Chapter Text
“Magnus, that's enough! You have to pick one of those princes or princesses!” Asmodeus was really tired of his son's behaviour.
Magnus was the prince of Warlock kingdom, and now was a time when he had to choose himself a partner. But the prince was really egoistic and arrogant and without a glimpse of responsibility.
It seems I went wrong somewhere with his education
, thought Asmodeus as he was very
very
annoyed by this situation.
“No! I don't like them at all!” said Magnus going through the portraits of princes and princesses, he met all of them at the ball the previous week, and he wasn't happy. “This one is too short, this one is too tall! This one is just ugly in general, look at his nose! And this Princess Camille! Her eyes are so evil! I think she wants to eat me alive! “ whispered Magnus dramatically.
“Magnus, son,” said Asmodeus, trying his best to remain cool-headed, but Magnus wasn’t making this easy on him. At all. “You’re being too shallow,” said Asmodeus. “Try giving them a chance and-”
“Yawn,” sighed Magnus in an over-dramatic way and rolled his eyes. “I need someone who will deserve someone as beautiful as me,” he then added, bored by this conversation already. “None of these people you want me to marry deserve me.”
“It's been almost a year, son! You refused everyone! And with no decent reason! Enough of this nonsense! Choose one right now! “
“No!” Magnus scowled again and turned away, about to leave and do something more interesting, like meeting with his animal friends for example. He had no interest in these ugly and dull princes and this stupid marriage thing. Finding someone to marry was such a useless thing to do. Marry someone? Why? In Magnus’ opinion, there was no such thing as true love and happy endings. He had seen what had happened with his mother; they lost her to sickness her when he was just a boy. So why bother finding a partner? And he for sure wasn't going to marry out of duty for his father.
Sure, Magnus flirted and played with a few people along his life, but it was never anything serious. Playing games, flirting and not showing his real self to other people was much easier than to unmask himself and bare his feelings to others. No. He didn’t want to get hurt. Besides, his looks were on his side; his charms always worked on people and he didn’t even care if he left them with a broken heart. And that was something Asmodeus was meaning to put an end to.
So that was why animals were Magnus’ best and only friends, really. Unlike people, they had no secret agendas. They never told lies and they always listened to him when he needed someone to talk to. Living with his father was lonely, deep inside Magnus was aware that Asmodeus was trying his best with raising him up, he just didn't want to admit it. His big ego wouldn't allow him to do so.
“Very well,” heard Magnus from behind him, his father's deep voice and for a moment he felt how chill ran down his spine. Of course Magnus knew that his father loved him and would never really hurt him, but he was a King of Warlocks and pissing him off was really dangerous. And Asmodeus was indeed beyond pissed with his son’s reckless behaviour; he needed to make Magnus realise that he needed to change. To stop treating people like that. And if Magnus wasn't going to take an easy way out, then he'd have to go the hard way in teaching his son a lesson. And he already knew of a perfect solution, grinning and his low laughter sent chills down Magnus’ spine. “Come to me, son, I want to show you something interesting. You are going to love it," said Asmodeus perfectly sincere, signing Magnus to come closer.
Magnus swallowed hard, but quickly gathered himself and boldly stepped out to his father, his pride didn't let him to show that he was a little nervous by this sudden change. When Magnus got closer, Asmodeus squeezed his shoulder and thumped his cane against the floor few times. In front of them appeared a large mirror. Magnus was mesmerised of how beautiful it was, but he had no idea - why the mirror? He turned his head to his father, wanting to ask what's going on, but Asmodeus didn't let him.
"Look at the mirror, Magnus," said the King.
Magnus frowned.
"Why? Is my hair messy?" he asked half-jokingly half-seriously, but stepped closer to the mirror.
Asmodeus didn’t say much, but there was a grin on his face that told Magnus his father was up to something. However, he didn’t let that discourage him. He would just look at the mirror, there was nothing scary about that. So, he stepped right in front of it and then grinned when he saw his own handsome reflection looking back at him.
“Hey, there, handsome,” said Magnus, grinning at himself. However, his smile was soon wiped from his face, because his reflection started changing. His eyes widened in horror when he saw his face morphing into the face of a frog. Surely, he was only seeing things! However, when he heard his father’s laughter in the background, he knew it was real and not only his mind playing tricks on him.
“Oooh, here you go, now we know what you are on the inside, Magnus. But don’t worry you are still a pretty beautiful frog,” almost cooed Asmodeus glancing down at his shocked son, who now staring at his reflection in horror.
“Croak!” tried to say something Magnus, but there was just unpleasant croaking that fell from his mouth. Magnus was enraged, not only that his father has taken his good looks from him, but his beautiful voice was gone as well?! Unbelievable and so unfair! How would he live now?! Surely that was just a joke, his father won't let him stay in this form for long… Right?
Asmodeus was grinning and listening to the frantic croaking from his son, clearly enjoying the situation. Bending down, he picked up the frog and lifted it up to his eyes.
“Do not fret, little froggy,” said Asmodeus, his grin growing. “My spell only shows your inside beauty, my son,” said the older warlock. “I give you… three years and three days to spend your life as a frog. Maybe then you’ll learn some responsibility for your action and how to treat people better and not only solely based on their looks,” said Asmodeus and it was then when it only hit Magnus.
He’d have to spend three years stuck in this disgusting form?! How disgraceful and humiliating was this of his father to do this to him!
“Now that I’ve taken your good looks from you, you’ll experience how it feels to be judged only based on your looks,” added Asmodeus, his eyes laughing at his son. Finally, he’d get to experience some peace and quiet after all of those years of having to listen to Magnus’ constant whining.
“And now we need to find you a decent home, right?” pretended to be thoughtful Asmodeus, while he already knew where he will send his lovely son. Of course he couldn’t send his son somewhere far away, but in the castle he wouldn’t stay either.
Humming to himself, Asmodeus headed to the garden. Their castle had a large and beautiful garden with a lovely pond, the King chuckled at his thought. Yes, this place would be perfect for Magnus's lesson. And he honestly hoped that his plan was going to work, because if not, his son was a lost case. However, Asmodeus was confident in his own plan and placed Magnus into the pond, almost laughing when he heard Magnus’ loud croaks of protest and he leaned down to him.
“Don’t worry, Papa will keep an eye on you. Thanks to my crystal ball, it makes it possible for me to see everyone and everything . Even other realms. Nothing will be hidden from me,” said Asmodeus, only bluffing. Asmodeus wasn't that powerful, but Magnus didn't need to know that right away and Magnus felt chills running through his frog body. “Which means, I’ll always be watching , my dear son,” said Asmodeus, with now much lower and colder voice. “So, you’ll need to be on your best behaviour or I’ll pay you another little visit.”
Was his father serious? Magnus knew his dad was very powerful, but surely he wasn't that powerful. Right?
But he didn't have the time to say anything, even if he could, because Asmodeus was already gone, leaving him all alone.
"Okay, he can't be serious," thought Magnus in panic, nervously shift from foot to foot. "And even If he is, I won't let him get away with this farce! I can get rid of this stupid curse by myself!" he muttered under his breath irritatedly.
But after he tried, again and again, nothing happened. He irritatedly stamped his foot, but slipped and fell from the water lily into the water. Now he was even more miserable. He almost started panicking, when suddenly hear a familiar voice.
Lorenzo Rey. He knew all too well who that annoyingly sickening voice belonged to. He hid under the flower and kept peeking from under it, feeling annoyed by just seeing the idiot's face. They were… friends. Well, more like “friends”. Magnus never liked the guy too much and he was horrified now that Lorenzo would see him like this. Then again, Lorenzo wouldn't know it's him if he was a frog and-
“What is this that I see? A disgusting and slimy frog,” said Lorenzo in disgust and Magnus felt his blood boiling with anger. How dare he accuse him of being that?! He didn't even know who he was! Magnus started cursing at the idiot, but all came out of his mouth was angry croaking and Lorenzo narrowed his eyes, leaning close to the pond. “Are you disgusting creature trying to say something to me?”
“... disgusting...” managed to say Magnus in between his croaking and with that freaked Lorenzo out. He freaked out himself too! He could talk? He was angry and he could feel his magic overflowing through him, not being able to control it. He tried speaking again, but all that came out was croaking again. Because he couldn’t talk, he decided to go the other way about it; Lorenzo was leaning really close to the pond and Magnus extended his tongue out and slapped Lorenzo right in the face, hard, making Lorenzo freak out so much that he ended up falling right on his ass.
At least that cheered Magnus up. “Idiot...” managed to say Magnus again when he concentrated harder. “..help!”
Despite his shock, Lorenzo recovered and started almost laughing. “Help a disgusting creature like you?” he asked and then started laughing and laughing, which sent Magnus over the edge and in the heap of the moment he lashed out with everything that he had in him, his magic picking Lorenzo up and throwing him to the other side of the pond.
However, Magnus still wasn’t done yet and horror filled Lorenzo’s eyes as the frog hopped over to him and Magnus decided to be petty and give Lorenzo a taste of his own medicine. Calling him ugly? He’d have to pay for that and Magnus had a perfect little makeover planned for his dear old friend. With his magic he made Lorenzo’s eyebrows disappear. Lorenzo let out a loud scream and grabbed onto the place where his eyebrows used to be.
The frog’s eyes were laughing at him. “Who’s ugly now, fucker?” asked Magnus and hopped away through portal, heading over to Asmodeus to make him change him back.
But when he landed his eyes went huge, because he already wasn't in the Royal Garden. Magnus is frantically glancing around, wanting to figure out where he is. What’s going on? He didn’t want to go somewhere in the middle of nowhere. And that was exactly what it seemed like.
Was this his doing? Was it his own his magic that brought him there? He was in the middle of a dark forest now, and near it there was a swamp… The comfort of his old home and life like he used to know far, far away from him.
“Just great!” thought Magnus, rolling his eyes. Thanks to his beloved father, his magic was unstable now and he had no idea where the fuck he was!