Author's Notes: I've been looking forward to this reveal for a while now! I hope you guys enjoy it too!

I want to say a quick word before we get things started here: I want you guys to know that I really do appreciate all the reviews you all have sent me. Some of you are raising points and asking questions that I would love to address with you, but unfortunately this site doesn't allow me to interact directly with guest reviews. I don't want you all to think that I'm ignoring or don't care about your reviews because they absolutely make my day.

To say that Madison Lawrence was unhappy was the understatement of the year. It was bad enough that her so-called "best friend" left her in the lurch for cheer this year; none of the other idiots on the squad had what it took to be her vice-captain. Marcy was the closest to the ideal but she was a sycophant through and through, perfectly content to just parrot whatever Madison said without a single independent thought behind her eyes; Madison needed someone with a brain in their head at her side if the squad wanted to make it to regionals this year. Tryouts were supposed to be this evening, but without Devon's weird magnetism that drew people to her, the turnout was shaping up to be a disappointing one.

Now she'd come to find out that Devon had gone and transferred to some fancy-pants boarding school for gifted teenagers or whatever. The issue wasn't so much that Devon had transferred (that was part of the problem but it wasn't the most important one); it was the fact that she'd had to find out through school's grapevine. From someone who wasn't even in their social circle, at that! She knew she wouldn't have been able to stop Devon from going if that was what her heart was set on, but she figured her best friend position meant that Devon would've at least told her about it herself. She still wasn't answering Madison's calls, either, so all Madison could do was let her anger fester and try to pull information out of whoever seemed like they might know something. She power-walked down the hallway in search of one specific person she was hoping to crack for more information. She hadn't memorized Dominic's schedule but she was fairly certain he hadn't left school yet.

A familiar head of purple hair came into her line of sight and she picked up the pace to reach it. "Dominic!" she called out, her voice echoing through the hallway and causing the boy to jump. She saw his shoulders slump once he recognized her voice, but he didn't bother to turn to face her.

"You bellowed?" Dominic drawled, still gathering his things from his locker as AJ leaned against the wall next to him.

"Have you heard from Devon since her big transfer?" Madison demanded as she crossed her arms.

"Yep. Talked to her the other day, actually," Dominic told her. His tone became more taunting as he continued. "Seems like she's really liking it there. She's already got herself some new friends and everything."

"So can you tell me what she said?" Madison asked impatiently, gripping her arms tightly.

"Sure can," Dominic replied. He didn't elaborate any further, zipping up his backpack and closing his locker before turning to AJ. "Let's go, man."

"Hang on! Don't you walk away from me!" Madison exclaimed as she grabbed Dominic's shoulder.

Dominic bristled when she grabbed him, thankful that he wasn't facing her so she couldn't see the brief expression of terror that flickered over his face. He shared a quick glance with AJ before steeling his features and jerking his shoulder out of Madison's grip. "I don't know what makes you think it's okay to just grab at people like that, but it's gonna land you in trouble one of these days." He brushed some non-existent dirt off his hoodie. "As for Dev, you asked me if I could tell you what she said and I can. You didn't ask me if I would and there's no way in hell I'm telling you anything."

"Can you at least tell me why all of a sudden she's too good to return my calls?" Madison asked, planting her hands on her hips.

"No, I really can't. That's between you and her," Dominic said. "All I know is that Dev has a lot going on right now. She has other things to focus on than all the drama you like to kick up."

Madison opened her mouth to argue more, but AJ interjected. "I know this might be a difficult concept for you to grasp, Madison, but you aren't the center of everyone's universe. Devon can make her own choices, she doesn't need your permission to do anything. This Night Raven school said they wanted her, so she went. Get over it."

"I don't remember asking for your opinion," Madison sneered.

"And we don't remember asking you to ruin our afternoon, but here you are," AJ shot back.

"For real, can you just-ack!" Dominic began, only to cut himself off as he felt a sharp pain in his head, the suddenness and intensity bringing him to his knees. His eyes flicked down to his bracelet, but the iridescent stone wasn't glowing; he supposed that was a good thing since he wasn't sure how he'd explain it if it had been.

AJ was kneeling down next to him in an instant. "Dom, are you okay?! What happened?"

"I-I'm not sure. I-" Dominic was cut off as AJ, Madison, and the rest of the school hallway fell away. All he could see were spots of black splattering against a bright red background.

"Dom? Dom?!" AJ shouted, shaking his friend's shoulders to try and snap him back to reality. Dominic's head was angled down toward the floor, his eyes glazed over in an unblinking stare. It could've just been a trick of the light, but AJ could've sworn he saw Dominic's eyes flicker purple for a split-second before changing back to their usual hazel color.

"What's his problem?" Madison asked. "If he thinks he's gonna get out of answering me-"

"Ugh, just get out of here!" AJ shouted. "Can you not see that we've got bigger problems right now?!" He started trying to haul Dominic to his feet. "Ya know, I don't know why Devon decided to transfer schools, but I wouldn't blame her if she did it to get away from you."

"Uurggh," Dominic groaned, shaking his head as his eyes came back into focus. He looked around, getting his bearings, before his gaze landed back on AJ. "What happened?"

"I should be asking you that, dude," AJ replied, pulling Dominic back to his feet. "You went completely catatonic on me for a second there. Are you okay? Did you hit your head before or something?"

"No, I don't think so," Dominic said, still in a daze. He caught sight of the concerned look on AJ's face and sent him a small smile. "I promise I feel fine. It's probably just stress."

"I still think we should get you to the nurse's office," AJ said. "Better safe than sorry, y'know?"

Dominic nodded, knowing there was little point in arguing. "Fair enough." He let AJ lead him away, ignoring Madison's protests in the background. When they reached the office and walked inside, they were more than a little surprised to see that DJ was already there. The pink-haired triplet was sitting in one of the plastic chairs lined against the office wall while Noah leaned against the desk across from him.

"You good, DJ?" Dominic asked. "I thought you guys were going to be running drills today."

"Yeah, we were," DJ replied. He sent a playful glare toward Noah. "I just felt a little pain in my head and Mr. Worrywart over here insisted on haulin' me in to get checked out."

"There's nothing "little" about pain that literally causes a person to drop to their knees like you did, man," Noah retorted. "You can pout all you want, but I'm not going to apologize for worrying."

"I know, I know," DJ conceded, holding his hands up in surrender. "For real, though, the concern is very much appreciated. Thanks for letting me lean on you on the way here too; I don't think my ass would've made it if I tried to get here on my own."

"You're here about a pain in your head too?" Dominic asked, his eyes flicking toward DJ's bracelet in a silent question as he sat down next to him.

"Yeah," DJ replied, catching on to Dominic's question and giving him a quick, barely noticeable shake of the head in answer. "Did yours come completely out of nowhere too?" He let out a chuckle. "You guys think this is some kind triplet telepathy thing?"

Dominic leaned closer to DJ while AJ and Noah were distracted with their theories on whether or not telepathy between siblings was a thing. "Nice distraction." He blew out a breath. "Did you see the ink blots too?"

DJ quirked a brow. "The what now?"

"Guess that's a no." Dominic glanced toward their friends to make sure they were still distracted before he continued. "When the pain first started, I guess I must've blacked out for a second. All I could see were these black drops of ink filling up an empty red space. There was no context, no people around, nothing, but it felt…ominous."

"You think it has something to do with Dev?" DJ asked.

"I'm almost one hundred percent certain it does," Dominic replied. "Let's just hope she's not in over her head with whatever's going on."

"-chman? Devon!"

Devon jerked her head away from the voice shouting in her ear. Everything came swimming back into focus and she was immediately met with the concerned stares of her friends. "What gives, guys? Why are y'all lookin' at me like that?"

"Uh, I dunno. Maybe because you totally froze up on us, complete with glowing blue eyes of doom!" Ace retorted.

"He's right," Deuce agreed. "We couldn't get you to move at all. Ace had to carry you over here."

Devon looked around and saw that they were indeed standing a good distance away from where they were before she blacked out. Trey, Cater, and Crowley had joined them as well.

"Glad you've come back to us, Dev," Cater said. "I don't think we're equipped to handle more than one crisis right now."

"What do you mean?" Devon asked. Cater pointed to the ink dome that had covered Riddle. It quickly receded to reveal the Heartslabyul dorm leader…at least, it mostly looked like him. His skin was now an ashen grey color and his stormy eyes were now red, the right one emitting a glowing red trail of magical energy. His outfit looked mostly the same, but it had been changed as well; the golden crown on his head had been replaced with a crown of ink that dripped into his hair, the ink running down his arms resembled torn black gloves, and there were now white roses gathered at his waist that had, you guessed it, ink dripping onto the tops. The real kicker, though, was the massive shadowy creature that was hovering behind him. Devon's eyes widened in disbelief. 'Is that…Is that some kind of corrupted patchwork Queen of Hearts monster?! And why does it have an ink jar for a face like that thing we fought at the mine?!' "What the actual hell?! What happened to him?!"

Riddle hovered in the air, a trail of magic attaching him to the shadow monster behind him. He began cackling as he reveled in his newfound power. "Hmhmhmhm…HAHAHAHA!" His red eyes locked onto the freshmen quartet, his expression one of unhinged rage. "Anyone foolish enough to disobey me has no place in my world. I am the rules here! I am the very law itself! I'll accept no other response than "Yes, Lord Riddle"! Any who object can say goodbye to their heads!" His lips twisted into a crazed smile as he cackled again. "AHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Ahh, just look at this mess! To think a student would go into Overblot right in front of me!" Crowley lamented.

"Over what now?" Grim asked. "What is that? And why does Riddle look more evil that usual?"

"Overblot is a state that mages must avoid at all costs!" Crowley explained. "Mr. Rosehearts is caught up in a storm of negative energy; he's lost control of his emotions and his magic!"

"Yeah, I'm still lost!" Grim said.

"Same!" Deuce added.

Cater heaved an exasperated sigh. "Okay, to put it simply, Riddle's gone into an evil berserker state and he needs to be snapped out of it, like, yesterday!"

"Yeah," Trey agreed. "If this goes on for much longer, we could be looking at a loss of life here. His included!"

Grim's eyes widened as he and Devon exchanged a look. "His life?!"

"Right now, the top priority is the safety of the other students," Crowley told them. "I'll make sure everyone gets evacuated. Mr. Rosehearts must be brought back to his senses before he runs out of magic." He lowered his voice, speaking more to himself than the group, but Devon and Grim were still able to hear him. "Losing his life would certainly be a tragedy but there are circumstances still worse than that…"

"Worse than…," Devon gestured at the rampaging dorm leader. The shadow creature behind him had materialized giant rose trees in each of its hands, decimating the walls of the rose maze and it swung them around. "all this? I find that hard to believe!"

Crowley cleared his throat, not expecting anyone would overhear him. "Nevermind that now, hatchling." He patted her head before gesturing toward the group as a whole. "I'm going to need all of you to round up all the faculty and dorm leaders you can find and bring them here to assist-"

Ace exchanged a look with Deuce, Devon, and Grim as the headmaster was speaking. They all nodded before rushing toward Riddle, Ace and Deuce getting their magical pens ready. "Eat this!" Ace shouted as he fired off a wind spell.

"Come forth, cauldron!" Deuce yelled, summoning a large cauldron to drop down on Riddle.

"Nnnyaah!" Grim summoned up some of his signature blue fire.

Riddle batted all their magic aside easily, fixing them with a haughty glare. "Just what do you whelps think you're doing?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys! What's going on here?!" Cater exclaimed.

"You heard that bit about the "loss of life", right?" Grim reminded him.

"Time is a factor here, isn't it?" Devon asked. "If we take too long to get help, he'll be too far gone. We may not have the highest opinion of him but he doesn't deserve this."

"Exactly," Deuce agreed. "I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night if he got to that point. And besides…"

"He hasn't apologized or admitted he was wrong yet!" Ace finished. "I'm not letting him off the hook that easily!"

"You guys…," Trey said quietly before hardening his expression into one of steely resolve and pulling out his own magical pen. "Alright, let's do this then! I can keep overwriting his magic with my own, but I won't be able to keep this up forever! You guys have to beat him while I can keep my Unique Magic active!" He looked at Crowley over his shoulder as he ran out to join the freshman. "Headmaster, please see that the other residents get out of here safely!"

"Hold on, all of you! This is much too dangerous!" Crowley shouted to them.

"Yeah!" Cater agreed. "And why are you encouraging this, Trey? You know you can't beat Riddle!"

"Pssh. Only challenging people you know you can beat is lame!" Ace scoffed.

"Not cool at all!" Grim agreed.

"Besides, unless you have a better idea, I can't think of anything else that'll bring the dorm leader back to his senses quickly enough," Deuce reasoned.

"My thoughts exactly. And…," Trey paused, looking at Riddle with what appeared to be regret written on his features. "I can't lose him here. There's…There's still something I need to say to him."

"There's no going back now!" Devon said. She looked over at Cater as he stood uncertainly nearby. "What'll it be, man? Are you with us or not?"

Cater met Devon's determined gaze and felt his resolve start to crumble. For all his talk about loving the clout he got on Magicam, he generally made it a point to avoid getting directly involved in any serious campus drama. He was hoping this would be no different but he couldn't bring himself to just walk away, not when someone's life was potentially at stake…and not when his friends were willing to risk theirs to prevent it. He heaved a sigh as he readied his pen. "Aaah damn it! Fine, I get it!" He headed over to join the group. "But let me make it clear that I do not like this idea one bit!"

"I swear, you lot…," Crowley grumbled in frustration. "Very well. There's no time to argue about this now! I'll be back as soon as I get everyone else evacuated! Hold fast until I return!"

"You all have some nerve to challenge me…," Riddle growled, drawing everyone's attention back to him as the headmaster took off. Magical energy began to crackle around him, the aura attaching him to the creature behind growing larger as fed off of the increased output. "I hope you're all ready to lose your heads!"

"Riddle's body can't keep up with the amount of magic he's expelling," Trey told them. "We have to stop him before it's too late!" He pointed his pen at Riddle, right as the latter began the signature arm-sweeping motion that accompanied his Unique Magic. "[Paint The Roses]!"

Riddle growled in frustration as another wave of card suits appeared instead of his sealing collar. "Damn it. Damn it! Why do you insist on getting in my way, Trey?!"

"Good goin', Specs!" Grim praised. "Now Riddle can't take our magic away!"

"He can't keep this up forever!" Cater reminded them. "We're still in a bind over here!"

"I'll keep Off With Your Head sealed for as long as I can!" Trey assured them. "Just focus on finishing this!"

"Anybody got any bright ideas?" Ace asked. He looked over at Devon hopefully. "You've been our idea girl from jump, New York, so I'm hoping you've got something rollin' around in there."

"Well…," Devon began hesitantly. "I do have one idea. I'm thinkin' we play this like we did with the creature we fought in the mines."

"You mean the one where you used yourself as live bait while we pummeled it with magic?" Ace asked. He shook his head. "No way, it's too dangerous. This is a completely different ballgame now."

"I agree," Deuce added. "I don't feel comfortable asking you to risk your life like that again."

"I appreciate the concern, guys, but we're all risking our lives here," Devon pointed out. "Besides, unless one of you has a better idea, we don't really have time to brainstorm right now."

"She's got a point," Cater agreed. "I'm not wild about putting her in danger, either, but we don't really have the luxury of debating this." He turned his green eyes toward Devon. "Do what you gotta do, cutie. Just know that if something happens to you, you'll be getting an earful from Trey."

Devon smiled gratefully and saluted him. "Sure thing." She looked over at Zephyr. "Let's go, bud." She and Zephyr began charging toward one of the upended rose trees nearby. 'Okay, Ace had a point; the creature we saw in the mines only cared about the stone it was guarding, so it only paid attention to whoever was holding it at the time. Riddle's not quite that single-minded, so I doubt I'll be able to keep his attention on me alone, especially once the guys start attacking him. The easiest way to distract him would probably be to make him mad.' She chuckled to herself. 'Luckily for me, that's not especially hard. And as for how to do that…' A mischievous smile crept over her face as she eyed the roses on the tree. She brought her fingers to her lips and blew out a whistle to draw Riddle's attention to her. "Ay, cabron! Look what I'm doing!" She waited until Riddle was looking at her before pulling one of the roses off the tree.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Riddle screeched, his attention fully on Devon now. "Stop that at once!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is this bothering you~?" Devon asked mockingly as she plucked another rose. 'I am gonna have to do so much apologizing after all this is over.' "Why don't ya come over here and stop me, then?"

Riddle screeched again, his grey skin turning red in anger as he commanded the creature behind him. It swung one of the massive rose trees in its grip in her direction. Devon cartwheeled out of the way to evade the blow and her friends seized on the distraction to fire off some spells. All of them made contact with the shadow creature, causing it to flicker when they hit, but it remained strong.

"Just how much magic has this guy been packin' away?!" Ace wondered aloud.

"I am absolutely, definitely in the right!" Riddle shouted as he turned toward them. He was gearing up to swing one of the trees at them when Devon called out to him again.

"Down by the river in the old cemetery, that's where your ass is gonna get buried!" Devon chanted. 'Didn't think I'd be doin' this again so soon.'

"Uuughhhhii!" Riddle screamed as he refocused on her, swinging the rose trees left and right in an attempt to crush her.

"Umm…what was that?" Grim asked after blowing out another fire spell.

"I mean…she did say she was a cheerleader back home," Deuce recalled.

"I've seen Riddle get provoked by a lot of things, but I don't think I've ever seen it done quite like that," Cater observed.

"Riddle…," Trey muttered as he watched Riddle continue losing himself to his anger, clearly distressed at just how far his childhood friend had fallen.

"Stay focused, Trey!" Cater reminded him before firing off another spell. "The second you let your guard down and stop overwriting Riddle's magic, we're all done for!"

"Right! Sorry!" Trey apologized as he refocused himself.

Devon continued distracting Riddle with her cheer taunts, doing her best to dodge when he inevitably lashed out with the trees. Zephyr was able to deflect the worst of the damage using Wind Magic, but Devon still ended up with a few scratches and scrapes. She managed to keep Riddle's attention for a while and the boys' spells were definitely working; his movements were getting slower and sloppier with each hit and it seemed that the trail of magic tethering Riddle to the creature was getting thinner.

After a few minutes, though, it began getting harder to keep Riddle's attention on her. He must have figured out what their plan was because he was beginning to focus his attention almost exclusively on the boys, only facing Devon when Zephyr blasted him with Wind Magic. She glanced around, trying to think of another plan. Time wasn't on their side to begin with and they were all starting to sense that what little they had was almost up. Devon wondered if the same trick she'd used on the monster in the Dwarf's Mine would work with Riddle. The monster behind him seemed like it was just some sort of specter, but judging by the size of the craters it left behind when the trees in its hands hit the ground, it was definitely solid enough to damage itself. She took in her surroundings to try and see if she could formulate a parkour path out of the now-destroyed rose maze.

Zephyr quickly caught on to what she was planning and pulsed at her in concern. "I know it's dangerous but we don't really have a lot of options here, bud," Devon replied. She took another look at the thinning trail of magical energy. "We need to destroy that monster before Riddle runs out of magic and it looks like he's getting dangerously close to that. He already used a ton of magic before he even went into Overblot." Zephyr gave a resigned pulse but didn't move to stop her. "Just trust me, Zeph. You'll watch my back, right?" She waited for Zephyr to give her a pulse in the affirmative before taking off toward a wrought-iron gate. She clambered to the top before using it to vault to the top of one of the hedges (which thankfully held her weight) and sped along, jumping over the gaps where some of the maze walls had been toppled, until she was level with the specter's back. "Welp…hope I don't die."

She vaulted off the top of the hedge and landed on the creature's back, just as she planned. Her next step was supposed to be doing what she did last time: press herself as tightly as she could against the things' ink bottle head and see if she could get it to injure itself. Unfortunately, she was hit with another intense wave of nausea and a splitting pain in her head as soon as she landed on the creature's back. The sudden pain rendered her unable to move and the specter wasted no time dropping one of the trees it was carrying and grabbing her up in its giant hand, tossing her to the side effortlessly.

Devon screamed in pain as she hit the ground. She was thankful that Zephyr had been able to summon up a wind spell in time to cushion the fall but the intense pain she felt on impact let her know she was still dealing with a bruised rib, at best. She could hear her friends panicked voices calling out to her, but their voices were drowned out by another voice, a familiar one that echoed through her mind. As Mala's voice repeated what sounded like the same incantation from just a couple days prior when Devon was finally able to connect to her family, some sort of unfamiliar pressure began building in her stomach. She could make out the "bond, unbreakable" line again, but this time another part of the incantation was becoming clearer to her.

Devon found herself unable to focus on any one thing, her attention shifting back and forth between the pain her injured rib was causing, Mala's voice, the pressure in her stomach that was continuing to build with each passing second, and the fact that Riddle had now fully turned toward her, a crazed look in his eyes as the creature behind him began to reach toward her again. Her instincts were screaming at her to get up, that she probably wouldn't make it out if that thing was able to grab her again, but she couldn't get her body to move. She could see Zephyr firing off wind spells left and right in an attempt to keep the specter from getting to her, but they appeared to have no effect. The pressure was becoming more and more intense as it spread from her stomach through her entire body, as if it was reacting to the danger she was in when, right as the monster began to close its' giant hand around her, it finally erupted and the next part of Mala's incantation echoed clearly through Devon's mind.

"Sweet Devon, may your kindness serve as the key to unlock even the most troubled of hearts and help them to banish the shadows therein."

And then everything went dark.

Lilia froze as he walked down one of the hallways in the Diasomnia dorm. He could sense of large amount of magical energy coming from somewhere at the school, though he couldn't pinpoint the exact location. He walked over to one of the windows and looked out over the briar and bramble at the perpetually grey Diasomnia sky. He had heard that the Heartslabyul dorm leader had gone into Overblot, but the energy he was sensing now wasn't tainted with negative emotions; in fact, what he was feeling now was almost…calming. He recalled the odd feeling he'd gotten from the Ramshackle girl and smiled to himself. 'It appears the egg of power I sensed in you has finally hatched, little bat. I can't wait to see how it grows for you.'

By this time, most of the Heartslabyul students had been evacuated but plenty of stragglers remained nearby. Overblots were a rare enough occurrence, yet none of them could think to grab their phones to post pictures or livestream from their Magicam accounts. All they could do was stand there frozen in terror, helpless to do more than watch as Riddle's blot incarnation grabbed Devon and threw her to the side like a ragdoll. They winced as she hit the ground, their concerned expressions only growing when she screamed out in pain. They looked at the small group of their dormmates (and Devon's magic cat/raccoon familiar thing) brave enough to put up a fight, firing off spell after spell to try to draw Riddle's attention away from their fallen friend and hopefully give her time to get back on her feet.

"C'mon, New York! Get up!" Ace yelled, firing off another wind spell.

"I-I'm sure she's…trying…," Deuce said uncertainly, trying to reassure himself more than Ace.

"This is getting worse by the second!" Trey added, struggling to keep his Unique Magic active. "At this rate, Riddle's going to run out of magic."

"Nevermind that!" Ace shot back, his eyes widening as Riddle turned to face Devon. His stomach sunk as he realized what was about to happen. "If we don't think of something quick, he's gonna kill our friend!"

"Why is she just lying there?!" Grim asked as he watched his henchman try and fail to push herself back up, her breathing shallow and uneven. "She knows what'll happen if he grabs her again!"

"She's probably still in shock from that throw," Cater replied. "That means we have to double time it, guys! Throw everything you've got at Riddle and try to get him to back off of her!"

The rest of the group did as Cater instructed but their spells weren't able to slow Riddle down. The shadow creature behind him flickered each time it was hit, so they knew they were damaging it, but it never showed any sign of fading away for good. The creature reached its massive hand out to either pick Devon up again or squish her into the ground, they weren't entirely sure which one.

"I'd planned on making an example out of that red-haired charlatan," Riddle growled as a crazed smile spread over his face, his eyes feral as kept his focus on Devon. "but I suppose you'll make a decent substitute. It'll be my genuine pleasure to silence that smart mouth of yours for good."

"Riddle, stop! I know you're angry right now, but you're about to do something that can't be undone!" Trey called out in a futile attempt to bring Riddle back to his senses.

"There's no point in trying to reason with him now!" Ace countered as he and Grim began charging around Riddle in an attempt to reach Devon first.

"Where are you guys going?!" Deuce asked.

"If you think I'm about to stand back and let that tyrant kill the henchman I worked so hard to get, you've got another thing coming!" Grim called back over his shoulder. They had nearly reached her when a bright blue light began shining near the center of Devon's chest, her eyes once again glowing with the same hue. In less than a second, the light had engulfed her entire body and she was finally able to get to her feet.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me! What now?!" Ace yelled in exasperation.

"Hang on, Ace. I'm not sure what's goin' on, but I think Devon's weird glowy trick is helping us," Grim pointed out, his tail pointing toward Riddle. The shadow creature had stopped in its tracks, jerking back from Devon as if she'd burned it. Riddle tried to shield his eyes as the glow started to get brighter, urging the monster to try and grab Devon again, but each time it got too close, it would be forced to move back. Every time it was forced to move back, its tether to Riddle grew thinner and its form began to look less solid.

"What in the name of the Great Seven is going on here?" Trey asked.

Devon was back on her feet when she came to, the pain in her side dulled considerably. A quick glance down at herself made her aware of the blue aura surrounding her and another glance at Riddle told her that said aura was bad news for his Overblot form. Riddle shrieked in frustration as he ordered the monster to reach out and grab her yet again, only for it to be forced back away from the light she was emitting. 'Is this what Mala meant by "helping them banish the shadows"?' Devon mused. 'Mama said Mala blessed my brothers and me when we were babies but I didn't think that meant giving us literal superpowers!'

"Dev!" Deuce called out from across the way. "Are you okay?!"

"What's going on?! Why are you glowing?" Cater added.

"I'm good, Deuce…I think," Devon tried to assure her friend. She looked at Riddle again and saw that the stream of energy connecting him to the creature behind him had thinned out drastically and the creature itself was beginning to fade. She called out to her friends. "I'm not exactly sure what's going on here, but I think Riddle's just about beat. He clearly doesn't like this aura that's making me a human glowstick, so I'll try to glow as bright as I can. If you guys can put everything you've got into one last shot, I think we can end this."

"You underestimate me even now?" Riddle seethed, his attention still on Devon even as the rest of the group began charging up their final spells. "I'll teach you your place, you talentless whelp!"

Devon quirked an eyebrow, trying to keep Riddle focused on her. "Will you, though? You haven't been doin' a great job of it so far." 'Okay… Banishing shadows… Just focus on severing his connection to that monster thing before he runs out of magic.' She looked at Riddle again as she tried to focus on the aura. There were black veins snaking over his face and the visible parts of his arms, most likely due to staying in Overblot for an extended period; she had a feeling this last shot really would decide Riddle's fate, for better or worse. They may not have gotten off on the best foot and she certainly didn't appreciate how he had treated her and her friends, but his strictness and almost fanatical adherence to the rules was still preferable to…this. She blew out a breath and focused on bringing him back to himself, her aura glowing brighter as she envisioned him healthy again and a strange, powerful warmth she'd never felt before began pooling inside her. Nearby, her friends had just about finished readying their own spells. Trey glanced around at everyone before giving her a subtle nod. She stretched her arms out toward Riddle, visualizing the still-growing pool of energy inside her gathering there. "Sorry, Riddle, but this is for your own good."

"Do it now!" Trey ordered.

Everyone fired off their strongest spells, even Zephyr summoned up the biggest twister they could. Devon focused on pushing the energy gathered inside her through her outstretched hands and toward Riddle. The redhead screamed in pain and the shadow creature shook its head rapidly as the magic hit it, splattering ink all over the garden. The specter began to convulse as the energy Devon fired off made contact with it. It struggled to maintain its grip on Riddle but ultimately disintegrated, leaving only a few thin wisps of red magical energy in its place.

"Looks like we've still got some work to do," Devon mused quietly as she eyed the remaining corrupted magic. "He's not completely free yet." She paused as some sort of instinct inside her corrected her. "No… I still have some work to do." She began walking swiftly toward Riddle, her stride confident and her aura still strong.

"Was…I wrong…?" Riddle asked dazedly, his voice losing the unnerving distortion it had when he first emerged from the ink dome. Without the monster tethering him, he was no longer able to hover in the air. "That…That can't be…" His leg wobbled as he landed back on the ground, the strain and exhaustion from both the Overblot and the damage he'd taken in battle to stop it beginning to take its toll. "Mo…ther…" He staggered forward a few steps before his legs gave out, causing him to sink to his knees. He was just about to face-plant into the dirt when someone gently grabbed his shoulders to keep him upright.

"Devon? What are you doing?" Cater asked as Devon knelt down in front of Riddle, keeping her hands on his shoulders to stop him from pitching forward.

"I have no idea," Devon answered honestly as she closed her eyes and touched her forehead to Riddle's. Her aura slowly began to spread to cover his body as well, burning and banishing the corrupted magic as it tried to reattach itself to Riddle. Both of them fell silent, their eyes closed as if they were sleeping.

"I hope you know what you're doin', New York," Ace said quietly, giving the blue-haired girl a concerned look. "And I've got about a half million questions for you when you get back."

Ending Notes: I have to say, I really love writing Dominic being both sassy and terrified at the same time. Poor kid's resting heart rate probably registers as a panic attack at this point.

Okay, first official Overblot battle is done! I really hope it turned out passable, at least; like I said before, I'm really not that great with fight scenes. We also got our first look at the blessing Devon received as a baby! I'm planning to reveal more about what exactly Devon's blessing (and her brothers') can do over the course of the story, but I can tell you now that it's going to evolve as the story goes on.

As much as I love the Heartslabyul arc, I'm kinda glad we're almost through it. I feel like I haven't had much of a chance to write a lot of original content that isn't set in Devon's old world. Granted, I don't really have much wiggle room early on since the prologue and the Heartslabyul arc take place within the first week of the school year (except for maybe the Unbirthday Party at the very end) and there's a lot going on. Now that it's winding down and there are more time skips in the other chapters, I'll be able to add more original content.

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