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

Dawn zoomed out of Vendetta’s hands. “What? Of course not! Nope. Not at all. Wrong answer. I’m going to take another lap-“

Vendetta blocked the entrance. “Nope! No you’re not.”

Dawn hovered nervously, then tried to zoom past the counter and lap around the store. But Valeri held their arms out too. “Dawn. We’re your friends, and we just want to help.”

“I’m the one who should be doing the helping—“ A wisp of smoke curled off of Dawn again, and the sword vibrated.

“And you can! But sometimes the greatest helpers need some help too. And that’s okay!”

Dawn dodged Valeri. “No! Stop it!”

Vendetta groaned. “Dawn!”

“Dusk, a little help here?” Valeri eyed the bow. “Do you know why Dawn’s acting like this?”

Dusk buzzed. “I... I don’t know if it’s my story to tell."

"Please, if it'll help Dawn--"

"Okay, remember Dawn's policy of nonviolence? And how they refused to talk about anything that happened before they were a thousand?" Dusk blurted out.

"Yeah." Valeri frowned.

"The thing is, Dawn used to be a terror on the battlefield. They'd cut through legions of soldiers, all for their Chosen One." Dusk glowed a midnight blue.

Dawn vibrated. “Dusk, stop it.”

“Each hero would set out on a quest for battle, and Dawn would do anything it took.”

“Dusk!” Dawn clattered to the ground in a burst of blinding white light.

"All Dawn wanted was to be helpful, and yet--"

Valeri shielded their eyes and stepped back.

"--it was never enough."

Dawn burst into flames.

Dawn wailed. “Stop it! Stop it! I don’t want to remember. I don’t want to remember.” If they could cry, they’d be sobbing.

Dusk vibrated, and floating beside them. “But you must, sibling. You cannot hide from your mind.”

“Let me try, please.”

Dusk glowed a gentle purple. "I am sorry I didn't realize you were suffering sooner. But now... we can help you work through it, Dawn. You're here, and you're valued."

Dawn hummed. "I just want to move on."

Vendetta sighed and kneeled beside them. "No one ever truly moves on from things like this. But we're here for you, Dawn. Talk to us."

Dawn vibrated harshly. "Don't say that..."

Valeri knelt as well. "Well, we're going to stay here with you for as long as it takes for you to trust us with your story."

The satyr behind the counter unfroze from his goggle-eyed state and started to say, "Actually, we close in an hour--"

Valeri shushed him. "So Dawn, let us help."

Dawn's flames diminished. "Fine. Everything Dusk said is true. I used to be ruthless."

Vendetta lovingly stroked their hilt.

“I…” Dawn shuddered. “I did terrible things sometimes. A lot of times.” The sword lapsed into silence for a moment, and Valeri sat cross-legged on the floor, looking at Dawn softly.

“I guess I just wanted to be useful. So I went above and beyond what my Chosen One wanted…” Dawn’s flames extinguished. “Even if that meant eliminating hundreds, thousands of people.”

"If I didn't do more than what they wanted, they'd move on to a better weapon. And I hated being alone in those days. More than all of the destruction I caused."

Dawn shuddered. "They used to sing ballads of the sword that felled a nation without a wielder."

"And I-- it took me a thousand years to realize that all my violence did more harm than good." Dawn glowed sky blue streaked with pink, like a sky at sunset. "I was starting to realize around my sixth century, but I still... I couldn't be alone. I just couldn't. And I despise that it took me four hundred more years to work up the courage to stop causing bloodshed."

"It's hard to change yourself, Dawn, especially when it seems like no one else wants you to." Vendetta smiled. "But if no one else is, I'm proud of you."

"And so am I, sibling. You know that."