Disclaimer: I do not own Howl, Sophie, Prince Justin, Calcifer, Markl or any of the other characters from Howl's Moving Castle. I do however own the personalities and appearances of other Sophie, Lettie, and as well as characters I might make up as the story progresses. THANK YOU.

Author's Note: This is the first Howl's Moving Castle fanfiction that I've written. It's not my first one ever (I have written others under a different account name) but it's the first one I actually like. Now, you might've read the disclaimer and found out about other Sophie. This is NOT a story about a twin Sophie. Well actually it kind of is, but not in the way you might think. If you've read the summary then you'll have had a little taste of what this story is actually about. Hopefully you'll like it. Please remember to R & R. Thanks.

Prologue

The Mistake

Howl sighed as he watched Sophie's retreating figure walk away from the front door that led to a bustling street in Kingsbury.

"Damn it, Calcifer," Howl yelled as he closed the door with a wave of his hand then subsequently kicked the hearth. This was very uncharacteristic of Howl to behave this way, but Howl hadn't been acting like himself as of late. Calcifer wasn't feeling like himself either. His flame was lower than usual and he wasn't as feisty as usual. Unfortunately in her carelessness, before she left, Sophie had fed Calcifer a spy slug by mistake thinking it was only a piece of spoiled food. This had a great and upsetting effect on Calcifer and it would last for a while.

"You know you brought this upon yourself," the fire demon said carefully.

"I know, I know, but… why!" Howl cried desperately swinging around to look at the fire demon.

"Hmm, well it could've been the fact that you were never here or that you never told her how you felt or that you never really paid much attention to her other than was necessary," Calcifer said wearily.

"Thank you," Howl said angrily, "for pointing out the obvious."

"Well, you could always go after her," the fire suggested.

"No Calcifer that would never do. We have to move." Howl's stubbornness had now taken control. Nothing would change his mind now; nothing except Sophie.

At this moment, Howl's apprentice, Markl, came running down the stairs. As he ran he yelled, "Sophie! Sophie! Hey where's Sophie?" asked the little boy as he found only Howl and Calcifer in the room.

"Sophie is…" Calcifer began, trying to tell the boy gently that Sophie, whom was like a big sister to him, was gone for good.

"Gone," Howl finished hastily.

"What? Where'd she go? Did she go to the market?" Markl asked in his naivety.

"No Markl," Howl sighed, "She left for good. Apparently she had been seeing that Prince Justin fellow and he asked her to marry her. She agreed and left."

"Ha ha. Howl you're funny. But seriously, where is Sophie?" Markl asked again, laughing nervously.

"I told you!" Howl shouted, rounding on the small boy, "She is gone. Need I say it again!"

"N-no," Markl whimpered as tears came to his eyes, "But why would she leave? I thought she liked it here."

"Apparently not as much as she liked the thought of living in a real castle," Calcifer finally said with a long sigh.

"Anyway," Howl said waving away Calcifer's input, "We're moving. Sit tight Markl."

"We can't move," Markl said quietly.

"And why not? We can't stay near Sophie out entire life and besides, she's not even going to be living in Kingsbury," Howl said as he drew out the diagram with chalk.

"It's not because of that, it's because Calcifer's sick," Markl again said quietly.

"What? He looks fine to me," Howl replied while inspecting the tiny ball of flame.

"Well, he ate something weird and he's not very strong so I wouldn't think that this would be a good idea."

"Nonsense, Markl. This move will go smoothly. You just wait and see," Howl said as he scooped up Calcifer with the shovel.

Howl moved into the middle of the room and positioned himself in the diagram he had prepared while talking with Calcifer. He then held Calcifer out in front of him and lifted his other arm so it was perpendicular to his body.

"On my mark, Calcifer. You know what to do," Howl ordered.

In an instant Calcifer's flame grew hotter and larger, but died down moment's later and almost went out. Howl was already weak with rage and sorrow, but this magic drained him. He dropped the shovel and Calcifer on the floor, and then his world went black.

OH MY! What the hell has happened to Howl! The poor guy doesn't know his own strength/healthiness... yes?

Thanks once again for reading the prologue to my fanfiction "The Mistake of a Lifetime". I won't promise that I'll have the first chapter up soon, but I promise I'll try. My schedule is very compromising at the moment as it's summer and I'm working. I also need to have a life. Hopefully, though, the next chapter won't take too long and hopefully it will be longer.

Please read and review!
Love:Me