Max appeared just outside Octavia's bedroom door, the soft carpeting of the Goetia manor muffling his footsteps. Even from the hallway, he could hear the low hum of music previews and Loona's habitual annoyed muttering over her phone screen.
He opened the door quietly.
Inside, Octavia lay sprawled on her bed, scrolling through her music app while occasional cosmic-screech samples blasted from her headphones. Loona sat beside her, legs crossed, swiping through her gallery of photos from the Lust Ring trip.
Some were cute.
Some were… Bee-themed chaos.
And some definitely should never see daylight.
Max walked up behind them silently, leaning over their shoulders without a sound.
"I think the third one down is nice," he said casually, pointing at a group photo—the one featuring all the girls in their elegant Lust-Ring dresses, showing off the matching rings Bee gifted them.
Loona and Octavia both jumped with synchronized yelps.
"Holy shit, Max!" Loona barked, clutching her chest.
"Don't do that!" Octavia gasped, feathers fluffing up.
Max shrugged. "I was complimenting your photography. No need for dramatics."
Loona narrowed her eyes but looked back at the photo. Octavia scooted closer to see it too.
"It is nice," Loona admitted. "But it doesn't have you in it. I want one with you in it too."
Octavia nodded in agreement. "Same. It'd make it feel… complete."
Max sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"And that would be great… if it didn't paint a giant glowing target on my back."
Both girls frowned.
"There's Bee in the picture, Octavia, Charlie—and if Hell gets even a whiff that I'm connected to all of you, especially romantically…" Max held up a finger. "I'll probably be dead by next week."
Loona groaned. "Ugh. I hate that you're right."
Octavia's feathers drooped, but she didn't argue.
Reluctantly, Loona settled on posting the photo without Max, letting Octavia help edit the lighting and add a touch of glowing sparkles. When it was done, she hit post, tail wagging just once before she suppressed the instinct.
"You two need help getting back to the hotel?" Max asked.
Loona sighed. "Yeah. Teleport me. My legs are killing me."
Octavia perked up. "Could I… come too? I've barely seen the hotel. Dad never wants me near Pentagram City because of the chaos and, y'know—no real leadership."
Max gave a small shrug.
"I don't see why not. Charlie's there—so as long as no Overlord decides to crash the place again, it's safe. And if they do? I'll protect you both."
He snapped his fingers.
Space warped.
The floor disappeared for half a second.
Both girls toppled sideways with twin screeches as gravity reasserted itself.
"AAAH—!"
THUD.
Loona glared up at him from the polished floor of the Hazbin Hotel lobby.
"Warn us next time!"
Octavia groaned, feathers s a tangled mess. "Teleport nausea… hate it…"
Max winced. "Yeah… maybe shadow-port would've been gentler."
Before either could complain further, Charlie and Vaggie hurried out of the hallway.
"Octavia!" Charlie beamed. "Welcome to the hotel! Are you moving in too?!"
Octavia quickly shook her head as Charlie pulled her into a hug. "N-no, no—just visiting!"
Angel Dust strutted through the entranceway just in time to witness the reunion.
He grinned wickedly.
"Well, well, well. Look at Mister Playboy over here. Collecting Goetia girls now too? Think you can add me to the group?"
He struck a pose.
Max didn't blink.
"In all honesty, I'm surprised you haven't tried already. But I'm not into that—thank you."
Angel snapped his fingers dramatically. "Damn. Worth a shot."
Loona snorted. Octavia covered a giggle. Charlie and Vaggie exchanged looks that said this is normal now, huh?
Then—
Something tugged at the edge of Max's perception.
Like thousands of eyes blinking.
Watching.
He stiffened.
"You girls go ahead inside. I… need to check something real quick."
Before anyone could ask, Max vanished.
---
Reverse Eden — The Heart of Hell
He reappeared in a place no sinner would ever see.
A secret layer beneath Hell.
A forest—twisted, inverted, beautiful in a wrong, unnatural way. Trees grew upside down from the ceiling, their roots drifting like tendrils of smoke. Vines pulsed faintly with demonic heat. A crimson sky hung below the ground like a reflection from a lake that wasn't there.
The Reverse Eden.
The core of Hell.
The birthplace of sin.
The nexus of Max's real power—where his true form rested, coiled and ancient, unseen by mortal eyes.
He inhaled deeply.
"Roo! Where are you, you perverted little brother of mine?!"
The forest answered.
Vines curled in on themselves.
Tree trunks twisted, eyes opening across their bark.
A humanoid figure blossomed from the mass of roots and leaves, made entirely of red-and-black eyes that blinked independently across his shifting form.
When he spoke, his voice echoed like multiple creatures laughing at once.
"Entity! It is you!" Roo cackled. "Or do you prefer Max now? Like your girlfriends do?"
Max crossed his arms. "Roo. Stop spying on them."
Roo leaned forward, limbs creaking like old wood.
"Oh come now. God lets me do what I want. And you let me run wild down here. Don't act shocked when I watch the juicy parts, brother."
"Roo—" Max's voice lowered, power rippling beneath it. "You are a guest in my house. You can cause chaos. You can create problems. You can be the damn root of all evil if you want—it's literally your job. But you do not watch my girls. Not in any reality."
Roo's many eyes narrowed, twitching in amusement.
"You should be thanking me! If it weren't for me, your girlfriends wouldn't exist at all."
He waved a branch-like hand. "If I hadn't corrupted Eden, whispered in Lucifer's soul, tempted humanity… this whole multiverse would be a boring, sterile Heaven copy. No Charlie. No Loona. No Octavia. No sinners. No fun."
Max clenched his fists.
"I don't care. Stay out of their lives."
Roo let out a distorted laugh.
"Fine! Fine. I'll stop stalking your little love interests across timelines. But don't blame me if they get tangled up in divine conflict. They're tied to destiny—our destiny."
Max exhaled, stepping toward the massive inverted tree at the forest's center—his anchor to this plane, the heart of Hell's metaphysical architecture. He couldn't stop thinking that it will end.
Roo's voice followed, drifting like smoke.
"You know Ascension is against the rules. Souls weren't meant to evolve beyond their design. Not when we created them."
Max's aura flickered dangerously.
"I'll change that fate."
Cracks spread through the Reverse Eden like lightning across glass.
Roo twitched, delighted.
"Oh, I won't stop you. Ascension was God's idea first, you know."
His grin widened—if a mass of eyes could grin.
"And thanks to me, you wield dominion over far more souls than either God or myself. Infinity folding on infinity… what lovely chaos it will cause."
Max paused at the base of the great tree.
Roo's final whisper curled around him like a half-threat, half-blessing.
"Just imagine… if I never whispered to Lucifer. If Eden never fell. If you never learned to shape worlds… this universe would be so painfully dull."
He faded back into the foliage.
"I'll stop watching your girls. But if they wander into the good stuff—don't blame me."
Then—
Plop.
A twisted, pulsing apple fell from the inverted branches.
Max stared at it, mind racing.
Something was changing.
Something big.