Disclaimer: Not mine as much as I wish. A/N: Sorry for the delay, had to revise the movie to check on the timeline. Note: I know it's meant to be 'Witch of the Wastes' but for some reason I always liked 'Witch of the Waste', so I'm leaving it as thus. Sorry if this is annoying to the hardcore Howl's. For fun, as always. Reviews welcome x
Turnip-Head
2.
Davina rested for a moment on the side of the road, annoyed at her slow pace. If only she hadn't been cursed as a 90 year old lady! She saw a stick poking from some shrubs, and decided it would do well as a cane. "Up we go," she groaned, her joints cracking as she rose. With some effort, she pulled the stick free, surprised to see a scarecrow. Its head looked a bit like a turnip. "I've always hated turnips. But at least you're not stuck anymore," she sighed, walking up the road.
Davina heard a sudden rustle of leaves behind her, and saw the scarecrow following her. "I know you must have some kind of spell on you, but I'm sick of witches and spells, go find a field and stand in it!" But a cane hanging from the scarecrow's arms caught her attention. Maybe she had been too hard on him. "Thank you Turnip-Head," she smiled. The wind picked up, causing her to shiver beneath her shawl. "Could you scout ahead, and find me a place to stay?" she tightened her shawl around her, leaning against the cane for support.
Minutes later, a castle made of bits and bobs, with steam rising from its chimneys, and four metallic chicken legs, loomed over her. Her hot stopped in her lungs, as she recalled the name from Cami's stories. "You Turnip-Head, you brought me Kol's Moving Castle!" she shouted, over its deafening noise. Close to the ground, Davina saw the door, but the castle had not stopped walking. "Make up your mind, are you going to let me in, or aren't you?" she snapped.
The second gust of wind blew off her shawl. She hooked her cane onto the railing, pulling herself onto the front doorstep, as the scarecrow bounced after her scarf. "It's a pleasure meeting you, even if you are my least favourite vegetable!" she called after its disappearing bowling hat. Relieved to be out of the cold, Davina stepped over spell books and cauldrons, horrified to see cobwebs hanging from the rafters. "What a dump! This is nothing like Cami's stories," she said, sitting by the hearth to warm her aching joints.
Davina tossed some new logs onto the dwindling fire. "Nothing frightens you when you're old," she said, listening to the crackling flames, and drifting off to sleep. "I don't envy you, that is one fine curse!" Davina's eyes snapped open. The fire was talking to her... "Who are you?" she said. The fire scoffed. "I'm a fire demon and you're trespassing!" Davina frowned. "I needed a place to stay." The fire demon puffed its cheeks, smoke billowed from its head. "I'm Calcifer. I'm trapped inside this castle where Kol treats me as his slave."
Davina had heard stories of fire demons from Cami and remembered they could grant wishes. "Then you can break the spell on me?" her green eyes lit up. "Listen, if you can find a way to break the spell on me, I'll break the spell on you." Davina's eyelids closed. "Alright, it's a deal," she said, falling back to sleep.
0o0o
Repeated knocks on the door, disturbed Davina from her slumber. A teenager jumped down the stairs two at a time. "Who's she?" Josh asked Calcifer, putting on a disguise. Davina recognised the soldiers who had hassled her in the alley. "I'm afraid Wizard Jenkins is not in at the moment, I am acting on his behalf," the teen said, lowering his voice. "Well, we have an invitation from the King, Klaus Mikaelson-" Oliver frowned. "His brother, Kol must report to the palace," Diego passed something to the wizard. The teen closed the door, removing his blue robes and fake-beard.
"What are you doing here, Grandma?" Josh asked. Davina smiled, "Calcifer invited me, I'm the new cleaning lady," she said, flattening the wrinkles in her dress. Josh frowned. "I did not, Josh! She came in from the wastes," he spluttered. The teen frowned, distracted by another knock on the door, this time, Davina noticed, from a different coloured dial. "Might be a customer," he pulled his disguise back on. "That's not the wastes," Davina said, looking out the castle's windows in fascination.
The wizard's apprentice gave a customer a potion to cure her sick mother. "Is it true, can this castle take us anywhere we want?" Davina asked, staring at the ships on the Mississippi River. Another knock, and the dial switched from blue to red. "Yes, I will pass this invitation onto my master," Josh told the sailor, closing the door. Davina pushed passed Josh, testing all the different dials. She stopped on the black one. Josh blocked her. "Only Master Kol goes through that one," he said.
Disappointed, Davina followed Josh up the steps to where Calcifer sat, puffing smoke. Josh reached for some stale bread and day-old cheese. "We can't cook, Calcifer only obeys Kol," he explained. Davina pursed her lips, ignoring Josh, and slammed a pan onto the stove, she was hungry. "I don't cook, I'm a scary and powerful fire demon!" Calciferyelled. "That's enough Calcifer," she hissed. "I'll pour cold water on you!" she threatened. "No, you won't. You need me," he said, blowing raspberries with a long flamed tongue.
"I'll tell Kol about the deal we made," Davina threatened, forcing the demon to behave. The bacon sizzled in the pan. "May all your bacon burn," Calcifer grumbled. Josh set the table, and the door opened, blowing in metal shrapnel and black feathers. Kol swaggered inside, rolling up his shirt sleeves. Davina pretended not to notice. "Calcifer, you're being so obedient," the wizard smirked. "She bullied me," the fire demon complained. Davina shook the pan, suddenly nervous when Kol appeared behind her elbow.
"And who might you be?" Kol asked Davina. "I'm the new cleaning lady, you can call me Grandma Davina. Calcifer hired me, he was disgusted by how dirty it is here," she rambled. Calcifer spluttered in protest. "May I?" Kol smiled, as Davina relinquished the pan to him. "I'll need another few strips of bacon, and four eggs," he asked. She did as she was told, watching Calcifer gobble up the egg shells.
Josh gave Kol the invitations from the King. "We had messengers from the Klaus, you need to report to the Palace Royale as both Pendragon and Jenkins," Josh said.
Kol brought the pan to the table, while Davina brought the plates. Josh gave them forks, "the rest are dirty," he sighed. "Well, you better wash them then," Davina said, catching Kol's smile. She slipped an egg onto her fork, dropping it when Kol addressed her. "What have you hidden in your pockets, Davina?" She didn't think she had anything in her pockets... Bewildered, she held up a piece of paper. "Let me see," Kol held out his hand. Josh yelped when it burst into flames.
"Scorch marks! Kol, can you read them?" Josh piped up. Davina's breath caught in her lungs. "It is ancient sorcery and quite powerful," Kol scrutinized the marks, reciting: "'You who swallowed a falling star, o' heartless man, your heart shall soon be mine.' Can't be good for our table," Kol muttered, waving his palm over the marks until they disappeared. "I wish I could do that," Josh sighed, shovelling bacon into his mouth. Kol grinned, "Someday my apprentice, you will, but even if the mark is gone, the spell is still there."
Kol leapt from the table, startling Davina. "Calcifer, move the castle sixty miles west, the Witch of the Waste is trying to find us. And while you're at it, make hot water for my bath." Katerina must have put the message into her pocket when she cast the spell, Davina thought."Fine, like moving the castle isn't hard enough!" Calcifer retorted. Josh stared at her. "You sure you're not a witch? Or working for Katerina?" he asked. Davina was incensed. "I hate that woman! I would never work for her! She did thi-shoongboopdunglop-" Davina spluttered nonsense, the curse prevented her from saying anything. Josh dropped his fork, alarmed. "Nevermind, eat your breakfast," Davina snapped, catching her wrinkled reflection in a mirror - she forgot how hideous she looked.
As Calcifer moved the castle, Davina decided to channel her rage through cleaning. "Wicked Witch of the Waste, I'll wring her fat neck!" Davina cursed, putting Josh to work on the dishes, whilst she swept and mopped the floor. She blew her grey hair out of her face, wiping sweat from her brow. "You'll be fine," she promised, ignoring Calcifer's protests as she swept the ashes from the hearth. Calcifer, now a small ember, clung to the bucket's rim in a panic. "I'm not fine! I'm going out!"
Davina closed the door, tearing her eyes away from the blue dial. "I would appreciate it, if you didn't torment my friend," Kol said, making sure Calcifer had enough wood to keep him burning. "It's imperative between you and Josh, that you make sure Calcifer does not go out. You see, if Calcifer dies, I die. Such is the curse that was placed on me by Katerina Petrova. Josh, please keep Davina from going to overboard." Davina blushed, as Josh nodded.
After Kol left, Davina reached again for the mop and bucket, climbing the stairs. "Whatever you don't want me to clean, better hide it now..." she warned Josh, chuckling to herself when he sprinted upstairs, sending bubbles flying through the air. Davina entered Kol's mess of a bathroom. She pushed open a window, surprised to see the castle moving towards the Bayou. Excited, Davina tugged open the rusty French doors in the next room, her blue dress billowing in the wind.
Pistons squealed, and steam rose burst from the chimneys. "What's that?" Josh leaned over his bedroom balcony and she followed his outstretched finger. "Turnip-Head!" Davina beamed. "Somehow he always manages to get himself upside down!" She freed the scarecrow, taking back her scarf, and put him and Josh in charge of the washing. She finished cleaning around midday, asking Calcifer to stop the castle, so they could have a picnic.
Josh helped an exhausted Davina into the chair. "Do you think he's demon?" he asked. "I don't know, maybe...maybe he's the good kind?" she said, watching the scarecrow do his best to get the clothes dried before the sunset. "It's strange, when you're old, all you want to do is stare at the scenery." Josh woke her late in the afternoon, worried by the grey tinge in the clouds above, inciting rain. He and Turnip, had folded the sheets, returning only to assist Davina back inside the castle.
0o0o
The door flicked to the black dial, long after Davina and Josh went to bed. A worried, Calcifer watched his master limp into the kitchen, feathers malting. Kol collapsed into Davina's chair, his wings reverting back into arms. "This war is terrible, they're bombing everything and it's all in flames," he sighed, changing from his crow-like creature, to his human form. "I was attacked by wizards who turned themselves into monsters for King Klaus," Kol sighed.
"Those wizards are going to regret doing that. They'll never change back into humans," Calcifer hugged the logs beneath him. Kol stared at the re-organised shelves, distracted by how clean everything was, then he said, "after the war, they won't recall they ever were human." Calcifer pulled another log onto the fire, grateful Davina had left him some. "You need to be careful you don't end up the same way," Calcifer said, receiving a curt nod from his master.
Kol pulled back the curtain to check on Davina, unsurprised to see her not as the 90 year old woman she'd been cursed to be, but as herself, the sixteen year old hat-maker from New Orleans. "We should be safe, for now," Kol said, climbing the staircase. "Goodnight Calcifer," he yawned.
Davina opened her eyes, throwing back the curtain. "Is Kol back?" she hissed to Calcifer, who answered the affirmative. She reached the stairs, calling out, "Kol, why is the Witch of the Waste trying to find you?" Kol paused, gripping the banister. "She was once quite beautiful, so I decided to pursue her. Then I realized she wasn't, and like a coward, I ran away..." Davina listened, intently. "I wasn't always the best role model, but, I'm trying to change, for Josh."
Davina felt something tickle her foot, looking down. She picked up a crow feather, pinching its vanes together, deep in thought. "Ash," she whispered, staring at the vacant landing. What did Kol do all day behind the door with the black dial, and how would she keep her promise to Calcifer, and break the curse on both the fire demon and the wizard?
She knew the answer lay with Katerina Petrova, the Witch of the Waste.
A/N: Goodness! This took forever to edit. Reviews welcome.