#taats

Asha looked over at the other girl's painting. "Oh, Bazeema. That is an excellent shade of pink. How did you get it?"

Bazeema showed Asha her wooden palette. Using a clean brush, she took a dab of red paint, a dab of white and a touch of yellow before mixing it all in the center. "Oh, I see." Said Asha before she repeated the process. Asha places a few strokes of pink on her canvas before stepping back to admire her work. She thought it was grand. Asha looked around the forest and back to the sunrise before releasing a light sigh. "You were right Bazeema. I do feel better. I really needed this after last night."

The previous night, Bazeema and her mother were working late to finish tending the royal garden when they came across someone trespassing through the moss trees. When asked about their whereabouts, the person simply said they were looking for someone who owed them a favor and tried to push past them. The gardeners kicked out the heckler and would later find Asha hiding under a moss tree. She was hiding from a heckler that was chasing her near the castle. The same heckler that they just kicked out. Bazeema helped Asha get home and invited to take her uphill to paint the horizon before they went to work.

"Hmm. Do you want to leave now? We're a long way from the castle and I don't want to make you late for work." Asked Asha.

"It's still pretty early but we could leave if you want to. I'm finished with my painting anyway."

Asha added her signature onto her canvas before packing up her art supplies. They traveled for 30 minutes before reaching Asha's home. Outside the house, sat Mama Sakina brushing the fur of a baby goat. The goat noticed the two and bounced over to the pair. Excitedly braying as he pawed (hooved?) Asha's legs.

Asha giggled. "Good morning, Valentino. Happy you're awake as well."

"Good morning Asha. Hi Bazeema. How was the sunrise?" Greeted Sakina. "Good morning, mama. It was beautiful. I'm getting better at painting as well." She said as she lowered the canvas to Valentino's eye level. "What do you think buddy?"

Valentino cocked his head and paced side to side in critical thought before giving an approving bah. "Thank you very much." Replied Asha. She raised her canvas and looked back to Sakina. "We're just going to set these to dry and go to the castle." They placed their paintings against the wall of the house.

"You're going into the city now?" Sakina asked, concerned. "Can't you take the day off today? It's the middle of the Summer festival and there's a Wish Ceremony is today. It's going to be crowded in town square. It could be dangerous."

As she said this, Saba Sabino came outside. "Here's some food for thought. Why don't you celebrate your Saba's 100th birthday all afternoon and evening? Take a break from everything happening in the city."

Asha paused at the offer. Two years ago, she was interviewed and accepted to become the King's assistant. A role that allows her to help manage the wishes, prepare magic ingredients, and many other things. Rumor has it that the King's assistant will not only have their wish granted sooner than most, but can get other peoples' wishes granted.

Asha is quite famous in Rosas, but it is a perverted form of fame. Asha had more than her fair share of hecklers and fake friends. It only got worse during the solstice and equinox festivals. Today would be one of the few times that the King will grant wishes on the same night as a Wish Ceremony, and people will do whatever it takes to be sure that the "insurance" will deliver their wish that night.

"I know but this is the most demanding day and I have to help the King. He needs me to help choose the wishes to be granted and test the performance of his new spells." She began stroking her locs. "I know yesterday was… dramatic, but I can find another route and Bazeema can help me get home without anyone noticing."

Sabino sighed, a little sad. "Okay, if you must. But if I may suggest, that soldier fellow you know. The one near the castle. You can ask him to take you home as well."

"Simon? He's a castle guard, not a soldier. And he's on the night shift, I can't ask him to take me home."

"You get off of work near sundown. Simon's shift starts at midnight. He should have time." Bazeema rebutted.

"But he's asleep around that time. It's a long way to and from the castle and it would be rude to interrupt the little rest he gets to-"

"He will not mind." Sakina placed a firm hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Simon is one of your oldest and truest friends. He will not antagonize you for needing his help. He won't ask for anything in return." She smiled.

Asha sighed in defeat. "Okay. I'll ask him." She said before going inside the house. Entering her room and opening her closet, she searched through a set of 10 masquerade masks to wear on her trip. They were a gift from Magnifico to help her travel unrecognized. She picked a golden ibex mask and changed into her assistant's uniform. Asha grabbed her leather bag from a nearby chair and put on a dark hooded cloak over everything.

Walking out to the living room, she heard a gasp from Sabino.

"Oh, stars above! La muerte?! Oh, is it my grand daughter's time already?" He knelt down, trying not to smile. "Oh, please. Have mercy on her. Take me instead."

Asha laughed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not dead yet, Saba."

"You will be if you keep working yourself like a mule." He teased, standing up. "But if you're going into the city, maybe I can take advantage of crowd and play my music for them to hear." -He went to open a cabinet and pulled out a mandolin case- "Maybe, they will pay attention this time." He whispered to himself.

"You know, I could try to get your wish granted tonight." Asha offered. "Maybe find out what it was." Sabino chuckled. "No need to stress over finding it. I wrote it down before I gave it to the King. Now I wait for it and attempt to achieve."

"Oh." Went Asha. "What did you write?"

"It's a secret." He whispered with a smirk.

"Saba!"

Sabino just laughed at her frustration. "Well, what would like for a present?" Asha asked.

"If you find a little trinket in the market that I could add to my collection, that would a great bonus. But all I need is for you to come home in time for cake." He said with a smile.

Asha hugged her Saba goodbye and left the house. She hugged her mama and walked up to Bazeema. "Hey Valentino? Are you coming?" Asha called. Valentino hopped up to follow but Sakina picked up before he could approached. "Hold on there, mister. We can't have you go into that chilly castle without your pajamas, can we?" Sakina sat down on the grass criss crossed and positioned the little goat back on her lap. She pulled tiny pajamas from her pocket and fitted them over his head. "There you go." She chimed as Valentino ran over to Asha and Bazeema. "Watch over her, please. I love you all." She called to them. "We love you too. Goodbye." Asha called back as they made their way through the forest.

A while later and the trio made it to the outskirts of the forest, just outside the city. Asha stood in admiration of the festival decor around the area. Streamers of red and yellow. Banners for the rising and setting sun. Blue, unlit lanterns strung above the street. The streets weren't filled with people yet but enough to dissuade going through town square. They had not noticed a hunter at the edge of the forest looking their way in suspicion. Something about the cloaked figure seemed familiar but they weren't sure why. Then it hit them.

"Hey, are you the veiled assistant?" They called out. "I want to ask you something!" Valentino took notice and headbutted Bazeema's leg to see the hunter approaching. In a mild panic, Bazeema took Asha's hand and they bolted down the outskirts towards the docks. "Hey, where are you going?" The hunter cried after them.

After a short while, they made it to the docks. "Are... Are we... still being followed?" Asha panted, hanging onto her knees. Bazeema looked back and saw no sign of pursuit. "No, we're safe. But we need to find Dahlia and Hal. They can take us down a new route at the docks."

"Okay. Woo... Let me catch my breathe first."

After a good 7 seconds, Asha straightened her back. "Wait, you didn't tell Dahlia about last night, did you?" Bazeema was silent and only interlocked her fingers. "Oh no! Bazeema! She's going to be all over me!"

"But she can ensure you get in and out of the castle!" Bazeema beamed.

They approach the city where two other girls stood by. One with a crutch and anxious look. The other with a basket looking out at the nearby ships on the horizon. The anxious girl looked their way and squealed. 'Oh boy,' thought Asha. "Hi Dahlia. How are y-" Dahlia tackled Asha in a bear hug before she finish speaking. "Great Heavens! Great Heavens! Great Heavens! Please take off your mask!" Was all the girl said. Asha complied with the request and lifted the mask from her face. Dahlia spared no time before taking her face into hands, turning it side to side to check for any bruises. "You're not hurt? They didn't reach you? Oh, I should've been there with you!" Dahlia panicked.

"I'm alright, Dahlia." Asha reassured. "They grabbed my cloak but I got away." The last sentence did anything but reassure Dahlia. "THEY TOUCHED YOU!? Oh ho! No! Do you remember their face? What they wore? Do you have their name?"

Hal came up and tugged at Dahlia's dress with her free hand. "Go easy on the lady, Doc. We still need to take her to the door." Dahlia took a deep breathe and let go of Asha's face. "Sorry. Okay. It should be this way." Dahlia led them past the great bell tower to a large wooden door that she swiftly unlocked with a key hanging on her belt. "This is the delivery route. The cooks use it to quickly bring in new shipments of food and herbs into the royal pantry." She opened the door to a dark hallway. "There are wall windows further down but it's stained glass so people should only see your shadow."

Asha looked inside, worried. "What if I get lost in there?"

"It's a one way path. Wherever it's too dark to see, just feel for the wall and follow it."

The 5 of them jumped as the great bell tower rang out to announce new arrivals coming to Rosas. Hal looked out to the ships about dock. "It's time, Dahlia!" She said. "You'll be fine Asha. See you tonight! And remember, you're the Goat!" She praised with a finger gun. Valentino brayed annoyed. "Oh, right! You too Valentino!" She said, petting his head. Asha placed her mask back over her face and the two entered the hallway, closing the door behind them. Dahlia will lock it once they're inside the castle. The three remaining girls returned to the gate to meet the approaching newcomers.

"Good morning and welcome. Glad you could make it here. My name is Dahlia Akaboshi and I will be your tour guide for today. These are my friends, Bazeema and Hal." She took the basket from Hal's hand. "Would you care for a muffin. Gratuity from my parents, the royal bakers." The guests took a few muffins and looked around. "So, shall we begin? Come this way." Dahlia looked back at the now open gate and the three girls led the new comers into Rosas.

A/N: Tumblr freaked out on me and this got deleted 2 times but things came out better. The story became much more extra than I anticipated but I like how it's coming along. I'm giving my girl a major internal conflict. I'm hoping to draw out my rewrite of "Welcome to Rosas".

Potential magic is awakened with belief in oneself and drive to become better. This allows any ordinary person to learn and master spells.

For magic users, magic works like muscles. The more you use and train it, the stronger it gets. The less you use it, the weaker it gets. Spells require care and intent to be properly executed.

Emotions also play a big part in the use of magic. They can amplify a cast, sabotage it, or cause it emerge without intention (think of Magnifico attempting to bottle his rage and it gives him a deadly aura). Strong emotions such as excitement or fury can cause magic to reach its peak but also become harder to control. Fear and anxiety can often sabotage a spell if it overrides the intention, such as the woman from chapter 10 who tried to stop the fire. Her fear of the fire catching on was so strong that it made the fire catch on.

How Dark Magic works

Dark magic is not evil by intention or performance but it demands a sacrifice for its service.

Dark Magic will take anything with value. Pay with your energy, a beloved plant, an animal, a body part, a whole body, or even metallic money. How big and much depends on the scale of the spell being done.

Let's say you want to heal a bird's wing in little time so you give up a few strands of hair. That would be enough, so the bird's wing recovers faster than normal. Let's also say that you are planting pumpkins and want a plentiful harvest. So you sacrifice several fresh, high quality salmon. The magic likes the offer and now you have the best and biggest pumpkins of the season.

It's preferred to sacrifice something prior to a spell, and despite what some snarky sorcerers will try, you can't get away from not paying dark magic. If you can't give, don't worry, it will take something anyway.

This is why dark magic users have a higher mortality rate than light magic users.

*Think of Dr. Facieler and his debt to his friends from the other side. Every transformation and conjugation they've done for him was with anticipation for adequate payment. Many souls were a good deal but when things switched up and he couldn't pay them back?

Well ...

How do our magic users use magic

• Magnifico

Magnifico's magic is based on his star ancestry and has been honed for service and performance purposes. It is amplified with feelings of joy and excitement. Through his studies, he discovered his magic could be concentrated to perform powerful spells with less bodily energy. Which is why he uses a staff.

With years of practice and study, Magnifico learned how to extract a wish from a person and contain it in an orb. Forgetting what your wish is a side effect of the matter. However, extracting the wish takes a person’s stardust with it.

The yellow on their chests and hands? That is stardust summoned forth. It doesn’t take all but the new lack of stardust destabilizes the heart and soul. Even when it's outside of the body and contained, the stardust is still connected to the person and is pining to return to them. It’s why there is so much excitement for Wish Ceremonies, people are getting their stardust back.

Magnifico is aware that wish extraction is upending for a person but he hasn’t found a way to take a wish without the stardust. It’s a few cracks in the “utopia” but it’s a flaw he can accept. What happens if the wish is destroyed? If the wish is only shattered, the wish inside will find its way back to the person it belonged to.

Amaya has more experience with dark magic than most know. In her youth, before Rosas, she ruled another kingdom where she used dark magic to maintain herself and her people. Sacrificing whole animals for fertile land and lard to look young. As a ruler of Rosas, she switched to mainly magic study. Having read nearly every book in the Grand library and is well versed with magical properties of herbal and metal materials.

•Amaya

The magic she does use is potion magic. She can create potions for healing illnesses, sleep, containment or binding.

•Altan

Altan is a talented star and is a noble apprentice but is known for having a temper. Evangeline had to stop them from killing a person several times during a mission. It was the hardest for them to control and still is when he was a hair away from bashing Sabino's head.

Altan is a good shape shifter but like most stars, he needs to understand the anatomy of whatever he turns into. First time he turned into an animal was messy and barely resembled what he wanted to be. After a few years practice, he got animals down and grew more fascinated with animals all over the Earth. Humans are a different case. Altan has been gently criticized for having sharp ears on his human form when facing humans but they would swallow a whale before he reworked on their human form for the umpteenth time.

Altan's abilities rely on intention and mood. When he wants to fly, he needs to think about flying and their mood affects how they fly. Calm or elated - Gently float. Sad or frustrated - Hover. Estatic or happy - Zip. Angry or hate - Zoom. Fear/panic - Gone in a flash. Worry or edginess - barely off the ground. He can also give abilities and transform things. He can give animals the ability to speak by sprinkling stardust on them. They can eat it or not.

There are a few abilities he still wants to master such as summoning storms, entrapment, and astral visions. Astral visions are when you pull someone and yourself into a dream-like realm for a meet-up. This is Evangeline did in chapter 8.

•Madok

Far back in this AU, Madok was a large and vicious force before they were trapped inside the book. Thanks to their lack of activity from their imprisonment, Madok shrunk down to the size and power of the average python. They are far from pleased with that.

Dark magic applies to dark spirits similar to light magic and Stars as it also a part of them but unlike Stars, they experience hunger and need to eat. They will eat energy or magic to strengthen themselves and their magic.

When a spirit lacks energy, dark magic takes from them similar to how the body takes from itself when it lacks intake of something. The body will use its fat when it lacks food; it will take from the bones when it lacks calcium. If a dark spirit is employed by someone to do spells for them, that person is responsible for feeding them and the spirit names the price.

Madok is well versed in forms of dark magic and how it can be weaponized against someone of great power. The only things that can counter Star magic is Dark magic and Star magic itself. Madok is also bent on catching a star but not for the sake of Magnifico or Rosas.