Howl crossed the room to Michael.
"Good morning," he told him. "I've left a spell for you to practice while I'm out. I'm going to speak with Prince Justin, so don't expect me to be back too soon." With that, he left. Recently, things had been different between Michael and Howl, all starting a few weeks ago.
Michael was out in the marshes, walking alone as he so liked. He enjoyed the cool air and the brisk wind. The only sounds were that of his shoes squishing and squashing in the muddy landscape. Out of nowhere, blue stars began pouring from the blackened sky. There were thousands, maybe even millions, of tiny streaks of light. He could do nothing but stare in astonishment. The young man had only read about this type of event in the books he was required to read as an apprentice. After nearly fifteen minutes of star-gazing, he made a game out of catching them.
He missed almost every single one. A few had bounced off his hands in an attempt to flee, and each time it left a lonely warmth in its wake. As Michael was about to give up, he reached for one more. It was one of the last few to fall. He enveloped it in his hand as his face began beaming with pride. Perhaps Howl would praise him for his extraordinary catch and take off some of his weekly homework. Peeking into his enclosed hand, the apprentice saw a spark of light, and gasped aloud at the glorious image. That one small inhalation changed everything in just a few seconds, for the star flew from his hands and was sucked down his throat. He coughed, choking on the fire.
Michael's chest began to glow, and he became a beacon of light in the darkness surrounding him. A slight ache grew inside him as something pierced through his chest. For a moment, he feared that he might actually die. As he pressed his hands to his chest, he took what he thought would be his last breath. Suddenly, something was pulsing in his hands, and the pain had vanished. He glanced down, seeing a magnificent fire demon staring up at him with wide eyes.
He quickly registered several things. One, his heart should have been beating as fast as a hummingbird's wings due to his excitement, but only silence filled his chest; no pulse at all. Second, the fire demon, when reasoned correctly, should have been scorching his hands. Instead there was only a trace of warmth, a comfortable temperature. And lastly, something round and beating made up the bottom part of the small demon. As he noticed these things, he came to jarring realization.
When he had gotten home that night, he went straight to Calcifer.
"Where is Howl?" he whispered, holding the demon behind his back so as not to let Cal see it.
"Sleeping. You look nervous," the sassy old fire said. It was then that Michael pulled the newly born demon out from its hiding spot.
"What did I do, Cal?!" he whispered, terrified.
Calcifer's eyes widened in genuine surprise. He definitely did not look happy.
"Howl is going to kill you…" he was uncharacteristically pale for a flame.
"What do I do?" Michael was panicking now.
"Well, there's not much you can do about it now. You can't just make it go away. All we can do is keep him, right?" Calcifer responded, clearly upset.
"It's a boy?" Michael asked, eyeing the fire in his hands.
"Is that really what you're thinking about? We can't let him go out or you'll die. Put him on a log next to mine, I suppose," Calcifer ordered the young apprentice, hating the idea of sharing his fireplace. Michael obeyed quickly, setting up a new log. As soon as the new demon was settled in, things became quiet. They flickered peacefully. When the tips of their flames made contact, they both flushed pink and fluttered in different directions. Every time this happened, Michael's stomach involuntarily filled with butterflies.
"Isn't it natural for two fires to meet and join?" Michael asked. In any normal situation, these two fires would have burned the log between them and collided, forming one single flame.
"Well…er…yes. But I don't know what would happen. It is rather hard to stay away. We're sort of like magnets, but I'm resisting because it might affect you and Howl…" Cal frowned.
"Well, we won't die, will we?"
"Of course not…"
"Then if you'd be more comfortable together, just do it!" Michael urged him, wanting Howl's caretaker to be comfortable.
Calcifer paused to think. He frowned in concentration. Then, very slowly, he touched a tip of his flame to the younger demon. They both flashed a vicious pink. He crept along his log, inching closer and closer to Michael's demon. Oh, so slowly… Soon, their bodies crushed together, and were pushing into each other mercilessly. They were glowing a deep violet now, and Michael's stomach was jittering horribly. With one last effort, they folded into each other, burning a rich purple. They flamed up slightly, but quickly returned back to normal size and color. Michael's stomach finally quit its incessant fluttering. Calcifer looked relieved. The young witness felt odd, seeing two faces on one flame. Two beating hearts at the base of one single entity.
"What's his name?" Michael asked quietly.
"You are supposed to name him. Fire demons have no use for names before we're caught by human- Uh oh…" Calcifer's sentence was interrupted by a look of nervous anticipation as he eyed the passage leading to the upper story of the castle.
Michael heard footsteps padding down the stairs. Howl was soon revealed at the bottom of the staircase, looking more than a little confused. Michael avoided his questioning eyes.
"Calcifer? What was that?" he asked groggily, having been woken from his deep slumber.
"Er… Well…" Calcifer stalled, glancing nervously at Michael.
"Michael?" Howl's voice was alert and cautious now. The young man looked up and locked eyes with his teacher. At that very moment, Michael's stomach was ambushed by the feeling of millions of butterflies taking flight in his stomach. The flame at the fireplace once again turned a vibrant shade of fuchsia. Howl's eyes quickly registered the reactions, and his eyes widened in shock and realization. Michael suspected that he would be quite angry soon enough.
"Michael." Howl growled the name as his apprentice hastily turned away. "Did you… catch a falling star?" he whispered ferociously.
"Yes, Master Howl," Michael was staring at his feet now.
Howl crossed the room to stand in front of Calcifer.
"Is the contract official?" he asked.
"I'm afraid so…" Cal responded.
"Who is the new demon? He looks rather young," Howl inquired.
"Gaston," Michael said firmly, still refusing to look up.
Howl turned toward his pupil when he heard the young man speak. He stepped toward Michael slowly, hands held behind his back in a passive manner.
"Look at me. In the eyes, Michael," he commanded.
So he did. Once again, his stomach fluttered with the now-familiar tingling sensation, fire blushing out of the corner of his eye. He was about to look away when Howl stopped him, "Don't avert your eyes." His insides roared as Howl's eyes twinkled down at him.
"Do you feel that? That is a bond that can never be broken. Our demons are one. Take away one of the hearts and a piece of each demon will join it. We are now linked and that cannot be changed, even in death."
The room started to grow darker and darker as Howl's voice threatened Michael's composure.
"I'm going back to bed. Goodnight, Calcifer. Gaston." He retreated to his bedroom, stamping up the stairs heavily.
The morning after, Howl had gotten up early and left the castle to finish a few errands. He arrived home after Michael had already retired to bed. They never saw each other. It remained this way for nearly a week, one going out early and arriving home late, or coming up with another type of excuse so as not to face the other. This routine ended one day when Howl did not go quite as early. Michael awoke to the smell of cooking eggs and bacon. He appeared in the main room of the castle and sat quietly. Howl said nothing, and never even glanced at Michael.
The student had no idea about the clauses for this new "bond". He didn't dare bring it up though, for fear that Howl might release some of his repressed anger. Or worse, ignore him completely. As soon as breakfast was finished, Howl left for the day, and Michael was left alone to talk with Calcifer and Gaston. Gaston still had yet to speak.
"Is something wrong with him?" he asked Calcifer.
"Hard to say. He could just be scared. Or maybe he doesn't know English. Or he may not even know how to talk at all," Calcifer explained bluntly.
Michael was getting the impression that everyone in the house was upset with him. He quickly stood and made his way to his bedroom, not expecting anymore words from Cal, and especially not Gaston. He sat on his bed, slumped over, focusing on the aching emptiness within his chest. His head swirled with the dark torrents of sadness as he tried to decide how he could possibly better the situation. Through the mess that was his thoughts, he heard the front door slam.
Immediately, his chest filled and some of the sadness crept away. He heard voices exchanging a few sentence downstairs, but no specific words could be picked out. Feet pounded up the stairs and Howl pushed Michael's bedroom door open, walking halfway into the room. Michael stood up from his forlorn position on the bed, leaving a mere foot of empty space between them. Their eyes met.
Michael's stomach flew in circles. All thoughts of despair had evacuated his mind, and he jumped a little at the sudden changes throughout his body. Howl's eyes looked sad, but a small twinkle told Michael that he was feeling the same way. Howl reached out his arm and held his hand softly against Michael's cheek. One more step and Howl was directly in front of him. He inclined his head and pressed his smooth lips against Michael's, holding them there and letting the shared butterflies take flight in between them. Howl slipped his tongue through, gently brushing Michael's bottom lip. Howl pulled away and stared the younger male directly in the eyes, a new light shining in them.
"Dammit, Michael!" he whispered, and then turned to leave. He left the door wide open upon his exit.