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

Cody launched himself in the air, jumping much higher than any human would, and landed perfectly a foot away. "We used to be friends, Joe. And then you decided that wasn't good enough."

Joe scowled. "Don't talk to me about good enough! You still killed Khalil! Huh, Khalil?" He turned around. "Khalil?"

Joe looked frantically around for the blue-haired astrologist, scanning the whispering crowds and the rest of the hotel, but Khalil was nowhere to be seen. Joe spun back to Cody and demanded, "What did you do with xem?"

Cody glared at him. “What did I do? I’ve been talking to you the entire time! What did you do to xem?”

Joe squawked. “You are the villainous fiend here!”

Cody rolled their eyes. “Drop the act, and tell me what you did to my husband!”

"He's my husband now, in case you've already forgotten whose wedding you crashed," sneered Joe.

Cody gritted their teeth. "This is some kind of trick, isn't it?" A dangerous glint entered his eyes. "If you harm Khalil at all, I swear, I'll make you wish you were never born."

Joe growled. "I told you, I don't know what happened to Khalil!"

"And why should I believe you, Joe?" Cody laughed humorlessly. "And you crashed my wedding, remember? And then you decided to crash the whole marriage, too!"

Valeri's phone buzzed.

As Joe and Cody continued threatening each other, Valeri quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the screen. "Vendetta?" They accepted the call and backed away to a spot near the tables, where they could keep an eye on Joe and Cody while talking with their sibling. "What's up? Do you know where Khalil is?"

Vendetta stood in a back room, hidden away from the rest of the wedding. Amy leaned against the door as Wormy rubbed mud on Khalil's chest. "Yep! I have him. Wormy's trying to see if her mud heals the love potion."

Wormy waved at Vendetta. "She says hi."

Valeri's eyes widened. "Great job, Vendetta! And hello to you too, Wormy." They scanned the room. "Where are you? Should I get Cody to leave the hotel?" She looked at where Cody and Joe now seemed to be participating in a wrestling match, although they were on a mat of Jell-O, for some reason.

Vendetta sighed. “How bad is it out there?”

Dawn floated to Valeri. “What are you doing? We need to find, Khalil!”

Valeri nodded at Dawn, then said into the phone, "Pretty bad. Cody and Joe are flat-out fighting now. And people are filming them, calling it something like Josephinzo's Great Battle part two, from what I'm hearing. Okay hold on a sec, Vendetta, Dawn's here."

Valeri beckoned the sword closer, then whispered, "Khalil's safe with Vendetta."

A relieved flush of pink and gold flowed down Dawn's blade. "Phew! Now we can break up that fight and go home, right?"

"Well." Valeri held the phone to her ear again. "How's Khalil doing? Is Wormy's mud working?"

Vendetta looked at the duo.

Khalil’s eyes kept unfocusing, switching between staring blankly at Wormy and looking around confused.

“Uh, define working.”

"If you ask him who xe loves, what's the answer?" Valeri looked up as Dusk arrived, pulsing purple. Dawn filled in their sibling, and the bow flashed a relieved indigo.

“Uh, that’s the problem.” Vendetta waved their hand in Khalil’s face. “He’s not.”

Wormy stepped back, obviously dejected. Otto patted her on the shoulder. “Yako s’ti.”

"Oh." Valeri bit their lip. "Maybe it just takes some time? We can leave and regroup later... That is, if we can get Cody out alright." She glanced at where Joe was trying to strangle Cody with licorice ropes.

Vendetta sighed. “Get him out of there, then. Wormy, Otto, and, uh, Amy actually are joining us.”