Author's Note: TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains depictions of bullying and body image issues as well as mentions and depictions of an eating disorder. As usual, nothing terribly graphic will be shown but it's still present.

Devon and Azul's younger selves will be referred to as Baby Devon and Baby Azul respectively.

When Devon opened her eyes, she found herself standing in a beautiful coral reef a comfortable distance beneath the ocean's surface. She couldn't help but smile to herself. 'I can't help but notice how thematically appropriate all the mindscapes I've been to so far have been. And they're all so tranquil too. You'd never know we just in the middle of a battle.' She looked around at all the colorful coral plants and schools of fish swimming around her, trying to figure out which way to go to find Azul. She didn't have Blizzard to guide her this time, but if this mindscape worked the way the others had…

"Excuse me," Devon called out when she caught sight of a stingray moving gracefully along the seabed in front of her. The creature stopped and looked up at her curiously and Devon crouched down so she wasn't towering over it quite as much. "You haven't seen an octopus merman around here, have you? Black and purple skin, silvery hair even though he's just a little older than me, may or may not have a gold shell around his neck.

The stingray blinked thoughtfully for a moment before turning and heading back the way it came, moving its pancake-like body in the closest thing to a 'follow me' gesture it could manage.

"Huh. Wasn't sure that would actually work," Devon muttered to herself before following after the ray. The reef they were in was nothing short of stunning, but as Devon walked along she noticed that there didn't seem to be a clear divide between her and Azul's subconsciousnesses as there had been with Riddle and Leona, no point where everything suddenly became monochrome. She was starting to wonder if maybe the stingray had been confused by what she meant when she noticed that it was leading her toward a large…well, it looked like some sort of clay jar and it was resting on the seafloor. It was a monochrome grey color, but Devon couldn't be sure if that was because of Azul or if that was just the way it was supposed to look. The stingray gestured with its tail as if to say, "Yeah, this is the place," before going on its way.

"Erm…thank you," Devon called to it as she approached the jar. She could feel that familiar sadness and self-loathing was she got close enough and knelt down next to the opening. 'Yep. He's definitely in there. Even in his own mindscape, he's trying to make himself as small as possible… It's like he's a completely different person right now.' She reached and knocked softly on the side of the jar. "Azul? You in there?"

"Go away!" shouted a voice from inside the jar.

Devon quirked a brow; whoever that was sounded way too young to be Azul. She moved to get a better look inside the jar, bracing her hand on inside of the rim for balance. She had just caught sight of some wavy silvery hair when a tentacle shot out quick as lightning to grab her wrist.

"Did you not hear me?! I said go away!" said the tiny Azul. Despite the warning squeeze he gave her wrist, Devon could sense that he was more fearful than angry and didn't actually want to hurt her. He pressed himself as far back into the jar as he could, surrounding himself with his free tentacles to hide himself like he had done shortly before Devon banished his blot incarnation. "N-Now leave me alone unless you want a face full of ink!"

"Why don't you want me to see you, little guy?" Devon asked gently.

"Don't try acting all nice! I-I know you think I'm j-just a dumb, clumsy, slow octopus…," Baby Azul said, his voice growing more watery with each word.

"Oh really? And have you ever heard me say that?" Devon asked. 'There are plenty of words I'd use to describe your older self, Azul, but those three words wouldn't be among 'em.'

Baby Azul blinked, caught off-guard by the question. "No…"

"Then how do you know that's what I think?" Devon pressed.

"That's what everybody else thinks…," Baby Azul muttered, though he did begin to unfurl himself just a bit. "Nobody wants me around. My classmates all think I'm a freak 'cause I can't swim as fast as they can. They make fun of all my legs… Even the older me wants to forget I ever existed…"

"Well, I don't think you're a freak," Devon assured him, counting on their link to prove to the little mer that she was being sincere. "I don't think you're clumsy, or slow, or dumb or any of that. Matter of fact, octopi are some of my favorite sea creatures."

"R-Really?" Baby Azul asked, though he already knew she was telling the truth. He unfurled himself even further as Devon continued, bolstered by the emotions he could feel through her link with him.

Devon nodded. "Mmhmm. They're so smart and adorable! What's not to like?" She sent him another small smile. "Won't you please come out of there so I can see you, sweetie?"

Baby Azul hesitated for a moment before responding. "Okay…but you gotta promise you won't laugh at me…"

"I would never," Devon promised. She backed away from the jar's entrance to give Baby Azul some room and then waited patiently until he felt comfortable stepping out. After a moment, one tentacle emerged from the jar, then another and another until Baby Azul was finally standing in front of her. She could see his chin quivering just a bit as he looked up at her, clearly expecting her to laugh at him anyway despite her promise not to. "Hmm… Well, that's interesting."

"W-What is?" Baby Azul asked hesitantly, already trying to shrink in on himself again.

"Looks like your classmates were dead wrong, sweetie," Devon told him. "Because I don't see a freak standing in front of me at all." She reached out to gently pat his head. "Nope. I see a sweet, adorable, handsome little octopus whose classmates are probably just mad because they aren't anywhere near as cute-"

Devon just barely managed to brace herself as Baby Azul threw himself at her, wrapping both of his arms and all eight of his tentacles around her in a tight-though not crushing-hug. She giggled and hugged him back, reaching one hand up to pet his hair.

"S-Sorry," Baby Azul apologized. "I didn't mean to grab onto you like that. It's just that nobody besides my mama has ever said anything like that to me before. It's different when comes from someone who isn't obligated to make you feel better, you know?"

"I get ya," Devon replied, "but you should know that mamas are always right. So if yours tells you how sweet and precious you are, she's probably onto something." Her smile faded slightly. "I know that's easier said than done, though. And…I know what it's like to not like the way you look."

Baby Azul pulled back to look at her. His expression was slightly skeptical but he could tell she was being honest. "You? But…you're so pretty."

"Thanks, sweetie. I appreciate you sayin' that, but you can be the most gorgeous person on the planet and still be unhappy about how you look," Devon replied.

"A fair point, but I doubt those people were ever bullied and mocked for their appearance," came a familiar voice from nearby. Devon and Baby Azul looked up to see the current Azul standing next to the jar the younger Azul had been hiding in. He gave Devon a look of disdain. "You know, it's bad enough that you ruined literally everything for me, but now you show up here to rub salt in the wound too. Can't you just leave me in peace?"

"I would've been happy to if you hadn't gone into Overblot and tried to sap the magic out of everyone in the area," Devon replied dryly. "Don't worry, though. I was able to use my blessing to sever your connection to your blot incarnation before it completely drained your magic. You're welcome."

"Please. There's no way that-" Azul began with a roll of his eyes, only to for his eyes to widen when a large bubble appeared in front of Devon. She pushed it toward him wordlessly and he saw the battle reflected in it, playing out from Devon's point of view. He could only stare at his form reflected in the bubble, the monster behind him lashing out with its trident and the crazed look on his face as he snatched Devon up. He winced as he watched himself slam her around before opting to try to squeeze her to death. Baby Azul, unable to see what was happening from his spot in Devon's lap but able to hear the screams and maniacal laughter perfectly, hugged Devon even tighter and looked up at her apologetically. The older Azul slowly sank down until he was sitting next to them, his back resting against the jar. "That was…me?"

Devon nodded grimly, patting Baby Azul's head reassuringly. "'fraid so. But hey, the fact that I'm able to talk with you here means you're not in danger of losing your life. That's a good thing, right?"

"I suppose so but how were you able to-" Azul was cut off again as the bubble played back Devon's blessing manifesting, her effortlessly severing the link between him and the specter with the trident, and the key that forged the mind-link that brought them here. He looked over at Devon again, trying to find some indication of deception, but his link with her told him she was telling the truth. He still found it difficult to drop his guard, though, and he gave her a suspicious look. "Why would you go to all this trouble? What are you hoping to gain from all of this?"

"Y'know, not everyone has ulterior motives when they do something nice for someone," Devon replied. "You've been an absolute slimeball since the day I met you and you've caused me no end of grief these past three days, but I couldn't just sit back and watch while," She gestured toward the bubble again, "that was going on. I'm not doing this so you'll owe me anything."

Azul shook his head as he let go of the bubble, allowing it to drift away. "I don't just mean about the Overblot. I want to know why you put so much on the line to free the students with anemones. I understand wanting to help your friends, but what about everyone else? Surely you didn't know all of them."

"Ah… Well, I'd be lying if I said that was done solely out of the goodness of my heart," Devon admitted with a sour look on her face. "I felt bad for them, sure, but I only really got involved because our oh-so-gracious headmaster threatened to cut off Ramshackle's food allowance if I didn't. If you wanna get mad at someone, get mad at him."

"I see… Normally I'd be dismissive of such a claim, but aside from the fact that that's clearly within the realm of Crowley's character, it seems the space we're in right now makes it impossible for us to lie to one another," Azul said before gesturing around at the mindscape they were in. "I can only assume that you did something similar for Riddle and Leona when they went into Overblot?"

Devon nodded. "You assume correctly." The trio sat in silence for a while, Devon still holding onto Baby Azul when she spoke up again. "Do you mind if I ask you something, Azul?"

"Even if I did, I doubt it would stop you from asking," Azul quipped, though his tone was becoming more playful now as it began to sink in that Devon wasn't out to exploit him.

"Smart man," Devon shot back just as playfully as Baby Azul watched them in silence, happy that his older self was making an attempt to make a new friend. Her expression turned serious as she watched the older Azul. "You said something before my blessing activated about not wanting to go back to the way you used to be." She paused when she saw Azul wince, not wanting to push him if he wasn't ready to open up, only continuing when he nodded for her to do so. She nodded toward the younger octo-mer in her lap. "Is this what you meant? Because this little guy's one of the most precious things I've seen since I got here, right up there with Grim and Ortho, so I'm not really sure I see what the problem is."

Azul didn't respond; he wasn't sure how. The only other people besides his mother that had said that about his true form were Jade and Floyd and that was really more to tease him than anything. The fact that he could tell Devon was being sincere only flustered him more.

"It's just that… Well, Riddle and Leona both had certain circumstances and emotions that had been festering since long before they even enrolled at school here," Devon continued, watching Azul's expression carefully to make sure she wasn't pushing too hard. "I'm not gonna go into any specifics, but it seems like that's also the case with you. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, of course. I just want to understand why I've been feeling all this self-loathing coming from you since we linked. Up until today, you always seemed so untouchable. Like nothing could stop you."

"Well that makes sense, considering that's the image I've cultivated for myself, after all," Azul replied. He looked at Devon again, then down at Baby Azul who nodded to him encouragingly, then back to Devon again. "What I'm about to tell you does not leave this place."

Devon nodded. "Of course."

Azul pulled in a deep breath, wondering where to begin. The part of his life that he was about to share with her was one that he'd taken great pains to make sure nobody aside from the Leech twins would ever find out about, the whole reason he began using his Unique Magic to amass all those powers in the first place, and it wasn't really something he was keen to revisit. Even so, considering that Devon had still come in after him despite how he'd treated her… Well, if anyone deserved an explanation, she did. Besides, thanks to her blessing (something he'd definitely have to ask her for more details about later), he knew he'd be safe confiding in her. He glanced back at the jar they were leaning against before rapping his knuckles against it. "The only place I've ever belonged was inside an octopus pot."

"Oh, so that's what this thing is," Devon realized as she tapped the pot with her finger. "I've never seen one before. It definitely looks like it'd make for a nice little hideaway."

"Yes, well that's exactly what I used it for," Azul told her. "It was the only place where I found any semblance of escape…"

Another bubble floated over to them, an undersea classroom reflected inside it. Devon could just make out the rim of what she assumed was another octopus pot as the sound of mocking laughter was heard. She could feel Azul's dread as he braced himself for what was coming, clearly not happy about replaying this memory, and she felt Baby Azul grip her even tighter before burying his face in her shoulder.

Two merchildren swam into view. "Hey, check it out! It's Azululu the ink-barfer!" one of them taunted.

"Don't get too close or he'll grab you up with those creepy legs of his!" the second added.

"C-Cut it out…," a younger Azul whimpered. "Why are you being so mean to me?"

Devon rubbed Baby Azul's back soothingly as his whimpering began to echo his counterpart in the memory bubble. She shifted him slightly as if to shield him by putting herself between him and the bullies in the memory.

"Hurry and swim away before you get hit with any of that nasty ink!" the first merchild shouted to their friend as they swam off.

"Ahahahaha!" the second one cackled as they followed after the first. "Oh please. He couldn't keep up with us if he tried!"

"What the heck?!" Devon exclaimed, her fury surprising both Azuls as they felt it through the link. "What was their problem? You were just sitting there not bothering anyone and they started cutting into you like that?!"

"Welcome to what was once my everyday life," Azul spat bitterly as he glared at the bubble, though he had to admit to himself that he was slightly comforted by Devon's outrage. The logical side of him knew he didn't deserve the bullying, but it was nice to have some outside validation, especially from someone who hadn't really been his biggest fan. "I dreaded having to go to school each day because I knew I was just going to end up being the class punching bag."

"But why?" Devon asked. "Not that there's ever a good reason to treat someone that way, but why did those overgrown sardines zero in on you?"

"Because I was the only octo-mer in the class," Azul replied bluntly. "Unlike the other children, I have lots of legs with suction cups. In those days, I was much more introverted and never asserted myself, either, which I'm sure didn't help my case. I was hopeless in both academics and athletics, so…," He sighed, "so I was always alone." He brought his knees closer to his chest, once again trying to make himself smaller. When he spoke again, his voice was barely more than a whisper. "Just a dumb, clumsy octopus…"

"That weirdo spews ink every time he cries, so the water's always murky whenever he's around," came another merchild's voice from the bubble.

"Yeah!" agreed another. "And he's always the first to get caught whenever we play tag, so playing with him is no fun at all."

"Oh, is that right?" Azul growled, his hands gripping his arms so tightly they began shaking. "Then why don't you just leave me be and playing those silly, pointless games of yours?!"

Devon carefully reached out to put her hand on Azul's arm. Azul jumped a bit at the contact but took a deep breath and eased his grip on his arms, the growing anger beginning to calm as well.

"Okay seriously, I've never hit a kid before but those little twerps are askin' for it," Devon said, a small smile ghosting her lips when she heard Azul huff out a laugh and remove his glasses so he could wipe his eyes.

"I lack a tailfin that will allow me to swim quickly," Azul continued, "but what I do have are ten limbs that I can freely control. That means I can transcribe five times as many grimoires as anyone with just two arms. Being an octo-mer means that I also have an almost limitless supply of ink to transcribe magic circles." He narrowed his eyes at the bubble again. "Just you wait, you air-headed little minnows! I'll show you all one of these days!"

"Heya, lil' Octy," greeted a voice from the bubble. There was something familiar about that voice that Devon couldn't quite place. She leaned over to take a look and was surprised to see a much younger Jade and Floyd at the entrance of Azul's octopus pot. Floyd was grinning his familiar toothy smile while Jade looked curiously at something outside of Azul's field of vision. "Whatcha doin' crammed inside this teeny little pot, huh?"

"Leave me alone," Azul growled, looking back at the spells he was busily transcribing onto various shells. He was working all ten of his limbs as hard as he could and there was no time to stop now.

"Impressive," the younger Jade commented. "There are spells and magic circles drawn all over every single one of these shells." He carefully picked up a couple to get a closer look. "Here's one to change species. And this one can steal someone's voice away…" He set the shells back down before looking at Azul. "Have you been doing grimoire research with all eight of your tentacles this whole time?"

"Don't touch those shells again unless you wanna get inked!" Azul warned, glaring at the twins before turning back to his research. "I'm gonna study even harder until I become as powerful as the Sea Witch herself! Now go away and stop bothering me!"

"That little Octy's pretty funny, huh Jade?" Floyd asked as he and his brother swam to the other side of the classroom.

"Yes, Floyd," Jade agreed. "He seems quite interesting indeed."

"I spent years studying absolutely everything I could get my hands on," Azul said. "And then one day when I was in middle school…"

"I hear there's a merman in the class next door who got himself a girlfriend out of the blue," a middle school-aged Floyd commented nonchalantly as he leaned against Azul's octopus pot.

"Mmhmm. And in exchange, his beautiful tenor voice now sounds more akin to a honking seal," Jade added.

"Hmm, is that so?" Azul replied, trying to sound as if this was news to him.

"I've also heard that there was another student who finally got the sliky-smooth, gorgeous locks they've always wanted," Jade said.

"But the tradeoff was that they had to give up their precious tailfin that let them dart through the water," Floyd finished.

"I see…," Azul replied again, fighting to keep himself from laughing.

"Impressive work, Azul. Truly," Jade said, sending Azul a sly smirk of his own. "That was your doing, was it not?"

"What would make you think that?" Azul asked.

"The rest of those fools couldn't hope to harness such powerful magic," Jade pointed out.

"But you've been back here studyin' for a while now, haven't ya, Octy?" Floyd chimed in.

"Pfft…" Azul couldn't help himself. He could feel his lips quirk up into a smile as a laugh bubbled up in his throat. "Heheheheh… Hahahahaha! Oh my. I didn't think I'd be found out so soon."

"So we were right?" Floyd asked eagerly.

Azul nodded. "Yes, you are. After years of studying, I've finally perfected it!" He picked up a golden scroll (though it appeared grey since the memories were monochrome) and held it out for the twins to see. "All I need is for someone to sign one of these contracts and I can take any ability I want from them! I call it…It's A Deal! With this spell, I'll make them all pay for what they did!" He glared out past the twins to his classmates chattering obliviously. "All those precious talents and abilities you take so much pride in… They'll all be mine!"

"I never forgot, not for a moment," Azul said. "To this day, I still remember the faces of all those who mocked and bullied me. I would bide my time, watching and waiting, and soon enough I'd learned all about their weaknesses and insecurities." He smirked to himself. "Once I know what foils them, I can take the tailfin of the fastest swimmer. Taking the voice of an adept singer is a trivial matter so long as I know what troubles them." His smirk morphed into a crazed grin. "I'm invincible as long as I have those scrolls." He caught sight of Devon's concerned expression and cleared his throat before going back to a more neutral expression. "My point is that I'm not the same lonely little octopus I used to be. My power helped me make sure of that. I wanted to make everyone who ever mocked me pay for it."

Devon was silent for a moment as she let everything sink in. She knew that what Azul had gone through didn't justify tormenting people who had nothing to do with what happened to him, but it wasn't hard to see where he was coming from. For all the suave confidence he exuded on campus, it was clear to her now that he was still fighting those childhood insecurities. It was something she wanted to talk to him about, but she didn't want to risk hurting the feelings of his younger self; the little octo-mer was still clinging to her as if she were a lifeline and the last thing she wanted was to shatter his confidence. Suddenly, a thought struck her. "I wasn't aware that you and the Leech brothers have known each other for so long."

"We've been in the same class since elementary school," Azul explained. "Surprisingly enough, they were some of the few who never actually took part in the bullying. They were content to just ignore me for the most part. Aside from that one conversation about the shells I was using, we didn't really start talking until middle school. I guess I wasn't "interesting" enough for them until then."

"So you didn't have anybody at all when you were in elementary?" Devon asked, her expression sympathetic. "Not even someone at a different school?"

Baby Azul shifted in her lap. "I told you nobody wanted me around…"

"Well that's their loss then, sweetie, because you're the sweetest little octopus I've ever met," Devon said, reaching out to pet his hair. "In fact… I think I know someone who would've loved to be your friend if circumstances were different."

Baby Azul looked at her curiously, only to jump when someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind. He whipped his head around to see a younger version of Devon standing behind him, her curly hair back to its natural brown color and a smile on her face. Baby Azul could only gape at her for a moment before looking back up at the older Devon in confusion. "Uh…"

"She's me when I was your age," Devon explained. She looked up at the older Azul to see him making a similar expression as his counterpart. "What? If your younger self can be here, why can't mine?"

"I heard what those other kids said before," Baby Devon said to Baby Azul, "and they're totally wrong. Your name's Azul, right?"

Baby Azul nodded hesitantly. "Y-Yeah."

"Well I'm Devon and I don't think your legs are creepy at all," Baby Devon assured him. "I don't think it's bad that you can ink people, either. I'd love to be able to do that when people are rude to me. I'd be like," She turned her head and mimed spitting ink at an invisible person nearby, "there's some ink, you're bein' a butt."

Baby Azul couldn't help but laugh, slowly climbing out of Devon's lap so he could talk properly to her younger self. Baby Devon marveled at the way Baby Azul moved his tentacles as he 'walked', bolstering the little octo-mer's confidence little by little while their older selves watched them like two parents watching their kids on a playdate.

"You wanna play something?" Baby Devon asked after a while.

"Like what?" Baby Azul asked nervously. "I-I'm not a very fast swimmer so I'm no good at tag and stuff."

Baby Devon smiled and shook her head. "That's cool; I'm not a very fast swimmer either. I was thinkin' we could look for some cool seashells. Everybody knows there's all kinds of cool stuff on the ocean floor, so we're bound to find something. And with all those legs you've got, I bet you're a pro at treasure hunts." She reached out and took his hand. "So c'mon, let's go!"

"Why am I not surprised to see that you can manage to befriend pretty much anyone, even at that age?" Azul asked as he and Devon continued to watch their younger selves play. Baby Azul continued to come out his shell the longer he and Baby Devon interacted and was now confidently showing her how easily his limbs could crush the wooden planks of a nearby sunken ship, allowing them to go inside and explore. "If I'd had even a sliver of that confidence when I was that age, things might have been completely different."

Devon studied Azul for a moment before she replied. "Ya know, as angry as I wanna be with you for all the crap you've put me through, I get where you're comin' from. If my classmates were as terrible to me as yours were to you, I would've snapped."

"Hmm. Well, that's a little surprising. I thought you would've told me to "be the bigger person" or something," Azul said dryly. He side-eyed her with a look that could've been interpreted as condescending…if Devon hadn't been able to sense the slight playfulness behind it. "Isn't that what you morally upright types are all about?"

"Not if being the bigger person means sitting back and swallowing a bunch of abuse." Devon smirked and quirked a brow. "Also, "morally upright"? Where'd you get that impression? You remember that part about how Crowley basically forced me to find a way to stop you under threat of starvation, right? It's not like I got involved because I'm some crusader for justice or something." She sighed. "I'm not about tormenting people that haven't done anything to deserve it but as far as getting payback on those brats you went to school with…I say go apeshit."

"Heh. And here I was thinking you were better suited to Royal Sword Academy than Night Raven College," Azul quipped.

"Hey, I've been bullied before too," Devon told him. "Not nearly to the extent that you were, but I know what it's like to want to get back at somebody for treating you badly." She watched their younger selves as they continued their treasure hunt before looking back at Azul. "You know…what you said before about not wanting to go back to how you used to be… Do you still see yourself as that little octopus that nobody wanted to play with?"

Azul didn't answer her verbally, but the wave of emotions that bombarded her through the link told her she'd hit the nail on the head.

"I'm only asking because it would explain why making those deals and collecting collateral for them was so important to you," Devon continued. "At first I thought it was just to pad your ego, but there's more to it, isn't there? Each ability you took for yourself was another layer of distance between you and your past self, right? That's why you kept making deals even after you started at NRC and why you have such a hard accepting your younger self-you didn't want anyone to see behind the mask."

"What about you, then?" Azul asked quickly, trying to draw the conversation away from his insecurities. "You told my younger self that you knew what it was like to dislike your own appearance, yet you're absolutely gorgeous. Your younger self is cute as a button as well, so I don't understand where this insecurity would be coming from."

Devon blinked before huffing out a quick laugh. "Okay, three things. First, thank you for the compliments. Second, I could easily say the same thing about you and your younger self." She watched him, amused, as he sputtered and his cheeks flushed in response, before her expression grew more somber. "And third…my insecurity came from… Well, I guess the simplest explanation is that it came from my world's beauty industry."

"The beauty industry?" Azul repeated.

"Yep," Devon replied, looking out toward their younger selves again. "Ramshackle doesn't actually have a cable service so I'm not really sure if Twisted Wonderland's beauty industry has this problem, but when I was younger-not much older than my younger self here, in fact-, thanks to the joys that are puberty and changes in hormones, I put on a noticeable amount of weight in a very short amount of time. I hadn't really thought too much about my appearance before that-I actually had a few of my dad's sisters tell me multiple times that they thought I was too skinny-, but it was hard to ignore a change that happened so abruptly and for no obvious reason. That was also when I started paying more attention to ads for clothes and cosmetics on TV…and that there were no plus-sized models anywhere in sight."

Azul watched as multiple tiny bubbles floated toward them, each one reflecting Devon's memory of ads for various products. Devon was right; all of the models shown were extremely thin. He could pick the less than subtle subtext of 'This is what you should be striving for' coming from the ads and he could feel the detrimental effect it was having on a younger Devon's self-worth. "This is…more heavy-handed than I was expecting. And that's not even getting into the fact that I don't see a single person with darker skin in most of these. Twisted Wonderland has similarly problematic ads, to be sure, but most companies make a greater effort to show more diversity when they advertise."

"That's good to hear. Thankfully, my world's been getting better about doing the same in recent years," Devon replied. "There's still a pretty glaring lack of diversity from a lot of companies but progress is still being made." She shook her head before waving the bubbles away. "Anyway, I know the whole 'make your viewers feel like they have to have whatever product you're hocking at all costs' is the oldest advertising method in the book and it's not exclusive to the fashion or beauty industries; I knew it back then too. But even so-"

"It hits different when you're already feeling down on yourself," Azul finished for her. "Especially when you have to see it constantly." Another bubble was floating toward them now, this one showing a pre-teen Devon looking sadly at her reflection in her bedroom mirror as she adjusted the overly baggy hoodie she was wearing, clearing trying to hide herself in it. "You know, I thought you were just saying you related to my insecurities to make me feel better but," He nodded toward the bubble, "I know that feeling all too well. How long did you carry those feelings, if you don't mind my asking?"

Devon tapped her chin as she tried to remember. "I…think it started when I was ten or eleven and carried on until I was shortly before I turned thirteen. Unfortunately, things got worse before they got better. See, my parents emphasized to my brothers and me for as long as I can remember that all bodies-all people-are beautiful, regardless of whether or not they fit whatever ideal the ads or movies or whatever show. That was all well and good, but it made me feel even more ashamed when I wasn't able to see anything beautiful about my own body." She chuckled humorlessly. "Thanks to 20/20 hindsight, I realize now that I probably could've gotten help and broken out of that funk much sooner if I'd just talked to them, but I kept it bottled up instead."

"Did your family ever suspect anything?" Azul asked.

"Oh, I'm positive they did," Devon replied. "A lot of traditions and gatherings in my family's culture involve at least one meal together, so it was probably obvious early that I wasn't eating as much and keeping a closer eye on what I did eat. I don't think they really knew how to bring it up, though, and I wasn't about to say anything." She sighed and a feeling of regret passed through the link. "At least not until the day I had no choice."

Azul eyed Devon cautiously as he took the hints she'd been dropping and put the pieces together. "I'm not sure I like the way you said that." His concern only grew when Devon refused to meet his eyes, all but confirming his suspicions as he felt her shame and anger at herself join the regret. "Devon…did you develop an eating disorder?"

"…Yes."

The pair sat in silence for a while as that single word sunk in, an entire sea of emotions passing from one to the other. Devon tried to keep her eyes on their younger selves as they continued to play around the ship, her lips quirking upward just a bit when she saw Baby Azul snatch Baby Devon up with one of his tentacles to keep her from falling off the bow of the ship. She was tempted to lie when Azul asked his question, but she knew the link would give her away immediately. She was hoping she'd never have reason to bring her eating disorder up again, certainly not to someone she'd been at odds with not long ago. Even back in her world, the only person outside of her family that knew about it was Madison. Even so, Azul had been willing to revisit a dark part of his life so it was only right that she reciprocated. "I'm not proud of it…," was all she could bring herself to say.

"I can tell," Azul replied bluntly but not unkindly. The revelation had shocked him, to be sure. He knew Devon probably had a secret or two locked away-most people did-but he didn't think it would be something so serious. He sympathized with her, really, and he couldn't deny that similar thoughts had sometimes crossed his mind when he was younger but he'd never acted on them. When he spoke up again, his voice was soft, as if he wasn't sure if he was overstepping by pressing for more information. It was practically instinct for him at this point, but he told himself he would back off without a fuss this time if Devon indicated that she wasn't comfortable sharing more. "How long?"

"The better part of a year. I think about seven or eight months," Devon replied. "If I'm being honest, it probably would've gone on longer if left alone but, like I said, I ended up having no choice but to come clean."

Another bubble appeared in front of them and the sound of retching could be heard. Thankfully the inside of the bubble was dark, likely due to Devon reflexively closing her eyes as she vomited.

"I tried to be careful about my purging so nobody would find out, trying to time it when I knew nobody would be around," Devon explained. "On that particular day, everyone else ended up heading out shortly after we ate dinner, meaning I was home alone. …At least, I thought I was."

The sound of Devon panting could be heard as she felt herself about to be sick again. She closed her eyes to brace for it, only for them to snap open when she heard someone pounding on the bathroom door.

"Devon!" a female voice called out. "Devon, open this door right now!"

"Just go away!" Devon called back, relieved that she'd thought to lock the door just in case. "Why are you even he-" She stopped abruptly, turning back to the toilet and retching again.

The voice on the other side of the door mumbled something that sounded like "I knew it," and the next thing Devon knew, the door was thrown open nearly off its hinges as whoever was on the other side shouldered their way into the room.

The bubble floated away before anything else was shown, leaving Azul wondering who Devon's mysterious savior had been. His first thought was her mother, but the voice sounded far too young for that to be the case. He was tempted to ask her, but it didn't seem like she was willing to show him much else.

"Almost immediately after that, I started seeing a therapist. It took some time but she's been a really big help and thanks to her and a really awesome support system back home, I haven't purged since that day and I haven't the urge to," Devon continued. "Even so often, the intrusive thoughts come back, though. Like, there have been a few times that I've been going through the line in the cafeteria and I'll get really nervous that the people around me are judging what and how much I'm eating. The rational part of me knows that most of the guys at NRC eat waaay more than I do and even if they didn't, I'm not important enough for them to care about what I eat. They aren't as bad as they used to be, but it's still hard to shake 'em once they're there." She finally looked over at Azul. "Does… Does that ever happen to you?"

Azul nodded. "Occasionally. Like you, I try to remind myself that most of the rest of the student body eats far more than I do. I do make it a point to make sure my meals are balanced throughout the day, but I'm not as physically active as you are."

Devon looked at him questioningly.

Azul smirked back at her. "What? You think I haven't seen you doing parkour on campus? You really should talk to Floyd about that at some point. He's been looking for someone to play "parkour tag" with and I think you might be the only one that stands a chance of keeping up with him. Or getting away from him, whichever works."

"Heh. I'll be sure to do that," Devon replied. A comfortable silence passed over them before she spoke up again. "Thanks, by the way. For listening and not judging me." Azul sent her a teasing look but she reached out and poked his cheek before he could say anything. "And don't even try to pretend like you're gonna try use what I told you for blackmail later. If that were true, I'd have been able to sense it by now, just like I'm sure you can sense that I have no intention of telling anyone about what you've shared with me."

"Well what good is my manipulative, shady front if you can see through it, Devon?" Azul snarked, relieved that the negative emotions Devon was feeding the link were beginning to dissipate. "I guess I should thank you for not judging me too. I don't like dredging up those memories, but it was nice to really talk about it with someone."

"I'm with ya there," Devon agreed. "I think we're both stronger than we gave each other credit for. We've both been through the body image ringer and came out…mostly okay."

Azul rolled his eyes playfully. "Maybe you came out "mostly okay", but I am thriving, my dear."

"You sure are…in everything but PE class, right?" Devon jabbed.

Azul bristled, but there was no anger or hostility in his tone. "Okay, I'm going to need you to tell me where exactly you got those-"

"Are you guys feeling better?" asked a small voice. Azul and Devon looked up to see that their younger selves had made their way back over from the sunken ship, Baby Azul holding what looked like some sort of coin and Baby Devon with a tattered pirate captain's hat on her head. Baby Azul shuffled nervously on his tentacles. "You two started feeling really sad while we were over on the ship, didn't you? We wanted to come check on you, but Devon said we should stay put."

"But you seem way happier than you were before we left!" Baby Devon chirped as she hopped over to her older self.

Devon smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we're feelin' much better, mini-me. Thank you both for comin' to check in."

The two Azuls eyed each other for a moment, the younger shifting his weight nervously. Finally, the older Azul cleared his throat.

"I heard what you said before, about me wanting to forget you ever existed," he said. "I must admit that you're not wrong. I thought the only way to move on from what happened to me, erm, you…us was to bury it in the darkest corner of my mind and mask it with a collection of pilfered abilities to compensate. All that really did was keep me trapped in the past, though, and I ended up Overblotting because of it. I think I understand now that the first real step to moving on isn't to run or cover it up, but to grow from." He held out his hand. "I'm not saying I'm about to shout it from the rooftops or anything, but like it or not, you're a part of me, which means I need to accept you and that the part of my life that you represent helped make me who I am now. I'm still not ready for the world to know and I might never be, but I need to stop lying to myself at least."

Baby Azul was silent as he listened to his older self before a smile spread across his face and he took Azul's hand. There was a bright flash of light as soon as the two Azuls made contact and when it faded, both Baby Azul and Baby Devon had vanished, along with the octopus pot that Baby Azul had been hiding in when Devon first encountered him. The large door leading out of the mindscape had appeared as well, prompting Devon to get to her feet.

"Looks like our time's about up," Devon said, turning back to Azul and holding out her hand. "You ready to go? I think we've worried our friends enough for one day."

Azul chuckled as he took her hand and allowed her to pull him to his feet. "Right. Let's go."

Ending Notes: I won't lie to you guys, this was without a doubt the hardest chapter to write so far. Azul's bullying (any of the characters being bullied, really, but Azul kind of hits home for me) breaks my heart every time I see it. Devon's ED was hard for me to write as well since someone I love very much went through something similar. Don't worry; they are also going to therapy and doing much better now, thankfully.

Devon's ED and its aftermath was a pretty pivotal part of her life (namely her going to therapy, which is partially why she's pretty well-adjusted compared to the rest of the TWST cast), so it is going to come up again later on. She's not quite ready to share what happened to anyone she hasn't linked with since she's still dealing with quite a bit of internalized shame, but the time will come when she'll be ready to let other people into the not-so-great parts of her life.

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