Young Writers Society

Vendetta casually picked up the ketchup bottle, reading the spell to themself.

The giant guffawed. “Their original burger is good. Their bacon burger. Their vegan burger is probably the best, so I just ordered four of those.”

“Very nice.” Valeri watched as the gem started glowing brighter. “And how are the fries?”

“The fries are— arghh!” The giant dropped a burger and clutched his peridot eye. “My— my eye is burning!”

(34 words)

The sword started levitating again, glowing even brighter than before. Light shone from between the giant’s fingers.

“I think you should give us your eye.” Vendetta let go of the sword. “I’m worried the sword’s going to hurt you.”

The giant held up his metal plate to block the sword. “No! It’s my eye! I won it, fair and square!”

“Wait, from who? Actually never mind, you should really just give us the eye, before Amy over here goes all confetti on you.”

Amy giggled and blew some confetti at the giant, but the giant was unfazed. “Bah! Weak!” He continued trying to block the sword with his plate.

(70 words)

Vendetta sighed. “One last warning. Please, I’m not trying to be mean.”

The giant shook his head. “No!”

“Alright then, sir. You leave me with no choice.” They aimed the ketchup bottle at his exposed arms. “Ketchup is a fresh tomato sauce, so let’s make it go on and on!”

Ketchup shot from the bottle in a perfect arc, hitting him directly on the arm.

“Gahhhh!” The giant flailed his arms about wildly, but the ketchup followed him with perfect aim. He knocked over some decorations from the walls and Valeri mouthed “Sorry!” to the owner and the other patrons, who were goggling at them.

“…Now are you willing to give us the eye— I mean, gem?” Valeri held a hand out for the peridot.

The giant spluttered and moaned. “Ketchup… my one great enemy… Just make it stop…”

(74 words)

Vendetta closed the bottle, officially ending the spell. “I’m sorry it had to come to this. But I don’t want the sword to rip out your eye.”

The giant plucked out the gem, sobbing. “Just take it and get out!”

Vendetta grabbed the gem and the sword, running out before anyone could confront them.

Valeri grabbed Amy and ran out too, leaving the giant to recover over his burgers.

“Phew…” Valeri sighed in relief when the trio had made it a fair distance without any sign of being chased. “So… guess we have the whole sword, now?”

The sword seemed to hum in pleasure as the gem rose into the air, rotated for a bit, then settled into the indent in the hilt. There was a blinding flash, and Valeri immediately covered her eyes.

When she finally opened them again, the sword was floating. “Greetings, brave adventurers!” a melodic voice called out.

(98 words)

Vendetta screamed, stumbling backward. “You! You’re talking!”

The sword bobbed - nodded? - in the air. “I’m the Sword of the Rising Sun! But many mages have graced me with a simpler nickname. If you wish to do the same, I wouldn’t mind.”

Valeri was frozen in place, staring at the sword as Amy gushed over its shininess and capability for great bloodshed, now that it was whole. “Uh— a simpler name, you say?” That was all she could focus on for the moment. “H-how about… Dawn?”

“Sounds good to me!” Dawn said in a chipper voice. “Now that that’s settled, you young’uns better get on your way to finding my sibling weapon— the Bow of the Setting Sun!”

Valeri frowned. “Hold up. I didn’t sign up for a sequel.”

(87 words)

Dawn looked around. Well, they certainly turned. Does it look at things? “But there are two siblings who set out on this quest. You need two weapons! And my sibling was been dormant for even longer than I, poor thing.”

Vendetta nodded. “We’ll get your sibling, Dawn!”

“Wait, Vendetta…” Valeri frowned for a moment. “Something doesn’t sit right with me. I mean, besides this whole talking-sword thing. Why are we looking for these weapons in the first place? Like, I don’t even know how to wield a sword! And Malacoda sounds like a made-up person to me.”

(50 words)

Dawn bounced. “I can wield myself! I’ll just hang around and give you pointers on your form! Together, we’ll be the greatest team.”

Amy gasped. “How dare you say that The Great Josephinzo Knight VII, High Wizard of the Entire World and Master of all things Magic lied about the greatest evil to face this earth?” She took a deep breath, smiling again. “Well, let me tell you exactly what Malacoda has done. He is a necromancer that messes with the force of death itself. He is a vampire that hunts in the shadow. He killed his own husband to use as the leader of his undead army.”

“Okay, I believe Dawn, just because it— they? — are clearly a talking, floating magic sword. But Josephinzo seems like a scammer….”

“Humph. You really don’t believe me?” Amy pointed across the street at a newspaper booth. “Just take a look at the headlines!”

Valeri walked towards the stand and read, “‘Cody or Malacoda? Magitech Genius's Dark Secrets Revealed’; ‘Innovator, Philanthropist, and Loving Spouse: Was It All a Lie?’; and ‘Brave Wizard Digs up Dirt on Malacoda: Vampire Necromancer Confirmed.’” The last magazine had a picture of Josephinzo raising his arms dramatically on the cover.

“Okay…” Valeri frowned. “I… did not expect that ridiculous wizard to be legit.” She looked at Amy and said, “Fine, then. Where do we look for the bow?”

(123 words)

Amy shrugged. “He didn’t tell me about a magic bow.” She gasped, smiling even wider. “He wanted you to prove yourselves by truly bringing the sword to life!”

Vendetta groaned. “Great, so we know nothing.”

Dawn vibrated. “I might be able to help.”