Belphegor

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) "Come take a nap with me," Belphie says, holding out a hand. Do you [[join him]]? or Do you [[decline?]]

You decline to join Belphie and head into the next room. Belphie settles himself on the couch and falls asleep very quickly. You bump into one of his brothers who suggests playing a prank on the sleepy demon. Who do you bump into in the next room? [[Mammon]] [[Leviathan]] [[Satan]] (enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white))

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) You take the demon's hand and he leads you to his bed in the attic. You climb in next to him and snuggle up with your back against his chest. His arms wrap around your waist and his face rests at the back of your neck. You close your eyes and drift off almost immediately to the sounds of Belphie's level breathing. When you open your eyes again do you find yourself: In a field of glowing [[purple flowers]] or In a dark, [[unfamiliar bedroom]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) You bump into Mammon and tell him that Belphie is sleeping in the next room. "Ya wanna play a prank on him?" he asks you, gleefully. Mammon suggests covering Belphie's hands in shaving foam. Would you like to go and get the [[shaving foam?]] or Go back to [[the beginning]] and pick again?

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) You bump into Leviathan and tell him Belphie is sleeping in the next room. "Maybe I can get my game back from him while he's asleep, he borrowed it but refused to return it," the otaku laments. "We could always play a little prank on him, get you a little revenge?" "Heheh, I have heard that putting a persons hand in warm water while they sleep can have an amusing consequence, just like they did in the anime version of "My brothers a lazy bones who doesn't return my stuff when I ask cos he's too tired to go and find it then pretends our other brother ate it." it wasn't in the manga though, they totes added it in..." You cut him off having heard all you need to. Do you go and get some [[warm water?]] or Return to [[the beginning]].

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) You bump into Satan and tell him Belphegor is sleeping in the next room. "Beel was looking for him," the Avatar of Wrath tells you. "If only there was some way we could lead Beel to him," you respond, a smile tugging at your lips and a glimmer in your eye. Satan gives you a knowing look, a similar glimmer in his eye. "Snacks?" you ask. "Snacks," replies the demon with a small nod. Run off to the [[kitchen]] with Satan to collect snacks. or You can return to [[the beginning]] if you prefer.

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) The two of you run off to Mammon's room to retrieve the can of shaving foam, trying to supress the giggles. When you return to the couch Belphie is deep in sleep. You spray the foam on one of his hands, the sleepy demon scratches his belly, spreading the thick white substance all over his clothes. You spray a little more on that hand and then spray the other. The demon remains motionless for some time so you decide to gently tickle his [[nose.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) The avatar of sloth swats at your hand and misses, instead he splatters the foam all over his face which wakes him up. "What the hell!" the demon sleepily exclaims, a dark aura starts to build around him as he realises what's happened. You and Mammon laugh. You laugh until you hear [[footsteps]] headed your way.

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) Before you can react, Lucifer stands in the doorway. He surveys the mess covering Belphegor and the couch. Mammon attempts to hide the can of shaving foam behind his back but he is too slow, not that it would have mattered, Lucifer already knew who was to blame before he saw the can. [["Clean up this mess]] immediately or hang from the [[chandelier."]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) You clean up the mess together, for fear of further punishment from the avatar of pride. Return to [[the beginning]] if you wish.

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) Lucifer ties the two of you up and attaches you to the chandelier as warning to anyone else who dares make a mess or break his rules. "You two will hang here indefinitely until I decide you have been punished enough." Return to [[the beginning]] if you wish.

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) The two of you leave the room to acquire a bowl and fill it with warm water. When you return you carefully lift the sleeping demons hand and gently place it into the [[bowl.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) You and Levi hide nearby, watching and waiting for something, anything to happen. Leviathan posts to devilgram "Lool, totally trying the hand in warm water thing from THAT anime on my brother" and a photo of the avatar of sloth. Unfortunately for the two of you, the only reason Belphie winds up wet is because he stirs in his sleep and tips the bowl over, soaking himself and the couch. As you lament the situation you hear footsteps behind you and Lucifer appears. He scolds you both, [["Clean up this mess]] or hang from the [[chandelier."]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) You and Satan head to the kitchen, cautiously entering in case the Avatar of Gluttony is there, you wouldn't want to alert him prematurely. The two of you collect a decent amount of Beel's favourite snacks from the secret stash kept for emergencies. You [[return]] to Belphie.

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) You and Satan carefully hide snacks all over Belphie's sleeping body. In his pockets, under his arms, you even tuck one poking out of his boot and one in his pillow case. "I have to go and meet Solomon for cat related things and I'd rather not be around when Belphie wakes up." Satan tells you. "Would you like me to [[leave a small trail]] for Beel or would you like to [[just wait]] for him to naturally pick up the scent of Belphie and chocolate?"

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) You decide that leaving a small trail would be the best idea, just to make sure the hungry demon makes his way to the right place, it shouldn't take Satan too long. You find yourself a good spot to watch from while staying out of sight in case Beel passes you. It's not long before Beelzebub passes the doorway, he stops a moment and sniffs the air, then turns to enter the room. He spots the candy bar you had managed to stuff in Belphie's boot and left sticking out just enough for a ravenous demon to spot. Beel pulls the candy out of the boot and scarfs it down in two bites. He sniffs the air again. He can smell the other snacks and treats you left all over Belphie and proceeds to start rummaging around the sleeping demon's clothing, shoving all the food he finds into his mouth as he finds it. Belphie is finally awoken with a start when Beel picks him up with one hand to search underneath him and then proceeds to shake him to see if anything else falls out. You are almost caught out when you laugh a little too loudly, you quickly send the photos you took of startled Belphie held aloft to Satan and the others before retreating to safety. You can return to [[the beginning]] if you wish to try another route.

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) You decide to just wait and see how long it takes for Beelzebub to pick up the scent all by himself, sensing Satan may be in a rush and excited for cats. Unfortunatly for you Beel gave up looking for his twin some time ago and went to the gym, he won't be back for quite some time. Meanwhile, all the snacks, especially the chocolatey ones, have melted from Belphie's body heat and you had opened the packets to make sure Beel would smell them, knowing they would likely not go to waste should he arrive. Belphie and the sofa are now covered in sticky food. Perhaps you should return to [[the beginning]] and try again before Lucifer finds you and you spend the rest of the night upside down.

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) When you open your eyes you are no longer lying on a bed but on the ground, which still feels oddly soft just like the mattress. You are surrounded by purple flowers which are currently around twelve inches tall and seem to give off a slight glow. The demon rolls onto his back and you follow him, his hand finds yours and you lie together holding hands and staring at the sky. It's filled with little green lights that hover above you. The sky itself seems to shimmer, different hues of mid to dark blue but opalescent. If you focus through the green lights dancing in front of it, you can make out stars dotted through the sky. You lie together for a while just watching the lights and enjoying the ethereal space before you ask, [["Where are we?"]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:black)) The bed you share is now a four poster bed with dark sheets. The walls are covered in grey damask printed wallpaper. All the furniture is dark and dusty. Cobwebs hang from corners and the only light appears to be moonlight seeping in through the tattered rags that were once curtains hanging over the barred windows. In the back of your mind you can feel another presence. It's not in the room but it's close by. You sit up, blinking to try and adjust your eyes better, you gently shake Belphie to make sure he's awake too. "We're in your dream," he explains. He sits up next to you. Would you like to [[explore your dream?]] or Return to sleep to try for [[another dream?]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:black)) You swing your legs off the bed and stand up to explore the room. At the far end there is a door in the middle of the wall. You move towards it and notice a light switch but flipping it does nothing, the room remains dark. "Why don't you try the door?" asks Belphie. You reach out towards the doorknob tentatively but when you twist it, nothing happens. You look back at the bed where the Avatar of Sloth rubs his eyes and shrug at him. You decide to look through the drawers of the dusty old vanity near the window. Maybe there's a key in there. "There's no keyhole," the demon notes, startling you when his voice comes from the doorway instead of the bed. He's surprisingly cat like in the silent way he can move. You close the drawer you were searching, finding nothing but a hand mirror and an old journal of infernal script. "It's your dream, you can do anything," Belphie tells you. You move back over to the door and with another shrug, you try the knob again. [[The door opens.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:black)) You lay back down next to Belphie, not ready to face whatever this is. You close your eyes and wake up to try again. Go back and [[join him]] to proceed or return to [[the beginning]] to start over completely.

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:black)) You are greeted by a hallway that is equally as dark as the bedroom, if not more so. There are a couple of doors on either side and one at the far end of the hallway. You feel drawn to that door for some reason. You look to Belphie. "Should we go forward?" you ask the demon. "I don't see why not. Let's explore together," he smiles. As you step out into the hallway it suddenly seems [[longer]] than it did a moment ago.

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:black)) You continue forward along the hallway. At first everything seems normal. Somewhere around halfway along though you look towards the door at the end and it seems even further away than it did when you first set off. Each step you take from this point on, the door just seems to move further away as if you're moving backwards but you are sure you are moving forwards. You feel compelled to try running towards the door. Maybe you can catch up to it. You know you can't but it's a dream so maybe? You look to your side where Belphie is jogging in place next to you as you run forward. You stop and blink at him, he continues jogging on the spot for a moment before he stops too. You look back at the door in the distance. [["Focus."]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:black)) You take a moment, then a deep breath. You close your eyes and focus on reaching for the door handle in your mind. You reach your hand out for real and feel the door in front of you. You open your eyes and look at Belphie, hand on the door knob, ready. He gives a nod and you twist the knob. The door swings open but as it does you feel the presence from earlier all around you and a strong gust of wind tries push you into the darkness in front of you. You turn into the wind and grab onto Belphie's arm for stability. "We have to go back," you yell. Something is compelling you to return to the safety of the bedroom. Belphie takes your arm and pulls you back along the corridor into the [[bedroom.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:black)) "What was that?" you question the Avatar of Sloth. You can still feel the presence on the other side of the door. "What does it feel like?" he asks. You find it hard to fully pin down the feeling. In fact it seems to shift between something you're afraid of and something less sinister that doesn't want you to move on. Belphie closes his eyes for a moment. "Feels like an obstacle," he posits. "Something that is bothering you in reality is preventing you from moving forward." He takes your hand gently. "I've heard sometimes you need to face these problems head on to defeat them, no matter how scary that feels." Would you like to [[face the obstacle?]] Or [[Wake up.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:black)) You stare at him for a moment before giving him a small nod. "I'll face it," you tell him. "Ok, I'll be right here by your side, I'll protect you," he says softly with a smile. You look back to the door and once again take a deep breath before reaching for the knob. The door swings open. The presence is nearby. You linger in the doorway. "Don't forget, you can do anything and I won't let anything take you away from me," the demon reminds you. You step into the hallway with Belphie beside you and the presence moves in front of you. You can't see anything physical but you feel the way it hovers in the air. You try stepping to one side and the presence mirrors your movement. "What do I do?" "Whatever feels right to you." You take the deepest of breaths and [[step forward.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:black)) You feel the presence mirror you in moving forward but before anything else can happen you scream. You scream as hard and loud as you can directly in the "face" of the thing blocking your way. When you run out of breath you take another and scream some more until the thing starts to shrink. You feel it getting smaller and smaller until it withers away into nothing. "You did it," Belphie proclaims as you pant beside him. Now all that's left to do is walk down the hallway and through the doorway at the [[end.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:black)) The hallway is it's normal length. The door at the other end stands slightly ajar and you can see a dim light coming from the other side. A quick glance at Belphie and you set off together, the hallway behaving as a hallway should. You reach the door and gently push it so it swings open. Before you can step inside you awaken in the real world. Belphie is still wrapped around you just as he was when the two of you drifted off. You can stay here and lie with the sleepy demon or you can return to [[the beginning]].

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:black)) "I'm not ready for that," You tell him, hanging your head. He steps closer to you and wraps his arms gently around your shoulders. "It's ok," he whispers, "Just get back onto the bed and close your eyes, drift off and this will all be over." You do as he says, making your way back to the bed and climbing in, he watches as you settle and then comes to sit next to you. He strokes your hair as you close your eyes and awaken in the real world, the dream long gone. You can return to [[the beginning]] if you would like to start over.

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) "We're in my dream world. This is where I come when I'm not checking on other people's dreams," he responds. "It's so serene," you observe. "In here I can do anything I want, see?" You blink and in an instant the green lights become orange and the sky ripples rainbow colours for a moment before returning to the shimmering ocean of blue. While you are amazed by this for a moment you can't help but tease the demon. "Is that all?" you ask with a devilish grin. Never tease a demon. The ground around you begins to shake, the sound of an army marching passes over you. You see the soles of knight's boots stomp above your vision looking like they might tread on you at any moment. After they pass you look to where they were heading and see a large black castle on the horizon. In an instant that's all gone and the ground under you shakes again. Large columns of rock sprout up around you, tops pointed, blocking your view of the flowers on the other side. "Nope," the demon grins back at the surprise that now colours your face. The rocks recede back into the ground and Belphie stands up. He holds out a hand to help you up. "We could [[fly]] over the Devildom if you'd like, or simply [[frolic]] among the flowers and see where we end up?"

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) "I want to fly!" "Ok, then take my hand," the demon says softly with a smile. He holds out his hand for you and the moment you are safely in his clutches you begin to float up off the ground together. The field of purple flowers transforms into the sprawling Devildom below you. You spot several familiar locations including the castle, RAD and the House of Lamentation. Something about their colouring looks slightly off though. Before you can comment Belphie starts to drift you both [[forwards.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) "Frolic?" you question, raising an eyebrow at the Avatar of Sloth. You feel a sudden burst of energy come over you and Belphie grabs you by the hand. "Run with me." He tugs you, the flowers grow to waist height around you and the two of you run over hills and throw yourselves into the flowers that catch you like soft pillows. You roll around laughing together and just being silly and free in Belphie's special dream world. You sit up after a while of rolling around. You see a tree line in the distance. Belphie spots what you're looking at. "I wonder what's in there," he ponders with a small smile, [["Race you?"]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) "Last one there is Beel food!" you yell, jumping to your feet and racing off ahead of Belphie who simply smiles and then teleports in front of you to the edge of the forest. Belphie laughs at you while leaning against a tree and you slump a little, defeated. He moves the forest closer to you with his mind. The trees look like something out of a storybook when you inspect them up close. The trunks twist and the leaves seem to glow a golden yellow, illuminating the space between them. "Why do all the plants here glow?" you ask him, refusing to acknowledge that the demon won or cheated. "Why not?" he shrugs. He takes your hand and the two of you set off [[through the trees.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) You walk together for a while, following a twisty little dirt path until Belphie stops and pushes a pair of bushes apart. On the other side of the bushes is a small grassy clearing next to a lake. The blue water glitters in moon light but you're not sure when the sky darkened and the moon appeared. The water's edge is lined with reeds and blue flowers, the green lights from the field earlier dance around the edges of the clearing. Belphie beckons for you to pass through into the grass and as he passes through behind you he pulls a picnic basket and blanket out of the bush. "Gotta be prepared in case Beel comes to visit heheh." he shakes the folded blanket out and lays it on the ground. He motions for you to sit, and places the picnic basket in the centre. You spend the rest of your dream here by the lake, enjoying the scenery, each other's company, and whatever food and drink you desire from Belphie's magic picnic basket. It's [[time to wake up.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) A while after you have finished with the picnic basket, you lay down together on the blanket looking up through the canopy of leaves and branches above you. You watch the shimmering sky and look at the stars, watching them twinkle like they are winking at you and smiling. You drift off in your dream. You wake up in the bed in the attic, Belphie still wrapped around your middle until he stirs and stretches. "You're welcome back anytime," he says sleepily and nuzzles his nose into your nape. You can stay here in bliss with Belphegor or return to [[the beginning]].

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) "Hold tight," he jokes. You know he controls what happens here and he'd never let you fall. He dips you both down low as you pass over Purgatory Hall. A pair of figures play in the garden behind the building; they look like Luke and Simeon. As you pass overhead, another figure comes out of the door holding what appears to be a smoldering casserole dish. You giggle at the sight of Solomon and his burnt "food" before Belphie swoops you both up and over, [[towards the House of Lamentation.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) As you fly over the House of Lamentation you spot a white haired figure in a brown jacket being chased in circles by a purple haired demon with a tail. Belphie lands you on the glass roof of the planetarium for a moment so you can hear Leviathan yell at Mammon about the money he owes him. You playfully smack Belphie gently on the arm and giggle at the manifestation in front of you. You look down through the glass ceiling for a moment and can see Lucifer inside, pretending not to notice the commotion. You see a flash of blond hair sneaking up on Lucifer just as Belphie [[takes off again.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) He looks back at you with a sly smile when he senses that you saw Satan sneaking up on Lucifer to prank him. When you look ahead, you can see the castle come into view. Belphie doesn't spend much time here but he circles you around it so you can see it from a different angle. It looks very dark and foreboding; none of the windows are lit up and there doesn't appear to be anyone around. "No Barb or Diavolo?" you mumble, thinking he wouldn't be able to hear you. "Why would they be in my dream?" he responds. He pulls you through the air away from the castle to fly over [[RAD.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) As you fly towards RAD you don't see much going on here either but as you draw nearer students pour out of doorways and fill the courtyards, bustling this way and that. You spot a few demons who look vaguely like ones you've seen between classes milling about. You fly over the school a couple of times before Belphie decides it's time to move on. Next he takes you to the main shopping street, a place you've spent plenty of time with each of the brothers in the past. He lands the two of you on a rooftop where you sit side by side, his head resting on your shoulder, and both of you just watch the people down below. Some rush to collect their shopping while others meander along browsing. The lights in the shop windows and streetlights cast a beautiful glow. This is when you finally realise why everything looks slightly miscoloured; the lights are a bit brighter than what you're used to. As if you're seeing everything through eyes that have just woken up or maybe even need to close. You're seeing everything as Belphie sees it when he's [[awake.]]

(enchant:?page,(text-colour:purple)+(bg:white)) The two of you watch the world beneath you for a while until you feel Belphie's weight press into you. He's drifting off and you are now his pillow. You feel yourself slipping into sleep as well. Your eyes and limbs feel heavy. You let your eyes close. ---- You awaken in the attic, still tucked against Belphegor's chest, with Satan gently shaking the two of you by the shoulder and whispering your names. "Dinner's ready. Come on before Beel gets angry that Lucifer won't let him eat until you're both at the table," he says as you open your eyes. You rub them gently as they adjust to the light and then set off down to dinner, holding Belphie's hand the entire way. You can return to [[the beginning]] now or enjoy your dinner.