Author's Notes: I was really motivated to get the first Heartslabyul chapter up. I need to cheer myself up after the latest part of the Ignihyde arc dropped on the Japanese server. I am not okay, you guys.

"Oh, come on! I thought we were done with the void dreams!" Devon lamented as she found herself floating once again through a sea of pitch darkness. "Please tell me that weird voice isn't gonna start up again." Before she could complain any further, a scene suddenly appeared below her. Her body remained aloft as she took in what was happening, but she noticed her skin and clothing appeared to be almost translucent, as if she were a ghost. Even if she had been solid, she wasn't certain the figures below her would've noticed her. She saw what appeared to be playing cards bustling about frantically in some sort of hedge maze. The maze itself was massive and stretched so far back that Devon couldn't see the end of it. She also noticed a lovely floral scent permeating the air, most likely coming the white roses the cards were tending to…and painting red for some reason. Interestingly, everything Devon could see, including her own body, was completely set in black and white but the red paint the cards were using on the roses was bright and vibrant.

Devon's eyes lit up in recognition when a young blonde girl in a blue dress approached one of the cards, asking them why they were painting the roses. The card informed her that their queen preferred red roses and the white ones had been planted by mistake. They were attempting to correct their blunder before the queen found out and ordered all of them beheaded.

A loud pounding noise pulled Devon from her dream before she could see what happened next. She blinked sleepily and rubbed her eyes as she sat up, moving carefully so as not to disturb a still-sleeping Grim. 'What was that all about?' she wondered. 'That was definitely a scene from Alice in Wonderland but it's been a hot minute since I've even seen that movie. Why would I be dreaming about it now?'

The pounding noise sounded again, bringing her back to reality as she realized it was someone knocking on the front door. This time, the noise woke Grim as well and he grumbled and stretched before rolling off of Devon. "Mmmngh. Hey, Dev. Sounds like we got a late-night visitor. Let's go see who it is."

Devon nodded sleepily and climbed out of bed as Grim hopped onto her shoulder and Zephyr hovered by her side. The three made their way down the stairs and into the entryway as whoever was outside continued to pound on the door.

"It better not be those ghosts again," Grim grumbled.

Devon yawned. "I don't think so, bud. They said they'd ease off on the pranks." She stopped in front of the door and called out to the person on the other side. "Who is it?"

"It's me," came a familiar voice from outside. "It's Ace. Let me in."

Devon sighed as she unlocked the door. "Do you have any idea what time it is, dude? I know I said you and Deuce could drop by any time but…," She trailed off as the sleepy fog over her brain cleared and she got a good look at the large black and red collar around her friend's neck.

"What the heck?!" Grim shouted. "Why do you have a collar on?"

"I am never going back to Hellslabyul," Ace declared, his voice low and his red eyes flashing with rage. "Starting today, I'm joining your dorm!"

"You're doing what?!" Grim exclaimed. Zephyr flared up incredulously as well.

"Hold up, man," Devon said, moving aside so Ace could step inside. "Let's just take a step back, okay?" She grabbed his hand and led him into the lounge, clearing a space on the cleaner of the two sofas in the room so they could sit down. The working light fixtures turned on by themselves courtesy of Regina and Ace nearly stumbled at the sight.

"Dang," he marveled. "I guess you weren't kidding about this place being alive." He finally took notice of Zephyr hovering over Devon's unoccupied shoulder. "So this is one of your Wisp friends, huh?" He reached out his hand only to quickly retract it when a whip lash made out of wind magic nearly caught him. "Whoa! Geez, that thing has no chill!"

"Zephyr just doesn't like being touched," Devon explained. "All the Wisps are pretty wary about strangers, though, so wait until they get a little more familiar with you before trying to touch them, okay?"

"Nevermind about that!" Grim interjected as he pointed at the collar around Ace's neck. "That's the magic-sealing collar that red-haired psycho put on me at the entrance ceremony! Why the heck are you wearing one?"

"I ate a tart," Ace grumbled, crossing his arms as he flopped onto the couch with a huff.

Devon and Grim waited for him to elaborate but the redhead just sat there with his arms folded, pouting like a child. They exchanged a glance before Devon sat down next to Ace, Grim hopping off her shoulder and into her lap. "That's it?" Devon asked.

"You heard me. That was literally all I did!" Ace replied. "I was feelin' a little peckish after Deuce and I got back to the dorm so I went down to the dorm kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. Lo and behold, there were three whole tarts chilling in the fridge. Big ones, too! So…"

"It's the first day of school and I already feel like I've been hit by bus," Ace complained as he walked to the kitchen. "I missed dinner too and I am starvin'." He stopped in front of the refrigerator. "Alright. Time to see what's behind door number one." He pulled the door open and was greeted with the sight of a large tart lavishly decorated with fresh strawberries. He was pleasantly surprised when, upon closer inspection, he found two more tarts just as large and beautiful as the first chilling on the lower shelves as well. "Ah man, these tarts look incredible!" He glanced around to make sure he was alone in the room. "Nobody's gonna notice if I take just one little piece, right?" He chuckled to himself and shook his head, already cutting into the tarts. "Nah, of course not. Welp, down the hatch!" He took a large bite of the piece he had cut and couldn't help but be blown away but the flavor. "Dang! This is amazing! Probably the best tart I've ever eaten."

"Naturally," came a voice from behind him. "Trey baked them, after all, and he does not settle for anything less than perfection."

"No kidding!" Ace exclaimed happily, too distracted by the taste to completely register that he wasn't alone anymore. "These are even better than the ones you'd buy in a store. He could-" He cut himself off as he realized that he recognized that voice. He could feel a pit growing in his stomach as he whipped around to face the person standing behind him…and found himself facing the one and only Riddle Rosehearts. "D-Dorm leader?!"

Riddle's slate grey eyes were narrowed into a glare as he crossed his arms. He may have been shorter than most of the other students at Night Raven College but he was scarier than almost all of them put together. "You have some nerve putting your hands on something that belongs to me," he said icily. His voice was almost eerily calm but Ace wasn't fooled; he could see the storm brewing in Riddle's eyes. "Queen of Hearts Rule 89: 'One shall not eat tarts prepared for the Queen ahead of her'. Tart theft is an unpardonable crime! Now…[Off With Your Head]!"

Ace could only scream in pain as the collar locked into place around his neck, sealing his magic away.

"…and now I'm here," Ace finished. His eyes flicked from Devon to Grim, clearly hoping for some sort of sympathy, but he was only met with unamused stares.

"So the moral of this story is that you both suck?" Grim asked dryly.

"What?!" Ace exclaimed. He turned his puppy-dog eyes toward Devon, hoping she would take his side. "Come on, don't you think it's going way overboard to seal my magic away over a tiny little piece of a tart?"

"I'm not the person to be asking about that, my dude," Devon said. "I'm still getting used to magic existing in general so I don't really know what it means to have it sealed."

"It's absolutely awful, New York!" Ace explained. "It's like having both your arms and legs shackled! Besides, there were three whole tarts in the fridge! There's no way he could've eaten them all himself. He's just being a tyrant, plain and simple!"

"Alright, so maybe sealing your magic was a little extreme…," Devon conceded.

"Thank you," Ace replied, leaning against Devon. Zephyr flared up in warning but didn't intervene.

"W-Well yeah, but if there were that many tarts…maybe he was savin' 'em for somethin'." Grim pointed out.

"Like what?" Devon asked.

Grim shrugged. "Maybe a birthday party or somethin'," he reasoned before a smile spread across his face. "Yeah! That's gotta be it! Guess we can add 'Master Detective' to my ever-growing list of titles!"

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," Devon replied dryly. "I guess that would explain why he got so angry, though." She poked Ace's forehead gently. "Did you even apologize before you stormed over here?"

"Way to be on my side here, Dev," Ace huffed. "This is supposed to be the part where you tell me he's on a power-trip and has no business sealing my magic. Does freshman solidarity mean nothing to you?!"

"I already told you I agreed that he was being too harsh," Devon pointed out. "Even so, you were the one who stole the tart piece. Even if there were three tarts, you still took something that wasn't yours and that ain't cool." Ace grumbled something and buried his face into Devon's shoulder as well as he could with the collar on. She laughed. "I'll take that to mean you agree that I'm right." She caught his chin between her thumb and index finger, lifting his head until he was looking her in the eyes. "Go apologize to Riddle tomorrow, okay? I'm sure he'll forgive you."

"I dunno, Dev. Don't underestimate a grudge over food," Grim warned as he snuggled back into Devon's stomach. "Wait a sec…," His eyes widened and he jolted forward, nearly throwing himself to the floor. "That reminds me! I never got those tuna cans the headmaster promised!"

Ace ignored Grim's outburst. "Ugh, fine! I'll go and apologize tomorrow! Will that make you happy?!" he agreed, throwing his arms up in exasperation before flopping back to lean on Devon again. His eyes flicked toward her for a moment before focusing on a spot on the floor. When he spoke up again, his voice was much softer; he almost sounded shy. "This was your idea, so you gotta come with me. Okay, New York?"

Devon nodded, sending him an encouraging smile even though he still wasn't looking at her. "Sure thing."

Ace heaved a sigh before sitting up straight and pushing himself off the couch. "Well now that we've got that worked out, where should I sleep tonight?"

"You were serious about that?" Grim asked, crossing his arms as he and Devon stood up as well. "All the bedrooms except ours are still covered in a mountain of dust. If you wanna stay so bad, grab a dust rag."

"Blegh, no way! I hate cleaning," Ace replied as he shook his head. He sidled over to Devon and flashed her his most charming smile, the one that won over pretty much his entire class when he was in middle school. "C'mon Dev, lemme stay in your room." He faltered slightly when Devon shot him an unimpressed look. "I'm basically a noodle so I won't take up too much space. Promise~!" He held his arms up over his head as if to demonstrate how slim he was but he wasn't really expecting Devon to budge. They had just met less than 24 hours ago, after all, and they hadn't really gotten off to the best start.

"Sure," Devon agreed, shrugging nonchalantly, causing both Ace and Grim to stare at her in shock. She wasn't sure if Ace was trying to mess with her again or if he was just way too forward but the look on face gave her the feeling that it was the former. 'Two can play at that game, boy-o,' she thought, relishing the way his eyes widened and his mouth hung open slightly. Clearly, he'd been expecting her to turn him down but she wasn't about to back down from a challenge. Besides, it wasn't like this was the first time she'd shared a bed with a friend. Okay, maybe not with a male friend (unless she counted Grim) but there was a first time for everything, right?

"What?! Henchman, you-" Grim began, only to stop when Devon held her hand.

"We've got enough space, Grim. The bed's plenty big enough," Devon assured him. She turned back toward Ace. "Come on, follow me." She smirked. "Unless you'd rather take the sofa and admit you can't take what you dish out."

That comment was enough to bring Ace back to reality. This one of the only times someone had ever called his bluff with a bluff of their own and…he was at a bit of a loss about how to handle it. The only thing he knew for sure was that he couldn't let Devon see just how much she'd thrown him off. 'Just relax, man,' he thought. 'If she's not bein' weird about it, you shouldn't either.' "Pfft, let's go, New York. I'm already dead tired as it is."

"Did you bring anything to sleep in or are you gonna be sleeping in your uniform?" Devon asked as she led him up the stairs.

"No worries there. Coming over here wasn't completely on impulse," Ace assured her as he held up a duffel bag she hadn't noticed him carrying before. He jumped as the lights in the lounge turned off on their own. "That's gonna take some getting used to."

"How long are you plannin' on stayin' here?" Grim asked.

"I already said I wasn't going back to Heartslabyul," Ace reminded him. "You guys are stuck with me for the time being."

"So…we're really doin' this, then?" Ace asked as he eyed the bed uncertainly. Devon and Grim had wasted no time settling back in as their friend got changed and ready for bed; Grim was already snoring away and Devon was clearly struggling to keep her eyes open.

Devon shrugged. "Unless you'd rather sleep on the couch." She caught a brief flash of nervousness in Ace's eyes but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. "Look, we don't have to share a bed if you're not comfortable with it. I might be able to scrounge up enough spare blankets to make you a reasonably comfortable spot on the floor."

"Whaaaat? You'd seriously make me sleep on the floor when you have this entire building to yourself?" Ace asked incredulously.

"Like Grim said, pretty much every other bedroom except this one is a wreck," Devon replied. "We haven't been here long enough to get everything livable just yet and it's gonna take some time, even with the Wisps help." She looked him in the eye. "So what's it gonna be, my dude? I'll respect whatever you decide."

Ace eyed a still-snoozing Grim uncertainly. "What about him?"

Devon waved her hand dismissively. "It's not like he respects us anyway, so who cares what he thinks?"

Ace couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Yeah, you've got a point there." He finally climbed into the bed, Devon scooting to the side to give him more room, and settled back against the pillows. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment before turning back to the blue-haired girl. "How are you so okay with…all this?"

"I'm a big believer in platonic intimacy, I guess," Devon replied. "My family has never really shied away from it and I personally think that everyone needs it sometimes. I'm not really sure what it's like here, but back in my world, people tend to think that intimacy on almost any level is reserved for couples but I never really saw a point in limiting it. Mama always said that you should never expect one person to be able to fulfill all your needs; that we have different types of relationships and different types of people in our lives for a reason." She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand before snuggling back into her own pillow. "Once I figure where you and Deuce stand on all that, you guys are gonna be getting all the hugs and snuggles."

Ace quirked an eyebrow. ""Where we stand"?"

"Yeah. No matter how much I believe that everyone could use a good hug every once in a while and no matter how ready and willing I am to deliver on that end, I'm not about to insert myself into someone's space who doesn't want me there," Devon explained.

"Well, I can tell ya right now that I have no problem with you getting in my space…as long as I can get all up in yours," Ace assured her, the humor clear in his eyes.

Devon snorted. "You say that as if you haven't been right in my face since we beat that monster in the mines."

"I'm just makin' sure you remember what my handsome face looks like. If your memory's as short as you are, you'll probably forget as soon as I'm out of your sight," Ace retorted.

"I should be so lucky," Devon fired back, playfully pushing shoulder. The pair shared a quiet laugh before Devon yawned again. "We should probably get to sleep soon. Big day tomorrow and all that."

"Baby's first day of magic school," Ace cooed as he gently pinched Devon's cheek.

"And baby's first apology ever," Devon cooed back, reaching up to pinch Ace's cheek as well. "It'll be a day full of firsts, huh?" The pair laughed again before separating and getting comfortable (Ace struggling a bit due to the collar). Devon smiled as she reached out to ruffle Ace's already messy hair. "Goodnight, loser."

Ace smiled back as he poked Devon's nose, all his nervousness from a moment ago long forgotten. "Goodnight, pain in the ass."

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called this staff meeting," Crowley began as he stood up from his desk.

"It must be important if it's worth keeping me from my morning training," said a large muscular man with bright blue eyes.

A man in a large, fashionable black and white fur coat and heavy dark eyeshadow rolled his eyes in response. "I'm sure your muscles will survive, Vargas."

"Coach Vargas, Professor Crewel, please," interjected a stern-looking older man. The black and white cat in his arms let out a 'mrow' of agreement. "What is going on, headmaster?"

Crowley cleared his throat. "Ah, yes. I called this meeting to inform you all that there will be a new…special transfer case, let's say, joining Class 1-A today."

"I don't think there's ever been a staff meeting called over a new student, transfer or not," the stern-looking man replied.

"Right you are, Professor Trein," Crowley agreed. "but these new students aren't like the ones that enrolled yesterday."

"This is about that she-imp from another world, isn't it?" asked a man with black and purple locs and magenta eyes.

Crowley crossed his arms, his mouth turned down in a pout. "I'll thank you not to steal my thunder, Sam."

"Apologies, headmaster," Sam replied with an easy smile. "My friends on the other side keep me well-informed."

"What do you mean by "she-imp"?" Vargas asked.

"And what's this about another world?" pressed Trein.

Crowley clapped twice, drawing attention back to him. "Don't worry, everyone. I shall explain everything." He smiled. "I am so very gracious, after all." He turned his gaze to the staff members gathered around his desk. "Now then, as Sam mentioned, one of the new students joining the freshman class is a young woman that was called here from another world. Her name is Devon Lopez and I have reason to believe that her presence here is vital to Night Raven College." He paused. "However…there appears to be a catch; Devon is unable to use magic. Evidently, magic itself does not exist in the world she hails from."

"A world without magic… Is such a thing possible?" Vargas wondered aloud.

"I have to wonder how the healers in her world manage to do their jobs without magic," Crewel agreed.

"More importantly, Crowley, how do you expect her to keep up with classes here if she's unable to use magic," Trein asked.

"An excellent question and one I was just about to address," Crowley replied. "I'm sure you all recall the monster that ran amok during the entrance ceremony. I've decided to enroll both of them together as a single student!"

"Oh no…," Crewel said with a shake of his head.

"Please tell me you're joking," Trein agreed.

"I most certainly am not!" Crowley replied. "I would never joke about something so serious! Both of them have proved themselves plenty capable and I truly believe they have what it takes to do well here. Grim clearly has enough magical power to become a full-fledged mage and Devon has demonstrated a remarkable talent for beast taming."

"What does that even mean?" Vargas asked.

Crowley went on to recount the events of the previous day, from the burning of the statue, to the broken chandelier, to the battle at Dwarf's Mine. By the time he'd finished, only Vargas looked convinced; Sam's expression hadn't changed from his usual easy-going smile (and Crowley suspected he was already aware of what had happened thanks to those friends of his) but Trein and Crewel looked even more skeptical than before.

"It sounds like that monster is just good at stirring up trouble and leaving the girl to pick up after it," Crewel said. "Wouldn't it be easier just to send her back to the place she came from? Why go to all this extra trouble?"

"About that…," Crowley said hesitantly as he rubbed his chin with his index finger. "The Dark Mirror is unable to send her home."

"What?!" the staff (except Sam) chorused.

"It's true," Sam confirmed. "The mirror wasn't able to connect to wherever our little she-imp is from."

"How is that possible?!" Trein exclaimed. "The Dark Mirror called her here, did it not?!"

"Indeed, it did," Crowley answered. "That is why I've opted to take responsibility and offered her a place to stay on campus while I search for a way to send her back home. I certainly wasn't about to turn away a teenager with nothing to her name and no means to contact her guardians."

"Hold on a moment," Trein interjected. "Does her family have any idea she's here?"

"I can't answer that with complete certainty but given how confused she was when we spoke on the way to the ceremony…," He trailed off as he recalled their conversation. "I believe she also said something about the carriage bringing her here against her will, so I'm going to with…no."

Trein closed his eyes in thought. He couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the girl's parents. He was a father himself, after all, and he couldn't imagine how he would feel to have one of his daughters suddenly disappear one day, especially if it had happened when they were Devon's age. Be that as it may, there were still a number of issues with Crowley's plan even if his intentions were good. Trein opened his eyes and focused on the headmaster. "And where exactly do you plan to house them? If I recall correctly, the Dark Mirror said that Devon was not suited for any of the dorms."

"He's got them staying in the old dorm on the hill; the one with all the ghosts," Sam informed them.

Crewel narrowed his dark grey eyes at the headmaster. "Crowley, that place is a death trap!"

"I concur," Trein agreed. "That building is hardly a suitable place for any of our students to live, much less a young lady."

"Where exactly did you expect me to put her?" Crowley asked in exasperation. "Devon is the only female student on this campus. Did you want me to force her to contend with a gaggle of teenage boys, even though she has almost no means of protecting herself? At least she'll have a modicum of privacy in the old Ramshackle Dorm."

"Oh yes, an old abandoned building on the main campus that any poorly trained mongrel could just waltz into whenever the mood strikes them is the epitome of security and privacy," Crewel remarked dryly.

"Actually, it's probably safer than you think," Sam interjected. "I hear the little she-imp has managed to get some pretty impressive allies on her side." The teachers fixed him with confused stares. "There's a colony of Wisps living in that old dorm. She managed to befriend them on her first night and they've been helping get the place fixed up in addition to keeping it safe. I understand there's a Wisp among them with an incredible amount of magical power that's gone so far as enchanting the building itself and more or less bringing it to life."

"Wisps? Truly?" Trein asked in disbelief. "I had no idea anything of the sort existed on this campus."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Crewel said, crossing his arms. "But I will admit that this does put me at ease."

"You all worry too much!" Vargas exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips. "If what happened at the mine is any indication, that bean sprouts' got an impressive set of muscles! That's all you need to weather any challenge. It just makes me excited to start training her!"

Crewel pinched the bridge of his nose and placing a hand on his hip. "I worry for the poor pups' sanity."

Ace squeezed his eyes shut as the morning sunlight flooded in through the windows. The moth-eaten curtains did little to block out the light, even less so when they flung themselves open courtesy of Regina. He buried his face into his pillow as best he could with the collar in the way, just barely registering something warm and soft pressing closer to him. He blinked his eyes open, squinting against the sun, and was greeted with a familiar head of light blue hair.

Apparently he and Devon had moved closer together while they were asleep. They had fallen asleep facing each other but had still kept enough space between them that it didn't feel too intimate. Now they were pressed as close as they could get, Devon's face buried in Ace's chest, the top of her head just below the collar around his neck. One of her hands was clutching at his shirt while the other was tucked against her chest and one of her legs had tangled with his. For his part, Ace had one hand against the back of Devon's head as if he was trying to press her closer to him while his other arm had wound around her waist.

Ace's first instinct was to fling himself out of the bed but then he remembered Devon's words from the night before. 'New York's right. We're friends. Friends should be able to be…like this…with each other without reading too much into it. It's not gonna get weird unless we make it weird. Besides, nobody else even has to know.' He moved back carefully, trying to get a better look at Devon's face without waking her. 'Heh. She actually looks pretty sweet when she sleeps, huh? It's almost enough to make me forget how scary she is when she's pissed,' he mused as he reached out to brush back some hair that had fallen into her eyes. 'This actually is kinda nice. Wonder if I can convince her to do this aga-'

The peaceful moment was shattered by a loud pounding on the front door. Ace jerked his hand when Devon stirred, burying her face into her pillow as she grumbled at being woken up.

"Ugh, seriously? Who comes bangin' on the door at the ass-crack of dawn?" Devon growled as she sat up and stretched. She rubbed her neck before glancing over at Ace. "Would you mind gettin' that?"

"What? Why me?" Ace asked as he sat up as well.

"Consider it my fee for letting you stay here, Mr. Never Going Back To Heartslabyul," Devon replied.

"Fine," Ace relented as he got out of bed. "But I'm only doing this because that was the best sleep I've had in a while."

"Told ya so," Devon said with a satisfied smile.

Ace rolled his eyes at her playfully before walking down the stairs to the front door. "Alright, alright, I'm comin'! Quit tryin' to bang the door down!" He unlocked the door and pushed it open, his expression morphing into a look of disappointment when he saw who was on the front step.

"I had a feeling I'd find you here," Deuce said.

"Ugh. Deuce," Ace muttered, not bothering to hide how unhappy he was to see his roommate.

"Our roommates told me what happened," Deuce said. "We just got our expulsions rescinded and then you get yourself collared for eating the dorm leader's tart." He shook his head. "You're a special kind of stupid, huh?"

"Shut up. I don't wanna hear that from you, of all people," Ace grumbled. He glanced off to the side awkwardly. "But…is the dorm leader still mad about the tart thing?"

Deuce shrugged. "Nah, not really. I mean, he did get a little upset at these three guys who overslept. All of them got collared too."

"That's what you call "a little upset"?!" Ace shouted. "He's rampaging just as bad as last night!"

"Who are you yelling at, Ace? Don't tell me- Oh hey, Deuce," Devon greeted as she came down the stairs, Grim and Zephyr close behind as she adjusted the strap on her messenger bag. She'd already changed into her new school uniform in the short time Ace had been out of the room. It was a bit too big for her, especially in the shoulders, which didn't surprise her given that it was meant to be worn by a male student. She also wasn't wild about wearing her sneakers with it but they were the only shoes she had. Besides, she'd seen some of the other students, Ace included, wearing either sneakers or boots with their own uniforms so she wouldn't be completely out of place.

Deuce smiled as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, Dev. Night Raven's uniform suits you. I knew it would."

Devon giggled. "Thanks, man." She gestured toward the red vest he was wearing over his white dress shirt. "I'm a little jealous I didn't get a cool vest like the ones you and Ace have, though."

"How come?" Deuce asked.

Devon shrugged as she tied the black and white striped tie she'd been supplied with into a bow around her neck. "I've never really been a big fan of button-up shirts; in my personal experience, they tend to cause problems if you've got any sort of…," she gestured at her chest. "chest situation going on. Even if nobody can actually see anything, I still tend to get paranoid about it. One of those vests would've at least been like a security blanket for me, especially if it was a pretty color like yours." She glanced over at Ace. "Speaking of, you should probably get changed, my dude. We're gonna miss breakfast at this rate."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm goin'," Ace replied before heading back upstairs, leaving Deuce, Grim, Devon, and Zephyr in the foyer.

Deuce glanced around. "I know you guys said this building was alive but it hasn't really…done anything, y'know?" He looked around again worriedly before quickly adding, "N-Not that there's anything wrong with that or anything."

Devon smiled. "Don't worry about it. It's like I told Ace yesterday; most of the Wisps are pretty leery about people they don't know. Crowley also told me most Wisps tend to keep out of sight anyway. I'm sure they'll be more willing to show themselves once they get used to you guys."

"This one doesn't seem to have any problem being in the open," Deuce pointed out, nodding toward Zephyr.

"Yeah, Zephyr's definitely an outlier," Devon agreed, her smile growing as the green Wisp moved in circles around her happily. "They've insisted on coming to class with us today after what happened yesterday. Something about me being "completely out of my element"."

"I mean… After everything that happened at Dwarf's Mine, I'd be a total idiot to call you defenseless but…a little magical back-up wouldn't hurt, right?" Deuce said carefully, not wanting to risk offending his friend. He flinched back a step when Zephyr zipped closer to him, hovering near his face before pulsing in approval and zipping back to Devon's shoulder. "What was that? What did they just do?"

Devon laughed. "Nothing. They just said you've got a good head on your shoulders and they're happy I made at least one dependable human friend."

Deuce beamed at the praise. "I'll try to live up to your faith in me, Zephyr." He straightened up, calling out into the nearly empty foyer. "Hello, um…Wisps. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Deuce Spade and I wanted to assure you that Devon's in good hands. I'll do my best to watch out for her." He brought his fist up to his chest. "Please leave it to me! …A-And to Zephyr too!"

The foyer was silent for a few seconds…until one of the doors on a small storage cabinet just behind Deuce swung out on its own and gently knocked against his leg. The poor boy jumped about a foot in the air before whipping around to see what had hit him. The door opened and closed on its own again as if waving.

"What…? I…but…huh?!" Deuce sputtered, looking at Devon and pointing frantically at the cabinet.

"Regina's trying to pat you on the back but there's no other furniture close enough. I mean, unless you'd rather they hit you with the broom," Devon explained. "Says you seem like a good kid."

Deuce puffed up his chest, clearly happy about the praise, unconventional though it was. Before he could say anything else, Ace chose that moment to appear at the top of the stairs, all ready to go in his own school uniform. "Alright, I'm ready to go," the redhead announced. "Let's get movin'." With that, the group left the dorm and headed toward the concrete stairway leading to Main Street. Devon stopped to wave goodbye to Ramshackle and Ace and Deuce could only stare open-mouthed for a few moments as the roof tiles began moving in a wave-like motion in response.

"Yeah. That's really gonna take some getting used to," Ace muttered.

"What even is your life, Dev?" Deuce whispered.

"Hey, hey, outta the way!" Grim shouted, walking a few steps ahead of his human friends as they made their way down Main Street toward the main school building. "The Great Grim is on his way to his first day of life as an official Night Raven College student."

Most of the students walking by ignored him, though Devon did catch sight of a few eye-rolls. Not that she could blame them. 'Way to make a good impression there, Grim. I mean, assuming we didn't already botch that when the statue got burned.' She glanced toward the Queen of Hearts' statue when they passed it, breathing a sigh of relief to see that it was good as new.

Grim turned around to face them, walking backwards as he gestured toward the collar the headmaster gave him. "Look at my collar! Pretty awesome, huh?" He shot a smug smile toward Ace. "Not at all like that thing around your neck. Ya know, the thing that makes it so you can't use magic. But hey, I bet you'd make a pretty good janitor. Nyahaha!"

"C'mon Grim, now you're just being mean," Devon chided, covering her mouth with her hand to hide the amused smile threatening to spread.

"Grrrnngh…," Ace fumed. "Just you wait, you sentient pile of cat hair. Your hide is mine as soon as I get my magic unsealed!"

"The headmaster just told us yesterday not to cause another scene," Deuce said as he shook his head. He focused his gaze on Ace. "Anyway, you're going to have a hard time in class today with no magic. Have you thought about apologizing to the dorm leader and having him remove it?"

"We actually talked about that last night," Devon informed him before turning to Ace herself. "You said you were gonna go first thing this morning, right?"

Ace crossed his arms, glaring at the ground like a pouting child. "I hate this. I hate ALL of this. I can't believe I'm the one who has to grovel when he was the one who overreacted!"

"Y'know, we've still got time before classes start and I'm curious about what the other dorms are like," Grim piped up, hopping onto Devon's shoulder. "How's about we check out Heartslabyul after watching Ace's pathetic attempt at an apology?"

"Screw you! This isn't some kind of show, damn it!" Ace yelled. "I only asked Devon to come with me!"

"Ya sure did! And time's a'wastin'!" Devon chirped, placing both her hands on Ace's shoulders and steering him toward the Hall of Mirrors. "I'm kinda curious about your dorm too, so let's go!"

"I hate you," Ace said flatly, though he made no attempt to get out of Devon's grip. "I hate you so much."

"That's not what you said last night~" Devon sang, causing Deuce to stare at them, scandalized.

"Ace…you didn't," Deuce said.

"Huh? Didn't what?" Ace asked, confused. The pieces clicked slowly into place as he realized what Deuce was implying. "Oh no! No, no, no, no! It wasn't like that!" He held his hands up in a warding off gesture as Deuce narrowed his eyes threateningly. "I swear it wasn't! I mean, we did share a bed last night but nothing happened. Honest!"

"He's telling the truth," Devon agreed quickly, hoping to placate Deuce before he punched their redheaded friend. "The Wisps and I have been able to get Ramshackle's main rooms clean…ish but we haven't had time to get started on any of the bedrooms aside the one Grim and I use. And until we can get the sofas in the lounge cleaned, I wouldn't recommend anybody sleeping on them."

"Yeah!" Ace sighed, thankful Devon hadn't just let the situation hang; he doubted he would've been able to convince Deuce on his own. "Besides," he pointed at Zephyr. "something tells me that thing would've tried to murder me if I so much as looked at her funny."

"This is true," Devon confirmed as Zephyr pulsed in agreement.

Deuce glared at Ace for a moment longer before dropping his gaze. "Fine. But I'm watching you."

"Who cares about whatever Devon and Ace were doin'! We made it to the Hall of Mirrors!" Grim interjected happily.

Ace heaved a sigh as they entered the building. "Alright. Let's get this over with." He and Deuce led the way to the mirror portal to Heartslabyul dorm. A large silvery-purple mirror stood waiting for them in an alcove with the dorm's crest carved above it out of stone. A short walkway lined with a red carpet and…mushrooms, for some reason…led the way to a large open storybook made of stone just in front of the mirror. The arch over the mirror was decorated with carvings of roses and playing cards and at the very top, two spears were crossed into an 'X'.

"Dang, this is elaborate," Devon marveled, taking in the sconces on the alcove walls, each one lit with yellow and reddish-pink flames. "If the mirror to get there is this extra, I can't wait to see what the actual dorm is like."

Deuce couldn't help but smile at Devon's enthusiasm. He held out a hand toward her as Ace and Grim passed through the mirror ahead of them. "Come on, then. I can't wait for you to see it." Devon smiled back and accepted his hand, letting her friend pull her through the mirror as a blinding light and a familiar sense of weightlessness came over them.

Ending Notes: That…turned out way longer than I thought it was going to. I had a lot of ground to cover with this chapter, though, so I guess I should've expected that.

I really loved writing Ace and Devon's interactions in this chapter. They're both so playfully antagonistic towards each other (not that Ace isn't like that with pretty much everyone, though). And the Wisps approve of Deuce! Of course they do; he's the goodest bad boy on campus.

Devon gets her first look at Heartslabyul in the next chapter…and her first experience with everyone's favorite Diamond. This story is also long-overdue for a cut back to DJ and Dominic too. School has just started back for them as well! How are they holding up? And how are they going to explain their missing sister?

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