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annymation · 10 months ago

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The Kingdom of Wishes- A “Wish” Rewrite

Chapter 16- This Wish

Chapter 15

We see the people of Rosas all gathered in front of the castle. They're looking up to the giant green bubble on top of the palace, trapping MANY wish bubbles.

Mumblings and questions such as "What's going on?" "Why was a gathering summoned this late?" "What's King Magnifico doing?" can be heard floating around.

We focus on a few adults talking among each other until suddenly... One of them points out that the other's chest is glowing green, and then their own chest starts glowing green too.

The same starts to happen with many younger and older adults, parents with their children, older brothers and grandparents all feel like something is being taken from them... And there is indeed.

Their wishes are being taken back. Every single citizens older than 18 watches in horror and confusion as their wish starts floating out of their chest.

The bubbles are a mixed in shades of blues and greens, but the majority of them are green. They begin to swiftly fly upwards, making twists and turns around the palace like a snake climbing a tree, going around and around until all of them reach the top.

And once reach their destination, we turn our focus to the king who's taking all of their wishes in the first place.

We hear his voice with the enthusiasm of a shows man, echoing through the whole kingdom as he uses his magic staff as a "microphone":

"GOOD EVENING ROSAS!!!"

As his voice echos, every glass window magically turns into a mirror, showcasing his face, surprising the already frightened citizens.

(Yeah in the movie Mag could only do that with the star's magic but uuuuh I thought it was cool and it fits my Mag’s vibes, so here that's something he simply can do normally, trust me, him with Aster's powers is even worse.)

Magnifico and Amable both stand side by side looking down on the people bellow, their smiles are vicious. But Magnifico speaks like this is all just any normal gathering with his usual charismatic energy "Sooo good to see you! So good to be seen! And OOH BOY do we have some exciting announcements for you all tonight! Hahhaha"

Asha and her friends are all gathered together around Simon's now catatonic self, trying their hardest to wake him up, but nothing works, he's unreachable.

Asha turns to look at the monarchs a few feet away from them... She has her pencil and a piece of paper she got from one of the king's books inside her sleeve, they're both on the edge of the tower, if she can just draw something that mayb-

"But first! Please, give it up for your "fearless rebellion"! -oh you all are gonna love this heheehe" The king says that last sentence like he's sharing with the audience a very hilarious joke, while he turns his staff around to get Asha and all her friends, plus Valentino. Holding each one in individual tendrils of greens magic, he pulls them quickly and makes so they're hanging just out of the edge of the tower... If he lets go, they all fall down.

Asha and the teens look down horrified. Their faces now are being showcased on the glass windows bellow. Some of the adults looking at them we can recognize as the seven teens parents, all of them absolutely distraught and terrified.

"Surprise surprise! It's our faaavorite little agitator, Asha! Accompanied by- *gaaasp* A bunch of juveniles??? And a goat??? Oh dear, someone call the cavalry! HA- HAH AHAH!" The king places a hand over his head dramatically while laughing.

He just continues to laugh like a madman, so the queen proceeds to speak instead, her voice also echoing through the kingdom thanks to his magic "Children nowadays, really, just can't take your eyes off them for a second, next thing you know they're falling down a cliff." She jokes with her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Magnifico takes some deep breaths and goes back to his little show "Right you are, dear! And THAT, ladies and gentleman, is why we'll never be having any kids!" He jokes to the horrified and confused people bellow, he looks down on them with a smile, but then turns his attention to the star trapped above him "Heheh well, not like we'll ever need a heir anyway, thanks to our dear guest of honor-"

Aster has his hands touching the walls of the bubble while he looks down on what's happening, and immediately after the king finishes his sentence, Aster's wrists are enveloped in magic, he's trapped on the bubble. But that's just for a second, the king makes the bubble disappear, and as soon as it does Aster is pulled down to the floor and chained down (Exactly how everyone was trapped in the movie's climax btw) Aster looks up in anger trying to free himself to no avail.

"The wishing star that can't even grant a single wish! Come on Rosas! Show him your joy!" The mirrors bellow now show Aster's face. The king is getting no applause obviously, but it's not like he expects them to actually cheer or anything, he's just having fun at this point "With his magic in our hands, our reign will be ETERNAL! So rejoice people! You'll get to see these pretty faces for a looooong while! Hahahhaah!" The king speaks with a sadistic enthusiasm.

Asha looks over behind her shoulder,and sees Aster chained down to the floor, the star also looks at her. They're both worriedly gazing at each other, with the king and queen standing between them.

"But you see, everyone- tsk well umm how can I put this?- Before doing that I'll need some extra power, ya know? For safety reasons- My safety of course- And to get that power, I'll need a tiny itty bitty little favor from the lot of you." His voice is clearly mocking them, as he says like he's not asking for much "I'm sure you won't mind, right? I mean, it's only fair that after EVERYTHING we've done for you we get something in return-"

"YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING FOR US!" Asha shouts in anger "All you've ever done was TAKE! And now you want MORE power besides just Aster's?! You'll NEVER be satisfi- AAaAAAaaAGH!" She feels pain coursing through her body as the king uses his magic on her.

The teens look scared. The people of Rosas gasp in shock.

"STOP!" Aster yells angrily trying to pull himself away from the restraints.

The king and queen just look amusedly at the girl squirming in pain, but Magnifico does finally stop. He brings Asha closer to them and says "Still with this dreadful habit of raising your voice at us, huh Asha?"

Asha is breathing heavily, her head is low while she tries to recover from the pain.

"However, you have a point. We DO want more. SOOO much more than you can even imagine!" He turns to his wife hugging her close "After all, I did make a vow I would give you the world and more, did I not, my love?" He looks at her in the eyes lovingly, almost like the world around them doesn't matter anymore.

"Awwwn darling~" Amaya coos passionately while gazing upon his eyes, and goes in for a kiss on the lips.

(Guys, I hate them too, okay? But like, I can't have the villain couple be close to winning and NOT make them smooch, ya feel me? Would be a crime, and it's such a power move.)

Once they separate from the kiss, Magnifico lets out a dreamy sigh, before going back to his deranged self "As I was saying before being oh so rudely interrupted: The time has come for you all to show some gratitude to your king." He looks down on them like little ants ready to be crushed.

He raises his hand open.

While we see the people looking up scared, lost and angry. Among them we see Simon's dad, taking off his helmet and commanding his soldiers to head to the castle so they can put an end to whatever is going on... But it's too late.

The king smiles as he warns them cheerfully "Oh and just a heads up... This might sting a little."

Asha looks up in shock with tears in her eyes, for she recognizes that phrase. "No..."

He quickly closes his hand, tightly and-

C R A C K

Like fireworks, all the wishes above them start exploding and being reduced to green and blue dust.

And as they pop like balloons, the sound of screams comes from below. We see all the adults and elders of Rosas being hit by a sudden pain in their hearts, but as soon as they yell in agony they stop, and bow down on their knees, unwilling to do anything, for they have no more will.

All the citizens younger than 18 are not affected, children are mostly sleeping at this time of night, but a few teenagers are there, desperately trying to wake up their guardians, but there's nothing they can do but cower in fear.

Aster is staring up at all the wishes being destroyed with tears streaming down his face.

Asha hears her people screaming and she can feel her own heart breaking.

Meanwhile, the king only laughs maniacally, as he absorbs the green energy from the crushed wishes into his staff, and in turn he feels the magic coursing through his veins "OOOOOH NOW THAT'S WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT HAHAHA" he breathes in all that energy like he just had the most delicious meal. He turns to his queen with a big smile "Can't BELIEVE I limited myself to only breaking wishes from the riff-raff for SO LONG!" He notices his cape is glowing "Darling, am I glowing? I feel as if I am, yes?" He twirls to his wife gleefully.

(Yeah I'm keeping that scene, that was adorable and I loved Chris Pine's delivery. Also this man just made a whole population go catatonic, so many children and babies are now unattended... Then he just casually mentions he has been doing this to homeless people the whole time. Only to then spin all happy and goofy to show his wife how his cape is shinny, like, I can't with this dude.)

The queen giggles at her husband's delight "You are indeed, mi rey. But how about we get to our little star of the show, hmmm?" She asks anxiously, turning her attention to Aster chained up to the floor behind them.

"Oh but of course, my sweet! Let me just see our un-welcomed guests out first." Magnifico turns to Asha and her friends, still using his magic to keep them hanging over the edge of the tower.

Asha has her head lowered, but as he approaches she raises it to glare at him, her eyes are filled with tears but she refuses to sob in front of him.

He just smiles at her smugly "Wondering why you still have your wish in one piece?" he asks, and she actually didn't realize before but... Yeah, she did give him her wish before, he could take it back, so why didn't he? She get's her answer "Consider it as thanks for providing the star for us. You get to keep the wish you wanted sooo badly to work hard and achieve on your own… By the way, how has that been working out for you?" He laughs while making her spin around in the air, turning her to look at the people kneeled down hopeless, with a few children and preteens lost and scared bellow, he holds her chin so she doesn't look away from them and whispers "Can't say I didn't try warning you, Asha. This world can be so cruel to those who choose to work hard for their wishes... And fail." He quotes what he said during her wish ceremony, with his fake caring tone.

Asha doesn't respond, and he doesn't really care as he makes her float closer to her friends.

Aster notices what the king is doing and pleads "NO- NO NO NONONO! PLEASE! DON'T!" His animation is almost fully sketch lines while he panics.

Asha looks at Aster full of sorrow in her eyes... But with a hopeful smile... She really wishes she could reassure him right now, and let him know that...

She does have a plan.

The king ignores the star's begging as he continues, a sinister grin on his face "And you know what they say about working hard! The higher you climb- THE HARDER IS THE FALL!" And with one swift move of his staff...

He lets go of them.

All the 8 teens and Valentino fall down from the tower.

Most are flailing their arms and screaming in panic, except for Simon who's still practically unconscious...

And Asha who looks focused on her task at hand.

For as soon as her arms are free from the king's magic, she reaches inside her sleeve and takes her pencil and the piece of paper she took from Magnifico's book.

Once she has both in hand, the wind is pushing the paper upwards but she manages to hold it tightly, and she quickly draws the most simple thing that can save all of them...

Circles.

She draws 9 circles on the paper, and once she's done, the wind blowing on the paper makes the drawings magically fly out of it, and once they do, her drawn circles become bubbles.

Big bubbles, big enough for a person to fit inside.

And fit inside they do, as each bubble does as Asha commands in her mind, and saves each one of her friends, Valentino and herself.

Before they know it, they're all inside hand drawn bubbles, floating slowly to the ground.

Her friends firstly get surprised, but once they understand what's happening they all sigh in relief.

Asha looks just as surprised as the others "*breathes in* *breathes out* *breathes in* I can't believe that actually worked! *breathes out*" She sighs in relief.

They're relatively close to the ground now. A few teens and preteens who were previously trying to wake up their catatonic parents approach where the bubbles are about to land.

Asha is so relieved she managed to save them all, she just lays down on the bubble... But fails to notice she was holding her pencil when she does.

POP!

The point of her pencil bursts her bubble.

"Wh-AAAAAAAH!" She's once again falling.

"WE GOTCHU!" The teens who were bellow them caught her. She wasn't too far from the ground so no one get's hurt.

"*phew* That was close, thanks." She thanks the strangers. They put her downs they’re all nervous for the situation, but still relieved that she's alright.

Asha's friends all land safely in their bubbles, that pop once they hit the ground.

Asha looks up to the top of the tower, she can see a green glow... They're starting...

"Okay, now I gotta get up there befo-" she reaches for the piece of paper she had... It's gone.

It flew away when her bubble bursted.

All she has is her pencil.

"... Oh no- nonono!" She turns around to the teens behind her "D-do any of you have a piece of paper? Maybe a book?" She asks around desperately, but only get's them shaking their heads "no"

Asha feels her heart racing. She looks up with her eyes wide, her breath is uneven.

"I- I have to save him!" Asha exclaims with tears starting to form in the corner of her eyes

"The castle is locked down!" Gabo points out to the closed gates "There's no way you're getting to the top in time!”

"Asha, I'm sorry but... It's over." Dahlia's voice filled with sadness as she places a hand on Asha's shoulder "We gotta get out of here! Who knows what might happen when they have Aster's pow-"

"NO!" Asha yells, her eyes closed as she shakes her arm in frustration, tears now falling while she holds her pencil tightly "I'M NOT LEAVING HIM BEHIND! NEVER! I AM NOT LETTING THEM TAKE AWAY ANOTHER PERSON I LOVE!" We see something that Asha isn't seeing since her eyes are closed...

She is drawing on air.

When she moves her pencil around, it creates floating glowing scribbling lines... Think of it like her pencil is now the glowing wand from the "Hi, I'm (insert Disney channel celebrity name here) and you're watching Disney Channel" adds.

Her friends look at this happening in shock, Dahlia points out what's happening.

"A- Asha LOOK!"

Asha slowly opens her tearful eyes, and she gasps upon seeing what she just did, the lines she accidentally drew are still floating in front of her.

"I... I didn't know I could do that..." she looks at her pencil and notices it's now glowing, almost like a magic wand... But how?... She thinks for a moment, and she recalls the time Aster explained how his magic works when they first met... "... "The stronger is the want in the wish maker's heart... The more I can do"...That's it!" She quotes what he told her back in chapter 7. She looks up to the top of the castle, drying her tears with her sleeve. Her eyes now have a burning a determination "I'm coming Aster, just hang in there."

Her pencil, now turned into a magic wand, can only draw glowing lines for now, but she tests something by drawing a line close to the ground, and she steps on it...

Yes, just like she thought, she can stand on the floating line.

She then draws another line above the one she's standing on, she jumps on it, and now she higher than before, then she draws and jumps on another line, then again and again, repeating the process, as if she's drawing the steps of her own stair case to the top of the palace.

She's practically running on air now, full speed ahead, wind blowing on her hair, her eyes fixated on her objective. The music rises along with her rising.

...

So we cut to Aster at the top of the tower, and what I will narrate now was happening at the same time as Asha and her friends were landing on the ground below.

We see Aster crying thick dark blue tears that resemble a night sky. He's sobbing while kneeling down with his head down. For all he knows, the love of his life and his friends are all dead, and he couldn't do anything but watch.

The star keeps sobbing until he hears someone softly shushing him, and feels a cold hand on his cheek. Aster opens his eyes to see Queen Amable right in front of him, with a smile that coming from anyone else would seem caring, but Aster knows it's just a mockery.

"Shhhh shhh hush now little starlight." She dries the tears from one of his eyes with her thumb, digging her sharp nail on the boy's cheek, making a cut that shows some star dust beneath his skin, but the cut instantly heals itself. Aster stares at her shaking in fear "There there, no more tears. You should be happy... Your power shall at last serve a purpose." She speaks serenely but with clear malice dripping from her words.

(Can I just mention this is the second time these two interacted in the whole story, and in the first time she tried to caress Aster’s face too but he dodged her hand like it was a bullet. So like, this is her way of saying that nope, he can’t run away, she’s in control, and that’s the creepiest thing for me, okay bye)

Those words hit deeper into Aster more that they'll ever admit, because it implies his magic served no purpose up to this point... And deep down they feel that's true, that he didn't make a difference... If anything maybe them coming down here just made things worse, he thinks.

We turn our focus on Magnifico looking down on his people.

And so...

We get a song.

This Wish (Reprise)

But not the "This Wish (Reprise)" You're expecting... At least not yet.

Oh no no no.

This is a "This Wish (Villain Reprise)"

For you see, initially I was gonna just narrate "And then they drained Aster's power and Asha got to the top of the tower" yada yada yada but that just felt WAY TOO LAME. Like, we've been building up to this for so long and all I give you guys is words? Nah man, we need a song.

Based on the AMAZING song by Lydia The Bard "Asha's Villain Song", I tweaked some of the lyrics to fit with the context of my rewrite. So of course, go give the original song a listen if you haven't yet!

And without further ado... Here's what happens next.

Isn't truth supposed to set you free? Why do you all seem so weighted down by it? So long having to play pretend Deceiving you had us entertained Yes, but now’s time for the main event

(Magnifico begins to sing, looking down on the people all knelling down, with no dreams, no hope, and no escape. He sarcastically asks them why are they so sad, if all he did was show them the truth. He smiles wickedly, admitting that the years of lying were fun, but now it's time for them to move on to a new chapter. As he sings the last line he turns around and starts walking towards Aster while swinging his staff around.)

See, when I speak they all bow down But what we want Is our ha-ppi-ly EVER after

(He now sings to Aster, who still has their face being held by the evil queen. To emphasize his point, when he sings "Bow down" he hits his staff on the floor, making Aster's restraints pull him even more to the ground, thus bowing down to him. The star looks up angrily. The king just smiles menacingly as he explains what he and his queen are after... To spend eternity together.)

You say they're made of stars But we know I’m so much more than that And we’re done shinning now, so our new vow, no matter how We're gonna burn

(He snaps his fingers and summons his magic book that has information about wishing stars, he sings as the pages flip, looking more and more deranged with every verse. Until he reaches the page he was looking for, his voice is more calm and his grin grows at the line "We're gonna burn". And we see in the book the illustration of a wizard stealing the power of a star, with symbols and words in a mysterious language written all over the pages.)

So the girl trusted a wish upon thee? Hoping you could be her little guide? If this light you shine is what will free us finally Let us be the ones to cross that line

(Amaya now sings to Aster, walking around him, her voice is melodic, and she's drawing out the word "Guide" while pulling the star's flowing hair to make them look at her. Aster does so, with a face of both fear and anger mixed together, but mostly fear. She sings the third line looking at him with a vicious smile. And once she sings the last line, she let's go of Aster's hair, and walks to be next to her husband, who has been mumbling some words in latin while she was singing, preparing the spell to absorb the star's power. The words he mumbled while she sang were "Stella lux, stella clara. Ultima stella hac nocte video. Dolere te licet. Clama ut. Sed lux tua mea hac nocte est."... And the spell is ready, his staff glows brighter. The spell is ready.)

So I make this wish To have so much more for us than So I make this wish To have so much more for us Than this!

(Magnifico points his staff towards Aster, grinning ear to ear. But before he casts the spell he waits for his queen to also hold the staff with him, so they can share the star's power together. And so she does, also holding the king's hand, she sings the same lyrics he just sang, as if to follow his lead. Now they're both side by side pointing the magic staff to Aster. They sing the last line in unison.

It begins.)

(ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS MASTERPIECE made by @gracebethartacc of what’s happening in this scene! With the designs created by @uva124 ! Thank you so much for you both for helping bring these characters to life!)

So much more than this So much more than this So much more than this

(A hand made of green light, similar from the ones Ursula created in "Poor Unfortunate Souls" comes out of the green gem, and makes its way to Aster quickly as the music ascends. The hand hits its target, Aster's heart, or at least where it would be if he had one. The king and queen sing together, while Aster screams in pain, as he feels not only his magic but his very being being drained away. With each line Magnifico and Amable sing, we see that their transformation starting to take hold, as swirly glowing lines begin to form on their skin, like Aster's magic is coursing through their veins. The couple couldn't be smiling wider.)

My bloodline brought expectations Tried to follow all their rules, did what I had to do And now I feel that it's quite overdue For me to have this power to use and abuse

(Magnifico looks at his own hand that isn't holding the staff, seeing it change, his fingertips start to glow, and this glow slowly spreads to the rest of his hand. He recollects in the first 2 verses how in his younger days he tried so hard to conform to what was expected of him, to be part of this long lineage of Rosas kings, but nothing he did was good enough, he wasn't worthy... So he took matters into his own hands, "Doing what he had to do" to become the king he deserved to be. As he sings the third line, he uses his glowing hand to slick his hair back narcissistically, his eyes are closed while he does so, and once his hand lets go of his hair, we see that now his hair is also glowing yellow, and it begins to move, flowing like a flame, just like Aster's. Once the king sings the line "And Abuse" he opens his eyes smiling maniacally, and his eyes have no pupils, just two empty orbs shining brightly like two suns.)

Shouldn't have dared to fight royalty No point begging, no point wishing Now we’re the stars in the sky that you are pleading The very night sky sanctified, blazing inferno sat on high Two super novas here to burn and smite

(Amaya is singing with more intensity and sounding even more deranged than her husband, as this is the first time the witch has magic flowing into her system all at once, while Magnifico is fairly used to it. We see that her eyes are already glowing completely like Magnifico's, and her hair starts to glow, and as it does, her braid undoes itself, and the withered roses in her hair burn down into nothing (Amaya's hair has roses on it in this rewrite btw, check @uva124 design for Amaya here!). Once her loooooooong hair is loose, it starts flowing up and down, just like Eris from Sinbad (Dreamworks movie reference for once lmao) And the glow keeps spreading to her whole body, and to Magnifico's too. As she sings the third line, the couple look at each other and begin to dance their own waltz together, floating in the air just like how Asha and Aster did when they sang "At All Cost". Aster's powers are still being drained, and he looks weaker and weaker by the second, we focus on the star looking like he's about to pass out as his glow is fading more and more... Then we fade to black, and cut to someone else.)

So I made this wish… To have something more for us than this… So I made this wish

(We see Asha making her way to the top of the castle, her face is worried, she sees a light coming from the top of the tower. She sings, her heart filled with so many conflicting emotions: Fear but also determination, anger but also hope, Hate but also love. All she can do is run on the stairs she's drawing for herself, and sing her heart out, hoping that maybe Aster can hear her just as he did when she sang this song for the first time... And he does hear her."

This wish This wish THIS WISH

(We focus back on Aster, we hear both him and Asha singing together, but as the star opens his eyes, he knows Asha is alive, so there's still hope, as long as she lives she can make her wish come true, Aster has no doubt about that. The star raises his head to look at the royals laughing in front of him, and he uses his last remaining strength to sing, because he's not going out without a fight... Though Aster can't fight... But he can make them listen.)—--------------------------------------------------- So I make this wish! We make this wish! For you to face your destiny! So I make this wish! To have so much more than this!

Is this really what you believe? That my power will set you free? You wish to be powerful But what you want is not what you need You see, I've been weak before I won't be that anymore I'd give anything to stop History repeating —---------------------------------------------------

(Aster and the royal couple sing all at the same time. The couple still dances and sings on the air, with their bodies becoming more and more bright, ignoring what Aster is telling them. While Aster looks weak with strands of hair falling on his face, tears running down from his eyes, and most importantly... His body is vanishing, leaving behind just the outline of his 2D body, as if he's becoming transparent. But Aster doesn't care about what's happening with his body, all he wants is to reach out to their senses, asking them if they really think they'll be satisfied, the star tries desperately to make them see they're making a mistake. He tells them how he was once been as a weak star, the smallest one in the sky, but he "won't be that anymore". When he sings the line "everything to stop history repeating" we get a glimpse of Magnifico's book on the floor, we see a page showing a human with bright yellow skin, causing havoc in a village.)

---------------------------------------------------------------- ALL WE WANTED! ALL WE NEEDED! WAS FOR HER SIT AND PLAY NICE! YOU TO COMPLY! YOU TWO CROSSED THE LINE! STARS SHOULD NEVER LEAVE THEIR OWN GALAXY! NOW SUFFER FOR YOUR CRIMES!

Magnus, understand You are just a man! Amaya, mortality Cannot be defied! Yes! My magic’s bright... But it'll be your demise... You'll suffer for your crimes... *GASP*

------------------------------------------------------------------

(Magnus and Amaya aren't singing anymore, just screaming at the star angrily. They're now completely made of light, except for their chests, that have dark circles that swirl like a whirlpools... Black holes.

They yell about how Asha should've just followed their rules, and how Aster should've just accepted his fate, but they didn't, and we focus on Magnifico's still visible scar and Amaya's also still visible white hair streak as they sing "YOU TWO CROSSED THE LINE"

Aster calls them by their names, trying to reach out for some glimpse humanity still left inside, make them see that trying to defy fate will only destroy them. Yes, Aster hates them, and he's trying to make them see this much more because he worries for everyone else's safety, but even then, the star is also compassionate enough to want to save them from themselves. But trying to reach out to them proves to be like talking to a wall.

They're singing the last lines, Aster looks weaker than ever, now he's just a sketch with no color, transparent, with a faint light flickering on his chest, he feels they're about to absorb him completely, there'll be nothing of him left... He'll die. But he still keeps on singing, even though he lacks the strength hold his head high to look at them floating above, the star lowers their head and sees-)

Asha.

She reached the top.

She's pointing her wand at the couple floating above her, and when they're on the last note of the song-

She attacks.

With her wand, she quickly scribbled what looks like a fireball, and with her face burning with rage she launched it at them.

That caught them off guard, making Magnifico stop the spell.

However... it gave them no damage.

Aster gasps, both in surprise for seeing Asha and also in relief that the spell finally stopped draining him, one second before he was fully taken away...

"ASTER!" Asha screams while running to him, ignoring the two floating and glowing figures above her, she can deal with them later, all she needs is to know if Aster is alright. She kneels down and holds them, or at least what's left of them. The star is laying on the floor, he's no longer chained down, Magnifico knows there's no need for that anymore "I'M HERE! I made it! Come on, please! Can you hear me?!" She asks desperately with tears running down her face, worried beyond words.

She sees the fading light on his chest, like a flame about to burn out.

It's like they took 99% of Aster's magic, and now what Asha sees in front of her is just an 1% of himself, just fighting to keep his human shape.

And his shape is just a sketch that keeps appearing and disappearing, like an unfinished storyboard.

Like this, note how Mickey ears disappear and his face too, yeah, it’s like Aster’s details are fading in and out, disappearing and reappearing like he’s fighting to keep existing:

But even then, even with him feeling weaker than he could ever imagine... Aster smiles at her "I- I heard y-yo-o-u..." Aster stutters quietly as he keeps flickering away, the star can barely move, but he still manages to raise a hand to hold her face, she hold his hand back "Th-thank y-ou fo-or savi-ng m-e" He says weakly, his voice barely a whisper.

"OH-HohOHhoH I WoUlDN't CaLl tHaT "SaVInG", LiTtlE oNe! HahHAhahHaAAHA"

Magnifico's voice comes from behind Asha, it echoes through the air, sounding distorted and unhinged.

"HihIhAAHAhaAhAha! iN FaCt! iT SeEMs thAt THeRe'S NoTHiNg lEfT oF hiM FoR yOu tO SaVE aT aLL, mY DeAr! YoU'rE tOo LaTE!"

Now it's the queen's voice, sounding just as maniacal as her husband.

(Ya know, I was gonna use ThiS eFFeCT on their voices the whole time, buuuut I think I'll leave it just for these two first lines since they're getting used to the power of a star inside them. If I used it too much I might give myself and ya'll a migraine.

Also, best way I can describe their look right now is like that girl from Paranorman, but instead of lighting coming from them it’s star dust, plus Eris flowing hair in Amaya’s case, plus they have dark black holes on their chests, the black holes idea actually came to me recently thanks to a comment from @gracebeth3604 soo thanks moot ;))

Asha hasn't turned to look around, but she can see their light coming from behind her, she’s casting a huge shadow, They're so bright and so close to her it's almost like the night just turned into day.

She holds what remains of Aster close to her, she doesn't know what to do but no matter what she's not letting go of him. Aster is too weak to do anything.

The two royals just laugh at her. Magnifico floats to be in front and face to face with the girl, his cape floating in the air with star dust flowing out of it, exactly like Aster's cape did before.

"Sooooo glad you could join us though! After all, what better way to start using your precious wishing star's power than-"

He raises his hand to use his power on her. Knowing that unlike Aster, he can do a lot more damage than some tickles.

Asha just holds Aster closer and braces herself for it.

"Putting you out of your misery haHAAHahah"

He says sinisterly as he goes for the kill-

The queen holds his arm.

"Now now my sun, why on earth would you do that?"

Both Asha and Magnifico are surprised by Amaya's intervention. The king looks at his wife and just goes

"Huh?"

Amaya floats gracefully pulling her husband away, her cape and dress also have star dust flowing from under it, and her hair floats as if it's under water.

"You said it yourself silly! You wanted to give them a fate worse than death. Is there a fate worse than watching as your loved one slowly perish?"

She says referring to a line Magnifico said in chapter 12. Magnifico understands what his wife means now, and he couldn't agree more.

" Wise as always, my moonlight” He praises her passionately before turning back to the two teens “We'll leave you two love birds to it, got a whole kingdom to remodel and a few new powers to play with, ya know how it is. So ENJOY the show, Asha! None of it would be possible without you!"

They give Asha an almost cheshire cat like smile before leaving them to grieve.

Asha looks to them, with horror and sorrow in her eyes, she has no idea on what to do. The two royals fly away laughing, leaving the girl and the half dead star alone on the top of the tower, and begin to play around with their powers.

(I'mma describe how they're playing around in a sec but now I NEED to focus on Asha and Aster or I'll explode.)

Asha looks at the star in her arms, with every second it looks like he's about to disappear completely. Now that the two villains aren't there anymore... She stops holding it in, she begins to weep.

"*sob* I... I'm sorry Aster, I did everything I could but... We lost." Her tears fall and go right through Aster, now that he's transparent, but the star can feel himself go ever weaker as Asha starts losing hope "... No matter what I did, or how much I tried... I couldn't give Rosas more than... This." She looks behind her shoulder, seeing the two now power crazed monarchs using their magic to change their kingdom to their liking.

Aster holds her face and makes her look back to him "... don-don't sa-y tha-t... y-you're still here... as long a-as y-you're here then there's still a chance" Aster smiles at her with exhausted eyes, caressing her face "And I-I'll be with y-you... I promise."

"But what am I supposed to do? My magic is useless against them- Everyone in Rosas had their wishes broken I- THIS is impossible!" She shouts, now with more tears rolling down her face

Aster lets out a weak chuckle "heh ehhehe yeah... but you showed me it's kind of fun to do the impossible..."

(Aster, you're dying, this is no time to quote Walt Disney)

Asha is still crying but she can't help but smile a little at how the star still manages to be hopeful in this situation "You really think there's still something we can do?"

"not we... you" The star responds weakly, his light becoming even dimmer

"M-me?" Asha tries holding Aster's hand and notices it has completely disappeared... He's fading away. She looks desperate at him "No nononono please! There's gotta be a way I can save you!"

"I'm not going anywhere, not until your wish's granted" he explains "Like I said... I promise I'll be with you... Even if you can't see me..." Aster still smiles serenely at her while their hand drawn body is slowly fading away, leaving behind just a flickering light on his chest.

"I- I don't understand... How can I grant that wish now?" She asks her wishing star.

And the star answered:

"Inspire them."

Asha's eyes widen "What?... Aster, this isn't like before, and even if it was... They can't listen to me, they lost their wishes."

"Then give them a new one." The fading star puts it simply

Asha doesn't understand what Aster means, she just gets more and more distressed as he keeps fading away.

Aster realizes he doesn't have much time left, so he better be quick.

"I know this doesn't make much sense now... But you'll know what to do... *sigh* See ya after you win, okay?... I love you." Aster's face starts to fade away and-

Asha's heart sank like a stone falling on water.

Aster's body was gone... All that was left was a flickering light on her hands.

She looked at that light, more tears fell on her hands...

"... I love you too." She holds the light close to her heart, as more of her tears fall on the floor.

... And suddenly...

The light began to move on its own.

Flying away from Asha's hands, it begins to spin around her.

Asha is surprised by that, she get's up to see what the tiny star is doing.

Once she's standing up, the light flies from the bottom or her dress, to the top in circles, leaving a trail of star dust that transforms her dress.

(Cinderella transformation reference of course)

The music swel ls as Asha's dress magically morphs into a gorgeous princess gown:

(THANK YOU SO MUCH @salmonpiffy FOR LETTING ME USE YOUR GODLIKE ART PIECE IN THIS REWRITE! I had this plot point of Asha getting a princess dress planned for a WHILE, and this drawing it was simply exactly what I envisioned! If you haven't yet, go like and share the original post here!)

Asha is stunned by the transformation, she looks at the flickering star, about to ask it what this is all about, but before she can ask anything-

The small star flies into her heart, making a big glowing star show on her chest.

Asha closed her eyes... And once she opens them, we see her pupils are now swirling like a galaxy.

... Asha understands what Aster meant now.

"... I get it now, you're with me, even if I can't see you." She places a hand on her heart... She can feel that little bit of Aster is inside her... A few tears still roll from her eyes, she knows what to do, but there's no way of knowing if it'll actually work.

"... I'll try..." She tells that both to herself and for her star, as that's all she can do.

She get's her magic wand, and walks to the edge of the tower.

She looks to the kingdom bellow.

The king and queen are making giant thorny vines, grow all over the kingdom, terraforming it to their delight.

Buildings collapse, being crushed by the rose like vines. It's like they're destroying everything only for the fun of it, or so they turn it all into a blank slate only to start it over again.

But thankfully, they're flying far away from where everyone's gathered... So at least they won't see her like this just yet.

She jumps from the tower, even though her magic isn't a lot, she can still float down slowly.

And once she lands down, the first people she sees in the middle of the crowd are her 7 friends and Valentino. Simon kneeling down, not responding to the other six teens trying to wake him up, most of them crying, hopeless and defeated.

“Maaaa!” Valentino bleats out once he sees her.

They all stop what they were doing once they see Asha approach them, wearing a princess dress and shinning like a star. They stare at her in disbelief.

"Asha?" Dahlia says quietly

Asha looks to them, and all the other people down on their knees... She sees something else...

Now that she has a little bit of Aster's magic, she has his eyes, she has the power to see people's stars... Her friends and the other people younger than 18 still have their stars shinning, while all the people who had their wishes broken have their stars so dim that it's almost like they're not even there... But they are still there, weak, but she can still re-candle them

So... Asha follows what Aster suggested, and tries to inspire them.

She begins to sing.

And NOW we get the song This Wish (Reprise) you were expecting. Tho, in this rewrite we'll call it "This Wish (Kingdom Reprise)" for reasons you'll know in the final chapter... Which is the next one, not this one :)

So without further ado:

This Wish (Kingdom Reprise)

So I look out at the stars just like me And I’m begging you to see this as a sign ’Cause I know that if you choose to stand beside me

(Asha begins to sing to everyone around her, her voice shaking with sorrow and tears still falling from her eyes. She hears the sound of buildings nearby crumbling, it's the king and queen using their powers to destroy just for the fun of it. The sound makes her stop singing for a moment... But also makes her more determined to keep going. She dries her tears while singing the last line... She looks around, and the stars of the people around her still look weak... But Dahlia's star is as bright as ever when she sings)

We’ll be greater than all their magic combined So I make this wish So I make this wish So I make this wish So I make this wish To have something more for us than THIS

(Dahlia is looking up to the royals above them when she begins to sing, trusting her best friend wholeheartedly, she looks at her with a smile and makes a wish. Asha sees Dahlia's star shining brighter... And she also feels something changing, she feels herself growing stronger. A smile begins to form on the corner of Asha's lips. Then, Hal and Bazeema join in, they both stand up and sing along with Dahlia. Gabo and Safi join in, with Dario signing the lyrics with his hands. All six of them are singing together, Asha smiles brightly seeing them still hold on to hope with her, their stars all shinning brighter and brighter... But then, she realizes someone else's star is beginning to shine shining brighter... Simon was on his knees with his head down, and he began to sing the last line along with them, the others look back when they hear him, and once they get to sing "THIS" Simon raises his head, smiling at Asha with his hope fully restored, and Asha can see that in his star shinning brighter than ever. The music swells, and so does Asha's heart, she knows now that YES, they can save everyone else. Her friends hug Simon, happy to see he's back to normal, but just like Asha, they know what to do now, and they all waste no time.)

We’ve had generations of expectations Wondering why, wondering when We’re past dipping our toes in We know it’s do or die, it’s sink or swim

(We see the 7 teens walk around the people, encouraging the younger people who are still awake to sing along, combining their hopes in this wish. And as more people with broken wishes hear them, the more of them start to rise up, as if they had nothing to fight for before, but now they do, and with their heads raised up high, they look to the king and queen flying above them... And said king and queen finally notice the "noise" coming from bellow them. They weren't looking at the people until now, to them the people are nothing but little ants. They look down confused but also amused at how those insects still think they have a chance.)

We were all confusing your promises for protection But we know what we’ve gotta do Hope unchanging, with our wish held high The way you’ve always taught us to

(The people keep singing, more and more stars are lighting up on their hearts, just like Asha, the king and queen can also see the people's stars, for they too have Aster's eyes now. But the king has had enough of this little "final stand" of theirs, and he points his staff to them.

The people stop singing, their eyes widen in shock, for they see the king charging a huge blast of magic at them, ready to wipe them all out like they're nothing.

The blast shots out of his staff.

We hear it hit, and all of Rosas is engulfed in green smoke upon the impact. The king and queen just smirk at that, after all, who needs a kingdom when they can have the whole world?

...

But then the smoke begins to clear.

The villain's smiles fade into faces of shock.

“What…?” Magnifico mouths, not believing what he hears)

So I look out at the stars just like me And I know that just like them I shine

(The couple is baffled not only by what they hear, but mostly by what they see...

A shield.

A gigantic, circular, glowing, purple, hand drawn shield. It protects all the people bellow. The shield has the Rosas emblem drawn on it, that’s Asha’s way of showing that the symbol doesn’t represent the royals, it represents Rosas, and they’re taking their symbol and their kingdom back.)

What we do in this moment is defining And we can take it on if we ally

(We see Asha raising her wand to the sky, the shield she manifested begins to disappear, but she remains with a daring smile, for they don't need to defend anymore, she's ready to attack and finish this once and for all. She begins to soar, wind blowing on her hair as she flies towards Magnifico and Amaya. She feels even more of Aster's magic flow through her, and even though it's only a little bit of his magic, she feels she might be as powerful as an actual star, because, unlike the royals, she has ALL of Rosas believing in her, and that gives her more strength than they could even fathom.)

So I make this wish

(When she sings "Soooo" Asha begins to fly as fast as a shooting star, darting and spinning through the air, leaving trails of star dust around the two very angry and lost glowing figures. Once she sings the word "Wish" she stops, now flying upside down right in front of the royals, she looks in the king's angry eyes with a huge confident smile, much like Aster did with her on the night they met.)

To give us freedom, hope and bliss

(We get a shot of the people bellow, everyone is awake with their stars shinning brightly, they cheer for Asha, all of them placing their hopes on her, and in turn making her magic even stronger.)

So I make this wish To have something more for us than THIS

(Asha flies to be just above the two royals, Magnifico points his staff at her to attack, but it's no use, for Asha is already drawing something with her wand.

A sword.

She grabs it in the air, looking down at them fiercely as she raises her sword to give the final blow.

Amaya is hugging her husband tightly, she's horrified. Magnus can't get his magic to work... Because star's magic rely on people's hopes and belief, and right now, no one believes in them.

As Asha sings the last line with all her heart, hopes and magic flowing through her-

She STRIKES DOWN.

Hitting Magnifico's staff, the moment she sings "THIS".

"NO- NOOOOO!!!" Magnifico yells in despair.

The gem CRACKS.

And once it finally BREAKS, all the magic that Magnifico absorbed is freed, both from the wishes of Rosas... And from Aster.)

A HUGE explosion like a firework fills the night sky.

And slowly... All the wishes begin to rain down on the people of Rosas, each one floating to their individual owners.

None of the bubbles are green, they're all blue. With the source of Magnifico's magic destroyed, all the curses he created have been lifted.

We see the citizens of Rosas holding their wishes and admiring them before placing them inside their chests, joy and relief washing over them.

We see a few citizens say "My wish!" "I'm going to make it happen." "I just can't wait to get started!" As they hold their wishes, they're all excited to make their dreams come true.

But among the citizens we also see Asha's friends, all of them looking up, worried for Asha, that was a pretty big explosion after all.

"Look!" Hal points upward.

They see Asha floating around. Still wearing her princess gown and holding her wand.

As she flies down along with the wishes, she smiles and admires a few of them close to her, seeing how beautiful and alive they are. She giggles unable to contain how happy she feels.

And when she starts giggling, she hears a familiar laugh from behind her.

She turns around, and she sees specks of star dust that were floating in the air start to join together, forming a clump of star dust trying to take shape.

Asha smiles brightly, already knowing who that is.

The star dust begins to take the teenaged prince shape she knows so well. But there's still one piece missing for them to fully reform.

Asha knows that, and she gladly gives the final piece.

She places a hand on her chest and takes out the little spark of light that was left of Aster, the little spark that gave her all the magic she needed to win.

Once she takes out the spark, her magic dress and sparkles on her hair all go into it, her magic is now gone.

And so, Asha begins to fall.

She’s free falling for a moment, but she knows there's nothing to fear, after all-

Aster, now fully back to his original form and laughing gleefully, catches her.

"HAHA YOU DID IT!!! I KNEW YOU WOULD! HHAHAHA YEEAH" The star spins and flies around with her in his arms.

Asha laughs as well, holding the star tightly with tears in her eyes "WE did it! Hahaaha aah" Aster stops spinning and they look at each other while still floating down together "You really were with me the whole time." She says with her eyes gleaming.

Aster smiles warmly "Well yeah, wouldn't wanna break rule number 1 again heheh" He jokes referring to the rules Asha established when they went to the kingdom together for the first time "Stay close to her at all times". The two of them are floating down, looking into eachothers eyes as Aster says with certainty "But really... I barely did anything, that was all YOU." He says with admiration.

Asha smiles but corrects him with a cheekily tone "Heh heh I guess, but I only knew what to do because I had the guidance of an amazing wishing star" she boops his nose, and Aster's starry freckles sparkle and his smile widens "So I'd say WE did it hihihi" she giggles, knowing she won the "argument"

Aster sighs as they reach the ground "Yeah, I really did get a lot better at this whole guiding thing... Thanks to YOU." Aster winks playfully.

Asha just laughs at that and hugs him"... I thought I'd never see you again." She sighs in relief while feeling his warmth.

Aster's smile falters a little and his eyes show a hint of sadness, knowing that she indeed won't see him again.

"... About that... Asha, I need to tell y-"

"GROUP HUG!!!" Dahlia screams

Asha and Aster feel themselves being embraced by Asha's friends. All of them laughing in relief.

"That was AMAZING!" Hal exclaims jumping up and down while they hug.

"You really did it! They're gone for good!" Dahlia exclaims hugging her best friend.

They all celebrate and cheer while they hug, but they hear a strangers voice:

"Umm excuse me..." A random citizen of Rosas, a bit younger than Asha chimes in, they stop the hug to look at him and he proceeds "I wouldn't say that yet. You might wanna take a look at this, miss" He speaks directly to Asha while pointing to the other side of the plaza.

Asha's eyebrows raise in confusion.

We cut to the king and queen laying on the floor...

Magnus groans in pain.

(NOW I know ya'll just read that and thought:

“WHAT?! “Groans in pain”?!? He’s supposed to be dead!!!” And yes, I hear you, I agree, BUT HEAR ME OUT! LET ME COOK! YOU'VE WAITED 16 CHAPTERS YOU CAN WAIT A FEW MORE LINES!!! IM GETTING THERE!! IN A MINUTE!!... Anyway back to the story.)

The man places a hand on his forehead as he sits up and looks around in confusion... The confusion turns into shock once he realizes his skin no longer glows...

And there are MANY angry eyes staring down at him, from the crowd of Rosas citizens.

The night sky is turning orange as the sun rises.

Magnus breathes heavily while looking at the crowd, his eyes darting at every direction like he's processing what should be his next move.

But his thoughts all but vanish when he hears his wife yelp in pain a few steps away from him

"AMAYA!" He get's up and rushes to her aid.

She looks at him in despair, not understanding how could this happen, and as the king help her get up he has the same distress in his eyes.

They had won, they had everything they wanted, so how did they lose it all so quickly?... How did she do it?

They find there's no time to ponder on this, as some guards begin approaching from the crowd.

Magnifico almost instinctively spouts out the first lie that comes in his head to get them out of this "W- wait WAIT ha-hah my people, please thi-this is nothing but a terrible misunderstanding! Tha-that wasn't US! Y-you see, we we're- uuh- POSSESSED! Yes- by dark magic from my book of spells!" He clumsily comes up with the very obvious lie.

(hihihihehheehehahaheahhaeahHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH AAAH- we do have fun here, don't we?)

The people are all still staring angrily at them, the king knows he's not fooling anyone, but without magic, deception is his only way to protect the wife he's holding in his arms, so he continues "Bu-but it's all good now!- heh he- So no need to get-"

"No one believes your lies anymore." Asha's voice comes from behind them. The couple turns around and sees Asha and Aster are holding hands.

Aster glares at them angrily, as one would after being killed and then used to cause so much destruction to a whole kingdom.

Asha meanwhile doesn't looks angry, nor sad, nor happy, she's just calmly stating a fact as she proceeds "It's over, you hold no power over anyone here."

The villains scared faces slowly morph into rage when they see the two teens, Amaya let's go of her beloved's arms and asks with her voice almost a screech "HOW DID YOU DO IT?! HUH?! What kind of sorcery was that?! We had all of the star's power and you had nothing but a smidge!"

Asha almost ignores the woman, as she turns her attention to look around at all the people surrounding them, they all also seem kinda curious to know how she did it.

Asha begins smiling while looking at them, and she explains "True, I only had a little bit of magic, but it was more than enough, cause' I had the whoooole kingdom believing in me." Asha looks at Aster now with a warm smile, and the star looks back to her smiling too "And a wishing star's magic can only go as far as how much they're believed in."

Magnus rolls his eyes at that and groans in annoyance. He hates to admit it, but the girl is right, he shouldn't have left a single fraction of the boy left, that's what he get's for showing mercy... He lost.

But the man always believed the winner is the one who laughs last. He holds his forehead as he begins to chuckle "Hehehahahaah aaah I gotta hand it to you, Asha, you really never cease to surprise. So! What happens now, hm?" He asks with a sarcastic smile, trying to look like the one in control of the situation even though everyone is against him "Will it be the classic beheading ooooor burn us at the stake like witches? Please, do get creative, I wouldn't want my death to be something generic."

"OH I assure you it won't, your "highness"" Aster chimes in with a smile that looks like his usual innocent self but his tone shows he's actually planning something very much not innocent at all "Cause' you see, I just had the BEST idea of what to do with the two of you" The star tilts his head to the side... Magnus looks like he instantly regrets saying anything "Though, let me just sort it out with my wish maker first, excuse us for a sec." Asha is looking at Aster very confused as he starts whispering something in her ear.

Asha hears what he has to say curiously and she quickly gasps in surprise "Wait- You can do that??" She asks him shocked

... The evil couple doesn’t see that as a good sign...

"Hehehe usually? Nope!" He admits to Asha gleefully, then he turns to the villains in front of them "But right now, I can feel AAAAAALL the people of Rosas wishing for one thing... For you both to face consequences. With so many people wanting the same thing with all their hearts, hehehe well, let's just say my magic becomes strong enough for me to get pretty creative with what I can do." Aster crosses his arms and walks closer to the taller man, he could float to be taller than him but he sees no need "We wishing starts do believe anyone deserves to have their wish come true though, no matter who they are. So guess what Mag, I'm granting your wish too!" The star says with a smug.

That got a few questioning glances from the crowd

"... W-what?" That caught the man off guard.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Amaya asks worriedly, now walking closer to her husband again.

"Oh you'll see... That is, if you agree." Aster turns to Asha, after all, this is all her wish, so she should get to decide how it comes true.

Asha ponders for a moment with a hand on her chin, she looks around her people all waiting for her to make a choice... She smiles at Aster as she makes her decision "Yeah, I think that sounds fitting for them, do it."

"What sound fitting?! What are you two brats blabbering about???" Magnus just holds his wife closely to him like he wants to protect her from whatever these two are planning.

Aster turns to them with a mischievous gleam in his eyes, preparing to “grant their wish”. The star moves his arms in circles, creating a mass of magic glowing dust.

The two royals brace themselves for the worst, hugging each other tightly.

Aster throws the dust at them and...

Nothing happens.

The couple looks at one another to see if anything changed, then pass their hands over their own faces and bodies to see if anything's different... Nothing

Aster is still smiling at them confidently though, with his arms crossed.

Magnus just assumes whatever the star tried to do didn't work, he throws his head back as he laughs "HA! I don't know why I was worried! You can't even hurt anyone!" The king says with a grin, Aster just raises one eyebrow while smiling, he's looking down at the man's feet as he starts to walk towards the star "Just a pathetic little star who can't grant a single wi-"

He only took two steps, but he stops walking suddenly once he realizes... His feet are REALLY heavy right now.

Magnifico looks down and...

His shoes are now made of stone... And it's spreading to his legs.

"Sorry, sometimes magic just takes a bit of time to take effect, I can try to speed up the process if you'd like" Aster comments casually while holding hands with Asha again

"Wh-what is th-"

"My- My love" Amaya says from behind him, her voice shaking in fear.

He turns to her and sees that the skirt of Amaya's dress is now half made of stone, she cannot move.

The people of Rosas look surprised, but not sympathizing with the ex royals one bit, some smile, agreeing with what Asha said, this really is fitting.

"You two did always like statues made in your image, right? It's only fair you two get turned into one of them" Asha comments. Smiling like she's watching something very satisfying.

The magic keeps spreading up and the man looks not just terrified but mostly furious at the star "Th-THIS IS A TRICK! You CAN'T use your magic to take away humans lives!" He yells at Aster, knowing this from his book about wishing stars.

"And who said you two will die? You just won't be able to move anymore." Aster corrects him.

That made a chill run down their spines.

And the star continues:

"You two wished you could live together FOREVER, didn't you? Welp, there you have it!"

The queen looks in the verge of tears as she exclaims "T-this isn't what we wished for at all!"

"A taste of your own medicine, that’s how it feels like to have your wish twisted into a curse." Asha says, her eyes following the curse spread, as now their lower halves are completely frozen, Magnus is two feet away from Amaya, he's in front of her because he tried walking to talk to Aster, but the woman is holding his hand. Asha thinks to herself that's definitely a good pose for them, showing Magnifico turned away from his love just to show some sense of superiority. She keeps that to herself though, and just adds "This way, you'll be frozen but still able to see Rosas thrive, and the people prosper... Without you." Her voice is determined.

The villains eyes are wide. Amaya is holding onto her beloved's arm, but he's not facing her... If this really is how it ends she wants to at least be looking at him as they go, she urges him to turn to her, holding his arm tightly.

But Magnifico can't bring himself to notice... Taken by his own delusion, all he says is this:

"... HeheheHAHAHAHA! PROSPER??? Who? These people?!" He shouts pointing at the people around them "These WORTHLESS little peasants don't know how to LIVE without me!!" He's looking at the people around, the pupils in his eyes are small like he's consumed by rage "NONE OF YOU EVER ACHIEVED ANYTHING ON YOUR OWN! I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING! I MADE YOU WHO YOU ARE! YOU NEED ME!"

Those words echo for a moment... But someone from the crowd breaks the silence:

"But we can achieve a lot on our own, especially without you pushing us down." Says an elderly citizen with a serious face.

The man turns to him, ready to spout out something else but he's interrupted by another voice

"And you never gave us anything, you only took away from us years of memories we could've builded together." Said a woman holding a baby in her arms and a child is next to her, most likely a mother whose cursed wish made her spend more time away from her kids.

Magnifico looks less angry and more in despair as his lower torso is fully turned into stone.

"And you didn't make us who we are... You made us into what YOU wanted us to be." Who says that is a familiar face, Dahlia's mom, standing next to her daughter, Dahlia smiles at her proudly.

Amaya is still quietly urging him to look her way with tears running down her face. Her chest begins to be turned into stone. She's almost fully frozen Magnifico doesn't look back to her... She's sobbing and he doesn't listen.

(Man, if you think this hits hard now, just you wait till I share Amaya's backstory later, you're in for a ride.)

"And no one needs you. We never did." Asha states looking at the fallen king in the eyes. And the whole kingdom agrees with her.

Magnifico feels his chest turn into stone, and a sharp pain course through him, not from the star's magic... But a pain from his own past.

He still hides it well as he says "Th-that's where you're wrong, right, mi vida-" He finally does look back to his wife and-

She's fully turned into stone now.

Magnus feels his neck now turning into stone, and for the first time... He has nothing to say. He simply looks to his now petrified wife and accepts as his head is fully turned into stone.

... They're now nothing but statues...

(YIPPPIEEEEEEEE!!!! WE DID IT FELLAS!!! THEY'RE GONE!!! DANCE PARTY!!! 🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺)

The sun rises in Rosas as the people celebrate and cheer that their evil rulers are gone.

"ALRIGHT! Who's up for destroying them for good with a big hammer?!" Gabo screams at the cheering crowd with his hand raised.

Simon smiles as he raises his hand too, for the first time showing some support for his friend's rebellious ideas.

Asha feels her heart beating faster, she can't contain her happiness as she looks at Aster ready to give him a hug " Aster! I- I can't believe it! We did it! We're finally free-" She goes in to hug him but-

Her arms go right through him.

The people around them are still celebrating but Asha feels the world around them slow down and become blurry once she realizes...

Aster is disappearing again. His star dust begins floating to the sky.

But the star just keeps smiling, happy for her and for everyone else "Yeah, you did it. They're free, and they have hope, and bliss... Just like you wished for."

"A- Aster-Wha- What's happening to you?" She tries to hold his hand but it's like they're just a ghost.

"... I gotta go now."

Chapter 17

Final Thoughts

NEXT CHAPTER IS THE END!!! AAAAAAH-

Oh my gosh I'm still tearing up and I don't know if it's because of Asha and Aster, or Magnifico and Amaya, or because this journey that honestly changed me is coming to an end??? Or all of the above??? Maybe ya'll read all this and don't cry, but I'm literally losing it, I was building up to this moment for so long! And now it's here like... WOW!

THE ANSWER WAS "INSPIRE THEM"!!! The theme ties everything together is Sabino's wish! It's what Asha was doing the whole time! And Aster knew it, and guided her to do it! Proving he's a good wishing star! I'm so proud of them!!! My babies!!!

And it's so fitting to because this whole project is about how I was inspired by the concept arts, by Disney itself, to create this story, and it warms my heart everyday when people tell me they got inspired by this too. This is so special for me guys, I'm crying, damn.

Also I went back and forth on how I wanted Magnifico and Amaya's "Final pose" to be, first when I started developing the story I thought about having them argue and blame each other while their bodies are turned into stone, but like... That doesn't feel like them, then for the longest time I thought about having them both screaming at Asha, but I was like "... I can put them through more pain than that" so I thought about having Magnifico screaming at the crowd while he hugs Amaya crying... But that still wasn't quite right. So finally I settled for them not even hugging, and she's urging him to look at her, as a way to symbolize how their love was all that they needed, but they were so blinded by ambition that drove them apart, and in the end, they couldn't even say goodbye or comfort one another, because Magnifico was too busy trying to come out on top. To me, that's the most painful demise I could give them.

And I know what you're thinking "Damn Anny, but keeping them frozen and alive for eternity isn't a bit harsh? Like, too heavy for a kids movie?" I say NOPE! They deserve it, and besides, My Little Pony did this, they did this TO A CHILD CHARACTER even! If MLP can do it so can Disney, and from my memory we never had a villain turn into stone (There might be and I just don't remember, you tell me) so this would be a first, and I think that's more interesting than making their deaths a reference to the classic "Fall off a cliff" cliche.

Though heheehe Asha was totally considering pushing them off the tower, which would be hilarious cause Magnifico can fly with his staff, so he'd just come back like "Ummm rude! I was monologuing!"

So yeah... I think that's all I got to say... Oh and is two songs one after the other two much? Maybe it is, but eh, I had fun adapting "Asha's Villain Song". Do me a favor and look up "Jordan Fisher Hadestown If It's True" on youtube, that's how Aster sounds like in this song.

See you guys at THE END!

BUH-BYE!

Thank You For Reading!

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annymation · 11 months ago

Text

The Kingdom of Wishes- A “Wish” Rewrite

Chapter 9- Tangible Things

Chapter 8

Asha and Aster are walking through the kingdom of Rosas.

There's people everywhere, walking through the streets, all of them wearing the same style of medieval clothings with dull shades of blues, yellows and purples. The people of Rosas are all very diverse in ethnicities... But their cultures are not showcased at all through their clothing styles.

Asha walks through the sea of people wearing her mom's cloak, she's wearing the hoodie so her face is not visible.

Meanwhile, Aster is "wearing" his human disguise, looking like any average human teenager... If you ignore the uncommon combination of brown skin and blonde hair, as well as his black clothes with a looong cape that doesn't quite blend in with everyone else's clothing style.

... And the fact he's as happy as Ariel on her first tour with Eric through the kingdom. Or Rapunzel getting to know her kingdom for the first time, yeah, he has those same big eyes full of wonder.

If you ignore all that, yeah he's just a normal human, nothing to see here.

"Okay Aster, stay close to me. We're almost at the plaza..." She got no response "Aster?" She looks behind her shoulder

... Aaaaand Aster is nowhere to be seen.

Asha scrunches her eyebrows in frustration, she's gonna have to put a bell on that star.

Asha feels a slight dejavu feeling from that dream she had last night.

She scrunches her eyebrows in frustration, now contemplating putting a bell on that star "*sigh*... At least you know how to behave, huh Valentino?" she says to the baby goat walking next to her, Valentino is just happily wagging his tail.

She takes off the her hoodie for a moment to get a better view of her surroundings

"Now where could he be?" She sounds worried, looking around, but there's no sign of the star.

Asha just took her hoodie for a moment...

But just a moment was enough for two people to notice her...

She hears someone calling her name in the distance

"asha! asha-when I catch you asha! asha! when I catch you- it is on sight!! you are so-"

The voice is getting closer. Asha looks around at the sea of people walking, but she can't seem to find who's calling her, the girl voice gets louder:

"do you have any idea what lives iN THAT FOREST? YOU ARE TOO YOUNG TO DIE BEING EATEN BY WOLVES! YOU'RE TOO BEAUTIFUL!!!"

A second voice joins in, male this time

"DAHLIA! WAIT UP *huff huff* I can't run that fast!"

Asha turns around and... Yup, it's Dahlia and Simon.

Despite the fact that Dahlia walks with a crutch she's moving way faster than him, that's not even to emphasize how slow Simon is, no, Dahlia just so happens to run really fast in general.

They finally reach the girl wearing the purple cloak, and she seems preeetty nervous about having to explain the whole situation

"Oh- hehe hey guys" Asha waves to her friends awkwardly

Dahlia was having none of that "OHOHO Don't "Hey guys" me! Where were you last night?? My mom was worried sick"

"We woke up early to go looking for you, we were just on our way to get the others" Simon said while trying to catch his breath

"I'm fine, really. I just needed a take a walk you know? Get some air, and then I slept in my old home." She tries her best to calm them down "Dahlia, you didn't have to organize a search party for me, I can take care of myself." She tells her best friend.

"Actually, it was Simon's idea, he's the one who went to wake me up"

That surprised Asha

"... Simon... Woke up early?"

"That's how worried I was" He said with his usual monotonous voice "And... I wanted to apologize, last night I accidentally-... I assumed that you were crying because of something YOU did, without knowing the whole story, I shouldn't have pressured you to tell us like that... I'm sorry"

(Aww Simon is so nice... I sure hope he never does anything lame or stupid or uncool to his friends, that would be so sad.)

Asha kinda needed that apology, she gives him a warm smile

"Thanks for saying that Simon, it means a lot. And sorry for stepping on your foot... And running away." She places a hand on the back of her neck as she says that.

"Honestly, if I found out that the king wouldn't ever grant my wish, I'd feel really awful too" Simon, ironically, is the one who comments this

Asha remembers... Oh yeah she mentioned that to them.

"Yeah speaking of which... What is up with that?!" Dahlia exclaims, looking outraged "I mean, they put you on the spot, call you to come in their house, get your wish, and then they just say "Oh actually noooo, we won't grant your wish" HUH?! That's not fair at all." She rants with her arms crossed

Asha is just kinda nodding in agreement, like, what really happened was waaaay worse than that but yeah Dahlia got the spirit.

Simon doesn't seem to relate with her frustration though.

"Did they tell you why they weren't gonna grant your wish?" Simon asks.

Asha analyses the situation... She could tell them the truth, she could tell them everything she has seen... But then again, if she tells them, they might be in danger... She told Aster that she wanted to plan this out before acting, involving her friends is a big risk, so for now... She would have to lie.

"They... They just said they couldn't do it, nothing else happened, really" She said, trying her best to sound honest but kinda failing, her friends didn't seem to notice though.

"... Seriously? They didn't even say why?" Dahlia is dumbfounded.

"... Now I understand why you were crying..." Simon sounds really sad for his friend "But even still, you shouldn't have gone to the woods all by yourself-"

"Who said she was by herself?"

Simon and Dahlia jump in surprise because of the unknown cheerful voice coming from behind them

They turn around and see Aster... holding a bouquet of purple flowers.

Asha can feel a drop of sweat running down her forehead... This might be way harder to explain.

"Aster where were y-" Asha is about to lecture the star, but she is stopped when he shows her the flowers he got by holding them right in front of her face.

"Asha look! These flowers are called "Aster" just like me! and they're your favorite color too!"

(Hahaah told y’all I’d reference these flowers!)

Aster hands her the bouquet, but in a way that her face is covered by the flowers for a second before she manages to hold it by herself

"O-OH Yeah I can see that... thanks Aster, they're really pretty heh heh" She says nervously, as she notice her two friends staring at Aster and then staring back at her.

"Uuuh so I take it your name's "Aster"?" Simon asks, looking at the boy from head to toe.

Aster turns around to greet them

"That's me! So nice to meet you two!"

Aster gives Dahlia a handshake...

And we take a look on what he sees

Now you see, Aster can naturally take a peek on what's someone's wants and beliefs, but when he touches someone... They can see something even more special.

He sees that person's star, their center, what makes them who they are.

When Aster touches Dahlia's hand, we see how her star looks like.

It's bright, red, and full of determination to achieve whatever she sets her mind to...

If confidence was a tangible thing, it would be Dahlia.

from the other's point of view, Aster is just shaking her hand quickly and very happily.

"Oh- Hehe I'm Dahlia."

Aster then goes on to shake Simon's hand and...

Aster's smile disappears...

Simon's star is still there but it's... weak, flickering away like a flame that is about to go out at any second

Aster feels a pain in their chest...

If hopelessness was a tangible thing, it would be Simon.

Aster let's go of the young man's hand, his eyes are downcast and he's frowning like he's about to cry.

He looks up to Simon and just says "I'm so sorry"

...

So needles to say our boy Simon is terrified thinking this weird kid Asha found in the woods predicts he's gonna die in 7 days or something.

(That’s it, that’s the face he's making. lmao.)

Simon gives Asha a panicked look, and she seems just as confused as him.

"Hey Aster?" Asha calls his attention placing a hand on his shoulder, the star turns to her curious "Did you uh- Pay for these flowers?"

Aster tilts his head to the side "What's pay?"

("At All Cost" ruined me, because every time I re-read this line my mind goes "What's pay? When I look at you no way-" and that's so funny to me)

Simon who happens to be the son of a cop the captain of the royal guard becomes even more suspicious of Aster, knowing this guy just STOLE something and then played innocent.

Asha just smiles at that comment and patiently explains to him "Okay, now you gotta put these back where you found them, can you do that please?"

Aster's smile returns as if it never left "Got it! I'll be back in a sec!"

Aster runs with an almost inhuman speed, leaving the three friends in an awkward silence

Simon breaks that silence.

"… Where did you find that guy?"

"And where can I find one for myself?" Dahlia asks as she watches Aster run off.

Simon: "What?"

Dahlia: "What?!"

This time, Asha kinda gives them a half truth

"Well... Let's just say Aster was at the right place at the right time... And he helped me feel better" That's technically true.

Simon looks very dissatisfied with that answer though

"... So you spent the night with a stranger in the woods?"

"Not a stranger though!" Aster pops out of nowhere behind Simon,

"OH GOSH-" Simon almost has a heart attack,

Asha realizes the longer Aster keeps talking with other people the more suspicious they'll seem, so she just grabs him by the arm

"Great talking to you two but we reeeeally gotta get going. So tell the others I'm fine, we'll be at the main plaza if you need me!" She says already running while dragging Aster with her.

The star boy is just happily waving them goodbye as he's dragged away by the arm. "Bye Dahlia! Bye Simon!" he exclaimed excitedly

"... Soooo how much do you wanna bet she actually just wished for a boyfriend?" Dahlia asks

(Dahlia is a self insert of me at this point, her lines are what I'd say in this situation)

Simon kinda ignores Dahlia's comment as he realizes something odd "Wait ... I never told him my name, how did he know I'm "Simon"?"

We cut to Asha and Aster in an alley.

“Okay, we need to talk" Asha begins, looking at the star boy seriously "If we're really gonna do this, we gotta establish some ground rules."

"Sure! We stars are all about rules!" The star says, sitting on some barrels while kicking his feet.

She begins listing the rules:

"So rule number 1: You can't run off without me, you gotta stay close to me at all times."

"Done!"

"Rule number 2: You gotta act as HUMAN as you can, that means do what I do, and use NO magic at all."

"Oh you don't have to tell me twice, that's a rule I already HAVE to follow as a wishing star anyway"

"And rule number 3: ..." She stops to think for a moment "Umm... I feel like there should be a third rule but I don't know what"

"I know! Rule number 3:... LETS HAVE FUN!" Aster exclaims with a beaming smile as he holds her hand and walks with her out the alley "You don't need to worry about a thing! I'll stay with you at all times. All you gotta do is focus on inspiring everyone with your music!"

Asha looks at the mandolin in her hand. She's honestly not sure if she'll be able to make any difference... But if she can make at least a few people consider getting their wishes back so they can grant it by themselves... Then it'll be worth it, because then they can start something.

She feels her hope returning, as a confident smile grows on her lips and a fire burns in her eyes.

"Yeah, and I know just the song for it!" She starts running faster, and soon she's the one who's in front, dragging Aster by the hand...

Aster can see Asha's star, and he looks at it with eyes full of what can only be described as disbelief and a passionate admiration.

Her wish was taken from her, just like Simon's, but Asha was different.

Unlike Simon, her light refused to burn down, her old wish was replaced by a new one, that shined just as brightly.

A star that wants to shine upon others and give them joy, guidance, something to believe in... To Aster, her glow was the most beautiful one of all... And when he looked at it he felt...

Actually, he couldn't describe it... It's still a feeling he can't put into words.

So for now, he doesn't know what tangible emotion Asha is.

But he'll probably find out eventually.

They both reach the plaza. There's a water fountain at the center of it, a few people are walking around and talking, but there's not much of a crowd.

Asha takes the mandolin and starts singing a song... Based on a poem her father wrote:

A Wish Worth Keeping

[Verse 1] Take it from someone like me When your hopes are in despair If your desires have strings Free them, give them some air

[Chorus] 'Cause any wish that's got your heart On the edge of breaking Is a wish worth keeping

[Verse 2] Yeah, everybody dreams To be something someday somewhere Even kings and queens Daydream to be free from their royal chairs

[Refrain] Well, any dream that's got your heart Even when you're not sleeping Is a drеam worth dreaming

[Bridge] Yeah, we all start as wildlings Playing in thе sun Then we grow up with wild dreams Just waiting for our day to come

[Verse 3] So if hope schemes against time

Tell them, "be nice, play fair" Yeah, they may kick and cry, yeah But just show them they're better when paired

[Refrain] 'Cause if they both can hold your heart There's no way you're not sowing A dream that will never stop growing

[Chorus] Yeah, any wish that's got your heart On the edge of breaking Is a wish worth keeping...

It's a poem her father wrote to encourage people to not give their wishes to Magnifico, but instead keep their wishes and fight for what they dream of. In this moment, she's playing her grandfather's mandolin, while wearing her mother's cloak and singing a poem her father wrote, it's like they're all there with her.

Asha sings in a more festive rhythm than the original "Wish Worth Making" from the Wish soundtrack, it's a song that makes people want to join in and dance with Aster, who's bringing in people around the plaza to join in.

And among these people there's also Asha's friends, they seem happy for her but also confused. Since when did Asha play the mandolin? And who on earth is that guy with her?

As Asha plays, she and Aster share a little duet in the third verse of the song, as if Aster also knows the poem too. Asha looks at the star dancing with such energy, doing literal backflips, twirls, jumping all over the place, bringing in people to dance with him and just being himself like no one's watching.

And for the first time, she actually feels her heart bumping faster by looking at the star, and not because they're a literal star or because he scared her by popping out of nowhere... but because he's himself.

(Yup, that's when she fell)

Everything is going well, Aster can even see the stars inside some of the people in the crowd shining brighter...

It's actually working.

Some of the younger people are actually considering not giving away their wishes, and others feel like maybe going after new wishes by themselves.

Aster moves with even more energy now... His eyes are closed.

Asha also has her eyes closed, lost in the moment as she plays the song.

The sky is full of thick grey clouds, the sun was nowhere to be seen.

If only Aster's new friend Sunny could've warned him who was coming.

Aster is spinning around quickly with his eyes closed and-

"OUCH!"

Aster bumps on someone and falls on the floor.

Asha hear's him falling and opens her eyes, she looks up to see who he bumped into...

She instantly stops playing.

Her face is horrified, and she quickly covers herself more in her mother's cloak.

Valentino who was hopping around also sees who it is and hides behind Asha's legs.

Aster is just laughing on the floor, still high on the adrenaline, their eyes are still closed as he laughs so he still hasn't seen who's right in front of him...

But he can tell that he just bumped on a man taller than him.

"Hahahaha sorry sir, I wasn't looking at where I wa-" Aster looks up...

Oh no.

“No problem at all, little one. Are you alright?”

The king and the queen are standing right in front of Aster.

It’s quite unusual to see them just out and about in a normal day, so the few people around start mumbling among each other.

… Aster doesn’t have a heart but somehow he could feel something in their chest sink as he looked up at the two monarchs…

He could see what they wanted, but to be honest the magic in his eyes wasn’t even necessary for him to see it, they looked down on him with the eyes of two hyenas staring at their next meal.

They wanted him... They knew what Aster was.

The star is just looking up to them with wide eyes like a deer in headlights.

“Here, let me help you.” Magnifico extended his hand to help them get up.

Aster knew very well what would happen in he touched that hand, and he was not looking forward to see what the king was like on the inside…

But then again, he promised Asha he’d act like a human, and most humans in Rosas would gladly shake the king’s hand, right?

So… Aster reached out for it, and once he touched it...

Aster had to hold in a gasp.

…

That is NOT a star.

See, Aster actually had heard from the other stars that there are many different kinds of people on earth.

There are those who are stars. Those who shine upon others by inspiring them, and make their own glow through their own actions. Like Asha.

There are those who lost their spark, those who no longer have hope or dreams to follow, they’re fading stars. Like Simon.

And then.

There are black holes.

Do you know how a black hole is formed?

They’re formed when a star dies.

Black holes have a gravitational pull that sucks in all the light around them, leaving nothing behind.

And in Aster’s eyes, Magnifico was a black hole.

Stealing away the light of all the stars around him.

Aster had heard that people who become black holes were very hurt in their lives, and thus their star died completely.

But Aster knew better... Magnifico choose to be this way, and he loves it.

He loves to pull others in only to steal their light away...

Aster felt disgusted.

... If selfishness was a tangible thing, it would be Magnus.

As the king pulls him up Aster's is glaring at him, no longer looking scared...

He's angry.

His brow furrowed, his pupils shrunk and his jaw was clenched. He was almost shaking.

It was like he was holding himself to not just jump on this man and punch him.

... Magnifico is content with this reaction.

From what he read, he knew that stars had "Eyes that see the truth", so Magnifico knew that the star could see who he really was.

With that in mind, his grip tightened on Aster's hand.

"Are you hurt at all, lad? You seem to be in pain or something." The king asks referring to the scowl on Aster's face, in a tone that for everyone else watching may sound like concern, but both Aster and the king know it's a mockery.

Aster actually didn't even realize he was scowling, he's just not used to hiding his emotions... But it surely not a "Normal human behavior" to glare at the KING after he just helped you up, is it?

So Aster takes a deep breath and... Smiles.

"I'm quite alright your majesty, just felt a bit dizzy from all the dancing hahaha" He laughs to himself.

Aster may not be the best liar but he is a surprisingly good actor.

"Ah I see." The king says as he let go of Aster's hand, he's now looking down on the young star with a friendly smile "And what a dance that was indeed. Why, we saw you two from our window and we just HAD to take a closer look."

Aster felt a stab of guilt... It's his fault for bringing too much attention.

"I don't think we've met this little rose in our garden before." The queen chimes in sweetly, reaching her hand to caress Aster's face "What's your name, my flower?"

Aster quickly takes a step back, escaping the queen's touch as if he's dodging a bullet.

"Ah- I- My name's Aster!" They stutter, the star really didn't want to be touched by this lady, who knows what he'd see inside HER soul.

Aster tries his best to pull it together, the star knows what to do, he has watched from above how people act around the royal couple. So all he had to do was mimic that behavior.

The young star bows down with one hand on his chest

"I'm humbled that our performance has caught your majesty’s attention. It's a great honor to meet your graces in person." The blonde spoke so eloquently no one could ever guess he's screaming internally.

The king and queen seemed pleased as they exchanged a quick glance to one another... This was going to be fun.

"What an eccentric partner you've got here, Asha" Magnifico says with a calm voice, now looking at the girl sitting by the water fountain, trying her best to hide her face with the hood of her mother's cloak...

… They recognized her? How?

"Aww and how lovely, you're wearing Sakina's cloak aren't you? It fits you so perfectly." The queen said, answering her question as if she could read Asha's thoughts.

Oh yeah... She forgot they knew her parents...

Asha gets up and takes off the hood, trying to act natural like Aster did.

"Thank you, your highness... I didn't expect we'd meet again so soon" she HOPED they wouldn't meet again so soon.

"What a nice surprise though, isn't it?" The king says casually "But speaking of last night... You've never mentioned you played any instruments Asha, I thought your only interest was drawing."

"I-I just didn't see any reason to comment, I'm still practicing is all" She says holding the mandolin close to her

The king chuckles at that "Now now don't be so modest my dear, you played so beautifully it almost seemed like..." he turns his gaze to Aster as he finishes with a knowing smile "Magic."

And with that, Asha realized what Aster already knew since the moment he saw the couple... They knew.

Somehow, they know Aster is a star.

The two teens are thinking the same thing, they gotta run.

Aster begins to walk backwards towards Asha as he says in a not so subtle nervous voice

"Aaaanyway, thank you so much for coming but I'm afraid there'll be no encore, we gotta take a break and-and it looks like it's gonna rain so-"

"Aw leaving so soon?" The king interrupts with a sad tone "We've got a bit of a crowd here. I believe this is as good a time as any for me to share two VERY important announcements... You both should stay and listen, I think they might be of interest to you." He says walking closer to them, to which Aster grabs Asha's hand and they both start moving away.

"O-oh sure the crowd is all yours. We're just REALLY in a hurry." Aster says while still walking backwards, keeping eye contact with the king with a forced smile.

"Hmm" The king hums while tilting his head to the side "Very well then, I'm sure the news will catch up to you two... Sooner than you think." He whisper that last sentence while looking at Asha with that same knowing smile.

And on that note, Aster and Asha just run out of there, leaving some very confused citizens staring at them. Including Asha's friends.

Magnifico follows them with his eyes with a confident and relaxed gaze... He can grab them later, now, it's time to set the stage.

"ALRIGHT! My people, please gather around!" The king says as he hits his staff on the ground teleporting him and the queen to the top of a stage in the plaza.

(Let’s say the stage looks like this… Disneyland stage… But I’ll not be counting this as a reference because that’s kinda reaching at this point.)

More people around the plaza come closer to see what this is all about.

Meanwhile Asha and Aster hide in a alley to hear what the king has to say.

The king begins loud and clear

"Now, I know you are all wondering about that little light last night-"

The crowd cheers, assuming the light was a gift from the king.

"... A light I did not command nor condone." He corrects their assumption

The smiles on his people's faces deflated

"As a matter of fact, that light wasn't even from this world... It was a THREAT from beyond our skies." Magnifico explains with a serious gaze as he summons a book with his staff, the book floats next to him as the pages flip.

"A threat that my family has dreaded for generations. A being that comes down to earth and consumes all the hope, joy and love they can find..." The book stops on a page showing the illustration of a wishing star individual, with golden hair. The drawing seem to have been altered though, to make the entity look more ominous.

"A fallen star. This VILE creature is hiding among us. They can take a human form, gain your trust, make you feel all happy and warm inside even, BUT DON'T BE FOOLED!" The king exclaims warningly as he shuts the book "They're after ONE thing... Your wishes." He says menacingly, pointing at the top of the castle in the distance.

All the citizens look horrified, mumbling among each other, fearing for their wishes and themselves.

Among the crowd there's Asha's friend, they're all scared but Simon seems specially concerned.

The king lets the fear sink in for a few seconds before he switches back to his upbeat friendly king persona.

"BUT HEEEEY! Relax! No need to panic ladies and gentleman. As always, you can trust in me to keep you, and your wishes, safe and sound. This star may be powerful, yes, but their magic is no match for me!" He illustrates his point by creating a light show with his staff, creating fireworks and briefly a dragon made of green magic.

The crowd cheers and claps, trusting Magnifico wholeheartedly.

Aster and Asha are just watching all this play out, hiding away in a nearby alley.

Aster is going through a lot of emotions, scared of what might happen if the king does capture him, angry at himself for not keeping an eye out like he promised he would, and sad that all those people just took everything the king said as gospel.

His animation (That is now 3D, but with a different frame rate depending on how he feels) becomes more laggy and jumpy, like he's not in control of his own body movements as he speaks.

"I didn't think he'd know what a wishing star IS. Had I known this was a possibility I would've NEVER suggested for us to get exposed like that... I'm sorry Asha" They apologize for something he couldn't have predicted.

"It's not your fault." Asha reassure him holding his hand "...But when we were playing, did you see if anyone changed their minds?" She asks curious.

"... Yeah, actually... I could see some sparks of hope! I could tell some people considered granting their wishes by themselves..." He says, calming down a little, his animation going back to somewhat normal.

Asha felt relieved by that, at least they did a little bit of a difference...

But that wasn't enough, they had to actually MAKE a difference, and the only way of doing that was by showing everyone the truth, and proving what was happening with their wishes, if only Asha could show them-

Wait... The king and queen... They're not in the castle right now...

Asha has an idea.

She holds Aster's hand tightly and starts walking out the alley, going through the plaza.

King Magnifico and Amaya are still there, he's answering a few questions about the glow and what people should do.

He follows the two of them with his eyes for a moment.

"Woah- hey I thought we were gonna run away from here." He says quietly to her, trying to keep up the pace.

"No. Come with me.” Asha starts running, pulling Aster with her.

They’re running towards the castle.

“O-okay so what's the plan now?”

“I'm tired of running away from them." Asha says determined

"Huh?"

She points at the castle.

"My wish, and the wishes of dozens of people in Rosas are in there. We can sneak in while those two are outside, then we can grab my wish and as many others as we can." Her eyes have a burning passion as she runs with Aster just in toe holding her hand.

"... Wait, but isn't that pretty much my first plan from yesterday? What changed?"

"What changed is that Magnifico and Amable aren't in the castle..." She thinks for a moment, then she looks back to Aster and gives him a thankful smile "And also, you've shown me that I CAN inspire people, I CAN show them the truth, we can do this together!"

Aster's eyes sparkle in awe when he sees her face.

She continues, now looking at the castle with no doubts left in her "We can even grab some wishes that they changed and show to their owners, to use as proof of what the king and queen are doing!"

Aster can see Asha's star shinning even brighter than before, a huge smile grows on his face.

"That's brilliant!" Aster lets go of her hand and starts running faster than her “Then let’s go! Last one there is a dusty nebula!”

The two are now racing to the castle, with Aster running considerably faster than Asha.

Both hopeful that they'll succeed.

...

They're far, but the king can still see them in the distance. He smiles.

It's adorable how she thinks she can actually change anything.

Asha and Aster don't hear as the king says to his people:

“Now… My second announcement is about this veeeery special wish that I’ve received last night...” he says with a smirk.

He summons a green orb in his hands.

He holds it, in a way that no one can see what's inside the wish yet.

"My dear people, as you all know, nothing in this life brings me more joy than making ALL your wishes come true- Well, that is aside from my beloved queen." He says giving the queen a passionate glance and kissing her hand.

"Oh you!" She giggles.

"However, yesterday something quite... Unfortunate happened, and I had to do something I swore I'd never do... I denied granting a wish." Some citizens gasp in surprise, thinking someone must have wished for something really bad

Asha's friends look surprised at that, they already suspect whose wish this is.

"I know, I know, shocking, yes. It was a wish that just- Well-Surprised us, really, I wasn't sure if I could allow it..." He looks down on the wish with a introspective gaze "But after putting some thought into it, I realized: Isn't this kingdom all about dreams coming true? No matter how outlandish they may seem? Well I say YES. That's what MY Rosas is all about!" The king announces passionately.

"So we decided to do something new... For the first time in my reign... We're getting a PUBLIC WISH GRANTING CEREMONY!" He exclaims. This is a big deal, Magnifico never granted a wish in front of people, only at night while they sleep.

The green gem in his staff glows…

Creating a huge hand made of green magic.

“I’ll just grab our lucky winner real quick, so we may get started.” The king says wearing a huge grin.

His predatory eyes are fixated on Asha running after Aster in the distance.

...

Aster was right about one thing.

It does look like it's gonna rain.

Chapter 10

Final Thoughts

... Soooooo yeah hahaha, we're getting to some INTENSE stuff in the next chapter, buckle up.

But about THIS chapter though, those sure were some good vibes at the beginning, huh? Aster getting to see the kingdom, giving Asha flowers, they promise to stay togetheeeer, and then they sing and daaaance and then Magnifico shows up and the good vibes are gone.

Like... I'm really proud of my work with him as a villain, like, if you're writing a character and YOU dread getting to the scenes that he shows up, you KNOW you're doing something right... I think, you tell me, how did you feel when he popped up?

I'm REALLY proud of how this chapter turned out in general. The idea of Aster seeing humans as tangible emotions just HIT ME one time when I was listening to "At All Cost" for the 1000000th time, and it just fitted perfectly with everything.

Shout out to @gracebethartacc I made Magnifico call Aster “little one” in your honor… And he’ll do it often.

Oh and one more thing, you may have noticed I'm implying that it's gonna rain... Yeah I'll just say one thing about that:

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