An actress in our midst!

“Are you sure about this, Max?” Iris asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“Well… Not really,” he mumbled. “But… I think this is important.”

The magical girls in civilian guise exchanged a glance.

“You said it yourself… Something big is waiting to happen. This is no time for secrets anymore.”

The others simply nodded in agreement.

With Jessica away and Cody brooding over… something, it fell to Max to make proper contact with the magical girls. Really, someone should have done it a long time ago. What was the point of being double agents on the magical girls’ side, if they were barely even aware of it?

Now, obviously, if Salem ever found out, he would be in trouble. But that hardly mattered anymore. His reason for joining the demons had been pretty half-baked at first, sure, but ever since Jessica joined the fray and invited him into the secret rebel army, the goal had been clear.

Help the magical girls and protect the world from demons, just like them.

So even with the ever-present doubts in his head, Max’s decision wouldn’t change.

Max unlocked the front door with his key, and ushered everyone in while calling out, “I’m home!” He only cringed minutely at his own voice.

At first, he hadn’t been sure about involving his moms as well, but… Well… they had already been involved before he had even been born, hadn’t they? Sure, it might have been a while since they wielded the weapons, but the entire conflict had started with them.

“I’m in the kitchen, Max!” blue mom called.

The group followed the voice and found the woman chopping vegetables at a counter. She turned to look at them when they entered. Her eyes scanned over the newcomers, briefly stopping at Iris.

“We have some guests,” Max mumbled.

“Oh! Welcome! Hello again, Iris. Are these your friends?”

“Hello again,” Iris said with a smile. “This is the rest of my team, Annette.”

There was a brief glint in the woman’s eyes.

“Pretty Spark here,” Sarah said with a grin while giving a peace sign.

“Pretty Flame,” Erika declared with a nod.

“Pretty Bloom,” Nicole finished.

“Ah… I see…” Her eyes darted between the newcomers, stopping briefly on Max. “Welcome everyone, will you be staying for dinner?”

“Why not? Might as well,” Sarah said with a nod before everyone glanced at Max.

Blue mom noticed the attention shift and briefly glanced at her child who seemed to be debating something inside his head.

Rather than saying anything, Max sat down at the table, and continued to mull over things.

This was a rather big step to take. What if his mom started to hate him or… Disowned him? She wouldn’t do that, would she?

Max felt confident it wouldn’t happen, but there was still part of him saying that there was a tiny chance it could. And it was terrifying.

 “So, we heard that you were the first Ice Aegis wielder?” Spark spoke up to fill in the awkward silence. Max felt infinitely grateful.

“Oh, yes. I was. It’s been quite a while, however,” Blue mom confirmed as she flashed everyone a smile. “How has it been, Iris? Are you looking for a successor yet?”

“Not yet. Didn’t need to.”

“Oh, yeah. How does the whole successor thing work, anyway?” Sarah asked. “Do you just start losing powers out of nowhere, and then you pick someone you think is a good match?”

“Hmm… Pretty much, yes.” Blue mom answered as she dumped the chopped vegetables into the soup. “We still don’t know what causes it and it might be quite sudden, however. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to already have a successor in mind, just in case.”

“Ah, I do have someone in mind, don’t worry,” Iris said with a smile.

Max briefly wondered who that lucky person could be before shaking his head and finally steeling his resolve.

“Mom.”

The discussion immediately died down.

“Yes, honey?”

“I…” Max swallowed, shook his head again, and then finally stood up to face his mom who had turned around. “I am a demon.”

He let his wings, horns and tail emerge from his body.

Blue mom froze as her eyes widened. Her eyes briefly shifted to the magical girls, noting the lack of reaction, before settling back on Max.

“That’s…”

“I’m not an enemy!” Max interrupted her with a shout, sounding desperate.

“I… didn’t think you were. I’m sure there is a reason for it, right?” Blue mom gave him a soft smile as her posture unfroze.

Max gave a silent nod as an odd feeling of hope filled him.

“I’ve been… something like a double agent. Blending in, while trying to help the magical girls from within.”

A mixture of pride and worry flashed in Blue mom’s expression. “That… doesn’t sound safe.”

“It’s fine. There’s three of us. Jessica is about to become a demon general, even. But that’s not the point,” Max explained, seemingly finding his stride. “There’s something weird going on. The demon army… Isn’t really evil, I don’t think. They aren’t trying to take over the world.”

Blue mom frowned.

“Apparently, they are trying to stop the destruction of both worlds, somehow. We still don’t know what exactly it could mean, though.”

Her frown deepened.

“There’s… Rogue demons now,” Max continued. “We just fought off one trying to possess a civilian the other day.” Max glanced at the magical girls who gave a grim nod of confirmation. “He was strong and wasn’t pulling his punches like the generals. I think…”

Max frowned as the puzzle pieces gradually connected in his head.

“I think those are the real danger here. A different faction of demons. He called me an ‘imposter’ because I have a demon spirit’s fragment in me but I’m not from the demon realm originally.” Max’s eyes widened. “They are… Oh.”

It clicked.

“What? Did you figure something out?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah… The… The spirits. The demonic spirits. They used to be normal demons just like the demon lord. When Aura spoke to me, she sometimes mentioned something about ‘back when I was alive’.”

“Aura?” Nicole prompted.

“The demonic spirit whose fragment is inside me. It… I… All the demons died when the fifth weapon destroyed the demon realm. But they weren’t eradicated. They turned into spirits.” Max looked up with his eyes wide. “And there must be a faction of them who are trying to recreate the same thing with the fifth weapon again here on Earth in revenge.”

Everyone stared, their minds processing Max’s theory.

“It’s possible,” Blue mom whispered after a moment of silence. “Baugh rarely mentioned other demons back then but… Whenever he did, he never sounded fond of them. If he’s in charge now, it’s not too far-fetched that he would have those opposing him.”

“Then–” Erika started, but was interrupted by an explosion outside.

Heads instantly turned to the window.

“A demon attack!” Erika declared. “Everyone! Let’s go!”

The four rushed out, Max immediately following after them. Iris raised her hand to stop him, however.

“Wha–”

“This magic is familiar. It’s Hecate,” she declared. “We’ll deal with her. You don’t need to break your cover yet.”

Max stopped, feeling disappointed, but nodded in agreement anyway. Iris returned the nod and followed after her teammates out of the house.

Max let out a sigh.

It was alright. Fights like these didn’t really matter. They were just a charade. But it still felt wrong not to go out and help now that he’d made contact with the magical girls.

Another explosion sounded as Max glimpsed out of the window again, before settling back at the table.

“So… Honey,” Blue mom started.

Max looked up.

“Why don’t you tell me stories about the demon army in the meantime?” She gave him a comforting smile.

Max did his best to smile back.

“Sure.”

BottledChaos Next time: "Hecate!" or "A look into the mind of the youngest demon general."