Crystals that withstand time

Mammon whistled as he walked down the cobblestone path. He got his Goldie back again. He was happy with the world. Devildom was a bright shiny place once again. He juggled the bags of things for himself in his arms. He could finally shop for himself. No more witches to boss him around today. Just him and his Goldie. The love of his life. The one thing that was always there for him.

He walked past the local store that Leviathan always shopped at for his otaku merch that wasn’t Akuzon. He looked in the window and frowned, seeing so much stuff that he knew his brother would like. He could always buy something and then wave it in his face that he had it and Levi didn’t. But what really drew him in was the dainty looking crystal necklace on display.

He knew that Taylor’s favorite piece of jewelry broke recently. And it was almost the exact same one but purple- her original one being a blue- green color. It was some sort of cosplay piece from her stupid show she watched.

He should really have walked away, he thought as he continued to stare at the necklace. Before he knew it he had walked into the shop and bought the expensive necklace. It was a lot more than he ever thought he would spend on a *cosplay* necklace. Not to mention buying anything else besides the witches. He flushed thinking about giving it to her.

She didn’t even show up for breakfast this morning because she was so distraught over the necklace breaking. Who knew that something like that would have affected the witch. She was so cheerful and upbeat all the time so something so small throwing her for a loop made him feel weird. Not pity. More like upset that she was upset. And he hated that feeling. Why did he care so much for the witch? She was just a witch. They were all the same. They used people. They always got what they wanted too by using others.

But she wasn’t like the normal witches he had run into… He cared for her. And that made him sick to his stomach. He genuinely liked her a lot. But like hell he was going to say anything to anyone about it.

He clutched the bag tighter as he walked home. What if she threw it in his face? What if she didn’t want a present from him? What if it was the wrong time to get her something? Ray did mention that morning that the electrical wielding witch was not in the mood for people and she was extremely upset. He gulped and looked at the bag with the necklace tucked away in it.

He felt sick again. His heart raced fast in his chest as he neared their home. His palms started to feel sweaty. Ugh What kind of sickness did he pick up in that otaku shop? Maybeit was because he spent so much on the necklace he was feeling sick about it? He wondered if Taylor would even like it. He normally wasn’t too doubtful in himself but this was Taylor. She was unpredictable much like her electrical powers. She somehow conned her way into him making a pact with her. With Leviathan too.

He puffed his chest out in pride though. He was her first. No matter how close she was to his other brothers. He would always be her first pact. He walked into the House of Lamentation with pride radiating off him. Taylor was his. He wouldn’t let anything bad to happen to her. Including her favorite necklace breaking. He was THE Great Mammon. How could he not look after her.

However this surge of pride came all tumbling down as he saw Levi getting ready to leave the house.

“Where are you going?” He asked , tilting his head in confusion. His brother was a shut in. He never left the house.

“Taylor’s necklace broke right? I was planning on getting her one as a replacement. Akuzon doesn’t have the exact one anymore since its from a couple seasons ago. So I was… going to look for one for her in some shops.”

Mammon could feel his blood rush away from his face. Taylor would much rather the present from Leviathan. He knew what the hell Gigamon was. He tried. He really did try to learn about her hyper fixation on the show and video game series but it was all so confusing for him with all the different plot lines and how each season could stand on its own but yet at the same time you had to watch the others to understand better. GAH it was so confusing. He shook his head and frowned.

“You don’t have to do that Levi.”

“I know. I… I want too though. She’s really upset. And I can’t have my player two that upset.” he huffed, pulling on his shoes. Mammon’s blood now ran cold. His player two. No. He wouldn’t have his brother taking her away from him.

“Oi. You don’t have to.” he pulled at Levi’s shoulder. Levi jerked away from his older brother and frowned.

“I thought you took pride in being her first pact? And then now you’re being an asshole? What the fuck Mammon.” He hissed, shoving his brother away as heading out the door.

Mammon groaned softly and ran a hand through his white hair. How could he tell his brother that he actually bought something for someone.. For no other reason than to make her happy. It barely even sounded like him. He should just sell the damn necklace and make a profit and let Leviathan give her a necklace.

He stormed off to the kitchen to get something to eat, placing his bags on the dinner table. He looked at the bag that had the box holding the precious necklace inside it. His chest flipped thinking about how happy Taylor would be getting something from his younger brother and not him. It hurt. He knew that she would be much better off without him. Everyone was.

While he was thinking he didn’t even notice Taylor shuffle out of her room, blanket wrapped around her.

“Mammon?” she asked, looking at the bags. “What did you buy?” She started to look through the bags and smiled seeing clothing and electronics. He most likely would resell those, she thought. And the clothing was probably for himself. He never shopped for anyone but himself or the witches that blackmailed him a lot.

She noticed a medium sized box in one of the bags by the time Mammon came out of his thoughts.

“Hey What’s this?” she asked, grabbing the box and making Mammon panic.

“H-Hey! Its nothing. Keep your nose out of my bags!” He stammered , grabbing the box from her and staring at it.

“I just wanted to know.” she pouted, Her twin tails looked deflated. She looked pale. She really wasn’t doing good was she? All over a necklace?

“Why was that necklace so important to you?”

“It was a gift from a mysterious gifter when I was just starting to get into Gigamon after...things happened. I thought it was from the girl I liked at the time but it wasn’t her. I think it was the thing that managed to pull me from a depression. That someone out there cared about me enough besides Ray.”

Mammon nodded and shoved the box at her.

“Here. Don’t bitch at me that it’s the wrong one. Because I don’t care.” He huffed. “It’s not like I care about a stupid necklace.” Taylor raised an eyebrow and opened the box before quickly closing it.

“Mams… you.. What?” she asked, her voice breaking. He panicked for a moment. Oh man he really did mess up. She even called him something that wasn’t Mammon. Was she that mad at him?

He quickly embraced him tightly and clung to him as a soft sob escaped her lips. “Thank you. You have no idea what you just did…”

“No. I don’t please explain.” He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. This was a foreign feeling for him. For a hug wasn’t common around here.

“This is my favorite character’s gem necklace. She’s so cool and badass and uses her gem to create the coolest gigamons.” She sniffled and pulled away , looking at the necklace again.

“This would look perfect with my cosplay I have of her. This one is the Special Limited Edition one too with her carved symbol in it. Mammon how much did you spend on this?” She asked , looking up at him with wide eyes. “There’s only like 100 of these ones officially made. You can tell because the artist’s mark on the hilt.” She rambled before hugging Mammon again.

“Thank you.” she whispered, holding him tighter before blushing slightly. She leaned up and kissed his cheek before pulling away and pulled the necklace out of the box to put around her neck.

Mammon stammered for a moment. “Do… Do you need help?” he asked. “I'm just conveniently here. I mean I’m not doing anything.”

She smiled and passed off the necklace to him. “Would you do the honors? Its just like the show! The main character’s love interest gifts her the giga crystal in the first place.” She blushed heavily and looked away and made Mammon freeze.

Love interest? Was.. was she implying he was a love interest of hers? OF COURSE SHE WAS! He was Mammon! How could she not love him.

Actually a lot of people didn’t love him. Scratch that. He placed the necklace around her neck and placed his hands on his hips once the necklace was secured around her neck.

She turned around and hugged him tightly again. He buried his face into the crook of her neck.

Say the word and I would be yours… he thought knowing that her heart would be untouchable for a greedy demon like him. But in this moment- he could pretend she loved him as deeply as he was falling for her.