Author's Notes: Just a quick warning for this chapter: there are mentions of injuries and one mention of blood (nothing graphic, though). Also, Devon says the f-word one time. I'm trying to keep the "serious" swears to a minimum so I can use them to drive home when someone (usually Devon) is well and truly pissed.

"What the heck is that thing?!" Deuce exclaimed. The group remained rooted to their spots, too surprised by the creature moving toward them.

"The headmaster didn't anything about finding something like that here! We gotta get out!" Grim shouted, tugging on Devon's leg in an attempt to get her to move.

"I second that," Devon agreed, scooping up Grim with one arm, grabbing Deuce by the back of his blazer, and following Ace as they fled back the way they came.

"Damn, that thing's nasty!" Ace said with a shudder. His eyes widened slightly as he glanced back. "But…did it mention something about a stone just now?"

"St…one… Won't…give!" the monster called as it continued to amble after them. Its voice sounded strained, as if just speaking exhausted it.

"So there are some magic crystals here!" Deuce said excitedly as he broke free from Devon's grip.

Grim crossed his front paws in front of him to make an X, frantically shaking his head. "N-N-N-Nope! Nuh-uh! No way! I'm a genius and all but even someone of my caliber is no match for that thing!"

"But we'll be expelled if we don't get one," Deuce reminded them, desperation clear in his tone. He turned around to face the monster, steeling himself to fight. "I'm going back!"

"You can't be serious!" Ace exclaimed in disbelief. "Do you really think whatever that thing is will just let you waltz on by it?!"

"It's too dangerous!" Devon agreed. "I've never seen anything like that before but I'm guessing the pickaxe isn't just for show."

"I don't care who or what I have to fight, I cannot get expelled under any circumstances!" Deuce fired back. "I made a promise." He charged right at the monster, magical pen at the ready. "Get ready, ya bastard!"

The monster didn't appear fazed by the blue-haired boys' charge but it did stop chasing them…only to lift up its pickaxe. "Leave! Leave! LEEEEEEAAAAVE!" The monster used the flat top of the blade to shove Deuce back with as much force as it could. The boy was flung backward until he hit the tunnel wall, not far from Ace, Devon, and Grim.

"Guh!" Deuce ground out, gritting his teeth in pain.

"You okay?!" Devon called out, moving Grim onto her shoulder as she hurried over to Deuce and helped him back to his feet.

"Stand back, Mr. Serious," Ace warned as he stepped in front of them and readied his own magical pen. "I'll take care of this!" He fired off a wind spell and a strong gust of wind surged toward the monster. Unfortunately, it wasn't even enough to push the creature back; in fact, it appeared to make it angrier. The creature swung its lantern around and hit Ace square in the abdomen, sending him flying back as well. He shouted in pain as his back hit one of the mine carts.

"S-Stay back!" Grim shouted from his perch on Devon's shoulder. He blew out a stream of fire to create a barrier between them and the monster as Devon helped Ace to stand. The fire also did nothing to stop the monster's advance and it continued to chase them, crossing the barrier with ease. "N-Nothing we do is working!"

"We need to get-" Devon cut herself off when she noticed something sparkling further down the cavern. The light from Grim's fire was reflecting off of something embedded in the tunnel wall a ways behind the monster. "Did you guys see that?"

"Yeah! There's something back there, at the end of the tunnel!" Ace confirmed.

"Is that light…coming from a magic crystal?" Deuce wondered.

"GOOOOOOOOOOO!" the monster bellowed, its voice deafening as it echoed through the tunnel. "WON'T… GIIIIIVE!"

"L-L-Let's get out of here! We're as good as dead at this rate!" Grim said.

"He's right, guys," Devon agreed, grabbing both boys by the wrists and booking it back toward the mine entrance.. "We need to go now!"

"Yeah? And what's stoppin' that thing from comin' after us?" Ace asked, though he still kept pace with Devon.

"It sounds like that thing's just interested in the crystal," Devon explained. "It shouldn't follow us if we can put enough distance between us."

"But…the crystal…," Deuce objected weakly.

"I understand where you're comin' from, bud, I really do," Devon empathized. "but we need a better plan if we're gonna get anywhere. We're falling back for now." Deuce looked like he was going to object again but at a stern look from Devon, he relented and followed his companions out of the tunnel.

"Do you think this is far enough?" Grim asked. The group had fled all the way back to the old cottage they'd stumbled across.

Devon risked a glance back in the direction they'd come. "I don't see it." She slowed down and stopped to listen, only to be met by the sound of the stream babbling peacefully. "Don't hear trampin' through the forest after us, either. I think we're safe here."

"Hah…Hah…," Ace panted, coming to a stop next to her and bracing his hands on his knees. "For real though, what the hell was that thing?! Nobody said anything about something like that living in the mine!"

"It definitely didn't seem like a ghost," Deuce observed.

"Let's pack it in and head home, guys," Ace said with a shake of his head. "I'd rather be expelled than fight that thing again."

"Wha?! You can't be serious!" Deuce shouted, his eyes widening in disbelief before narrowing into a harsh glare. "I'd rather die than be expelled!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow your roll there, my dude!" Devon interjected. "I get that Night Raven College is apparently some kind of big deal but is going to school here really worth risking your life like this?"

"More than you know," Deuce answered. "I know you're trying to look out for me, Devon, but I can't just give up and let myself get expelled. Not when what we've been looking for is right in front of us."

"Ha! Pretty big talk for someone even worse at magic than me." Ace scoffed. "Go by yourself then, tough guy. I'm out."

Deuce fixed Ace with an intimidating scowl, the look in his eyes becoming almost feral and his posture becoming more threatening as he slammed his fist into his palm. "Oh yeah?! Fly back to your coop then, ya big chicken!"

"What the actual hell?" Devon whispered. Deuce's tone had become much more harsh and crass as well. He was usual so polite, even when speaking with someone she knew irritated him (like Ace) that she wasn't expecting such an abrupt character shift.

"Chicken, huh?" Ace repeated, a cocky smirk on his face. If he noticed the shift in Deuce's demeanor, he didn't show it. "What? You wanna fight?"

"Umm…Deuce?" Grim piped up cautiously. "What's up with that threatening aura you got goin' on?"

"Ah!" Deuce's eyes widened at Grim's words. His threatening body language was gone in an instant as he took a step back from Ace. He ran a hand through his hair as he let out a breath. "Sorry about that. I lost my cool for a second there."

"Can't lose what you never had," Ace snarked.

Devon shot Ace a look. "Not the time." She looked back in the direction of the mine before looking back at her kinda-sorta-not really (in Ace's case, at least) friends. "Seriously, what are we gonna do? I'm with Deuce; I don't want to give up when we're so close but it didn't seem like your attacks did anything. Will magic be able to help us at all against something like that?"

"It's like the headmaster said before: magic isn't all-powerful," Deuce explained. "Magic won't materialize properly if you can't envision the end result. Large-scale or complicated magic takes a lot of training to use."

"That's why we have schools specifically for magic users," Ace interjected. "Some mages are able to go off instinct for the types of magic they're good at but generally it takes a lot of training and practice to be able to use magic exactly as it comes to mind. You're pretty much screwed if you let your emotions get in the way."

"And everyone's just been firing off spells without thinking since we were so freaked out," Devon observed. "No wonder we weren't able to put a dent in that thing."

"At any rate, I'm going back in there," Deuce declared. "Let's figure out a way to beat that thing."

"Yeah sure," Ace replied, waving his hand dismissively. "So what's this grand plan of yours, genius? Because between that bit with the chandelier and everything I've seen from you since we got here, I sure as hell don't trust you to improvise."

"What?!" Deuce shouted, getting in Ace's face again. "You're the one who-"

"And there they go again," Grim grumbled, crossing his arms with an unamused look on his face. "Are all humans this combative, henchman?" There was no reply. "Henchman?" No answer. Grim looked up at Devon. "Dev-" He stopped short when he saw the murderous look in Devon's eyes.

The poor girl couldn't take it anymore; it had been nothing but non-stop stress since she'd arrived here. She wasn't sure if she was being punished for some sort of wrong she'd done in a past life but she'd finally reached her limit. She glared at the arguing idiots in front of her. "Will the two of you SHUT THE HELL UP?!"

That got their attention. Ace and Deuce immediately fell silent as they turned to look at her, eyes wide in surprise. Even Grim shrunk back a bit at the volume of Devon's shout, even though it hadn't been directed at him. "What gives, Devon? Why'd you get so loud all of a sudden?"

Devon pulled in a breath as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let me tell you idiots about how I've spent the last 24 hours. I've been taken away from my home, my family, and everything that was familiar to me by some creepy-ass carriage pulled by an equally creepy-ass horse for reasons that escape me. I wake up to find I've been trapped in a coffin for who knows how long and this guy," she pointed at Grim, who at least had the decency to look sheepish. "tries to burn me to death. Then some weirdo in some kind of freaky plague mask tells me I've ended up at some sort mage training school but the magic mirror that supposedly brought me here can't place me into a dorm since I can't use magic. Of course I can't use magic. Nobody where I'm from can use magic because magic doesn't fucking exist there." She laughed but there was no humor in it. "Oh, but it gets better. Turns out the freaking mirror isn't able to send me back to my magicless, run-of-the-mill life because I came here from a whole other world. So just to break it down for you, I'm stuck in a completely unfamiliar world that I don't understand, I have no idea how I got here or when or how I'm supposed to get home, and since my phone was busted to hell when I made the trip here, I can't even contact my family to let them know I'm okay." She blinked away frustrated tears that were threatening to fall. "They probably think I'm dead or something. I didn't even get to say goodbye."

"Devon," Deuce began, only to be cut off when Devon held up a hand.

"Lips moving, still talking." Devon sighed before continuing. "Ever since the entrance ceremony, I've had to contend with ghosts that wanna kill me and now babysitting you three." She saw Ace opening his mouth to object and she beat him to the punch. "I don't wanna hear anything outta you. You've been nothing but a pain since Grim and I met you. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this entire situation is your fault. You've been picking fights with all of us for no reason and all this arguing is why none of us could do anything against that thing in the mine!"

"F-Fgnya!" Grim exclaimed. "Didn't realize you'd been holding all that in, henchman."

"Well considering you're hardly able to see anything outside yourself, I can't say I'm too surprised," Devon replied as she leaned back against a tree.

Nobody spoke for a while, but the tension still hung in the air. Devon, for her part, was more than a little surprised that she managed let loose like that. She'd been working with her therapist back in her world to keep from bottling up her emotions so this sort of outburst didn't happen, but old habits die hard. She was a little concerned she'd been too hard on them but she hadn't said anything that was untrue and the call-out wasn't unwarranted. She felt a gentle tap on her leg and looked down to see Grim staring at her apologetically. She sent him a small smile before bending down to scoop him up, nuzzling her face into his soft fur as his tail curled around her wrist.

Ace and Deuce were processing everything Devon had just dropped on them. Ace in particular kept replaying his earlier actions in his head; taunting her for not knowing about the Great Seven and for being magicless (he was still feeling the slightest bit guilty about the "magicless nobody" comment) hit different now that he realized what a fish out of water she really was. Why the headmaster expected someone with no magical ability to take responsibility for a magical loose cannon like Grim was beyond him as well but he'd never once heard her complain about it.

Meanwhile, Deuce was focusing more on what she'd said about her family. He didn't know what he'd do if he was in her position; his mother was the most important person in his life and if he was taken away from her as suddenly as Devon was taken from hers… He shook his head at the thought. He promised he'd become an honor student and make her proud, but that wouldn't happen if he gave up and let himself be expelled. "So…what exactly should we…do then?" he asked carefully, not wanting to risk incurring Devon's ire again.

"We need to come up with a plan," Devon replied.

"What? You mean get along and work together?" Ace asked sardonically. "Yeah, that's not funny. Your ability to say the lamest things with the straightest face takes some talent though, I'll give you that."

"For once, I agree with Ace," Deuce added before backtracking. "I-I mean, not about the face thing or anything like that." He cleared his throat, jerking a thumb at Ace. "I just mean that I have no intention of working with this loser."

Devon felt her eye twitch in frustration and tried her best not to tighten her grip on Grim. Grim, quick to sense Devon's mood souring again, opted to speak up. "But…isn't it way lamer to be expelled on the first day of school?"

"Th-That's…," Ace trailed off, looking askance as he rubbed the back of his head while Deuce could only close his eyes in defeat.

"I agree, Grim," Devon chimed in. "It's incredibly lame." She thought for a moment. "I have one idea but…"

"Haaaah, fine!" Ace sighed in exasperation. "Let's just get this over with already." He looked over at Devon with a smirk. "So what's this epic idea of yours, genius?"

"Well, for starters, it involves you shutting up, putting your dick away, and trying to keep your face outta the way of that things pickaxe," Devon snarked. "Think you can handle that?"

"I think I can try," Ace retorted, the smirk growing.

"Well, this is gonna be interesting," Deuce sighed.

"Are you really sure this plan of yours is gonna work, Devon?" Grim asked nervously as the quartet crept their way back to the entrance of the mine. Ace and Deuce hung back out of the way of the entrance while Grim and Devon moved closer to the tunnel. Once they got close enough, Devon split off from Grim and crouched down by a nearby rock. This spot kept her out of sight of the monster while it was still inside the tunnel; she figured it would be more likely to come out if it thought Grim was alone.

To be perfectly honest, Devon wasn't entirely sure. This plan was a huge gamble and one or all of them could end up seriously injured (if not outright killed) if it didn't work. Even so, it was the only idea they had so it was either take the chance and hope for the best or give up and get thrown out. Devon swallowed the lump in her throat and gave Grim what she hoped was an encouraging smile. "I've got faith in us, bud. We've got this!"

"Yeah, we've got this," Deuce repeated, as if to assure himself. "Let's go, Devon."

Grim pulled in a breath before stepping in front of the entrance to the mine. "OI, MONSTER! COME OUT AND FACE ME!" he shouted, waving his arms above his head.

A rumbling growl echoed from inside the mine. "Grrrrrrr… BEGOOOOOOONE!" The familiar shuffling sound started up again, but Grim held firm as the monster charged toward the entrance.

"I-It's getting closer," Grim pointed out, glancing nervously at Devon when the light of the monster's lantern came into view.

Devon waited until the monster's head came into view before standing upright and letting out a loud whistle from her own position off to the side. "Come on, you overgrown inkwell~! Play tag with us!"

The monster turned its head toward Devon's shout. "Another thief… Won't give… The stone is mine… MIIIIIINE!" It turned its head back and forth as if looking between Devon and Grim before finally lurching towards Devon with its pickaxe raised. The blue-haired girl was able to backflip out of the way just as the creature brought the weapon down (and she couldn't have been more grateful for all the gymnastics training), narrowly avoiding getting hit. She moved swiftly around the monster toward Grim.

"Fgnya! That hit looks like a one-hit KO if it lands!" Grim shouted as Devon scooped him up and secured him in her hoodie. She cast a quick look at the monster as it turned toward them and noticed that the ground where the pickaxe struck was beginning to glow a sickly purple color.

"Okay, apparently the sharp ends pickaxe have some sort of corrosive effect. Noted," Devon observed. "Guess Deuce got lucky it only pushed him back with the top." She looked down at Grim. "You ready, bud? We've gotta lure this thing as far away from the entrance as we can." She took off running without waiting for Grim's reply, vaulting over rocks and ducking under low-hanging tree branches. She could hear the monster lurching after her.

"Leave! Get AWAAAAAAYYY!" it yelled as it followed them just to the edge of a more heavily wooded area where Ace and Deuce, per the plan, were lying in wait.

"We should be far enough away now!" Grim said.

"You heard him! Let's go!" Devon called out toward Ace's hiding spot.

"You got it!" Ace replied as he stepped out from behind a tree. He pointed his magical pen at the monster. "Whaddaya think of my Extra Large Tempest?!" A strong gale of wind surged toward the monster.

"And now for the Great Grim's Fire Special!" Grim called out, jumping from Devon's hoodie as he summoned his signature blue fire. Thanks to Ace's wind magic, Grim's fire was able to bloom into a flaming tornado that quickly surrounded the creature, cutting off its movements. It roared in protest but was unable to out from the tornado's eye.

"Well would ya look at that! Looks like my wind magic can turn even Grim's piddling flames into an inferno!" Ace bragged.

Grim growled in frustration, glaring at the redhead. "My flames are not piddling! Ugh, you don't know when to shut up, do you?!"

"You're up, my dude!" Devon called out to Deuce, who had snuck around the monster while it was distracted with Ace and Grim and was now standing at the entrance of the mine. "Hit it now while it's still stunned!"

"Right!" Deuce called back. He took a deep breath and began repeating Devon's instructions for his part of the plan. "Stay calm." He pointed his magical pen a few feet above the creature. "Aim it carefully." Another deep breath as he closed his eyes. "Think of the biggest, heaviest thing I know…" His eyes flew open as he yelled out, "Come forth, cauldron!" There was a flash of light and a cauldron materialized above the monster and flew swiftly downward, crushing the monster underneath it. The monster roared again and flailed about to try to get free but the cauldron wouldn't budge.

"You got it! Nice job, man!" Devon cheered, scratching Grim's head when he hopped up onto her shoulder.

"Umm, excuse me, I helped too!" Ace pouted, crossing his arms.

Devon rolled her eyes but the smile never left her face. "You sure did," she replied in a placating tone as he reached out and scratched the top of Ace's head briefly. "There. Happy now?"

Ace nodded as an amused smile graced his features. "I am, actually."

Grim tapped Devon's shoulder with his paw. "Hey, hey, check it out, Devon!" He pointed toward the monster and laughed. "That thing's flat as a pancake, just like Ace was earlier!"

"Could've done without the reminder, thanks," Ace replied dryly, shaking his head. "Today's just been one pain after another."

"Quit messin' around, guys!" Deuce called out. "We have to hurry and grab the crystal while this thing can't move!"

The monster let out what sounded like a strangled gasp as Ace, Devon, and Grim ran around it to join Deuce as he headed into the mine. "WAAAAAAAIIIIIT!" it shouted, redoubling its efforts to get free.

The group could hear the monsters shouts and the loud clanging of its pickaxe as it struggled to get out from underneath the cauldron, but they couldn't dwell on it too much. They charged back through the cavern in the direction the monster had come from when they first encountered it, thankful that the ghosts opted to stay out of the way this time. Ace and Deuce kept their magical pens at the ready, trying to get the lights from their own crystals to reflect off the one they saw before. Soon enough, a familiar sparkle caught their eyes. "There! I think I see it!" Deuce called out. They gathered around the crystal in question. It truly was beautiful; milky white, quartz-like, and about the size of one of their hands. Looking at it carefully from it carefully, they noticed some blue, green, and red areas that pulsed periodically. Ace reached up and tried to pull it from where it was wedged in the cavern wall, only to find it stuck tight.

"Looks like we're gonna have to pry this thing out," Ace told them, looking around for something to help them get the crystal out. His eyes landed on a pickaxe leaning up against the wall. "Hey, somebody go grab that thing!"

"On it!" Devon replied. She hefted the pickaxe onto her shoulder easily before bring it over to the crystal.

Deuce held out his hand. "Here, hand it to me. I'm probably the strongest one here so I should be able to-" He didn't even get to finished his sentence before Devon sunk the pickaxe blade into the cavern wall just above the crystal. She wiggled it around for a moment, the crystal moving as she did so, before it popped out of the wall and landed in Deuce's still outstretched hand. The blue-haired boy could only stare at the crystal in his hand. "Or I guess you could just do that…"

"Dang, Devon!" Ace exclaimed. "Where'd you get that kind of upper body strength?!"

Devon shrugged. "Cheerleading and gymnastics, I guess. Been doing it since I was a kid. I wouldn't look too impressed if I were you, though." She nodded toward the hole in the wall where the crystal had been. "It wasn't wedged in there as tightly as we thought."

"DON'T TOOOOOOOUCH!" the monster thundered from outside the mine. The group glanced back to see that it had made significant progress in working itself free of the cauldron.

"Aww crap!" Ace exclaimed. "That thing's almost free!"

"Oi! Don't just stand there, Deuce! Drop more stuff on it!" Grim ordered.

"W-We need something heavy, right? Then…come forth, cauldron!" Deuce pointed his magical pen just above the monster and a second cauldron materialized, crashing down on the monsters head. The monster shouted in pain but did not stop struggling. "And ummm…ummm…another cauldron!" A third cauldron dropped on top of the first two but the monster still wouldn't give up. "And another cauldron! ALL the cauldrons!" The monster let out another pained, strangled shout but it finally stopped moving. Deuce's cauldrons weren't enough to destroy it but all that extra weight made it nearly impossible to move.

"Are cauldrons the only thing you know how to summon, dude?!" Ace asked incredulously as he stared wide-eyed at the heap of cauldrons at the mine entrance.

"Shuddup!" Deuce yelled defensively. "I'm at the end of my rope here!"

"We got the crystal, so there's no point in sticking around. Let's get outta here!" Grim said.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Ace replied.

They ran back toward the entrance of the mine, running through the tunnel opening and past the monster still struggling to work itself free of the mess of cauldrons on top of it. The monster caught sight of the crystal sparkling in Deuce's hand (despite it having no eyes) and was overcome with what they could only assume was some kind of adrenaline-induced super strength. "THAT. IS. MIIIIIIIIINE!" It let out a roar before effortlessly hauling itself up, the cauldrons that had rendered it immobile just a moment before crashing to the ground around it. It took off after the group with more speed than any of them thought it was capable of, moving swiftly to follow after them as they made their way back through the woods.

"Are you kidding?!" Ace shouted as he risked a glance back. "It shook off all that stuff and it's still coming after us?!"

"Uugh… Give it…back…," the monster ordered, exhaustion evident in its voice and its breathing labored. It was still crashing through the woods after them, even as they came upon the old cottage from earlier, but it seemed the adrenaline was wearing off.

"At this rate, it's gonna catch up to us before we can get back to the mirror portal!" Deuce exclaimed.

"Yeah, but can you hear how hard it's breathing?" Devon asked. "There's no way all those hits didn't do something to it. We might be able to fight on an even playing field now that it's weaker."

"You can't be serious!" Ace shouted but he began slowing down all the same. "You actually want us to fight that thing?!"

"From the way things are looking, it's either finish it off now or risk it following us through the mirror portal back to school and going on a rampage there," Devon replied as she, Grim, and Deuce slowed to a stop as well. "Something tells me even the crystal we found won't save from the headmaster's rage if we let that happen."

"Ugh, fine!" Ace conceded grumpily. "Let's finish it, then!" He turned his attention to Deuce. "Don't leave me to do all the heavy lifting, Loosey-Deucey!"

"That was gonna be my line, you ass!" Deuce retorted.

"I'll show you all how strong I really am!" Grim declared.

"Actually, hang on a sec before you guys get going," Devon said. She glanced back and saw that the monster was wasting no time closing the gap between them. Her brown eyes landed on Deuce. "Hand me the crystal."

"What? Why?" Deuce asked.

"I'm the only one here who can't use magic," Devon pointed out. "I doubt I'll be much use when it comes to actually fighting that thing but I can at least make a good distraction."

"No way, nope, not happening!" Ace objected. "That's waaaaay too dangerous!"

"It's our safest option," Devon retorted calmly. "That thing's so focused on getting the crystal back that I doubt it'll pay much attention to anything else once it knows who has it. While it's chasing me around, you guys can focus on your magic."

"But…," Deuce began.

"Please guys," Devon implored. "I'm sick of just standing around while someone else fights my battles for me. I know this world works differently from mine and I'm probably way over my head with…," She gestured around vaguely. "all of this. But I can't stand feeling useless."

"We don't really have time to discuss this right now. That thing's almost here!" Ace reminded them. "Deuce, give Devon the crystal. Devon, try not to get your head cut off."

Deuce looked from the crystal to Devon a few times before letting out a heavy sigh. "Fine." He passed her the crystal. "But I'm against this, just for the record."

"Your concern is noted and appreciated," Devon replied as she held up the crystal as she faced the monster. "Here goes nothing." She pulled in a deep breath. "HEY! I'VE GOT YOUR SHINY ROCK, DUMBASS! WHATCHA GONNA DO?!"

"Give that BAAAAAAACK!" the monster thundered as it charged toward them.

"Why don't you make me, you overgrown lightbulb!" Devon shouted back. She sprinted away from the boys toward the far end of the clearing they were in, hoping her theory was right and the monster would stay focused on her. Fortunately (maybe) for her, the monster ignored her companions entirely, focusing entirely on getting its precious crystal back. Once it was within range, it began swinging at her with its pickaxe. She flipped out of the way of its first strike, landing just far enough away that Ace could cast a wind spell without worrying about hitting her. The monster stumbled forward as the spell made contact with its back, but it never turned away from Devon.

"Looks like my henchman was right!" Grim said excitedly. "As long as Devon has the crystal, that thing doesn't care about us at all! Which means," he blew out a stream of fire. The monster grunted as the fire hit it, but it still never diverted its attention from the crystal.

"We can get all the free hits we need!" Deuce finished, dropping a cauldron on the monster. It was able to shake the cauldron off with relative ease but they noticed that it was becoming more sluggish every moment. "Keep it up, Devon! We've almost got it!"

"Easy for you say-woop!" Devon called back, just barely dodging out of the way of the pickaxe. The monster had been swinging at her relentlessly but she saw that it was becoming sloppier with each strike; Deuce's cauldron pile must have done more of a number on it than they thought. The monster was resilient though; it kept coming for Devon no matter how she dodged and flipped and twirled out of the way of its strikes. Unfortunately, she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings; the monster now had her backed up against a tree with no space to dodge around it. Ace and Grim fired off another joint wind and fire spell in an attempt to fell the creature before it reached Devon. The monster did stumble forward but it didn't fall.

"We've almost got it!" Deuce exclaimed. "If we could just get one more good hit in…"

"We can't! It's too close to Devon now. There's no way we can cast anything that won't hit her too," Ace pointed out.

"But if we don't do something, she's gonna be on the business end of that pickaxe!" Grim wailed helplessly.

The monster's roar echoed through the woods again, pulling the boys from their conversation. It raised the pickaxe up again, its lantern arm outstretched to block Devon's only way around it. To her credit, Devon didn't appear outwardly afraid at all; her eyes shown with the same steely defiance they had when she first challenged the monster. They saw her tuck the crystal into the front pocket of her hoodie and brace herself. She leaped onto the monster's lantern arm just as the pickaxe came down before vaulting onto its back, latching onto its ink-bottle head as it began to thrash around in confusion.

"What's wrong? Is one puny human thief too much for ya?!" she taunted, clinging tightly as the monster continued to try and shake her off. It began flinging its arm behind it blindly as if trying to scratch an itch that was juuust out of reach. Devon managed to keep herself from getting hit for the most part but she did get herself cut when a sharp metal edge of the lantern ripped through her sleeve and caught her arm, leaving a long jagged gash as it was dragged away. She hissed in pain but held firm, tapping the monster's back with her foot. "I'm back here, assclown! Hit me!" She pressed herself up against its head as the monster let out another enraged roar and swung its pickaxe around…only for it to scream in pain as the blade sunk into its back.

Ace, Deuce, and Grim could only stare in open-mouthed shock as Devon leaped off the monster's back, somehow managing to land relatively gracefully in front of them despite hanging onto her now-bleeding arm. The monster's self-inflicted axe to the back appeared to have done the trick; within a few seconds it had dissolved into ink that quickly evaporated, leaving no trace of it anywhere to be seen.

"Did…Did we do it?" Ace asked hesitantly as Devon made her way back over to them. He kept scanning the area as if he was afraid the monster would reappear.

Grim nodded slowly. "We did… We actually won!"

One by one, disbelieving smiles broke out on the group's faces and they let out a cheer that echoed through the otherwise silent woods. "Gimme a victory high-five, guys!" Grim called out. Ace, Deuce, and Devon all obliged, Devon carefully letting go of her injured arm to high-five with her good one.

"Guess this is what they mean by that whole "adversity brings people together" thing," Devon observed, fishing the crystal out of her hoodie pocket and handing to Deuce before sinking down onto a nearby stump now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

"N-No!" Deuce protested as he took the crystal back. "This has nothing to do with that!"

"Seriously!" Ace quickly agreed. "What is it with you and spouting all that corny crap anyway?!"

"W-We won because of my awesome magic!" Grim declared. "It wasn't because we worked together or whatever!"

Devon just smiled and shook her head, pushing herself up from the stump. Ace glanced at her before looking away and rubbing the back of his head. "I guess making excuses is pretty lame." He punched her lightly on the shoulder. "As much as I hate to admit it, the only reason we won was because of your plan."

"Yeah. That's true," Deuce said, offering her a small smile. "We were able to get this crystal because you stayed calm and gave us level-headed instructions." His smile turned into a smirk. "Not to mention those acrobatics you pulled off a minute ago. Where'd you learn to move like that?"

"For real," Ace agreed. "Those stunts you pulled go way beyond just cheerleading."

Devon shrugged as she pulled her hood up, subconsciously rubbing her injured arm. "Yeah, ya got me. I've been taking dance lessons since I was in middle school and I started doing parkour with my Ti- my unclea few years back. I'm not really one to brag but I'd like to think I've gotten pretty good at it."

"Hell yeah!" Deuce agreed. "Now that I think about it, you've barely broken a sweat even after all the running we did today. I can only imagine the kind of stamina you've got. We should race sometime once we get back to campus." He paused as his words sunk in, relief washing over his face once again. "Now that we won't be expelled…" He leaned forward, resting his forehead on Devon's shoulder as he heaved a sigh. "Man, I can't even tell you what a relief it is to say that."

Devon laughed and patted Deuce's back. "I'm just happy nobody got seriously hurt."

"Uhh hello?" Ace said, gesturing to Devon's injured arm. "What do you call that, then?!"

"It's not deep or anything. It'll heal," Devon defended. "I've had worse."

"We should still get it cleaned and bandaged when we get back," Deuce told her. "You'll be dealing with a whole new set of problems if it gets infected."

"As much as I'd love to continue this," Ace interjected. "we're all seriously worn-out and battered. Let's go home already."

"Yeah. I'm starvin' from usin' so much magic," Grim agreed. He started walking back toward the spot where the Dark Mirror had dropped them off but paused when something caught his eye. He scampered back to the spot where the monster had disappeared and picked something up. "What's this?"

"Did the monster leave something behind?" Deuce mused as he, Ace, and Devon walked over to get a closer look. Grim held up what looked like a smooth black stone. "Is it…some kind of magic crystal? I've never seen one this color before."

Grim sniffed at the stone. "Ya know, this thing actually smells pretty good."

"There's no way, dude," Ace shook his head. "Rocks don't smell like anything."

Grim wasn't listening. "Oooh, I bet it's some kind of fancy candy that monster was hiding! Well, don't mind if I do!" With that, he popped the rock into his mouth, barely chewing it at all before swallowing it.

"You actually ate it!" Devon exclaimed. "That thing can't be good for you! Spit it out now!"

Grim froze and let out what sounded like some kind of surprised gagging sound, his blue eyes wide.

"Are you okay?!" Deuce asked, concerned.

"This is why you shouldn't be eating literal garbage off the ground, dude," Ace chided.

"It…It's delicious!" Grim shouted.

"Seriously?!" Ace and Deuce shouted in unison.

Grim rubbed his cheeks happily, completely oblivious to the two disgusted boys beside him. "It's got a full-bodied richness mixed with an aromatic sweetness. It's like a field of flowers are blooming right in my mouth!" He hopped up onto Devon's shoulder. "A whole field of 'em, Devon! Right in my mouth!"

"So…I'm guessing that's a…good thing?" Devon asked hesitantly.

"Blegh," Ace gagged. "I guess monsters really do have different tastes than us."

"Nevermind about the taste," Deuce chimed in. "I'm more grossed out that he just picked it up off the ground and ate it with no hesitation."

"Are you gonna be alright, bud?" Devon asked, looking worriedly at her furry friend.

Grim was still gushing about new favorite food. "Gahaha! Yummy, yummy!" He smiled at Devon before nuzzling his face against hers. "Don't worry about me; my stomach ain't weak like yours."

"Pfft. You're such a brat," Devon scoffed playfully.

"Don't come crying to us when you get sick later on tonight," Ace warned.

"Alright guys," Deuce interjected. "Let's switch gears and get this crystal to the headmaster."

The group began making their way back to the spot where the Dark Mirror had deposited them earlier. "Hey, Devon?" Grim began, still perched on Devon's shoulder. "I just realized something. You aren't from this world but you didn't seem scared of that monster we fought at all. You were the only one who managed to stay calm enough to come up with a plan. What gives?"

Devon laughed. "Oh please, sweetie. I was born and raised in New York City; I've seen scarier things in the subway."

"Is it weird that I really want to ask you to elaborate but at the same time, I don't wanna know?" Ace asked.

"Not at all," Devon replied. "I'll spare you for now, at least. I don't wanna scare my new friends off too fast."

"Oooh, so we're friends now?" Ace asked teasingly as he slung his arm over Devon's shoulders, being careful not to jostle her injured arm. "C'mon, don't go soft on me too quick, New York. What happened to that steely, take-no-prisoners badass with a death glare to end all death glares from earlier?"

"Don't listen to him," Deuce interjected as fell into step on Devon's other side, gently nudging her with his shoulder. "After everything that happened today, I'd be honored to call you my friend, Devon."

"Likewise, my dude," Devon replied. "And…just so you know…my friends and family call me Dev." She glanced around awkwardly, trying to avoid making eye contact with any of them. "So…y'know, you can call me that too…if you want."

"Oh my Sevens, you are too precious~!" Ace teased, nuzzling his face against hers as he pulled her against him to keep her arms pinned. "This is gonna be fun!"

"Having you around will definitely keep things interesting, Dev," Deuce agreed.

The banter and playful jabs at each other's expense continued as they made their way back to the drop-off point, all the tension from earlier that day completely gone. Devon guessed that risking your lives to steal a magic crystal from a monster (and then killing said monster) was one of those things you couldn't make it out of alive without liking each other. Just a little bit.

Ending Notes: Sorry for the slight delay on this chapter; hopefully the length will make up for it. The next one will mark the end of the prologue, y'all! Then I can get started on the Heartslabyul arc and Devon can start her new job as Night Raven College's new (and very confused) therapist.

Someone sent me PM and asked me what Devon's ancestry was. I can't really see a point in the story any time soon where I can delve into that (especially considering nobody in Twisted Wonderland will have any idea where these places are and Devon, at this point at least, doesn't have a means to show them much about her heritage beyond the food she cooks) so I figured I'd answer it here too in case anyone was wondering. There's actually quite a bit of mixed ancestry in Devon's family tree. She's Mexican on her father's side (I'm actually planning on having her explain Dia de los Muertos to her Twisted Wonderland buds during the Halloween event since it occurs around the same time and it's a pretty big deal for her that she's missing it) while her mother's side is a mix of multiple South American countries, the big ones being Columbia, Brazil, and Argentina. I'm very excited for Devon to get the chance to share more about where she's from, not just her life in New York but her family's heritage as well.

Fun fact: I hadn't originally intended for Ace to be one of Devon's love interests when I first started planning this story out. I think it was his Halloween personal story that got me to reconsider it; he got so pouty when Malleus mentions hanging out with MC and Grim. I personally headcanon Ace as being a very touchy-feely person even with people he's completely platonic with so he's going to be all up in Devon's personal space most of the time, even before he starts catching feelings. I also really like the idea of Ace being in complete denial about his feelings too. Like someone, probably Trey or Cater, calls him out about crushing on Devon and he's all "Nah, we're just buds. I don't think about Dev that way". And then it just smash cuts to him lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling and being like "Oh sweet Sevens, I'm starting to think about Dev that way!"

I'm gonna cut this off before I keep rambling but thank you all so much for reading! As always, feedback and constructive criticism are more than welcome! Geekinthepink, out!