Devon looked up as Regina pulsed at her, alerting her that there were visitors walking up the steps to the front door. She smirked. "Lemme guess. It's someone from Octavinelle?"

Regina pulsed again, asking Devon how she knew.

"Because if it was someone you liked, you'd have already pulled them into the foyer by now," Devon pointed out. "Besides, we're supposed to be heading to the museum soon so Azul can put that picture back." She turned toward the lounge. "C'mon, Grim. It's time to go!"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'," Grim replied as he trotted out and hopped up onto Devon's shoulder.

Devon crossed the foyer and opened the front door to reveal the Leech twins standing on the front porch. "Hey, boys. How's it goin'?"

"Mornin', Shrimpy and Baby Seal~!" Floyd greeted cheerfully. "We're here to pick you guys up. It's field trip time!"

"Mrph…," Grim muttered, moving so that he was partially hidden by Devon's head. "Every time I see you two, it makes me worried you're gonna try and take Ramshackle again." He shuddered. "Makes my heart skip a beat."

"Oh come now, we would never dream of getting rough with someone who isn't in breach of contract," Jade assured him. "Although…," He looked past them into the dorm, his polite smile growing twisted, "we haven't forgotten how you've traumatized a number of our residents, Regina."

The only response Regina offered was to manipulate the curtains on a nearby window to make a shooing motion. Devon could only laugh as she imagined what Regina would say if they were capable of speech: "Move along, eel boy. I don't have time to entertain you." Devon was honestly a bit surprised that Regina was even allowing her and Grim to go with them, but she suspected that Regina trusted that Azul, at least, was genuine about extending an olive branch. He and the twins had either stopped by or contacted Devon by phone to check up on her frequently in the few days since Azul's Overblot; Regina's knowledge of this was likely the only reason the twins had been let in the gate without Azul.

Jade's smile widened for a split second before he refocused on Devon and Grim. "In any event, it seems we've got perfect weather for an outing. Which means-"

"We're off to the museum!" Floyd finished eagerly.

"It'll be nice to see it as a regular guest this time and not because we're trying to stage a heist," Devon commented.

"Azul's arranged for us to have the entire museum to ourselves for the day," Jade continued. "He's already gone ahead and will be waiting for us there."

Devon couldn't help but giggle at how eager the twins sounded. "You two have really been looking forward to this, haven't you?"

"Obviously yes, Shrimpy," Floyd replied. "I can't even remember the last time we got to go on a field trip!"

Devon smiled before turning to Jade. "And the photo? Azul left it as it was?"

Jade nodded. "Of course. I've kept it safely with me to be sure."

"Yep, yep~!" Floyd chirped, moving behind Devon and putting his hands on her shoulders to steer her out the door. "So let's get a move on already!"

"You know, I think Regina's starting to warm up to us," Jade commented as they made their way to the Mirror Chamber. "Floyd and I came fully prepared for an attack when you opened the door, Devon, so I was rather pleasantly surprised that we didn't have to dodge any cookware this time."

Devon snorted. "Wow, dude. You sound like Dominic when he tries to wrangle the feral cats in our neighborhood. He's all, "Nah guys, it's cool. Dolly Pawton is totally warmin' up to me. See? She only scratched me twice!" And then he shows DJ and me his hand and it's covered in scratches, at least one of which should probably be seen by a doctor."

"Speakin' of your brothers, I was wonderin' something, Shrimpy," Floyd said. "Is middle child syndrome a thing?"

Devon and Grim exchanged a look. "Where'd that come from? And why are you asking me?"

Floyd shrugged. "Just somethin' I've been curious about. We'd never heard the term before we came up on land and you're the only person who actually is a middle child and doesn't practically crap themselves whenever I talk to 'em."

"Fair enough," Devon conceded, "I've definitely heard of it before, but I don't think I really count as a standard middle child since my brothers and I are triplets. If anything, people outside the family tend to lump us together into one entity. The fact that I'm the only girl also pretty much guarantees that I won't be overlooked. My uncle's a middle child too, but he and my mom where both neglected by my grandparents so…I guess he's not your typical case either."

"I still can't believe you're a triplet~!" Floyd chirped. For some reason, he'd been absolutely thrilled when he learned that little nugget of information during one of their visits to Ramshackle. He and Jade had become much more attached to Devon ever since; Devon wasn't sure how she felt about that yet.

"I can't believe you didn't already know," Devon countered.

"Well, you have no legal identity in Twisted Wonderland," Jade reminded her, "so even if we ran all the, ah, background checks we could, we wouldn't turn anything up." He gave her an amused smile. "I suppose you being a multiple yourself does explain why you've never had any trouble telling the two of us apart even before you got to know us."

"I mean, it really isn't that hard," Devon replied. "You two look alike, sure, but there are plenty of differences."

"But it's like you said, Shrimpy: people like to lump me and Jade together too," Floyd said. "It's nice to have someone around who knows how irritatin' it is." He reached out to ruffle Devon's hair. "I'm glad you didn't end up an anemone."

"Indeed. I doubt we'd be able to talk with you like we have been if you'd lost to Azul," Jade agreed.

"Umm…thanks…?" Devon replied hesitantly.

"Dang! And I thought the outside of this place looked impressive," Ace commented as he marveled at the inside of the museum.

"No kidding. There's definitely a lot to take in here," Deuce agreed. He moved to get a closer look at the large statue of King Triton in the center of the room. He'd noticed it when they'd snuck in the first time but didn't have time to get a good look. "So this is a statue of a legendary Sea King, huh?" he said, taking a look at the plaque at the statue's base. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised that the sea kingdoms have their own famous figures aside from just the Sea Witch."

"Guy's pretty shredded, huh?" Jack commented as he walked over to look at the statue as well. "Respect."

"Welcome to the Atlantica Memorial Museum, everyone," Azul greeted, emerging from some other part of the museum. "I made a reservation for us under the pretense of the Mostro Lounge holding a study tour, so please take your time and enjoy yourselves."

"Azul…" Grim hackles immediately rose at the sight of Azul, still not fully trusting him despite having been released for his anemone. He eyed Azul warily for a moment before blinking in surprise. "Hang on, how come you're still in your human form?"

"Octo-mers like myself aren't especially common in this part of the sea," Azul explained, crossing his arms at the mention of his true form. "Given that the main reason we're here is so I can return the photograph I had you pilfer, I'd rather not draw any undue attention to myself."

"I see no reason to be concerned," Jade commented as he discreetly handed the photo over to Azul. He and Floyd had shifted back to their merforms as soon as they passed through the Dark Mirror. "I doubt anyone would suspect that the chubby little mer in that picture was you."

"Yeah, exactly," Floyd agreed. "It couldn't hurt to swim around in your true form on a trip home, right? Why limit yourself to two legs when you can have eight?"

"Please just drop it," Azul replied, though he was grateful for the twins' unique attempt at encouraging him. "I'm going to slip the photo back in its proper place. The rest of you can explore the museum at your leisure."

The rest of the group-save Azul and Devon-began to fan out to look at the various exhibits.

"Hey, check it out!" Floyd exclaimed as he and Ace headed over to one of the displays. "They've a display here for the mermaid princess's dinglehopper."

"I saw a picture of that in the pamphlet before, but like…that's totally a fork, right?" Ace asked.

Jade chuckled as he swam over to join them. "Heh. That's probably how it appears to land-dwellers."

Azul looked over at Devon. "You aren't going to join them?"

"I will," Devon confirmed. "It's just that I'm a little worried about you."

"Such little faith in me, I see," Azul replied. "Well, I suppose I can't blame you for that." He glanced around before placing the photo back in the display. "There, you see? It's been returned."

"Good, but that wasn't what I was talking about. I meant that I'm worried about you," Devon clarified. "Like, your mental health and everything? We haven't had many chances to talk with just us after the Overblot and I didn't wanna bring it up with other people around."

"Oh…," Azul said softly. After everything they'd been through prior to his Overblot, he was still adjusting to Devon being friendly to him now. Aside from the twins-and even that could be dubious at times-, he hadn't had many positive interactions with his peers that didn't have some sort of ulterior motive at its core, so Devon's genuine sense of caring being directed at him threw him for a loop more than once. He cleared his throat quickly upon realizing he hadn't actually answered her. "Ahem! Ah, yes well… I can assure you that I've been doing much better lately. I've completed all the counseling the headmaster required me to do and I'm pleased to report that all of the residual blot is out of my system now." He glanced off to the side, his cheeks flushing a light pink as he let his guard down. "It…It also occurred to me that I never actually thanked you for everything you did, so… Thank you. For both saving my life and for not judging me for what we talked about when we were linked."

"Anytime, Azul," Devon replied. "I can say the same to you too, by the way. I appreciate that you haven't treated me any differently since I told you about…everything. For a while after I finally told my family what had been going on, they treated me pretty much like I was made of glass. I get that they were concerned and that it was coming from a place of love, but I didn't want…that to be what defined me, y'know? That's part of why I haven't really brought it up to anyone outside of my family."

"Trust me, if I've learned anything about you over the past week or so, it's that the last thing you are is fragile," Azul assured her. He looked back toward the display case with a serious expression. "You aren't like me, Devon. I thought that if I could erase all photographic evidence of my past self, I'd be able to erase all the times I was mocked and ridiculed. The Sea Witch never shied away from her past, but worked to restore her reputation and was able to earn respect that way." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I kept saying I wanted to be like her, but in the end I couldn't bring myself to accept how I used to be and did everything in my power to cover it up."

The pair stood together in silence for a moment, studying the photos in the display, before Devon piped up, "I think you've got a power that's stronger than any magic, actually."

Azul looked at her in confusion. "…What?"

"You told me before that you struggled academically when you were younger," Devon reminded him, "but now you're one of the top students in your entire year. When you showed me your memories, I was able to see how hard you worked to master your own Unique Magic. And when you fought Ace and the others after the exam results were posted, you were able to use all sorts of different kinds of magic effortlessly. I may not be able to use magic outside of Open Your Heart, but I've watched Riddle work to master new spells and been on the receiving end of Grim's misfires with magic he isn't familiar with to know that you must have put in a lot of time studying to be able to use so many types of spells with that level of proficiency." She smiled at him encouragingly. "That sort of diligence is way harder to master than magic."

Azul blinked. "You…You think?"

"I know," Devon replied simply.

Azul let out a quick, "Heh," before clearing his throat. "You're making me sound far more noble than I actually am. All I really wanted was a way to get back at the people who bullied me."

Devon shrugged. "So? Whatever your reasons were, you still made it happen and you did it on your own." She reached out to take his hand, squeezing it gently. "I know there's a part of you that thinks you haven't grown up at all from the sad little octopus you used to be, but you're not letting yourself see how amazing you really are. You took all those powers and talents from other people to add more layers to the mask and keep people from seeing what you thought was the real you, but the thing is…you don't need the mask. I bet you probably haven't for a long time now. You've just been too afraid to let yourself see it."

Azul could only stare at Devon in stunned silence for a moment before pulling her into a hug. He could feel his eyes begin to grow misty and tried to blink away the tears that forming as he hid his face in the crook of her neck for a moment to compose himself. "Thank you, Devon."

Despite Azul's voice being shaky and slightly muffled, Devon heard him loud and clear. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him to return the hug, her smile growing when she felt him instinctively snuggle into her. "Dev," she corrected softly. She felt Azul's shoulders begin to shake for a split second before he took a deep breath to compose himself and let go.

"Hey! Devon!" Grim called out as he swam over to them, landing on Devon's head. "What're you guys doin' hangin' around up here when there's giant dinosaur bones in the back of the room?!"

"Those weren't dinosaur bones, Grim," Jade corrected and he and the rest of the group joined them. "They were actually the bones of a sea dragon-a type of sea monster. Legend has it that the entrance to the Sea Witch's cave was built out of sea dragon bones as well."

"I'm pretty sure they've got a replica of her cauldron here too," Floyd added.

Deuce's eyes widened in surprise. "They've got cauldrons under the sea too?"

"How would she even be able to heat it up?" Ace asked. "It's not like you can start a fire under the sea."

Floyd shrugged. "Beats me. I bet Azul knows the answer, though." He smiled over at the octo-mer. "Tell us!"

"Very well," Azul agreed, his composure and business-like smile returning. "However, I should warn you that I'm a rather expensive tour guide."

"Oh man! I've missed you, oxygen!" Grim exclaimed after everyone had emerged from the Dark Mirror and back onto the NRC main building.

"C'mon Grim, we were only gone for," Devon checked the time on her phone and her eyes widened in surprise, "six hours?! Huh… Guess time really does fly when you're havin' fun."

"Yeah, it was pretty fun, huh," Deuce agreed. "Much better than the first time we made it inside."

"I was bored to tears the first time I went, but I had a good time this time around," Floyd added.

"We've gotten a decent feel for life on land at this point, so it's rather amusing to see how much of it the merfolk of old misinterpreted," Jade commented.

Ace nodded. "Yeah, no kidding. That fork-er, "dinglehopper"- was hilarious."

"I'm glad you all enjoyed yourselves," Azul said. He turned toward the freshmen. "I'm sure you all must be tired after spending so much time in an unfamiliar environment. It's almost time for the Mostro Lounge to open. Why don't you stop by for some tea?"

"Heck yeah, I will!" Grim cheered. "I was just starting to get hungry!" He paused before looking up at Devon. "Are we okay to eat at the Lounge?"

Devon couldn't help but smile fondly at her monster friend. Ever since their talk in Savanaclaw, he'd been making a serious effort to be more considerate to her, namely by trying not to overtax their limited budget. "We're fine, Grim. Better than fine, actually."

Grim tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I may have accidentally/on purpose let it slip to Professor Crewel that our esteemed headmaster threatened to cut off our food budget if we didn't take care of the anemone situation," Devon explained with a smirk. "The way I hear it, he and Professor Trein had another "little talk" with Crowley and personally assured me that our allowance will never be jeopardized again. Not only that, but we also got a pretty substantial increase in funds, thanks to Azul."

The rest of the freshmen turned to look at Azul questioningly while Jade and Floyd merely laughed knowingly.

"Oh please, it was nothing," Azul replied, waving his hand dismissively despite the self-satisfied smirk on his face. "I merely ran a few figures and realized that the budget the headmaster allocated to Ramshackle was well below what it should have been. Even if one argues that only two of the beings living in that building actually need to eat, when you factor in that monsters tend to have larger appetites than people and all the upkeep needed on the dorm to make sure it stays even remotely livable…well, the amount he was providing just wouldn't do."

"I almost don't wanna know, but how'd you get him to increase their budget?" Jack asked.

"Why, I merely suggested that if something wasn't done to correct this gross oversight, it was possible that certain news stations and possibly even the school board might end up catching wind of it," Azul elaborated. "Octavinelle is a dorm founded on the spirit of benevolence, after all, and I can't very well sit by and do nothing while my fellow students are suffering nor can I allow the school's reputation to be tarnished by reports of a negligent and uncaring headmaster. I just don't have it in me."

"I don't like that you're still goin' around blackmailin' people," Jack replied before heaving a sigh. "Though I guess it's at least partially for the good of someone else, so I can't fault ya too much."

Mostro Lounge was packed when they walked in. It seemed Azul's Overblot hadn't resulted in a dip in business at all.

"I'll have one house special, please!" ordered a student seated at a nearby table.

"And I'll have a drink set with the limited snack!" ordered the student sitting across from him.

Their waiter nodded. "Coming right up!"

"Dang! Why is it so crowded in here?" Ace asked as Azul and the twins led them to an empty table.

"It seems our special promotion is already netting us profits," Jade mused as he studied the crowd.

Jack gave the trio of upperclassmen a wary look. "Promotion?"

"After everything went down with Azul, the headmaster got pissed and chewed us out. Said we weren't allowed to take anyone's powers again, even under contract," Floyd explained. He smiled brightly. "So Azul decided to set up a point card system!"

"Oh yeah? How's it work?" Ace asked.

"It's quite simple, really. You get one point when you order the 6-Madol drink special and you get three points when you order something off the 15-Madol limited menu. Once you earn fifty points, you can cash them in for one free consultation with me about anything that you might require assistance with."

"Anything, huh…," Grim repeated.

"What if I needed help with my schoolwork?" Deuce asked.

Azul smirked. "That's well within my wheelhouse, naturally."

"If you're able to fill out three whole point cards, you'll gain access to even more perks," Jade added.

"If you'd like to know more," Azul began, pulling a pamphlet seemingly out of thin air and handing it to Deuce, "please feel to look over this pamphlet or browse our website."

"I'll have the special drink!" Grim said eagerly.

"Same!" Ace called out.

"I'll have the snack set," Deuce chimed in.

"Thank you," Azul replied graciously. "We appreciate your patronage."

"Hopeless. The whole lot of 'em," Jack sighed, shaking his head.

"They haven't learned a damn thing," Devon grumbled in agreement. "I am not breakin' more ribs if this comes back to bite 'em."

Azul turned back to the twins. "Jade. Floyd. It's time to get to work."

"Of course./You got it, boss!" the twins replied.

"This is a rather impressive crowd," Jade commented. "I imagine we'll have our work cut out for us today."

"Not gonna lie, this kinda makes me wish we still had some anemones workin' for us," Floyd said as he looked out at the crowd of customers.

"Not to worry. I'll be joining you in the front of house," Azul assured them. "I need to get a better sense of how we're providing for our clientele. Now, let us endeavor to make the most profi-," He cleared his throat abruptly, "Ahem! I mean, strive to provide the best service possible for our customers."

"Wow. Look at 'em go," Devon commented as she watched the Octavinelle servers move swiftly through the dining area to get the orders to the customers. "People can say whatever they want about Azul, but the guy keeps this place runnin' like a well-oiled machine."

"I can't believe he set up a point card system," Deuce said.

"Floyd said Azul isn't allowed to take people's powers anymore, so I'm not terribly concerned about it," Devon replied, "but try to make sure you three don't end up relying too heavily on his study guides."

Jack nodded in agreement. "Dev's right. If you don't learn how to take decent notes, you'll really be up a creek once Azul graduates."

"Hey c'mon, have a little faith in us. We've all learned our lesson, honest," Ace assured them.

"My, this is quite the crowd we've got here," Azul said as he and Jade brought over the group's orders. "Even so, we can't let ourselves skimp on quality."

"I see plenty of new faces here today," Jade observed. "This will an excellent opportunity to reel in some new regulars. Floyd is keeping an eye on the rest of the waitstaff to ensure they're doing their jobs properly."

"Heh. Leave it to you two to be on top of things," Azul replied. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

"This is splendid! So far, we've been able to rake in three times our usual profit," Azul announced. He and the twins had reconvened at Devon and co.'s table once the rush had died down.

"Seems we're well on our way to meeting our goal," Jade replied.

"Mmhmm. If we can keep this up, we'll be able to open a Mostro Lounge branch café in no time!" Azul exclaimed happily.

"You really don't know when to quit, do you?" Ace snarked.

The rest of the freshmen gave Devon a series of concerned looks, but she only shrugged. "Hey, as long as he doesn't try to open it at Ramshackle again, I say more power to him."

"That's our Shrimpy!" Floyd chirped as he ruffled Devon's hair.

Meanwhile, it seemed like trouble was brewing in Scarabia. Kalim stood near one of the large pillars in the darkened dorm lounge and stared out into the desert, the yellow sand now dyed a bluish-black under the night sky. Aside from the moon, the only source of light came from a handful of dimly lit lanterns around the lounge.

"First the Spelldrive tournament, then final exams…," Kalim said aloud to the seemingly empty room, his eyes closed as he shook his head in disappointment. "Scarabia ended up at the bottom of the heap in both… This is a grave matter, indeed." He opened his eyes again, an uncharacteristically troubled look on his normally cheerful face. He watched the desert sand shift and twist in the wind for another moment before calling out into the lounge. "Jamil! Jamil, are you there?"

"Of course, dorm leader," Jamil replied as he stepped out from behind another pillar.

"Gather all of our residents here at once," Kalim ordered without turning around to face Jamil. "If those sloths think they're in for a relaxing holiday, they're sorely mistaken."

Jamil nodded. "Understood. It will be as you wish, dorm head." He turned to head out of the lounge with a sly smirk on his face, a sinister chuckle leaving his lips once he was out of Kalim's earshot.

Ending Notes: Alrighty! We've got one more chapter for Octavinelle left. This is also the last main story arc where Devon doesn't have an especially good relationship with the arc's Overblotter prior to linking with them. I guess it's a little complicated in Jamil's case by the time he Overblots but she'll have had plenty of time to bond with Vil thanks to the VDC training camp and she's already on good terms with the Ignihyde and Diasomnia boys.

I think the little heart-to-heart between Azul and Devon at the museum was one of my favorite parts of this story to write. They really are each other's emotional support person, which is good because Devon's really going to need him during the Scarabia arc. Azul may have dealt her a good deal of physical damage but Jamil's going to come in hot with some emotional damage.

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