NOVEL NEXT 87 – We meet again!
It felt a bit ironic.
Since they no longer had the vast powers of the magical girl weapons, they had to be content with using what little magic their new demonic weapons could muster. The thing was that they had gotten them from Jessica… who at the moment was probably weaker than even them. At least from what she had said.
Either way, the more Zero thought about it, the worse their situation seemed.
Sure, she kept on pulsing the magical light from where they were hiding to attract the demon lord, but who was to say that he would even come? And even if he did, would he be amenable to their plans? Jessica had mentioned that he was generally pretty agreeable, but he too had his own goals. And granted, for all intents and purposes, their goals should be aligned, but…
But at the same time, he had forcefully taken away Jessica’s demonic spirit.
Why?
Just to better pretend that they were enemies? He had to have known how much of a bad move that would be. If they were to be attacked by another group of rogue demons again, they would be screwed without the power of a demon general on their side.
Once again, Zero hoped the others didn’t run into any trouble back on Earth.
Then, a silent gasp from Agent Snake.
“Someone’s coming…”
Because apparently, she had retained her ability to sense magic, unlike everyone else. Probably because of also being a minion in the past.
Zero shined her light for another moment before backing up into their formation, ready for a battle, just in case the worst were to happen.
There was the leathery sound of a demon flapping their wings, and then boots touching the gravelly ground, right outside their little hideout.
Snake frowned before murmuring, “That’s not the demon lord.”
Everyone tensed at that, holding their breath, and gripping their weapons, ready to fight for their life at any moment.
Fortunately, a moment later, the newcomer entered their cave and revealed themselves to them, making them relax just a bit.
“Hecate…?” Agent Eye called out.
The teen demon general blinked as she took in the four ex-magical girls. “Huh… I was expecting someone else.”
“Same to you,” Zero murmured before raising her voice. “I’m guessing Baugh got Jessica’s message, then?”
“We both did,” Hecate answered with a nod. “So… What the heck is going on? Why was she trying to kidnap my mom? Who are you four? And where is Jessica?” she inquired, uncharacteristically serious.
“Oh, you don’t remember us?” Rose spoke up while removing her mask. “We used to be the magical girls. I was Pretty Bloom.”
Hecate blinked in surprise before squinting at the unmasked girl and murmuring, “Huh…? What the heck…?”
After a moment of stunned silence, Hecate snorted and then giggled. “Of course, she knows not one, but two sets of the magical girls. And they are all working for her! Oh, this is so dumb!”
Zero couldn’t help but grin. “Actually, I’m pretty sure she also knows the first Pretty Frost and Bloom… and with Sally and your mom, that makes the whole first gen too.”
Now Hecate seemed to be laughing herself to tears. The four finally let themselves relax. It didn’t seem like a fight would be breaking out anymore, thankfully.
“Haha… haaa….” Hecate breathed in one last time and let out a half-sigh half-laugh. “Okay, okay. Jessica’s Miss Worldwide, got it. So? What’s going on then? Why kidnap Mom?”
Zero and Eye exchanged a brief glance and a nod.
“Jessica said she’d figured it out,” Zero revealed. “A way to transfer the attunement without causing an apocalypse. But right before she could implement it, we were all attacked by three rogue demons in a very public space, forcing Jessica, Pretty Frost and Flame to reveal their secret identities.”
Hecate furrowed her brows. “Well, that sucks… But it still doesn’t explain the whole kidnapping thing.”
“Jessica… panicked a bit… Well, I did too. We thought the demon lord would immediately turn on her to keep the facade. At worst, kill her.”
“What?!” Hecate yelled, appalled. “Daddy wouldn’t do that!”
“We know that now…” Eye murmured. “Hindsight is twenty twenty.”
“So I came up with the plan to kidnap Trish and let Jessica perform the ritual somewhere safe… and, well… you know how that panned out.”
The demon general groaned. “Why did she have to act so suspicious? Daddy had no choice but to take Nomed away from her and now everyone’s in an uproar.” She shook her head. “Merdis too. Daddy took away Aura from him and now he’s in a cell.”
Zero’s stomach tightened at the mention of their dad being imprisoned and going through the same process that had left Jessica limp and slurring. But at least he was still alive…
“Daddy’s back in the castle, trying to appease all the spirits, and he sent me and Sally to hunt down and kill Jessica. I’m supposed to be scouting the demon realm and Sally went to Earth. Of course, I’m just pretending. Although… I think Sally isn’t.”
Zero’s heart stopped as a chill went down her spine.
“Salem went to Earth and is actually trying to kill Jessica?!”
Hecate nodded. “Yeah. Why are you…” Her eyes went wide. “Oh no.”
“We need to get back! Now!” Zero shouted, panic overtaking her.
“Calm down!” Eye shouted at her. “The magical girls are with her. They’ll protect her.”
“No, they won’t,” Hecate declared, her eyes going wide. “Sally despises Jessica for some reason and isn’t gonna hold back for this like she always does. The magical girls don’t stand a chance against her! Argh, I thought Jessica was going to be here!”
Before she even finished talking, the panic settled in for all four of the former magical girls.
“Quick! Back to the portal!” Zero shouted as she ran out of the cave, the others following after her.
Hecate wasn’t following them, however. Zero looked back at her in desperation.
“I’m sorry! I can’t go help! Two generals being traitors can still be salvaged somehow, but if even I become one, it will turn into a complete civil war!”
Zero bit back a curse. She wanted to scream at her, accuse her of abandoning her friend, of being a coward, of being evil, after all. But there was no time for it.
The black ops ran as fast as they could back to Jessica’s portal base, hoping Salem hadn’t killed her yet.
