An actress in our midst!

“Can opener?” Max asked.

“Check,” Jessica confirmed.

“Toothbrush?”

“Check.”

“Spare underwear?”

“Check.”

Cody stared at his fellow conspirators stuffing the backpack in one of the castle rooms. “... Why are you treating this like you’re going camping? I thought this was supposed to be an epic trial or something.”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “It’s both. We’ll need to travel quite far from the castle through the demon realm. It’s gonna take a couple of days on foot, so we need to pack supplies.”

“Riiight…” Cody said, his eyes flicking to the backpack on the floor Jessica was checking over. “Seems kind of weird not to use a car or at least a bike or something.”

“Oh, yeah, let me just pull out my brand new sports car to cruise through the uneven terrain of the lava valleys,” Jessica snarked at him.

“Okay, fair. But what about just using wings to fly there?”

This time, Jessica faced him with a glare. Cody immediately realized his mistake and raised his hands in surrender. Jessica’s wings and her flight capability had always been a sore spot for her, after all.

Jessica went back to checking over everything while Cody continued to watch.

“So how long will you be gone exactly?”

“Hmm, they said the trip should be about three days there and three days back. No idea how long the trial will last, though. Jerk Nomed and bitch Salem refuse to tell me anything else.”

“So probably at least a week… Huh. I guess this is the end of the summer vacation for you, isn’t it? It’s gonna be September by the time you get back.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Jessica grumbled. “It better be worth it.”

After confirming again that, yes, I packed toilet paper, Max, Jessica heaved the bag over her back with a huff. “Ugh, this will be a pain, won’t it? God… Trekking through the wasteland will be annoying enough already…”

“Uh… why don’t you… put it away like your spear?” Max asked.

Jessica stared at him for a second.

“You could… embed the whole bag with a gem and expand your pocket space a bit…” Max said before wilting under Jessica’s gaze. “I thought it would make it easier.” He shrugged.

“Huh… Didn’t even think about that. That’s smart,” Cody commented.

“Max… you are a genius!” Jessica beamed.

Jessica proceeded to put the bag back down, rushed through her workshop to find the right gem, and slapped it on top of the bag whilst coating her fingers with magic.

A short session of staring contest with the gem later, she exclaimed, “Alright! Let’s see if this works, then.”

She grabbed the bag and made it disappear similarly to her spear.

“Oh nice. It does.” Cody said.

“Hell yeah! This makes it so much easier! No need to drag around everything like a mule! I might even be able to fly!”

Cody snorted at that. Jessica immediately pinned him with another glare and he suddenly found the wall to the side to be very interesting.

“Alright, perfect. I’m just gonna check it all one more time…” Jessica said before the bag materialized in her hands… Upside down.

“Wh-ah! No! Dammit! I forgot to zip it up!”

Cody couldn’t help but snicker as everything spilled from the bag onto the floor. “Well, good luck with repacking everything, I think I’ll go home for the day. Call me when you’re about to leave.”

Jessica growled even as her hands moved to repack everything.

“Bye, Cody.” Max waved.

Cody wandered out of the room and into the great halls of the castle. 

This was it. Jessica was going to become a general, no doubt about that. Cody and Max, along with a handful of the other enthusiastic minions, would obviously transfer to her division afterwards. And then she would go on to join the periodic attacks on Earth, fighting the magical girls…

But what was it all for? Supposedly, Jessica would also learn some big scary secret conspiracy about the demon army at the trial. The true reason for the entire conflict. The full backstory to complete the puzzle. And then…? Well, depending on the details, their little rebel group would have to adjust, maybe even dropping the whole double agent thing in the end if the world depended on it as Nomed had told Jessica…

Cody made it to the castle’s teleporter, did the usual check with the gatekeeper, waited for the calibration, and then slipped into it, before finding himself back in an abandoned alley near his house.

He quickly checked his surroundings before casually walking back home. When he turned the corner, though, he stopped as he spotted a familiar person standing there, looking up at his apartment complex. Short blond hair, white hoodie, and black pants.

Cody’s fists momentarily clenched as he observed the boy who hadn't noticed him yet.

After a moment of deliberation, he decided to get closer.

The boy finally noticed him and turned to face him, surprise evident on his face.

“Oh, hey!” the boy started, before slowing down. “Hey… Cody. How… How are you these days?”

Cody studied him for a second before giving a reply, feeling a bit awkward. “Doing pretty alright… What are you doing here, Steve?”

 “I… Well…” Steve hesitated, scratching the back of his head. When it became obvious that Cody wasn’t going to say anything, he sighed. “I just… I know it’s been months but… I just wanted to say sorry.”

Cody was surprised for a moment, but opted to stay silent.

“Look, I know I was a total dick back then,” Steve admitted, his face warping in discomfort. “Shouldn’t have said all these nasty things to you. Do you think we could… try again? Give this… Give us another chance?”

Cody wasn’t sure what to say. Did he even want to try this again? After all, their break up had probably been the reason why he’d been recruited for the demon army back then… Negative emotions or whatever.

But it had been months. Cody had already gotten over it… for the most part. Part of him still loved the guy, but…

Cody sighed, rubbing his face and staring at the ground. “Steve, I…” He paused for a second, trying to straighten out his thoughts. “Sorry,” he finally said, much to Steve’s dismay. “I had a lot of time to think about it, and even if you hadn’t dumped me back then, I don’t think it would work out between us in the end anyway. Plus, there’s a lot going on in my life right now, so honestly… I don’t really want to try again. Not right now. Probably not ever.”

When Cody moved his hand and looked up, he saw Steve’s utterly mortified expression. The same one he had seen in the mirror right after the break up. His gut clenched at the sight.

“R-Right…” Steve croaked out. “I get it. Sorry to bother you, then…” The boy turned around and swiftly left.

Cody wanted to call out to him, but held himself back. Once Steve disappeared behind another building, Cody closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let out a tired sigh.

Why was talking to his ex more stressful than participating in a demon attack? Stupid feelings…

Well, one calming session of archery was in order. Once again, he thanked Sarah for introducing him to it.

BottledChaos Next time: "Ambush!" or "Erika goes for her daily run. It doesn't work out the way she expected it to."