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Now face to face with the manic King Magnifico, Asha dangled in the air with both hands trapped at her sides. A sudden dark and powerful force had flung her hundreds of feet into the air upon re-entry to the city, the people of Rosas, drenched in inescapable fear, watching from below.
An almost unrecognizable, formidable monster stood between Asha and her home, threatening to kill not only Star, but Magnifico’s own people.
With every citizen in the kingdom immobilized, it was up to Asha alone to stop the King…
To capture the corrupt King.
Asha could feel her knuckles turning white as they strangled the flimsy twig in her right hand, desperately hoping King Magnifico wouldn’t notice the potential for magic she possessed.
Oh, right. Apparently he had a few things to say to her first.
“Well, hello, Asha!” King Magnifico sneered, green light reflecting in his eyes. “So glad you could join us. How’s the whole ‘taking your wish into your own hands’ working out for you?” He paused for a minute, glaring endlessly at her. “Oh wait!”
And then she was carelessly thrown toward the center of the platform, nearly causing her to lose her wand in the process. Luckily, she managed to recover it, slipping it inside her sleeve for safekeeping.
“I don’t actually care,” he gloated before pulling Star toward him, smirking all the while. “Hello there! Let’s do this.”
Asha hesitated.
She could try using the wand now, but even if she did, how does she know she won’t just accidentally fling herself off the tower?
Or worse, hurt Star?
Asha decided she needed to be patient.
“Star!” she screamed, watching in horror as her companion was absorbed into Magnifico’s enchanted scepter. “No!”
“Yes,” Magnifico countered, the man’s lust for power controlling his every move.
Okay, maybe now was a good time.
“No,” Asha repeated, her tone dipping as she shakily rose to her feet.
Magnifico turned to face her, the vivid luminosity of his irises sending a chill down her spine. “I’m sorry,” the King stated, grim laughter escaping his lips. He stuck a finger in his ear and whirled it around. “Did you say something?”
Asha revealed her wand to him, speaking with an intense gaze instead of her voice.
Another burst of deranged laughter. “Oh no! She has a stick! Whatever shall I do?”
“Laugh all you want,” Asha snapped, aiming the wand at him. “Boom!” A high-speed burst of energy flew in his direction, quickly dispersed by one of his own.
“Ah,” Magnifico exclaimed, clearly a bit taken aback. He pointed his staff in Asha’s direction, her defiance chipping away at his pride little by little. He cocked his head to the side, messy strands of silver hair falling ever so slightly. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Asha had maintained a certain level of confidence up until this very moment.
But now the jig was up.
Asha had been given this wand by Star earlier the same day. She had zero experience, no practice, nothing. Meanwhile, her adversary was a competent sorcerer, having amassed vast magical powers compiled after years of both tiresome training and strenuous study.
“Uh,” Asha murmured, clumsily unaware she had given Magnifico her answer by doing so.
“Boom,” Magnifico whispered arrogantly, sending waves of dark magic Asha’s way. She flicked her wrist a couple times, managing to create a protective barrier around her and halting his advance. The look of shock on his face almost matched her own. Gasping and booing raged beneath them, the population of Rosas continuing their struggle to regain bodily autonomy.
“Shoot!” Asha uttered innocently, unmindful of the natural dynamic between wand and enchantress. Golden lightning sprang from the tip of the magic-imbued branch, seamlessly dancing toward King Magnifico. Without much effort, he deflected the lightning into the darkened skies above. Had he been a millisecond later, the element would have violently struck him.
And Asha could have killed him, and killing wasn’t an option.
She really hadn’t thought this through at all.
With an effortless wave of Magnifico’s hand, Asha’s wand leapt out of her grasp and skidded across the ground, stopping just shy of the edge of the platform.
“I’m impressed, Asha!” Magnifico snickered, stalking toward her. “How long have you had that little gizmo of yours, hmm?”
To his surprise, Asha charged forward, brazenly hoping to steal his staff. Her hands wrapped around the weapon, though Magnifico knew she had no chance of ripping it away from him. So, he let her try anyway, holding her in place in the meantime. As they battled over the scepter, he couldn’t resist chitchatting; planting irritating bugs in Asha’s ear; weighing her down one word at a time.
“Such wasted potential,” he mocked, leveraging the staff to slowly push her backwards. “Had I known you were some sort of… witch, you would have had the chance to blossom into something amazing. Too bad, so sad.” He noticed the way she was shaking, a telltale sign of physical exhaustion. “You know what else we have in common? We both skip arm day.” He quirked an eyebrow. “No comment?”
“Do you really think,” Asha snarled, arms continuing to shake under the pressure, “Rosas will just take you back? Look at your people! They’re terrified! Is this all some sort of twisted joke to you?”
His eyes narrowed.
“They’ll loathe you at best, Magnifico.”
He then let go, sending Asha straight to the ground, allowing her possession of the staff but for a moment. In the blink of an eye, Magnifico was using another form of sorcery to separate her from the mystic item, pulling it in his direction like a moth to a flame. He then used the green, hand-like fog from earlier to sling her further away. To make matters worse, she landed on top of someone’s wish, eternally crushing it. Asha panicked, first about the wish she’d destroyed, and then about her wand.
Where had it landed? Was she near it now?
Oh, and Magnifico. Should probably worry about him too.
“They’ll love me,” he declared, his back to Asha as he faced the bystanders far below. “Because I’m going to make them love me. Besides, a little mind control can’t hurt, right?” He sighed dramatically. “They simply don’t know what’s good for them. What a pity.” Three embodied wishes raced by Asha, and had she not ducked, the third would’ve bashed her in the back of the head. One of the orbs hovered peacefully above Magnifico’s open palm. “You see? This person, this naive, stubborn little eighteen-year-old girl, wished death upon her own mother. You expect me to grant that, Asha?!”
Asha managed to spot her wand a few feet away.
“And this individual wished for my sweet Amaya to pass away quietly in her sleep! Ever heard of the term ‘deathwish,’ Asha?!” Magnifico exclaimed as Asha began crawling toward her wand. “A lowly servant in my own castle, too. Better keep an eye on her.”
Asha had several opinions she’d gladly share another time, but the last thing she needed was to give away her location.
“Wow, a cannon. This boy wished for a full-scale, legit cannon. Good for him.” Magnifico absorbed all three wishes at once, contributing to his overflowing arsenal of stored magic. He then went on to ramble about a fourth wish. “Ah, and this lady wants to share a kiss with—you guessed it—me! Hmm. I suppose that could be arranged. I’m sure Amaya won’t mind so long as she doesn’t find out.”
Without warning, the sound of that exact wish shattering nearby caught Asha off guard, followed by Magnifico’s voice raining down upon her.
“So! Still think all the people of Rosas are good, Asha?” And then he grabbed her entire head of hair, yanking her away from the magical instrument she tried so hard to recover. He lifted her face to his, a malicious glint in his eye. “Well?”
“You’re right,” Asha commented weakly, clinging to the front of his tunic to lessen the pain spreading from her scalp throughout the rest of her body. “And I’ll be sure to warn everyone of King Magnifico, the worst of them all!”
Magnifico growled and threw her away again, growing impatient.
“Give their wishes back,” she stuttered between coughs. “And stop playing God!”
“Shut up!” Magnifico conjured a torrent of viridescent fire, sending it hurtling toward Asha. Luckily, instincts kicked in and she rolled out of the way, running for her wand once more. “I am not going to take life advice from the likes of you!” This time, she dove for Star’s gift to her. “The people of Rosas were happy, and it’s your fault you had to get in the way and ruin everything!”
However, an extra push from Magnifico and Asha found herself hanging off the edge of the tower. Her wand stayed trapped underneath her fingertips as they clung to the platform, a strange sensation overtaking her body when she glanced at the massive plunge below. When Asha’s intent look shifted forward again, she was met with the feeling of being crushed underneath Magnifico’s hooded gaze. He knelt and brought a hand to his chin, stroking his goatee.
“This isn’t looking too good for you, Asha,” Magnifico hissed, his hand drifting toward one of Asha’s. “Ooh! I love this game!” He pried one of her fingers up from the floor. “Eeny,” he murmured, going to pry another.
“Meeny.” Asha briefly glanced at the people of Rosas, blinking a couple tears away.
“Miny.” One finger couldn’t hold the weight of her, so it was at this point Asha’s entire hand slipped, the wand thankfully coming with it. She held onto the instrument tightly, her determined eyes never leaving Magnifico’s. He abruptly stood, raising one boot over Asha’s remaining hand.
“Moe,” he giggled, his foot coming down on her hand.
She gasped in pain, and when King Magnifico took a step back, Asha let go.
Before having gained too much momentum, she waved her wand, summoning—a bubble? In which she fell through the top of and landed inside, floating gracefully in the air.
But also in the wrong direction.
Ever so slowly, so awkwardly, Asha’s mode of transportation levitated upward, eventually passing by an extremely irate King Magnifico.
“Why is it so difficult to get rid of you?!” Magnifico shouted, that familiar emerald green mist reaching toward Asha again.
“Gotta go, bye!” she yelled, popping the bubble with her wand and falling again. She caught herself with soap bubbles all the way down until she landed on a section of palace’s roof much closer to the ground. The girl darted across the magnificent structure, trying to escape the persistent tendrils of magic that refused to stop pursuing her.
Up above, Magnifico roared in exasperation. “Stupid brat! Should’ve turned her into a frog when I had the chance! The only thing that gets her to crack is—” He paused, his upper lip curling up to create a look of satisfaction as he scanned his collection of wishes.
Wand in hand, Asha called forth a flying carpet to escape the darkness trailing behind her, safely making it from the roof to the Queen Amaya and the others.
“Your highness!” Asha called out from above them, lifting her wand–or miniscule wooden stick, rather–for all the crowd to see. “I’m here to help!”
“Look out!” Queen Amaya warned as she struggled against her restraints.
Asha’s magic carpet suddenly burst into green flames, followed by gravity wrenching her to the earth. She landed in front of Amaya, hurriedly flipping over onto her back to survey the castle courtyard.
“Gotta hand it to ya, Asha,” Magnifico’s words returned, dripping with a power-starved venom. Next, he manifested himself in the many large mirrors which surrounded the area. “You’re stubborn. Like a cockroach,” they all said at once. “If squashing you doesn’t work, then maybe it'll be off with your head.”
Asha readied herself for another duel. “Enough, Magnifico!” she demanded, trying her best to sound threatening. “Don’t make me use this.”
The atmosphere went dark, leaving Asha and Magnifico’s multitude of reflections alone in a barren, pitch-black void.
“Before you do,” one of the clones responded inside a single mirror.
“If I may,” another interrupted.
Asha only glared daggers.
Simultaneously, they all asked, “What is your wish?”
She blinked, slightly lowering her wand. His reflections had now vanished, and in their stead existed nothing but shadows.
“Rosas is a place where wishes come true,” Magnifico remarked, his voice piercing through the darkness, as well as Asha’s ears. “A place where your heart’s desire can become a reality.” She twirled around, wand targeting the physical ruler of Rosas this time around, as opposed to just a handsome face trapped behind a single sheet of polished glass. “I can erase all of this from history,” he meandered toward Asha, “and you can have your very own wish granted.” He was now close enough to lower the tip of her wand with his index finger, disheveled hair falling in front of his face all the while. “All you have to do is give your wish to me,” he included, neon eyes fixated on Asha.
Her gaze anxiously shifted, landing on the staff at his side.
“I’ll even throw in granting your Saba’s wish too.”
Feeling sore, stiff, and afraid, Asha remained still, going as far as considering his offer.
“What are you even fighting for…?”
She swallowed apprehensively.
“What’ll it be, Asha?” He held out his hand, waiting eagerly for her answer. “Who says you have to be eighteen for a Wish Ceremony?”
She looked away.
“Do we have a deal?”
“You wish,” she spoke softly. As a result of his growing insanity, Magnifico’s illusion began to falter, his left eye twitching in pure, unadulterated vexation.
Asha interpreted this crack in his facade as an opportunity, quickly seizing it by propelling the manipulative magus backward using her wand. In the midst of the unforeseen chaos, Magnifico realized he had released his scepter. Using his heels to dig into the ground, the sorcerer came to a screeching stop several meters away, ceasing all movement at the sight of Asha standing between him and his precious staff. After having lost control over the enchanted item, the phantasmal tendrils of magic Magnifico had originally conjured began to evaporate, effectively freeing the people of Rosas.
“I don’t want you anywhere near my wish,” Asha hissed, relieved no one else had been injured, “or anyone else’s!”
“Neither do we,” came Queen Amaya’s voice from behind Asha.
As most of Magnifico’s dark magic faded, a golden radiance grew from within the collapsed staff. Star popped out shortly after, wearing a joyful smile after reuniting with Asha. However, the creature’s smile quickly transformed into a resentful grimace at the sight of Rosas’ unkempt leader. “You fools! I am your king!” he stammered. “I’m surrounded by idiots. This is treason!”
“I think we can take it from here,” Amaya stepped forward, earning a downright evil scowl from her husband.
“Stay. In. Line. Wife!” the man glowered, raising both hands to cast another spell. Out of nowhere, his face instantly softened. “Dear,” Magnifico corrected himself.
Asha looked around at the bitter faces adorning the townsfolk, each one radiating hatred toward their leader. “Tell me, your majesty,” she began, picking up the nearby staff. “What is a king without his people?” Feeling cornered, Magnifico's egotistical expression shifted into one of concern. He watched nervously as dark power continued returning to the enchanted staff, rays of what felt like sunlight peeking out from the tip of Asha’s wand in her opposite hand. All of a sudden, a magnetic force engulfed King Magnifico, and he felt himself being pulled into the heart of the magic scepter.
“W-wait!” Rosas’ ruler snapped as he was consumed by his own greed. “Stop, I’m… I’m sensing a change of heart, a change of character! Aren’t you? Give me a chance!”
“I’m not the one doing this, Magnifico,” Asha’s gaze bounced between the king, his staff and her wand, Star zipping around her head in confusion. “You are.”
A blinding flash and Magnifico had been pulled into the staff, the sudden surge of dark wizardry forcing Asha to release it. When colliding with the ground, the section at the top of the magical relic snapped off, skittering across the stone floor.
Magnifico’s surroundings shifted, and he soon found himself locked within a surreal dimension. Icy colors danced around him, and the air hummed with an otherworldly energy. To his surprise, the monarch realized that he was no longer a resident in his own kingdom; instead, he had been transported inside a shard of mirror from the staff.
Daylight eventually returned to Rosas, the gray clouds overhead dissipating the precise moment Magnifico had met his demise. Asha, Queen Amaya and her friends surrounded the tiny, helpless man in the mirror beneath them, surveying the situation to make sure it was safe.
Valentino popped into Magnifico’s view, eyes accompanied by thick furrowed eyebrows which stared him down. “Looks like you've got some reflecting to do,” the goat taunted, exchanging smug glances with Asha.
“Amaya!” the queen’s husband barked at her. “Can you believe what she’s done to me?!”
“Hmm,” Queen Amaya grinned. “Well you do love mirrors.”
He pounded on the crystal glass. “That is not funny! Get me out of here at once! After everything I’ve done for this kingdom, this is the thanks I get?!”
“This is the thanks you deserve. Hang it on the wall,” she paused for dramatic effect, “in the dungeon.”