Chapter Text
Magnifico was a soul without a body, sealed just as firmly as the djinni and spirits he read of in his research, and aware of every moment.
As Amaya carried him away from the crowd cheering his defeat, he pleaded with her. He begged her to see reason. He wasn’t actually going to darken the sky forever! He just wanted to scare the citizens. Teach them a little lesson. They needed to respect their king. They couldn’t be allowed to overthrow him like that, could they? What if they overthrew her in turn? He forgave her for turning on him, he really did! She would understand if she knew how the magic worked! If she just read the book the way he did, she would understand!
He knew, of course, there was no point. Amaya had no magic, certainly not of the sort that could unseal him. There was nothing she could do except, perhaps, agree with him. Validate him. And even that would feel hollow, for it would do nothing to quench the hunger that the forbidden magic still held. It wanted wishes and could not have them. He wanted wishes and could never have them again.
He knew he would not starve without a body. It would just claw at him until it devoured what remained of his conscious self, until he was nothing but a hand grasping at nothing. Or he would dwindle to some kind of shadow, nothing but a face in a mirror that could not remember being a person. There were all sorts of terrible fates for sealed beings. He was too well-read not to know them.
Amaya did not, as she had threatened, hang him in the dungeon.
Instead, she set him against the wall of his laboratory, the sun still streaming through the great glass windows. She would not look at him, her smile fading as soon as she was alone with him. Replacing it was something cold and hard. Not hateful. She didn’t hate him. If she had, everything would have made more sense to him.
After hanging him on the wall, she looked around the laboratory once, and then fled, the doors shutting behind her with a definitive echo.
He had his beautiful castle, the one he’d restored from ruins by his own budding magic, as seen through a window from the dark abyss of his prison. He had his books and potions, forever out of reach. He couldn’t see the ceiling, but he knew the chamber would be empty, all the precious wishes gone forever.
Perhaps he would have preferred the dungeon, smelly as it was.
The devouring magic still churned within him, and with it the heightened senses of spite and paranoia that came with the boost of power. It told him to escape, free himself and free itself to avenge all who had wronged him. It did not seem to understand that escape was impossible.
No, not impossible. In the clouded storm of his mind, he remembered one spell. One more forbidden spell.
The Prism Theorem of Ansem stated that the world was not one world but many. Every time a gust of wind blew a leaf off a tree, it created a timeline where the leaf merely fluttered in the wind. And the Chronos Spell was built off of this theorem. One could not change the past, but one could slip into the past self and create a new future that would exist alongside the ‘current’ one. It fragmented reality like light from a prism.
He could go back before everything went wrong, harnessing his knowledge of what had come and what must never happen again.
Of course, he wouldn’t be able to cast the spell again without the forbidden magic. Which he wouldn’t have in the past. But he wouldn’t need to. He wouldn’t even need the book.
Something inside hissed and spat, like a serpent. The magic didn’t like that.
Was it worth the loss of that power, even chained as he was? He could use the spell to shunt himself into the future, far enough when someone (some gullible fool, some useful idiot) found a way to free him. He wouldn’t even need a body then. He could take his kingdom back by force. There would be no need for careful calculations. Surely by then, the girl would be long dead and the star’s light burnt out.
But that was an unknown future. He knew the past.
Conjuring up power from hands he still felt he had, he uttered an incantation that came from deep within. A force stronger than gravity, stronger than the pull of the staff as it sealed him took hold of him, pulling him backwards in a space with no up or down. The last thing he felt within his prison was the feeling of great, green energy hands scraping against him as he flew from their grasp, and a serpentine roar.
And it was just as the spell promised. There he stood in his laboratory, surrounded by his tomes and potions. There he was in his own finery, looking down at the square of Rosas, his beautiful kingdom, rejoicing at the arrival of new citizens. His citizens, as yet uncorrupted by agitators and traitors.
Not backwards exactly, but sideways. Diagonally. What had happened had happened, but not to this Rosas, not yet. The Prism Theorem held. He had saved himself from oblivion by his own hand.
For now, he reminded himself. The peaceful kingdom he forged and ruled, cultivated like the roses that were its namesake, could just as easily fall back into chaos and upheaval.
He would not be imprisoned again. Never again betrayed, never again mocked and overshadowed. Not even by the stars themselves.
This time, he would not…hmm.
Curious.
Magnifico did not drink alcohol or intentionally ingest any substance that might cloud his thinking. The most indulgent food he allowed himself was sweets, and even those in moderation. So the only way he could describe the clarity and sobriety he noticed in himself was the feeling after a long fever broke.
Of course. The Book.
He had made a crucial error, succumbing to panic and opening the forbidden tome. He of all people should have known the dangers of excess. It had driven him to behave erratically. It made a fool of him in front of his subjects, along with that upstart and her accursed star. Granted he had been driven to a desperate situation and could hardly be blamed, but the results had been quite unfortunate in the long run.
He had struck Amaya with his magic. That was…well, she had betrayed him, but still. It was unbecoming of a king.
Well, easy enough to rectify that mistake this time around. All he had to do was destroy The Book. It hurt to imagine losing such wonders and miracles, going against his own instincts as a scholar and a sorcerer. That was why he kept it in the first place, against Amaya’s protestations. He had to know.
Well, now he knew, and what he knew was that the Book was part of the recipe engineering his downfall.
He walked over to the glass case, prepared to dismiss the guard spell. It was a formality anyway, for no one was foolish enough to snoop in his laboratory and palace tours were carefully supervised. He would toss the Book in the furnace.
As he reached for the glass, his hand stilled.
There it was, the rush of power flowing through his body, his mind unlocked to terrible secrets long-forgotten. There was the slaking of an appetite he never knew he had as he devoured wishes, reveling in the essence of a magic even he could never truly understand.
It was gone, but the memory remained. He could have it again, the memory told him, whenever he wanted. Or he could destroy the Book and live forever denied, tormented like those mortals in myths who had tasted ambrosia among gods and found all food lacking in comparison.
Certain kinds of magic scarred the soul, leaving marks on the psyche that could never be purified. Magnifico knew that. He’d known it when he’d opened the Book, though it’d hardly mattered to him at the time.
But he was a different Magnifico, in a different Rosas. He had not yet allowed the corruption into himself. So why did it linger? Why…?
“Dearest?”
Magnifico spun around, hiding his confusion with a perfect mask of calm. If Amaya caught the slip, she hid her own expression well.
He would have to pay more attention to her this time around. To think she would scheme against him, siding with ignorant children!
He should not have used magic against her, all the same. That was…unfortunate, on his part.
But this Amaya was loyal to him, as she should be. All was as it should be here. If only he could figure out which day the spell had sent him back to, to ensure all stayed as it should be.
“Are you alright?” The queen stepped up to him, placing a hand on his forehead. “You look rather pale. We could call off the interviews for today if you would like.”
Magnifico managed a picture-perfect smile, as always. “Merely a moment of distraction. Never you worry. Bring on the candidates.”
Ah. That day.
The interviews started as they had before. Two young people, entirely wrong for the job. Magnifico had to put effort into remembering what he’d said to them, more or less, but the outcome was the same. They were never going to be apprentices. They didn’t matter.
The third candidate was the one worth notice.
Asha. Daughter of a deceased astronomer and an artist, and said to be a burgeoning artist herself by those who knew her. Described in the initial round of candidate screening as energetic and eager to learn, yet self-effacing and modest.
Modest. Ha. What a lie, what a poor judgment of a would-be usurper. She was one of the other keys to his downfall, her and that strange star she commanded. And unlike the Book, which he had decided he could destroy later when in a less urgent situation, she was not so easy to destroy.
True enough that he was King and she merely one of his subjects. He could have her thrown in the rarely-used dungeon. He could order her whole family exiled from the kingdom.
But on what charges? This Asha had been, until now, a good citizen and advocate of Rosas. Her family had no criminal history. Exile from Rosas was rare, and gossip traveled fast. If he trumped up charges, it might still look too suspicious, and should it come out that they were false everyone would wonder why a wise king would frame an innocent girl. The optics would be terrible.
No. This Asha, he needed to keep under his watch. This one would not undermine him.
He came across her just as he had, struggling with the Book warding spell she’d triggered accidentally. She immediately stammered through an introduction.
“I-I mean I didn’t meant to-it was an accident, and uh, I care too much! That’s my weakness. I care too much about like, about everything.” The girl stood up straight, fidgeting the whole time.
“Relax! Relax. I won’t eat you.” Even as he said it, he wondered how her wish would have tasted. Hmm. “That’s a warding spell. If you’re going to work with me, I am going to ask that you try not to touch anything without asking first. Magic is a bit volatile.”
What had happened the first time? That’s right, he had shown her the wishes.
Why? Why her? Sure, she didn’t strike him as petty and greedy like the other two candidates, but it couldn’t have been just that. She had reminded him of something, hadn’t she? Something out of his reach.
Well. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Instead he gestured for her to sit across from him at one of the laboratory desks, which she did with an almost robotic stiffness followed by more fidgeting. Was this nervous youth really the engineer of his downfall? Was she just faking her social awkwardness to mask her ambition?
Magnifico had made the mistake of underestimating her. Not this time. He would know his enemy.
“So, Asha. Tell me, why do you want to become King’s Apprentice?”
“Oh! Well, um.” Asha visibly took a deep breath and let it out. With that, she regained some of her composure, and Magnifico could see the hints of charisma and power she would later use to rally the people against him. It was all there from the start, when she wasn’t tripping over herself.
“I really love this kingdom, you see. I think the idea of a place where you can go to have your wish come true is so beautiful. I’m a tour guide. Wait, you know that, sorry! But I’m a tour guide and every time new arrivals show up I get to see the looks of joy and relief in their eyes when they reach the shore.”
“Ah, yes.” Without meaning to, Magnifico let his expression soften. “People come here to escape all the forces in the world that make granting their wishes impossible. They’re too poor, or their governments oppress them. Sometimes they’re fleeing from the same greed and strife that destroyed my home.” He glanced towards the burnt tapestry, the eternal reminder of what it felt like to lose everything.
And now, thanks to same the ungrateful worms he spoke of, he knew what it was to lose everything twice. Not again.
“Y-your Majesty? Sir? Are you alright?”
Drat! He let his own handsome face get away from him again. Dreadful, to lose control. The smile returned, as genuine as he could force it. “Oh, I’m fine. Just lost my train of thought.”
“Hah, yeah! That happens to me all the time.” Asha froze as soon as she blurted that out. “I mean, not-not when I’m working! Then I’m very focused. If I’m on the job, I am on the job! And I’m almost always on time.”
Did he really have to do this? Couldn’t he just assume nothing would happen if she didn’t see the wish chamber?
No. She was a teenager. Teenagers were all some flavor of irritating. And he couldn’t leave anything to chance this time.
“We’ll review your work history later,” he insisted. “What matters to me right now is that you understand what a massive responsibility you’ll be taking on. I’ll be sharing the secrets of magic itself, in time.”
Again, Asha seemed to light up, her jitters gone. “Magic is incredible. I mean, I’ve only seen it during the wish granting ceremony, but even so. You can wave your hand and make miracles happen! My father used to tell me all about the stars and planets, and what we know about how they work. But it seems like magic exists outside of all those rules. It’s limitless.”
“Not limitless,” Magnifico interrupted. “And not to be used carelessly. It took me years of studying before I even felt ready to cast the simplest levitation spell.” He demonstrated it with a wiggle of his fingers, making the quill on his desk dance around to Asha’s staring wonder. Good. Be in awe as is proper. “Cast spells with reckless abandon, and all you will conjure is chaos.”
Asha seemed to mull this over. “Oh. Like raising goats.”
“…Goats.”
“Yes! Sabo Sabino has been raising goats since before he came to Rosas with Mom and Dad. He told me how you have to handle them carefully, because they’re living things with strong wills of their own. And you can’t just expect to yell and push them around, because they’ll push back. They bite and kick. You have to get them used to being handled at a young age. It’s a lot of work from sunrise to sundown, and he still does it somehow. He’s a miracle-worker.”
“I see.” Goats. Goats, was it.
“Or baking! If you mess around too much with the measurements and heat, all you bake is a mess. Dahlia taught me about that.”
“Dahlia?”
“Yes! Um, she’s the one who gave you the recommendation on my behalf? She works for you. As your castle baker. You know her!”
Oh, right. “Ah, yes! Dahlia. Her sugar cookies are exquisite.” She was also part of that rebel group, though it was obvious Asha was the ringleader. A shame he couldn’t dismiss her without cause. They did need a baker.
But magic like goat-husbandry! Magic being anything like the mundane work of baking! What nonsense. She understood nothing. How did she call down that star? How?!
“What I meant to say,” he went on, “is that because magic itself is so complicated, and because the apprentice will hold an important position, there are extra limitations involved. As far as wishes go.” Time to lay the trap.
“Oh! There are?”
“Yes.” Magnifico rose from his chair and began to walk in a circle. “First of all, the apprentice can never have their wish granted. They will have to surrender it like the rest, knowing it will remain here. Otherwise it would look like gross favoritism on my part. People could start resenting you, saying you’re exploiting your position. It would be a mess.”
He waited to see her deflate, for her true selfishness to shine through.
Instead, she sat quietly, giving a little sigh and a lopsided smile. “I guess that makes sense. It would look bad. Although I guess if your wish is to be the apprentice…”
“Then fortune smiles upon you.”
“And I mean, I don’t even know what my wish is anyway. I never counted on mine getting granted. It would be-would have been nice, like winning a prize! But…” She trailed off and shrugged.
Hmm. Probably insincere. Everyone wanted something. But that was only the first half of his plan.
“Second rule. You cannot make wish requests on behalf of others.”
Ah, there it was. She sat still, something in her eyes showing a moment of guilt. Why hadn’t he paid more attention the first time? She was so transparent.
“…Yeah, for the same reasons, right? Favoritism. You have to be objective. Besides, if someone got their wish and others thought it was because they knew the apprentice, they might resent that person and I wouldn’t, I mean, nobody would want that! Because I’m sure you grant those wishes wisely.”
Actually, Magnifico noted, that did make sense. Why didn’t he have that policy spelled out in the first place? It would save so much trouble.
If she became the apprentice, she had no right to ask anything of him. She would forfeit it, just as citizens forfeit their wishes. And inevitably her greed would lead her to steal her grandfather’s wish. Then Magnifico would have his cause to banish her. After all, how selfish to steal a wish?
“You catch on quick.” He smiled. “I hope I’m not making this out to be a terrible position. Authority comes with burdens and responsibilities, but it has its privileges too. You’ll be among the few who ever get to learn magic.”
“Oh, I know! I know it’d be worth it. It’s just…” She looked around at the big, round laboratory with a little frown. “It seems kind of lonely. Being in your position.”
…What ?
“Not at all.” Magnifico waved his hand, as if to dismiss the very idea itself. “I have a whole kingdom.” Who adore me now, as they ought to. “And Amaya.” Who still loves me, as she ought to. “And access to more books than I could ever dream of as a child. And…well, it’s almost time for the Wish Ceremony, isn’t it? I think you ought to see it for yourself from our point of view. The crowds, the way someone’s eyes light up when their wish comes true. I promise you, it’s all worth it.”
That part wasn’t a lie. It was all worth it.
Before Asha had time to mull that over, he started leading her out to the front, directing Amaya to give her a seat of honor on the stage.
There he was, old Sabino, looking pitifully hopeful just like the rest. So sure his time had come just because of his years. Even if he didn’t have a dangerous wish, inspiration leading to revolution, why grant it anyway? It would be a waste of magic. He would live what, another month?
Well, he did look hale for 100. Nonetheless. Asha’s family would never have her wishes granted, but there was no need to tell her that this time. That was one of the errors he’d made. Hope, hope kept people loyal and in control. As long as they could cling to the idea that one day they would be chosen among the many, or their loved ones would, they believed in the system. And as delightful as it had been to rub it Asha’s face, the results had been catastrophic. Magnifico had to exhibit self-control. That was the key to survival. That would help him sustain his status quo.
The feeling of having lost everything twice, having had it taken from him twice, would never enter his heart again.
And there they were, his people. His admirers. His kingdom, happy and safe, eager to see his magic work its miracles. He had been just as dazzled by the idea of magic as Asha, once. As anyone else would. If it had lost its luster over the years, becoming more of a chore, that was just one of the burdens of maturity and knowledge.
Last time, he’d granted a prosaic wish to make it clear to Asha why his power should not be questioned. But for his plan to work, for him to keep control of her, he needed her to want this power. So it was time for the occasional ambitious wish. Ambitious, yet controlled.
“People of Rosas!” He held out his arms in benevolence. “The one who shall have their wish granted today is…Ibriz!”
A middle-aged woman lit up from within, hugging two other women next to her. Sisters, perhaps? He ought to keep better track of those things, but that was one of Amaya’s duties. And yes, there it was, the way Sabino seemed to wither into himself just the tiniest bit. The poor old fool really did think he had a chance.
He stole a very quick glance at Asha this time. She was disappointed, but not shattered, her hands grasping at her skirt. Amaya gave her a curious glance but didn’t seem to push it.
Besides, there was always the little wave of disappointment through the crowd. Everyone loved to see the magic at work, but all of them longed, deep down, to be the center of the magic. Everyone wanted to be special. It was natural. It used to bother him, just a little, though he couldn’t even remember why.
Ibriz took the stage, and he held out the blue orb in his hand. “Ibriz, I hereby grant your wish…to sail the seven seas and explore the world!” He held up his hand and channeled a powerful burst of magic, that energy that turned human will and desire into reality. It felt electric within him, bright and shining.
It paled in connection to the gifts of the Book. A powerful spell, and it felt like a ghost of what it could be.
But it worked. Ibriz found herself in possession of a map. “That will guide you wherever you go. You will find a ship at the docks that will never fail you. The wind shall be at your sails and the seas themselves will bless your passage.”
“That-that was my wish!?” Ibriz stared in shock, before tears of joy came to her eyes. She gave Magnifico a hug. That…happened sometimes, though it never stopped being awkward. “I thought-all this time I thought I was ordinary. So ordinary…”
“You may leave for your journey as soon as you’re ready,” Magnifico said with a warm smile. He really wished she would let go of him.
And there was Asha, gawking. Amaya, looking surprised but pleasantly so. It had been a while since he’d granted one of the bigger wishes, hadn’t it?
Yet it was a pragmatic one. Ibriz would sail the world, and tell everyone she saw of the wonders of Rosas. She would spread the glory of his little kingdom to lands he would never see. His population of the lost and the hopeless would grow, and they would love him. And he would have more wishes to protect, to admire, to love.
To devour.
Oh, he really hoped he could distract himself from those thoughts. They were going to get old.
Speaking of getting old, he found himself out of breath once the curtain had fallen and he’d retreated to the wings of the stage, leaning one hand against a bannister. He was about to straighten out and ask for a glass of water when he felt arms wrap around his torso from behind, and a face lean into his neck.
Amaya. Amaya .
“You were showing off a little there, my love,” she whispered. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
Amaya, who betrayed him. Amaya, who was beautiful and radiant as always. Amaya, who he could no longer trust but had to pretend to trust in this new life. Amaya, whose body felt so warm against his.
His smile was a mask, mostly.
“I’m fine. Just a bit stiff. Can’t always stick to the ‘safe’ kind when you’ve got to put on a show.” He stood up straight, gently pulling out of her grasp and pressing a hand to the small of his back. “Maybe I need to cut down on the sweets. Bad for the constitution.”
She reached for his hand and squeezed it again. God, her touch was so soft. Curse his knowledge of what was to come, what could come, making every gesture of hers feel hollow and rehearsed. If she really loved him, she would have stayed by his side, wouldn’t she? She would have understood.
He squeezed it back, because he had to. He needed her loyalty.
“I’m glad you’ll be taking an apprentice,” Amaya whispered, finally stepping back and retreating to her usual genteel formality. Given their shared background, it always had been a marvel how well she adapted to the role of the graceful Queen. “You need to share some of the burden.”
He waved his hand. “They’ll mostly be doing paperwork at first. Though you seem very certain I’ve chosen an apprentice.”
“You let her sit with me during the ceremony! And I’ll be honest, I like her.”
Of course she did. Treason liked treason. “Do you?”
“There’s just something about her. I know gut feelings are not worth much, but we don’t have much else to go off of. And if you didn’t trust her, you wouldn’t bring her this far.”
Magnifico had to sit on the irony of that one for a moment.
“Well, you’ve just helped me decide,” he lied. “I’m going to make her the offer. She…” He glanced back at the closed stage, where the chair sat empty. Not that he would have expected her to just sit there the whole time, but there was no sign of a girl in a purple dress anywhere. “Where did she get off to?!”
Amaya blinked. “You need not panic. I’m sure she’s fine. She said she had to step away and use the facility. I think she’s nervous.”
Yes, but if she strayed too far and got into anything she wasn’t supposed to…true, she couldn’t access the wishes without his power, but if she did, if she did…
“Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry.” Quick footsteps came from down a hall as Asha peeked around the corner. “Just had to, you know. Um. That was…really impressive! She looked so happy when you granted her wish.”
Was she disappointed? She’d seemed so during the ceremony, but maybe she’d swallowed it down. Maybe she understood how improper it would be to complain. He really should have set those boundaries for the apprenticeship the first time, shouldn’t he? Well, hindsight has perfect vision.
He approached her with a winning smile, holding out his hand. “Asha, I’ve seen enough. You have spirit and potential.” Potential was a good way to put it. “I’m prepared to make you my new apprentice.”
Asha blinked, stared down at the hand, then back up at the king. “...Me? Me, like, for real, as in you’d really-I’m really, you mean it? How long do I have to decide?”
“Well, now, right? You don’t want someone indecisive in this position.” More winning smile. Hand out.
“Oh! Yes, yes. That makes sense. A lot of what you said makes a lot of sense…!” Asha ran a hand through her braids, biting her lip, and took a deep breath. “...Okay! Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Good.”
She just stood there.
He tilted his head towards his hand.
“...Oh! You mean to shake on it. Oh wow, shaking the king’s hand. I expected it’d be some kind of formal ceremony, but this is a lot more genuine! You know?” She grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously, then pulled back. “But I should go home and tell my family. And maybe scream about it? But in a good way. Uh, I’m telling you too much. Bye! Your Majesty…!”
It was going to be a lot of this, wasn’t it?
“I’ll escort you out,” said Amaya, taking Asha’s hand. She gave Magnifico a curious glance he couldn’t read, leaving him to use a casual spell to clean up leaves and flower petals from the stage.
Good. He’d done it. He’d changed fate. Which meant what he feared would not come to pass.
Which meant he had no idea what would come to pass.
Hmm.
Well, drat.