Author's Note: I'm not really one to talk about my personal life; you guys are here to read the fic, not read me complaining about IRL stuff. Even so, I just have to get this out there real quick. One of my cats passed away not long ago (by the time this chapter goes up, it'll probably have been about a week) and to say that I'm devastated is a massive understatement. The rational part of me knows I did everything I could for him, but I still can't help but wonder if I could've done more. I'm thankful I've still got my younger kitty, but there's definitely a hole in both our lives that Pitch and I have to figure out how to navigate. So if I could ask you all to do me a favor: if you have pets, give them a hug for me and tell them you love them. And please cherish the time you have with them.

Rest in peace, my sweet Castiel. You were one of my favorite hellos and one of my hardest goodbyes. I love you with everything I have; I always will.

Devon's mind was hazy as she drifted in and out of consciousness. She remembered something hitting her in the head and causing her to lose her balance, and judging by the hard surface she was currently laying on, she assumed she had fallen while she was blacked out. She tried to open her eyes to see if she could get her bearings, but no matter how hard she tried, her eyelids were just too heavy to open. She could hear concerned voices around her, but they were too muffled for her to know for certain who was speaking. The voices appeared to have some sort of quick discussion before Devon felt a pair of strong arms lift her up into a princess carry, one wrapped around her back while the other rested behind her knees. She could just barely make out a smooth, deep voice speaking as her head nestled against a broad chest. There was no way for Devon to know who was holding her, but their warmth and the sound of their heartbeat began to lull her back to complete unconsciousness. She snuggled as close as she could, barely able to move her body. The last thing she felt before she slipped back into unconsciousness was the pair of arms pulling her closer.

"What the heck was that, Grim?!" Ace shouted as he, Grim, Deuce, and Jack surrounded their unconscious friend.

"I-It wasn't my fault!" Grim deflected. "She's the one whose head got in the way of my epic long shot!"

"This is why you don't close your eyes when you throw," Jack scolded, trying and failing to be subtle about checking the spot where Devon got hit. "Your aim needs a lot of work too; Dev was standing behind you when you made your throw."

"This isn't really the time for a critique, Jack," Deuce pointed out. "We need to get her to the infirmary, but…" He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not sure how or if we should move her. She might have a concussion or something."

"You're thinkin' too much," Leona said as he shouldered his way past them before hoisting Devon into his arms. He looked over the spot where the disk hit her. "Doesn't look like she's bleedin' or anything. She definitely needs to get her head checked out, but I doubt that furball hit her hard enough to do any serious damage." He looked down at Devon's face as she rested against his chest. "Can't take you anywhere, huh, herbivore?"

Devon, of course, didn't answer him, but Leona could feel her trying to move closer to him as she nuzzled his chest. An unfamiliar warm feeling began spreading in his chest as he turned and started walking in the direction of the infirmary, disguising pulling her closer to him as simply adjusting his hold on her and keeping his expression neutral. He caught Ruggie's amused expression as he walked past, but the hyena beastman knew better than to say anything…in public.

"Man, this has been a really long day," Deuce commented to no one in particular as he sat next Devon's bed in the infirmary. Leona and Jack had left almost as soon as she'd been checked in, Spelldrive matches to play and all that, but Grim, Ace, and Deuce opted to hang around at least until the nurse saw her. Thankfully, there was no sign of a concussion or internal bleeding, but there wasn't much anyone could do for Devon but wait for her to wake up.

For all he tried to hide it, Ace and Deuce could tell that Grim felt terrible about what happened. He curled up at Devon's side as soon as she'd been settled in, his head resting against her leg. Neither of them felt right leaving him like this to head back to the coliseum, so they offered to buy him something to eat and bring back a little snack for Devon for when she woke up. Grim perked up at the prospect of a free meal, but was hesitant to leave Devon in the event she woke up while they were gone; for some reason, he was adamant that Devon not wake up alone. Deuce had volunteered to stay behind so Ace and Grim could grab some food for everyone before the two Heartslabyul freshmen headed back to the tournament.

Deuce had been sitting with Devon for just a few minutes when he noticed that a flurry of green shimmering lights had begun twinkling on the other side of Devon's bed. No sooner had he stood and grabbed his magical pen, ready to throw hands if something was threatening his friend, then Malleus Draconia himself materialized out of thin air. Deuce could only stare with wide eyes and an open mouth as the most admired and feared student at Night Raven College looked down at Devon with an unreadable expression before reaching out and gently brushing some stray curls away from Devon's forehead. His unreadable expression grew slightly warmer as he allowed his fingertips to gently trail down Devon's cheek as she slept. "M-Malleus? W-W-What brings you here, sir?" Deuce asked. He realized he was still pointing his magical pen at said fae and quickly stowed it away.

Malleus blinked and looked up, only just realizing that Deuce was in the room. A look of surprise flitted over his face, but it was quickly schooled into his usual stoic expression. "Ah. Pardon me, I did not see you there…" He trailed off, not knowing Deuce's name.

"I-I'm Deuce Spade, sir," Deuce supplied.

Malleus nodded before returning his gaze to Devon. "I saw this child of man get injured and came to wish her a quick recovery."

Now it was Deuce's turn to look surprised. "Oh… I wasn't aware you two knew each other."

"We met briefly outside of Ramshackle dorm not so long ago and I saw her again when she came with Rosehearts and Diamond to formulate countermeasures against Savanaclaw's treachery," Malleus informed him. His lips quirked upward in a small smile. "Both times were a novel experience for me. I've never had anyone speak to me so informally before. Indeed, she didn't even know my name. She'd heard the name 'Malleus Draconia' by the time we met, but she had no idea that he and I are one and the same."

"Please don't hold that against her, sir!" Deuce implored. "Dev's from another world; she didn't mean any disrespect. I promise you she's one of the kindest-"

Malleus held a hand up to stop him. "I'm well aware of her circumstances, Spade. I know hers is not a case of willful ignorance. It was actually…rather refreshing to speak with someone unaware of who I really am."

Deuce looked confused. "Who you really are?"

"For…personal reasons, I decided I would rather she remain ignorant as to my true identity, so I did not reveal my real name to her. Instead, I have allowed her, and only her, to call me by a name of her choosing," Malleus explained. He chuckled softly. "I was most amused when I first heard what she'd decided upon." He turned his attention to Deuce, his expression serious. "I have every intention of telling her who I am when the time is right, but until such a time, I'd rather she remain unaware. I trust I can count on your discretion in this, Spade?"

Deuce nodded hastily. "Of course! I won't say a word!"

Malleus smirked. "Good man." His bright green eyes flicked toward the door to the infirmary. "It would appear your companions are about to return. I'll be taking my leave, then." He gave Devon one last warm look before turning back to Deuce. "Farewell." He was gone in another flurry of lights.

Deuce slumped back down into the chair he'd been sitting in before. "What in the name of the Great Seven…?"

"Yo! We brought some grub!" Ace called as he and Grim burst into the room, their arms loaded up with food.

"Is my henchman still asleep?" Grim asked before taking a good look at Deuce. "What'sa matter with you?"

Ace looked over as well. "Yeah, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Deuce opened his mouth, about to tell them everything that had just happened, when he remembered the promise he had made just moments before. Being a man of his word-and not wanting to incur Malleus' wrath-he simply shook his head. "It's nothing. What all did you guys get?"

"Bllergh," Devon groaned as she struggled to force her eyes open. She reached a hand up to rub one of them and as everything swam into focus, the first thing she saw was a pair of big blue eyes staring back at her.

"Hey! You're finally awake!" Grim said happily, his paws tucked underneath him as he loafed on Devon's chest.

Startled, Devon jerked backward, barely avoiding hitting her head on the bed's headboard. "Ay basura! You just scared the living daylights outta me, Grim!"

"Fgnya?! Excuse you! I missed the rest of the interdorms because I wanted to make sure your dumb self wasn't alone when you woke up and this is the thanks I get?!" Grim complained with a huff. "I've really gotta train you better, henchman."

Devon couldn't help but giggle as she reached out to rub Grim's ears, touched that he'd chosen to stay with her despite wanting to watch the tournament. "Sorry, bud. I just wasn't expecting to see you right in front of me, is all. Thanks for stickin' with me." She looked around as Grim began to purr contentedly and noticed that she was in the infirmary with Zephyr hovering nearby and her staff sitting on the bedside table. A quick glance out the windows told her that the sun was nearly set as well. "So…how'd I end up in here, exactly?"

"You passed out in the second half of our match after Grim nailed you in the head with the disk," supplied a voice from beside Devon's bed. She looked over to see Ace and Deuce. As soon as she'd made eye contact, Ace stood up and moved to sit next to her on the edge of the bed. "You don't remember?"

Devon looked at Grim with an unamused look. Grim shrugged and butted his head under her chin, completely unapologetic. "I was trying to score with an epic long shot."

"Beginners shouldn't try to pull stunts like that," scolded another voice from farther away. Devon looked in the direction of the voice to see Jack sitting nearby as well.

Deuce shook his head before smiling at Devon. "Anyway, I'm glad you're alright, Dev. We were starting to worry that you'd been hit harder than we thought since you didn't wake up for so long."

"You've been asleep for so long you even missed the closing ceremony," Ace added. "They've already started taking down the booths and everything."

"Are you serious?! I missed the entire thing?" Devon asked, blowing a dejected raspberry before puffing her cheeks up in a pout. "Well, that sucks." She looked up at Ace. "You guys got to see it though, right? How'd Savanaclaw do?"

"Tch," scoffed another voice, causing Devon's eyes to widen slightly. She sat up as quickly as she could, Grim moving from her chest to her lap, and saw Leona and Ruggie in the beds directly across from hers. "Those herbivores weren't kiddin' about getting revenge. I think just about every single one of 'em was aimed at us instead of the disk."

"We were so worn out because of them, we didn't stand a chance against Diasomnia," Ruggie added with a tired sigh. "They ended up winning the whole thing, in the end."

Jack shot up out of his seat. "Leona! Ruggie! You're up!"

"I can't believe I'm usin' an infirmary bed for anything other than a nap," Leona huffed as he crossed his arms and settled back against the headboard of his bed.

Ruggie looked around the room with a bitter expression. "Lemme tell ya, the fact that there's not a single Diasomnia player in here chaps my hide like you wouldn't believe."

"We'd heard the rumors, but Diasomnia's dorm leader really is an absolute beast," Ace commented.

"Was he really that impressive?" Devon asked. She heard Leona scoff across from her, but kept her attention on Ace and Deuce.

Deuce nodded. "It was somethin' else. I wish you could've seen it, Dev."

"I get why nobody thinks they can beat him in a fair match," Ace added.

Jack let out a 'hmph'. "If you give up before you even try, you'll never have a chance. I'm going to beat Diasomnia next year, I can promise you that. I'll use only my own strength to do it too; no shady underhanded tactics."

"Scoff all you want, but "underhanded tactics" require using your own strength too, yknow," Leona pointed out.

Devon rolled her eyes playfully. "Why do I get the feeling that you don't feel even a little bit guilty about what happened?"

"And what exactly do I have to feel guilty about?" Leona retorted, returning her playful smirk with one of his own and causing Ruggie to glance back and forth between them. "I gave my all to win this year and I'll give it my all next year too."

"Shishishishi! That's the Leona we know!" Ruggie said.

"And now I'm already worried for next year…," Jack muttered as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm gonna be in the tournament for real next year! Just you wait!" Grim declared.

"And we've gotta do our best to make we get spots on Heartslabyul's team next year," Deuce added. "Right, Ace?"

"For sure," Ace agreed. "I'm glad we got at least some exposure this year, but I don't wanna be part of Grim's kiddy league again next year."

The door to the infirmary was thrown open suddenly. Startled, everyone jerked their heads toward the sound. The culprit was a young boy, likely no older than five, with reddish-orange hair and large brown eyes. He scanned the room for a moment and his eyes lit up when they landed on Leona, a bright smile spreading over his face. "Ah! I found you, Unca!" the boy shouted.

"Hmm? Who's the kid?" Grim asked as his tail swished from side to side curiously.

"Unca Leona!" the little boy shouted, causing an expression of embarrassed dread to wash over Leona's face. The boy charged into the room and over to Leona's bed, so laser-focused on him that he didn't seem to notice anyone else in the room. It was at this point that everyone noticed the boy's lion ears and tail.

"Ah crap," Leona groaned, closing his eyes. "And now the screechbox has found me."

"Unca…Leona…?" Jack repeated dazedly.

Everyone looked at Leona for an explanation. He refused to meet their gazes and fidgeted slightly, clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation. "The kid's name's Cheka. He's my brother's son. So…y'know…he's my nephew."

"N-NEPHEW?!" everyone exclaimed.

"So that means…he's the next in line for the throne…," Ruggie reasoned.

Devon pressed her hands to her cheeks. "And he's one of the most precious lil beans I've ever met~!"

Cheka began to bounce excitedly beside Leona's bed, still oblivious to everyone else. "Watching you play was so cool, Unca! Next time you come home, you gotta teach me to play Spelldrive!"

"Oi! Fine, fine, I got it!" Leona replied, his ears flattening against his head in an attempt to block out Cheka's excited shouts. "Don't go shoutin' in my ear." He glanced at the door as if expecting someone to burst in after the little boy. "Where are your bodyguards, anyway? They're probably losing their minds trying to find you."

"I couldn't wait to see you, so I decided to sneak away from them. Hehe," Cheka replied innocently.

"Uh…," Jack shook his head as he struggled to process what was going on. "So that means the cause of just about all Leona's pain is…"

"This precious little angel~?" Devon finished, still gushing over the boy's cuteness.

"The kid really does seem attached to him," Grim commented as Cheka continued to jabber at his uncle despite Leona's best attempts to brush him off.

Leona glared at the others in the room and continued to press himself against the headboard as he tried to cover his embarrassment. "Oi. Quit whisperin' over there. And stop starin' at me!"

"Hey, hey, Unca!" Cheka called out, tapping Leona's arms to get his attention. "When are you coming home? Next week? The week after that? Ah! Did you read my letters?"

Leona rolled his eyes. "Ugh! Look kid, I told you already. I'll be home for winter bre-" Cheka took the opportunity to clamber up onto Leona's bed and plop himself onto his uncle's stomach. Leona grimaced in pain before shooting Cheka a glare, but his nephew remained completely oblivious to the ire he was drawing. "Owowow! Geez, kid, you can't just flop down onto an injured person like that."

Jack's eyes widened in shock as everyone else struggled to keep a straight face. "I don't believe it. Never thought I'd see the day that someone could just sit down on Leona's stomach without a care in the world…"

"Pfft…," Ruggie snorted as he tried-and failed-to hold back his laughter. "Hahahaha! Oh man, this is amazing!" He met Leona's eyes as he wiped tears of laughter away. "So this is why you never wanna go home, huh?"

Cheka looked up at the sound of Ruggie's voice and finally noticed everyone else in the room. "Hmm? Are you guys Unca's friends?"

"Heheheh," Ace snickered. "Yep yep, got it in one! We're your uncle's besties." He shot Leona a mocking look. "Ain't that right, Unca Leona~?"

Ruggie snorted again. "Unca…" Unable to contain himself any longer, he let out a peal of laughter, only to quickly clutch his side in pain. "Ahahahahaha- Owowowow, it hurts to laugh…"

"Go ahead, keep laughin', ya morons. I'll remember this for later!" Leona threatened, though he didn't exactly cut an imposing figure with Cheka perched on top of him.

Cheka looked around at everyone, his eyes widening just a bit when the landed on Devon. He quickly scrambled off his uncle and over to her bed. Leona gave Devon a 'he's your problem now' look as Cheka started in. "I know you!" He pointed at Grim. "Your cat hit you in the head with the disk. Are you okay? Does your head hurt? Did that thing happen where people forget everything when they get hit?"

"I ain't no cat!" Grim protested, though he quieted when Devon began rubbing his ears again.

Devon smiled down at Cheka. "I'm good, bud. Thanks for asking. I think it hurt when I first got hit, but I'm not feeling any pain now. And no, I didn't forget anything, though I do wish I'd had the chance to actually watch the tournament."

"Papa and I were really surprised when you got hit!" Cheka continued. "You were hit and then you fell down and the Unca picked you up and carried you here!"

Devon blinked before looking over at Leona. "Wait, what?"

Ruggie cast a mischievous sidelong glance at Leona, who was now glaring very intently at an unoccupied area of the room. "Mmhmm. S'true. Scooped right on up and carried you away. It was real gallant-like too; just about the only princely thing I've ever seen Leona do."

Cheka nodded, unaware of his uncle bristling across the room. "Uh-huh! He picked you right up after you fell!" A pout began forming on his lips. "Unca never picks me up. Every time I ask him to, he says his back hurts."

Devon kept her eyes on Leona as a mischievous smirk played on her lips. "Really now?"

"Don't read too much into it," Leona dismissed, still not making eye contact. "I just wanted to get your dead weight off the field so the real game could start."

"Yeah, but you were awfully gentle with her," Ruggie recalled. "Cradled her close to ya and everything." Leona gave Ruggie a warning look, prompting the hyena to hold his hands up. "I'm just sayin', if you're not careful, people might start thinkin' you don't completely hate her anymore."

"Look, all I'm sayin' is that you could've left getting me off the field to someone else if you really wanted to," Devon said as she and Leona walked toward Ramshackle. The two of them and Ruggie had been released from the infirmary once it was confirmed they weren't seriously injured (and Cheka had been retrieved) and Leona, for reasons he refused to elaborate on, didn't head to the Hall of Mirrors with the others and opted to follow Devon and Grim toward their dorm. "You also could've left walking me home to someone else."

"There ya go, readin' too much into stuff again," Leona replied, waving off her observations as they reached the front gate of Ramshackle. "Knowing your luck, one of the branches on that gross-lookin' tree in the Ramshackle yard will fall off right as you walk under it and crack ya in the head again." He smirked. "I just want to be there to see it happen. I could do with some entertainment, after all." He glanced over at Devon and noticed that she was watching him intently; she had been since they'd been released from the infirmary. "Okay, what gives? You've been gawkin' at me since we left the nurse's office."

Devon blinked, suddenly realizing just how focused her gaze had been on him, vaguely aware of Grim hopping off her shoulder and scampering into the dorm. "Hmm? Oh, my bad. I've just never seen you with a ponytail before. Didn't realize how good you look with your hair up."

Leona quirked a brow. "Herbivore, I've been wearing this all day."

"Yeah, and I was unconscious pretty much all day," Devon reminded him. "And then we were kinda preoccupied with your nephew, who was totally precious by the way. I didn't have much of a chance to focus on you, sir, but now I am looking…respectfully."

"You're a moron," Leona told, gently poking her forehead.

"Yeah, but you kinda-sorta like me just a little bit," Devon retorted as she nudged his shoulder playfully. A moment of comfortable silence passed between them as they stood facing each other in front of the gate before Devon closed the distance and pulled Leona into a hug.

Leona stiffened as soon as Devon wrapped her arms around his middle, not quite sure how to respond. He couldn't bring himself to hug her back, but he also didn't want to push her away. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been held-if ever-and though he'd never tell her, Devon's hug was actually kind of nice. She pulled away quicker than he would've preferred and he was left scrambling for a split second to say something. "What was that about?"

Devon shrugged. "After everything we learned about each other today, I kinda got the feeling you didn't get nearly enough affection growing up. Seems to be the case for a lot of people at this school, now that I think about it." She winked. "Luckily for you, physical affection is kinda my thing." She added the next part quickly. "I mean, as long as you're okay with it; I am all about consent up in here. If hugs aren't your thing, then I apologize and hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."

Leona shrugged back, give Devon his best 'I don't care' face. "Do whatever you want. Just don't be expectin' a hug back."

Grim peeked out of one of the upstairs windows of Ramshackle. He watched Leona and Devon talking for a moment before ducking into his and Devon's room. "Dev'll probably be talking with Leona for a while. Which means…" He sauntered over to the fireplace and began rooting around. "It's time for the highlight of the day!" He pulled out what at first appeared to be a lump of charcoal. Only its reflective surface and the shine bouncing off of it from the dim lights revealed that it was a black crystal similar to the two he had consumed before. "I managed to snag this from Savanaclaw by tuckin' it into my ribbon before anyone could notice. If this ain't some kinda candy, what the heck is it?!" He turned it over in his paws before shrugging. "Well, whatever. Finders keepers, losers weepers! Time for an after-dessert snack!" He quickly popped the crystal into his mouth, closing his eyes and rubbing his cheeks at the taste. "So good~! This one's got a real mature taste: slightly bitter with just a little bit of spice to give it a nice kick! It's almost too bad that humans will never be able to enjoy the taste, but that just means there's more for me!" He let out a yawn and stretched his front paws up over his head. "I always get so sleepy after a good meal…" With that, he hopped up on the bed and plodded in a circle before curling up into a ball and going to sleep.

"Today was pretty intense, huh?" Devon asked Zephyr softly as she got ready for bed. Grim had been sleeping when she walked into their room and she didn't want to wake him. Once she'd finished brushing her teeth and getting changed into her pajamas, she poked her head out of the bathroom door. "You still asleep, Grim?" she whispered.

The cat monster was still curled into a little ball, snoring away.

Devon giggled softly. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She padded quietly over to the bed and leaned down to kiss Grim on the top of his head. "Goodnight, Grim."

She was just about to climb into bed herself when the mirror over the fireplace suddenly began to glow brightly. She eyes widened as she remembered talking to her family through the mirror and wondered if maybe it was connecting to her world again. She held up her wrist to look at the bracelet, but the crystal wasn't glowing the way it had been the first time. 'Okay, so our unbreakable bond blessing didn't cause this…' Devon stepped cautiously closer to the mirror to try and determine what was happening. The light was almost blinding, but Grim stir at all nor did the Wisps react with any sort of alarm. 'Whatever's causing this probably isn't hostile, either if the Wisps aren't making a fuss.'

Devon stepped right in front of the mirror and the same foggy void she saw when the mirror connected to her home greeted her. Instead of opening up to show her bedroom back home, though, she saw what looked like two round black shadows. The smaller shadow rested against the frame of the mirror while the larger one slid farther out from the corner, almost as if someone had placed their hand on the mirror frame and was carefully peeking around a corner. Devon was about to reach out and try to touch the shadows, but they faded almost as quickly as they had appeared. The mirror's glow began to recede as well and soon it was as if nothing had ever happened. Devon could only stare at the mirror for a moment, dumbfounded, before slowly turning and walking back to her bed. "What the fresh heck was that about…?"

Meanwhile, in the Octavinelle lounge, Azul was busy pouring over the sales numbers from the tournament. "This year's Spelldrive tournament saw a sales increase of 12 percent. Not a bad haul, I must say."

"Yeah, but this year our dorm ended up lower in the rankings," Floyd pointed out, sprawled on one of the sofas and balancing his magic pen on his nose.

"So long as we aren't at the very bottom, there's no cause for concern," Azul assured him, not looking up from his papers. "After all, what is Spelldrive but a game in which players chase after a disk like dogs in a yard." His pale blue eyes began to flash eagerly. "A school event far more worthy of Octavinelle's attention is fast approaching. I am of course referring to…" He paused for dramatic affect. "That's right! Final exams!"

"Azul," called Jade as he entered the lounge. "We've just received an urgent message from a client. They wish to speak with you in person at the Lounge tonight."

"I see," Azul replied as he stood from his seat, Floyd following suit a moment later. "We'll have to prepare a proper welcome, then." He strode past Jade and Floyd, heading toward the doors of Mostro Lounge as the twins followed a couple steps behind. "What will they ask of me, I wonder? I can't wait to find out." A menacing chuckle escaped his lips as he and the Leech brothers headed through the doors.

Ending Notes: Somebody stick a fork in the Savanaclaw arc because it is done! Next up, we've got the start of the Halloween event arc, followed by a few filler chapters before we get to the real meat of the event in order to give Devon a little more time with her boys (mostly Jamil and Leona). Now that she's started to make headway with all of them, I can finally start giving them all some love. Malleus gets most of the spotlight for this particular event, though. I think each love interest is going to get a starring role in at least one event: Malleus has Halloween, Leona has Fairy Gala, Ace has Phantom Bride/Ghost Marriage, and Jamil…well, the event he's starring in hasn't been announced on the English server yet and I don't want to spoil it, but those of you who have played/watched the Japanese version know the one I'm talking about. He gets a little tiny bit of flirting in with Devon during Beanfest/Happy Beans Day, though.

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