Pressure - A Wish Sequel

His Irritation

A golden jet of light flew out of the tip of Asha's wand, hitting the wall and ricocheting back to one of the statues of Amaya lining the room.
"Concentrate, Asha!" Magnifico snapped, using his own magic to stop the statue from toppling, taking a moment to check that it wasn't damaged.

Asha took a deep breath, trying to bite back the urge to complain. Magnifico was being intense, and she understood why, but it hardly seemed fair that he immediately took control of everything again the second he was freed from the mirror. Asha had been doing fine on her own, she'd been helping people earn their wishes, only selectively granting a few that needed a helping hand. The irony of her wish-granting was somewhat lost on her.

"I'm trying, I swear.." she eventually said, glancing back at the book that still lay on the table, opened now to a page on defensive magic. Her eyes scanned it again. Why was this so hard? Her magic had grown stronger in the last few weeks, she had learned how to do more than the basics. Magnifico's presence was making her nervous, though. This was worse than her original interview with him. This mattered far more than getting her Saba's wish granted. This was about saving the entire Kingdom, a Kingdom that she knew was only at risk because she had overthrown their protector.

Magnifico ran his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes, frustration echoing from every cell of his body. He wasn't going to be able to defend Rosas alone, not when he didn't feel back to his full strength just yet, and he needed Asha to increase her skill much faster than she was because he needed this war over so that he could focus on more important things.

"I know.." he grumbled, "but you need to try harder. My wife—" he glanced towards the mirror, swallowing. He knew the horrors he had faced inside there, trapped with corrupt magic that only wished him to feel worse about his situation. He hated the idea of Amaya having to face the same abuse at its hands. No one but Magnifico knew what haunted Amaya at night, no one knew that their beloved Queen still had nightmares about her abusive father. Magnifico knew, and his stomach churned at the thought of Amaya's trauma being used to break her beautiful spirit.

At least when it had been him, there had been something of a contract. He had used the forbidden magic, and the torment had been the price, but Amaya was innocent, no such contract had been made.

"Amaya doesn't deserve to be in there" he gestured towards the mirror, and Asha's eyes trailed towards the glass and she sighed as the Queen's face appeared. Magnifico was right. Of course, he was right. Amaya didn't deserve to be in there. Rosas didn't deserve to be under threat. Asha knew that she had to help fix this. No one else could.

She focussed back on the book, reading and re-reading the words on the page, trying to absorb them. She glanced up at Magnifico, watching the King pace back and forth, occasionally stopping to look up at a large portrait of Amaya. A sigh left her lips. Despite what she thought of the King, it was clear that he held a deep love for his wife.

"Alright.. let's try again." She said softly. Magnifico looked at her, arching an eyebrow.
"Do you think you'll do better this time?"
"Yes"
"Good. I mean, you can't do much worse.." he grumbled, motioning Asha over.
"We're going to try something different. Stand here. Defend these statues, let's see what you can do." The King said with a slight huff, stalking over to the other side of the room.

"Ready?" Magnifico asked, taking a glance at Amaya in the mirror before looking back to Asha.
"Ready." Asha nodded, tightening her grip on her wand. She gave it a slow swish and a stream of gold, like a thick ribbon, spilled from the end of it before disappearing before her eyes.

"Come ON Asha" Magnifico snapped.
"Concentrate," his voice came out in a growl, emphasising each syllable of the word.
"Your movements need to be a lot more confident if you're going to do this properly."
"What do you know about wand magic?" Asha scoffed. Magnifico might have used a magical staff once, but all of his magic prior had been wandless. Asha was certain that wand magic was different to whatever Magnifico used.

"A lot more than you, clearly.." Magnifico grumbled. "I spent years travelling, collecting magic books, actually reading them. There isn't a type of magic that I don't know about. Now. Again. More confidently."

Glaring at the King, Asha took a breath but she took in his advice regardless. Slowly but confidently, Asha gave her wand a swish. As before, a golden ribbon left the tip, hanging in the air in front of her before it split in two down the middle, creating a shimmering golden shield. Using the wand, she encouraged it to grow larger and larger until it ran floor to ceiling before her, wrapping around Asha and the statues of Queen Amaya.

"Good, Asha. Hold it.." Magnifico gave her some rare praise, sending shots of his own magic against the shield, testing its strength.
"Good.. don't let it drop now" he said softly, summoning books from the shelves, and causing them to hurl themselves at Asha's shield.

"Don't. Let it. Drop."

Asha gave a nod, letting out a squeal as one book, then another, broke through the barrier, leaving holes in the shimmering wall. Her wand hand shaking, she quickly sealed the holes, before reinforcing the shield once again.

"Good.." Magnifico praised, hurling various pieces of disposable furniture at the shield, watching as they bounced back, barely denting the shimmering curtain that stood before Asha and the statues she was 'defending'.
"Yes! You're finally getting it!" Magnifico's tone barely hid the relief he was beginning to feel. Perhaps this wasn't going to be a total disaster after all.
"That's it, Asha! Well done."

After hurling a few more heavier items at Asha's shield to really test it, Magnifico raised a hand.
"Alright. Rest for a moment. I think you finally got it." He gave Asha a quick smile despite himself, before moving towards the mirror, picking it up as gently as he had once held the wishes of Rosas.

"Amaya, darling.." Magnifico's eyes met his wife's in the glass and he tenderly brushed a fingertip over her cheek.
"It will be over soon, I'll have you out of there, I promise" he reassured her, glancing up to look at Asha and, seeing that she was distracting herself by reading the book once more, pressed a 'kiss' to his fingertip and pressed it against the glass, over Amaya's lips.

"I know you will, mi rey.." Amaya's voice rang from the mirror, and for the briefest of seconds, a frown washed over Magnifico's face as he picked up on a tone that very few would have. His wife was afraid. His fear that she'd be made to suffer like he was seemed to have come true.

"It won't be long, I promise" he reassured her, wishing for nothing more than to be able to pull her into his arms and comfort her.
"Stay strong, mi amor. I'll have you out before the sun sets."

Reluctantly placing the mirror back down, Magnifico turned to Asha.
"Come on," he said with a sigh "Let's go and get ourselves prepared for war."

No sooner had the words left his lips, than a low 'boom' echoed across Rosas, followed by the sound of cracking stone and distant screaming. The King and his 'Apprentice' ran towards the large window. It took barely a minute for them to notice the destroyed section of wall down by the docks, the crumbled stone, and the fallen bell tower. Beyond the destroyed wall, a dozen dark ships lingered ominously.

War had reached them.