya? Ya know it was Satan and I that looked out for ya when Levi went psycho!"
Leviathan winces.
Luke steps forward before you can even get the chance to speak. "And a great job you all did! I heard they were bed ridden for days!"
"Hardly even a day," you mutter, but it doesn't go as ignored as you would hope as you hear Satan scoff from behind you.
"Only because you refused to actually listen to the advice of those you demanded to protect you and then continuously throw yourself into danger."
The words hit directly to your pride as you feel your haunches rise. "What are you even on about-"
Satan raises an unimpressed eyebrow. "Oh don't act so ignorant-"
"MY FRIENDS!" You flinch as a loud, bellowing voice calls out. At the top of the stairs, ever cloaked in crimson, stands Lord Diavolo with his butler, Barbatos. You feel Harper cling tighter to you, and you wrap your own arm around her in response.
The Prince beams a slightly tense smile as he comes down the staircase. "No need for raised voices. We're here for celebration and relaxation, are we not?"
You bite your tongue, eyes not once leaving Diavolo as he and his butler join everyone at the main level. Lucifer bows his head. "I apologize for my brothers and the humans," you bite your tongue harder at his words.
Simeon finally enters the room with Solomon behind him and moves closer to Luke and places a hand on the top of his head, giving Diavolo a smile. "You know how protective young angels can be," curiously enough, you catch his sapphire eyes glancing knowingly at Lucifer before returning to the Prince. "I assure you we are working on it." Luke pouts as Simeon ruffles his hair.
Diavolo laughs so loudly the painting shake slightly. "Indeed I do," he beams before clapping his hands. "Let us leave this meaningless arguing behind us! Now that we're all here, perhaps we should go ahead and explain how this retreat is going to work."
The butler steps forward, his hands perfectly positioned behind him. "Certainly, My Lord." his teal eyes scan over the group before him. "The aim of this retreat is for demons, angels, and humans to intermingle so that each may gain a better understanding of the other."
Mammon scoffs and nudges you as he looks over at you and Harper. "Well we're stayin' the night, I say the best way to intermingle is by havin' a pillow fight."
Harper gasps sharply, her eyes positively glowing at the idea. "A pillow fight?! Can we?!"
You sigh, giving Mammon a displeased look and lightly shake your head at your sister. "We'll have to see. Let's see what Mr. Barbatos has to say."
"As I was saying," Barbatos continues coolly. "I'll begin by explaining what we have planned for each day of the retreat," he gestures to a hall to the right. "After you've taken your belongings up to your rooms, we'll begin with a tour of the Demon Lord's castle, where you'll have a chance to learn about Devildom history. We'll be serving Devildom cuisine for dinner tonight, and I've take the liberty of volunteering to prepare tonight's meal myself."
You tilt your head at the statement as you assess the butler. Did he want a gold star for that? Wasn't it literally his job as a butler? Lucifer's heavy nearby presence and Beelzebub's praise for the offer was enough to make you keep your thoughts to yourself. Though you glance down as Harper tugs at your sleeve. "Are we gonna have to eat bat eyes or something?" She asks, looking a little green.
You snort and pull her closer to you. "Nah. But maybe you'll have to eat ghost tear soup." You chuckle quietly as Harper makes gagging noises at the thought.
"Tomorrow we'll be having a scavenger hunt," Barbatos continues. "Each day, we plan to have a representative from one of the three worlds prepare a meal for us."
You blink at the statement. Great. So now the 'relaxing' retreat now consisted of you needing to break into groups and most likely get lost in this absolutely haunted castle, and then be forced cook enough food to feed thirteen people with one of those people being the literal embodiment of greed. Fucking amazing.
And yet Barbatos continues with that eerie smile on his face. "So tomorrow, Luke will be making food from the Celestial Realm. I'm sure it will be quite a treat."
Harper gasps and looked over to her best friend. "You're cooking tomorrow?! Oh I can't wait to try your cooking! I bet it will be so yummy!"
Luke was positively glowing under the praise. "Of course it will be! The celestial realm has only the best food and I've been practicing really hard!"
Simeon chuckles. "You should see the amount of test baked goods we have at Purgatory Hall. There's hardly any room left in the fridge."
The room silenced as a loud growling noise rang out from Beel. He simply hummed as he held a hand over his stomach. "I will gladly help you out with that problem."
Simeon nods to the demon. "Sure. There's far more than the three of us will be able to eat, and it'd be a shame to put it to waste," his blue eyes glance back over to Luke. "Now remember Luke. You're making dinner. This means you have to make more than just sweets, understand?"
Luke's cheeks burn bright red as he pout. "Awwwww, okay."
"Incidentally," Barbatos's voice regathered everyone's attention, "there will also be a dance following dinner tomorrow."
Okay, someone really has to get better at passing memos because what the absolute fuck? These are the kind of things that would be nice to know in advance. You certainly didn't pack anything dance appropriate, and you didn't have anything packed like that for Harper either. Not to mention being in a loud overcrowded room with a bunch of demons sounded like a literal nightmare.
But you could hardly maintain your anger as Harper squeals. "A dance?! Like a ball! MC, we're gonna go to a ball like Cinderella!"
You forced a smile on your face for her. "We sure are kiddo. And by the sounds of things we're probably gonna be cooking up a storm the next day too."
Barbatos nods at you, a sheen of something that you couldn't quite put your finger on in his eye. "Very astute, MC. As our human representative, you will be in charge of cooking on our third day," he tilts his head as he looks at you. "Though you sound surprised. I did send notice regarding our plans."
Lucifer sighs. "Mammon, I believe I told you to let MC know about this?"
You slowly turn your head to look at Mammon, the sole reason for your current suffering, as he scratches the back of his neck, face bright red. "H-Huh? Wait a minute, didn't I um mention that? N-No? Well THAT'S weird, ahahahahaha," he laughs awkwardly.
You groan and face palm, wincing as it aggravates your still sensitive head. "It's fine, I guess. You were distracted. I'll figure it out."
He at the very least has the sense to look at least slightly guilty.
Barbatos clears his throat. "Well then. Why don't we move on to room assignments."
Right. To put icing on this already peachy cake, you were going to have to share a room and actually sleep around some of these people. You sigh and nod in acceptance. "Right," you look over to Mammon and Satan. "Harper and I share a room with you two? Maybe Luke too, since I imagine it's gonna be pretty hard to separate the two of them."
Satan purses his lips like he's about to say something in response to that when Barbatos speaks up once more. "Actually MC, your room assignments have already been arranged. I'm afraid this not a situation where you get to choose your roommates."
Your breathing paused, grip tightening on Harper as you stare at the demon butler. "What?"
He just continues to stare at you with that stupid smile that you now very much wanted to wipe off his face. "Yes. Lord Diavolo will be staying with Lucifer,"
"Doesn't he have his own bedroom here?"
"You have your own bedroom here," you and Lucifer speak in sync, sharing matching frowns. "Why share a room with me?" Lucifer continues with exhaustion tinging his voice.
Pure glee fills the Demon Lord's expression as he smirks at Lucifer. "Why do you think? Because this is a retreat of course!"
You roll your eyes as Lucifer grumbles, at least taking mild pleasure in the ass hats annoyance, and instinctively making eye contact with Satan to get his reaction as well, before looking away.
"Then Solomon, Satan, and Mammon will be sharing a room." you feel Mammon stiffen behind you, immediately getting defensive and see Satan's own expression sour. It's not ideal, but you could make it work. You and Harper would probably be paired with the angels so it's-
"Simeon, Asmodeus, and MC will be paired," Your heart dropped and your eyes immediately widened.
"Wait," you breathed.
"Meaning that Beelzebub, Leviathan, Luke, and Harper will be the final group."
"Hold on a second!" You bite out, gripping tightly onto Harper as you glare at the sly, arrogant looking butler who still continues to smile at you like he was anticipating your every reaction. It made goosebumps raise on your neck as you snarl. "That's not happening,"
"MC," Lucifer began testingly.
"NO!" You shout pointing defensively at Lucifer. "Don't. That is not happening. Harper stays with me. That's the deal."
Diavolo hums as he observes you. "This is part of the exchange program, MC. We are simply trying to get everyone to get to know each other a little better. Fear not. Your little sister will be safe with her dear friend, Luke, and-"
"And those two-" You gesture to Beel and Levi in disbelief. "One who has not stopped staring at her since we arrived and the other who literally knocked me unconscious just last week!" They both let out noises of protest but you refuse to give it any consideration. "Nope. Not happening. Try again."
Mammon nodded in agreement and stepped forward. "Y-Yeah! I should swap rooms with Asmodeus!"
Satan let out an aggravated sigh and shook his head. "No, you moron. You should swap rooms with Levi and stay with Harper. I should swap rooms with Asmo."
Mammon gawks at the blond. "I- You- Why do you get to- I mean I'm the-"
Demons. For Christ's sake. You run your hand through you hair as you glare at them. "You're both wrong. You should both switch with Levi and Me so that I'm with Harper," your hardened stare turns back to Diavolo. "And if you had any idea of what the hell has been happening in that house since we arrived, you would know this and let this be the arrangements!"
Barbatos's expression darkened as he stepped forward. "Please mind your tone around my lord," his voice resonates in a way that leave you with no choice but to snap your mouth shut. "I am afraid you have no say in this. The room assignments were carefully selected with everyone's best interest in mind, including yours and young Harper's."
You grit your teeth, ready to fight on this, when Harper taps your arm. "It's okay, MC," she smiles up at you. "Luke is your guardian angel, remember? He's like super good at protecting," Hardly comforting considering even Simeon said that Luke was not supposed to be a guardian angel yet. "And, Leviathan can't be a meanie anymore, remember?" Like you could forget. The stupid pact mark itched like a rash every night.
Besides, this all still left one demon in that room who was unaccounted for.
You glare over at Beelzebub, only to find him already staring at the two of you because of fucking course he was. He swallowed thickly and gave what was probably his best attempt at a comforting smile. "I promise Harper will be okay."
Yeah. Like you could trust that.
"She better be," you spat, and whipped your head around to look at Leviathan. "Leviathan-" you begin calling on the newest power within you.
"There you go again," you hear Satan mumble behind you, and immediately whirl around to face him.
"What?! There I go what?!"
"ENOUGH!" The floor shook under Lucifer's voice as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "How long do you all plan on goofing around? What's decided is decided. Time to take your belongings up to your rooms."
You bare your blunt teeth at the demon, but he is entirely unphased. "Not until-"
"Not until nothing," he bites back, narrowing his eyes at you, and in that second you feel a wave of infernal energy, far stronger than the presences of Mammon and Satan that you've become accustomed to, bare down at you as if trying to make you kneel beneath it. You felt your legs wobble against it, your heart pounding inside your ears. "Lord Diavolo has spoken. As a student of the exchange program you will listen. Luke will be with Harper. Now go."
If there was one thing you hated more than anything it was being told what to do. It always sounded far too much like the powdered wig judges and suit wearing care workers who always said that they were doing what was best for both of you, even if it never was.
You hated even more that, much like then, you didn't have a case in this situation.
"MC," your eyes snap over to see Simeon smiling gently at you. "Would you like to walk Luke and Harper to their rooms with me? Then we can unpack together."
A tightness began forming in your throat, and you could feel your hands trembling, even as they continue to hold onto Harper. Not trusting yourself to speak, you nod stiffly, and allow the angel to lead the two of you out of the room.
You weren't sure you were going to survive this weekend.
***And that is our first dive back into Sister's Keeper! Thank you all so very much for your patience with this. I know it has literally been over a year, and so much has happened, so I really appreciate the support and love that I still get from you guy. You're all truly the best. I'll see you in the next part! Love yas! -B***
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