Author's Notes: Credit where it's due, I used tomatowars concept drawings for Ramshackle's interior on their Twitter as a reference for some of the rooms Devon visits in this chapter. I'd definitely recommend checking them out when you can. That concept art is incredible!

On another note, I'm playing the Masterchef/Culinary Crucible event on the English server…and they've got tacos in this one. I wasn't planning on covering those events anyway considering there isn't really much of a story (maybe I'll mention someone taking the class in passing, but that'll probably be it), but it just made me laugh.

On yet another note, the last part of the Ignihyde arc dropped on the Japanese server. As of this writing, I'm still waiting for fansubs but from what I've seen so far…I probably going to be ugly crying for a while. That's gonna be a fun arc to write.

Riddle and Devon were both officially cleared to leave the infirmary the next morning. There were signs of complications from Riddle's Overblot or Devon's new-found magic, though Riddle had been warned to limit any high-level magic use until the remaining blot had completely left his body. Devon had been given both the mending potions and more pain-relieving potions so she could move (and breathe) more or less normally as well as being excused from class for the day so that she could take it easy while the mending potion did its job over the weekend. Grim was furious to learn that the nurse's excuse did not extend to him as well, but thankfully Ace and Deuce dropped by to check on them and were able to haul Grim off to class. Devon laughed as she waved goodbye to everyone, promising them she'd meet them at Heartslabyul after classes ended.

With nothing left to do until then, she and Zephyr made their way back to Ramshackle. "I hope Regina's not too upset that we didn't come back last night," Devon said uneasily. Zephyr pulsed reassuringly but as soon as Devon walked through the gate, the walkway and stairs began shifting to pull her inside the building. The front door had barely swung open when Regina's "voice" could be heard asking if they were alright and how they, the other Wisps, and the Ramshackle ghosts had been out of their minds with worry ever since Deuce, Grim, and Cater stopped by the day before to fill them in on what had happened.

"What the heck happened out there, kid?" the shortest of the ghosts asked as the other two materialized nearby. "First you tell us you're headed off to watch your friends compete in some sort of duel and then your friends tell us you've been injured because someone went into Overblot?!"

"It's…kind of a long story," Devon replied. "But I've been excused from classes for today, so luckily I won't have to rush through it."

"A blessing, huh?" the skinny ghost commented, letting out an impressed whistle. "Not every day you come across someone with one of those."

"Are they really that rare?" Devon asked. "In my world, blessings can be given as part of certain religious ceremonies but they certainly don't bestow any powers on people."

"Well, blessings tend to be more commonly given in the various fae kingdoms of Twisted Wonderland," the chubby ghost explained. "Curses can be cast by just about anyone with sufficient enough talent but blessings are much more difficult."

Devon tilted her head as she sat down on one of the couches in the main lounge. "Curses?"

The chubby ghost nodded. "On a fundamental level, curses and blessings are the same thing: a type of…"condition", let's call it, that's cast on a person by an outside party that can usually only take an effect when a specific condition or set of conditions has been met. The only significant difference between them would be the intention of the caster, whether they intended to help or harm the person they cast the spell on."

Devon thought for a moment. "Mala definitely called her gifts to me and my brothers' blessings, so these abilities were clearly supposed to help us somehow. That makes me feel a little bit better about their blessings manifesting but I still wish I could give them a heads up…or at least ask our parents if they remember the entire blessing to figure out what each of our conditions are. I remember her saying I'd be able to "banish the shadows" from troubled hearts with my blessing and based on what Crowley said, a mage's emotions souring so badly they go into Overblot is about as troubled as someone's heart can get around here. That explains why I was able to use it on Riddle, but Deuce says he remembers my eyes doing the blue, glowy thing when we were coming back from the store and he certainly wasn't Overblotting. Crowley said this power was probably just manifesting in a smaller way and likely has been for my entire life but…there's still a lot that I don't know."

"I wish I could tell ya more, kid, I really do," the chubby ghost told her. "Curses were my primary field of study when I was alive, but what information I can recall about blessings has faded in my afterlife."

"Not that there's ever been much information to begin with," the skinny ghost added.

"Don't worry about it, Tios," Devon assured the ghosts. "I'm grateful for the information you could give."

The short ghost glanced at a nearby grandfather clock. "It's about time for us to make our rounds on campus, so we'll be heading out. You're supposed to be takin' it easy this weekend, so don't get up to too much trouble while we're out."

Devon giggled. "I can only promise to try."

The ghosts faded away after waving their goodbyes, leaving Devon to find some sort of low-exertion activity to occupy herself with until it was time to go to Heartslabyul. Thankfully, it wasn't long before she heard the excited whispers of the Wisps in the dorm. She quirked an eyebrow. "Y'all are actin' pretty sus right now. I feel like some shenanigans are about to start." Zephyr floated in front of her, pulsing a response. "You've got something to show me? Listen, I don't mean to sound paranoid but growing up with two brothers has made me a little...leery when I hear those words together in a sentence." Zephyr pulsed again, assuring her she'd like what they wanted her to see. She smiled. "Fine. Just as long as nothing, like…jumps at my face or anything."

Regina immediately began manipulating the floors to push her to the stairs, the tops of the stairs flattening out until they formed a ramp that Regina used to continue to push Devon along until she was standing in her bathroom. Zephyr pulsed at her excitedly and floated over to the sink. "You…wanted to show me the sink?" Devon asked. Zephyr huffed before floating down to the pedestal underneath the sink basin. Devon walked into the bathroom and crouched down next to Zephyr but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Still not sure what I'm supposed to be seein' here." One of Zephyr's wind whips emerged and the green orb used it to point toward what at first appeared to be a seam in the bathroom's wallpaper. Upon further inspection, however, Devon noticed that it was actually a small gap, impossible to notice at first glance. Devon followed the gap with her eyes and was surprised to find that it had three sides…almost like a small doorway. She looked back at Zephyr. "Is there something back there?" She pulled out her phone and used the flashlight to look in the small gap where the sink basin attached to the wall. Sure enough, there were what appeared to be two tracks just behind the basin that were just tall enough that they couldn't be seen looking at the sink head-on.

"Oooh, this is gonna be fun~!" Devon chirped, clapping her hands together and hopping back up to her feet. She gripped both sides of the sink basin, lifting up gently and gasping excitedly when she felt the sink moving upward along the track. There was a soft click and a narrow section of the wall just tall enough for Devon to walk through without needing to crouch down again opened inward to reveal a dark and equally narrow passageway. Devon looked at Zephyr again, the Wisp urging Devon to follow them as they zipped off into the passageway. She shrugged to herself before taking off after them.

"Okay, this was totally worth the suspense," Devon commented as Zephyr led her along the passageway, their comforting green glow lighting the way. She noticed that, while the passageway boasted the same thick layer of dust that the rest of the dorm did, it wasn't dilapidated at all. She figured it may have been because it didn't face as much exposure to the elements since it was inside the walls. She and Zephyr stopped at a three-way split in the passageway. "Which way should we go, Zeph?"

Zephyr led her down the pathway to the right and moments later they emerged in a small corridor, a spiral staircase on one side and what appeared to be a sliding panel on the other. She slid the panel to the side and stepped out into the third floor hallway. Looking at the panel from this side, she could see that it blended inconspicuously into the wall, its outline nearly invisible unless you were looking for it. "Do these passageways lead all over the dorm?" Zephyr pulsed in the affirmative. "How come you all didn't show us these until now?" Regina responded this time, telling Devon that she and Grim had only scratched the surface of what Ramshackle had to offer; there were plenty of secret rooms that could only be accessed by using the passageways, but the Wisps wanted Devon to experience them first and then decide whether or not she wanted to share them or use them as a private retreat. They were happy she was making new friends, of course, but that meant they hadn't been able to get her alone long enough to show her anything. A tendril of magical energy appeared from Zephyr as they nudged Devon impatiently toward the spiral staircase. "Okay, okay, Zeph. Calm down, I'm goin'."

Devon carefully made her way up the narrow staircase, realizing almost immediately that she was inside the turret of the dorm. Regina opened the door at the top of the staircase and the remaining Wisps led Devon inside. There was a small, circular room on the other side of the doorway. Sunlight poured in where it could through the boarded-up windows, but Devon could also see a ring-shaped candle chandelier suspended from the rafters. The room itself was sparsely decorated; there were a couple bookshelves strategically placed in the spaces between the windows as well as an armchair and a chaise lounge, but that was about it. Before Devon had time to examine the room more closely, a silvery-white Wisp that Devon had named Cosmo appeared in front of her and declared that she hadn't even seen the best part of the room yet. Before Devon could ask what they meant, Regina pulled the curtains to the windows shut and the room was plunged into darkness as the other Wisps ushered her toward the armchair, dimming their auras once she'd sat down. Cosmo's aura began to brighten and after a few seconds, the roof and rafters of the turret were completely covered by a night sky, the clearest and most beautiful sky she'd ever seen. Thousands of stars were visible, shining bright and free of any light pollution to blink them out. Devon could only gape, unable to get any words out as she looked around, trying to see if there were any far-off galaxies she could see or any constellations she recognized. She wasn't surprised when she didn't find anything familiar to her; she was in another world, after all.

"This is… I can't… Dang," was all Devon could bring herself to say. She kept her voice to a whisper, as if she was afraid the image would vanish if she spoke too loudly. When she finally tore her eyes away, she saw Cosmo pulsing proudly nearby. "I know you said you were a Cosmic Wisp when we met but I had no idea you could do that." Cosmo had explained to her when they'd met that Cosmic magic went by many names, but most humans preferred to call it Light or, more rarely, Stardust magic. It was a neutral magic, having no direct weaknesses to other types of magic but offering no advantages over other magic types either, making it ideal for defensive spells. The starry sky faded away slowly as Cosmo told Devon they'd be happy to show her (or anyone else she wanted to share it with) the spell again; all she had to do was call for them. Devon smiled in response. "Thanks, Cosmo. I think I'm definitely gonna be keeping this room to myself, at least for a little while. I kinda like the idea of having my own secret place."

Devon spent the rest of the morning trekking through the hidden passageways of Ramshackle with the help of the Wisps, learning where all the entrances and exits were and finding more hidden or semi-hidden rooms as well as a staircase that led out onto the roof. It hadn't really occurred to Devon until then just how big Ramshackle actually was, made even more so by the fact that she and Grim were the only living residents. Unfortunately, the more rooms she discovered meant more rooms that had to be cleaned out before she could really make use of them. She'd stumbled across a room with canvases of various sizes stacked along the walls, and thankfully out of the way of the elements, that she was hoping to turn into a sort of art studio, but there was quite a bit of junk and debris that she'd need to clear out in order to make use of it. The first thing she needed to do was figure out what all she could use and what needed to be thrown out. The Wisps helped to the best of their ability, making sure she didn't do too much stretching, bending, or pulling.

Devon had found a sideboard and a couple small nightstands that she was hoping to restore and put to use in other rooms of the dorm as well as a large shelf shaped like a crescent moon. Once she'd determined that they were in decent enough shape to be reused, a red Warp Wisp she'd dubbed Flapjack would transport the furniture down to the lounge. As Devon checked the sideboard to make sure there was nothing inside it, her eyes landed on what appeared to be a metal box of some sort. She pulled it out carefully to get a better look, opening it up to see a small, slender object laying on a purple cushion. It was an aged bronze color with a clear crystalline orb at the top. "What is this…?" she wondered aloud. "It looks pretty important. Why was it just stuffed away here?"

The Wisps floated closer to take a look and a purplish-black Void Wisp named Nyx informed Devon that she'd found the magic staff that was traditionally bestowed on Ramshackle's dorm leader…back when it was an official student dorm. Regina further supplied that all the dorms used to have a special ceremony performed whenever a new dorm leader was chosen that involved the dorm's staff being passed to them. These ceremonies had ended once the school began bestowing magical pens to all their students, but even now the dorm leaders could manifest their own pens into staffs in keeping with the tradition. Devon let out a small 'hmm' in response, recalling Riddle's own magical pen becoming a staff during the duel with Ace and Deuce. "That still doesn't explain why Crowley never took this back. According to him, Ramshackle hadn't been used to house students for a hot minute before Grim and I showed up. It's not like he hasn't had time to come and get it." Nyx responded with a deadpan pulse, basically saying 'Girl, have you met the headmaster?' Devon snorted. "Yeah, I guess that's true. What should we do with this, then? Should I just had to his office and give it back?"

Marina chimed in softly with a suggestion. Sure, Devon could return the staff to the headmaster. Or…she could keep it and use it herself. She'd been named the dorm leader of Ramshackle by the headmaster himself and since she didn't have a magical pen of her own, there shouldn't be any rule against her using it. Devon looked at the Water Wisp incredulously. "I mean…having my own magic staff sounds amazing but how exactly am I supposed to use it if I can't use magic myself? At least not reliably."

Flapjack pulsed eagerly before sinking into the staff, much like Regina had done when they enchanted the dorm. The staff began to emit a soft aura before floating up and elongating until it reached about to Devon's hip when stood upright. The orb at the top was no longer clear; it was now emitting a red glow that matched Flapjack's 'body' exactly. "What the heck?!" Devon exclaimed. "I thought Regina was the only one that could do that." Flapjack, still able to communicate with her from inside the staff, explained that Regina was the only one of them powerful enough to enchant an entire building, but all of them could enchant an object like a staff with no problem. Zephyr went on to explain that since the staff had magic of its own already, that would make it easier for any Wisps within it to cast spells outside of the type of magic they were made of; the Wisp in question would just be acting as a power source in tandem with Devon. "That does sound pretty convenient." She looked over at Zephyr. "I won't lie to you, bud, I'm really grateful that you're willing to zap me into my gym uniform and back again, but I worry that it takes a toll on you sometimes since it isn't Wind magic." Zephyr pulsed reassuringly, promising her it wasn't an issue for them, but that they would be glad to use the staff if it would ease her worries.

It was at this point that Terra, a dark green Ground Wisp, spoke up. They told Devon that using the staff meant that more of the Wisps could accompany her now as well. When the girl gave them a confused look, they elaborated that plenty of the other Wisps wanted to help ensure their human friend's safety but had agreed that too many Wisps following Devon around would just draw unwanted attention. Most of the student body (at least the people Devon saw and interacted with regularly) were already growing used to Zephyr and barely batting an eye at their presence, but a flock of different colored orbs would likely catch someone's eye no matter how many times they'd seen it.

"How many of you can actually fit in here, though?" Devon asked, looking at the orb at the top of the staff. "Seems like it'd be pretty cramped and I don't want you guys to be uncomfortable…" Terra scoffed playfully (as well as they could without a voice) as all of the Wisps aside from Regina began to sink into the staff as well, resulting in the orb at the top glowing with a multitude of different colors. Regina explained that Wisps could adjust their size at will and that all of the Wisps were, in truth, much larger than how they presented themselves. Zephyr and the others could fill an entire room each at their true size and Regina could easily dwarf Ramshackle entirely; Wisps tended to prefer smaller forms because it was less conspicuous and made it easier to hide. Devon let out a short laugh as all of the Wisps except Flapjack emerged from the staff. "I'm still not sure how I feel about taking the staff, though." She held it uncertainly, feeling the warmth of Flapjack's magic as they tried to encourage her. "Grim and I are supposed to be two halves of one student. Wouldn't taking the staff be like cheating?"

Cosmo heaved the Wisp equivalent of a sigh before reasoning that taking the staff wouldn't be giving her an unfair advantage, it would be leveling the playing field. The truth of it was that Grim's Fire magic wasn't especially powerful…and he wasn't exactly reliable, either. The Wisps wouldn't interfere with classwork or anything like that; they would only step in if Devon was in danger, as Crewel had already given them permission to do, or outside of class if Devon requested them for something. Devon rubbed the back of her head. "I guess that would be okay…" Flapjack pulsed excitedly within the staff, moving it toward her and poking her cheek with it as they urged her to try it out.

Devon laughed. "Okay, okay, I'll give it a shot. I guess we're gonna be warping, then?" Flapjack pulsed in the affirmative. "And how does that work, exactly?" Flapjack explained as best they could, but it was difficult to describe an ability that they'd just…always had. Devon listened intently, though, and soon had an idea of what to do. She pulled in a deep breath and held the staff at the ready. 'Okay, based on what Flapjack said, the key to Warp magic is to have a clear image in your mind of where you want to warp to. I'd rather not warp too far the first time, so…' Her eyes settled on the hallway just outside the room. 'Let's see if I can get out of the room.' She concentrated on the hallway and how she wanted to get to it, a mental link forming with Flapjack as they connected through the staff. Almost as soon as she visualized it, she felt as if she was being pulled along on a very fast moving walkway. Her surroundings blurred for a split second and when they stopped, she was at the very spot she'd pictured. Unfortunately, in addition to being slightly disoriented from the new magic, physics was not on her side; the top half of her body continued moving forward, resulting in her face-planting on the floor. "Ow, my face." She stood up quickly and dusted herself off, thankful for those pain-relieving potions the nurse had given her. "Well, I didn't stick the landing but that went better than I thought it would!" She looked at the staff again, wondering what else she and the Wisps could do if they kept practicing with it. "Alright, I'll admit it. That was pretty cool." She smiled at the Wisps as they gathered around her again. "If you all are willing to work with me…I'd be honored to accept this staff from you."

Devon and Flapjack kept practicing working together to warp. Given both Devon's lack of experience working with magic tools, or any magic at all, and the Wisps' lack of experience working in tandem with anyone, they all agreed that it was best for Devon to start with a type of magic that wasn't likely to destroy anything if it backfired. Once she felt more comfortable with the staff, she would start working with the other Wisps as well. Slowly but surely, Devon and Flapjack were able to warp farther and farther away from their starting point, keeping close to Ramshackle until they'd both built their confidence up.

That wasn't to say they didn't encounter any setbacks. If Devon dropped her focus for even a split-second, the pair ended up missing the mark entirely. In trying to warp from one floor to another, they found themselves on the roof, back in the turret, in Devon's bedroom, and in the middle of Main Street (which earned her a few strange looks), with Devon face-planting each time. They kept at it, though, and soon Devon found herself becoming less disoriented and better about keeping her balance with each warp.

"Not bad," Devon remarked as she and Flapjack warped into the Ramshackle foyer from the roof, the farthest distance they'd attempted thus far. "I only stumbled a little bit that time."

"Doing what?" asked a voice from behind her. Devon turned to see Ace, along with Grim and the rest of the Heartslabyul boys.

Riddle cast an uncertain look around the foyer. "Well…your dorm certainly has…character. I'll give it that much."

"Hey, guys!" Devon greeted as Grim scampered over to her and perched himself on her shoulder. "Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but I thought we were all meeting at the Hall of Mirrors."

"Yeah, that was the plan, but then someone decided not to answer her phone," Ace snarked.

Devon gave him a confused look as she fished her phone out of her pocket. Sure enough, she had missed calls from all of them as well as texts from Ace, Deuce, and Cater. She laughed when she saw the flurry of concerned selfies Cater had sent her before putting her phone away. "Sorry about that. I got so caught up trying to get stuff done around here that I guess I didn't hear my phone."

"Yeah, trying to get this place fixed up is gonna be a challenge," Deuce agreed. "I know you haven't really had time to do much since we got you wrapped up in our dorm drama, but I'm glad you had some free time today at least."

"Seems like you were able to make some decent headway, though," Cater began, looking at the boxes and furniture pieces Devon had placed along the walls. "All that stuff wasn't there the last time I was here."

Riddle followed Cater's gaze before giving Devon a stern look. "You're under strict orders from the nurse not to do anything strenuous, are you not? You really shouldn't be lifting things like those, at least not by yourself. You'll risk making your injury worse."

"Hmm?" Devon tilted her head in confusion before remembering that, barring Ace and Deuce, the guys hadn't met most of the Wisps yet. "Oh, I didn't move those things down here; Flapjack did."

"Who?" Trey asked. Flapjack immediately emerged from the staff, causing it to revert to its smaller size, before floating in excited circles around Trey. They warped a few of the boxes from the wall to the door and back again. Trey could only laugh in disbelief. "You know, I want to be surprised but there's already a Wisp bringing this dorm to life. I guess anything's possible, huh?"

Devon smiled as more of the Wisps appeared to check on the situation. "I really don't know what I'd do without them."

"What were you doing before we got here, though?" Deuce asked. "You said something about stumbling…" He turned his attention to the staff in her hands. "And what's the deal with that staff?"

Devon shared a look with Grim. "Okay so…" She went on to explain what had happened after she and Riddle left the infirmary. She opted not to bring up the secret passageways or the secret room in the turret that the Wisps had shown her; she'd show them when she felt the time was right…or until one of them (probably Deuce) stumbled across one by accident. She and Flapjack demonstrated how far they'd come with their warping practice and Devon thanked the stars above that she didn't fall on her face again, especially since Grim had demanded to remain on her shoulder so he could experience the warp too.

"Nyaha! Seems my henchman's henchmen are finally pulling their weight," Grim remarked, only for Raio, the yellow Lightening Wisp, to zap him on the behind, causing him to tumble to the floor. "Fgnya!" He glared up at the Wisp. "Just who do you think you are?!" Raio pulsed mockingly as they floated cheerfully around Devon's head, causing Grim to focus his gaze on her. "Don't just stand there, Dev! Say something!"

"I don't know what you expect me to do, bud," Devon countered. "I've told you multiple times that the Wisps aren't minions and don't like being referred to that way. I've seen what they're capable of, so you should be happy that's all you got."

"I've never heard of Wisps willing working with a human before," Riddle commented, ignoring Grim's indignant grumbling. "Everything I've read about them indicated that they prefer to avoid humans." He smiled as Cosmo and Nyx floated over to him curiously. "Clearly that's not the case for these Wisps, at least." He looked at the staff in Devon's hands, taking it when she held it out to him. "I also didn't think I'd be seeing one of the original dorm leader staffs; I was under the impression that the headmaster either destroyed them or locked them away."

Devon shrugged. "I mean…I know I haven't even been here a week yet but I'm not exactly getting 'responsible adult' vibes from him."

Cater nodded. "Yeah, he strikes me as an 'utterly-hopeless-deadbeat-dad' kinda guy," Cater agreed.

"Maybe he didn't bother with it since Ramshackle isn't an official dorm," Trey guessed. "Although…I guess that doesn't explain why the staff was just left here."

"Who cares why it's still here? Official dorm or not, he named Devon the dorm leader, so the Ramshackle staff thingy is hers now," Ace said. "And besides, we need to be getting back to Heartslabyul."

"Ah yes, that reminds me," Riddle said, handing the staff back to Devon. "I need to talk to you about the Unbirthday Party."

"Sure thing," Devon agreed, picking up her bag and carefully placing the staff inside it. Terra and Aloe flew into the bag as well, causing Cater and Trey to give Devon a questioning look. "I'll explain later." She looked back to Riddle. "What's this about the party?"

"Firstly, I need to know when your birthday is," Riddle replied as the group made their way to the Hall of Mirrors, Grim perched once again on one of Devon's shoulder as Zephyr hovered over the other. "As you know, Unbirthday Parties can only be held if none of the invitees have a birthday on the chosen day. Given the monumental role you played in saving my life, it wouldn't feel right to have it without you."

"I appreciate you guys thinking of me," Devon said with a smile. "My birthday isn't until March 18th though, so you don't have to worry about that."

"March 18th?" Trey repeated. "That's interesting."

Devon tilted her head. "How so?"

"March 18th is the anniversary of Night Raven College's founding," Trey informed her.

"It's kind of a big deal," Cater added. "There's parties thrown all over campus and everyone gets super hyped for it!"

"It sounds like fun!" Devon agreed. "If I'm still here by then, maybe I'll try throwing one myself. It'd feel weird to throw a birthday party without my brothers but it would feel even weirder to do nothing on our birthday. Having a Founding Day party sounds like it'd be a nice way to meet in the middle."

"Just make sure we've got tons of yummy food!" Grim told her.

Riddle cleared his throat. "If we could get back on track, please. In looking over the calendar, the only day that we'll get the chance to hold an Unbirthday Party before Ace's actual birthday is this Sunday."

"This Sunday?" Deuce repeated. "Like…not even two days from now?! How are we going to get everything ready in time?"

"Most of the preparations can be taken care of easily enough with magic. We'll still be cutting it close, but it can be done," Riddle replied. "My biggest concern is the rose maze. The trees and hedges are one thing, but all that damage to the actual grounds is going to be extremely difficult to fix."

"Actually…I had an idea that could help you guys out with that," Devon said. "Once we get to Heartslabyul, I'm going to need you to clear everyone out of the maze."

Devon wasn't sure what she'd been expecting when she emerged from the mirror portal to Heartslabyul, but it certainly wasn't being greeted by every student she passed. Every time someone caught sight of her, a string of "Hey, Devon!"s, "How are ya?"s, and "Good to see ya!"s sounded from those within earshot. Devon smiled and waved back as often as she could, but her confusion must have been evident in her eyes because Cater and Trey shot her amused looks.

"So how's it feel to be a local celebrity?" Cater asked, poking her cheek teasingly as Riddle excused himself to make sure nobody was loitering in the maze.

"Umm…very confusing," Devon answered. "How do all of them know who I am? I was barely a blip on anyone's radar yesterday."

"Word travels fast," Trey explained. "Most of the students had already been evacuated by the time your magic revealed itself, but a few managed to catch a glimpse of it before they were ushered out."

"Riddle's been in a surprisingly chill mood all day today, too!" Cater chirped. "The worst anyone's gotten for breaking the Queen of Hearts' rules today has been a warning if he said anything about it at all. Granted, he's supposed to lay off on using his Unique Magic until all the blot leaves his body, but for him to be so mellow… Well, it's not something we ever thought we'd see!"

"We've had a bunch of guys from our dorm ask us about you," Deuce added. "How you did what you did, what you said to Riddle to get him to ease up, if you're doing okay after he threw you-"

"I mean, technically he didn't throw me," Devon pointed out.

"They wouldn't leave us alone, even when we tryin' to eat lunch!" Grim huffed, crossing his arms. "It was soooo annoying!"

"You're just mad because they weren't askin' about you," Ace remarked dryly.

"As if you're one to talk, Acey~! You got pretty huffy when some of 'em asked if she was single at lunch today," Cater teased.

"I-I don't know what you're talkin' about," Ace stammered as he rubbed the back of his head, refusing to meet Devon's eyes as his cheeks flushed a light pink. "Those guys were just interested in her because they know she's in good with the dorm head now and they wanna use her as a shield in case Riddle flies off the handle again. I'm just lookin' out for my friend. That's all."

"Mmhmm~! I'm sure that's all it was," Cater replied, the teasing still evident in his voice.

Before Ace could spit out another retort, Riddle called out to them. "The rose maze has been cleared out, Devon. You may begin whenever you're ready."

Devon nodded as she and the others made their way over to Riddle at the entrance to the maze, a crowd of Heartslabyul students gathering around to see what was going on. She smiled when Terra floated up out of her bag. "You're up first, Terra."

"You aren't gonna use your super cool new staff?" Cater asked.

Devon shook her head. "I only have a few hours of practice under my belt right now and the Wisps have never channeled their magic through something like a staff before. Flapjack and I made a lot of progress but I've still got a long way to go before I can tackle something like this. I don't want my lack of experience to make an even bigger mess, so I'll leave this one to the professionals."

The ground beneath them began to shake as soon as Devon finished speaking, drawing everyone's attention back to Terra. Their aura grew larger and began to pulsate out from them in waves as it spread over the ground. With each pulse, the craters formed by the blot monster began to even out until it looked as if they'd never existed in the first place.

Devon couldn't help but giggle as she looked at her friends' (and the rest of the dorm students') stunned faces. "Terra's been wanting to flex their powers for a while now. They don't get many chances to show what they can do, so they jumped at the chance when I asked if they'd help."

"I…guess that makes sense," Trey replied, still staring at the Ground Wisp as they finished their part of the job. "Ground magic is primarily used for rescue during certain natural disasters but it doesn't really get much spotlight outside of that." He smiled as Terra floated back to Devon's side. "You did good out there, little Wisp."

"And now it's time for part two," Devon said as Terra pulsed with delight at Trey's praise. "Are you ready, Aloe?" A small pink Wisp rose slowly out of Devon's bag, pulsing shyly in the affirmative. They hovered hesitantly at Devon's side for a moment before slowly floating up, as if surveying the damage done to the maze. They heaved the Wisp equivalent of a nervous sigh before pulsing at Devon. "Oh, sure thing." Devon cupped both her hands together and held them out in front of her, the little pink orb floating lower to hover over them. She noticed her friends looking at her quizzically. "It's a security thing. Aloe's a little shy, but they still wanted to help." She turned back to the Wisp in her hands. "Whenever you're ready."

Much like Terra before them, Aloe's aura began to grow and ripple out from their body. The residents of Heartslabyul dorm could only watch as fresh grass began to sprout up from the bare patches of soil, the rose trees replanted themselves and were restored to peak health, and the maze walls that had been damaged or knocked over were restored to their original position and health as well. By the time they'd finished, the rose maze looked just as picturesque as it had been before Riddle's Overblot. The dorm students were stunned into silence as Aloe finished, but the poor little Wisp could still feel all those eyes on them. Devon smiled at them reassuringly. "It's okay, sweetie. I know this was a big ask, but you did great!" She held her bag open and Aloe immediately rushed back in, Terra following at a slower pace.

"That was AMAZING!" one of the students shouted. In an instant, Devon was swarmed by curious Heartslabyul residents asking her more questions than she could keep up with. "Have they been on campus this entire time?" "Are all of them as powerful as those two?" "Can you understand them? Do they have voices?" "How do you get them to do what you say?"

Devon held her hands up in a warding off gesture. "Okay, okay, I get that you're curious, but you all need to take a step back." She waited until they'd given her some breathing room before continuing. "To answer your questions: Yes, they've been on the campus since the school was founded. Most of the Wisps are about as powerful as Terra and Aloe, but according to them, the Wisp that's bringing Ramshackle to life is more powerful than all of them combined. Yes, I can understand them but it's hard to explain what they sound like. I don't "get" them to do anything; the Wisps are free to turn me down if they don't want to do something. I asked Terra and Aloe to help restore the garden because I knew they could do it quickly; them agreeing was entirely their choice."

"And now that Devon and the Wisps have so generously restored the maze for us, the Unbirthday Party will be held as planned," Riddle announced as he stepped up beside her. "Everyone has their assigned tasks, so let's get to work!"

"Yes, dorm leader!" the students chorused before setting off to begin preparations for the party.

Riddle turned to Devon once the crowd had dispersed. "I can't thank you enough for this, Devon. Truly."

Devon smiled as she gently patted her back. "Don't thank me. This may have been my idea, but Aloe and Terra were the ones who made it happen."

The Wisps in question emerged from the bag upon hearing their names, Aloe floating over to Riddle and settling on his outstretched hand, while Terra opted to perch on his crown. The redhead couldn't help but chuckle. "Well then, Terra and Aloe, you both have my thanks."

Cater snapped a quick selfie by a nearby rose tree. "The maze is back to its usual photogenic self~!"

"I knew the Wisps were powerful, but I had no idea they could do things like this," Deuce added, gently tapping one of the restored trees as if to make sure it was real.

"If you weren't Heartslabyul's hero before, you definitely are now, New York," Ace informed Devon as he leaned his weight against her. He saw Devon open her mouth to protest, but cut her off before she could. "I know the Wisps were the ones who made it happen, but restoring the maze was your idea, so you deserve some of the credit too."

"Exactly!" Grim agreed. "Personally, I think I deserve some credit too!"

"Why?" Deuce asked as he made his way back over to them. "You did exactly nothing."

"That's not true! I'm the one who trained my henchman so well to begin with!" Grim protested.

Devon sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere arguing with them. She couldn't help the small smile that spread over her lips as she watched her friends argue, Cater walking over to join in as well while Trey did his best to mediate and Riddle remained preoccupied with the Wisps floating around him playfully. Her smile grew when she looked past them and saw the other Heartslabyul students bustled in and out of both the dorm and the newly restored rose maze to complete their tasks for the party. 'Seems like things are finally starting to settle down. I still have a lot of questions about…everything, but there's no reason I can't let myself enjoy this victory.' She turned her gaze back to her friends, leaning her own weight against Ace as well. 'I think we've all earned a little celebration.'

Ending Notes: I'm so happy I finally got to introduce more of the Wisps (I think there's only two left that haven't been officially introduced)! My babies deserved more focus! I was also pumped to introduce the Ramshackle staff. I've got big plans for that bad boy. As much as I love writing Devon's interactions with the other characters, I'm also enjoying writing these little solo adventures for her and the Wisps too.

I think the only people Devon would go out of her way to show the secret passageways to are Leona (once their relationship starts improving after the Savanaclaw arc) and Jamil (due to their circumstances in the Pomefiore arc that I will not elaborate on so I don't spoil it for the English only players). If we're being honest here, Malleus probably already knows about them given that he hangs around Ramshackle pretty regularly and Devon just straight-up doesn't trust Ace with something like that; it'd be giving him waaay too much power to mess with people.

Leona's definitely the type to just show up there whenever he feels like it, so I can imagine Devon coming up to the turret to unwind after a long day of wrangling her idiot friends, only find that Leona's just chillin' up there already since it's sunny and warm and a great place to nap…and because Ruggie doesn't know to look for him at Ramshackle to try and drag him off to class or club stuff. The fact that Devon lives there and this room is both hidden and covered in her scent has nothing to do with it, so don't get it twisted, herbivore. Honestly, Leona and Devon's relationship will probably be the most fun to write out of all of her LIs because it changes so much. They go from not wanting anything to do with each other to becoming kinda-sorta friends leading into an actually really sweet and supportive friendship/crush with one going absolutely feral when the other is in danger (and/or being looked down on or disrespected in some way, especially after they learn about each other's trauma).

The Unbirthday Party happens in the next chapter and we can officially wrap up the Heartslabyul arc! I kind of sad to see it end, but I'm really excited for Savanaclaw!

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