Hello to all. This one-shot is a mix of both movie and book plots, so I hope you won't be confused. So many people have already made a story out of this theory/plot I used in this one-shot. I am not plagiarizing. Yes, this short story has the same main idea as many stories in this site, but I wrote this one in my own words, thus, this is my version.
If you ever find any grammatical errors, please mention them in your reviews. I hope and hope and hope that you review. Review mean so much more to me than favorites or follows.
Lastly, I want to thank those who will read this one-shot. Thank you! :D
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my words.
Howell Jenkins was ten years old when he caught a falling star and offered his heart to lengthen the life of the dying star. It was also that time when he heard a female's voice calling his name and the name of the fire demon who has his heart, Calcifer.
"Howl! Calcifer! It's me, Sophie! I know how to help you now! Find me in the future!"
When he turned to the speaker, all he saw was a grown lady, if he would guess, older than 16 but younger than 20, with hair the color of starlight. He was too far away to identify her other facial features. And before he could even take a step towards her, the ground swallowed her whole.
She confused him greatly. He was sure that he was not familiar with the lady. She confused his new friend, Calcifer, as well. Calcifer told him that he just decided on a name when Howl asked for his name, which he did after he caught the demon. Despite all these, the lady called their names with a tone of familiarity.
The lady troubled him and Calcifer the following days. How would they find her, what with only her name and her hair color to identify her? And the word "future" was too vague. After all, future was set the in the next second, minute, and hour.
And yet, Howl knew that he will find this Sophie. He refused to believe that it was simply because she shouted a command at him to find her. Something pulled at him when he saw her and heard her voice. And interestingly, this something pulled at the hollow place in his chest, where he felt heartbeats before he gave the beating thing to Calcifer.
He tried to find her in Wales, searching for her starlit hair, for there were too many females that has "Sophie" as their name.
He grew older and grew interested in the worlds the Calcifer told him often. As a star, he could see hundreds of different worlds, and Calcifer would then describe the appearances. With the fire demon's help and magic, they performed a powerful spell that transported them both to a country called Ingary, in a world different from where they came from. He left his world and left his chances of finding the lady there. But he chose to come and live in this different world. Somewhere in the hollow place in his chest something pulled again at him. Perhaps, he dared hope, he would find the lady in this world.
He sought a powerful witch to teach him divination spells, since Calcifer told him that these would help finding the lady in a world full of magic. He perfected these spells, became better than many experienced wizards and witches, yet he failed to find the starlit-haired lady.
As years flew by, he concentrated in learning spells, potions, and magic. He focused on his outer appearance as well. He visited his sister in Wales sometimes, mainly to see his nephew and niece. He flirted with all sorts of ladies. He made friends and acquaintances. He also made enemies.
He didn't search for the lady anymore. He didn't use any magic or manual effort to look for her. But Howell Jenkins, or Howl Pendragon, or whatever his alias was at the moment, could not erase the little spark of hope inside him. He ignored it most of the time. He did not notice it, but he unconsciously looked for the unusual color among the crowns of hairs of the ladies he encountered. He unconsciously stretched his ears to hear a certain name. He unconsciously searched for the lady that appeared and disappeared suddenly.
Perhaps his unconscious mind led him to a small, quaint town called Market Chipping. Or maybe it was fate that led him to go out for a short stroll in the town. Or for all he knew, it was just a witch that has a grudge against him that led him to walk in small, narrow streets that few people pass through.
Men hitting on women were a common sight. He was a coward, but he thought that his developed charms, charisma, and gentlemanly behavior would be put to waste had he not decided to help damsels in distress.
"Leave me alone!" The chocolate-haired lady squared her shoulders and clenched her fair fists.
Howl smiled a small one as he approached the military officers and the lady. Perhaps, she is not that much of a damsel in distress, he thought, yet in distress all the same.
The wizard did not hesitate and put an arm around the tense young lady. "There you are, sweetheart. Sorry, I'm late. I was looking everywhere for you."
It was a lie, of course. He was merely a passerby that decided to help. When he finally got a chance to look at the young lady he was helping, he could not feel his heart beat faster nor skip a beat, after all, he gave it to a fire demon. But he certainly felt something pull in the place where his heart once had been. Somehow, the words felt true.
It was a strange few weeks, with too many things happening at once; an old lady named Sophie suddenly appearing in his castle declaring to be his new cleaning lady, a certain witch in the Waste vowing to get a hold of his heart, a war erupting between two countries. It was not that he did not give a notice to any of these things, he chose to ignore and give meaning to any of them.
It was only when he was covered in darkness, woke up with a heavy chest, and opened his eyes to a woman with starlit hair smiling warmly at him.
And then he was sure that the first words he spoke to her were indeed true.