Author's Note: Devon had to take a week off, so she doesn't actually physically appear in this chapter. She and Grim lost their main character privileges for the chapter after Crewel grounded them for nearly destroying the lab. Don't worry, though. They'll be back in the next chapter for the first day of Halloween Week!

The song Dominic sings as he tends to his plants later in the chapter is 'From Where You Are' by Lifehouse.

The end of October was fast approaching as the students of Night Raven College put the finishing touches on both their costumes and their stamp rally venues. At long last, the day before Halloween Week officially began had arrived. It was time for the Halloween Committee to hold one last preparatory meeting before the event started.

Crowley looked out at the handful of chosen students gathered in the lecture hall. "Are all members of the Halloween Committee present?"

"All Pomefiore representatives are accounted for," Vil reported.

"Heartslabyul's here, too~!" Cater chirped with a wink and quick salute. He nudged Deuce playfully. "Deucey's been waiting for a whole hour already."

Deuce's cheek began to turn pink. "C'mon, Cater. You didn't need to tell them that, did you…?"

"Well, I think it's great that you're so enthusiastic!" Kalim commented cheerfully. "I guess I'll have to step my game up if I want to get to your level!"

In another row, Azul cast a sidelong glance toward Idia, a look of mild surprise on his face. "My, my, Idia. Seems we'll be getting a rare flesh and blood appearance from you today instead of your tablet, hmm?"

"Fweeheehee," Idia chuckled eagerly, any traces of his usual social awkwardness completely gone. "Of course! I have something to show you all once we're done here."

"Is this everyone?" Jack asked, taking a look around the room.

Lilia shook his head. "Malleus is on the committee as well, but it seems he's running a little late. I've already sent Silver to look for him, so he should be here shortly. If I could ask you all to wait a moment…"

Vil sighed. "We forgot to invite him again, didn't we?"

The conversation was cut short by the sound of heeled boots clicking against the floor. Malleus Draconia strode into the room a moment later, his face the very picture of aloof stoicism. He nodded respectfully to the others in the room. "Apologies for keeping you waiting."

"Oh good, you're here!" Lilia replied. "I was worried Silver might have trouble finding you."

Jade directed his attention back to the headmaster. "Now I believe that all representatives are present and accounted for."

Crowley cleared his throat. "Ahem! In that case, I will now call this Halloween Committee meeting to order! Committee Chairman Schoenheit, if you would please start us off?"

"Of course," Vil replied as he stood to address the other representatives. "There are eight days remaining until October 31st. That means that tomorrow will mark the beginning of Halloween Week. I would like to go over how the stamp rally will be held one final time: During each day of Halloween Week, visitors from Sage's Island and beyond will be touring the school, stopping at the venues each of the dorms has prepared and collecting a stamp for each one they visit. Once a guest has collected all seven stamps, they will head to the main gate to collect their prize."

"We're anticipating a huuuuge turnout for Halloween Week just from the locals alone," Cater commented. "Giving out presents to all our guests who complete the stamp rally… Pretty generous of ya, headmaster."

"Oh my, you flatter me~!" Crowley beamed. "The locals have always been so kind to us. It's only natural that we give back to them however we can!"

"Indeed, quite the generous move," Jade agreed with a smile…before casting a knowing look at the masked man. "Even though all we're giving them are small bags of candy that cost less than one Madol each."

"I-It's the thought that counts!" Crowley sputtered as he rushed to defend himself. "You can't put a price tag on sentiment."

"I'd appreciate it if you all would stop derailing the conversation and allow me to continue, thank you," Vil said, irritation clear in his tone. "The stamp rally will begin at ten in the morning and continue until ten at night. Under no circumstances should any dorm's stamp rally station be left unattended during those hours; there must always be someone available to stamp the visitors' cards. Anyone in charge of stamping will be excused from classes. Having said that, twelve hours is quite a long time, so we suggest that you schedule your students to work in shifts."

"Looks like it'll be a week of rushin' back to the dorm, takin' a quick shower, and then goin' straight to bed…," Jack said to himself.

"Ten at night, huh? But that's when my day really begins…," Idia muttered.

"The past month's been really hectic given everything we've had to get done, but starting tomorrow we'll have to give it 110%," Deuce said.

"Mmm. Making our venues and costumes at the same time had us so busy I was afraid these old bones of mine wouldn't last," Lilia agreed.

Epel heaved a sigh. "Preparing our dorms costumes was a real feat…"

"Of course it was. What did you expect when Pomefiore's dorm leader was chosen as head of the committee?" Vil replied. "Our dorm was meant to embody the spirit of the Fairest Queen; creating cheap, second-rate costumes was never an option. And thanks to all the time and effort we put into them, Pomefiore's end result is nothing short of spectacular."

"Oh my," Crowley chimed in as he looked around the room, catching sight of the pride and eagerness on the committee members' faces. "It appears that each of you is quite confident in your work."

"Well, duh!" chorused the committee members.

"Savanaclaw's venue is absolutely insane," Jack boasted. "We put something together that only we could do. There's no way I wouldn't be proud of it!"

"Octavinelle has also decided on a unique theme for our costumes and decorations," Jade added. "I hope you all are looking forward to seeing them."

"Hmm… I love everything about Scarabia's venue, of course, but I have to say I'm proudest of our costumes," Kalim said.

Idia shook his head with an eager grin. "Nah, nah, hold up. If you wanna talk costumes, Ignihyde's are definitely the best. We fussed over everything, down to the last detail."

"Hmph, so that's how we're going to play, is it?" Vil scoffed, his tone and his smirk dripping with confidence. "In that case, why don't we head out right now and take a look at the venues and costumes each dorm has prepared?" His amethyst eyes hardened into a glare. "Rest assured that I'll not hold back if I see anything that does not meet my standards. Is everyone ready?"

A chorus of cheers went up as the students shouted their assent.

"Ahhh~! How lovely it is to see my students so fired up and raring to go!" Crowley gushed, wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye. "Every student always puts their all into Halloween." He sighed. "If only I could get you all to behave like this for the entire year…"

"Should we get going, then?" Cater asked. "The venues are spread out all over the main campus, so it'll take a while to get to them all."

"Oh! Yes, of course you're right," Crowley agreed. "First up would be…the venue that Diasomnia has prepared." He turned his attention to Malleus and Lilia. "According to the form your dorm submitted, the place you have chosen is…"

"Ramshackle dorm," Malleus finished with a smirk. "If you ask me, there's no place on this campus better suited for Halloween than that ruin."

Deuce winced, mildly offended on his friend's behalf. "R-Ruin?" He lowered his voice to mutter under his breath. "Don't listen to him, Dev…"

"Alright then, everyone. Let us depart on our Halloween tour!" Crowley exclaimed as he led the committee members out of the lecture hall.

"Could I ask you to hang back for a moment, Spade?" Lilia asked Deuce, slowing his pace as he and the rest of the committee members headed to Ramshackle.

"Hmm?" Deuce hesitated for a moment, unsure why Diasomnia's vice dorm leader would want to talk to him, but he wasn't about to refuse an upperclassman's request. "O-Of course." He slowed his pace to match Lilia's. "Is everything alright, sir?"

Lilia chuckled. "Come now, there's no need to be so formal. We're schoolmates, are we not? It's just that I happened to overhear what you muttered after Malleus made that comment about Ramshackle."

Deuce gulped. "H-How did you-" He cut himself off when he recalled the day he, Ace, Devon, and Grim had met Lilia; how he'd been able to clearly overhear Trey and Ace talking despite being in the cafeteria in the middle of the lunch rush. If Lilia's hearing was that sharp, Deuce supposed it wouldn't be a stretch for him to pick up someone muttering to themself in a room occupied by only a handful of people. "I-I meant no disrespect to Malleus, honest! It's just that-"

Lilia smiled and held up a hand. "You've no need to worry, Spade. I know you didn't mean any harm or offense. In fact, I think it's rather heartwarming that you would try to protect your friend's feelings despite her not being present to hear the remark. That's why I wanted to clarify something and put your mind at ease. I know what Malleus said might have sounded critical, but I can assure you that he meant it as something positive."

Deuce tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"The truth of it is that Malleus has always had something of a fascination with abandoned buildings and ruins. He has since he was just a child," Lilia explained. "Ramshackle has been something of a safe haven to him since he first enrolled here, long before Devon and Grim took up residence there. I think he found the atmosphere calming."

"I see," Deuce replied. "Does…Does he still enjoy it there? I mean, you can't really call it abandoned if people are living there now, right?"

"Oh, yes!" Lilia said with a knowing smile. "I daresay he might like visiting Ramshackle even more now, thanks in no small part to the child of man dwelling inside it."

"Uh…Uh-huh…," Deuce muttered, thinking back to Malleus visiting Devon in the infirmary after the Spelldrive tournament.

"All this to say that Malleus is fond of both Ramshackle and Devon. His comment before wasn't intended as a slight toward either of them, though I can see how it might have come across as such," Lilia finished. He chuckled again and floated up to pat Deuce on the head. "The protectiveness and loyalty of yours is something to be proud of. I can tell that you value your friendship with Devon greatly."

Deuce gave a small shrug. "Well, yeah. Dev's probably the closest friend I've got. I'm an only child, so I don't know what it's like to have siblings, but I like to think of Devon as the sister I never had." His expression began to darken slightly as concerned washed over his features. "I know she's been missing her real family, though. And her home. She hasn't said anything about it, but she's been off for a little while now. If I'm being honest, I don't really know how to approach her about it. I'm scared I'll make things worse…"

"Hmm…" Lilia nodded sagely. "That does sound like a tricky situation. It wouldn't be wise to force her to open up if she isn't ready yet. If you want my advice, I think that the best thing you can do for her now is exactly what you've been doing. She'll let you in when she's ready." He gave Deuce a warm smile. "She's very lucky to have a friend as caring as you."

"I-I mean…ya know…," Deuce replied bashfully, rubbing the back of his head as his cheeks began to turn pink. "This is just baseline friendship stuff as far as I'm concerned. I know she'd do the same for me."

Lilia was silent for a moment before speaking up again. "You said something before that got me thinking; that bit about Devon's "real" family. It's true that you can't take her brothers' place in her heart, but speaking from personal experience, just because you aren't related to someone by blood doesn't make the bond you share with them less special."

"Hey! What're you two whispering about back there?" Kalim called back to them. "You don't want to get left behind, do you?"

Lilia chuckled. "Let's put a pin in this conversation for now. I certainly wouldn't want to be late to my own dorm's Halloween Week venue debut."

"Haaaaaahh…," Idia sighed as he trudged back into his room after the Halloween Committee finished touring the venues. Ortho was nowhere to be found, having left to hang out at Ramshackle not long after the committee had stopped by to see Diasomnia's venue. "Going outside is always such a pain… I'm glad I was able to show off all the work Ignihyde put into this year's stamp rally venue, but I still can't believe those normies hadn't even heard of Pumpkin Hollow! I mean, sure, it's not like I expected any of them to know all the lore, but you'd think they'd at least know the name!" He heaved another sigh. "Absolute bottom-tier, I swear…"

He flopped into his computer chair once he'd changed back into his dorm uniform and his eyes landed on a small device hooked up to his desktop monitor; a small black box that looked almost like a power bank charger for a smartphone. He'd built it himself using the data from the scan Ortho had done on Devon's Sending Stone. He'd put it together relatively quickly and was in the thick of the testing stage. After all, once Halloween Week was over, it would be time to start cracking down to study for finals, cutting his free time down drastically. He needed to gather as much data as he could while time permitted. He was confident that it had the same wavelength and magical properties as the crystal, though it was likely less powerful on its' own. Thankfully, technomantic energy was Idia's specialty so it was easy to give the device the punch-up it needed. In theory, it should be able to connect to Devon's world.

In practice, however…that was another story. No matter how many tests he ran or how many adjustments he made, he had yet to connect to anywhere definite; the most he'd been able to manage was some kind of strange limbo filled with grey fog with no sign of life in sight. Granted, even if he did manage to get the device to connect somewhere, he'd have no way of knowing if it was Devon's world or not. There was a part of him that was tempted to give up, but it wasn't in him to abandon a project once he got started.

"It's fine, it's fine, it's cool, it's fine," Idia muttered to himself as he turned the device over in his hands. "There has to be something I'm missing. Devon's blessing obviously factored into her Sending Stone being able to connect to the ones her brothers have, but the techomantic parts I've installed to this adapter should be enough to substitute for it…" He thought back to everything Devon and Ortho had told him regarding the stone's power and a realization quickly dawned on him. "Hang on… Ortho said that Sending Stones are meant to be used as some kind of old-timey magic telephone to help people communicate over long distances. So far, I've just been trying to connect to Devon's world. I wonder if that's why it hasn't worked so far… Should I have a specific person in mind?"

It was a solid theory, but the problem was the Idia didn't know anyone from Devon's world outside of Devon herself. An image of Dominic flickered in his mind for a split second, but he immediately squashed it down. "Nope, nope, nope! No way. Even if by some miracle I was able to connect to him, what do I even say to him?! "Hi there. You don't know me, but I kinda sorta know your sister. You know, the one that hasn't been able to talk to you in over a month? What's that? How do I know who you are? Oh, I just copied the data from Devon's phone and have been low-key swooning over the pictures and videos she saved of you. I swear I'm not trying to be creepy, it's just that you're very pretty and-"" He cut himself off, shaking his head rapidly as his face and the tips of his hair began to turn pink. "No! Out of the question! It's too shameful to even-what the?!"

Evidently, he'd grabbed onto the adapter during his rant without realizing it and it was trying to connect somewhere again. Idia was helpless to do more than stare into his computer monitor. The foggy void had appeared again, but this time he could just barely make out something starting to appear. He was tempted to drop the device before he saw anything else (or anything else saw him), but his curiosity got the better of him. He kept his eyes glued to the monitor, only to let out a high-pitched shriek and nearly throw himself out of his computer chair when Dominic's face swam into view.

"O-O-O-Okay, I-I know th-this looks weird, b-but please just let me explain!" Idia pleaded, pressing his hands together, closing his eyes and bowing his head. "I-I was just r-running an experiment t-t-to see if I'd found a w-way to communicate be…tween..." He trailed off as he peeked one eye open and saw that not only did Dominic appear to be unfazed by his sudden appearance, but that he appeared to be running his thumb over something below whatever Idia was looking out of, almost like he was scrolling. "Uh…" Idia blinked in confusion before moving his hand closer to the monitor and snapping his fingers. "Hey… Can you hear me?" Dominic didn't respond, so Idia tried waving his hand next. "Can you even see me?"

Dominic still didn't answer. Instead he placed whatever Idia was looking at him through (given his movements with his thumb earlier, Idia suspected it was Dominic's smartphone) onto some kind of solid surface, where it remained upright before moving further away and sitting down in what looked like a computer chair of his own.

It was impossible for Idia to see anything clearly except for Dominic himself, but he suspected that the youngest Lopez triplet had placed his phone onto some kind of standing phone charger before moving away. Given Dominic's complete lack of response to any attempt Idia made to get his attention, the Ignihyde dorm leader could only conclude that the connection was incomplete; something was preventing Dominic from being able to see him, possibly either the lack of magical energy in Devon's world or the lack of a bond between Idia and Dominic. Idia found himself feeling both relieved and disappointed by this discovery and resolved to keep running tests to see what else he could figure out later on. For now, though…he was content to watch Dominic go about his day.

It turned out that he and Dominic had more in common than Idia could have hoped for. Much like him, Dominic seemed to prefer spending time in his room than going out and socializing. He lost track of time as he watched the purple-haired boy alternate between working on something at his own computer, playing with some sort of handheld gaming device, and tending to something Idia couldn't see but suspected were most likely the plants he knew Dominic kept. Eventually, Idia opted to catch up on some of the manga series he'd fallen behind on, but kept the connection open so he could glance up at Dominic periodically, amazed at how calming he found the experience. He'd never truly felt at ease around anyone besides Ortho before and being able to just…exist in the same-almost-space as another person without it feeling awkward was nicer than he'd expected. Granted, Dominic seemed to have no idea that Idia was there at all and probably wouldn't feel anywhere near as calm if he knew the truth, but Idia was content to push that thought to the back of his mind for now. He gave the boy on the screen another small fond smile, his expression soft, before turning back to his manga collection.

"So far away from where you are; these miles have torn us worlds apart. And I miss you. Yeah, I miss you…"

Idia's attention was pulled back to the monitor again as Dominic began singing. He'd gotten up from his chair and picked up what looked like a pair of scissors, using them to trim something Idia couldn't see but assumed was another one of his plants.

Dominic sighed before singing the next verse. "So far away from where you are; I'm standing underneath the stars. And I wish you were here…"

Idia was unable to tear his eyes away from the screen, absolutely mesmerized by Dominic's voice. This was an unexpected, but very pleasant surprise. He knew Dominic liked theatre productions and was especially fond of musicals, but that didn't automatically translate to him having a talent for singing. Devon had never mentioned her brother's talent nor did it appear that he had posted any videos of him singing to his social media. Then again, since Dominic struggled with social anxiety, Idia supposed it made sense that he wouldn't put himself out there like that. It was possible albeit unlikely that his siblings didn't know about this talent of his, either. Idia acknowledged that the chances of that were slim to none, but he couldn't deny the warm feeling in his chest at the thought of being the only person to know.

"I miss the days that were erased," Dominic continued as he snipped away at the plant he was tending to. "I miss the way the sunshine would light up your face. I miss all the little things. I never thought that they'd mean everything to me. Yeah, I miss you. And I wish you were here…"

Up until this point, Dominic had his back facing his phone, so Idia had been unable to see his expression. Now, as he turned to put the scissors away, Idia saw that Dominic's hazel eyes had grown a bit misty. He sat back down in his computer chair and rubbed the bracelet on his wrist, identical to the one Devon had down to the last detail, and it became all too clear who he was thinking about.

"I feel the beating of your heart. I see the shadows of your face." Dominic pulled in a shaky breath and his voice began to crack as he continued. "Just know that wherever you are… Yeah, I miss you. And I wish you were here."

Dominic leaned forward, propping his elbows up on his desk before burying his head in his hands. Idia noticed at that point that the connection between the two worlds was fading quickly. He jerked forward as Dominic was engulfed in fog once again.

"W-Wait, hold on! You can't leave yet!" Idia pleaded, despite knowing that Dominic couldn't hear him. He hated how desperate he sounded, but he couldn't bring himself to care too much at the moment, especially not when Dominic jumped in surprise and looked directly at him. "Ooooh crap. Did you hear me…?

Dominic remained silent, his eyes taking on a faint purple glow before he faded away completely.

Idia slumped back in his chair, his yellow eyes flicking from the adapter in his hand to his monitor and back again before he began frantically typing out notes.

"I need to know what the heck that was, like, last week. And I need to figure out how to make it happen again."

"W-Wait, hold on! You can't leave yet!"

The sudden shout nearly caused Dominic to jump out of his skin. He looked in the direction it had come from, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. His phone was sitting on its charger where he'd left it and at first he wondered if maybe someone had tried to video call him, but the voice he heard didn't belong to anyone he knew.

Suddenly an image flashed on his phone screen: a man with gold-yellow eyes and literal blue fire for hair, his expression one of surprised fear that Dominic was almost certain would've matched his own. The image was gone as quickly as it had appeared, though, and his phone screen faded to black once again.

"What in the world…?" Dominic muttered as he snatched up his phone. He checked his call history to see if any unusual numbers or recent video calls popped up and came up with nothing. Then he checked to make sure he hadn't accidentally left YouTube or TikTok up and running. Nothing there, either. Unable to think of any other explanation, he just shook his head. "I must've just imagined it…"

Ending Notes: Ever since I first started conceptualizing the triplets, I've always liked the idea of each of them being really talented at one artsy/creative thing. Devon's artistic talent is pretty well-established by now and we've already touched on DJ discovering his talent for writing. Now I've been able to introduce Dominic's singing talent. Sadly, their cousin Mateo hasn't had much time to show it off yet, but he's a very skilled guitarist. He's loosely based off of Miguel from Coco, though, so that shouldn't be a surprise.

I've been waiting to get the Dominic/Idia thing started for a while now and now they've finally (kinda) had their first interaction! Things are a little tricky right now since they're literally a world apart but…*checks notes* I'm really hoping you guys will like what I've got planned.

Like I mentioned before, I opted not to write out the committee members going around to all the venues because I'm going to write Devon and Grim going to check them out in the next chapter. There's a lot to see, so I might end up having to split their Halloween tour into two parts depending on the length.

Thank you all so much for reading! As always, feedback and constructive criticism are welcome. Geekinthepink, out!