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The signifiers on her hand terrified her. She hid them mostly under gloves, but as the spring temperatures started to rise, there was little excuse to wear them anymore. If the experiment at Harrington’s mansion had taught her anything, it was that she could not control her own powers. They were a wild storm she didn’t know how to properly harness.

Rylan began writing down equations. “While you were…out…I’ve been thinking about your potion, and I have some ideas.”

Obryn gathered materials and began experimenting. They shared their thoughts openly. Perhaps it was too much of this ingredient? No, maybe it was lacking another? Boiled too hot or with not enough water? She loved exchanging ideas, and it was so refreshing to no longer be alone in her research.

Ten hours later, they finally had a batch they were all happy with. Rylan had taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, but Obryn looked the same as he had when they began the session, stern and professionally dressed as always.

“Before you try it,” Obryn said, “I want to remind you of something I said to you. Normally I don’t make a habit of repeating myself, but you have no memory of me ever telling you this. What is the most important part of a potion?”

She stared at him blankly, thinking about base potions and ingredients.

“Intent, Miss Winters. So much of our magic is bound to our intentions. Potions most of all. When you follow the recipe we just created, I want you to think about what you actually want.”

“I want to remove the scar.”

He shook his head. “That’s the outcome. What is the cause? What is it you truly want? Why do you need the scar removed?”

She lifted the sleeve of her shirt and looked at it. The lines traveled out from her wrist, along her forearm like roots. It wasn’t just a scar on her flesh. It was a scar on her soul. “I want to be free from the reminder of it.”

Obryn almost mustered a smile. “Use that intent as you brew the potion.”

She stepped in front of the crystal bowl, and as she combined the ingredients, she focused on her intent. Free. From pain. From the reminder. When it was done, she poured the potion into a vial. It was gray and shimmered with different shades of blue.

Rylan bit his nails nervously as he watched her. Obryn stood entirely still.

She took a breath for courage, hoping it would work but bracing herself for a possible failure. It felt cool and light on her tongue and tasted of mint tea and fresh grass. She stared at her scar, waiting for something to happen. Her heart sank. Nothing. It didn’t work.

She closed her eyes and felt a strange sensation. It started in her core and rose to her heart. Her eyes flashed open as a cool breeze shivered through her. Like the first fall air after a hot summer’s day.

And then the scar disappeared. Line by line. It left her skin just as easily as it had been carved into her.

Mira choked back a sob. Everyone had told her it was impossible. All these years of feeling like a prisoner in her own skin with nobody believing her. When the last line disappeared, her arm looked like nothing had ever happened to it. Rylan came over and hugged her.

“You did it,” he said. “You actually did it.”

After so many years of failure, Mira couldn’t believe her scar was finally gone. Even now, she couldn’t take her eyes off her bare arm for fear the scar would return at any moment. Maybe she would wake up tomorrow only to realize she had never made it through Ivercrest’s gates. All that seemed more plausible than having five signifiers and an arm free of the scar that had haunted her for years.

“I’m going to the council tomorrow to apply for a license for your potion,” Obryn said, putting the ingredients back in their respective containers. “I think they will be very interested in your research.”

“Really?” She had only ever thought about her potion as a way to remove her scar. Could it help others?

“When you first came to me with your work, I didn’t think it could have a wider application. But as we made the latest rounds of changes, I realized it could remove not just residue from Synth but possibly all Dark Magic residue.”

“All Dark Magic residue,” Rylan repeated as he cupped an elbow with one hand and tapped his lips with the other. “Do you think her potion works on every type of injury? Even those inflicted by ancient magic? If so, that would be a true breakthrough.”

Obryn gave a nod. “I believe so.”

Her scar was gone. She might get her potion licensed. She shook her head in disbelief and flipped through the pages of her notebook. Years of frustration and dead ends in her research. Years of fearing she would never be free of the scar. Now it was finally over.

In between pages of theories on Dark Magic removal, she discovered an empty page. This was odd. She never left a page blank in the middle of a notebook. In fact, when they were kids, she had scolded Ella for doing so.

But perhaps this page wasn’t empty after all? When she had lived in the magic sphere, she hid her most secret notes with spells.

She connected with her White Magic and let her fingers dance over the middle of the page. Ink appeared. She was right.

It wasn’t part of the scar removal potion. The ingredients were all wrong.

Test it on Monday! she had written. Had she made another original potion? Had she tried it? Perhaps on herself because there were no mentions of test subjects.