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Rosas prospered.
They never needed King Magnifico. If anything, they were all better off without him. The raging, petulant, self-important man who thought that he knew best and threw a fit when one even dared to question him.
Asha sat on the rocks overlooking the ocean, watching as the waves lapped Rosas’ shores.
If she hadn’t made her wish all those years ago, if she and the people of Rosas didn’t stand together firm against him, she had no doubt that the man would have turned into a straight up cult leader someday. In a few years’ time, maybe even less. Or maybe he already was one and they just had been far too conditioned to see it until he turned on all of them.
The king knows best…
Asha began sarcastically muttering under her breath as she flicked her wand, spraying sparkles of light that then condensed into a series of little glowing music notes. They quickly faded, like sparks flying from a campfire.
Listen to your emp’ror
It’s a scary world out there
It was only “scary” because he didn’t want to risk losing control. What happened to the man who spoke about how he and his family lost everything? What happened to the man who once wanted to protect them all?
Did he start out wanting to protect them all and as the years ticked by he slowly turned into… She shivered, remembering how scared everyone looked when she lifted her head and saw all of them down in the courtyard, trapped in those vines manifested by the forbidden magic Magnifico wielded.
The king they all once trusted had turned into a monster.
The King knows best
One way or another
Something will go wrong, I swear
Maybe the “good man” he presented himself as never existed at all, Asha thought as her voice grew shaky and wavered, dipping into silence. Maybe he was always like this, selfish and prideful and vain, and nobody saw the cracks in his façade until now.
It still hurt.
Asha had looked up to King Magnifico ever since she could remember. She thought he was good, and kind. She thought he loved his people.
She remembered the absolute tirade she watched him go on, back when she, Star, and Valentino took back her dear saba’s wish. She had seen a side to Magnifico she’d never seen before. A side that scared her, even now.
Even with him locked away in a glass prison of his own making.
Asha visited him a few times. He never spoke to her. Not when she told him about how the kingdom was doing, how Amaya was doing…
Not when she begged him one night to tell her why he didn’t just listen or try to engage in good faith, why he just assumed ill intent without a second thought.
He never answered her. So Asha stopped asking, and eventually, she stopped visiting.
She had work to do anyway. Traveling all over the world, helping those in need, whether or not they had a dream they were pursuing.
And speaking of which…
Asha felt a small tug on her soul. Normally she simply ran into people who needed help while she traveled. It was rare that someone pulled at her soul like this, intentionally or not. Closing her eyes, she followed the thread, chasing the winding pale blue thread through the dark abyss until—
She felt cold stone under her legs, and a warm head and arms resting upon her lap. She heard the soft sobs, and the trembling voice that followed.
“There’s nothing left to believe in… nothing…”
Asha ran her hand over the girl’s hair, her heart aching at how absolutely broken she sounded. But she knew, it was her job to give this girl hope that there can be more than this, and that was exactly what she was going to do.
Because she was Asha. She was a fucking star. And she was going to get shit done.