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"Please, Mammon. Don't let anyone ever take away your smile."
Lilith once told him to never stop smiling.
Back then, when everything was going okay, when all of the brothers lived in peace, Mammon still smiled. He shone brightly, his smile mesmerizing and brilliant. It radiated happiness. Something that was treasured deeply inside the second born's heart. Everything was peaceful, it was relaxing, it was okay. Lucifer had smiled, too, smiling at the younger one's antics. He had ruffled Mammon's hair, back then, looking down at him with a gentle smile that raised his spirits and made everything bad go away.
Lilith had stared at him when he smiled, those rare times where he let go of everything and just felt one emotion: serenity. Lilith had looked down, then back up at him, a fire raging in her soft eyes. She told Mammon to never stop smiling. Even when things are hard, don't ever stop smiling.
Please...always be happy...
Mammon, as young and foolish as ever, agreed. Besides, why would one ever stop smiling?
That had been centuries, millennias even, but Mammon still remembered every word, every emotion, everything at that time. He still remembered the young angel he had once been, the angel that had smiled because there was a reason to. A reason to smile.
But now?
Where was that reason? What was that reason? Why will Mammon smile, when his brothers hurt him everyday with their insults, jabs, and actions? Why would he mask everything behind his emotions?
Why?
"I don't want to inflict my pain on them." Mammon had leaned back against the wall, a rare feeling of stability and peace overcoming his body. He glanced down at his watch, staring softly down at the time ticking down. It had been ten minutes, or twenty, or even a few hundred...
"Smile, Mammon." A voice pulled him out of his trance. Mammon looked up, tears nearly rolling down his face at the sight of her. Lilith.
"Are you..no, wait...Lilith, you're an angel now? How can I see you? You died...no, you died...why are you here?" Mammon stumbled, standing up, wetness falling down below to the ground. Lilith opened her arms, as if to embrace the second born.
"I told you, Mammon. Never stop smiling." Lilith looked so beautiful then, like she was the only one who mattered. She was. Mammon cried, nodded, then cried again.
But that's what brings us to this current situation.
"Useless." Lucifer's cold voice rang out in the room. "I told you, you need a perfect grade for this test otherwise you're not allowed here anymore."
"Wait- I still can..." Mammon barely registered his own words. How? How did this happen? Mammon remembered the test, the contents...he had known everything! How was this possible? Why...why? Why did this happen? He couldn't leave, he still needed...
What did he need?
"I'm tired of hearing your excuses over and over again. You know what? I regret everything." Lucifer crossed his arms and stared down at Mammon who was on the floor.
"..What?" Mammon asked uncertainty, an uneasy smile on his face. That's right...if he kept smiling, he would be okay. He just needs to trust Lilith on this one...
"I regret you ever being made."
Those cold words felt like a slap to Mammon's face. He stilled, smile frozen on his face. What did that mean? Surely Lucifer wouldn't...he didn't...
"I regret ever becoming your brother."
And Mammon's heart shattered. His smile broke. His eyes watered, shuddering, then released. He needed to leave, he needed to go! HE NEEDED TO HE NEEDED TO HE NEEDED TO-
"By the way, one more thing." Lucifer smirked, as if having fun breaking his younger "brother".
"Wipe that smile off your face. You're too childish sometimes, it's a bad thing for Lord Diavolo's reputation."
And Mammon did. He erased all traces of a innocent child one day, smiling as if the world depended on it.
That day, the Devildom lost another kind soul to the clutches of Lucifer Morningstar.
-Many months after-
"Oi, scum, have you seen my figurine? You must have stole it, right? Tch, always stealing my things...you know that you're a worthless bastard right? That sin of yours is trash, anyways. I have no doubt that you'll die in a couple hundred years. That'll be interesting to watch." Leviathan threw his head back, laughing, waiting for Mammon to join in with his usual stupid retorts and hilarious denial. But when that sound never came, Leviathan peeked at the second born in a mixture of annoyance and concern.
"Why aren't you saying anything, scumbag?" Levi rolled his eyes. He may not show it, but he was nervous. He wasn't in the wrong! All his idiot brother needs to do is open his mouth and everything will return to normal! When Mammon sat in silence, Levi let his arms fall back to his sides, feeling awkward and the teeniest bit guilty.
"If you're not gonna say anything then you're just someone worthless. Can't even hold a conversation.." Levi trailed off and left the room in a huff, anger masked by his unseen concern.
"What was that?" Asmodeus poked his head into the room, a look of boredom settling on his face. "Oh, it's just you, scum. Have fun annoying Levi?" Asmo joked, chuckling softly. He waited for his elder brother to joke back, say one of their usual retorts, but there sat silence. Mammon was seated on the floor, looking down at his hands, which were put in his lap.
"Mammon?" Asmo asked worriedly. The call of his name seemed to snap the second born out of whatever he was thinking of. He raised his head, looking at the Avatar of Lust, and that's when Asmo saw the deep bags under Mammon's eyes and his tired frame.
"Go away, Asmodeus. I'm not in the mood." Mammon said tiredly, sighing as he stretched his shoulders. Asmo looked at him, eyes wide open. That was...weird! Mammon never called him by his full name! It was always Asmo, or treasure, or just a simple nickname, but NEVER his full name!
"What happened to you? Feeling suicidal?" Asmo tried to joke, but it was no use. The tense mood hung in the air, making the Fifth born feel both awkward and uncomfortable.
"Augh. Being around you makes my pretty head ache..bastard.." Asmo made a poor excuse, quickly going away from Mammon's room.
Mammon couldn't do this anymore. He was tired of pretending around his brothers, tired of it all. He couldn't do this anymore. He really couldn't.
"I'm so sorry, Lilith..I broke your promise. But I can't. I can't smile anymore. Every day it feels like I'm breaking down, and our brothers aren't helping either..I really can't smile anymore, even if they force me to. I'm sorry..." Mammon broke down in sobs, his brother's words and insults floating in his head.
"Every day, it seems worse and worse. I can't smile anymore, I just...can't." Mammon leaned back, sniffling.
"Am I broken, Lilith? Is that why everyone's been treating me like this?"
A faraway sound rang, as if signaling her answer.
"I can't smile anymore. I'm...useless." Mammon shakily stood up with newfound determination. He wiped his eyes and went out of the room, preparing to end things off with this new knowledge. He turned the corner and almost crashed into Satan, who wore an angry expression on his face.
"Watch where you're going, scumbag." Satan spat. He rolled his eyes and then spoke again. "You're wanted in the kitchen. Lucifer needs to talk to you. Bet you did something stupid again." Satan smirked, leaving before he could even see Mammon's shattered expression.
Lucifer? Why does he need Mammon again? Hasn't he already broken him enough? But Mammon knew he couldn't argue with the first born. It would end to a harsher punishment and even harsher words.
"I'm here...what did ya need me for?" Mammon looked up at Lucifer's eyes, somehow already at the dining room before he even knew it. Lucifer put down his glass, staring directly into Mammon's eyes.
"We need to have a talk." The first born said coldly, crossing his arms and glaring at Mammon. The second born's insides ran cold. He hasn't done anything bad in a long time! He had been controlling his greed, not stealing anything, and his grades were improving! What did he do now?
Mammon silently nodded, despite the fear running in his veins. He waited for Lucifer to speak first, a denial at the edge of his tongue.
"You haven't been yourself lately."
...Those were not the words Mammon had expected him to say. He swiveled his head up to stare incredulously at the first born.
"What?" He asked uncertainly. Lucifer sighed, closing his eyes and opening them after a while.
"Yeah, you haven't been yourself!" Asmodeus joined in, masked concern dancing in his eyes. "You haven't been energetic lately, you're not speaking, hell, even Belphie spoke more than you!"
..Ah. That was the reason.
"Is there something wrong with you?" Leviathan asked. "Lololol, maybe he hit his idiot head on a brick or something!"
"Mammon." Lucifer stared at him. "Why are you always causing trouble even when nothing's happening?"
But all Mammon felt was anger.
"I didn't do anything!" He denied, frowning at the order of events happening.
"Yes, you did. You make me worry over you, even when a million things are on my mind. Do you know how much that could tarnish Diavolo's reputation?" Lucifer spat the last sentence out.
Because, even though the brothers call him names and insult him, Mammon was the glue that held them all together.
"We need you, dumbass, to put a smile on your face. That way we can all pretend that nothing's happening, and that outsiders can believe we are the strongest and that you are that airheaded idiot in our family who keeps on smiling through the pain. We need your younger self, so that everything will be directly how it used to be." Satan said.
"Yeah, I liked that younger version of him better." Asmo giggled. Beel and Belphie both nodded.
"Right! Dumbass, your old self was so much better? Where did it go?" Levi taunted, smirking.
What?
Huh..?
They needed him...to smile?
No...
They needed him, to smile, just for their own sake.
"No." Mammon gritted his teeth, raising his head to glare at his brothers. Lucifer rose to his feet, slamming his hands on the table.
"Excuse me? Are you defying my orders, Mammon?" He growled.
"No."
Mammon got to his feet, clenching his fists, desperately trying.
"When I was young and immature, back during the times when we first fell, you forced me to grow up. But after I matured, it seems you realized that the childish version of me was somehow better."
"So leave it, okay? I'm not the person I was before, and it's bold of you to assume that you can control me in whatever way you wanted."