Author's Note: There's a bit more swearing in this chapter than what I usually write. Nothing too bad, but I still wanted to give a heads up.
When Devon opened her eyes, she found herself in the private courtyard of an opulent palace. Barring the high walls that kept it enclosed and out of sight from what she assumed would have been the common people of…wherever she was, it was a dead ringer for the Scarabia dorm building, large onion-shaped domes and all. The beautiful bubbling peacock fountain looked just like the one at Scarabia too. Devon was about to move closer to the fountain when movement caught her attention, followed by a low groaning sound.
"Blizzard!" Devon called out excitedly as the white lion padded over to her, butting his head against her leg as he let out another groan in greeting. She moved to sit on the edge of the fountain, running her fingers through the lion's mane as he rested his chin on her knees. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you! It's been an eventful few days." Even though she was unable to sense Jamil nearby, she could still feel his confusion through their link. "I should probably go and look for him," she mused as she looked up toward the palace before quickly turning away with a huff. "No. He's lucky I even went this far for him after everything he did. His dumb ass can find me."
Blizzard grunted at her, concern evident in his large brown eyes.
Devon gave her lion friend a sad smile. "I'll be fine, bud. Really. I just…" Now that the Overblot situation was more or less dealt with and she was able to take a step back to process where her head was at, the hurt she felt at being used and manipulated hit her like a freight train. Tears began to well up in her eyes and she buried her face in Blizzard's mane just before they started to fall. "I just wish I hadn't been so stupid…"
"What is all this? Did Devon's power bring me here?" Jamil wondered aloud as he found himself waking up in a monochrome city in the middle of a desert. "This place looks eerily similar to my hometown in the Scalding Sands, but how could Devon possibly know that? Was she able to create this from my memories?" As he walked through the bazaar, he noticed that he could sense an unpleasant mix of anger and hurt. It had to be Devon; hers was the only other subconscious here, after all. He didn't remember much before he woke up here, but he did remember the look on her face before he blacked out. He sincerely regretted involving her in his plan at all. It seemed like a smart play at the time, but he ended up hurting the one person who had ever actually tried to understand and help him without expecting anything in return.
He had to find a way to make things right…but first he had to find Devon. He might have been able to sense her emotions, but it felt like they were everywhere, leaving him no way to track her down. It wasn't until he crossed into an open city square that he noticed the palace. More importantly, that said palace was the only thing he could see that still held its color-the white stone looked nearly pink as the sun reflected the crimson accents off of it and the golden domes sparkled brightly.
"I suppose I might as well start there."
It didn't take Jamil very long to get to the palace nor was hard for him to get inside. True, he hadn't passed any other person since he'd come to, but it was rather jarring to see such a magnificent building devoid of any life, not even a guard or two. He supposed it would make it easier to find Devon at least. He'd called for her a few times, but if she was able to hear him, she wasn't answering.
After wandering around aimlessly for a little longer, he finally heard Devon's voice float in from outside. He followed it until he came to a large set of double doors and pushed them open to reveal a courtyard with lush greenery everywhere and a large fountain in the center. He sighed in relief when he saw Devon sitting on the fountain's edge with her back to him. "Devon! I've been looking everywhere for-"
He didn't even make it halfway to her before he was met with a very agitated Blizzard. He'd been so focused on Devon that he didn't even notice the lion that was with her, though now that said lion was stalking toward him with a low, rumbling growl it was hard to pay attention to much else.
"Is, ah…this a friend of yours?" Jamil asked, holding his hands and trying to keep from making any sudden movements. He doubted anything could actually hurt either one of them in this space, but instinct told him not to take any chances.
"Something like that," Devon replied, still refusing to turn around and face him.
"Well is there any way you can call him off?" Jamil pressed.
Devon finally turned to look at him. "I could, but I'm curious about what'll happen if Blizzard actually does maul you here."
Jamil blinked. "You mean you don't know?"
Devon shrugged, the icy look in her eyes daring Jamil to try her. "I've never had the urge to pay anyone else I've connected with back for stabbing me in the back, so it hasn't come up."
"Okay… But how am I going to explain myself to you if I'm too busy fending off your lion?" Jamil reasoned, choosing his words carefully. He'd never seen Devon look at him with such vitriol before. Between her expression and the less-than-positive emotions he could feel directed toward him, he couldn't help but feel just a little intimidated.
Devon glared at him for a moment longer before she waved Blizzard back over. The lion gave Jamil once final snarl before reluctantly padding back to Devon's side. "I'm not sure what kind of explanation you can offer that you think would possibly justify what you've done, but I'll bite. Start talking."
Jamil heaved a quick sigh of relief as he stepped closer to Devon and the fountain. Blizzard gave him a warning growl, but made no move to approach him again. "I know my plan was extremely underhanded, Devon, but getting Kalim expelled was the only option I had. I've told you a little about my family's circumstances, but you have no idea what sort of restrictions my status-well, lack of status-has placed on me."
The water in the fountain rippled as one of Jamil's memories projected itself on the water's surface. As had all the previous memories the mindscapes had shown, it was shown from a first-person perspective-in this case, they were looking out through a younger Jamil's eyes.
Jamil barely suppressed a sigh when he heard a familiar voice calling out to him. His annoyance only grew when he turned and saw a head of white hair barreling toward him from down one of the hallways of the expansive-and overly opulent, in his opinion-Asim family home.
"Come play with me, Jamil!" a younger Kalim exclaimed, his signature bright smile plastered on his face. "Today's the day I finally beat you at that board game!"
"Seriously, Kalim? You know I'm just going to beat you every time. Can't we play something else?" Jamil asked.
Suddenly, Jamil's mother appeared behind him seemingly out of thin air. "Jamil! You know better than to take that tone with Master Kalim!" she scolded him before thumping him on the back of the head.
"Ow!" Jamil exclaimed with a grimace as he rubbed the spot where she'd hit him. His irritation only grew as his mother and father (seriously, did his parents know some kind of teleportation spell he didn't know about? How did they keep popping up like this?) pushed past him to "smooth things over" with Kalim. Not that it was necessary; it wasn't as though Jamil had insulted him, but even if he had, Kalim probably wouldn't pick up on it.
"We can't tell you how much we appreciate you choosing to invite our foolish son to play with you so often, Master Kalim. Thank you," Jamil's father said with a bow.
"That you're kind enough to share your company with him is truly a sign that you've been brought up well," Jamil's mother added as she bowed as well, all while Kalim smiled vapidly back at them without a care in the world. "We are so astronomically blessed to have such a kind and thoughtful young master."
Jamil could only silently seethe as he watched his own parents fret and gush over someone else's child. This wasn't the first time it had happened and he knew it wouldn't be the last. So long as the Viper family served the Asim family, his mother and father would always prioritize Kalim over him.
"Most of my earliest memories consist of watching my family bow to Kalim and his parents," Jamil said to Devon, the bitterness clear in his tone even without the link conveying it to her. He narrowed his eyes as he continued to watch the memory play out. "I couldn't stand the sight of it."
The memory continued with Jamil's parents pulling him aside after Kalim was called away.
"Listen, Jamil. Whenever you play any sort of competitive game with Kalim, you must always remember to maintain a two-to-three win ratio in favor of him," Jamil's father told him, his voice lowered to an urgent whisper. "You must never outdo him at anything."
His mother nodded in agreement, her voice just as soft and urgent as her husband's. "You're a smart boy, Jamil. Surely you understand the position we're in?"
It took everything Jamil had to bite back the bile building in his throat. "…Fine."
"Kalim's parents are more important than my parents. As such, Kalim is more important than me, even to my own family," Jamil continued, glancing occasionally over at Devon. She was silent and kept her focus on the memories being shown to her, but Jamil could sense some sympathy coming through the link. It seemed she hadn't closed her heart off from him completely. His posture relaxed just a bit, encouraged and hopeful that she'd come around to see his side of all of this. "That meant that I was never allowed to be better than Kalim at anything, whether it was studies, exercise, or games. I've been forced to keep myself beneath him my entire life, so I pretend that I'm incapable of anything."
Devon recalled Jamil's words from before-that he was perfectly average in all subjects, that on a scale of 1 to 10 he'd score fives across the board. She could tell that he'd been telling her the truth so far and it clearly wasn't as though he was in the dark about his own competence. Did that even though he and Kalim were in different classes now, he was still forced to make himself due worse than Kalim?
A series of brief memories rippled on the water in quick succession, all of them featuring Kalim. Devon could feel Jamil's ire growing stronger both within the memories and next to her as each one passed. All of them were very short, but the implications of them were clear.
"Hey, Jamil! Check it out! I won first place in that dance contest!" Kalim announced as he proudly held up a trophy.
"Ah ha ha!" Kalim laughed as he "won" yet another game of mancala. "I did it! That's three to two in my favor!"
"I got a 75 on that test you helped me study for, Jamil!" Kalim announced happily as they sat in the Scarabia lounge. Jamil's response couldn't be heard, but they saw Kalim's smile drop slightly. "Huh? You got a 70?" His smile reappeared and he reached out to pat Jamil on the shoulder. "Hey, it's okay! Cheer up!"
The action and words were meant to be comforting, but Jamil's resentment only grew with each syllable Kalim uttered.
Jamil glared down at the reflections in the fountain, speaking more to Kalim reflected in them than to Devon. "You haven't beaten me at anything; I've been letting you win this entire time. Yet you carry on with that ridiculous empty-headed smile on your face. Get a clue, you dolt!" He took a breath to calm himself, though the scowl was still on his face when he looked over at Devon again. "What happened next was what ultimately pushed me to move forward with my plan."
The Scarabia lounge was reflected in the fountain once again. This time, Kalim and Jamil were standing facing another student. He didn't look familiar to Devon, but she noticed that his dorm uniform looked similar to the modified one Kalim wore, indicating that he was the previous Scarabia dorm leader.
Kalim blinked owlishly at something the upperclassman had said. "Huh? You want me to take over as Scarabia's dorm head?" He rubbed the back of his head, still smiling despite the uncertain look in his eyes. "I'm not really sure what that entails, but you can count on me!" He smiled at Jamil, his eyes silently pleading for some encouragement. "Right, Jamil?"
Jamil did as his duties dictated, returning Kalim's smile with a small one of his own and agreeing with Kalim as he clearly wanted him to, but he was seething on the inside. They wanted to Kalim the dorm head? Kalim?! Even if the previous dorm head was a relative of the Asim family, that shouldn't mean anything at Night Raven College! Kalim hadn't done anything to warrant being appointed the position.
The next time he got some time away from Kalim, Jamil planned to have a talk with the headmaster. Surely he'd be able to set this right.
Devon finally managed a wry smile. "Pfft. Placin' a lot of faith in the headmaster there. Given that Kalim still ended up dorm head, I'm guessin' he did jack-all about it?"
"Oh, you have no idea…," Jamil replied, feeling a small flutter of relief that Devon was at least kind of engaging with him now.
The fountain's water reflected an image of the headmaster's office. Jamil appeared to be standing in front of Crowley's desk while the masked man himself looked up at him, his chin resting on his laced fingers.
"Headmaster, why did you agree for Kalim to be appointed dorm leader?" Jamil asked, trying to keep his voice calm and even despite the unfairness of the situation. "He's far from an exceptional mage and more to the point, he's still just a sophomore. I speak from personal experience when I say that the rest of the dorm is going to be stuck picking up his slack if the appointment is finalized."
"It's hardly unheard of for a sophomore to be appointed dorm leader at Night Raven College," Crowley pointed out. "Just look at Mr. Rosehearts and Mr. Ashengrotto. Actually, Mr. Rosehearts won his spot as dorm leader when he was still a freshman, if memory serves."
"But…," Jamil began to protest.
"Mr. Viper," Crowley interjected, holding up a hand to silence Jamil-an action that only served to wear Jamil's patience even thinner. "I pride myself on running a school that provides a top-notch education to promising up-and-coming mages, but providing such an exemplary education comes with certain costs. Mr. Asim's family has provided quite a sizeable donation to the school in addition to the remodeling of Scarabia dorm. They've been quite generous in their support. As such, I am left in a position where I must make certain…compromises. You're a clever young man; I'm sure you understand where I'm going with this."
"Huh… So Kalim's becoming dorm head really was nepotism, then. Not gonna lie, after everything came out about your plan, I was wonderin' if you'd made that up," Devon commented as the memory faded from the water's surface.
"I wish that was just something I'd made up, believe me. But that's how its been my entire life," Jamil replied, the bitterness and resentment apparent in his tone. "The adults have always said the same thing: "You're such a smart boy, Jamil. Surely you understand where we're coming from."" He let out a derisive snort. "I suppose it's too much to ask for someone to try to understand me for once." He could feel Devon's anger and hurt spike at that comment, but he was too wrapped up in his envy and resentment to address it. He kept his glare on the water as more images of Kalim danced across the surface.
"Let's keep helping each other out, Jamil!"
"Stop," Jamil growled.
"You're the one person I can count on not to betray me, Jamil."
"Just stop!" Jamil shouted, swiping his hand through the water to disrupt the image of Kalim. "Don't you understand?! So long as you exist, Kalim, I…" He trailed off for a moment as a series of images passed quickly over the water: the Scarabia lounge filled with smiling students, a list of exam scores, various awards and trophies. Most of them seemed to be school-related, but Devon noticed that Jamil's eyes seemed to be trained on an image of her-a side profile of her smile as she talked to someone (probably Grim, given the way her head was angled). When Jamil spoke again, his despair was evident in his voice, expression, and the emotions permeating the area. "…I'll have to spend the rest of my life handing everything over you…" He tore his eyes away from the water and moved closer to Devon, taking her hand in his. "I just… I just wanted the chance to be number one, too. That's why I did what I did. So long as Kalim and I are in the same place, I'll never have the chance to show what I can really do."
Devon glared at him wordlessly before ripping her hand out of his.
"Look, I completely understand why you don't trust me right now, but you can tell that I'm being honest right now, right? That's how it works in here, isn't it? I've been able to sense your emotions since we linked and since this is your blessing…surely you can tell that everything I'm saying is true…," Jamil rambled, his voice uncharacteristically desperate even to his own ears. He couldn't help it-he needed her to understand. She was the first person in the entire school-possibly even his life-to acknowledge all the work he did to reign in Kalim and the only person to his recollection who always saw him first, no matter how annoyingly bright Kalim's presence was. He'd grown to crave her favoritism despite taking advantage of it and now he was terrified of losing it.
Unfortunately for him, Devon didn't appear swayed by his words. Her eyes were hard and cold, but he'd have been able to see the hurt in them even if the link wasn't making her feelings obvious to him. "And so what if it's true?! If you think anything you told me is going to make me think you're in any way justified, you've got another thing coming!"
Jamil blinked. That…wasn't at all the reaction he'd been expecting. Given how empathetic and understanding he knew Devon was and how chummy she'd gotten with Riddle, Leona, and Azul after their respective Overblots, he figured they'd be able to work things out once he explained his reasons and why he was motivated to do what he did. What he didn't know, of course, was that Riddle and Leona's Overblots weren't personal; Devon's involvement was mostly due to her just having happened to be present when they snapped. Azul's was a little more personal (and his aggression toward Devon once he'd Overblotted definitely was), but the tipping point for him was the destruction of his contracts-a plan Devon had orchestrated, no less.
Jamil, on the other hand…
"You know, the only thing your memories convinced me of is that you're probably the biggest hypocrite I've ever met!" Devon's rant continued. "You go on and on about how you want your freedom, but you had no trouble at all takin' away mine and Grim's! I mean, damn, even Azul left the decision to make a deal with him up to me. You used your little hypnosis power on me twice to get us to stay in Scarabia and then you had your dormmates lock us in our room at night like prisoners and said it was "Kalim's" orders." She blinked away frustrated tears, scooting away from Jamil when he tried to reach out to her. "And the worst part is that you did all of that while pretending to be our friend! How am I supposed to trust you again once we're out here and I can't tell if you're lying or not, Jamil? How do I know if any part of what I thought was our friendship was real? I mean, I thought we had a good thing goin', but I guess I've just been one big joke to you, huh, Mr. When's-Someone-Gonna-Take-The-Time-To-Understand-Me? As if I hadn't been trying to this entire damn time!"
Jamil wanted to say something, make some kind of effort to defend himself, but frankly, there wasn't much he could say. He knew Devon was right; he'd been fighting with himself to justify manipulating her feelings nearly from the moment he'd brought her to Scarabia. Loathe as he was to be compared to his ever-scheming classmate, seeing (and feeling) how badly Devon had been hurt because him made him wonder if he might have been worse. Azul might have been a slimeball, but at least everyone around him knew what they were dealing with.
A soft hiccupping sound pulled Jamil out of his internal pity-party. He looked in the direction of the sound to see Devon hiding her face in the lion's mane in an attempt to stifle her cries and guilt steamrolled into him all over again. He wanted to try to comfort her, but he knew she'd just rebuff him again. Besides, he really didn't like the way her lion was leering at him.
After a few more sniffles, Devon finally lifted her head and wiped her eyes. "I can empathize with you to a certain extent," she said. The anger was mostly gone from her voice now, but the hurt and disappointment still lingered. "I've had to tell this to someone else not long ago, but I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to be told how far you're allowed to go when you're capable of so much more. I agree that it's not fair that you've had to stifle your own talents for so long because of something you have no say in. I also don't think it's right that Kalim got his spot as dorm leader because Daddy bought it for him. I can even understand why an underhanded plan was your only option." She recalled one of the memories Jamil had showed her moments ago. "When your parents told you that you could never outdo Kalim at anything, they both sounded genuinely afraid. I have no idea how Kalim's parents treat their servants, but your parents' reaction to just the thought of you doing better than Kalim at something doesn't have me very optimistic. Like you said, your plan was the only feasible way to get Kalim ousted from the school without it being obvious that you were the one behind it, which means your family wouldn't face any repercussions. Once he was gone, you wouldn't be bound by that "can't be better than Kalim" rule anymore and you could actually live up to your potential. I get that part."
Devon pulled in a breath before continuing. "What I don't get is why you felt that your plan necessitated taking advantage of someone who not only sympathized with you, but made it clear that they wanted to help you." She sighed and shook her head. "I mean…make it make sense, Jamil. What was the point of keepin' me in the dark? Did you not think I was smart enough to help you somehow? Was this plan of yours the only reason you started talking to me? Given how much thought you put into it, you must've been setting it up for a while."
"N-No, that's not it," Jamil finally replied. "I didn't get the idea to involve you and Grim until we ran into each other in the cafeteria. I figured my claim would be more credible if someone from another dorm witnessed what was happening."
"Then why not just tell me that?" Devon asked. "You have to know that I would've agreed to check things out and vouch for you when Kalim started acting strangely. Nobody would even know about your little puppetmaster bit except you. What was the point of essentially kidnapping me and Grim?"
"Desperation, quite frankly," Jamil answered. "I needed to make sure you and Grim saw absolutely everything. You two were going to be-"
He tried to cut himself off before he said too much, but it was too late. Devon was now looking at him expectantly, her expression only growing more irritated the longer he stalled. He couldn't just say it was nothing and try to brush it off and as long as they were linked, she'd know if he tried to lie to her. He could already feel himself regretting it, but the only thing he could do now was tell her the truth.
"The two of you were going to be the key to getting the headmaster on my side," Jamil finished reluctantly.
The tension between the two of them was thick enough to cut with a knife. Jamil's guilt and regret were magnified yet again while Devon felt her stomach drop all over again, her hurt nearly eclipsing every other emotion in the mindscape. The entire time she'd been in Scarabia-and who knew how long before that-Jamil had only seen her as a means to an end.
"So I was just a tool to you?" Devon asked, hating how weak and broken she sounded. Her eyes widened as she recalled another recent memory. "And what about when you kissed me up on the balcony? Did you feel anything for me at that point or was it just to get me to agree not to talk to Kalim?"
Jamil didn't answer her. He wasn't sure what to say. Technically, both options were correct; he did have feelings brewing for Devon at the time he'd kissed her…but that wasn't the reason he did it.
Apparently his silence (and the emotions rolling off of him) said it all. Devon's eyes grew cold and steely once again and she pursed her lips as she stood up. "Okay then. I think we're finished here. You've been severed from your blot incarnation so you should be fine after some rest."
"Devon, wait-"
"I really don't want to be here anymore," Devon cut him off as she walked away from the fountain and toward the doors of the palace, Blizzard at her heels. The doors opened on their own to reveal the wall of bright light that led back to the real world. "You should probably hurry and get through the doors while they're open, Jamil. Unless you wanna be stuck here."
"Jamil! Jamil!" Kalim's voice could be heard from within the light.
"Oh. That reminds me," Devon looked back over her shoulder at Jamil. "You should probably thank Kalim at some point. He's the only reason I was able to get my blessing to activate so I could save you, after all."
Then she stepped into the light without another word.
Ending Notes: I warned you that this wasn't going to be a happy one. Devon and Jamil are definitely at their lowest point right now, but the good news is that things can only get better from here.
I know this chapter's a little shorter than what I normally post, but I'm hoping that I can get the next chapter out within the next few days. I won't make any promises since I don't want to rush things, though. That chapter will probably be on the short side as well since it will only cover one chapter/lesson thing. There's something special I'm planning to do for the 100th chapter, so I want to make sure I have enough material for the two left before it.
Thank you all so much for reading! As always, feedback and constructive criticism are welcome. Geekinthepink, out!