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Chapter Text

The mast broke in half with the roaring thunder. It started to fall, its wood splitting with the sound of death and the screaming of everyone on board. Magnifico tried to use his magic to fix it, but it was useless. He was just an apprentice and he was exhausted.

Someone fell off the ship. There were more screams and thunder. Everything was starting to blur on the corners of his vision, but he heard it, clear as the chime of a bell, clearer that anything: “Magnifico!”

Who was the one who fell? A friend? A distant relative? He couldn’t even count how many people he had lost in the last month. They were never prepared for the fire that destroyed their island when the volcano suddenly erupted, how could they have been prepared for the water and wind that awaited in the vast ocean? They could only run. They were optimistic at the beginning, but much had changed since then.

Magnifico ran, using his last remaining energies, and summoned the last bit of his magic, but to no avail. That person who fell off the ship disappeared beneath the waters. The storm eventually calmed down and left the survivors a tad more devastated than they already were.

The young apprentice retired to his room without saying anything. No one tried to stop him. No one tried to say anything encouraging. He was useless. Everything was.

The next day, everyone met on the board to say goodbye to those they’d recently lost. There was crying, but everyone ignored it. There were no more comforting words. Not on that ship.

It was as if everyone realized at the same time that that was it. They weren’t going to survive.

“I wish… I had lived to be a musician,” a girl said.

“I wanted to learn how to bake a strawberry cake,” the girl beside her said. “I wanted to eat it with my mom,” she could barely finish her sentence before she started sobbing.

“I can’t believe I’ll never be a doctor.”

“I wish I had married.”

“I wish…”

Magnifico looked around him, surprised. Everything he could see around him was regret. I wish this, I wish that. Everyone wanted things they didn’t have, instead of focusing on the present: on a way to survive. Humanity was always stupid like that, incompetent. Only asking for more, for Magnifico’s help, for some magical being to concede their wishes.

Human’s hearts are made just to suffer, he thought. We’re designed to never be content, to be always looking for a life we don’t have instead of looking at the life we have. And now we’re all going to die.

Someone turned towards him. They always did, at least since his master passed away. Even if he was only an apprentice. Even if he was only a teenager.

“We have to do something,” came the voice of Amaya, standing right next to him.

So Magnifico came up with a solution.

It was that day when he decided wishes were only burdens.

Chapter Text

The water temperature rose up by two degrees. Asha raised a fist into the air and let out a “yes!” between her teeth. Her professor, besides her, observed the thermometer before nodding.

“An excellent job, Asha,” she congratulated with a soft smile.

Maybe raising the water temperature by a couple of degrees didn’t look like powerful magic. Asha was a little disappointed when she was thirteen and discovered how much study she would need just to be able to do something so lame. But heat was energy, and energy didn’t just appear out of nowhere in nature. That was magic: true magic. She was beginning to learn how to cast spells and soon she would be able to do amazing things, just like Magnifico did.

Well, okay, that was too much. No one was as amazing as Magnifico, the royal magician and queen’s consort.

“Then…?” she left the question in the air, trying not to hold much hope.

“I’ll write you a recommendation letter,” the teacher said. “I’m sure Magnifico will love having you as his apprentice.”

“Yes!” Asha let out, before quickly clearing her throat to recover. “I mean, thank you. It will be an honor.”

Her teacher shook her head in amusement as Asha retrieved her things and headed towards the door. She was going to be in the list to be the magician’s apprentice! But she had to calm down, she didn’t even know how many candidates where on that list. What if there were hundreds of names? After all, who wouldn’t want to be Magnifico’s apprentice? But it would be awesome is she was the one…

“Asha, wait!”

Dahlia’s voice took her out of her daydream. Asha stopped at the bottom of the stairs and waited for Dahlia, who was also leaving the school. Her friend went down the stairs one step after another with the support of her cane, until she reached Asha. They both started walking together.

“Sorry, I didn’t remember your class ended at the same time as mine,” Asha apologized. Dahlia sighed.

“You were daydreaming again, weren’t you?”

“I— Maybe,” she accepted. “But I left quickly because I’m going to the market. It’s my grandpa’s birthday, remember? And I promised to make gazpacho and tortilla de patatas.”

“Not only you rub in your magical talent, you also have to rub in your cooking talent as well,” Dahlia faked being offended, raising her free hand to her forehead.

Asha lightly laughed, “C’mon, you make delicious pastries.”

“Yes, but I’m useless when it’s not dessert. I couldn’t even make you a salad.

“No way, a salad is just a bunch of things thrown in a bowl and seasoned with olive oil.” They had reached the market while they talked, so Asha grabbed a lettuce to emphasize her point. She then looked at the prize and asked for a cloth bag to carry it, counting little coins as she did.

“It’s not that easy,” Dahlia muttered, but Asha’s attention was only on the tomatoes she was now buying.

They walked around the market some more, gathering ingredients and chatting about the classes. Well, Asha was chatting about the classes. Dahlia was strangely distant.

“Asha…” she started, when a group of teenagers appeared out of nowhere and threw her cane to the floor. They ran away, laughing and chanting: “Three-legged Dahlia!”

“Hey!” Dahlia complained. “Jerks…”

“Dario! Safi! I’m telling your parents!” Asha shouted, but the two boys got lost between the stands.

“It’s okay, Asha,” Dahlia sighed, grabbing her cane from the ground. “It’s not worth it.”

“It’s not okay, tho,” Asha said. She put on a smile, trying to be encouraging, “But just you wait. We’ll learn magic from Magnifico himself and then we’ll turn them into frogs.”

She wanted to make Dahlia laugh, but the effect was the opposite. She frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Asha, that’s what I was trying to tell you,” Dahlia started. “I’m leaving the classes.”

“What? Why?”

“Don’t you see? Everyone is slowly leaving the school, we’re turning 18 this year. Our education is over.”

“There’s still one class: magic,” Asha replied.

“Magic isn’t for everyone.”

“I know a lot of people give up on it but you’re hardworking and—”

“You don’t even know, do you?” Dahlia said. There was severity in her tone, but there was something else… sadness? Hurt?

“Know what?”

“Magic can’t be acquired,” Dahlia sighed. “Either you have it or you don’t.”

“But— that can’t be true,” Asha said, slowly. “I’m learning, I can do small spells now.”

“And I’m happy for you. But that’s because you have the gift. I don’t.” There was a pause and Dahlia’s expression softened. “For you it’s like making a salad: you just have to learn which ingredients to use and how to combine them. For me— it’s like I don’t even have lettuce. Or a plate.”

“But I thought—” She stopped and lowered her gaze. “Oh, I’m so sorry,”

“It’s okay, I already asked for a job at the palace’s kitchen. I’m going to make pastries every day.”

“What?” Asha raised her head again. “A job already?”

“I start Monday,” Dahlia confirmed. “So, if you start learning magic with Magnifico —and I’m sure you will, you’re a magician like him!—, you can come see me in the kitchens and I’ll treat you to a cookie.”

“That’s a great idea,” Asha smiled, but then hesitated. “But didn’t you want to see the world?”

Dahlia shook her hand, shooing away that idea like it was a mosquito. “I’ll be an adult this year. I have to be responsible. Besides, Magnifico will take my wish and I won’t even remember I wanted to travel the world. It will be perfect.”

“You’re right! We’re so lucky we have him!”

“I can’t wait till my birthday.”

“Me neither!”

“Do you know your wish already?” Dahlia lowered her voice to ask that question. Asha just shook her head. “That’s okay, his magic will find it.”

The bell tower clock rang, striking five and startling the two friends.

“Well, I better go to my house,” Asha said, quickly squeezing Dahlia into a side hug. “See you later!”

Asha ran, adjusting her bag of groceries on her shoulder and watching Dahlia wave at her before disappearing from her sight. Her house was nearby, so it only took a few minutes to arrive. Once she got there, Asha rushed to put all the groceries on the kitchen island and pull up her sleeves to start cooking.

“You don’t even say hello to your mother?” Sakina joked, entering the room and smiling to her daughter.

Asha left the tomatoes she was going to wash and kissed Sakina on the cheek. “You’re right, sorry!” she said, quickly going back to work. “I just have so much energy in me! There’s so much to do!”

“How was your class?” Sakina asked. She handled the vegetables, despite her daughter’s complaints.

Asha sighed, but resolved to peel the potatoes instead. “It was great!” she said, trying to smile again, but she remembered her conversation with Dahlia afterwards and added: “But Dahlia is leaving school already. I don’t know if there’s anyone else studying magic anymore, apart from me.”

Her mother’s reaction was the opposite of hers. Sakina gasped in delight, hands going to her mouth. “Then that means… that means you will be the next magician!”

“I guess,” Asha shrugged. That was what she wanted, right? Then why wasn’t she happier? It was not that she wasn’t excited about it, but… “I just wish it was because of my abilities, my own merits, and not because I’m literally the only one with the gift.”

Sakina looked at her daughter sideways, tomatoes forgotten. Asha faked not noticing and started slicing the potatoes for the tortilla.

“Wish?” Sakina finally said.

Asha opened her mouth, but then closed it. She’d used the wrong word, of course. Wishing was childish. She was already 17 years old, she had to stop saying that.

Her mom softly asked: “Is that your Wish? The one you’ll give Magnifico when you turn 18?”

Asha stopped moving, carefully leaving the knife on the cutting board. “I… I don’t know,” she confessed.

“It’d be good if it is,” Sakina said, putting one hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “That way you’ll get rid of that useless sentiment soon, and you’ll be able to focus on your brilliant career.”

Asha looked at her mother and slowly nodded, but a lump had suddenly formed on her throat. She gulped, trying to ignore it. She had all those weird feelings because she wasn’t 18 yet. Everything would be fine after the Ceremony.

“Come on, mom,” she forced herself to say, with a faint smile. “Let me do the gazpacho.”

They finally compromised on cooking together. They put the potatoes to fry in oil and then finished chopping the tomatoes, the green peppers, the cucumbers and the garlic. While Asha grinded all those vegetables to make the gazpacho, her mom whisked the eggs for the tortilla. Sakina added the fried potatoes to the eggs and then poured everything into the frying pan again.

Asha put the gazpacho on the fridge to let it cool for a while, sighing in amused exasperation when her mom refused to let her flip the tortilla over. She wasn’t even mad; her mom managed to make perfectly round tortillas, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

An hour later, the two of them and Sabino, Asha’s grandpa, where sitting at the sunroom. It’d been Sakina’s idea to have dinner there, and the other two agreed. Sabino helped them set the table, and soon three bowls of gazpacho with little pieces of pepper, onion and cucumber as toppings waited for them on the table, with the tortilla in the middle, cut in squares to share.

The three of them sat around the table and thanked Magnifico for everything they had, for the peaceful kingdom of Rosas, before they started to eat.

It was supposed to be a perfect night: dinner, and family, and even birthday cake. The only thing missing was her dad, but Saba and Sakina didn’t like talking about him. Asha looked up and saw the beautiful sky, full of stars. Her father used to say the stars were there to guide people, and so, Asha pushed her doubts aside, that weird sadness in her heart, and focused on the future.

If the stars kept shining like that for her, who would tell what she was capable of?

Chapter Text

“You look beautiful,” Sakina said, putting a tender hand in Asha’s cheek. The teenager smiled proudly and her mother stepped aside to let her see herself in the mirror.

Asha had come to her mom’s shop after her chores that day, and had been dressed with an elegant cobalt blue two-piece outfit. The top part was sleeveless, with rich silver embroidery, and it mimicked the fall of a dress on the back while being open on the front. The bottom part were harem pants, also decorated in silver, with patterns of flowers in one of the legs.

“This patterns are incredible,” Asha praised. “You outdid yourself here, mom.”

“I’d love to get credit, but it wasn’t me,” Sakina said, and she gestured her head towards the girl that was half-hidden between dresses.

“Bazeema?” Asha opened her eyes in surprise. “I didn’t know you had such talent, this is amazing!”

“T-thanks…” the shy girl replied, and then looked to the floor once more.

“She’s a little shy, you know her,” Sakina intervened. “But her ability with the needle is something else.”

Asha nodded, but couldn’t help to think about how Bazeema had been her classmate a week before, and now she was working as an apprentice at her mom’s shop. One by one, all her classmates had left the school, until only Asha was left to pursue magic studies.

That was the reason she’d been called to the castle, to see none other than Magnifico himself: She was the only one who pursued being his apprentice. Which also meant being his successor, someday. Just thinking about that made her dizzy, but it was what she wanted. What she was capable of, she was sure of it.

She left the shop and headed towards the castle without wasting another second.

Upon her arrival, her friend Simon —recently appointed guard on the castle— greeted her and guided her through the front doors. It wasn’t the first time Asha entered the castle, some of her friends had started working there recently and she was able to visit them, but it was the first time she entered through the front doors instead of the worker’s passages.

They entered to a beautiful garden that would lead them to the main doors. Asha’s mind flew: there was too much to pay attention to, too much to wonder about. The decorative bushes, the flowers, the paved paths… and Simon.

“How is it?” Asha asked, and somehow Simon knew instantly what she meant.

“It’s like… being lighter,” he explained, clutching his chest, the place where his wish had left him when he gave it to Magnifico. “It’s like everything is easier, now. I’m happy.”

“I’m glad for you,” Asha said, lightly squeezing his arm.

Simon smiled as he opened the main doors for her, revealing the great hall. He opened his mouth to say something else, but a new voice startled them.

“I’ll take it from here, Simon.”

Asha gaped at the sight of the Queen at the bottom of a spiral staircase. She’d been summoned to the castle, yes, but to see Magnifico. She hadn’t prepared herself to see the Queen.

“Of course, your Majesty,” Simon bowed and closed the doors behind him, leaving Asha alone before Queen Amaya.

The Queen walked closer to her and, upon seen her stunned expression, her face softened and she gave Asha a kind smile. “Don’t be afraid, I haven’t eaten anyone in my life.”

Asha startled and quickly rushed a bow, making the Queen chuckle. “My Queen, I mean, your Majesty!” Asha blurted. She got up as quick as she’d gone down, head dizzy. “It’s a pleasure, an honor, truly…”

“That’s okay, child,” Amaya cut her with an elegant gesture of her hand. “I wanted to meet my husband’s new apprentice. Come this way.”

She started walking towards the staircase and Asha followed. The teenager tried to emulate Amaya’s regal posture, straightening her back. After a few seconds, the silence already felt too heavy for her, so she spoke: “Well, that’s me! The apprentice, I mean. I’m Asha.”

“Nice to meet you,” Amaya smiled again. She seemed to always have a kind smile on her face. Asha liked that. She sighed, feeling a little lighter. Amaya kept talking: “It’s not very common, the gift you have. I was scared no one would be able to step as the kingdom’s new magician, but now you’re here… You look so young.”

“I am!” Asha agreed. “I mean, young. But like, in a good way. Ready to learn!”

She regretted her outburst the same moment it came from her mouth, but the Queen only nodded slowly. “Yes, I see you’re full of energy. And I hope, loyalty.”

“Of course!” Asha replied.

They stopped at the top of the staircase, and Asha wondered what was that about. Queen Amaya seemed to be piercing her with her gaze, but her smile was kind all the way through.

“You’ll do good, Asha,” she finally said. “You’ll be perfect.”

And just like that, the Queen turned around and left, leaving her in front of a wooden double door.

“So do I just go through here?” Asha wondered out loud. The Queen was already gone, so no one heard her. She looked at the wooden doors and took a deep breath before opening them with resolve.

A round study was waiting for her at the other side, and she could help but look around, gaping. It was everything she’d ever hoped: tall stone walls covered to the brim by books, potions and weird artifacts. A cauldron was connected to a portable kitchen in one of the desks, next to shelves full of ingredients. But the thing that caught her attention was a book, the oldest book she’d ever seen, encased behind a crystal.

She approached it and felt something… some malice creeping into her. And yet, she raised her hand, wanting to touch it…

“We humans are a contradiction, huh?” A voice came from behind her, making her startle. She turned around and realized she was facing Magnifico of Rosas. “We can’t help being attracted to what we know would destroy us.”

He vaguely gestured towards the book behind Asha, and the girl straightened. “Oh, no! No, no, I wasn’t! Not that I wanted to touch it…” she huffed and tilted to a side, hair falling like a cascade. “Well, maybe I wanted to touch it just a little,” she mumbled.

To her surprise, Magnifico laughed. “Of course you did! You’re a magician!” he walked towards her and, for the first time, Asha realized he’d come from a hidden room and the wall was closing behind him. “I’ve longed for someone like me to come along, and here you are. We magicians can’t help but feel the raw magic wherever it is: on the stars, on the ancient books, on the wild forests… and we’re drawn to it. But don’t worry, that book is properly protected by my magic, you had no chance to be corrupted by it.”

“Corrupted?” Asha repeated, giving the book a glance.

“Yes, not all magic is pure and cozy like the star magic is. Some magic is neutral, like the wishes… they can range from good to bad, from the purest to the utmost corruption. And other magic is purely destructive,” Magnifico reached her side and both of them turned towards the book. “And it can control and corrupted whoever it touches.”

There was moment of silence in which Asha almost forgot how to breath. One moment in Magnifico’s presence and she felt like she’d learned more than in ten years of studying.

“But then… why do you have it?” she let out, like a whisper.

She regretted it immediately, she didn’t mean to question Magnifico, but when she looked at him, he didn’t seem offended. In fact, he didn’t even seem entirely present: his gaze was lost in the distance, like he was seeing something no one else was able to see.

“A magician must be prepared,” he said in a low tone. Suddenly he seemed to remember where he was. He blinked and formed a smile, turning away from the book to focus on Asha. “But enough of that. Welcome, Asha!”

“T-thank you, my Lord!” Asha stammered and tried to do a curtsy, but Magnifico shook his hand.

“No need for that. And no need for Lord either. I know I’m your King, but you’re not here to be my subject: you’re here to be my apprentice. How about you call me teach? Nah, I don’t like it. Master? Or maybe just Magnifico? It doesn’t work, too casual…” he seemed to be talking to himself at that point, and he started pacing the room.

“How about Master Magnifico?” Asha suggested.

Magnifico stopped and raised his hands, “That’s it! Oh, this is going to work amazingly, you’re so intelligent.”

Asha smiled, she wasn’t sure she’d done anything to impress the King consort but she was happy to be praised by him. He started pacing the room again, so Asha followed him, delighted. She’d been told lots of times that she was too nervous but what if that was a common characteristic between magicians? She was elated to realize Magnifico was also walking across the room, explaining stuff at a fast pace.

“And this is my favorite part of the tower,” Magnifico was explaining then, pointing towards a wall. Asha would’ve been confused if she hadn’t seen the magician walked into the room across that wall before.

“It’s a magic wall?” she guessed.

“Correct again!” Magnifico exclaimed. “Now, only people with magical talents can open it. I don’t expect you to be able to, so don’t get discouraged if you can’t, but…”

Before he’d finished his sentence, Asha had already touched the wall and it had opened for her in an instant.

“A true magician, at last…” Magnifico whispered.

Asha took a step on the secret room, looking in awe. Right there, floating near the top, a sea of lights moved in waves, twirling in the air currents.

“Are… are those…?” she tried to ask, voice faltering.

“Oh, yeah,” Magnifico walked into the room and pointed up. “This are the wishes from Rosas.”

Asha entered the room following the King, eyes up, incapable of looking anywhere but to the magic show happening right before her. He’d never felt so much power around her before. Just like the king had said, the wishes had all kinds of magic to them: some felt like a warmth ray of sun, some felt like hatred creeping into one’s heart.

While the wished twirled and moved around the two of them, Asha felt something familiar and somehow knew: her grandpa’s wish was right in front of her. She raised her hands and let it touch her, and it felt like home.

“Thank you,” she found herself saying. “My grandpa… he’s 100 years old today. I can’t imagine the burden of living more than 80 years with a wish that would never come true.”

Magnifico looked at her with compassion, and hesitantly raised a hand. When Asha didn’t try to move back, he rested it on her shoulder.

“That’s what I do, Asha.” His voice sounded raw, like an ocean clashing against the rocks, bending time, unrelenting. “And that’s what you’ll do, in the future.”

That startled her enough to let go of her grandpa’s wish and turn excitedtely towards the King.

“You mean...!?”

“We start Monday,” he confirmed.

When Asha finally left the castle, night already falling upon Rosas, she found herself unable to stop smiling brightly.

Chapter Text

Asha felt so excited that she was incapable of walking, and soon she found herself running across the landscapes of Rosas, heading towards her home. She couldn’t wait to see Saba and Sakina’s face when they heard the news: that not only Magnifico was going to teach Asha magic, but he was also appointing her as his successor. It was her dream come true.

She run until she was out of breath, and when she stopped, she realized the path her feet had taken her to. That was the same tree where she used to sit with her father. The place where he used to look at the sky and tell her all those stories about the stars.

Asha took a deep breath and touched the old branches, a bittersweet feeling on her chest. She looked up at the sky, at the starts, and felt their power: Raw and pure magic, magic that could do anything. Right there, floating in the sky, they reminded her of the wishes floating on Magnifico’s chambers.

She’d never fully realized that, if she became Magnifico’s apprentice, she’d be in charge of the wishes too; and now, she felt dizzy but excited. She had been repeating what her mom and grandpa said: she had to leave wishes behind, in order to grow up. But what if she didn’t? If she became the next magician of Rosas, she’d get to decide. She wouldn’t have to give up anything. She could have everything she wanted.

But what if being Magnifico’s successor was her Wish? What if she had to give that Wish to Magnifico on her next birthday? Surely Magnifico would grant it if that was the case, right? She could abandon if that wish disappeared, and Magnifico wouldn’t want that. Yes, she had nothing to worry about…

The stars flickered, reflecting her doubts. She felt powerful right there, in that night, more than she’d never felt. She remembered what her dad used to say, and imagined him there, with her, sitting on that branch, telling her how proud he was.

She closed her eyes and wished with all her heart. She wished for the future, for everything to go exactly the way she needed it to go.

And then, she felt something… a strange warmth. She opened her eyes and had to cover them quickly with one arm, because a bright light was approaching… something was falling…

Suddenly the light was right in front of her, and it had the form of… a person?

She blinked, eyes tearing up from the intense light, so she covered them up again. The strange person in front of her flickered, and the light subsided. When she looked again, the person before her was still glowing a bit, but otherwise he looked like a normal boy. Or as normal as a boy could look like floating in the air.

“What…? Who…?” Asha let out, unable to finish a single sentence. The boy smiled at her and waved, floating around her and leaving a trace of sparks behind him. She twirled to follow him, eyes going wide at the realization. “You’re a star?”

The boy stopped moving around her and nodded enthusiastically. With a movement of his fingers, lights appeared in the palm of his hand, exploding beautifully like fire flowers.

Asha gaped, “But… but you… me…” The boy covered his mouth in a laughing motion, though no sound came from him. “Did I somehow summon you?”

He dropped his hands and nodded again.

“But… but that’s… dangerous,” she frowned, realizing what she’d done. She’d never heard of anyone summoning a star, she didn’t even know it was possible, but it was certainly not a good thing to do. The star boy frowned at her, head tilting questioningly. “You stars grant wishes, but you can’t just grant everyone’s wishes! That’s irresponsible!”

Star, which she decided to call him, crossed his arms and looked at her with an eyebrow raised. Since she didn’t say anything, he sighed, pointed at her, then at the sky. She followed his movements until she got it, and she found herself blushing a little.

“Well, I know I wished for all my wishes to come true,” she admitted. “But I’m different. I’m Magnifico’s apprentice! You know, the next magician of Rosas,” she clarified when Star tilted his head.

Star shrugged, like deciding none of that was his business. He floated around again, and with a gesture of his hand, beautiful flowers decorated the nearby bushes. Asha felt herself smiling but immediately put on a frowning face again, walking towards him.

“What are you doing? Those flowers are not in season! That’s going to mess with the environment… hey!” she followed him around as he kept making flowers bloom and trees cover with lush leaves. “Stop that!”

Star looked at her and floated upside down, gaze examining her intently. Then he stuck her tongue to her and floated away.

“Very mature!” she complained.

She couldn’t believe this. She’d somehow summoned a childlish star with enough magic to challenge even Magnifico. What had she done? What if Magnifico saw that as a betrayal!? She remembered perfectly the words of the Queen, asking her if she was loyal to them. Someone loyal to the royal magician wasn’t supposed to summon outside magic to rival him!

Completely unaware to her internal conflict, Star kept floating around, making beautiful labyrinth bushes and passages, turning the place into the most impressive garden Asha had ever seen. He turned towards the center tree, Tomás’ tree, and raised his hand… And Asha snapped.

“No!” she exclaimed.

Star stopped in the air, surprised by her outburst. Asha moved between him and the tree, that tree where she could still see her father when she closed her eyes.

“You can’t touch this tree, leave it!” she yelled. “Leave!”

Star seemed puzzled, but then pouted, one hand turning into a fist and the other pointing to Asha.

“Yes, I know it was me who summoned you here,” she replied. “But it was a mistake. I don’t want you here. I’ll say it again: Go away.”

For a moment, Asha felt a sting of fear that she’d made a star cry. But it was probably just an illusion. Star looked hurt, but he just turned around, and disappeared into the night.

* * *

Monday came and Asha had almost forgotten about Star. She woke up early, full of energy, and put on an everyday dress to go to the market before attending her first classes with Magnifico. While she was picking up groceries, a boy approached the same stand she was looking at. She would have just ignored him, but she did a double take when she realized it was Safi.

“Oh, good morning, Safi,” she politely greeted him, although she didn’t smile.

Safi didn’t seem to register her, he was busy blowing his nose. Asha kinda wanted him to do that away from the groceries, but he pocketed his handkerchief and noticed her then.

“Oh, hi, Asha,” he said, voice sounding charged with congestion.

“Your allergies acting up again?” she guessed.

“Yep,” he confirmed. “It’s all these flowers that blossomed through the weekend. I mean, how did that even happen?”

Asha felt paralyzed for a moment, and she hoped she wasn’t making a guilty face. Safi was looking at her, probably because she’d gotten silent all of a sudden, so she rushed to change the subject: “Where’s Dario, by the way? Aren’t you two always together?”

That seemed to strike a chord. Safi huffed and looked away.

“Dario? He’s acting super weird since his Wishing Ceremony,” he said sourly.

Asha nodded, although she was a little surprised. Dario had turned 18 that weekend and had given his wish to Magnifico, being the second of Asha’s classmates to do so. Sometimes people were said to change after those ceremonies, but Dario not wanting anything to do with Safi? That didn’t seem like him at all.

“What? But aren’t you two going out?” Asha let out.

Safi startled, blushing. “What? N-no, of course not!” he said. Then, almost to himself: “Especially not now, I guess.”

Asha didn’t hold Safi as one of her best friends, she didn’t like the way he treated Dahlia, but she still felt a sting of sadness for him. Sometimes those things happened, when people grew up: They changed and grew apart, and the Ceremony only rushed that. She wouldn’t have expected it from Dario but, well, he wasn’t her best friend either.

“Well, hang in there, Safi,” she said, accommodating her bag on her shoulder. “See you some other time.”

“Yeah, sure, see you,” he sounded defeated and he walked away.

Asha shook her head and walked home, where her family was waiting for her to bring the food. Once she’d left the groceries in the kitchen, she rushed to organize them before giving quick kisses to her mom and grandpa and stepping outside again.

She’d been energized and nervous, but it wasn’t until she saw the palace’s doors that her insides seemed to do a flip, her body reacting at the idea that she was really about to do this. She followed Simon again, that time he was the one who accompanied her all the way up the stairs and then left her alone to enter the room by herself.

“Good luck,” he said before turning around. “I’m sure you’ll be the best student, and Magnifico’s successor.”

Asha smiled, but she felt like the comment was a little weird. She was already going to be Magnifico’s successor, and obviously she was the best student… she was the only one to make it that far. She shook her head and pushed the doors open.

Then she froze, because there was someone else there and it wasn’t Magnifico.

It was Star.