"Wake up, honey."
Light poured through my windows like a curse. I groaned, pulling the blanket over my head as Mom yanked the curtains wide open.
"Time for school. Breakfast is on the table—eat before it gets cold."
She left without another word. I sat up slowly, something already feeling... off.
"Where are those hellspawns?"
I found them downstairs, lounging across the couch like they owned the place. Beelzebub clung to Asmodeus, who looked royally annoyed.
"Hey," I called. "What's going on?"
"Czarina!" Beel grinned and pointed dramatically. "Asmo's sulking."
"Because this creep tried sneaking into your room last night," Leviathan said, not even looking up from his phone. "But he got repelled by the sacred item under your pillow."
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
"It's instinct," Asmodeus muttered. "I'm the avatar of Lust. Boundaries are... blurry."
"Your brothers didn't have any blurred boundaries."
"I didn't ask to be Lust."
"So you admit you tried."
He opened his mouth to argue. I held up a hand. "Next time, I'm putting crosses in the bathroom too."
"I gotta go. Try not to destroy anything."
I rushed upstairs to get ready. When I came down again, Mammon handed me my backpack.
"I packed your stuff," he said.
"Thanks," I said, surprised by the gesture.
Outside, I stopped short.
There, parked in front of the house like it was completely normal, was a sleek, metallic race car. Levi sat in the driver's seat, the others crammed in the back like an overpowered clown car.
"Where the hell did that come from?"
"Levi's," Mammon said. "We're taking you to school. Gotta keep an eye on your soul."
"I'm not showing up in that thing like I'm in Fast & Furious: Demon Drift. People will freak out."
"They probably won't even see it. Levi just wants to feed off some envy before breakfast."
"Then circle the block! Ain't no way I'm riding with you! I'm walking."
"You'll break his little reptilian heart."
I checked the time. I was going to be late. "Fine. But no drama."
The door opened with a hiss. Not even my parents can afford something like this!
The car took off like it had a personal grudge against speed limits.
"LEVI, SLOW DOWN!"
"Faster!" Luciferre laughed from the back."We forgot Mammon," Beel said."I'm on the roof!" came Mammon's voice."This is ridiculous!" I shouted against the deafening wind.
"You call this fast?" Satania said with a bored expression.
We screeched to a stop in front of the school. I stumbled out, trying not to puke.
"This'll be your ride from now—"
"Absolutely not."
I walked off without waiting for a reply.
Behind me, Levi called, "Sinner."
I turned back, scowling. "What?"
He gave me a rare, genuine smile. "Be safe."
...Huh.
Well... that was... a little weird.
Why did my chest start to pound just because of a simple reminder?
Inside the school, it didn't take long before I heard a familiar voice.
"Rina?"
Oh no.
Sasha.
My best friend since forever and, unfortunately, a relentless talker. Every time she opens her mouth, it is as if my energy has been siphoned!
"Where have you been?! You missed everything! The red sky?! The screaming clouds?! Also, have you seen Mikhail's post? He bakes cakes! Real ones."
It'd been over a week since the world cracked open. But somehow, the university still felt... almost normal.
By the time we left for the day, Sasha was still talking.
Finally, we got to my house.
Sasha trailed behind me, still mid-rant about Mikhail and his criminally perfect smile. But as soon as I opened the door, she stopped cold.
Inside, the seven demons lounged across the living room like they paid rent. Beelzebub had a whole bag of chips, Belphegor was napping on three couch cushions stacked like a throne, and Satania casually flipped through a book that hadn't come from this world.
Sasha froze at the doorway. Her eyes swept across the room slowly, locking onto each of them one by one.
I turned, my stomach sinking. Mammon caught my eye.
"We didn't know she was coming," he mouthed.
"She can see you?"
He nodded. "We're not cloaked."
Great.
Sasha blinked. Then laughed, kind of nervously. "Okay... okay, cosplay squad, huh? Didn't know your cousins were in town. What's the occasion, Comic-Con?"
She walked closer, inspecting Belphegor's sleeve. "What is this fabric? Velvet? Leather? Some kind of—wait, is it moving?"
She yanked her hand back.
Then Satania spoke, voice low and even. "We're demons."
The words dropped like a stone in the room.
Sasha stared at her, waiting for the punchline. "...Okay. That's cute. What, like DnD characters?"
Nobody laughed.
Luciferre stood slowly, his presence practically pressing the air out of the room. His eyes caught the sunlight—no contacts, no tricks. Just a faint glow, the kind that didn't belong to any living thing.
Then Asmodeus, without a word, let his glamor peel back. His horns shimmered into visibility, curling out from his head like bone carved from starlight. A slow ripple of demonic energy spilled through the room like a breath too heavy for reality.
Sasha staggered back. "What—what kind of special effects are you—"
The lights flickered.
Something floated. Her bag lifted two inches off the floor, then dropped.
Sasha's voice dropped to a whisper. "That's... not possible."
"No tech," Mammon said simply. "No illusions. No cosplay."
Her gaze jumped back to me. "Czarina... what the hell did you just summon?"
"I didn't do anything! I woke up and they were just there."
"I thought you were joking when you said weird stuff was happening! I thought maybe you were... stressed, or hallucinating—but this?!"
"I'm still trying to figure it out myself."
Sasha stepped back, her hands trembling. "They're really from—"
"They said hell," I said. "I've stopped questioning it."
She looked back at them—each of them unsettling in their own way, too symmetrical or too still. Eyes that glowed faintly. Shadows that moved when they shouldn't. The crackle of something unnatural just beneath the surface.
Then, she squared her shoulders. "Okay. If you're really demons... why are you here?"
Mammon leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Guard duty. She's got a mark on her soul. Something ancient and... tempting."
Sasha's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying she's cursed?"
Luciferre stepped forward again, his tone detached. "She's not cursed. She's chosen."
"Chosen for what?"
He looked at me. "The worst sin. The one that'll crack the balance between heaven and hell."
Sasha's voice caught. "So if she's with you... she's not safe, is she?"
Luciferre gave a humorless smile. "Safe? No. But not because of us. We're not here to hurt her. Not yet."
"Not yet?!"
"Relax," Satania muttered. "If we wanted her dead, she would've been gone weeks ago."
Sasha turned toward me, eyes wide. "You're telling me you've been living with this? With them?"
I nodded slowly.
"You're either completely insane... or this is the most terrifying thing I've ever seen."
I didn't answer.
Then she exhaled, rubbing her face. "Okay. Demons are real. You're in the middle of some ancient prophecy. Your house is possessed. Cool. I'm going to need, like, four days to process this."
"You'll need more," Belphegor mumbled, barely awake.
Sasha turned to them with newfound fire. "I don't care where you're from. If any of you lay a finger on her, I swear—"
"There's no saving Czarina, human." Belphegor grinned. "Else you want the entire world to perish?"