My angelic mum was standing over the small demoness, her brilliant white wings outstretched and a nasty sharp dagger clutched in her hand. And Nanaya was on the rough cavern floor, curled up in a ball with one arm hugging her knees to her chest while the other arm tried to protect her face and forehead.

I dropped to my knees next to the demon and shielded her with my body as I shouted again, "Mum don't hurt her! Ninaya are you ok? Did she stab you?"

"Cass what are you doing?!" mum asked in confusion. "She's dangerous! She attacked you!"

I kept myself between mum and Ninaya as I shook my head and stated, "No she didn't! Please don't hurt her ok? It's all a big misunderstanding! We were just about to make friends when you got here."

While mum was processing that I asked the demon girl again, "Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

Ninaya shook her head slightly, but she stayed curled up on the ground. She mumbled softly, "I'm ok, but your mum's really scary."

I looked over my shoulder in time to see mum lower her knife. Her wings folded up as she took a few steps back. And beyond her, the rest of my friends were all staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Except for Kaylee, who was sort of cringing as she watched.

"Cass honey?" mum asked awkwardly. "I think we should probably get you and your friends home, ok?"

Ninaya raised her head up and warned, "Please don't try to teleport Cassandra, you can't expose her to your magic."

"If any more of those runes get damaged I'll die," I added. Then I frowned at Ninaya, "Wait how were you going to send us home if I can't be exposed to magic?"

The small demon girl ducked her head down again to hide her face, then replied quietly "Demonic magic... My magic is safe. I don't want to explain while the scary angel is standing there with her big knife. If she takes everyone else home, I can take you home safely."

I thanked her then turned to look at mum and asked, "Can you get everyone else home? And um, maybe don't be so scary please? Me and Ninaya will come separately."

Mum didn't look at all happy about that plan, but it was pretty obvious she didn't want to take the chance of hurting me with her magic. She finally sighed, "Ok Cass. Please don't be long? We'll wait for you at home."

I nodded again, and watched as mum went over to where my friends were still standing and staring. And a moment later all of them vanished in another column of brilliant white light.

"It's ok Ninaya," I said to the demon girl. "Mum's gone now."

She slowly pulled herself upright, then I helped her up onto her feet. Standing face to face I could see she was maybe an inch or two shorter than me, and she definitely looked a year or two younger.

When I realized we were staring at each other I started to feel awkward so I asked, "So um, maybe we should go? Mum will probably come back if we're not there soon."

Ninaya cringed slightly but nodded. Before using her magic though she said, "Thank you Cassandra. I don't really understand why you saved me, but thank you."

"You can call me Cass," I responded. Then I gave her an awkward smile and added, "And I was serious about trying to be friends with you? I know we got off to a bad start, but you don't seem like a bad person."

"Anyways let's get going," I added. "You're coming too, we can talk more at home."

The small demoness nodded once, then I felt that gentle tug in my chest again as purple magic surrounded us both.

• • • • •

Lunch started out really awkward at first. Our living-room was super crowded too, with both my parents plus all of Club Luna plus Ninaya packed in there.

We brought the chairs from the kitchen, but my new demon friend was too shy or scared to sit with my friends so she sat crosslegged on the floor instead. I didn't want her to feel isolated though so I sat on the floor next to her.

Mom got a bunch of pizza delivered and we had cola and water and juice for everyone to drink. And mum was back to normal again, after she got home she put her halo away.

It seemed to take a slice or two of pizza for everybody to get past most of the awkward tension and stuff, then the questions started.

It was just one or two at first, like I asked Ninaya if she was ok and how she was doing and stuff like that. Then Kaylee asked how old she was, and Marissa asked where she was from. And Melanie asked where that cavern was, like was it on Earth or did we get whisked away to some other realm or something. And I wanted to know more about Ninaya and Socha, like how they got to know each other and stuff. And Brooke asked if Ninaya was behind those enchanted plushies that started the whole thing.

Even mom chimed in, she wanted to know if the shy demoness was related to me or not, since the two of us absolutely looked like sisters. Except for the horns. Then I asked again about the broken horn since I was still curious.

Ninaya was quiet at first, then she started to cringe under the barrage of questions. But once everyone settled down and let her answer in her own time she began to relax and even became a bit talkative.

"So ok," she said as she sipped her juice, "I'm almost fifteen hundred years old. I was born in five-fifty-one, near a town called Beirut? Actually that cavern I took you all to is near there too, it's under one of the mountains in the Mount Lebanon range. Anyways so yeah I was born there but I don't really live there. I um, got chased away by another demon..."

Ninaya pouted as she described that incident, "I was only like three hundred years old, still just a little kid basically? But I found out about another demon who lived nearby so I wanted to go make friends with her? Only it turned out to be this big scary blue demon lady and she was totally mean! She thought I was invading her territory or something? So she attacked me and broke my horn! Then I ran away and I've barely ever been back home since then because I don't know if she thinks my home's inside her territory or not."

That made me feel really bad for her, like I had no idea how three hundred translated into human years but it sounded super unfair for a little kid to be attacked and chased away like that.

"So after that I went north and stayed away from any other demon territories," Ninaya continued her story. "I kind of wandered around eastern Europe and stuff, and mostly just kept quiet and hid a lot. Then I met Socha a few hundred years ago. She felt sorry for me and made friends with me and she promised to look after me and stuff. Then she got herself banished from Earth and I've been alone again ever since."

Everyone was quiet for a bit after that. I couldn't help thinking it sounded like a really sad life, being all alone for so long and not even having a home or anything. And I couldn't help feel suspicious that Socha maybe took advantage of her, but I wasn't sure how to ask about that politely.

Then mum spoke up, she tried to sound quiet and respectful as she asked "Ninaya, we were told that you were Socha's consort. Was that true? Or maybe the person who told us that was mistaken?"

"And sorry to bring this up again," mom added, "But I'm still curious about whether or not you and Cassandra are somehow related."

Ninaya blushed and drank some more juice, then she was quiet for a few more seconds before she was ready to answer. She kept her eyes down and stared at the floor rather than look at anyone as she responded, "Not her consort, not really. I was her assistant and she was my friend, that's about it."

"As for the other question," she hesitated a few seconds before she went ahead and answered. "We're not related in any normal way. Socha left me detailed instructions and a bunch of enchantments and things to bring her back, because she knew she might get banished. It took me a long time to try it though, because I didn't really want to do the stuff she said. But I was lonely and I missed her so I finally did it."

She looked at me and added, "I'm sorry Cassandra. You're not related to me or Socha, you're not our child or anything like that? You were originally a normal human."

From her expression and tone I could tell Ninaya felt really guilty, and her voice got even quieter as she continued. "You were an orphan. You um, you were going to die anyways. That's why I thought it was ok to take you. Like um, I told myself it was ok because you'd have died soon if I left you alone. Then the um, the rites and magic and stuff imbued you with some of Socha's essence, and some of mine too. That changed you so you weren't human anymore, made you into something new..."

After a quiet sigh she finished, "Then I gave you to Brian. He's fae by the way, he's another friend of Socha's, but me and him don't get along. Anyways he was supposed to find you a home with some supernatural parents. Which I guess he did. I don't know why he picked angels though."

Everyone was silent at that point, and my friends looked uneasy and sad.

My parents did too, sort of sad and uncomfortable and upset. They exchanged a quiet look, then mom said "We've never met Brian before. We got Cassandra from an old friend of ours. But maybe she got her from Brian?"

"We should talk with her later," mum suggested. "Just to be sure."

Everyone was quiet for a bit after that. Then Ninaya looked at me and apologized softly, "I'm sorry Cassandra. I know what I did was really wrong and awful and I'm sorry I did all that to you."

It took me a moment to figure out how to respond, to all the stuff Ninaya said and what she did and everything else. Then I leaned closer to the shy demoness and pulled her into a brief hug.

"Thank you for saving me Ninaya," I stated. "Thanks to you I have two amazing parents and six great friends and a great girlfriend. You saved me and gave me a great life. And even if you and Socha aren't my biological parents, it feels like we're still related since there's part of you in me after all, right? Like sisters, or cousins maybe?"

My hug caught her by surprise, and she obviously wasn't expecting me to thank her either. Same with my parents and my friends, like she'd just confessed to doing a lot of bad things to me and maybe everybody thought I should have been upset or whatever. But I didn't miss the important part. If not for her I'd have died as a baby, so as far as I was concerned she saved me and gave me the great life I had now. I just hoped my parents and my friends understood that part too, especially now that I said it.

Everyone was quiet again for a bit after that, like nobody knew what to say.

Then mum spoke up again, she asked "Ninaya, is there any safe way to get those runes and that object out of our daughter's body?"

Kaylee added, "And is there a way to make it safe for her to use magic again?"

"Um, maybe?" the small demoness cringed again. "I still have all Socha's notes and everything, and all the enchanted stuff from the original rites and all that? I don't understand a lot of it, I just followed the directions. But maybe you can figure it out?"

My parents looked at each other then mom nodded, "If not us, we have friends we can call upon for help."

Mum agreed. She looked to the demon and said, "Thank you Ninaya. Maybe later today you could go and get all that for us? Or take me to it so I can have a look at it?"

I gave both my parents a look and stated, "Just please don't hurt her ok? And don't threaten her or anything? She's like my half-sister, and she's my friend. And I don't think any of this was her fault."

The others seemed a little surprised again at how protective I was acting towards Ninaya, but mom gave me a kind smile and replied "We know hon. Don't worry."

Mum added, "I'm sorry for attacking you earlier Ninaya. I thought you were hurting Cassandra."

The shy demon nodded but kept quiet. I knew she was still feeling guilty about it all though.

Then Brooke asked again about the enchanted plushies, but Ninaya didn't know anything about them. After some discussion the others decided Brian was probably to blame. He was fae and had magic, and he was another friend of Socha's and knew how she worked.

That was about it for the difficult conversations, and by then everyone had enough to eat and everything.

Mom asked me and my friends to promise not to reveal this stuff to anyone including Miss Hawthorne, and we all agreed and swore to keep it secret. Then mum offered to give Brooke, Paige, Marissa, and Melanie a lift. She took the two younger girls over to Melanie's place, then drove the older girls back to the hospital so they could get Brooke's car.

While they were gone me and Kaylee and Ninaya and mom talked a bit more and kept each other company. At one point Kaylee asked, "Hey Cass? How are your burns doing, do they still hurt?"

"Huh," I frowned. "Actually no. I'm not sure when that happened?"

I peeled back the bandage on my left wrist to check, and to my surprise it was completely healed. I checked all the others and they were healed too. I didn't even have any scars or marks or anything, it was like the burns never happened.

None of us were sure how I got healed so fast, since if anyone used magic to heal me it could have killed me and unleashed Socha. Ninaya said she didn't do it either, so it was a bit of a mystery.

We didn't have much more time to dwell on that before mum got back home again. Then after a brief discussion she and my new demon friend disappeared together, to go look at the magical tools and instructions that Socha left behind to restore her.

That just left me and Kaylee and mom, but it didn't take long for mom to decide she was in the way. So she went into her office to finish up some work she'd left when she had to rush to the hospital yesterday to see me.

Me and Kaylee hung out together for a while more, but eventually she had to get going too. Her parents sent her a few texts and she needed to sort stuff out with them.

That left me all alone and with nothing to do. I didn't mind though, after all the excitement of the last couple days I figured I could use a quiet break. Actually I realized I could also use a shower, so that's what I did.

It helped a lot, not just to clean the bandage gunk off but it was kind of cleansing in a way. The warm water washed away all the left-over fear and stress and anxiety and stuff. I was probably in there twice as long as usual, but nobody complained.

When I was finally done I felt all clean and sparkly, then I went back to my room and had a look in my closet. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get dressed again, or maybe just put on a clean nightie and be lazy for the rest of the day.

I poked around for a few seconds, then while I was looking in there I suddenly noticed a big cardboard box at the very back. It was really weird because the box was kind of huge, like a foot and a half square and more than two feet high. I'd never seen it before, but I couldn't understand why not.

It wasn't that heavy so I dragged it out of the closet to have a better look. The first thing I noticed was some of the markings and writing on it seemed to be in Chinese. Then I spotted a shipping label on the top, that showed it came from come company in Shenzhen China. And I gulped when I realized it was addressed to me.

The top of the box had originally been taped shut but someone had already cut the tape open, so I lifted up the flaps and had a look inside. It was mostly empty, like it was only maybe a quarter full. Seeing the contents though made my blood run cold again.

Inside the box were a few dozen frosted plastic capsules, and each one held a cute little keychain plushie. There were kitties, foxes, puppies, buns, wolfs, even cute little cows and ponies. And more than half of them carried the faint purple glow of enchantment.

~ End of Episode Five ~

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