Author's Note: We've seen it get worse. Now it's time for things to get better. Great timing too, considering what's coming up next.

Professor Trein was known to be one of the strictest teachers at Night Raven College for good reason. He had no qualms about slapping a student with extra homework when he caught them sleeping or daydreaming in his classes. He held a firm belief that a student's academic duties had to come first while classes were in session, ahead of any personal troubles they might be facing. He was not a heartless man, however, and could be surprisingly lenient when he felt the situation called for it; he just didn't think it did all that often. Only a small handful of students had ever seen this side of the professor, but it was there all the same.

"Miss Lopez, hang back for a moment, if you would," Trein said as Class 1-A's History of Magic class was dismissed for the day.

Devon only nodded in response, waving off her friend's concerned expressions and offering them a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Trein prided himself on being a firm but fair instructor. He wasn't one to play favorites; every student was similarly praised when they did well and punished when they acted up regardless of his personal feelings. Having said that, he couldn't deny that he had developed something of a soft spot for Devon. It had started as a sort of (grand)fatherly protectiveness due to Devon being the only female student at an all-male school and as a father of two daughters himself (it didn't matter that they were grown now; they would always be his little girls). He couldn't help but empathize with what he was certain Devon's own parents must be feeling; he wasn't sure what he'd do if he was ever in their position.

His sense of obligation had turned to genuine fondness once he realized just how eager she was to learn. He was very much aware that a majority of the student body regarded his history classes as boring, so he found Devon's enthusiasm refreshing. At first, he'd simply written it off as a novelty effect, that she was only so enthused because this world was entirely new to her; things that were common knowledge to Twisted Wonderland natives weren't so obvious from her perspective, especially with regard to magic. He had expected her to become less and less enthused as time went on, but her excitement remained as strong as it had been that first day. He'd also come to find out that she was similarly passionate about the history of her own world when he asked her one day how they managed without magic. Out of curiosity, he'd asked her outright why she was so interested in history. Her response endeared her to him even more.

"Because I learned a long time ago that the narrative we're usually fed when we're young isn't an accurate one and if you really wanna know how things came to be the way they are now, you can't just focus on the things people want you to see," she had told him. "We typically don't get told the entire story and what we do learn is filtered through the viewpoints of the winners: the people who won the wars, the people in positions of power… You can't form an educated opinion if you don't have all the information and that's where my interest lies. I wanna know it all, both the glossy, polished stuff and the gritty, shady stuff that's been brushed under the rug."

It wasn't often that a student gave Trein pause, but he certainly hadn't expected that sort of answer. Perplexed, he'd asked her to give him an example. The ones she provided made him rather concerned about the state of her world, particularly the one concerning the man who "discovered" the country she called home. Even so, her answers were a testament to how insightful and diligent she was when it came to her studies.

That's what made her behavior over the past couple of days all the more concerning. Trein had noticed that Devon had seemed slightly distracted since about the beginning of October. She still took notes and participated in class and her test and quiz scores didn't deviate from her average, so he didn't think much of it at the time. For the past two classes, however, she'd barely said a word and seemed unable to focus at all; it seemed as if her body was in class but her mind was somewhere else.

"Is everything alright?" Trein asked. "It seems you've been a bit preoccupied lately."

Devon's eyes widened slightly. She hadn't expected her professor to call her out, though she did appreciate that he'd waited until after class; the last thing wanted was people's eyes on her when she was already a mess. She'd been feeling depressed ever since her panic attack two days prior, all the negative feelings she'd been trying to hold back having shoved their way forward and taken root right at the front of her mind. She'd hoped she'd done a halfway decent job of acting like everything was a-okay, but she'd seen the looks Grim, Ace, and Deuce had been sending her. Even so, her acting must have been worse than she thought if one of her teachers noticed.

"I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again," Devon apologized morosely, though a small smile graced her features when Lucius padded over to her and rubbed his head against her arm and meowed to be petted.

"I appreciate that, but you didn't actually answer my question," Trein pointed out. "Is everything alright?"

Devon shrugged before reached out to give Lucius the pets he was begging for. "As alright as everything can be, given my situation." She kept her eyes trained on Lucius, hoping to ward off at least a little embarrassment as she continued. "It's been…hard…being away from my family at this time of year. Not that it's ever been easy but…it's really starting to hit me just how much I'm going to be missing this year."

"I understand," Trein replied. "I can't imagine seeing all the families visiting for Halloween Week has made things easier for you."

"No sir, it has not," Devon confirmed with just the tiniest bit of humor in her voice.

In truth, Trein had had a feeling that homesickness might have been to blame for the dip in Devon's mood. It was common enough, especially among those in their freshman year; for most of them, Night Raven College was their first taste of living away from home. The feelings tended to ease off gradually as the students found their niche and acclimated to campus life, but Devon's circumstances complicated things for her.

"And judging by your posture and refusal to make eye contact with me, I'm guessing you're feeling hesitant to bring this up to anyone," Trein deduced. He barely managed to suppress an amused smirk when Devon looked up at him in alarm. "Come now, Miss Lopez, I'm not some senile old fool. You've never been one to dodge questions, so of course it would stand out to me when you did it just now."

'Damn… Either he's insanely observant or I'm the crappiest actress in Twisted Wonderland,' Devon thought. There was no point in trying to brush her feelings off now, but she was still hesitant to bring up the biggest reason for her mood shift: that she was growing more and more afraid that she'd never see her family again. "No, I haven't told anyone. In all honesty, I've been trying not to think about it too much. Professor Crewel told us at the beginning of the month how important Halloween Week is for the school and a friend of mine explained how it boosts tourism for Sage's Isle just the other day. I don't want to bring anyone down or ruin anybody's good time, is all."

"Hmm. While I can appreciate that you want to do your part to make our stamp rally a success, you shouldn't have to neglect your own emotional needs to do so," Trein stated bluntly. "I can tell that your monster companion and those two Heartslabyul boys you're always with are concerned about you. Do you really think letting them in would ruin the week for them?"

Devon was silent, unable to think of anything to say, while Lucius meowed in agreement with his owner and gently butted his head against Devon's hand again.

A bell sounded, signaling that it was almost time for the next class to start.

"Ah, I suppose I shouldn't keep you any longer," Trein finished. "It's entirely up to you what course of action to take, but I do hope that you'll at least give my words some thought. You've got plenty of people on this campus that care about you, Devon, both students and staff. You don't have to shoulder all your burdens alone."

"Oh, Dev-Dev~!" Cater sang as he, Lilia, and Silver were pulled into Devon's room courtesy of Regina later that evening. "What's this we hear about you barely eating a thing for the past couple days?"

"What the-?!" Devon exclaimed as she sat up on her bed. Zephyr crackled with magic, prepared to attack the intruders, only to calm back down once they registered that the visitors weren't a threat."What are you guys doin' here?"

"Pardon the intrusion, little bat, but it seems some of your fellow freshmen have become concerned about your behavior recently," Lilia explained. "It would appear that all of them, Sebek included, have been arguing over how best to approach you about it but have opted to give you the space they think you need until they decide on a plan of action."

"Uh-huh…," Devon mumbled, vaguely recalling seeing a text in the freshman group chat about meeting up for dinner that she was almost positive she didn't respond to. In truth, she hadn't had much of an appetite since her breakdown. She'd been making a token effort to eat so as not to alarm anyone, but most of her food ended up going to Grim. She'd been fairly confident that nobody had noticed, but it looked like she wasn't giving her friends enough credit.

"Deucey sent me a text out of concern for you and asked me to make sure you were doing okay," Cater elaborated as he took a seat next to Devon. "I remembered you mentioning that you wanted to talk to Lilia, so I made sure to grab him. Silver was with Lilia when I ran into him, so he's along for the ride too."

"I was concerned about your well-being too," Silver added. "As was Sebek, though I doubt he'll ever admit it."

Lilia nodded, opting not to mention that Malleus was growing concerned as well. The dragon fae's advanced hearing had allowed him to pick up Devon's sobs a few days prior and it was all he could do to keep from appearing in her room to try and comfort her. It didn't seem like she wanted anyone else to be made privy to what she was going through, though the prince's heart broke to hear her cries. At first, he'd been amused when Malleus told him, his budding feelings for and protectiveness toward Devon on full display, but when he'd heard Sebek mention that her mood had remained uncharacteristically depressed in the days since, he couldn't help but be concerned.

"I'm guessing this is about missing your family?" Cater asked, though it came out more like a statement than a question. He chuckled at the surprised look Devon gave him. "Gimme a little credit, sweetie. Cay-Cay's way more perceptive than he looks~!"

"It's perfectly understandable given your situation," Silver assured her. "I have to wonder why you're so hesitant to talk about it…"

Devon rubbed the Sending Stone on her bracelet as she tried to find the words. "I… It's not that I don't want to. It's just that each time I think about opening up, I keep getting this thought that I'm gonna bring everyone else down by whinin' about how much I miss home. It's not gonna change my situation anyway, so why ruin anyone else's fun, y'know?"

"Okay, fair, but you realize that internalizing this and refusing to let anyone help you is just making everyone worry more, right?" Silver pointed out.

"It's true," Lilia agreed. "I actually had a nice heart-to-heart with your friend Deuce at the Halloween Committee's meeting just before Halloween Week started. He was worried about you even then, but didn't want to risk making things worse. I understand your concerns about bringing people down, but I can say with certainty that Deuce, at least, would be more relieved than burdened. He considers you family, after all."

Devon blinked. "He said that?"

Lilia nodded. "That he did, my dear."

"And he's not the only one," Cater chimed in. "I can confirm that Trey, Riddle, and yours truly all think of you as part of our families. Most of Heartslabyul probably does, actually, and from the looks of it, your other freshman buddies feel the same."

"Not to mention Grim," Silver added. "If what you two have going on isn't a brother-sister relationship, I don't know what is. Same with the younger Shroud brother; I see you two hanging out all the time."

"I…dang…," Devon replied. It was a no-brainer for her how much the friends she'd made since arriving in Twisted Wonderland meant to her, but she'd never stopped to think about how much she meant to them in return.

Lilia shared a look with Cater, an idea passing between them. "Tell me, little bat, would you be able to enjoy yourself during this celebration if you knew someone you cared about was feeling depressed but refused to tell you why?"

"…No…," Devon muttered with a pout.

"And what about your brothers back home?" Cater pressed, bouncing off of Lilia's question. "I know you're sad that you can't see them and I completely understand that, but what would they say if you could talk to them now? I can't imagine they'd be happy that you're holding all this in…"

"That's hitting a little below the belt, don't you think?" Silver whispered to Lilia as they watched Devon turn Cater's question over in her mind.

"Maybe, but it might be the only way to get her out of this funk," Lilia replied. "Just watch…"

Devon kept rubbing at her bracelet, apparently not noticing the faint glow the stone was emitting. Cater's green eyes widened and he opened his mouth as if to bring it to her attention, but a quick subtle headshake from Lilia stopped him. The meaning was clear: Just watch.

"Well… I…," Devon trailed off.

DJ and Dominic stood in front of the mirror in their sister's bedroom. They'd been feeling waves of Devon's sadness hitting them periodically over the past couple of days and, while these hadn't been as intense as the first one they'd felt, it was becoming more and more difficult for them to focus on just about anything else. Neither of them liked the idea of being unable to comfort Devon when she clearly needed it, but there wasn't much they could actually do. They'd apparently both had the idea to come to Devon's room and see if they could connect to her through the mirror like they had before, but no matter how long the stones on their bracelets glowed, the glass hadn't so much as rippled.

"So…," Dominic began, looking at DJ awkwardly. "Should we just…try?"

DJ shrugged. "I guess." He took a step closer to the mirror. "Ya know, I feel a little stupid now that we're standin' here."

"It's definitely awkward…and that's comin' from me," Dominic agreed. "But if it'll help Dev out, I guess it's worth a shot."

He stepped up closer to the mirror as well, pulling in a breath before waving at his and DJ's reflections with a small smile on his face.

"Hey, Dev," he began. "I'm not really sure how to explain it, but DJ and I have been gettin' the feeling that you've been kinda down lately. We aren't really sure how to explain it but it's like…we're feeling what you're feeling? Or something? Umm…" He looked over at DJ, unsure of what else to say and feeling more foolish by the second.

"Dammit, Devon, these proxy feels are terrible!" DJ exclaimed as he took over. "I'm flattered that you miss us so much, but you can't waste all your time wallowing in depression, okay? Dom says that the school you've been stayin' at is having some kind of big Halloween celebration, right? Well, Dom and I want you to get out there and enjoy it. It sucks that you're not here with us, but you've gotta make the best of it, y'know?"

"That is something you've always been good at," Dominic chimed in.

"Right! So get out there and have enough fun for all three of us," DJ ordered. "We'll be doin' the same on our end and when we're able to have an actual conversation with you again, we're gonna compare notes and see who had the most kickass Halloween."

"You've already got a leg up on us since you're at an actual magic school, so we'll be expecting some awesome stories when you get back," Dominic added. He smiled warmly at the mirror as if he was looking at Devon herself. "We love you, sis. And we will see you again."

"Count on it," DJ agreed. "But until then, we expect you to get out there and enjoy yourself. Rack up all the stories you can so you'll have plenty to tell us." He smiled at the mirror as well. "And yeah, we really do love and miss you, Dev. See you soon."

"I think they'd say…," Devon began as she gently placed her hand on the mirror in her Ramshackle bedroom. She'd stood and walked over to it as if pulled by an invisible thread as Lilia, Cater, and Silver watched with interested silence. She hadn't seemed to notice her Sending Stone's glow and none of them were about to tell her, too eager to see what would happen next. Now she was staring into the glass as if trying to see through it something on the other side.

She couldn't explain it, but it was almost like she could hear DJ and Dominic talking to her, despite only seeing her own reflection in the mirror. Much like the Wisps, she wasn't able to actually hear the words they were saying, but she could feel their emotions somehow. They were concerned about her, apparently aware of the sadness she'd been holding in, and were encouraging her to have fun with the family she'd found at Night Raven College. The longer she allowed their emotions to wash over her, the less depressed she felt. Soon enough, it was as if all the pain from the past month was nothing but a memory.

Devon stared into the mirror for a while longer before finally turning back to the group with an expression that could only be described as relief. She truly looked and felt as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"They'd say they wouldn't want me to waste my chance to experience Halloween at a place like Night Raven College," she said with certainty. "Even if we can't be together, they still wouldn't want me to stay holed up and moping during one of our favorite times of the year. And you know what? I don't wanna spend Halloween Week mopin' around either. I'm gonna make sure I have way more fun than either of them combined." She blinked. "It sounds so simple when I say it out loud. Kinda makes me feel embarrassed for getting so upset before."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, little bat. There's no shame in missing your family," Lilia assured her as he moved closer and reached up to pat her on the head. "As painful as it is to be apart from them, the fact that you miss them so much tells me they must have given you a lot of love."

Devon nodded. "They have. They still are…" She blew out a breath as a feeling of guilt crept up on her. "But there are plenty of people here that have given me love too and I've made them worry." She smiled over at Cater. "I think it's time I come clean, huh?"

Cater smiled back and picked up Devon's phone before walking over to her and pulling her into a hug. "I'm proud of you, sweet girl!" He handed her the phone. "Ace mentioned something about grabbing dinner with the rest of the freshie squad after basketball and Spelldrive practices let out. That's less than ten minutes from now. He also mentioned you hadn't responded to the invite in your group chat." He winked at her. "I think you know what to do."

"I will. But before I do," She looked over at Lilia, "there's something I've been meaning to ask you about."

"Mmhmm," Lilia nodded with a smile. "Cater and Silver told me you'd been wanting to speak with me."

"I have. It's about my Sending Stone," Devon explained. Silver and Cater made themselves busy in another part of the room so as to give Devon and Lilia at least a little privacy. "Er, I guess it's more about the person who gave it to me, actually: Do you know anyone in Briar Valley named Mala? That's the name of the woman who gave these bracelets to me and my brothers but we don't really know very much about her. I'm not really sure if there's a "nobles and peasants" kinda thing goin' on in Briar Valley, but if there is, she'd definitely be part of the nobility. I've got no way of reaching her myself, but I figured you might. Sebek and Silver told me you're an acquaintance of the queen and all…"

"It's true that I am on good terms with Briar Valley's queen as well as many among the nobility…," Lilia paused for a moment, thinking, "but I'm afraid I don't know anyone by that name." He saw Devon deflate slightly at the news and gently patted her head. "Now, now, don't look so down. It's entirely possible that 'Mala' was just an alias for your friend. There aren't many people in Twisted Wonderland with the ability to travel between worlds or bestow such powerful magic onto someone, but anyone who can do both would almost certainly reside in Briar Valley. I'd say you're on the right track."

"But why would Mala even bother with a fake name if she's not from my world?" Devon wondered. "It's not…illegal to take Sending Stones out of Briar Valley, is it?"

"It isn't illegal, per se, but I doubt many of the higher nobles would be thrilled about it," Lilia replied. He heaved a disappointed sigh. "They tend to prefer keeping Briar Valley in a sort of bubble, so to speak. Our traditions stay in, other traditions stay out. It's a shame, really. I've always thought sharing and experiencing our own cultures and those of the people around us can only benefit everyone involved." He gave Devon an encouraging smile. "Tell you what: I'll arrange to speak with the queen directly and see if she might have an idea of who Mala really is."

Devon gasped. "Really?! You'd do that for me?"

Lilia chuckled at her response. "Keh heh. Of course! I'm just as curious about all this as you are, you know." He opted not to tell Devon (lest he get her hopes up prematurely) that he had an idea as to Mala's true identity already, but wanted to speak with the queen first. "I should tell you, though, after Halloween Week ends, it will be time to start preparing for final exams. I likely won't be able to speak to her until school lets out for winter break."

Devon smiled and shook her head. "That's fine with me. This is the only real progress I've been able to make on this lead since I got here." She pulled Lilia into a hug. "Thank you so much, Lilia. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

Lilia hugged Devon back with a fond look in his eyes. "Think nothing of it, little bat. I know how hard this has been for you and even on the off chance that is lead doesn't pan out, I'll help you out however I can."

"Sorry to interrupt, Devon," Silver interjected, prompting Devon and Lilia to turn toward him and Cater. "We weren't trying to pry into your business but your sketchbook was opened up on the table here and we were curious about this drawing."

Cater held up the sketchbook to show a detailed drawing of an ornate key.

"My goodness, you're quite the talent!" Lilia complimented as he and Devon moved closer to get a better look. "Are you doing some sort of art project?"

"Not exactly," Devon replied. "It's kind of hard to explain, but lately I've been having this…" She paused, as she tried to find the word, "compulsion, I guess."

"A…compulsion to draw keys?" Cater asked with a baffled expression.

"A compulsion to draw that key," Devon specified. She pulled a notebook out of her messenger bag and flipped to a random page. Notes took up most of the page, but the margins were covered with less-detailed images of the key in Devon's sketchbook. "Whenever I let my mind drift away from whatever I'm supposed to be focusing on and I've got a pen and paper within arm's reach, this happens."

"Is this key special to you somehow?" Silver asked.

"That's the thing; I don't remember ever seeing this key in my life, but something about feels familiar to me," Devon replied, very much aware that she wasn't making sense. "At first I thought I was just drawing the keys on our ceremonial robes, but look here." She gestured to the key handle. "The handle's completely different."

"Do you think maybe it could be a key you saw when you were little or something?" Cater asked. "It's a pretty unique-looking key; you might have subconsciously held onto the memory of it."

"That doesn't explain why she'd just have the urge to draw it," Silver pointed out. He looked over at Lilia who had remained quiet during the exchange. "What do you think, Fa- Lilia?"

"It's hard to say for sure," Lilia replied. He studied the drawing for a moment longer before directing his attention to Devon. "It could be a coincidence, but I think this could be a sign that the power you were blessed with is getting stronger."

Devon quirked a brow. "Stronger? It already lets me link into someone's mindscape. How much stronger can it get?"

"I wish I could give you a concrete answer, but the truth is that there are many different kinds of both blessings and curses," Lilia explained. "The blessing you were given is a very powerful and resilient one, something that grows more powerful the more it's used. However, Mala likely realized that your blessing and those of your brothers wouldn't be of much use to you given the lack of magical energy in your homeworld. As such, I believe she compensated by increasing the base power of the blessings. That base power in turn has been reacting to the magic you've been exposed to every day since coming here."

"Hmm… Well now you've got me a little worried," Devon mused.

Lilia chuckled. "There's no cause for concern, my dear. This is only a theory on my part. Once we track Mala down, you'll be able to get some answers."

"You're right," Devon agreed. "This blessing has only helped me since I've been here and from what little I can recall, Mala only had our best interests in mind when she bestowed them on us. There's no point in second-guessing this now."

Her stomach chose that precise moment to sing the song of its people.

Cater couldn't help but laugh. "Sounds like all this sleuthing made you work up an appetite, huh, Dev-Dev~? We'll get outta your hair, so you go ahead and meet up with Deucey and the other freshies."

Devon smiled and nodded. "I will, but first I have to track Grim down. He said something about helping out the Equestrian Club with something, which sounded kinda sus to me. I need to make sure he's not tryin' to mooch food off people." She gave all three of her friends a hug before leading them toward the front door. "Thank you all for…everything."

"Anytime, sweet girl," Cater assured her as they all stepped outside. "Anytime."

"Is something wrong, Silver?" Lilia asked as he and his adopted son made their way back to Diasomnia. "You look troubled."

"It's probably nothing but…the Equestrian Club doesn't meet today," Silver replied, a puzzled look on his face. "I would've been there if it did. Devon's afraid of horses so he probably knew she wouldn't offer to go with him. I'm just trying to figure out why Grim would've lied to Devon about where he was…"

"Hmm…," Lilia hummed in thought before he remembered something. "Now that you mention it, I think I remember seeing Grim at the Hall of Mirrors as we were heading to Ramshackle with Cater. It looked like he was heading to Octavinelle." He tapped a finger to chin. "I wonder why he wouldn't want Devon to know…"

"So that's pretty much what's been going on," Devon said, wrapping up her explanation as she and the rest of her freshman friends sat down to eat dinner. "I'm sorry I've been so distant and weird these past few days. I've never been very good at asking for help."

"You don't have ta apologize, hon," Epel assured her, his accent slipping out. He glanced around nervously to make sure Vil or Rook weren't nearby to hear him, sighing in relief when he saw no trace of either of them.

"Yeah," Deuce agreed. "The important thing is that you're feeling better."

"Just so you know, there's nothing wrong with putting yourself first sometimes," Jack added. "I get where you're coming from about not wanting to spoil anyone's good time, but even so…" He looked like he wanted to say more, but quickly averted his eyes and let the sentence hang.

"I think what Jack Howl is trying to say is that you're way more important to us than Halloween Week!" Ortho chirped.

"That wasn't what I said!" Jack protested. He caught sight of Devon's amused smirk from across the table and glared at her. "Oi! Stop lookin' at me like that!"

"Awww~! I didn't know you cared so much, Jack," Devon gushed playfully, swatting Grim's paw away as he tried to steal her food.

Sebek sighed. "Why are you all like this?"

"Oh please, you were more worried about Dev than anyone," Epel argued. "Especially once you found out she hadn't been eating."

"W-Well," Sebek stammered as his cheeks flushed pink. "I-It just blew me away to learn how pathetically weak you humans are!"

"And that's why you're shoveling even more food onto Devon's plate?" Jack remarked dryly.

Sebek looked down and realized that he was indeed piling some of his sizable meal onto Devon's plate and finding himself of the receiving end of her smirk. He narrowed his eyes, cutting Devon off before she could make a snarky remark. "I'm only doing this so you don't upset Lord Malleus and Master Lilia by keeling over and dying."

"Sure you are, Sebek. Sure you are," Devon replied. She turned her attention to the redhead sitting on her other side. "You've been awful quiet, Ace. Everything good?"

Ace startled a bit as he was snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah, I'm good. I was just thinkin'-"

"Never a good idea," Jack snarked.

Ace shot him a glare before continuing. "Anyway, I was thinkin' about that holiday you told us about from your world. I think you called it…Dia de los Muertos, right? You said the actual holiday itself usually falls on November 1st, didn't you?"

Devon nodded.

"Well, what if we did something on that day to kinda-sorta celebrate it?" Ace suggested.

"What did you have in mind?" Deuce asked.

"I mean, obviously it won't be like the celebrations New York's been to, but there no rule that says we can't make that day special," Ace explained. "Halloween Week'll be over by then too, so putting a low-key party together should be easy enough." He smirked over at Devon, gently nudging her shoulder with his elbow. "If you're lucky, New York, I might be willing to share some Trappola family stories with ya. I know you've been dyin' to hear about how I got to be as amazing as I am today, so if you ask me nice, I could be persuaded to share."

"Hmph! I'm sure Devon would be far more interested in being regaled with tales of the Zigvolt family!" Sebek scoffed loudly. "We have served the royal family loyally since my grandfather's time. I can't imagine a more interesting figure to hear about. Aside from my liege, of course!"

"Personally, I've been hopin' ta hear more about Dev's family," Epel chimed in. "I'd love to hear more about growin' up as a triplet, especially with brothers as interesting as hers sound."

"Mmm. I didn't want to ask since I knew you weren't in the mood, but I've been hoping to see more of those 'TikToks' of yours," Ortho added. "I really enjoyed watching them before!"

Devon couldn't help but smile as the conversation continued, her friends either offering to tell her more about their own families and wanting to hear more about hers. She might not be able to celebrate with her blood family, but her found family was doing its best to make sure November 1st was still special to her. She rubbed the Sending Stone on her bracelet again, reaffirming the silent promise she had made to her brothers. She'd spent enough time crying over something she couldn't change. It was time to start making the most of this new world.

Ending Notes: I absolutely adore the found family trope and I really like writing chapters where it's in full effect. I can see Devon ended up with a dorm uniform gifted to her from each of the dorms later in the story after she's had the chance to win them over. Grim would get a matching ribbon too, of course. I always love it when our little brother/son gets new ribbons. For that matter, I'd like to see all three of the triplets rocking the dorm uniforms. Idia would probably straight-up faint if he saw Dom in an Ignihyde uniform. Which dorm uniform do you guys think Devon and/or her brothers would look best in?

Ya know, it's times like these that make me wish I had some sort of artistic ability. I'd love to be able to draw Devon's card artwork and groovys. I've seen plenty of people do it with their own OCs and they always look so amazing!

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