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

Valeri tapped the gem on Dawn's hilt. "You have a good heart, Dawn. And we all love you for that. And how many millenniums have you managed to stay peaceful?"

Dawn sniffled. "I don't know. Three? Four?"

"Well, I say that is amazing." Valeri smiled.

Vendetta nodded. “You stayed peaceful when all of those false heroes used you for completely useless tasks!”

Dawn glowed a light pink. “Yeah. Yeah, I did!”

“That takes serious bravery and persistence.”

“That’s right!”

“Aww.” Dawn glowed even brighter. “You guys are making me blush.”

“We’re your friends, Dawn!” Vendetta grinned. “And you deserve to be reminded that you’re still good.”

Dusk glowed a proud dark purple. “And we’ll remind you again and again if we have to!”

The satyr behind the counter sniffled. “This is so touching…”

Valeri smiled at Dawn, Dusk, and their sibling.

“…but unfortunately, you guys have scared off all the customers.” The satyr bleated nervously. “If you’re just about done, could I ask you to please pay for the fangs and exit the store? Thank you kindly.”

Vendetta flushed. “Yes, of course! Sorry.” They went up to the counter a payed a bit more than necessary. “For any damage. Again, so sorry.”

The satyr nodded. “Thanks.”

"Alright, Dawn. Ready to go?"

Dawn glowed pale yellow. "I think so. Just... I feel so indebted to you all. I really broke down and you..." The sword sniffled. "No one even complained. Let me know what I can do to help, anytime!"

"Well... you can help by recognizing your strengths and good qualities, yeah?" Valeri smiled at the sword as she walked out of the store.

“Letting us help you was all of the repayment we needed.” Vendetta grinned. “Do you think you can handle going back on the road?”

Dawn sighed. “I think so. I feel a lot better.”

"Great!" Valeri waved to Cody and Khalil, who were talking by the car. "Then let's set off. We should master our personal abilities as soon as possible. According to Guy, Josephinzo decided not to hunt us down... but really, who trusts Guy?"

“I don’t.” Vendetta crossed their arms. “I don’t like Guy very much.”

Khalil waved. “Hello! Is everything okay? You four were in the station for a while.”

"Yeah... it's a long story that involves an encounter with some WANNABES and a heart-to-heart with Dawn. We'll tell you in the car." Valeri opened the door for Vendetta, Dawn, and Dusk, then hopped in themself.

Khalil raised xer eyebrows at Cody, then slid into the car as well.

Cody fondly shook his head and got into the driver’s seat. “Alright everyone, back on the road.”

He backed out of the gas station and started driving down the freeway.

As Valeri helped recount what had happened, she noticed the sun setting through the front windshield. Once the story had wrapped up, they asked, “Where are we stopping for the night?”

“Anywhere!” Khalil responded cheerfully. “Cody packed a couple of mattresses and things in the back.”

Valeri swiveled around, but they couldn’t see anything in the trunk except for a small bag. “Huh?”

Cody laughed. “They’ve been shrunk. Don’t worry, we packed a growth potion too.”

Dawn gasped. “So we get to sleep outdoors under the open sky? Gosh, I missed that.”

Vendetta smiled. “That does sound fun! Any particular place in mind?”

Khalil passed a map to the back. “We were thinking of around here.”

“Somerset, Pennsylvania?”

“Ah, Pennsylvania! Penn’s woods.” Dusk glowed thoughtfully. “Sounds like as good a place as any.”

Soon enough, the car stopped near a grassy meadow.

Spoiler

not me looking at google maps and struggling to pick a place xD