I Am Totally a Real-Life Wizard (Not Clickbait, I Swear!)

Cody tossed a few more ingredients into the bowl, then whisked them together with the spoon. As he stirred, a few wisps of golden smoke rose into the air, and soon enough, a shimmery salmon-pink liquid was left in the bowl. "Shall we try this out?"

Vendetta nodded. “How are we going to test this?”

Cody picked up the needle again. “A vampire naturally heals minor wounds the size of a needle in forty-five seconds.” He pricked the tips of his finger, dark blue blood bubbling on the wound. “A good healing potion can heal in thirty.”

Cody dipped another finger into the bowl and dripped a thin layer of potion onto his injured finger. "And now we wait."

Khalil started a timer on his phone, and Valeri watched intently as the seconds ticked by. The pinprick wound soon closed up, and when the timer hit the 29 second mark, it looked as if nothing had happened. The potion had disappeared as well.

Vendetta gasped. “That’s so cool!” They didn’t think they’d ever get used to the childish wonder they felt when they saw magic.

Cody smiled. “I’m glad you think so because to master this, you’re going to have practice a lot.”

"Oh, great," Valeri groaned. But she looked at Vendetta and couldn't help but smile at their awe-struck expression. "Okay, so we just toss in ingredients?"

"That's right." Cody handed the siblings two more bowls and spoons. "And make sure to imagine the potion having the power to heal."

“That seems easy enough.” Vendetta sat up straighter. “I think we can try.”

Dusk hovered closer to Vendetta. “Yes please! I bestow my magical potion on to you.”

Vendetta chuckled. “Thanks, Dusk.”

"Whoo, you got this!" Dawn cheered them on as well and lit up in a sequence of cheery golds and blues.

Valeri smiled and selected a cloudy green liquid and a bundle of dried flowers. They started whisking the ingredients together, muttering, "Heal, heal, heal" under their breath.

Spoiler

psst i'm in the pad :D

Vendetta was a lot slower in their intentions. They were completely silent as they ground the ingredients and carefully whisked. Dusk vibrated in increasing excitement as they worked.

Dusk laughed. “I missed this.”

"Missed what?" Valeri looked up, then glanced back down at her potion, which was now a muddy brown. "Oh drat." They hurried to the kitchen and dumped it into the sink, then started over with a couple of faded violet petals and a clear liquid.

Dusk sighed. “It hasn’t been that long since I was put to sleep. But, when you’re forcibly separated from your soul, time feels like it passes so slowly. A month feels like a decade. A decade feels long enough to travel from the Stone Age to the atomic bomb.” It sighed. “So I’ve been missing a lot of things. Potion-making, the woods, the beach.” They sighed. “It’s good to be back.”

Vendetta looked up from their salmon pink potion. “I think I did it!”

Valeri steadfastly refused to look up until her potion turned the same shade of pink. They weren't about to make the same mistake of getting distracted again.

A couple minutes after her sibling finished, Valeri finally set down the spoon and said, "Great job, Vendetta! And Dusk, what do magic bows even do at the beach?"

Dawn hummed. "Magical weapons enjoy the sun and sea as much as any person."

Dusk sighed. “You wouldn’t understand. Imagine being in poor lighting for what feels like one hundred fifty years, hearing nothing but warped echoes, and suddenly you’re awake and the everything’s bright and crisp and-“ They hummed. “It’s great.”

Vendetta looked at Valeri’s potion. “Oh! That looks great, Valeri.” They grinned.

Dawn glowed in agreement and hovered closer to Dusk. Meanwhile, Valeri smiled back at Vendetta and said, "Let's try this out. Should we do the paper again, or do you think we can risk actual wounds?"

Cody inspected the potions. “How about this? I’ll prick myself again twice. And you have to beat my natural healing time. How does that sound?”

Vendetta winced. “Are you sure?”

Cody nodded. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind.”

"Okay then. You've got a lot of confidence in us..." Valeri got a spoonful of potion ready, and Cody used a clean needle to prick two of his fingers. The siblings dripped some of each of their potions onto the wounds, and Khalil started the timer.