Sabino started going through the kitchen utensil drawer, when Sakina slammed it shut before he could pull out something sharp.

"And do you think just hitting them with a wooden spoon is going to harm them in the slightest? If that was enough, the mothers here would've defeated them years ago." Sakina argued as she pulled him away from the kitchen.

Sabino sighed, "You're right. That wouldn't do any good." He turned and walked over to his mandolin, grabing its handle. "I need something stronger!" He exclaimed as he took a practice swing with it.

Before he could reach the door, Sakina stood in front of it and blocked his way out.

"Sabino, please listen! I'm just as worried as you are. I'm terrified at the fact that she left here without a word to take on something bigger than herself, even with this starboy that I still don't understand. I'm terrified that you could get hurt trying to get her back. But most of all, I'm terrified that we'll never see her again! I don't want to lose what's left of this family!"

Her arms were slightly shaking as she stood her ground and finished scolding her father-in-law.

Sabino relented and put the mandolin down, giving in for real this time. "Fine. I won't leave."

Sakina sighed in relief and lowered her arms. "Thank you, saba."

"Well, Asha picked a fine time to get interested in boys." He sat down in his usual chair and crossed his arms. "When she said she'd go out with a guy when he fell from the sky, I never expected it to actually happen!" he laughed, trying ease tension set in the house.

Sakina shook her head, but laughed anyway. It did help her relax a little.

"I just don't understand how a star came down because of one girl. And now he's helping her take down a kingdom? The most we know he can do is make animals speak." He drummed his fingers on the table in thought. "This star sounds much different than the ones Tomás talked about. He at least sounds fun, I'd like to meet him!"

Sakina shrugged. "To be honest, I'm still not used to it, saba. Some of them even offered to help make new clothes, but I mean its a little nutty when you even think about it." she whispered to him.

(ignore the plushie in the picture)

"Hey! I heard that!" a squeaky voice came from the windowsill. A small read squirrel heard the conversation and her tail ruffled in offense. "Hmph! And to think I was going to share my family's acorn stash with you!" She jumped off the window sill and ran off in a huff.

"I'm sorry, dear! Its nothing personal!" The woman replied, realizing she hurt her feelings. What was she even doing talking to a squirrel??

"Saba, I don't want to just sit here and wait either. Maybe there is a way we can go to Ross and help her, but I don't how we-"

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! 🚪

Sakina sighed and got up from the table. "I swear, if that bears' asking for honey again..." She huffed.

She opened the door and saw one of her neighbors out of breath and looking pale as a ghost.

"What happened to you?" Sakina asked, now concerned about the man.

The man took a deep breath and exclaimed, "MAGNIFICO! HE'S IN THE HAMLET!"

Sakina and Sabino were left speechless with fear.

There's no way that the royals should've been able to find them. Flazino was the only one outside of the safe haven to know their location. Unless Flazino....

The three of them raced back to the entrance of the Hamlet (Sabino was slower, but he tried his best to keep up.), seeing that trees that once blocked the path were now gone. As if a fire was set in the center and it burned outward until nothing but crisped edges remained. Magnifico and his remaining soldiers stood before them on horseback.

"Greetings, my wayward subjects! Your king has found you at last!" His voiced boomed as his horse reared back and whinned. The king sure loved his dramatic entrances....

Everyone present in the Hamlet was frozen, too frightened to respond.

The king moved forward as he eyed everyone. "I must say I love what you've done here for a pack of traitors plotting my downfall. You've got lovely homes, rich plant life, and you even make your own food?" His voice was insincere. "All these years, you've done a magnificent job of staying alive all by yourselves, without my magic." His fake smile faded. "That ends tonight."

The soliders blocked the entrance to avoid anyone from sneaking out.

Germaine stepped forward with her cane. "What have you done with Flazino? He'd never let you take us!" she spat.

"Oooohhh. You mean that peseant with weak magic who betrayed my trust?" Magnifico replied with a look of pretend shock. He dropped the facade instantly. "His wish is gone. By tomorrow night, he'll be gone with it. Its a rather slow effect, really. Poor boy was already sick."

"Sick? SICK? Isn't that the same thing you claimed about my husband before you killed him?!" Sakina shouted at the man.

Magnifico dismounted the horse and eyed the woman. No one dared to utter a word. He knew very well about Asha's family and their closeness when Tomás was alive. The king saw him as the closest thing to a friend and even listen to some of his advice despite his better judgement. However, that all changed when the philosopher began to talk about his connection to the stars...

"Now, now, ma'am." He started, putting his hands behind his back. "No need to get hysterical over a misunderstanding. The man was on his last legs. I'm more surprised his father outlived him. That's just the reality of life."

"You lying son of a-" Sakina started to stomp towards the king, but Saving held her back. At this point, she forgot all about fearing him.

"Enough small talk." Magnifico waved his hand as she was just a passing thought. "Time for you all to come home to Rosas. Or do I have to force you to come?" His eyes narrowed at the people, his eyes began to glow green.

Ponk! 🌰

Something ponked him in the head? He looked down and saw a large action between his feet. "Who here thinks they're funny?" He growled he looked up at the people.

"There's more where that came from, buddy!" a familiar squeaky threatened the king. He looked up and saw the same red squirrel from earlier, this time perched on a tree branch. "You better leave our friends alone, or else!"

Magnifico had to hold back his laughter. "How...you can speak? You can understand me?" He questioned as if it was just something that was a slight oddity. The other residents however had gotten mostly used to it.

"Thanks to Star, we all can! Now get out of here before I get the whole animal kingdom to kick your butt!" The squirrel once again threatened him as she pulled another acorn from a hole in the tree.

The king's eyes widened. The star not only changed into animals, but he could grant them the ability to speak?! Were there no limits to what this being could do? He needs that star...

He allowed himself to laugh only once. "Go ahead! Do your worst!" He crossed his arms and waited for a fun show.

The squirrel whistled and dozens of other squirrels popped out of the top of trees, their cheeks filled with acorns. "FIRE!" she commanded, and they started to spit the nuts like ammo at the man and his soldiers.

The king covered his head and turned his back "Not in my handsome face!" he shouted at them.

The kids were certainly enjoying it, but the adults knew that the squirrels had only bought them a little time.

A grizzly bear ran out of the forest and rose to face the crowd. "I'm gonna need y'all to get back and run to the other side of the woods, now. We can handle this guy!" He assured them with a wink.

The crowd didn't argue as they immediately retread back the other way. The quails flew above them as they guided them. "This way, please!" One of them chirped as they flew ahead of them.

The bear turned and started running towards Magnifico. "Time for some bear necessities!" he exclaimed.

Magnifico was able to look up long enough to see the large beast pounce on him and pin him to the ground. "I got em, guys! He ain't going anywhere!"

Soldiers began to run towards their king and draw their swords, ready to attack. They stopped when they saw a small row of bunnies hopped in front of them. Their big sweet eyes shimmered as the looked up at the men. "Pwease don't hurt our fwiend!" the littlest one begged.

One of men lowered his sword and looked at the others. "Come on, we can't be that heartless!" He pleaded with comrades.

At that moment, another row of bunnies appeared behind them. Then another, until it was practically an army of furry knights before them. The big eyed rabbit suddenly had a sneaky grin as he said one word. "BOO!"

The rabbits charged towards the men, who began to scream as they tried to run from their furry doom. However, there was one turtle that was behind them, slowly moving forward. "Let's get em! Charge!" he yelled as he finally made two steps forward.

A flock of bluebirds began to peck at the soldiers heads when their helmets fell off and had to cover themselves to avoid getting their eyes plucked out.

Magnifico used his staff to block the bear's giant teeth from biting his head off. "I'm surrounded by idiots..." He grumbled. "Fine! If you want things done right, you have to do it yourself!"

With a forceful push of his feet, he knocked the bear off him, making the animal fall backwards. Once the king regained his footing, he sent some of his magic into the tip of his staff and combined it with with tiny of amount of Star's magic,turning it a bright green.

He aimed the staff near the bear, then released a massive green beam from it. The bear rolled out of the way, only to find he wasn't the target at all. The green magic zapped the tress behind him, sparking a fire amongst them.

The bear scurried away as fast he could, picking up the turtle who had just made it over to the rabbits. "Retreat! Retreat!" The turtle shouted. The squirrels scurried to the ground and ran off as well.

The king smirked. "Let's see that star's magic battle this." He aimed his staff at another patch of trees, spreading the fire. The birds and rabbits noticed the rising heat and fire, causing them to sprint into the other side of the forest in fear.

The dazed and confused guards were finally able to stand. A bit shaken, but otherwise fine. They looked around and saw the blaze slowly spreading. One of them became concerned. "Sir, isn't this a bit extreme? I know they're traitors but they don't deserve -"

Magnifico whipped around, his face grimaced with anger "I DECIDE WHAT EVERYONE DESERVES! NOW GET OVER THERE AND FIND THOSE TRAITORS BEFORE THEY PLOT TO DESTROY MY KINGDOM!"

The soldiers were taken aback for the second time by their king's behavior. First his treatment of his former apprentice, and now he wanted to burn down an entire forest to get these people? None if them dared to talk back to him and just followed orders.

Once they left, Magnifico put his hair back into place and took a deep breath. It was rare for him to lose his temper like that in front his subjects or soldiers. He couldn't slip up like that again, or else others might start asking questions of the royals true behavior.

Magnifico took a look around at the wildfire after he mounted his horse (which was already pretty terrified of its surroundings.) It was a lot of work to get this star, but he was certain it would all be worth it for infinite power. All of this was sure to draw Asha out and bring his prize to him.

We cut back to the crowd running as fast as they can through the woods. "Just a little farther everyone! We should be far way enough from that lunatic." the lead quail announced she she flapped her wings as hard as she could.

Suddenly the dark blue sky turned green as the fire blazed rapidly through the woods and caught up with the group, making everyone stop before they got burned. The quails stopped flying and looked for another way out. The flames surrounded everyone, sending scream s throughout the forest. "No...no, no, no, no. This can't be it for us." Sabino stammered, feeling fear for the first time since they escaped.

Soon the soldiers and Magnifico caught up, but could only get so close to the flame. They could see the terror in their eyes as the fire grew bigger. "There's nowhere for you to run, my friends. Surrender now and I can make this all go away with just a snap of my fingers." Magnifico offered.

It was no use. There was no way they could escape now, even with the animals help.

"Fine! You win, we'll go with you!" Sakina begrudgingly surrendered, as did the rest of the people.

"Finally, a wise choice." the king remarked, and with a snap of his fingers, the fire was snuffed out around them. The homes were slightly burnt, but still standing. The smell of burnt wood and plant life filled the air, making it harder for some of the older residents to breathe. The quails flew away as fast as possible to check on their own families.

"All right, everyone. If you value your lives and families, you'll come back with us to Rosas without anymore struggles." Magnifico announced as he eyed the residents.

"I still need to know one thing. What have you done with Asha?" Sakina snapped, still holding onto Sabino. "Easy there, Sakina. Make the wrong move, and he'll kill us all." Sabino warned her.

The king let out a hearty laugh. "Kill you? No, no, of course not! I need you all alive and well for tomorrow night!" He waved a hand dramatically in the air and his green magic created a grand picture of the colosseum back in Rosas. It also contained a crowd of people cheering on Magnifico as held the wishes (including Star) in his hands.

"You're all invited to partake in a wish ceremony of the century!" The king continued with a wicked grin and his eyes flickered green. "And Asha will be the guest of honor!"

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

FINAL THOUGHTS

And with this chapter, we've officially made it halfway through the story! I wanted to end this one a bit more intensely than I did with earlier chapters where the royals confront our heroes. Things are about get more serious in terms of the stakes, but we'll still have room for fun of course! Part of this is also supposed to reference Beauty and the Beast where the furniture fights back against Gaston, I just hope it came across. 😅 Also, Magnifico just doesn't know when to quit, his first instinct is to hunt something wants and take it as a prize. Which mostly leads into how he becomes Monster!Magnifico.

I also wanted to give a little time with Sakina and Sabino, since we haven't seen them since Chapter 2 and 7. I wasn't a fan of the canon film just ignoring Asha's family until she got the wish and went home, so I wanted to show that WG!Asha's family really is worried about her. In a sense, they're like Lilo's family. Its little and broken, but still good.

As for how the story will end, you're going to cry and so will I. Pray for Star. 🙏😭

So I'd like to also announce that the story will be going on break until after Thanksgiving. Both so I can spend more time with family, and I can plan out the second half of the story. Its almost time to bring in the rest of the songs (writing At All Costs' scene is going to break me emotionally) and the last two deleted scenes. BUT! I'm gonna release more redesigns of the characters, a base for a teaser poster, a part 2 of the magic system and a couple shorts just like I did with the Valentino short! And I'll be releasing some original content for my SuperZeroes story! So there's still gonna be some activity! 😉

Thanks for reading!

@oh-shtars @tumblingdownthefoxden @chillwildwave @your-ne1ghbor

@annymation @lazytitans-world @thesafireartist @natsuki208

@snackara @kenihewa @mythartist21 @uva124

@spectator-zee @cocoapowderpictures @emptyblog7