Author's Notes: I didn't write out the battle with Cater in the chapter for a couple of reasons: 1) As mentioned previously, I'm really bad a writing fight scenes. 2) Even if you win the battle, the cutscene afterward plays out as if you lost. And 3) Said cutscene makes it easy enough to infer what happened during the fight.

Also, I don't think it's been mentioned in the story quite yet but I want to say it here just so there isn't any confusion. Devon is 16 years old (as are her brothers and her cousin Mateo) and would've been starting her junior year in high school had she not been spirited away to Twisted Wonderland. Just in case anyone's looking for an exact age.

Devon could only gape at the building in front of her when she came out on the other side of the mirror portal. A large castle with a red, black, and white color scheme stood before them, a small fountain burbling on the path leading up to the front door. There were red rose bushes scattered all around them and what appeared to be the opening to a hedge maze nearby. "Dang…"

"I'll take that to mean you're impressed," Deuce said, puffing up his chest proudly.

"Uh duh, of course she is!" Ace said, clasping his hands behind his head with a self-satisfied smile. "Heartslabyul's easily the most impressive of all the dorms!"

"Seriously, look how fancy this place is!" Grim exclaimed. "It couldn't be more different from our landfill of a dorm."

"Okay, first of all, comparison is the thief of joy, Grim," Devon replied as she let go of Deuce's hand. "Second, our dorm's still a work in progress. And third," She broke into a smile. "hell yeah, I'm impressed! This is probably one of the coolest places I've ever seen and we haven't even gone inside yet!"

The smile dropped off of Ace's face. "Yeah, yeah, let's just get in there so I can get this stupid collar off already."

Devon smirked. "You make it sound like apologizing is going to physically painful for you."

"It might be," Ace replied as they came upon the entrance to the maze. "What if I'm allergic to apologizing and actually die? Bet you wouldn't be laughing then, would ya, New York?"

"Actually, I'd probably be laughing harder than I ever have," Devon retorted. "I can see your headstone now." She wrapped an arm around Ace's shoulders, holding her other arm out in front of her. "Here lies Ace Trappola: He died as he lived; desperately trying to shirk responsibility for his own actions and causing problems for literally everyone else."

Ace couldn't help but snort with laughter, his sour mood dissipating as he gently nudged Devon's side. Meanwhile, Deuce looked over at Grim. "So…I'm confused. Do they like or hate each other?"

Grim shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Humans don't make any sense to me. But…I seriously doubt Devon would've let him stay over last night if she still didn't like him."

A voice from inside the maze caught the groups' attention. "Crap! I've gotta hurry and get these roses painted."

The quartet exchanged glances before making their way inside the maze. More bushes with red roses were scattered around the area and Devon couldn't help but notice how familiar it looked. Grim hopped up onto Devon's shoulder. "Hey, I see someone over there," he said, pointing. Everyone turned in the direction Grim had indicated, catching sight of another student moving frantically through the rose bushes. He had orange hair with the top portion pulled back while the rest hung straight down and green eyes. They also noticed a red diamond painted underneath his right eye, similar to the heart and spade that Ace and Deuce wore.

"Oops, nearly missed that one!" the orange-haired boy said to himself, apparently not noticing he was no longer alone. "If there's even a speck of white on these roses, my head's as good as gone."

'Okay, I'm getting a serious sense of déjà vu,' Devon thought, recalling her dream from the night before. She hadn't had too much time to dwell on it but she couldn't help be perplexed at why she would have such a vivid and clear dream about a scene from a movie she hadn't seen in the better part of a decade. 'Then again, maybe it's not as strange as I'm thinking. I mean, the Queen of Hearts' statue was the one that got burned yesterday and the painting the roses scene is pretty iconic even for people that haven't seen Alice in Wonderland. Maybe that's what made me dream about it…'

The boy with diamond on his face finally glanced over and noticed them. "Hmm? Do you guys need something?" he asked, pulling Devon from her thoughts.

"Umm…what are you doing, exactly?" Ace asked.

"That's obvious, isn't it? I'm painting the roses red," the boy replied casually, as if what was doing was nothing out of the ordinary.

Ace and Deuce could only stare in surprise. "But…why?" Deuce asked.

The boy chuckled. "Ah, it's been a while since I've seen such fresh, cute reactions~!" He looked the group over for a moment before his eyes lit up in recognition. "Hey, I know you guys! Aren't you the ones who broke the mega-expensive chandelier in the cafeteria and almost got expelled over it?"

Ace and Deuce looked away in embarrassment. "That chandelier's gonna haunt us until the day we graduate, isn't it?" Ace lamented, shaking his head.

The boy's green eyes honed in on Ace. "And if memory serves, you're the one who added on even more punishment by eating the dorm leader's tart last night. Man, how lucky am I to be able to meet the most infamous freshies first thing in the morning!" He moved closer to them and pulled out his phone. "Hey, hey, hey! We should totes take a selfie!" He wrapped his arm all of them and pulled them in before flashing a bright smile and snapping the picture, letting out a "Yay~!" right as the flash went off. "Hey, it's okay if I put this on Magicam, right?" he asked as he let them go. "Tell me your names and I'll put you in the tags."

"I'm Deuce Spade," Deuce said, still a little confused by this entire encounter.

"Ace," Ace said grumpily, clearly done with everything.

Grim crossed his arms with a smirk. "I'm Grim." He gestured at Devon. "And this here's my henchman, Devon."

The boy tapped out something on his phone before a small chime went off. "And it's uploaded~! Oh right! My name's Cater Diamond, by the way. I'm a Heartslabyul junior. You can call me Cay if you really wanna! Or CayCay if you're feelin' cray-cray!"

Devon visibly cringed. "Please never say that again," she groaned. Zephyr pulsed next to her and Devon was pretty sure they'd be face-palming if they had arms.

Cater laughed, not at all phased by Devon's comment. "Nice to meetcha!"

Devon nodded, returning Cater's smile with a small one of her own. "Nice to meet you too."

Cater's smile widened as he focused his attention on Devon. "Ah~! You must be the little lady that's been put in charge of that Ramshackle Dorm on the main campus, right?" He moved closer to her. "You're even cuter than the rumors said you were! We're gonna get along great!" He pulled her into a hug, nuzzling his cheek against hers.

Devon caught sight of Zephyr's aura brightening, a sure sign they were charging up an attack. She held her hand up to stop Zephyr from firing off any wind magic. "It's okay, Zeph. I'm pretty sure he's harmless."

"Hmm?" Cater blinked, finally noticing the green orb that had been floating over Devon's shoulder. The Wisp let out a sound that almost sounded like a huff before their aura returned to normal. "Oh wow, so the Wisp rumor was true too! That's so cool! I guess that explains why you're so chill about living in that place. It's always suuuper gloomy and looks like a total dumpster fire on Magicam. There's no filter in all of Twisted Wonderland that could save that place." He unwrapped himself from Devon but kept his hand on her shoulder. "You have my condolences."

Grim gave Cater a flat look, crossing his arms again. "You really don't know when to shut up, huh?"

Cater jumped slightly and dropped his hand from Devon's shoulder. "Ah, that's right! I don't have time to stand around and chat. The party's tomorrow and I am not gonna lose my head for being late!" He turned his gaze back to the group. "Hey, would you guys mind helping me paint the roses?"

"Sure, but why do the roses even need to be painted?" Ace asked.

"Because red roses at a party are more photogenic! Or something!" Cater chirped. "I've also gotta color the flamingos for the croquet match so I've really got my hands full right now."

"Colorin' flamingos?!" Grim repeated incredulously. "Is anything the right color in this place?!"

"I think I get it now," Deuce said as he turned to Ace. "That tart you ate must've been for the dorm leader's birthday party." He sighed and shook his head. "No wonder he got so upset."

"Oh no, that's not it," Cater interjected.

"It's not?! Then whose party is it?" Ace asked.

"No one's!" Cater replied. "Tomorrow is Heartslabyul's traditional Unbirthday Party." He laughed at their confused looks before elaborating. "The dorm leader chooses a random day that isn't anyone's birthday and we have a tea party."

"What the hell kind of a tradition is that?" Ace asked.

"Listen, we can chat about that all you want later," Cater said quickly. "Right now, I just need you to focus on getting these roses red. Deuce and Grim can handle this with magic so they should be fine." He turned his attention to Devon and Ace. "But since Ace is on magical house arrest and Devon's a total normie, it's the old-fashioned way for you two." He reached behind an already-painted rose bush and pulled out two cans of red paint and some paintbrushes.

"W-We can change the rose colors with magic?" Deuce asked nervously.

"I've never done anything like that," Grim said.

"Just relax, guys!" Cater replied reassuringly as he handed the paint cans and brushes off to Ace and Devon. "We'll figure it out as we go! But we need to get these roses painted, like, yesterday if we don't wanna lose our heads."

"Ya know, I'm not sure what I was expecting my first day as a non-magical student at a fancy magic school was going to entail but I don't think literally painting roses was up there on my list of expectations," Devon remarked as Cater led them over to the first unpainted rose bush.

"You and me both," Ace replied. "I'm guessin' they don't have traditions like this where you're from, either?"

Devon shook her head. "Not at all."

"Remember guys," Cater called out, drawing their attention back to him. "It's gotta be red or it's no good. Not pink, not green, not aquamarine~!"

Deuce eyed the rose bush uncertainly. "I'm not much of a painter but I'll do my best."

"Don't even worry about it! We'll be done in a snap with the Great Grim on the case!" Grim boasted before looking over at Devon. "No slackin' off, okay Dev?"

"Funny, I was about to tell you the same thing," Devon snarked back.

"Ffgnya?!" Grim exclaimed. "Just you watch! I'll get all of 'em in one go!" He stared at the rose bush and concentrating on gathering his magical energy. The energy then shot out of the crystal around his neck, hitting each of the roses on the bush…and turning them all various pastel shades. "M-Mgnya?!"

"Not quite," Cater said, shaking his head. "It wasn't a bad first try but you need to do it more like this." He waved his own magical pen, barely even looking at the rose bush, and suddenly all the roses were painted a beautiful vibrant red.

"Nice!" Ace praised. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised an upperclassman can pull this off so easily."

Cater beamed. "Thanks! The trick is to picture an actual red rose in your head when you cast. If you keep that in mind, we'll be done in no time!"

"That…actually kind of helps," Deuce said.

"Maaan, I wanna be able to use magic again," Ace whined, looking distastefully at the paint can in his hands.

"Hey Dev, Zephyr can use magic, right?" Ace asked after they'd been painting for a few minutes, pointing to the Wisp floating at Devon's shoulder. "How come they aren't doin' anything?"

Devon was about to tell Ace that Zephyr wasn't obligated to help if they didn't want to; the only reason they had come along in the first place was because they wanted to keep an eye on Devon. Before she could get a word out, Zephyr flew into a series of pulses. Devon waited until they had finished before translating. "Zeph says that their magic wouldn't really helpful. Most Wisps are made of a single type of magic and that type of magic is the only one they can use freely. Zephyr's a Wind Wisp, so they can use all the Wind magic they want but anything outside of that will take a lot of magical energy. If too much energy gets depleted before they can recharge, they won't be able to use any magic; whatever energy is left will be devoted to keeping them from disappearing altogether. That's why they're taking a backseat right now; this much color-changing magic is gonna drain them dry real quick." She turned to her orb-like companion. "Now that you mention it, aside from Regina, the other Wisps tend to lean toward a single type of magic too. Marina's only ever used Water magic and Fuego mostly uses Fire or heat-based magic."

"Regina's the one that brought Ramshackle to life, right?" Deuce asked. "What kind of magic are they made of?"

Another series of pulses answered him. "Regina is a rarity; they're made up of multiple types of magic," Devon translated. "They're much more versatile than the other Wisps." She looked over at her blue-haired friend. "You and Ace haven't seen Regina's physical form but they're much larger than all the other Wisps living in Ramshackle. I guess it's no surprise that they're so much stronger too. They brought Ramshackle to life like it was nothing; makes me wonder what else they could do if they really wanted to."

"Wait, wait, wait," Cater interjected, his green eyes focused on Zephyr. "So you really do have hundreds of Wisps living with you?"

"More like twelve," Devon corrected.

"They can talk to you and you understand them?"

"Yep."

"And one of them really did bring your dorm to life?"

"Sure did. You can come see sometime, if you want."

"Stayed at the dorm last night, can confirm," Ace piped up. "And I'm pretty sure Deuce almost wet himself when the cabinet door swung open to pat him on the back."

"Shuddup, I didn't not," Deuce replied, glaring at the redhead. "How did you even know about that, anyway?"

"I could hear you yelling about looking after Devon all the way from her room," Ace explained.

Cater quirked an eyebrow, a mischievous smile spreading over his face. "Oh~? And what were you doing in Devon's bedroom, Ace?"

Devon snorted as Ace's cheeks flushed. "Like I told Deuce, nothing happened. I needed a place to crash after I got collared, I remembered that Devon and Grim had a dorm all to themselves, it seemed like a no-brainer."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain what you were doing in her room," Cater pointed out.

"None of the other bedrooms had been cleaned up yet and the couches in the lounge are…not the best for sleeping," Devon explained, taking pity on her friend.

"Well sure, but he could've at least bought you dinner first!" Cater told her. He walked over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "If I were as gorgeous as you, I'd make it my mission to wrap the entire school around my finger. Don't settle for less, queen."

Devon tapped her chin with her index finger, pretending to consider. "If I somehow managed that, do you think I could get 'em to clean the rest of Ramshackle for me?"

"Absolutely!" Cater chirped, though he was still keeping an eye on Deuce and Grim's spellcasting. "You'd be surprised what a well-placed eyelash flutter can do."

"If you really do need help cleaning the dorm up, let me know," Deuce chimed in. "I may not be the smartest guy on campus, but I can handle some heavy lifting."

Devon smiled before gently bumping Deuce's shoulder. "Thanks, man."

"Speaking of dorms, what do you think of Heartslabyul so far, Dev?" Cater asked, letting go of Devon's shoulders and going back to correct any mistakes Deuce and Grim had made. "It's definitely the best dorm, right?"

Devon laughed but didn't take her eyes off the rose she was painting. "Well, I've yet to see the inside and I haven't had a chance to check out the other dorms yet but I'm really diggin' the rose maze. It's like…classy without feeling pretentious." She stepped up onto a nearby ladder to reach one of the roses near the top of the bush, looking out at the expanse of the maze. "My older brother would love this; he'd have the time of his life trying to find his way out."

"The rose maze was always my big bros' favorite part too," Ace said. "He was placed in Heartslabyul when he went to school here too." He glanced over at Devon before focusing on his own roses. "So you're the baby of your family too?"

Devon shook her head. "Nope. I've got a younger brother too. Guess that makes me the middle child."

"You guess?" Cater asked.

"Is there a big age gap between you three?" Deuce asked.

"Mmm, not really," Devon answered. "About…10-15 minutes, give or take."

Everyone stared at her for a moment. Devon didn't elaborate; she just smiled and waited for the pieces to click into place on their own. Ace was the first to speak up. "Dude, you're a triplet?!"

"Dude, yes, I am," Devon replied. "That's why it doesn't really feel like I'm the middle child."

Cater shook his head. "I can't imagine. Like, no offense, but I don't think I could deal with being a multiple." He lowered his voice, speaking more to himself than the others. "I only see my sisters' on breaks and stuff now but that's more than enough."

"I hear that a lot actually," Devon assured him. "Most people wonder how we deal with having to share our birthday parties and stuff but I've always really enjoyed it. Dominic has social anxiety for days so having a party where he's the complete center of attention might actually kill him and the more attention you put on DJ, more hyped up he gets, and the more likely he is to pull some stunt that'll get him seriously injured at best. At our birthday party last year, he jumped off the roof and into our pool…and that's not even getting into the 'Moped/Gazebo Incident' a few months ago…"

"Wow…," was all Cater could say in response. "They sound nothing like you."

"I dunno," Ace argued, gesturing toward Devon's still-injured arm, even though the bandages were covered by the sleeves of her blazer. "You've only known her for a few minutes, Cater. It's too bad you couldn't have seen her yesterday. Trust me, dangerous stunts are definitely in her wheelhouse."

"The stunt was to save your hides," Devon retorted, pouting playfully at her friend. "You're welcome." She sighed before speaking again, her voice quieter this time. "Today would be their first day back at school too. I mean, assuming the passage of time is the same between this world and mine and we aren't dealing with a 'one day here equal one year there' kinda thing."

"Do you miss them?" Deuce asked.

"Of course I do," Devon replied. "I wonder how they're doing…" A shadow passed over her face, her expression becoming much more melancholy. It was gone as quickly as it came, however, and her tone brightened again. "But I can't dwell on that right now. We've gotta get these roses painted."

Deuce smiled and nodded to her, narrowing his eyes in concentration as he refocused on one of the roses. "Turn red…red…" There was flash of light as the rose changed color. Devon and Ace couldn't see what happened from where they were standing but judging from the look on Deuce's face, he didn't get the outcome he wanted. "No, it turned blue!"

"Pfft. Let me show you how it's done!" Grim boasted, turning his attention to another rose. "O foul color, change at my command!" A burst of light flew from Grim's collar…and the entire bush was engulfed in blue flames. "Myah! What the heck?!"

Cater sighed, scratching his cheek with his index finger. "Wow. You guys are way worse at this than I thought you'd be." He put out the flames with a wave of his magical pen before they could do any serious damage.

"Why do the roses have to be painted, anyway?" Ace asked, fed up with having to work without magic. "What's wrong with white roses? These look pretty enough to me."

"It's a Heartslabyul tradition," Cater replied as if that explained everything. "The roses have to be red for the Unbirthday Party! And for croquet, we use seven different colored flamingos with hedgehogs as the balls."

"That sounds like animal abuse," Devon muttered under her breath as she climbed down from the ladder.

"Oh, but the garden flowers' Spring Concert uses white roses," Cater continued. "That's super important to remember."

"None of these rules make any sense," Grim said as he walked over to Devon and hopped up onto her shoulder.

"Apparently the Queen of Hearts came up with them herself," Cater told him. "Riddle's dead-set on enforcing all of them, even compared to our previous dorm leaders." He began playing with a strand of his hair. "I won't lie, it can be…a little much."

"Wait a sec, I don't have time for this," Ace said, setting down his paint can and brush. "I need to speak to the dorm leader about getting this dumb collar removed. Is he still here?"

Cater glanced toward the dorm building. "Yeah, I think there's still some time before he leaves for class. Did you bring an apology tart with you?"

Ace blinked in confusion. "What?" He glanced at Deuce, Grim, and Devon, who could only shrug in response. He looked back to Cater and shook his head. "No, I don't. I came here first thing so I don't have anything on me."

Cater sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Oof. Yeah, that makes sense. Unfortunately, that means you're in violation of Queen of Hearts' Rule Number 53: 'That which is stolen must be returned'. I'm not gonna be able to let you back in the dorm."

"Come on, man! Throw me a bone here!" Ace pleaded.

"No can do, I'm afraid," Cater said, his tone as cheerful as it had been all morning. "If you're a part of the dorm, you've gotta follow the rules. My own head will be on the chopping block if I let you in knowing that you're out of compliance." The smile remained on Cater's face but it looked…sharper, almost sadistic. The group noticed that his eyes had narrowed as well, all traces of his earlier playfulness gone. "Sorry Ace, but I'm gonna need you to leave before Riddle sees you."

"Oh snap, I think he's getting serious!" Ace said as Cater began to stalk towards them. He shot a desperate look at Deuce and Grim. "Guys, help me out here!"

"Us?! Why do we have to get involved?!" Deuce asked incredulously.

"C'mon man!" Ace pleaded. "I can't use magic right now and I'm not some master gymnast like Devon." He glanced back at Cater, only to see that he was still headed right for them. "Ah man, here he comes!"

"You're worrying too much, Dom," DJ said as he and Dominic pulled into the school parking lot. It was the first day of the new school year and the two brothers sat in DJs' Jeep, discussing how to handle their current situation.

"I don't think there's such a thing as "worrying too much" in a situation like this," Dominic argued. "Our sister is missing. We've had no contact with her for almost 24 hours and I've hacked every security camera in or around the area where she disappeared; there's no trace of her anywhere after she left the pharmacy. Her debit card hasn't been used either. It's like she's there and then she's not."

"But you said yourself that she was fine, right?" DJ pointed out.

Dominic shook his head, rubbing the bracelet Mala had given him, knowing DJ was wearing his and hoping the Devon had hers as well. "For all I know, that's just wishful thinking."

"Hey," DJ said, putting a comforting hand on his brothers' shoulder. "I'm worried about her too, but I have to believe that, wherever she is, she's okay. I trust your…," He gestured at Dominic vaguely. "weird ability to tell where Dev and I are and how we're doing as much as I trust the fact that Dev's not gonna be so easy to just shove in a corner. I know this is scary and I know how serious it is, but working ourselves into a frenzy isn't going to help her or us. Besides, we know our sister. She's a fighter and she'll claw and bite and scratch her way out before she lets whoever or whatever took her get the better of her."

Dominic snorted. "Yeah. I guess that's true." He looked over at the school building. "But what are we gonna tell people here? Devon's not some nobody; people are gonna notice that she's not here and we can only pass it off as her being sick for so long."

"Yeah, that's a tough one," DJ agreed. "I say we stick with the sick excuse for now, at least; I'll text Mateo and let him know so we're all on the same page. We'll have to have a family meeting to work out what we're going to say if she stays missing for much longer." He grabbed his backpack as opened the drivers' side door. "Now, that brings us to the Madison problem. She's probably about to bust a blood vessel since Devon's not groveling for forgiveness."

"Pfft. As much as I'd love to see that, I think my best bet is going to be to avoid her," Dominic said, grabbing his own backpack and climbing out of the Jeep as well. "I have a feeling she'll come after me before she even considers approaching you or Mateo. Perks of being the introvert, I guess."

"Can't you just squad up with your crew?" DJ asked. "You said you've got at least one of 'em in all of your classes, right? I'm sure they'll help ward her off once they know what's going on."

"What's going on with what?" came a voice from nearby. The boys looked up to see Harper, Dominic's closest friend, getting out of their car, closely followed by Errin and AJ.

"My dudes!" Dominic called out, throwing his arms up in greeting.

"Our dude!" Errin called out as she raced the rest of the way to Dominic, wrapping him a big hug and lifting him off the ground. She set him back down before turning to DJ and dipping into an exaggerated curtsy. "My good sir."

"M'lady," DJ greeted back, returning her curtsy with an equally exaggerated bow. He smiled at Harper and AJ as they closed the remaining distance. "Ah, my favorite theater kids all in one place."

"Ah, to think we'd get a glimpse of our favorite sportsball star back in his natural habitat," Harper replied, matching DJ's playful teasing.

"Speaking of sports, I don't see our favorite cheerleader anywhere," AJ pointed out. "Did Dev not ride to school with you guys?"

"Ah…no, she didn't," DJ said hesitantly. "She's not feeling well so Papa decided to keep her home today." A shout of his name from across the parking lot caught his attention and he looked up to see two of his friends from the football team waving to him. "Welp, it appears I'm being summoned." He clapped Dominic on the shoulder and sent the group one last smile. "I'll see you guys later."

"Later, man," Harper called to him as he walked off before turning their attention back to Dominic. "So, is it true?"

"Is what true?" Dominic asked as they began making their way to the entrance of the school.

"That Devon quit the cheer squad," Errin clarified. "Apparently Madison's been on the warpath for a few days now."

"Wonderful," Dominic groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "To answer your question, yes, it's true. That's part of what DJ and I were talking about when you guys rolled up. Madison's not happy that Dev quit because she's incapable of thinking about anybody but herself or else that big head of hers might explode. Since Dev's been, y'know…sick, she hasn't really been in contact with anyone from school."

"Meaning she can't beg the queen for forgiveness," Errin reasoned.

"Exactly," Dominic replied. "And since she's not here today, I'm a little concerned that Madison and/or her cronies are gonna corner me. Y'all know I'm not great with confrontation, so I was wondering if-"

"Oh dude, say no more," AJ interjected, gently punching Dominic on the shoulder. "You know we've got your back."

"Especially if it involves sticking it to that harpy," Errin agreed with a smirk.

"I know I've said it before, Errin, but I would pay any amount of money to see you suplex her," Dominic said, holding his hand up to high-five her.

"Boy-o, you know I'd do it for free," Errin chirped, slapping her palm against his as they headed into the school.

'What the actual hell just happened?!' Devon thought as Cater led the quartet back to the gates of the dorm. She'd seen Deuce and Grim beat Cater back with their magic multiple times but he kept coming at them as if he'd never been hit at all.

"Come back and try again when you've got an apology tart with you, kay?" Cater told them, the playful smile from before plastered back on his face as he closed the gates on them. "Bye-bye~!" he chirped with a wave.

"What the hell is with that guy?!" Ace shouted in frustration.

"No matter how many times we took him down, he kept coming right back. Do you think he was using some kind of illusion magic?" Deuce mused.

Ace's red eyes widened as he realized something. "Hold up. If you can't enter the dorm at all if you're out of compliance with the rules, we should've been turned away at the gate. Besides, he could see we didn't have anything with us but he didn't say anything." His face twisted into a scowl. "He just wanted us to paint those stupid roses for him!"

"He's got some nerve, makin' us look like chumps like that!" Grim growled.

"Looks like there's no helping it," Deuce said, shaking his head with a defeated look on his face. "I guess we'll have to get a tart before we come back. We can probably go after-" His eyes widened and he froze in place. "Oh crap!"

"What is it?" Devon asked.

"We've already missed the first bell! We're gonna be late if he keep standing around!" Deuce exclaimed.

"Fgnya! My radiant school life is going to be tarnished on the first day!" Grim shouted. "Let's get a move on, guys!"

"That reminds me, what class are you guys in?" Ace asked as they scrambled to the mirror portal leading back to the main campus. "You're freshmen too, right?"

"Yeah. Headmaster said we're in Class 1-A," Devon told him.

"Oh nice, that's the one we're in too," Deuce said. "Our first class is Potions."

"Oooh, that sounds fun!" Grim cheered.

"Maybe I won't need my magic for that one," Ace mused quietly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Guess we'll find out together, man" Devon assured him as they stepped back through the mirror.

Ending Notes: Well, we finally got to meet Cater. And I finally got to introduce Dominic's squad. I plan on officially introducing Madison in the next chapter. She an absolute peach. And yes, Dominic is the "original male character" I plan on pairing with Idia (who am I kidding; y'all probably figured that out forever ago). Obviously this isn't going to be for a while and I don't want to spoil how it unfolds but I hope you'll be looking forward to it too.

Devon and Cater end up developing a beautiful flirtationship and I am here for it (not because I want to write Ace getting huffy over it, what are you talking about). I've seen a lot of fics where the MC gets uncomfortable with Cater flirting with them (and I'm not saying anything against that; it's a completely understandable reaction to being hit on by a total stranger and I know it would 100% be my reaction) so I wanted to try something a little different with my MC/OC where she tends to just kinda…roll with it.

Ya know, this makes me really excited to see her square off with Rook.

Rook: *waxing poetic about how beautiful something is, complete with plenty of French thrown in*

Devon: *does the same thing but with Spanish and/or Portuguese instead of French*

Epel: Please make it stop…

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