Author's Note: Dropping a quick content warning before we get started. This chapter contains some suggestive (but not explicit) content as well as Devon recounting the story of Narcissus (wherein one of his spurned suitors takes his own life) and implied s.a. (because Zeus is the actual worst), though nothing graphic is described in either case.

Devon kept a careful eye out as she raced into the woods behind the main campus. She refused to risk giving away her location by using her phone's flashlight, so she was left relying on the light of the moon overhead as she moved as quickly and quietly as she could. She stopped to catch her breath after a moment, pressing her back against a tree and listening carefully for any sign that she was no longer alone. She didn't intend to stick around either way; it wouldn't do to remain in one place for too long.

Suddenly she heard it: the sound of running footsteps, light and graceful as if the runner was just barely touching the ground. Her heart began to beat faster at the sound but it wasn't out of fear. No, she was feeling more excited and nearly giddy with anticipation than she had in quite some time. Even so, the game wouldn't be any fun if she just let herself get caught, so after checking to make sure the way was clear, she left her hiding place and continued on through the trees.

Unfortunately (or not), she didn't make it very far. She'd barely made it a few feet out of her hiding spot when the footsteps began to pick up speed, the runner seeming to no longer care if she could hear him or not. She just barely had time to turn around to catch a glimpse of the one "hunting" her when he collided into her hard enough to knock her onto her back, though he did take care to cradle her head with one hand to keep her from hitting it. Her eyes closed instinctively as they hit the ground, but she could feel the rumble in his chest as he let out an amused chuckle, his long hair cascading over his shoulder and tickling the side of her face as he leaned down toward her.

"Found you," her pursuer whispered, his voice dripping with smugness as he made no move to get off of her.

Devon opened her eyes, trying and failing to suppress a shiver as Jamil's lips brushed against her ear. He pulled back just enough to get a better look at her, his wolf ears seeming to twitch in amusement as the fine silks of his Halloween costume almost appeared to turn from red to silver in the moonlight. "So you did. What do you plan on doin' with me now?"

"That's the million Madol question, isn't it? It's not every day I catch prey as delectable as you," Jamil mused, the fire in his eyes clear as day. He trailed a claw-gloved hand gently down her cheek. "As much as I'd love to keep you here like this, I think we both have a good idea about what comes next…"

Devon woke with a start, trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks as she did her best to keep her breathing and heart rate under control. The last thing she needed to was Grim asking questions about-oh, right. Grim had to sleep on the kitchen floor last night along with Ace and Deuce thanks to Vil's Unique Magic. Devon breathed a soft sigh of relief…only to freeze when she felt the pair of arms around her waist tighten their hold just enough to pull her back against their owner's chest. She felt her cheeks heat up all over again as she remembered allowing Jamil to stay with her the previous night. She risked a look over her shoulder to see the man in question looking at her fondly, his dark eyes warmer and more unguarded than she'd ever seen.

"Good morning, Devon," Jamil said, loosening his grip enough to allow Devon to turn to face him before pulling her closer again and nuzzling into her hair. If he had any inkling that he'd been the subject of her dream, he didn't show it. "I have to say, that was the best sleep I've had in a while. Did you sleep well?"

'You have no idea,' Devon thought, grateful that it hadn't been one of her Overblot Leona dreams. Those tended to be a bit more intense, not to mention how guilty she felt about having them in the first place. She touched her forehead to Jamil's before sitting up. "I did, but I'm more curious to find out if I'm still living up to my walking furnace reputation."

Jamil smirked before sitting up as well. "Naturally. I doubt I'd have been able to sleep so well otherwise."

Devon studied Jamil for a moment. Something was different about him this morning, but she couldn't quite figure out what. It wasn't until he ran a hand through his hair that she realized what it was. "Oh snap, am I really seeing you with your braids out right now?"

"Of course. I don't sleep with them in, you know," Jamil replied. "I'm surprised you didn't notice last night."

"In my defense, it was dark and I was tired," Devon reasoned, never taking her eyes off the glossy dark strands. "Honestly, I'm not sure which style I like more. It must take you forever to style it, considering how intricate those braids are."

Jamil shrugged. "Not really. Magic lets me get it done pretty quickly and efficiently."

"Ah, right. Makes sense," Devon replied. She stretched and let herself lean against Jamil for a moment before she moved to get out of bed. "As much as I'd love to chill here with you all day, somethin' tells me we're gonna be summoned here in a bit. I'm pretty sure Vil's not my biggest fan right now, so I'm gonna get dressed before he has another reason to chew me out."

"Don't let me stop you-oh," Jamil began, making no move to get up himself, only for his face to fall in disappointment as a flash of light courtesy of Regina instantly swapped Devon's outfit from her pajamas to her P.E. uniform. "Well. Isn't that handy."

Devon smirked and quirked a brow at him. "C'mon, Jamil. You didn't think I was gonna make it that easy for you, did ya?" She winked at him before moving to put on her shoes. "You're gonna have to at least buy me dinner first, big guy."

"I'm sure I can work something out," was Jamil's equally playful reply before he stood up as well. "In all seriousness, thanks for letting me stay with you last night." He hesitated before continuing, the look in his eyes almost shy. "If it's not too presumptuous, maybe…we could do this again sometime?"

There was a knock on the door before Devon could respond, followed by the door opening and Rook stepping into the room. Thankfully for Devon and Jamil, he made no comment about seeing them together. "Bonjour, you two! Lovely morning, isn't it? We'll be starting morning practice sessions today, so come downstairs for breakfast once you're ready. After we eat, we'll head to the Pomefiore ballroom to get started."

"Right," Jamil replied, crossing the room and squeezing Devon's hand gently before heading out the door. "I'll see you both downstairs."

Devon watched Jamil go, her lips pulled up into a tiny smile, only for it to drop when she noticed Rook watching her. "Don't you say a word."

Rook's grin only widened, his green eyes dancing with amusement. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, mon ami."

"Urgh… Last night was awful," Deuce sighed as he trudged his way to the ballroom with the others. Vil and Rook split off from the others to take care of something, leaving everyone else to file inside.

Ace rolled his shoulders to try to loosen up. "I didn't think a night sleeping on the floor would make me so stiff and achy…"

"Why'd I hafta go throught that too?! I ain't even part of the show team!" Grim complained as Devon carried him. "It ain't fair, I tell ya!"

Epel gave them a concerned look. "What exactly happened to you guys last night?"

"You were so quiet during breakfast too," Kalim added.

Jamil gave Ace and Deuce an unamused side-eye. "I thought for sure someone was attacking when I heard all that noise last night, but when I went downstairs to see what was going on, I saw you three sprawled out on the floor."

"We didn't sleep on the floor for our health, y'know!" Ace protested with a glare. "Vil used his Unique Magic to paralyze us."

Jamil blinked. "His Unique Magic?"

"Yeah! He used it to put a curse on those sweets and sodas in the fridge!" Grim said. "It was the evilest evil plan ever!"

"He put a curse on the food?!" Kalim exclaimed, taken aback.

"Sure did. And now I'm gonna be paranoid about anything I eat from now until the VDC," Grim replied.

"Hmm… I'm pretty good at detecting poisons, but I'm not sure how well I'd do at picking up on a curse," Kalim said. "I'll have to be extra careful."

"All magic leaves at least some trace behind but… Hm," Jamil added.

"I wonder if I could get better at identifying curses if I brush up on my sensory abilities," Kalim mused.

"You're not exactly the most sensitive person out there, you know. Mastery of skill like that seems a bit out of your reach," Jamil snarked.

Kalim's smile never wavered. "Hey, don't say that. I won't know until I try, right?"

"Hold up," Ace interjected. "Can we go back to that part about Kalim being able to detect poisons?"

"Hm? Oh, it's not really a big deal. I've just had my food poisoned before, is all," Kalim told them as nonchalantly as can be.

"What?!" Ace, Deuce, and Epel exclaimed in unison.

"S'why they used me as a poison tester over the break," Grim grumbled, throwing a salty look at Jamil.

"I've had some really awful experiences with it," Kalim continued. "It wasn't long before I became suspicious of just about any food that was placed in front of me. It's exhausting to keep constantly fretting over whether you can trust the person who cooked your food, let alone the people sitting at your table. Really puts a damper on the meal, you know?"

"Yeah, I'd imagine so…," Deuce replied.

"If I know in advance that a dish isn't poisoned, I can savor it more fully," Kalim reasoned. "And if I can figure out that it is poisoned as soon as I take a bite, I can avert a much worse situation…for me and for the other party."

"The other party?" Epel repeated, confused.

Kalim nodded. "Suppose the poisoner sees the error of their ways and wants to make things right. If I've already met my end, they won't get the chance, will they?" His grin dropped into a more serious expression. "I'd never want to deny someone the chance to redeem themselves if that's what they truly want. That would be the real tragedy, I think."

Jamil's brow furrowed as he listened to Kalim's explanation, but he didn't say anything. His expression softened just a bit when he felt Devon bump her shoulder gently against his and he subtly linked his pinky finger with hers while she held Grim with her free hand.

"The Scalding Sands has more native legends than those relating to the Sorcerer of the Sands, you know," Kalim told them. "The tale of the street rat who became king is a pretty notable one, too."

"How does that one go?" Devon asked, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

"One day, the thief met the princess by chance and fell in love with her," Kalim narrated. "Thanks largely to her influence, he came to regret his life of crime and had a change of heart. After that, he went on to rescue the princess and her father, the Sultan, from a villain planning to take over the kingdom! Once the villain had been soundly defeated, he and the princess were married and he became the next Sultan-a happily ever after for everyone."

'Yep, sounds about right. Once again, I have to wonder whether this version or the one from the Disney movies is closer to the truth…,' Devon thought. 'I remember Ace tellin' me the day we met that the Sorcerer of the Sands got his hands on a magic lamp and became Sultan, but he was awfully vague about how it happened. And that's not even getting into those dreams I've been havin'… I just wish I knew what it all meant.'

"I've always loved that story," Kalim continued, pulling Devon from her thoughts. "Everyone was willing to give the thief a second chance because they trusted that he was serious about changing his ways."

"So, the moral is that you may not be able to undo past mistakes, but it's more important to do better going forward?" Deuce asked.

"Guess it's not always as simple as "good guys win, bad guys lose"," Ace commented.

Kalim beamed. "Exactly! That's why I plan to live my life to the fullest, come what may. Ah ha ha!"

"Umm… I know you're laughing, Kalim, but it feels like this conversation just got kinda heavy," Epel said.

"Oh, I don't know about that. If he's able to laugh about it, it can't be all that morbid," Jamil remarked dryly.

"He's definitely different from just about all the other students I've met here," Devon added. "I'm not gonna lie, I've always wondered why the Dark Mirror chose him."

"For real," Grim agreed. "He's too nice. It actually makes my fur stand on end sometimes."

"Hmm? Do I really sound that strange to you?" Kalim asked.

"Not "strange", per se. It's just that you're pretty unique compared to the other students on campus," Epel explained. "It's not a bad thing, just something we've noticed."

"Oh, I see. Actually, I transferred into this school two months late. Maybe that has something to do with it," Kalim replied.

All the freshmen exchanged confused looks before Epel spoke up again. "You can transfer here?"

"Why do all look so surprised? Dev's a special transfer too, isn't she?" Kalim asked.

"I wouldn't say that. I'm still not sure why I was brought here, but I was at the entrance ceremony with the other new students," Devon replied.

"I thought Night Raven College only admitted those whose souls were chosen by the Dark Mirror," Ace said.

Kalim nodded. "That's right. But about a month or so after Jamil left to enroll here, I got a letter of acceptance from the school. I'm not sure if there was some sort of oversight in the selection process or if it was a special exception or what, but the carriage came for me right after that."

"So the Dark Mirror…belatedly recognized the nature of your soul?" Deuce asked, puzzled.

"Hmph. I'm not entirely convinced the Dark Mirror actively selects students based on that," Jamil huffed, a hint of bitterness creeping into his tone. He leaned closer to Devon and muttered, "Knowing the headmaster, he probably arranged for some sort of backdoor to get Kalim into the school so he could get his hands on the Asim family's donations…"

Devon thought back to her time in Jamil's mindscape and the memory he'd shown her about his talk with Crowley wherein the masked man had all but admitted that Kalim's position as dorm head had been bought. "Yeah, that does sound like him."

"And thanks to that, my nice, free campus life disappeared in a puff of smoke," Jamil grumbled. He felt Devon lean closer to him and sighed, calming himself as he caught a hint of her strawberry-scented shampoo.

"Well I've loved every day I've spent here," Kalim said as he grinned at Jamil. "Especially since I got to make friends with you all over again, Jamil!"

Jamil narrowed his eyes. "As I've told you multiple times now, we are not friends."

Before the conversation could continue, two loud claps pulled everyone's attention to the ballroom's doorway. "Are all my spuds present and accounted for?" Vil asked as he and Rook walked into the room. "Good. Let's get started. I trust you've all memorized the song?" The participants all answered in the affirmative-some more enthusiastically than others-, leading Vil to give an approving nod. "Excellent. Then let's run through it together." He glanced over at Devon. "Manager, start the music."

Devon nodded and did as she was told, mildly surprised that Vil didn't seem to hold any sort of ill feeling toward her or the boys regarding what happened the previous night. She supposed it made sense; the boys had served their punishment and, while Regina had informed Devon the (more entertaining than it should've been) incident with the kitchen door, she knew Vil was aware that the Wisps more or less did their own thing and that Devon had no control over them except to the tiniest extent when they were inhabiting her staff. It wouldn't make sense to hold anything against Devon for something Regina decided to do and since Regina was far too powerful for even Vil to do anything about, he'd most likely opted to let the matter go. She supposed in the end that it didn't really matter; she just thought Vil was a bigger diva than that.

She didn't have too much time to dwell on Vil as the boys began singing practice. Things were still pretty wobbly, but everyone was giving it their all. Well…almost everyone.

"Oh. My. Goodness!" Kalim exclaimed as they finished the song. "I was so taken in by the main vocalists' performance that I totally forgot to sing at some parts!"

"Come on, Kalim. You should know better than to get distracted like that," Jamil chided.

"That just goes to show how good you guys sounded! My body just went into dance mode on its own!" Kalim replied.

Rook nodded in agreement. "Tres bien! What splendid harmony that was."

"I agree. We were all on fire!" Deuce chimed in.

"It's far too early to celebrate," Vil told them with a stern glare. "That performance was an absolute mess. The main vocalists were off-key and the chorus was much too loud and pronounced."

"I sang my heart out during that run and now you're telling me I'm not supposed to? Being a backup singer is harder than I thought," Ace said, exasperated. "I wish I'd gotten a main vocal part."

"Spudling One," Vil called out. "If you can't grasp the importance of the chorus, your shot at becoming a main vocalist is even further from your reach than the seven jeweled hills. A lack of harmony between the two groups makes a song sound infinitely worse. You'd do well to remember that."

Ace sighed and crossed his arms. "Yessir. I'll do my best."

"Remember that we're going to be singing and dancing simultaneously at the show. It's only going to get harder from here," Vil reminded them. "We'll move on to dance rehearsal now. Let's get started."

Even after morning practice was over, it was clear that the tension between Epel and Vil was about to reach a boiling point. True to his word, Vil had Epel taking ballet lessons for a portion of the practice while the rest of the team (barring Deuce, who had also kept his word and joined Epel in the lessons) worked on the routine for the show.

Most of the boys were quick to get away from the tension upon arriving back at Ramshackle, given how quickly they all split off to do their own thing. Devon wasn't any different, opting to hole herself up in her and Grim's room. Once she'd finished what was left of her homework, she pulled out her drawing tablet and getting to work on her next project. She wasn't sure how long she'd been at it, but her attention was pulled away by the sound of a panel in her bedroom wall leading to Ramshackle's maze of passages sliding out of place and Epel storming in a moment later.

"Sorry ta barge in like this, Dev, but Ah just couldn't take it no more!" Epel exclaimed, clenching and unclenching his fists as he tried to get some sort of hold on his temper.

Devon gave Epel a rueful smile. "Well you know you're always welcome to chill here with me, bud."

"I ain't even been anywhere near Vil since we got back to the dorm, but he's still under mah skin! Ah'm doing mah best and takin' those dumb ballet lessons that he insisted on, but he's still makin' those snippy comments. The more Ah think about it, the madder Ah get!" Epel vented before heaving a sigh, the anger seeming to leave him for a moment as he gave Devon a defeated look. "And now it feels like he's takin' over Ramshackle too. It's not fair, you know? This was supposed to be the one place I could go to get away from him."

Devon stood up to steer Epel toward the armchair near the room's fireplace, urging him to sit as she pulled her desk chair closer. "Well, I can promise you that Vil is not and will not be taking over Ramshackle. From what I hear, Regina made it very clear last night that they are the one in charge of this place, not him."

Epel chuckled despite his not-so-great mood. "Yeah, Deuce told me about that earlier. I bet Vil had to lay on the concealer pretty thick; if Regina cracked him as hard as Deuce said they did, it would've left a pretty nasty bruise." He smirked. "I kinda wish I coulda been there, y'know." He glanced over Devon's shoulder and nodded toward her tablet. "What were you workin' on when I came in, anyway?"

Devon grinned as she reached out to pick up the tablet, holding it out to Epel so he could see. "You remember how I told you I made videos to post online back home?"

Epel nodded. "Yeah. You said they were mostly summaries about…books and myths and stuff, I think?" He took the tablet carefully and looked at the screen. It seemed Devon was in the middle of drawing a severe-looking woman with large wings giving something beneath her a contemplative glare. "Yikes. Who's this lady?"

"That is Nemesis and to the ancient Greeks, she was the goddess of revenge," Devon explained. "Or…I guess more specifically she was the goddess of divine retribution for hubris. Hubris was a pretty big no-no for them, so there were plenty of myths that serve as cautionary tales against it in their culture."

"And which one is this?" Epel asked.

"I'm gonna use it in a video covering the myth of Narcissus. It's pretty short, so I figured it'd be a good one to help me get back into makin' these summaries again," Devon replied.

"How's it go?" Epel asked, leaning closer eagerly. "I'm guessing if Nemesis gets involved, it doesn't end well for him."

"It definitely doesn't," Devon agreed. "Narcissus is a beautiful skilled hunter with more suitors than he knows what to do with. The problem is that he's also extremely self-absorbed and doesn't think that any of those suitors could possibly be worth his time. From what I could find, there are two versions of this myth: one where the suitor we're focused on is a nymph named Echo and another where it's a guy named Ameinias. Personally, I don't see a reason why they both couldn't be true but either way Narcissus rejects them so harshly that they both die as a result; Echo is so heartbroken that she wastes away to nothing until all that's left of her is her voice, and Ameinias takes his own life thanks to Narcissus' not-so-subtle urging, even giving him a sword to get the job done."

Epel blinked. "Seriously? I mean, rejecting someone is one thing but…" He shook his head. "Well, at least we know he deserves whatever's about to happen to him."

"For real," Devon agreed. "This is about the time that Nemesis gets involved. She figures out what's going on either on her own or through someone beseeching her-either another unrelated dude Narcissus spurned or Ameinias himself-and she decides that he deserves to be punished. Since Narcissus loves his own face so much, all she has to do is direct his attention to a nearby pond. Narcissus is immediately entranced by his own reflection in the water, but since it's all nonphysical and stuff, all he can do is pine from a distance until he eventually dies, not unlike what he did to his suitors. He also turns into a flower-the narcissus, naturally-after he dies, which is something of a tradition for cute guys in Greek mythology."

"Man…Nemesis really doesn't play around, huh?" Epel commented, fascinated.

"Oh, she's not the only one. All the Greek gods and goddesses could dish out some pretty intense punishments if they thought it was warranted," Devon replied. "I think Hera was typically considered one of the most dangerous deities, but she tended to reserve her worst punishments for the women her husband Zeus had affairs with-whether they were willing participants or not-and the children that resulted from those affairs."

"That sounds…kinda messed up, actually, but I wanna hear more," Epel said.

Devon grinned. It seemed Epel's anger with Vil had dissipated, at least for the moment. "I've got my laptop here with me now. If you want, we can watch some of the other videos I've done." She tapped her chin in thought. "I'm gonna have to make a mental note to show Azul the one I made about El Dorado. Call it a hunch, but I think a lost city of gold would appeal to him."

Ending Notes: I love the idea of Devon hinting to Azul that El Dorado is totally an actual real place that definitely exists in her world. Who knows, maybe she isn't completely lying to him; I'm considering El Dorado as a possible name for her uncle's restaurant. I never actually settled on one and it hasn't really been an issue, but something tells me it's going to come up at some point.

I know I mentioned this before, but the channel Devon uploads her videos to is based on Overly Sarcastic Productions on YouTube. I definitely recommend checking them out. They make all sorts of fun, interesting summaries!

And yes, Devon has in fact had dreams like the one at the start of the chapter about all of her love interests by this point and she is always eternally grateful that her brothers never happen upon them. Dominic feels the same way about the ones he has about Idia.

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