Young Writers Society

Guy cowered in front of Josephinzo. “It was an accident, sir!”

Josephinzo stood right above him, and grabbed his shoulders with a white-knuckle grip. “That’s not what you said before, Guy. Which is it? Did you not ruin the suit or was it an accident?”

Guy didn’t respond. He cast his gaze to the floor, his shoulders trembling.

Josephinzo leaned into his face. “WELL, GUY!?!”

"F-FINE! I ruined the suit." Guy's voice wobbled. "But-but it wasn't on p-purpose. Have mercy, Great Josephinzo!"

Josephinzo released Guy's shoulders and pushed him away. He pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a dark sigh. "This messes up my plans completely." He glared daggers at Guy. "You understand? It took me months-- months!-- to find the perfect suit. It'll take me at least a week to get the same one." Josephinzo started pacing, gazing at the pictures on his wall. He mumbled something like, "Soon, Khalil..." then abruptly swiveled to face the group.

"Well, you all, with the exception of Guy, have done decently. I appreciate the ingredients."

José was pretty much beaming. "Thank you for the compliment, High Wizard!"

"So now, the Chosen Ones will be granted a new quest..."

Dusk vibrated. “Wait a minute. Who is this ‘Khalil’ you speak of?”

“And whose face is all over your walls?” Dawn floated around the room. “This is weird, dude.”

Josephinzo gestured for the weapons to stop talking. “Doesn’t matter! It’s time for the Chosen Ones to gain intel on the terrible Malacoda the Dark Sun. Before it is too late.”

"You're changing the subject," Valeri commented.

"No, I'm not! Now, it is of the utmost importance for you all to investigate the dark abode of the evil Malacoda. For this mission, you'll need to be stealthy, so--" Josephinzo gestured at Carter-- "the kid may stay here."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Valeri asked suspiciously.

"Oh, you know, forbidden artifacts, dark rituals, items of that sort." Josephinzo glanced at his watch. "Any other questions, or are you ready to venture forth and save the world?"

Vendetta sighed. “Fine. We’ll go investigate Malacoda.” They opened their hand. “Portal please.”

Josephinzo shook his head. “José will go with you.”

Vendetta shook their head. “Just me and Valeri. Portal please.”

Josephinzo frowned. "But you both aren't full-fledged WANNABES yet."

"You said we had to be stealthy, right?" Valeri raised an eyebrow at the wizard, who grumbled for a minute before finally handing the two a green portal.

"Be quick about it, alright?"

Vendetta nodded. “Okay.” They threw the portal the ground. “In and out. Come on Valeri.”

They gestured in Dusk in front of them and stepped through the portal.

Valeri and Dawn followed their siblings into... a living room? A... rather normal-looking living room.

Valeri turned around slowly, taking note of some comfy blue chairs, a low table, and a fireplace. There was a coffee mug on the table, but it looked like it'd been left there for a while.

"Uh... is this the right place?"

Vendetta shrugged. “He didn’t exactly give a description. I just threw and kept saying Malacoda’s house, Malacoda’s house over and over in my head.” They gently poked the chair as if it was about to explode. “But this is a little odd. Maybe we should look for proof?”

Dusk floated away, scanning the walls for evidence. “Oh! I found something. It’s an engineering degree for Malacoda Vikultirym. That’s a mouthful.”

“But you don’t have a mouth.” Vendetta picked up an anniversary card off of the side table.

Valeri stepped carefully down a hallway and poked her head into a room. It looked like a typical study, with a desk and chair and various books on a bookshelf. The books seemed to mainly be about magitech: combinations of magic and technology.

"I didn't find anything that looked evil, but there are an awful lot of books on magitech here," Valeri called out.

Vendetta entered the study, the card still in their hand. “You should hear this, Valeri. ‘To my dearest, Cody. Here’s to seven years of staying by each other sides through thick and thin. Now that I will always love you and everything you have done for this world and for us. Signed, your loving husband, Khalil.’” Vendetta put the card down. “Josephinzo muttered about Khalil when he found out Guy ruined his suit.”

Dusk hovered over their shoulder. “Is that who Malacoda killed then? For his undead army?”

"But it sounds like Malacoda, or Cody, cared for Khalil quite a bit... Although 'everything you have done for this world' could be some villainous justification for killing his husband, if he believes an undead army will 'save the world' or something." Valeri examined the card. "Is there any evidence of Khalil loving Cody back?"

“Hey! There’s like an entire wall of pictures in here.” Dawn zoomed into the room. “One of the people is the person on Josephinzo’s walls. And the other, I don’t recognize.”

“One of them is probably Malacoda. Lead the way, Dawn!”

The room looked, again, like a normal bedroom in an average house. Valeri glanced around, her eyes landing on a picture of two guys grinning at the camera. They looked to be in an Italian restaurant or someplace.

"Well, that guy looks like Khalil..." Valeri pointed to the left person. "So that person... wow. Malacoda really loves black, huh? I gotta admit, those sword earrings are pretty cool though."

Vendetta looked down at their own clothes. “I can’t say I blame him.” They picked up a picture off one of the nightstands. “Look at this one.” They handed it to Valeri. It was a picture of Malacoda reading one of his books on magitech on the couch, with Khalil kissing him on the cheek.

Dusk zoomed into the room, panting. “I have searched every corner of this house. Nothing weird. No secret dungeons or evil lab. No graveyard for an evil army. Absolutely nothing.”