Author's Notes: I'm not going to write out all the battle scenes (hence why the battle with the ghosts isn't here). It's mostly because I am absolutely awful at writing fight scenes but also because there are certain points where (to me, at least) the scene makes more sense without the battle.

The next morning dawned bright and early as Devon and Grim continued to sleep peacefully, Grim's ear still pressed to Devon's chest as she nuzzled into his fur. Zephyr hovered dutifully nearby, having kept watch over the pair the entire night. Sunlight began to pour into the room as Regina pulled the curtains back from the bedroom windows, causing Grim to grumble in protest and bury his face into Devon's arm.

"Hehehe," a voice above them cackled. "Don't you two have to be up early to clean the school?"

"Mmnyeh…," Grim grumbled in response. "Five more minutes."

"If you laze about like that for too long, you'll never wake up again," came another sing-song voice.

"Just like us! Yeeheehee!" finished a third voice.

"Nnngh?" Grim blinked his eyes open, only to sit up in shock when he saw the three ghosts from the previous night floating above them. "Fgnya! You guys again?!" He turned and pawed at Devon's face. "Up n' at 'em, human! We've got company!"

"Hmm?" Devon hummed sleepily as she opened her eyes, sitting bolt upright when she caught sight of the ghosts as well. She let out a resigned sigh. "Are you kidding me?!"

"We heard you guys are gonna be living here now," the short ghost said. "Hope you like pranks as much as we do!" The ghost let out another cackle.

"Oh sure," came Devon's sarcastic reply. "I love having to worry about how the ghosts haunting my dorm are gonna kill me. A+ pranking, y'all. This is doing wonders for my mental health."

The trio of ghosts exchanged confused looks. "Whaddaya mean by ki-"

"Hatchling~! Are you awake yet?" called a voice from just outside the door.

"And now the headmaster's here," Devon mumbled. She pinched the bridge of her nose before calling back toward the door. "Just a sec, I've gotta get changed first." She turned back toward the ghosts. "Listen, I'm gonna need you guys to-" She cut herself off when she saw that the ghosts had disappeared. "-leave the room."

"Dang it," Grim growled. "We'll get rid of 'em for good eventually."

"Good morning, you two!" Crowley greeted cheerfully as Devon let him into the room. She'd thrown on the outfit she was wearing when she'd been taken; she figured it was fine since she'd only had it on for maybe an hour the previous day and she wanted to run the other outfit she'd kept in her bag through the wash before she wore it again. "Did you sleep well?"

Grim shrugged. "Would've slept better if those ghosts hadn't woken us up! And also," he gestured around the room at the dusty furniture and peeling, water-damaged wallpaper. "this is my first time seeing this place in daylight. I knew it was run-down but just how ramshackle did you let this place get, anyway?"

"I slept like a rock," Devon answered with a sardonic smile as she pulled her hair up into a low ponytail.

Crowley hummed in approval. "That wonderful. I'm delighted to see that being tossed over from another world hasn't put a damper on your sense of humor."

"Of course not, sir. How else would I hide the pain?" Devon replied.

Crowley patted her head obliviously. "Very good, very good. Now then, I've come to talk to you about your job for the day." He led the duo to the dorm lounge. "My original plan had been to task you with cleaning the campus but…the campus is quite large, you see, so cleaning the entirety of it without magic would be an impossible task. To that end, today I'd like you to clean the Main Street area from the front gate to the library. Am I understood?"

Devon nodded. "Yep."

"Ah, and please make sure to keep an eye on Grim. We don't want a repeat of yesterday," Crowley continued.

"Sure thing, boss," Devon replied, offering him a tiny salute. "Leave it to me."

"I'm counting on you," Crowley said with a smile. "You have permission to eat lunch in the school cafeteria." He turned and began walking toward the front door. "I'll leave you to it!"

No sooner was Crowley out of earshot then Grim began complaining. "Tsk. No way I'm doin' any cleaning," he pouted, crossing his arms. "I wanna go to class and fire off a bunch of cool spells."

"Let's just get to campus for now," Devon replied. "If you're dead-set on learning new spells, we can head to the library once we've finished cleaning stuff."

Grim continued to grumble but he did as he was told and followed Devon to the front door. Devon was about to reach for the doorknob when Zephyr appeared in front of her. Grim could only watch as Zephyr pulsed at Devon, not privy to what the green Wisp was trying to say until Devon spoke up again.

"That's sweet of you but we'll be fine, bud," Devon assured the orb-like being. "We're just gonna be cleaning; how much trouble could we possibly get into?" Zephyr pulsed uncertainly but moved aside to let Devon open the door. She looked back into the dorm with a smile and a wave. "We'll see you all this evening!" Her smile widened as the orbs materialized in the foyer and pulsed a goodbye in addition to Regina 'waving' via the front door once Devon and Grim had stepped through it.

"What was that about?" Grim asked as the pair began their trek toward Main Street.

"Zephyr wanted to come with us," Devon explained. "They're really taking this 'life debt' thing seriously." She sighed. "I appreciate what the Wisps are doing but I wouldn't have even known something was wrong if Zephyr hadn't come to get me. They don't owe me anything; none of them do."

"Psh, I don't understand you," Grim scoffed. "You saved their lives so take the credit!" An arrogant smirk stretched over his face. "Besides, think of how amazing I'll look if my underling has underlings!"

Devon opened her mouth to protest, only to close it again once she realized they'd finally reached Main Street. It looked almost tranquil; a tree-lined grey brick road with some lamp-posts strategically placed alongside. Devon was able to see the library in the distance; it was the same building she'd ducked into to hide when Grim was chasing her the previous evening. As she took in the scenery she noticed that a few students were already beginning their trek to the main school building but what really caught her eye were seven statues placed alongside the street. As she and Grim got closer, she noticed that there was something…familiar about them.

"Uwahh~!" Grim gasped, his blue eyes sparkling in amazement. "So this is Main Street, huh? I wasn't able to get a good yesterday, ya know, because I was chasin' you around, but it's really pretty here." His gaze finally landed on the statues. "Hmm? What's with these statues? All of 'em look a little scary." He walked up to one of them, gesturing for Devon to join him. "This granny here looks especially snobby."

Devon stepped up next to her furry companion and tried not to gasp when she got a good look at the statue he'd pointed out. 'No way. No way in hell. Is that the Queen of Hearts?! Like, from the Disney movie?!' She took a closer look at the statue. 'Yep. That's definitely the same lady.' She glanced at the other statues, her eyes widening as she realized she recognized them. 'These are all Disney villains! Okay seriously, where in the actual hell have I ended up?!'

"You guys don't know about the Queen of Hearts?" asked a voice from behind them, startling Devon out of her thoughts. The pair turned to see a boy approaching them. He had red eyes and matching red hair that stuck up in different directions. He was definitely handsome; there was an easy-going smile on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes. As he got closer, Devon noticed a red heart near his left eye; she assumed it had been done with makeup but maybe it was just a natural part of his face.

"Is she important or something?" Grim asked as the redhead stepped up next to them.

"She was a queen who lived in a castle in a rose maze a long time ago," the boy explained. "She set strict rules for absolutely everything, from the color of the roses to the march of her card soldiers. Thanks to that strictness of hers, she was able to get an entire kingdom of madness to submit to her rule. And if they didn't…," he cast a playful glance at them. "it was off with their heads!"

"Th-That sounds terrifying!" Grim exclaimed, moving to hide behind Devon's leg.

"Is it? I think it's kinda cool," the boy replied. "Who'd wanna listen to a queen that was just nice all the time, yanno?"

"Hmm, I guess you have a point," Grim conceded as he stepped out from behind Devon. "A stronger leader is always better." He looked up at the boy. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Name's Ace!" the redhead answered, putting his hands behind his head. "I'm a freshman, just starting today. Nice to meetcha!"

Grim smiled back. "I'm Grim, a prodigy in the making who's gonna be, like, the greatest mage ever!" He gestured to Devon. "And this is Devon, my waaay less interesting henchman."

Devon felt her eye twitch in irritation as she glared down at Grim. 'It's amazing how he can be almost sweet one minute and then a total brat the next.'

"Devon, huh?" Ace said as if testing out the name before smiling at her. "Pretty odd-sounding name you've got there."

"That's why my mom picked it," Devon quipped as she smiled back. "It's nice to meet you." She shot Grim a look. "And I'm nobody's hench-anything, just for the record."

"Yeah, I figured as much," Ace replied before sending her a wink. "You're way too pretty to be the underling here. Though I gotta say, I wouldn't mind having one as cute as you."

'Ah, he's one of those,' Devon thought as she quirked a brow in response. 'Good-looking and very aware of it. Better be careful with this one.' "Layin' it on a little thick there, don'tcha think, bud?"

"Hey Ace," Grim piped up before Ace could say anything, gesturing toward another statue. "Who's this lion with the scar? Are he important too?"

"Of course! That's the King of Beasts who ruled over the savannah," Ace explained.

'That's Scar from The Lion King,' Devon thought.

"He wasn't born to be king but he was able to take the throne through his cunning and meticulous planning," Ace continued. "They say he even welcomed the lowly hyenas into his domain without prejudice once he became king."

Grim smiled. "Sounds like he was a pretty good guy if he was able to look past social status like that." He looked over to another statue. "What about this lady with the octopus legs?"

'Ursula. That is Ursula.'

"She's the Sea Witch who lived in a cavern deep under the sea," Ace replied. "She made it her life's mission to help any and all unfortunate merfolk who came to her. If they could pay the price, she could change their appearance, help them find love, you name it! But…they say her prices were preeeeetty steep, though. That's the cost for 'everything', I guess."

"Nyaha!" Grim cheered. "So you're saying getting rich will be a snap once I become a great mage!" He pointed toward the next statue. "And who's this guy with the big hat?"

'That would be Jafar, my dude. What is happening here?!'

Ace followed Grim's gaze. "That's the Sorcerer of the Sands! He was the cunning vizier to a complete oaf of a sultan. He even saw through the ruse of a street rat who'd disguised himself as a prince to fool the princess! After that, he got his hands on a magic lamp and became the most powerful sorcerer in the world and used his new power to become sultan himself!"

Grim nodded. "I guess it makes sense for a successful mage to be an excellent judge of character." He walked over to the fifth statue and looked up at it. "Dang! This woman's really pretty!"

"That's the Fairest Queen. They say she was the most beautiful in all the land," Ace agreed.

'Nah, she had a name though. What was it?' Devon racked her brain trying to remember. 'I think it was…Grimhilde. Been a while since I've seen that movie…or any of these movies.'

"The queen would check her magic mirror to see how she ranked every day," Ace explained.

Devon's eyes widened. 'That's why the Dark Mirror looked so familiar! It had the same face and everything!'

"When it seemed as if she might fall from the top spot, she did whatever it took to keep her place," Ace continued as he and Grim remained oblivious to Devon's internal screaming. "Pretty damn amazing, I think. It's not every day you come across someone with that kind of drive. They also say she was pretty skilled at making poisons."

"Eh?!" Grim exclaimed. "I mean, she's pretty and all but that's just scary."

"You think so?" Ace shrugged. "I think it's impressive that she never lost sight of her goal."

"Mmm. I suppose that kind of single-minded drive is pretty cool," Grim agreed before gesturing to another statue. "And this guy? Now he looks really scary."

"That's the King of the Underworld!" Ace said, lowering his voice slightly to sound more ominous. ('Ah. Hades, huh? One of the best Disney villains, I think.) "He ruled a world crawling with rambunctious spirits all on his own. He might look scary but the legends say he was a man of integrity who was forced into doing a job he absolutely detested and he never took a break. Because of that, he was able to command Cerberus, the Hydra, and even the Titans in battle. You gotta respect that kind of hustle."

"Hmm…so I guess it's important to stay humble no matter how awesome a mage you are," Grim mused.

'Okay for real, though. What is going on here?!' Devon thought incredulously. 'Not only is magic real in this place but these villains were actual historical figures?! The way this guy's been talking, you'd almost think these…Great Seven or whoever they are…are actually the heroes. He hasn't mentioned anything about, well, everything these people did that made them, y'know, villains.' A poke on her shoulder pulled her from her thoughts.

"Hey, you alright? You've just been spacin' out on me," Ace said, a look that could almost be called concerned in his eyes.

Devon nodded weakly. "Y-Yeah. Just trying to…take it all in, I guess."

"Hey, Ace," Grim called out as he moved toward the last statue. "Who's this lady with the horns?"

"That's the Thorn Fairy of Briar Valley," Ace replied as he led Devon over to the statue. "She was renowned for her elegance and nobility and her magic was top-tier, even among the Great Seven!"

'That's true,' Devon agreed inwardly. 'Disney's never really been lacking for awesome villains but nobody's ever even come close to Maleficent.' She smiled to herself. 'I wonder what would happen if I wore my Maleficent T-shirts here…'

"She was able to create huge storms by manipulating thunderclouds and cover an entire kingdom in thorns!" Ace continued. "Her powers are on a whole other level. They say she was even able to transform herself into a huge dragon!"

"Oooh, a dragon!" Grim exclaimed excitedly. "What all monsters aspire to be!"

"I know, right! They're so cool~!" A devious smirk spread over Ace's face. "Unlike a certain raccoon."

"Fgnya?!" Grim and Devon snapped their heads around to look at Ace. The friendly, easy-going expression he'd been wearing as he explained who the Great Seven were had been replaced by a look of arrogance and condescension.

"Pfft, hahaha! Ah man, I could not keep a straight face anymore! Ahahahahaha!" Ace gasped out, closing his eyes and dropping his hands onto his knees as he continued laughing. After a moment, he finally looked up and focused his gaze on Grim. "You're the one who turned the entrance ceremony into a total shit show, even though you weren't even called by the Dark Mirror." He then focused on Devon. "And for whatever reason, you actually were called here even though you can't use magic. Ah dude, it took everything in me not to bust a gut during the ceremony!"

"Fgnya! Geez, you're a rude one!" Grim shouted.

"So in the end, neither of you were allowed to enroll here and you've been relegated to janitors instead," Ace continued, as if Grim never said anything. "Haha, so pathetic!"

"What did you just say?!" Grim growled out, clenching his paws.

Ace kept going, still ignoring the seething monster. "And to top it all off, you don't even know who the Great Seven are! Just how dumb are you guys?! Maybe you should take another shot at kindergarten before trying to get into a school like this."

Devon glanced down at Grim. The little guy was going to boil over if something didn't happen to de-escalate the situation, fast. She understood where Grim was coming from; she wanted nothing more than to punch the redhead right in his smug prick face but she'd promised the headmaster that they wouldn't cause another scene. All she could do at this point was hope Ace took a swing at her first so she could claim self-defense. "Did you come over here just to antagonize us? What, you don't have anything better to do?"

"Nah, not really!" Ace chirped. "Figured I'd come mess with ya a little bit." He leaned closer to Devon. "I wasn't expecting our little magicless nobody to be a girl, though. And a cute one, at that!" He straightened back up (unfortunately for Devon, who was gearing up to knee him in the crotch if he got closer) and turned to continue walking down Main Street. "I'm really sorry to cut this short, believe me, but unlike you two I actually have classes to attend." He looked back over his shoulder and offered the pair a mock salute. "Keep this campus squeaky clean, 'kay~?"

"Grrrrrgh," Grim growled as he watched Ace walk away.

"Don't let him get under your skin, Grim," Devon said softly, kneeling down next to him and rubbing his ears in the hopes that it would soothe him. "Idiots like that aren't worth your time."

Unfortunately, Grim's anger would not dissipate so easily. "That jerk… Who does he think he is, talking down to me like that?!" He swatted Devon's hands away before stepping forward. "Take this!" A stream of fire erupted from Grim's mouth.

Ace glanced back at the sound of Grim's shout, his eyes widening when he saw the fire coming straight for him. Thankfully for him, he was able to get his wits about him in time to side-step away from the blaze. He shot Grim a glare, any humor in his expression long gone. "What the hell?! What do you think you're doing, furball?!"

"That's what you get for making fun of me!" Grim yelled back. "I'm gonna light that spiky head of yours on fire!"

"'Spiky head, huh?" Ace growled out, the arrogant smirk coming back as he turned back toward Grim. "You've got some serious guts picking a fight with me, I'll give you that." He pulled something out of the breast pocket of his black uniform blazer; it looked like the object the blonde man from the entrance ceremony had used to defend Devon from Grim's fire but the crystal was a bright red instead of indigo. "If you wanna talk hair, you'll look just like a little toy poodle by the time I'm done with you!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Grim shouted before summoning more fire.

"It's gonna take more than that to get one over on me!" Ace shot back. He pointed his magical pen at Grim's fire and a strong gust of wind blew it away.

"Grrr…," Grim growled out. "This jerk's using wind magic to blow my flames all over the place!"

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," Devon grumbled before running a hand down her face. "Maybe I should've let Zephyr come with me…"

By this time, other students were beginning to notice the commotion and a few had wandered over to see what was happening. "What's happening? Is there a fight goin' on over there?" "Alright! Kick his ass!"

"Don't just stand there and look impressed!" Devon shouted in exasperation but, as she expected, her words fell on deaf ears. 'What is it with teenage boys and watching people get beat up?'

Ace's voice drew Devon's attention back to the fight. "A little flimsy flame like that isn't gonna hit me!" Grim's fire was blown away by another gust of wind.

"Oh, so you want more?! Better brace yourself!" Grim sucked in a breath. "Eat this!" Another burst of blue fire, this one much larger than the last, began hurtling towards his red-haired adversary.

Ace's cocky smirk never wavered. "And all I gotta do is change the trajectory like so…," Another flick of his magical pen and the fire was effortlessly knocked away…and redirected right toward the statue of the Queen of Hearts. Ace and Grim could only watch with matching expressions of horror as the statue was set aflame. The fire didn't appear to be doing any serious damage but the statue was definitely become more and more charred as the fire stayed light; it appeared Grim's fire stuck around much longer when he actually put in some effort. "Oh crap! The Queen of Hearts' statue looks like it's been char-broiled! This is all your fault, furball!"

"D-Don't look at me!" Grim protested, his eyes never leaving the statue even as he began to step back towards Devon. "It only got burnt because you kept blowing my fire around!"

"What, was I just supposed to stand there and let you fry me?!" Ace asked incredulously.

'Too bad Grim wasn't able to set your dumb ass on fire, you arrogant jerkass,' Devon thought.

"That's enough!" came an angry shout from behind them. The trio turned to see the headmaster glaring down at them. All of the students that had gathered to watch the fight immediately scattered. "Just what is going on here?!"

"Oh shit," Ace mumbled, all traces of his earlier bravado gone. "The headmaster's here."

"Quick!" Grim shouted as he started to run towards Devon, Ace already turning to take off down the street. "We gotta get out of here, henchman! He's gonna tie us up with the lash thingy!" Almost as soon as the words had left Grim's mouth, the headmaster flicked his wrist and a loud cracking sound echoed through the morning air. Grim and Ace had both been caught with the "Lash of Love" and were struggling to get their arms free. "Dammit… This hurts just as much as it did yesterday!" Grim wailed.

"Oh please. It'll be another hundred years before you can outrun me," the headmaster scoffed. "I told you just yesterday not to cause another scene, did I not? And now you've gone and burned one of the statues of the Great Seven?! It sounds to me like you're just asking to be expelled."

Ace froze and all the color drained out of his face. "N-No! Anything but that!"

Crowley directed his glare at Devon. "And you, Devon. This is not how you're supposed to be supervising Grim."

As much as Devon wanted to argue that she had attempted to calm Grim down initially and that she wasn't entirely sure how she was supposed to intervene when she was the only person involved that wasn't able to use magic, she knew it wouldn't do any good. If she was being honest with herself, she probably could have done more but she'd been so eager to see Ace get what was coming to him that she was content to just watch how things played out. She offered up the most apologetic look she could muster before dipping her head in submission. "I'm sorry, sir."

"My goodness," Crowley admonished, though neither his glare nor his tone were as sharp as they'd been before; Devon's deference had appeared to placate him somewhat. He turned his gaze toward Ace. "You. What's your name and year?"

"Ace Trappola. Freshman," the redhead answered with a resigned look on his face.

"Well then, Trappola, Grim, and Devon, I order you three to clean 100 windows around campus as punishment for burning the statue," Crowley ordered.

"Are you kidding?!" Grim shouted before pointing a paw at Ace. "This whole thing started because this jerk was making fun of us!"

"Hang on, I'm being punished too?!" Ace objected.

"Naturally," Crowley replied. "You're the one who blew the fire toward the statue, after all. The three of you will meet in the cafeteria once classes end for the day. Am I understood?"

"Uuggh, fine," Ace moaned.

"Sure thing," Devon agreed.

"It's been nothing but misery since yesterday," Grim complained.

The morning and early afternoon passed by quickly enough. Devon's racing thoughts kept her from stewing over what a massive jerk Ace had turned out to be. 'Mama always said you've gotta be careful with the cute ones. Especially the ones that know how good-looking they are.' She and Grim had gone about their cleaning duties as instructed but Devon's thoughts kept going back to the Great Seven and the stories Ace had told them. 'It wouldn't have put it past him to pull our leg about it but there's no way he could've known that we didn't about the Great Seven when he met us. Heck, I don't even think he knows I'm from another world entirely. If what he says is true, does that mean the Great Seven aren't villains here? He never mentioned anything about Scar killing his brother to become king, Hades trying to take over Olympus, or Maleficent cursing a literal baby due to something completely outside the baby's control.' She looked back towards the statues. 'And apparently they aren't just movie characters in this world; they actually existed here.' She shook her head. 'I'm definitely gonna take Crowley up on his offer to do research in the library when I can. I have waaaay too many questions. In the meantime, though, it'd probably be better to keep the whole 'hey, these historical figures that you all seem to idolize kinda-sorta exist in my world too, but they're fictional and evil' thing to myself for now.'

Devon jumped when she felt a tap on her leg. She looked down to see Grim standing in front of her.

"Did you hear me?" he asked.

Devon shook her head. "Sorry Grim, what were you saying?"

"I said we should probably head to the cafeteria now since we've finished our job for the day," the monster replied. "Classes should be almost over." He frowned when Devon only 'hmm'ed in response. "You've been spacin' out all day, henchman. Are you feeling okay?"

"Sorry about that, bud," Devon answered with a small smile as she scooped Grim up and began walking toward the cafeteria. "I'm fine, I promise. Just have a lot to think about, yanno?"

"Okay, just make sure you keep your head in the game," Grim said. "Can't have you slackin' on window-cleanin' duty."

Devon laughed. "You got it."

After making their way to the main building, the pair entered the empty cafeteria and sat down at one of the tables.

"I still can't believe Crowley's makin' us clean 100 windows," Grim complained as he flopped into Devon's lap. "I'm already beat from cleaning all day."

"We don't really have a choice, bud," Devon replied, running her fingers through Grim's fur. "But I hope you learn from this and not be so quick to throw hands next time, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Grim grumbled as he nuzzled into Devon's stomach. The pair waiting for a few minutes before Grim spoke up again. "That Ace jerk sure is takin' his sweet time, huh? Who does he think he is, makin' us wait like this?!"

"Maybe he got held up after class or something," Devon reasoned in a soothing tone. "Let's give him a little longer."

So they waited.

And waited…

And waited…

"Gnnyah! He's taking way too long!" Grim shouted as he hopped up onto the table. "We've been waiting for forever and there's no sign of him!" He turned toward Devon as a realization dawned on him. "You don't think he skipped out, do you?"

Devon thought for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Ya know, given what a dick he is, I can definitely see it."

"Well, I'm not gonna let him get away with pushing the whole punishment off on us!" Grim yelled. He took off towards the door, gesturing for Devon to follow him. "C'mon, Devon! We're gonna catch him and make him clean all the windows!"

"Sounds good to me!" Devon shouted as she took off after her companion.

The pair ran out of the cafeteria and down a series of hallways before they finally stumbled upon what looked like a classroom. "Quit hiding, Ace! You can't get away from my sense of smell!" Grim shouted. "You'll pay for trying to skip…," he cut himself off as he looked around the empty room. "Whaa?! There nobody here!"

"Well, there goes my 'held up after class' theory," Devon remarked dryly as she ran up alongside him. "Classes are over for the day so I guess it's not too surprising that nobody's in here."

"That's not entirely true," a voice from a nearby wall called out, causing the duo to jump. The turned toward it and were surprised to see that a portrait hanging on the wall was speaking to them. "I am here, after all."

Grim let out a shriek. "A-Are you seein' this, Devon?! The picture just talked!"

"Oh come now, talking portraits are not so unusual at this school," the man in the portrait assured them, nodding toward other portraits in the room. "The lady in that painting there can speak, as can the gentleman in that painting over there. If a portrait has a mouth, why shouldn't it be able to speak? That is normal enough."

"Umm… Portraits don't normally speak where I'm from," Devon said.

"Then I suppose your version of 'normal' differs from mine," the portrait replied, giving Devon an easy smile. "Even so, we should still be able to respect each other's individualities, shouldn't we? But all that aside, I believe you two came in here looking for someone."

"We're lookin' for a guy named Ace," Grim explained. "He's got a heart on his face and red hair that sticks up all over the place."

The portrait thought for a moment. "Ah yes, I know him. He's one of the new crop of freshmen that started today, if I'm not mistaken. I believe he headed back to his dormitory not too long ago."

"Whaaaaa?! So he did try to skip out on cleaning!" Grim exclaimed angrily. "Did you see which way he went?"

"The mirror portals leading to the dormitories are in the inner part of the East Wing," the portrait explained. "If you hurry, you should be able to catch him."

"Got it!" Grim replied before turning to Devon. "Let's go. We're not letting him get away with this!"

Devon nodded. "I'm right behind you." She smiled at the portrait. "Thank you for your help!"

The portrait smiled back. "Not at all, my dear. Good luck."

Ending Notes: Ace has finally entered the game! I've been looking forward to this for a while. It always amazes me when I compare how dismissive Ace is of MC when he first meets them versus how he acts toward them during the Heartslabyul arc and especially during the Halloween events. I feel like Ace and Devon are going to have a 'nobody's allowed to make fun of them but me' kind of relationship. The next chapter will see the No Brain Cell squad fully assembled and I am here for it! (Actually, that's not entirely true; Devon's usually working with half a brain cell…until something or someone makes her angry. Then all bets are off.)

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