The Cosmos' Journey (Obey Me! x OC)

Chapter 17: Up the Stairs

Apparently, Levi had wanted to meet up in the planetarium. Ivy had rushed there as fast as possible to see what he could want. When she arrived, Levi turned to face her. "... Finally. I've been waiting for you to show up. It took you long enough. When I call for you, you need to come right away, understand? Don't walk, run. I want you moving at light speed. Like the way Henry races over whenever his best friend, the Lord of Shadow, calls on him. You saw the TSL DVDs, so you should know. He comes riding up on the winged unicorn that he won off of the Lord of Fools in a bet."

Ivy only remained silent. Levi then glanced away. "... Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you and I are best friends or anything. As if. So, do you know why I called you here?"

Ivy's head tilted. "To eat me...?"

"Huh. Good guess. You're sharp. The truth is that I was planning on doing that until a minute ago. Because I won't stand for anyone else being a bigger TSL fan than me. It's unacceptable! And what's worse, you're a human--a weak, insignificant one at that. It just totally defies belief. If I took you out of the picture by eating you, that would leave me as the sole king of all TSL mega fans, right? But Lucifer would get mad at me if I did, so I've given up on that idea."

Silence followed for a while. Then Levi piped up. "... All right, look. Here's the thing. You remember why we decided to have that competition in the first place, right? It was to see who the bigger TSL fan was. And I told you that if you won, I'd enter into a pact with you. That little trump card you pulled out was a real dirty trick... but a promise is a promise, after all. It really kills me to do this... it makes my stomach churn. But I'll keep my end of the bargain. I'll do it. I'll make a pact with you."

Ivy was a bit paranoid. "Wait. Are you plotting something?"

"Ah, right. Of course you would say that. I guess you can't help but be suspicious of others when you spend so much time around Mammon. Well, it's not like I care if you trust me, anyway."

The two then solidified the pact and Ivy felt her left wrist burn a little. So that's where he wanted to put the pact mark. Ivy smiled on the inside. Levi then stared back at her visible eye. "... So, what's all this about, anyway? There's something you're not telling me, isn't there? A normie human like you asking to make a pact with a demon like me? You must have some sort of ulterior motive. This is about more than just making a pact, right? You're after something else. Go on, spill the beans."

Ivy supposed there was no hiding it from him. Her visible eye was burning a hole in his skull. "Lend me your copy of the TSL soundtrack."

"AHA! I knew it! I knew no one would actually WANT to make a pact with me. Not like this is surprising or anything. Well, I don't know what you're planning on doing with my record, but... just don't sell it, understand?"

"Who do you think I am? Mammon?"

"*snorts, but goes back to serious mode* You'd better give it back when you're done, is that clear? If you touch it, make sure to wipe off any fingerprints. And no eating potato chips and stuff when you handle it. It's super, super rare, so you'd better not lose any of the inserts or the sleeve or anything!"

Ivy nodded as Levi handed her the soundtrack. Finally, FINALLY! She was one step closer to her goal. Now to get it to Lucifer. She turned to leave, only for Levi to grasp her shoulder. "Human, about the distant fear in your eyes when I attacked you, what happened in your past?"

Ivy visibly tensed at the question. Ivy moved her shoulder out of Levi's grasp. "I don't wish to speak about it. Please don't ask again until I'm ready to tell you."

She then walked off with Levi questioning what the heck happened to make her so terrified of aggressive behavior. Did she experience abuse? Only way to find out would be to wait patiently. Slow and steady wins the race after all.

-With Ivy-

Ivy arrived at Lucifer's door with the soundtrack in her arms. She knocked politely and then his deep voice greeted her. "The door's open. Come in."

Ivy pushed open the door and looked around the room she had stepped into. Her seeing eye landed on the raven haired male that turned to face her. He smiled upon seeing her. "Ah, Ivy, it's you. Today really was quite the disaster, wasn't it? But despite all that happened, you should know that Levi's not normally like that. He may be a high ranking demon, but he's quite harmless by nature. Try not to hold it against him."

Ivy nodded. Lucifer then stared as though attempting to read her mind. "So, tell me, what brings you here at this hour?"

Ivy hummed as she handed him the vinyl copy of the TSL soundtrack. She watched as his face lit up with surprise. "Wh...! Is this what I think it is?! ... Ah, now I get it. So, this is why you wanted to make a pact with Levi. Do you realize what it is you've got here, what this represents?"

Ivy shook her head. "No, I actually don't."

"I don't imagine you would. This isn't any ordinary soundtrack, you see. There's quite a history to it."

"Should I sit down for story time?"

"Go ahead."

Ivy sat down in an extra chair in the room and gave him her full attention. Lucifer took the chance. "I don't have any particular interest in The Tale of the Seven Lords as a story. No... What interests me is the person who served as the first composer for the TSL movies. You see, the composer I speak of is dead now. He killed himself. The final song he wrote before his death was meant to be used in the scene where the Lord of Corruption puts a curse on the heroes. But due to the composer committing suicide, they decided not to use that track. They saved it, but didn't release it to the public. However, a group of diehard fans pooled their own funds and had a very limited number of vinyl editions produced."

Ivy felt her eyes widened as she stared at the soundtrack she had handed over. Lucifer continued. "As you might have guessed by now, this record is one of the few that were created. However, all of the people involved in its creation, as well as every single person who owned a copy of it, ended up dying mysteriously. So, people started saying the record itself was cursed. I heard that all of these had been destroyed. But all this time, Levi had a copy. I had no idea. All right, I'll go ahead and take this. We'll consider it payment for saving you earlier."

Ivy smiled at him. The smile and happy eyes were a contrast with the distant terror on her features when he had saved her. Lucifer stared at her. "Still, I really do appreciate you bringing this to me. I think I'll spend tonight savoring every last note of this music here... which means I probably won't be able to bring myself to leave my room tonight. You see, we demons can't resist temptation. When there's something we really want staring us in the face, we have to have it. That's simply how we are. Right now what I want is to stay up all night listening to this record. I can't help it... I have to do it. But don't think that means you're free to climb the stairs to the attic, Ivy. That place is off-limits."

Ivy stood up and stared him dead cold in the eyes. "I know that. Unlike demons, I can resist temptation. So, I know what and what not to do."

"Well then, good night."

Ivy could feel Lucifer's eyes staring holes into her skull as she left.

-Timeskip-

Ivy arrived at the stairs. She summoned Libra and Capricorn to watch for her. When they gave her the all clear, Ivy put a foot on the staircase and began to ascend.