"Ngh…"

The first thing Azul felt after returning to consciousness was a severe pounding in his head. He could also feel some serious pain in his abdomen and face, and immediately recalled the beating DJ had somehow managed to give him. 'Note to self: none of the Lopez siblings are to be trifled with, but the eldest is not to be provoked at any cost.' He blinked his eyes open, bringing up his hand to shield them from the sunlight. It looked like Octavinelle had been returned to normal, minus a few craters in the wall of the dorm building and on the pathway leading into it. Those must have happened during the battle, but luckily it was nothing that couldn't be repaired.

"Oh hey, you're awake," Floyd said as his face and Jade's came into focus above where Azul was laying on his back.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Jade asked as Azul struggled to sit up, a look of mild concern on his face.

Azul squinted his eyes as he tried to focus on Jade's hand but his vision kept going blurry. "Ei…ght…?"

"Hmm… It seems you're still a bit out of it," Jade commented with a small (and non-malicious, for a change) smile, "but I'm relieved to see that you're alright. It seems Devon was able to stop your blot-induced rampage after all."

"Yeah, that was somethin'," Floyd agreed. "Too bad you practically beat her to a pulp before she could."

Azul looked at the Floyd questioningly, still dazed. Floyd nodded in a direction off to the side and Azul struggled to crane himself around to see. His eyes widened in shock as he took in Devon's pitiful state. She was being cradled in Leona's arms because her legs were too shaky to support her, likely because the adrenaline of the battle had worn off. She struggled just to breathe thanks to her crushed ribs, he could see awful bruising on what was visible of her limbs, and she was bleeding from multiple cuts to her head and face.

"Wha-?! But…how are you this beat up?!" Azul exclaimed, only to remember why immediately after asking. "Oh… Right… I suppose that was me." He cleared his throat, trying to both fight through his dizziness and keep from being crushed himself under the feeling of guilt at seriously injuring someone who had made an honest and genuine attempt to reach out to him as he scrabbled around looking for his staff. "Not to worry, Devon. I'm proficient in healing magic so I'll have you fixed right-"

"Uh, no," Floyd said, picking up Azul's staff to make sure it was out of his reach. "You ain't usin' any magic right now."

"This isn't the time for you to be difficult, Floyd," Azul grumbled before turning to Jade. "Jade, will you please say something to him?"

"My apologies, but I'm afraid I must agree with Floyd," Jade replied. "You've just come out of an Overblot, Azul. Any magic use is inadvisable."

"Why are you frettin' so much over Shrimpy, anyway? We can just take her to the infirmary and they'll set her right, won't they?" Floyd probed. "Does this have anything to do with Shrimpy turning you both into bright blue glowsticks?"

Azul rubbed his temples. He really didn't want to get into this with the twins right now. "That's not-"

"Pardon me, dorm leader," interject an Octavinelle student as he and two of his dormmates approached. "We couldn't help overhearing. The twins are right; you shouldn't be using magic right now. However, Octavinelle owes Devon a serious debt and you already know the three of us happen to be fairly proficient in healing magic as well."

"We aren't on your level, of course, but we can at least help her along so that she's not struggling to breathe," the second added.

The third looked at Devon. "If it wasn't for you, we might have lost our magic and our dorm head. Will you please let us help you now?"

Devon looked at the Octavinelle students warily at first, as if she was expecting them to try to back her into another deal, but her gut instincts-or maybe her blessing-told her their offer was sincere. Unable to bring herself to speak, she nodded her head.

"That little tantrum of yours put all of us through the wringer, y'know," Leona told Azul as the three students got to work on Devon. Her bruising back to fade almost immediately and after a moment her breathing began to even out as well.

"You have no room to talk, Leona," Ruggie commented with an amused look on his face.

Azul looked between Devon and the damage done to the dorm. He'd seen himself on a rampage through Devon's memories in the link but he could barely remember any of it. "I don't believe it… You're telling me I did all this…?"

"I'm afraid that's what happens when you push past your blot threshold the way you did," Jade replied. "You really don't remember?"

"Probably for the best," Floyd added. "You were suckin' everyone's magic left and right while yellin'," He made his voice as whiny-sounding as he possibly could, ""Gimme your strength! I have to regain my omnipotence!" Hands down, it was the cringiest thing I've ever seen. Out of everything that happened today, I think that was the most traumatic part for me."

"What…? You're saying that I was…" Azul looked desperately over at Devon, hoping she'd give him some kind of reassurance that Floyd was just messing with him. Unfortunately for him, Devon just nodded with a sympathetic look on her face, causing Azul to bury his face in his hands. "I don't believe this…"

"Can't really blame ya for losin' it when something you've been building up for years gets ruined in a matter of seconds," Ruggie said. "If someone went and broke the coin bank I've been savin' my money in, I'd hold a grudge for the rest of my life."

"Note to self: break Ruggie's coin bank and see if he puts his money where his mouth is," Devon said with a teasing smile on her face.

Ruggie sent a playful glare in Devon's direction, only to be caught slightly off-guard when he saw a ring of purple glowing along the rims of her irises, though he quickly regained his composure. "You're lucky you're cute, kitten."

The Octavinelle students had finished working on Devon by now and, though still a little shaky, she was able to stand again, though she still leaned against a surprisingly cooperative Leona for support. The first of the students advised that she should still go to the infirmary to be safe and Devon nodded gratefully as they made their way through the crowd of other students to check on any injuries sustained there as well.

'Seems like everything worked out just fine,' echoed Dominic's voice in Devon's head.

'Yep,' DJ's voiced agreed, 'so long as sister dearest keeps herself outta trouble.'

'Shut up, DJ,' Devon retorted, rolling her eyes inwardly. 'Thank you guys for showin' up for me. You really saved my ass back there. I'll talk to you guys again, somehow. Hopefully soon. And I love you both.'

'We love you too, Dev,' her brothers' voices echoed before Dominic's blessing faded away and Grim's voice pulled Devon's attention back to the group.

"You really oughta see this as a learning experience, Azul," Grim said as hopped back up onto Devon's shoulder, taking care not to jostle her too much. "Those shady deals of yours have gotta stop!"

Jack crossed his arms and gave Grim a disapproving look. "And maybe you lot should take this as a lesson not to try to coast through your exams using someone else's notes."

Devon looked over at Azul, who still had his face hidden behind his hands. She walked over and crouched down next to him before gently tapping his shoulder. "Nobody else could've put together a study guide like yours, y'know."

"…What…?" Azul replied as he peeked through his fingers at her.

"She's right, man," Ace agreed as he walked over too. "I only spent one all-nighter going over your study guide and that was enough to bag me over a 90 on my exams."

"Seriously, that thing was somethin' else," Deuce added.

"The headmaster told Dev and me that you made that thing by going over a century's worth of previous exam questions and studying the trends," Jack recalled. "I don't approve of those deals of yours, but I admit that that amount of hard work is nothing to sneer at."

"H-Hmph…" Azul slowly brought his hands down from his face, quickly masking the appreciative smile that was beginning to form on his face with a more stoic look. "Those clumsy attempts at consolation aren't helping in the slightest."

"Aww, what's the matter? Looks like you're gettin' a little misty-eyed, Azul," Floyd teased as he crouched down next to Devon.

"Goodness, it seems you've gone back to that ink-spewing crybaby again," Jade jabbed, joining his brother in the light-hearted teasing.

Azul glared at the brothers. "Hey! I believe you both have signed NDAs regarding that topic!"

"Ah, yes. My apologies," Jade replied despite the look on his face saying he wasn't sorry at all.

"Oh, that reminds me," Devon began, calling her staff to her before standing and pulling Azul to his feet as well. Nyx opened up a void and spat something out of it, complete with a belching sound and everything. "We got that photo of Prince Rielle you wanted." She held the photo out so he could see it.

"And since the sun hasn't set yet, that means our victory is sealed," Jack added.

"What's this a picture of, anyway?" Leona asked as he and Ruggie stepped closer to take a look. "Just looks like a bunch of tiny merfolk to me."

"Is this an elementary class photo? What did you even want this for?" Ruggie pressed.

"Ahahaha! Oh man, that takes me back!" Floyd laughed as he moved behind Devon to get a better look as well, dangling his arms over her shoulders. "This is a picture from our school field trip!"

'Wait a sec,' Devon thought, suddenly recalling that Floyd had mentioned going to the museum on a field trip when Azul first tasked her with getting the photo, 'does that mean…'

"Me an' Jade are right here," Floyd continued, pointing out two tiny eel-mers near the front of the group. He scanned the faces of the kids in the photo before his smile widened and he pointed to someone so far off to one side they were nearly out of the shot. "And this little guy hidin' waaaay back in the corner is…," He paused for dramatic effect, giving Devon just enough time to notice how familiar the little mer he'd pointed out was before finishing, "Baby Azul!"

"What?!" everyone except Devon, Azul, and the twins shouted.

"Aaahh! No!" Azul shouted before sending another glare toward Floyd. "Floyd, why?!" He turned to the others with a pleading expression. "Don't look! Please don't look!"

"What's the matter, Azul? You're much livelier now than just a moment ago," Jade commented with a sharp-toothed smile. "Don't you think you should take it easy for now? Considering everything that's happened, it would probably be best just to let this one go."

"Hang on. Lemme see," Ace said as he moved in to get a better look at the picture.

Leona took Devon's wrist and moved it just a bit so he could get a better look too. "Back in the corner…"

"You mean this lil' octopus that's rounder than all the other kids, even if you hold the picture at an angle?" Ruggie asked.

"Whoa! I never knew you used to look like that, Azul!" Grim exclaimed.

Devon couldn't help but smile fondly. "Still just as precious and adorable the second time…"

""The second time"?" Jade and Floyd repeated, looking at Devon curiously.

"I've been meaning to ask you about that, Devon. We got a basic overview of your blessing from the others, but what exactly happened when you and Azul were linked?" Jade asked.

"U-Uh… Well… I-I mean, it's not like-" Devon stumbled over her words but was thankfully spared having to wiggle out of explaining what she saw when Azul let out a defeated wail.

"I understand. I totally get what you're feeling! Everyone has something in their past they wish they could erase!" Deuce said to Azul before turning to the rest of the group. "I saw nothing and neither did the rest of you, okay?! We'll never speak of this again!"

"Hmph. You really do go charging head-first into pretty much everything, huh?" Jack commented as he watched Deuce continue his attempts to get everyone to look away from the picture.

"Uuugh," Azul groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I was hoping to open a Mostro Lounge branch café and erase my past shame in one fell swoop. It was supposed to be the perfect plan!"

"They say that he who chases after two hares at once usually ends up with neither," Ruggie replied sagely.

"I was able to get a hold of my classmates' yearbooks and the negatives from the photographers thanks to an entire web of deals," Azul lamented. "I'd managed to acquire almost every old photo of me, but the one at the museum was the only one I couldn't get my hands on legally."

"So you made Devon go around doin' your dirty work for ya so she'd take the fall instead of you? That's not cool!" Grim scolded.

"I don't see why you're makin' such a fuss over this, anyway," Floyd said. "I like the old Azul, personally." He smirked. "You were so much tastier-lookin' back then~!"

"That doesn't make me feel any better!" Azul shouted.

Devon smiled before gently nudging Azul in the side. "You don't have to be so hung up on hiding this, you know."

"This is the absolute worst, Devon," Azul moaned as he hid his face in Devon's shoulder. "I just want to crawl back into my octopus pot…"

"Anyway, we held up our end of the deal and brought you that photograph within the timeframe you gave us," Jack said. "That means Devon's fulfilled the terms of your contract."

"Not that it really matters anyway since the contracts were turned to sand and all," Grim chimed in with a smirk.

"All the same, stealing doesn't sit right with me," Jack continued. "You make it a point to keep all your business deals within legal limits, right Azul? Take some responsibility and get this picture back where it belongs."

"I'd be happy to go with you if you want," Devon offered.

Azul heaved a sigh but lifted his head off Devon's shoulder. "Fine. But at least let me run it through some editing software to remove myself from it first."

"You're really not gonna let that go, are ya?" Leona asked dryly.

"He has a point, you know," Jade agreed with a sincere smile. "Pictures like that are valuable treasures all on their own."

"Oooh, sweet! Field trip!" Floyd cheered. "When do we go? We're all goin' together, right? Ahahaha! This is gonna be great! I haven't been to the Atlantica Memorial Museum since our trip in elementary school!"

Grim's ears perked up suddenly. He wordlessly jumped off Devon's shoulder and began sniffing around on all fours.

"Uh… What're you sniffin' around on the ground for, Grim?" Ace asked, confused.

"Because my gourmet hunter senses are tellin' me that my favorite pitch-black treat is somewhere around here," Grim replied with a smirk.

"What are you, some kinda truffle hog?!" Ace exclaimed.

Grim ignored Ace and rooted around for a moment before holding something up above his head triumphantly. "Nyahaha! I knew there was a black rock around here! There ain't no foolin' my nose!"

"A black stone…?" Leona muttered, quirking a brow.

"Aaaaand down the hatch it goes!" Grim continued, swallowing the stone before anyone could try to stop him. His eyes widened in delight and he rubbed his cheeks happily. "Mmmm! This one starts out heavy and rich but there's a briny punch of saltiness to it too! I don't think I'll ever get tired of eatin' these things!"

"Seriously, Grim? You really need to stop eating crap off the ground," Deuce scolded.

Ace shook his head. "There's no point trying to stop him. We just have to accept that monsters have different tastes."

Leona watched Grim carefully for a moment before nudging Devon gently, keeping his voice low. "Hey. Does that raccoon of yours always pick up black stones and eat 'em?"

"Well…I mean, not constantly," Devon replied, keeping her voice down as well, "but every time we've found one, he's eaten it. I think this is the…third time he's done it."

Jack turned toward them just in time to catch the mildly concerned look on Leona's face, his enhanced hearing having caught their hushed tones. "Everything okay, Leona?"

Leona instantly schooled his features into his usual nonchalant expression. "Nah, it's nothing."

Devon smiled as she stepped through the Ramshackle gate later that night, watching as the Wisps flew out of her staff and toward the building, pulsing happily as they let Regina know that Devon had won her wager with Azul. She was carrying a sleeping Grim in her arms; the little guy was worn out from their trip to the infirmary to make sure everyone was cleared after the battle (not helped by the fact that Crowley had shown up as soon as he caught wind of what had happened and bombarded everyone with questions), followed by stuffing his face with a meal at Mostro Lounge-on the house, courtesy of Azul. Devon had a feeling that at least some of that was for show so Azul could start doing damage control on his reputation, but the way he and the twins periodically stopped by to chat with them-no attempts to make a deal or any sort of threatening undertone during the conversation at all-told her that the gesture was mostly rooted in genuine gratitude.

She was pulled from her thoughts as Regina, overjoyed at the news the Wisps had relayed, pulled the pair up walkway and right to the front door. "I missed you too, Regina," Devon said, laughing. She took a moment to look up at the old building, gently resting her hand on the doorframe. "It's good be back."

"Ah. So you've returned."

Devon whipped around to see Malleus standing a few steps behind her, the usual green lights that heralded his arrival disappearing.

"If I might be frank for a moment, I wasn't entirely certain that you would win your bet with Ashengrotto," Malleus commented. He smirked when she puffed her cheeks up at his remark. "Seems you're actually quite the schemer despite how doe-eyed you appear."

"Why Horns, I'm hurt that you'd underestimate me like that," Devon teased, returning his smirk with one of her own. She adjusted her hold on the still-snoozing Grim as her smirk melted into a smile. "You know, I don't think I would've managed to beat Azul if it hadn't been for your advice."

Malleus blinked. "My advice?"

Devon nodded. "Yeah. What you said about the gargoyles. It turned out to be the hint that tied everything together for me."

"Hmm…" Malleus tapped his chin in thought. "It wasn't my intention to provide you with some sort of cryptic clue, though I'm glad you found my words helpful." He smiled at her. "I'm relieved that this building will remain nice and quiet-as quiet as it gets with you two living here, at any rate." He chuckled to himself before his lips quirked into a smirk once again. "Ashengrotto's calmly smug expression contorting into one of frustration must have been a sight to see. Would that I could have been a fly on the wall."

"Well it ended up resulting in an Overblot, so I'm not so sure I'd agree with you," Devon replied.

"Another one? Child of man, this is the third Overblot you've been involved in stopping now…," Malleus pointed out.

"Hey, it's not like I go lookin' for 'em," Devon defended herself. "Also, it's not my fault that almost everyone at this school is a nasty combination of traumatized and emotionally constipated."

"I'm aware, but even so…," Malleus pressed. He reached out and gently took one of her curls between his thumb and index finger. "Please be careful, alright?"

Devon smiled at him fondly and nodded in agreement. "I'll do my best."

"Good," Malleus replied, smiling back at her briefly before turning his head and looking toward the road leading to Main Street. "It appears I must take my leave for the time being." He turned back toward her. "Goodnight, child of man. Welcome home."

No sooner had Malleus vanished with his usual fanfare of lights did Devon hear the sound of running footsteps. She looked in their direction and saw the bright green vests of two Diasomnia students running in the direction of Ramshackle. As they got closer, she saw that the two students were Silver and Sebek. Her first instinct was to call out to them, but it seemed they were preoccupied with something, so she held back.

"Is he here?" Silver asked Sebek.

Sebek shook his head. "No. He doesn't seem to be in the area."

"Perhaps we should check near the western buildings next," Silver suggested.

"Oh, my liege! Why do you keep going on these excursions unattended?!" Sebek lamented. He narrowed his eyes at Silver. "You never should have taken your eyes off of him, Silver! This is your fault!"

"Come on, Sebek. He's not a child," Silver reasoned. "If anything, I think you're worrying to an inordinate degree."

"It won't be so inordinate if something happens to him! We guardsmen must always remain vigilant! Always!" Sebek argued. "Do you truly take your duties so lightly?! Or have you forgotten the great kindness the prince and Master Lilia showed you by taking you in and raising you despite your humanity?!"

Silver heaved a long-suffering sigh. "What does that have to do with any of this?"

Devon tilted her head as she watched the pair run off into the night. ""The prince"?"

"Myah…!" Grim sighed happily in his sleep as Devon walked back into their room after she finished getting ready for bed. "Thas a big fish… But I'ma try an' eat it…!"

Devon smiled fondly and rolled her eyes before walking over to climb into bed. "We were only gone for three days, but it feels like it was much longer…"

Before she could settle in for the night, the mirror above the fireplace began glowing again. Devon glanced down at her bracelet, but the Sending Stone hadn't lit up even slightly. She looked over at Grim, but he didn't seem at all disturbed by the bright light.

"Okaaaay…"

Devon stepped closer cautiously to get a better look. At first she was just staring into the same grey foggy void that she'd been before, but suddenly a shadowy…something moved through the fog and tapped against the mirror from the other side. It was all Devon could do not to scream and she slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from disturbing Grim. Zephyr pulsed, asking her what was wrong, but Devon just shook her head wordlessly. Whatever was on the other side of the mirror didn't seem like it could get to her, so there was no need to panic…yet.

She watched the shadow tap on the mirror again and quickly realized that it was knocking, not trying to break through to her side. She could also just barely make out a voice calling out from the other side of the mirror, softly at first but growing louder and clearer as she listened. She couldn't quite place it, but it sounded familiar to her.

"…lo? …ear me?"

Devon watched in stunned silence as a silhouette slowly became visible on the other side and she quickly realized why the voice seemed so familiar. 'Oh, you have got to be kidding me…' She took in the cartoonishly round shape of the figures head and the equally round ears on top. 'MICKEY FREAKIN' MOUSE?!'

The figure spoke again, its voice loud and clear this time and leaving no room for doubt. "Is…someone there?"

'Yep, that's definitely Mickey. I'd know that voice anywhere,' Devon thought, still too wary to respond.

The light faded as quickly as it had appeared, taking Mickey's silhouette with it. Devon stared blankly at the mirror for a moment before slowly walking back to the bed and settling in. She kept a wary eye on the mirror in case it started glowing again and Zephyr, sensing her distress, remained on guard as well.

"What the heck just happened?" she whispered. "Maybe… Maybe I can try to talk to him next time…?"

Leona sighed as he settled into bed for the night. He finally had his room back now that the Ramshackle duo had gone back to their own dorm, much to the displeasure of several of his dormmates. For a bunch of guys who acted like having Devon and Grim stay at Savanaclaw for a few days would be absolute torture, they sure adapted to them being there pretty quick. Well, they warmed up to Devon, at least; Grim's general obnoxiousness still rubbed plenty of them the wrong way, but they accepted that he and Devon were a package deal.

The lion prince had to fight with everything he had to keep from rolling his eyes when that coyote beastman, Steel, said his goodbye, telling Devon that she could call him any time if she ever needed anything and making a big show of putting his number in her phone. To his surprise, Leona also found himself irritated at the fact that Devon didn't immediately recoil in disgust at the suggestion; she was actually rather playfully nonchalant about the whole thing.

'Whatever. It doesn't matter anyway,' Leona thought as he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. 'Devon and that furball are back where they belong and I can finally enjoy the peace and quiet again.'

Except… the "peace and quiet" seemed too quiet tonight. Leona almost laughed at the thought; seemed he wasn't any better than his dormmates. She'd barely been gone an hour and he already felt like something was missing from his space. A small part of him actually wanted to head over to Ramshackle and have her make good on her end of the deal they made when he agreed to help her with Azul, but he didn't feel like making the trek over there.

Leona grumbled incoherently as he rolled onto his side, only for his eyes to shoot open when he inhaled a noseful of Devon's scent. He looked around the room for a split second, wondering (or maybe hoping) if she had made her way into his room again without him realizing it before he shook his head. Of course she wasn't there-he had just buried his face into the pillow she'd been leaned up against the previous night. Leona sat up and stared at the pillow, fighting with himself for a moment. He knew that Ruggie would be able to pick up Devon's scent as well when he came to wake Leona up the next morning and the last thing he wanted to deal with were the hyena's teasing remarks about his "soft spot" for Devon (the fact that he was right about it was irrelevant).

Soon enough, Leona's need for maximum comfy sleep won out and he buried his face into the pillow once again, taking in Devon's comforting scent as he felt his eyelids grow heavy. It wasn't his herbivore, but he supposed it would do for now.

Ending Notes: This is, what? The third, maybe fourth time Leona's had to carry Devon for some reason? 'Official Devon Carrier' might as well be his job title by now. Like, he just materializes every time she does something that renders her unable to walk on her own. He complains but semi-begrudgingly does it anyway.

We've only got two more chapters left of the Octavinelle arc. The next chapter is going to cover the last of the actual main story content for that arc, but the next one is going to be an original content chapter that shows more of the aftermath of the arc (Devon hanging around with the Octatrio since they aren't intimidating her/making her life a living hell now, how the other students are reacting to Devon now that a bunch of them were freed from their anemones thanks to her/her blessing now more or less being common knowledge since it was witnessed by a butt-ton of other students, and one more Devon/Leona scene) before I start covering the Phantom Bride event. It's almost Ace's time to shine!

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