Worth it

Magical (Madoka Magicaverse)

If there was anything Lars had learned from this experience, it was to be very careful in choosing his wish, to think over his words, to make sure it was a wish that was worth the price he'd be paying. Upon staring into the soulless red eyes of the small white cat-like creature as it asked him what he would wish for, his utmost desire seemed to spill right off his lips.

I wish I was never lonely ever again.

God, it just sounded so stupid, so desperate, he thought, as he stared at the lilac colored gem resting in his palm. Its initial glow was dim, and small spots of darkness had sprinkled along its surface. In the past, no matter how much he'd try to get rid of them, rubbing at them with his fingernail, or using his shirt, they remained, seeming to be infused inside the glassy orb.

When he'd made his wish, after making a contract with the strange creature, everything in his life just seemed to get stranger. The following morning, Ronaldo had caught up with him, asking if they could talk, and discuss their tumultuous past, to see if their friendship could perhaps be repaired. Lars was initially excited, thinking this was the first step in his life changing for the better.

But the 'too-good-to-be-true' aspect seemed to stop right there. During the conversation with Ronaldo, Lars had brought up his strange encounter with the cat-thing the other evening, the wish he'd made, and all too quickly, Ronaldo was frantically asking to see the gem Lars had received, and upon seeing it, Ronaldo looked grim.

"You really have no idea what you just did, do you?", he'd asked, voice low.

And just like that, their friendship was forcibly back on track, and Lars found himself being apprentice to a veteran magical person, and soon Ronaldo devoted less time to his computer, and more time to showing Lars the world of magic and fighting witches.

Lars had complained about the outfit he received upon transformation, not too keen on the fact it contained a skirt, but Ronaldo had teased him, saying it flaunted his figure well, and admitted he liked getting to fight while wearing a dress. Eventually they got used to it. Lars was quick to forget about the dress issue as soon as he discovered his weapon of choice, a sniper rifle that could extend to any size. Ronaldo had insisted he would need to be careful in using it, and that he should have picked something simpler to use, like his own sword and shield.

The veteran magical boy taught Lars how to fight witches, making it through their barriers, using their weapons with utmost skill and knowledge. It impressed Lars, to see his old friend using his 'nerd skills' to take down the creatures of evil and despair, and then collect their grief seeds to restore their gems' magic. It was sort of fascinating to first see Ronaldo's pumpkin orange gem regain its magnificent glow once it was exposed to the grief seed.

After a year of fighting alongside together, they discovered they weren't the only two magical contractees in their city. Their mutual friend Sadie had made a contract sometime before Lars ever did, and never bothered to tell them. After disclosing their status to her, she ended up joining them, and the three worked in tandem to collect grief seeds and restore their magic. Another boy, Kevin, insisted he'd been fighting witches long before Ronaldo, and was more than a little vain, but he ended up joining their witch hunts for a brief amount of time.

Briefly, because during the third group hunt, he'd been too cocky and his mint green gem was shattered by a powerful witch, Lars and Sadie both left to watch in horror as his lifeless body crumpled to the floor of the barrier, all magic attire fading away. Ronaldo watched grimly, but did not seem as shocked as his comrades, and had tiredly told the two to help him carry Kevin's body out of the barrier once the witch had been defeated.