Magnifico pushed Star away and rolled his shoulders, noticing how the boy's magic was gradually being sucked into his staff. "Careful now," he sneered. "This thing's hungry..."
Star's eyes widened as he witnessed his fingertips physically fading away, consumed by the encroaching darkness of the king's evil scepter.
Princess Asha sprang into action, invoking basic magic to hurl Magnifico into the wall, prompting several books to cascade from their places on the shelves.
Magnifico's ominous, subdued laughter echoed, heightening the tension in the room. "Asha," he hissed, his eyes sweeping over the wishes above him as he stood. "Stay out of this. You could get hurt." His grip on the staff tightened. "Oh, and I do apologize for the fate of your wish." The confrontation unfolded like an impending storm, each breath thick with the expectation of escalating conflict. "But I'll also require your celestial companion here." Approaching Asha and Star, he extended his arm, signaling for the floor beneath them to rise. "Though you may want to take note of their... condition." Asha's gaze locked onto Star's hands, his missing fingertips bringing worry to her eyes.
Shaking off his words, her response was, "You know you talk a lot, right?"
Magnifico's eye twitched. "How dare you—"
"Like, a lot, a lot," Asha specified. Star, trying to conceal his mocking smile, moved to cover his mouth with one hand, only to realize he didn't have enough hand left for the task.
Rising to a height far greater than the castle's tallest tower, the platform beneath their feet made the city of Rosas appear quite small below them. "That's fine," King Magnifico cleared his throat, raising his staff skyward. "Never was one to underestimate the importance of body language."
With that, he summoned dark gray clouds to blot out the stars above, simultaneously pulling the wishes to the platform with an invisible force. Upon impact, a few cracked, causing Asha and Star to flinch protectively.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Magnifico snickered, aiming his weapon in Asha's direction. He cocked his head to the side, messy strands of silver hair falling ever so slightly. "Time's ticking." He proceeded to crush a random wish beneath his boot, consuming every bit of its limitless power. "What's taking so long? Come at me, Star," he included, uttering Star's name with a disdain that seemed to roll off his tongue.
Star was eager to attack the king, but Asha's outstretched arm restrained him. "He's baiting you," she explained. "If you fight him, that staff will steal your power in a matter of minutes."
Star glared at her.
"Plus, the people are watching. If you attack now, they'll think you're the bad guy. That's what he wants."
The golden boy's eyes softened.
"You have to wait," she insisted, gently grabbing his wrist. "I need you here... with me."
He gave Asha an anxious look before discreetly passing her the wand he'd been hiding.
"You sly dog," she whispered, the sound of Magnifico's voice stealing their instant attention.
"Are you two–? No, is that why–? Your wish was–?" The king doubled over, laughing harder than before. "Are you actually in love with the star? Don't you know how stupid that sounds?" He laughed again.
"Knock it off," the princess demanded. "I know what you're doing. Why else would you bring us up here for all of Rosas to see?"
"Maybe this will help motivate you," Magnifico commented before smashing another wish, his veins glowing with green power as the wish's energy merged with his own.
Asha took a couple of nervous steps back, bumping into Star who helped steady her.
"Please keep in mind that my intentions are for the greater good of my kingdom," Magnifico reminded them. "And that may require putting a certain princess in her place."
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
In the queen's study, a spirited battle unfolded between Valentino and the king and queen's cat, Luci. The air crackled with tension as their eyes locked in a clash of wills. However, for the majority of the skirmish, Valentino ran and ran, trying to hide from Luci. This proved useless though, because there was nowhere a goat could fit that a cat couldn't, and Luci had no problem relentlessly blocking all of the baby goat's escape routes.
With excessive determination, Valentino then charged at Luci, hooves tapping rhythmically on the carpet. The sly feline countered with acrobatic leaps and agile dodges. The dance of combat commenced—a violent spectacle of tiny hooves and agile paws.
Valentino's headbutts and swift kicks kept Luci on the defensive, but the cat, with a swift elegance, retaliated with calculated swipes. The room echoed with their dynamic exchange, each combatant striving for supremacy.
In a surprising turn, Valentino, fueled by an unexpected burst of strength, managed to catch Luci off guard. With a commanding kick, he sent the Siamese cat soaring through the air. Luci's eyes widened as the fireplace loomed in the background.
With a dramatic arc, Luci tumbled directly into the fireplace.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Below, hundreds of onlookers—including Asha's seven friends—observed in horror as the castle tower's transformation captivated their attention. Many citizens even ventured outside the safety of their homes to witness the event, everyone's minds diligently working to unravel the mysterious battle unfolding above them.
The vivid luminosity of Magnifico's irises sent a shiver down Star and Asha's spines, his intimidating footsteps encroaching dangerously. He destroyed yet another wish, causing one of the commoners to crumble to the ground.
Seeing this, Star blatantly ignored Asha's warnings and advanced. Magnifico found himself on the defensive as the star summoned gleaming spears, thwarting Magnifico's malicious spells. As Star and Magnifico engaged, their weapons swung mercilessly, creating a collision of light and shadows that crackled through the air.
"Star!" Asha called out, wand at the ready. "Your shoulder!"
Star cast a glance at the area around his collarbone, swiftly realizing that his own shoulder was nowhere to be found.
"Stay away from—"
And then a blast of energy from Magnifico sent Asha off the platform, urging Star to abandon the king and rescue her.
For a brief moment, Magnifico felt a sense of regret after hurting Asha, his mind toying with various uncertainties—or, perhaps, nudging him toward a different path.
Regardless, he dismissed his thoughts and trailed after Star to the edge of the platform, surprised to see the star had transformed into a dragon resembling the constellation Draco. Deprived of his arms, Star had no choice but to catch Asha on his back. Swiftly, he flew her to the platform, allowing her to dismount and regain her footing.
"How's the view?" Magnifico remarked, turning to face the pair.
Star menacingly bared his teeth at the king, and then another powerful blast of magic from Magnifico's scepter collided with the entity's chest. Unable to maintain his form any longer, Star reverted back to normal, trying to summon his own staff once more. However, he failed, and the item instantly hit the ground as he could no longer wield it. Asha ran to his side, pained to see the vulnerable condition he was coerced into.
Magnifico, with a subtle display of magic, drew Star closer, leaving the boy astonished by the inexplicable grip he couldn't escape. "Just try and stop me," the man suppressed a giggle, watching with insanity behind poisonous eyes as Star was dragged toward him. Asha battled the king's summoning spell with one of her own, but he easily overpowered her. Star, his body diminishing, was then levitated by the malevolent staff. "Hello there!" the sorcerer beamed at Star. "Let's do this," Magnifico whispered as the last vestiges of Star were engulfed by the staff.
"Star! No!" Asha shouted in agony, reflexively equipping her magic wand and hurling a spell in her father's direction. He deflected it without looking at her, his eyes locked on the golden power trapped within his precious artifact.
"Yes," Magnifico countered, the man's lust for power controlling his every action.
Asha looked at him, astonished at the extent to which Magnifico was willing to go.
As she hurled more offensive spells at him, he snarled, "How did you do it?" effortlessly blocking her magical assaults. "Don't you get it?" he barked, continuously parrying her wand's attacks. "I wield the power of just one star," he added, gazing skyward with eyes aglow. "Imagine harnessing all the stars!" Growing weary of her advances, he conjured a familiar, green, hand-like magic to restrain Princess Asha and draw her to his side. Raising his voice, he repeated, "How did you do it?"
"Do what?" Asha hesitated, both arms trapped at her sides.
"Summon the star, duh!"
"I didn't!"
He groaned, catapulting her onto the floor of the platform. She coughed, aiming her wand at him from the ground. "Tell me, or I'll make sure you never lay eyes on your precious star ever again."
"I wished on one, okay?" Asha finally revealed, picking herself up off the ground. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen!"
He froze and raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
Asha nodded, clinging to her wand. "Yes! Now let Star go!"
With newfound speed, Magnifico swiftly appeared before Asha, extending a single finger in front of her face. Mockingly, he remarked, "'Star this, Star that.' If I endure another mention of that Star, I'll toss you off this tower... with no one around to catch you this time."
Asha fixed him with a glare, her fingers and the tip of her wand surrounded by a dance of magical energy. "Star was better to me than you ever were," she dared, her defiant gaze chipping away at Magnifico's ego.
He emitted an irritable growl and flung her forward, leaving her perilously close to the edge of the tower. "Everything I did for you and this is the thanks I get?!"
"I am thankful for you!" Asha disclosed, delaying her inevitable duel with the king. "I always have been! Can't you see that?" She glanced at the people below. "Where would I be without you? Where would any of us be?"
The green color behind Magnifico's eyes gradually faded away as she spoke.
"I appreciate you taking me in," she continued. "Thank you for teaching me, for raising me, for everything! But this is too much! Someone needs to stop you..."
And then the green returned. "How sweet," he responded. "But your gratitude is worthless to me now." With an effortless wave of Magnifico's hand, Asha's wand leapt out of her grasp and skidded across the ground. "I control the wishes and nobody else. Not stars, and not you. Me!"
Boldly hoping to snatch his staff and rescue Star, Asha lunged forward. Her hands gripped the weapon, but Magnifico, aware of her futile attempt, allowed her to struggle while keeping her in check. Engaged in the battle for the scepter, he seized the opportunity to taunt and needle her, weighing her down with each word.
"Such wasted potential," he noted, leveraging the staff to gradually push her backward. Observing her trembling form, a sign of physical exhaustion, he teased, "Let's review, shall we?" raising an eyebrow. "Dark Magic 101! What is Dark Magic?"
"I just want Star back!" Asha fought against the resistance, ignoring his commentary.
"Wrong answer!" He released his hold, briefly letting her possess the staff before summoning it back, causing her to fall backwards. "You wouldn't kill me, would you, Asha?" The question confused her, providing King Magnifico with an opening to propel her across the platform. Sliding backward, she dug her heels into the ground to stop her momentum.
"No," she responded to his question, smoke emanating from her palms. "I'm not like you."
"True." He examined his nails. "There's no one quite like myself."
Below them, gasps and booing resonated, drawing Asha's attention away. "Do you really think," she snarled, "that Rosas will just welcome you back? Look at your people! They're scared! Is this some kind of sick joke to you?"
Suddenly, a surge of dark energy hurtled towards Asha, prompting the sorcerer's apprentice to shield herself with defensive magic.
"Great form, my apprentice! Looking really good!" Another reference to their past as teacher and student dealt a decisive blow to Asha's heart. "Oops-a-daisy! Watch out for that one!"
A concealed ball of energy, camouflaged by the previous attack, forcefully struck Asha's shoulder. Now hanging from the platform with both hands, she struggled to catch her breath, grappling with the sudden twist of events. Her wand, imbued with Star's celestial powers, rested a mere few feet away, perched atop the platform and susceptible to falling at any moment.
As this happened, Magnifico ensnared the entire population of Rosas underneath a web of Dark Magic, using his newfound powers to restrain each individual. He stood above Asha, addressing the crowd below with a sadistic glint in his eye. "All of you can shut up now, 'kay?"
They continued shouting in distress, Dahlia and the others utterly terrified for Asha as she dangled above the city.
"I said shut up!" Magnifico slammed his staff into the ground, amplifying his power. "There's no need to worry now that the star has been captured." He leaned down and said to Asha, "Now, because of you, there will be no wishing on stars ever again. And for the last time, the wishes aren't yours to free. They're mine."
Asha's eyes widened as her gaze met the wishes on the floor, witnessing each sphere abruptly crumbling into pieces. Magnifico, rising to his feet, had destroyed all the wishes in one sweep, devouring their magic in the process. A wave of grief washed over most of the people below, those whose wishes were decimated clutching their chests. In a moment of pure panic, Asha gradually inched closer to her wand while suspended from the platform.
Swinging his staff around, Magnifico let out a sinister laugh. "Mirrors, mirrors, on the wall!" he cackled, his reflection appearing on just about every glass and reflective surface in Rosas. "Who is the handsomest? Me!"
Pausing, he noticed Asha attempting to collect her wand.
"I win."
The king stomped on her right hand, peering down at Asha. She cried out in pain, her wand just inches away from her. He then kicked the wand, sending it plummeting to the earth's surface. "No!" Asha gasped, desperately trying to catch the item as it fell.
"Give it up, Asha," Magnifico snickered. "I have all the power of the wishes and the star combined!"
The sound of the wand landing on a windowsill below caught Asha's ear. "Not all of Star's power," she stated before using magic to set her own hand on fire, forcing Magnifico to move his foot away from the blaze. She then dropped, grabbing the wand from the ledge below as she fell. "Please work, please work, please work!" Asha muttered like a broken record, the ground growing closer and closer as green magic twirled throughout the courtyard and streets of Rosas. The wand lit up, responding to Asha with a positive, overwhelming light.
She then completely vanished just before hitting the ground, bewildering the townsfolk.
Magnifico stood breathlessly, repairing his burnt shoe with a simple spell.
Despite all his power, seeing Asha disappear made him feel a strange sense of emptiness.
In a sudden burst of light, Magnifico's hand was struck from behind, instantly disarming him. The staff found its way into Princess Asha's grasp, who quickly aimed it at her father. "I win," she declared, freeing Star from the enchanted staff. Radiating with an intensity brighter than ever before, Star emerged from his prison, their light nearly blinding Magnifico.
"What the—?" Magnifico screeched in fear, blocking the rays of light with one arm. "How did you—?"
"Y'know, apparating is a lot easier with the help of a magic wand." She then forcefully snapped the staff in half over her leg, releasing green magic accompanied by an eerie, shrill sound.
"No!" he exclaimed in panic, observing wish after wish escaping from his chest, slipping out of his reach and returning to the skies above. "Not my wishes!"
Soaring above the kingdom, Star's radiant abilities triumphed over King Magnifico's jade tendrils of Dark Magic, successfully freeing the people.
"King Magnifico," Asha confronted him. "You are under arrest."
"No!" he retorted as thousands of wishes continued to abandon him. "No, no, no! You can't do this to me!"
After liberating Rosas' citizens from the clutches of Dark Magic, Star ascended higher into the sky. Another wave of intense light rippled out from him, restoring each wish to its rightful owner and undoing the darkness of the king's magic. The people celebrated, overwhelmed by the fulfilling sensation of being whole again.
Having been tied to Dark Magic for so long, its lingering presence from the staff coiled around Magnifico's ankles without him realizing it. "You spoiled brat!" He strode forward, grabbing Asha's wrist and holding it above her head, preventing her from casting spells with the wand. "I gave you everything!" Asha felt the forbidden magic at their feet, it's dominating aura making her feel weak. The fact that Magnifico didn't even notice the darkness proved his attachment to it. "But now, your services, my dear apprentice, are no longer needed!" He conjured a sword of emerald hue and pulled it into a ready position, drawing the blade over his head. "Thanks for nothing!" Asha put her other arm up, preparing to summon another spell to guard herself with.
Anticipating the sword's descent, Asha tightly shut her eyes, but to her surprise, the blade never came.
Instead, Magnifico was forcefully pulled to the ground by both ankles, dragged towards the fractured upper section of the forbidden staff. "What's happening?" he stuttered, digging his nails into the ground. "Wait, I can change! Give me another chance!"
Star reappeared and kicked the staff closer to Magnifico, speeding up the process of his demise. A small explosion of green sorcery ensued, causing fragments of the staff to scatter off the tower in various directions.
And then, Magnifico was gone.
"I didn't mean—" Asha murmured, blinking rapidly. "I—did I just—?"
Star delicately tapped her shoulder, hesitantly presenting the princess with her own wish suspended above his open palms.
"My wish. How could I forget? I mean, that's what happens when your wish is taken, like, you forget, y'know what I—? Never mind."
She couldn't help but identify Star's somber expression.
"What's wrong?"
He shoved the orb in her direction and looked away.
Asha examined the image within her wish, slowly beginning to understand. "You can't stay, can you?"
Growing impatient, Star snapped his fingers, returning Asha's wish to her in an instant. He fully turned away and crossed his arms.
"It's okay," Asha rested her hand on his shoulder, his light transferring to her skin. "Not all wishes are meant to be granted. I know that now."
The boy whirled around, enveloping Asha in an embrace—a hug from the star unlike anything she had experienced before.
"You don't have to go just yet," she hinted.
In response, Star lifted Asha into his arms and flew her to the ground, the people of Rosas swarming their princess with cheers and open arms.
Dahlia pushed through the crowd, forcing Asha into a massive bear hug. Grabbing her shoulders, Dahlia shook her with a mix of relief and exasperation. "You gave me a heart attack!" she snapped, while the remaining teens rushed to join in the embrace.
"No kidding!" Dario added after everyone hugged.
"Your dress!" Hal observed, pinching some of Asha's skirt's fabric. "It's so beat up!"
Upon hearing Hal's comment, Star zipped beside Asha, snatching the wand from her pocket. With a graceful wave over her head, the magic flowed, causing a captivating metamorphosis in her attire. The once vibrant dress now adopted a deeper shade of purple, extending into a flowing, elegant garment that sparkled with enchantment. Asha, awe-struck by the transformation, extended her gratitude, to which Star responded with a bow.
After his fascinating performance, onlookers curiously observed Star, the boy showcasing his shapeshifting talents to entertain a group of small children after returning the wand to Asha.
All of a sudden, a hairless cat went racing past Asha and down an alleyway, pursued by Valentino.
"Valentino!" Asha picked him up mid-run, holding the baby goat close to her chest while his legs continued to kick. "Where have you—?" she paused. "Was that... Luci?"
Valentino simply mewled and snorted.
"Oh my—"
"Princess Asha?" a woman spoke up, approaching her. "What happened to the king?" A few other murmurs arose from the audience.
She thought deeply before providing an answer. "I'm not sure."
Asha suddenly jerked her gaze toward Star.
"Where's Amaya?"