Devon opened her eyes to see an empty black void before her. She waited to see if something would happen, but nothing did. "Hmm…that's weird. Usually there's a scene from a Disney movie playing by now… I wonder if-"

She was cut off by a glow coming from her wrist and she quickly glanced down to see that she was wearing her bracelet and the Sending Stone's glow was becoming brighter. That was new; she couldn't recall her bracelet ever actually manifesting in these dreams before, though of course it could also be that she just wasn't paying close enough attention. Her eyes widened as a thought stuck her. "Wait. If the stone is glowing, does that mean-"

"Devon!"

Yep. There was no mistaking it; that was DJ's voice. Devon whipped her head in the direction the voice came from and was immediately met with the same pairs of glowing eyes as last time, only know she could clearly see her brothers' forms. She was at first tempted to write them off as just wishful thinking, but she knew in her heart that they were both real. As if to further confirm that it was really them, the Sending Stones on their own bracelets were glowing as brightly as her own, though all three began to dim to a less intrusive glow a moment later.

"Can you see us this time?" Dominic asked.

Devon could feel the happy tears welling up in her eyes at the sight of her brothers. She managed to nod with a shaky smile before launching herself at DJ and Dominic as they reached out to her…only for her fly straight through them. She looked down at her hands, confused, before looking back at her brothers to see that their expressions mirrored her own. DJ tried to put his hand on Dominic's shoulder only it to pass through him as well.

"Well there go our plans for a heartfelt sibling reunion," DJ snarked despite the happy tears visible at the corners of his eyes. "It can't really be called a reunion unless we've forced Dom into a hug against his will."

"Whatever, man. I'm just happy to see you two," Devon said, her own tears threatening to fall as well.

"Same," Dominic replied. Of the three, he looked the most put together, but his siblings his lip quivering as well. It was clear that they were all over the moon to see each other again. Dominic took a breath to calm himself before looking at his siblings again. "Okay, first thing's first. We don't know how long we're going to be in here, so we need to get each other up to speed."

"Right," DJ and Devon agreed in unison.

The triplets spent a long while covering everything that had happened since they'd last spoken. DJ and Dominic gave their sister updates on the family, the drama at the Halloween party…and the fact that they'd both been manifesting the powers that Mala had apparently bestowed on them at birth, mentioning that Dominic's had been allowing him glimpses into Devon's life at NRC and how, despite not knowing the context of all those visions, they were relieved that she was having a (mostly) enjoyable time there. Devon, for her part, was thoroughly amused at hearing DJ's retelling of how he'd kicked Madison out of their house, extremely proud of Dominic for kicking Liam to the curb, and filling in what blanks she could concerning their blessings, the Sending Stones, and what Dominic had been able to see, including the visions of Leona's Overblot.

"Huh. Y'know, I can understand a person's magic getting all corrupt-y if their mental state isn't the best," DJ said, "but who knew Twisted Wonderland's magic has a carbon footprint too."

"No kidding," Dominic agreed. "I saw that Leona guys' Overblot through your eyes, sis. Zero outta ten; would not recommend fighting again. At least you've got a power that lets you stop it."

"Maybe, but that doesn't make facing them any less scary," Devon pointed out. "Riddle straight up threw me and probably would've broken all my ribs if Zephyr hadn't been there."

"Speaking of our powers, Mama wrote to Mala right after you talked to us through the mirror that one time," DJ said. "We were hoping to hear back from her a long time ago, but we've still got nothing. I don't suppose you've found any leads about how to locate her on your end?"

"Maybe… I've got a friend here named Lilia. Cool guy, really chill," Devon replied. "Anyway, he's from Briar Valley, which is apparently the only place in Twisted Wonderland where Sending Stones are formed and used. He's also a confidante of their queen so, while he doesn't recognize the name Mala himself, he's going to try to speak with the queen when school lets out for the winter holiday and see if maybe she can help us track her down. It's the only real lead I've got."

"It's better than nothing," DJ told her. "I guess that means there's not really much we can do but wait to see what your friend finds out."

Devon nodded. "Agreed. As much as I hate just sitting around, I haven't been making much progress searching on my own and I think we can all agree there's probably not any information about fae blessings or magical coffins that bring you to another world on your end. We're just gonna have to take a chance on Lilia and hope for the best."

Dominic clapped his hands together. "Well now that we've got that settled," He gestured out toward the black expanse of emptiness around them. "What the heck is this place? Are we in some limbo between worlds?"

Devon shook her head. "I don't think so. I'm pretty sure this is some kind of dreamscape. Ever since I crossed into this world, I've been having these weird dreams from time to time where I watch scenes from different Disney movies play out. When I first got here it was Alice in Wonderland and then The Lion King not long after that."

"Last time we were here, it was the shipwreck scene from The Little Mermaid, right?" DJ recalled. "How come we don't see anything-"

"Come in, sweet child. Come in," beckoned a voice from somewhere in the void.

The triplets jumped at the sound, whipping their heads in the direction of the voice to see that the scene had finally started playing. They watched as Ariel cautiously entered Ursula's lair, hopeful that the sea witch could find a way to help her unite with Prince Eric on land. Dominic watched as Devon's expression darkened during Ursula's proposal to Ariel: in exchange for her voice, she'd get three days on land to get Eric to fall in love with her. If she couldn't manage it, she'd become one of Ursula's creepy polyp things. Devon could only shake her head as Ariel signed the golden scroll despite her own clear misgivings about doing so.

"Ya know, as far as I'm concerned, 'Poor Unfortunate Souls' is one of the best Disney songs ever," DJ commented.

"Speak for yourself," Devon scoffed as she narrowed her eyes at the scene. "I never wanna see another one of those stupid contracts for as long as I live."

DJ blinked. "Another one?"

"Is this about the anemone thing?" Dominic asked without thinking, only to wince inwardly when he realized he'd slipped up.

Devon's eyes widened slightly. "How do you know about that?"

Dominic had to think fast. He was afraid of what it might mean for Idia if he told his siblings they'd been talking pretty regularly since before Halloween and hadn't said a word to either of them, but he didn't imagine his sister would take the news very well. "I… I just remember seeing a vision of Grim and those two friends of yours with anemones on their heads. Not sure what exactly was happening, but they looked pretty miserable."

Devon eyed her younger brother for a moment as if she could tell he wasn't being honest with her, but ultimately shrugged and let the matter drop, causing Dominic to heave an inward sigh of relief.

"Hold up. What's this about anemones and contracts?" DJ asked. "I don't have Dom's all-seeing eyes so somebody's gonna have to fill me in."

"Well I don't have the full picture so…," Dominic slowly turned his head toward Devon.

Devon sighed. "Fine. Just…withhold judgment until I finish the story, okay?"

DJ and Dominic exchanged a glance. "We only promise to try," they said in unison.

Devon filled her brothers in on the study guide Azul had offered her during Halloween Week-the one she thankfully turned down, how her friends ended up making the deal for the study guides and ended up without their strongest magic and their freedom, the headmaster's demand to stop Azul under threat of having Ramshackle's allowance slashed, the twins approaching Devon and Jack in the cafeteria and the resulting trip to Mostro Lounge, and ending with her agreeing to put Ramshackle on the line in exchange for her friends' freedom. To their credit, her brothers managed to keep most of the judgment out of their expressions but Devon could tell by the looks in their eyes that they were questioning her sanity.

DJ and Dominic were silent for a moment once Devon finished summarizing what had happened. Finally, DJ spoke up, no humor in his tone. "Are you stupid?"

Devon merely shrugged. "I've been askin' myself the same question since I signed that contract."

DJ quirked a brow. "And the answer is…?"

"Apparently," Devon replied. "I know it's a losing battle but I can't just sit back and do nothing."

"Not to mention, the headmaster didn't really give you a choice," Dominic added.

"That's true," DJ conceded, "and it's bull that he's able to get away with even threatening something like that. I can't wait to let Mama know." He smirked. "I'm sure she'll have plenty to say."

"Do you really think telling our parents about this is a good idea?" Devon asked, gesturing to the scene still playing out before them. "We don't even know why this is happening. How do you plan to explain it?"

"The same way we've explained everything else up to this point," Dominic said, tapping his Sending Stone. "Dev, our whole family has been worried sick about you ever since you were taken by that carriage. My visions have been able to offer at least a little comfort but it hasn't been the same as actually speaking to you or hearing about what's happening in your own words."

"We may not have a concrete answer about why all this is happening but if "It's magic" is the only answer we can come up with for now, then that's the way it'll have to be," DJ agreed. He gently punched Devon's shoulder and smiled. "Besides, at this point I doubt there's much that'll surprise our family anymore."

"Heh. I guess not," Devon agreed, returning DJ's smile. She looked up to see that the movie scene before then had ended and the void around them was beginning to brighten. "Looks like we're outta time." She reached for her brothers, laying each of her hands over one of theirs as best she could since they were unable to actually touch. "I can't tell you how great it is to see you two. Hopefully we'll see each other again the next time I have one of these dreams since I'm positive this won't be the last one, but just in case…" She let out a shaky breath, feeling her eyes getting misty. "I love you both so much."

"We love you too, sis," Dominic replied, blinking back tears of his own. "And we'll give the fam your love too."

"You know it," DJ added. "And when we talk to you again, I wanna hear all about how you beat that Azul asshole and those creepy twins at their own game. We'll be seeing you again soon, Dev."

Devon laughed. Count on DJ to lighten the mood. "Yeah. I'm looking forward to it."

Devon sat up and rubbed her eyes, taking care not to disturb Grim. She glanced outside the large windows in Leona's room to see that it was still dark outside. Upon checking her phone, she saw that it was just after 5am and she glanced outside again, debating with herself for a moment before carefully climbing off the couch she and Grim had been sleeping on. Once she was sure she hadn't woken Grim up by mistake, she motioned to Zephyr who quickly zapped her into her P.E. clothes and her gloves.

'I doubt I'll be able to get back to sleep at this point. Might as well start the day with a little parkour,' Devon thought as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She was about to ask Flapjack to warp her out of Leona's room when she heard something shift behind her.

"Oi. Where're you headin' off to this early?" Leona asked, his voice still heavy with sleep as he propped his head on his fist.

"Just gonna get a little exercise in," Devon whispered as she turned to face him, walking over to the side of Leona's bed before kneeling down so she was at eye-level with him. "I won't be gone long."

"You say that like I should care," Leona replied with a yawn.

"You're the one who asked," Devon pointed out with an amused smile on her face.

"Whatever," Leona grumbled. "Just make sure you don't fall off one of the ledges or walkways again."

"Wha- That was one time! And I wasn't even hurt," Devon reminded him.

"Yeah. Because I used my magic to catch your dumb ass," Leona fired back. "Seriously, try not to die this time. I'm not haulin' myself outta bed to save you and the last thing I need is that big Wisp at Ramshackle comin' after me if something happens to you while you're stayin' here."

Devon rolled her eyes playfully, playing along despite seeing right through the lion prince's façade of nonchalance. "Fine, fine. I promise I'll be careful." She reached out to gently scratch at Leona's scalp and smiling when he closed his eyes at the sensation and his tail twitched contentedly.

"Good," Leona said, still half asleep, as he leaned forward to butt his forehead against Devon's before settling back down and falling asleep again almost instantly.

Devon blinked in surprise, feeling her face heat up just slightly as she reached up to touch her forehead. Assuming that headbutt Leona had given her meant the same thing as when Ghost did it back home… She shook her head. Best not to read too much into it. He was half asleep when he did it, after all. She leaned down to give the dorm leader a gentle peck on the forehead before Flapjack warped her away.

Meanwhile, outside the dorm, Jack was busy completing his second lap around the building. The interdorm Spelldrive tournament was over and there wouldn't be any track meets until after the winter break, but that was no excuse to slack off on his routine. He had just rounded a corner when something-someone-landed a few feet in front of him. Thankfully, his reflexes kicked in immediately and he was able to stop just short of barreling into the person. He paused for a moment to catch his breath before fixing the person in front of him with a grumpy look.

"Ya know, one of these days, you're gonna end up getting trampled," he grumbled. "You're lucky it was me out here and not one of the other guys. I don't know if they'd have been able to stop in time."

"That sounds like a problem for future Devon," Devon replied with a cheeky smile. "I wanna say I'm surprised to see you out and about this early, but I'd be lying. Guess this explains why you go to bed so early, huh?"

"I could say the same to you," Jack said. "I wasn't expectin' to see anyone else out here until morning practice and you're not typically an early riser."

"True, but I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep," Devon explained with a shrug. She would've liked to have told him she was able to connect with her brothers but she didn't trust herself to keep her mouth shut about Disney. "Figured I might as well do something productive." She glanced around at the expanse of drylands around them, an idea taking shape in her head. "How would you feel about shaking your routine up a little bit, Jack?"

Jack quirked a brow. "Depends. What'd you have in mind?"

"What do you say we have ourselves a little race? You said before that you and your younger siblings ran around at home through some pretty rough terrain, right? Let's see how it stacks up to my parkour skills," Devon suggested.

"How do you plan to do that?" Jack asked. "There aren't many places to parkour here besides the dorm itself."

"Sure there are. You just have to have the right connections," Devon replied as a dark green Wisp emerged from her stowed-away staff to hover next to them. "Terra, would you be so kind?"

Terra sent their magic pulsing through the ground in a similar manner to how they'd evened out the craters in the Heartslabyul garden caused by Riddle's Overblot. This time, however, the Ground Wisp caused uneven sections of the ground to rise up and form a sort of maze with pathways wide enough to run through and various ledges and outcroppings spaced just far enough to make parkour possible as well.

Devon let out an impressed whistle. "Terra, you never disappoint." She looked back at Jack and nodded her head toward the maze. "So? How 'bout it?"

Jack glanced between Devon and the maze Terra had created. He wasn't much phased by the show of strength; he'd spent enough time at Ramshackle to know how powerful the Wisps were when they were in their element. He also wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

"You're on," he replied with a smirk.

"Mornin'! Rise and shine, Leona!" Ruggie called as he opened the door to Leona's dorm room. "You too, Devon and Grim. It's time ta-" He stopped short when he saw that Devon wasn't in the room.

"Myah…?" Grim mumbled as he looked blearily around the room. "Is it morning already?" He glanced at a nearby clock. "What the heck?! It's barely 6am!"

"We do Spelldrive training every morning. You and Dev are gonna be part of the dorm for the next few days, so you'll be joining in too," Ruggie explained. "Speaking of, where is Devon anyway?'

Grim looked around, noticing for the first time that Devon was nowhere to be found. "Hmm. She's probably out doin' her parkour or somethin'. Every so often, she wakes up early and can't go back to sleep so…" He shrugged. "She hasn't been doin' it as much since it started getting colder but I guess you guys don't really have that problem in Savanaclaw. Now what's all this about Spelldrive training?"

"We've been doin' it ever since the last Spelldrive tournament," Ruggie explained.

"Mrrgh, shuddup already," Leona grumbled before rolling over to face away from them.

"Hey! Don't you dare go back to sleep, Leona!" Ruggie said, striding over to Leona's bed, grabbing his dorm leader's legs and yanking him out of bed himself.

"Well there's somethin' ya don't see every day," Grim commented as he watched the scene unfold. He glanced at Leona, expecting to see him looking irritated at being quite literally dragged out of bed, but Leona didn't even seem to register what was happening. "Are you kidding?! He's not even waking up?!"

"Welcome to my everyday life," Ruggie snarked. "Why do you think I came in here so early?"

"Alright, let's wrap our little contest up here," Jack called to Devon as she ran sideways along the cliff wall to avoid an obstacle in her place. "It'll be time for morning Spelldrive practice soon, so we should head over to the stadium."

"Heh. Spoken like someone who knows he's about to lose," Devon teased, jumping off the ledge she was on and along various outcroppings in the Wisp-made cliffside before landing next to him.

"Hey, you name a time and place and I'll take you on again any day, Lopez," Jack replied. "Let's get goin'."

The pair reached the stadium a few moments later, still playfully arguing over who won their little race which had very quickly devolved into a game of 'Find a Way Through the Constantly Changing Landscape Because Terra Isn't Content With Just Making a Simple Maze'. As soon as they'd joined the rest of the dorm students, Grim immediately hopped up onto Devon's shoulder, rubbing his head sleepily against hers.

"Hmm? You joinin' us for morning practice too, Grim?" Jack asked.

"Not by choice. I wanted to sleep for longer but noooooo. Ruggie wasn't havin' it," Grim replied.

"I don't think I need to remind you all that we've got some extra freshmen crashin' with us right now," Ruggie said, addressing the entire dorm. "In any other circumstance, I'd tell ya to go easy on 'em since they're so pitiful and all, but after last night," He glanced pointedly at the three Savanaclaw students Devon had fought and defeated, all of whom shrank slightly amidst the laughter of their peers, "I think it'd be an insult if I did that now. That said, we're still gonna keep today's practice game light, got it?"

"Let's just get started already," Leona grumbled through a yawn. "All this standin' around's gonna put me right back to sleep."

Leona continued yawning as everyone took up their places on the field.

"Does he really think he can take us when he's half-asleep?" Grim asked Devon as she hopped onto her staff to fly.

Leona chimed in before Devon could respond, "Please. You'd be no match for me even if I was completely dead on my feet."

"Alright, you guys know what to do!" Ruggie said, hopping onto his own broom and kicking off into the air.

Devon was pleasantly surprised as the game got underway. Given her past experience playing Spelldrive with Savanaclaw, she'd expected most of them to mob her and Grim as soon as it got started. To both of their surprise, that wasn't the case. There were some sneaky plays, sure, but nothing that wouldn't be expected outside a normal game and there had been multiple instances of some of the dorm students moving to deflect the spells from her and Grim if they were preoccupied with something else.

"You feelin' alright? You seem a little distracted," commented a coyote beastman as he deflected a spell coming toward Devon while she warped two of her teammates closer to the goal to make a shot.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry if I seem out of it," Devon replied, not taking her eyes off the game. "I'm just a little surprised, is all. This is so sporting compared to the first time I watched Savanaclaw play an unofficial match. I kinda figured Grim and I would be targeted more often."

"You might've been if it weren't for that little fight you won last night," the beastman said. "Savanaclaw's a ruthless dorm but there's still a pecking order that pretty strictly adhered to and you earned your place in it as far as we're concerned." He deflected another spell as they followed their team down the field. "Name's Steel, by the way. And I already know who you are, Devon Lopez. You probably don't remember, but I was one of the students you warped out of the way of Leona's magic during his Overblot."

"Nice to officially meet you, Steel. But I have to ask, why would me beating those three jackasses from yesterday be such a big deal?" Devon asked. "I'd have figured there were fights at Savanaclaw all the time."

"Yeah, there used to be but Leona's really been comin' down on that since he recovered," Steel explained, ducking as Devon deflected a spell away from him. "Says it's a pain tryin' to deal with the aftermath and he's sick of gettin' reamed out for it by Crowley. Anyway, you've probably already figured this out but Savanaclaw students don't take too kindly to outsiders hangin' around. Most of us were cool to make an exception for you after the Overblot thing but there were still some who didn't like you comin' around so much. Those three you kicked the tails off of were the ones that whined the most about how you had no business bein' here and by beating them, you proved 'em wrong. You've officially earned yourself a spot here and nobody's gonna complain." He reached out to ruffle her hair. "Congrats, kid-"

A blast of magical energy touched down directly in front of them, stopping just shy of actually hitting Steel.

"Dang, that was a close one!" Devon said. "Guess that's a sign we need to get our heads back in the game."

"Yeah, you got it," Steel agreed as Devon flew back into the fray. He was about to follow her when he looked in the direction the spell had most likely come from, only to see Leona glaring daggers at him before refocusing on the game. 'What was that about?'

"Oh man! I had no idea a morning workout could feel so good!" Grim exclaimed as he ran in circles around Devon's legs. Morning practice had ended and the dorm students were winding down, but it seemed the little cat monster was bursting with energy. "I always thought you were nuts for gettin' up early to exercise, Dev, but I can't remember the last time I felt this alive."

"Right? I actually get up an hour earlier than this so I can get some jogging in," Jack agreed.

"Yeah, I don't think I like this feeling that much," Grim replied. "I'm a little surprised you guys are already trainin' for next year's interdorms. You're gonna make for great rivals."

"Oh, that's right. I guess you and Devon don't know yet, huh Grim?" Ruggie said as he and Leona made their way over. "There's actually an even bigger Spelldrive tournament held every year in May."

"Even bigger than the interdorms?" Devon asked.

"Yep. They call it the interscholastic games," Leona replied.

"Oh right. I keep forgetting that there are other magic schools besides NRC," Devon said. 'I've gotta see more of this world beyond Sage's Isle one of these days…'

"As you've probably guessed from the name, it's a Spelldrive event where the different magic schools show up to compete," Ruggie said.

"And our school's always pitted against Royal Sword Academy," Leona added.

Grim hopped up onto Devon's shoulder. "Oh hey! We've heard of them!"

"Twisted Wonderland ain't hurtin' for top-tier magic schools," Ruggie elaborated, "but Night Raven College and Royal Sword Academy are at the top of the list. We're basically known as the Big Two."

"What's Royal Sword Academy like, anyway?" Devon asked.

"It's a school full of pompous, pampered little princelings," Leona replied with a derisive smirk.

Devon quirked a brow. "So…people like you?"

Leona shot Devon an annoyed look before poking the side of her head with his finger and gently pushing it to one side.

"Shishishishishi," Ruggie laughed, both at the comment and the fact he knew perfectly well that Devon was probably the only person who could make a comment like that and not be reduced to sand. "Jokes aside, Leona's right. Everything about that place, from the campus to the uniforms, are all bright and sparkly. So lame, right? Even the smallest scuff stands out on a white uniform like that, y'know? I mean, I get that they're supposed to be a big deal and all, but I wouldn't go there even if they begged me."

"Umm…not to be that guy, but haven't we lost the interscholastics to RSA every year for the past century?" Jack asked.

"Uh…w-well," Ruggie stammered before continuing defensively, "We're only at 99 losses so far and you can bet we're gonna win it this year! Hundredth time's the charm!"

"I've watched the interscholastics on TV before," Jack told Devon and Grim, "and from what I saw, Royal Sword Academy's roster of players are all amazing on their own, but their real secret to success is their teamwork."

"Hang on. This is a tournament between different schools and not dorms, right? Does that mean our team will be made up of players from different dorms?" Grim asked.

"That's right. Each dorm contributes one player to form the team that represents the school," Leona replied.

"Wow…," Devon said, shuddering at the mental image. "I mean, no offense, but that sounds like an absolute nightmare. There's an awful lot of, ah, strong personalities at this school."

"Tell me about it," Leona agreed, pressing his fingers to his forehead as if he felt a headache coming on. "Last year's team broke out into a fight before the game even started because everyone was arguin' over who got what position."

"Hah! I like that! If you want a spot, you gotta fight for it, right?" Grim commented. "I'll have to make sure I get picked this year!"

"If you really mean that, the best way to go about it is to come up with a daily routine and stick to it," Jack replied.

"The interscholastics get even higher TV ratings than the interdorms, so it's a prime chance to get scouted by the pro leagues," Ruggie commented.

"You'd better start thinkin' now about how you're gonna beat out the competition and land yourself a spot," Leona added.

'Royal Sword Academy, huh…,' Devon thought. 'Grim and I met Chenya during the whole thing with Riddle, but why do I get the feeling I'm gonna be seeing a lot more of them soon…?'

Ending Notes: I can't wait for Neige to show up in the Pomefiore arc! Whether Devon likes it or not, they are going to be friends because Neige is way too sweet for her to actually dislike him. By this point, she'll be closer to Vil too and he feels some type of way about her being buddies with Neige. Like, I can see the VDC crew hanging out after the Pomefiore arc has wrapped up and Devon kind of off-handedly mentions that she has friends at RSA:

Ace: Who could you possibly know at RSA?

Devon: Dude, I've met Chenya enough that I consider us buddies and then there's N- *notices Vil glaring daggers at her*

Vil: Go on, Devon. Who else from Royal Sword Academy do you consider a friend, hm?

Devon: Nnnnobody else. That's what I was gonna say.

And then right when Devon thinks she's off the hook, the delivery ghost shows with a package for her from a "Mr. LeBlanche". Vil is now quietly seething as Devon opens it to find that Neige has straight-up knitted her a cardigan. And it's dark blue too since he knows that's her favorite color. (Neige LeBlanche can knit and I will not hear any arguments; people can pry this headcanon out of my cold dead hands.) Meanwhile, Rook's over here about to faint and spouting off an entire essay about how beautiful the whole situation is.

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