Ranko: Since I love this story so much I am going to continue whether I got 10 reviews last chapter or not! Just want to give out a big "Thank you" for everyone who read/reviewed/favorited/ followed this story! It really means a lot, thanks!
JamieHerondaleDaughterofHypnos: First of all, love your penname ;) Second of all, thank you so much for your kind words and your support in this story! I have just started reading the book and now I love Howl's Moving Castle even more!
Guest: I will continue! But only because you said please ;)
VortexValkyrie: Aw! You make me so happy! Yes, Alec is a very pretty girl; beware the fangirls, Alec! Thanks so much for your kind words, it made my heart happy ^^
Ranko: Alright, now that that is taken care of! Disclaimer! I own nothing related to The Mortal Instruments series or Howl's Moving Castle; both belong to their respected creators.
Enjoy!
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Robert Lightwood looked out the window of the car as his chauffeur drove threw the streets of York Valley. He always hated living here whenever his late wife and late son were still around. He moved to Alicante with his new wife a year after the tragic accident but he still liked to visit his two children every year or so.
The car stopped in front of the Hat Shoppe that was once run by his late wife, Maryse. She loved this old shop; she doted on it and treated it almost as if it were her fourth child. However, after Maryse passed Robert wanted to sell the Shoppe to make some money off of it so his children would have a more comfortable life.
Alexander and Isabelle both refused to live with him in Alicante and Alexander stubbornly fought with his father to keep the Shoppe running. Now his eldest son was running such a feminine little Shoppe. The job he took on was not suited for a man.
That is why Robert was here today; he was here to tell his son that someone was willing to buy the Hat Shoppe for a bountiful price. Then he and Isabelle could live in Alicante with him, his wife, and their newborn baby son.
The chauffeur opened to door for Robert and he stepped out regally. Many people stopped to stare at the man. He was tall and fit, making him look younger than he actually was. His luscious black hair was peppered with gray. His brown eyes were hard and there was the slightest trace of crow's feet which showed he must have smiled at one point.
He was dressed in a crisp gray suit with a deep purple tie, the way most men in Alicante dressed; finely and dignified. But in the little town of York Valley the way Robert dressed was unusual so of course people would stop and stare at him.
Robert went around to the back entrance of the Shoppe where he knew his son and the rest of the ladies would be working on hats and such.
"Hello," Robert called as he opened the door to the workshop.
Tessa looked up from her supervising and smiled when she saw Robert. "Mr. Lightwood, it has been such a long time since I saw you last. How are doing?"
"I'm doing just fine, thank you for asking." He always liked Tessa. She was a sweet girl and he remembered the time she would come to the workshop late at night and have Maryse teach her how to sew and design hats. She was well-mannered and a proper young lady. Isabelle could learn a thing or two from her, he thought.
"I have come to speak with my son," he said, walking over to the open door of the private work room where Maryse spent most of her time. He noticed that it was empty. "That's odd…" he thought aloud.
Tessa wrung her hands together. "I am afraid that your son hasn't been downstairs yet, sir," she said worriedly. That was another reason Robert liked Tessa; she had a natural motherly instinct.
"Hm, that is strange," he said, rubbing his chin in thought. "I wonder what's wrong." He went outside and walked across the courtyard to the old house where he used to live with his whole family. He went up the stairs, calling Alexander's name.
"Alexander," he called, knocking on the door to his son's room. He jiggled the doorknob but it wouldn't budge. "Alexander…" he said again.
"Don't come in here," was heard through the door. It was not anything like his son's voice. It was much more raspy and far too deep. "I've got a bad cold, I don't want you to catch it!" his son called from inside his room. To Robert it sounded like he was putting far too much strain on his voice.
It is too bad that Alexander was ill; he was hoping to talk to his son about selling the old Shoppe once and for all. "That does sound terrible; is there anything that I can do for you?" Robert called through the door, twisting the knob again.
"No!" Robert thought that he heard the pitch of his son's voice rise. Alexander coughed. "I mean…no. I'll just stay in bed all day. You just go on."
Robert hesitated for a moment and then said, "Alright, if you insist."
Alec waited to hear the retreating steps of his father before he got out of bed. He was definitely not expecting him to arrive today. He shed the quilt that was around his shoulders and looked down at his body. Yep, it was still female; even his baggy clothes couldn't hide that fact.
Which was another thing, all of his clothes didn't fit him anymore. This new body that he had was so tiny and thin that none of his other clothes fit him. When Alec was still…a boy he was thinner than most boys his age but he wasn't a stick!
He went over to mirror that was by the wash basin. His face was thinner as well. He touched his cheeks and then his forehead and then his lips. Everything seemed so different. His hair was still an inky black color but now it was about as long—maybe longer—than Isabelle's. The only thing that remained the same were his blue eyes.
He pursed his now plumper lips. "Hey, it can't be that bad, Alec," he said to his reflection. His voice was also that of a girl's; that is why when he was talking with his father he had to strain his voice to sound more like a man's, it was pathetic to say the least. "Look on the bright side, you're prettier than you were before."
He looked over to the door where he had propped a chair against the doorknob to prevent anyone from coming in. "But you can't stay here like this forever."
First thing he had to do was find some clothes that would actually fit him. He snuck out of his room and into Isabelle's. There had to be some clothes in her closet that would fit him. He rifled his sister's old closet and found a gray dress that Isabelle surely wouldn't mind losing.
He slipped on the simple dress and he felt like he was doing something perverted. Here he was—a young boy—trying on female clothes, his own sister's! But then he had to remind himself that he wasn't a young boy. He looked down at his chest again where he saw two large mounds. He was a girl.
He slipped his old black sweater over the dress.
Now he just had to find some food. He didn't know where he was going but he knew that it would be a long journey. He snuck down to the kitchen and stuffed a large purse—that he found in Isabelle's room—with a loaf of bread and a block of cheese.
After that was done he quickly left his home of eighteen years through the back door into an alley. He heard two men a little further away conversing over the day's newspaper.
"Hey, did you hear? Dumont's prince is missing!"
"Yeah, I heard that they were planning to start a war about it."
"Let's hope the prince turns up soon."
Alec shook his head. Honestly, people like that have nothing better to do than spread worry or grief.
He crossed the bridge over the train tracks just as the locomotive passed under it. The chimney coughed out clouds of black smoke. Alec quickly hurried along the bridge, feeling very restrictive with the skirt around his legs. He coughed up the disgusting exhaust and breathed in the fresh, cool air.
"Hey, miss, are you alright?" a young gentleman on the other side of the bridge asked.
Alec smiled and waved his hand. "Thanks but I'll be just fine."
He found his way to the market square where he found a farmer with his son. They had the back of their cart full of hay barrels. "Excuse me?" Alec called as the farmer patted the nose of his horses. "Do you mind if I sit in the back of your cart to help me along with my travels?"
The farmer exchanged a look with his son. "Not at all," the old man said. "Where are you heading?"
Alec pursed his lips. "Um, just a little ways farther than where you're going."
Alec sat in the back of the cart as the old farmer took the reins and whipped them to make his horses move forward. The cart rattled on the old bumpy road of the country side and Alec swayed with the movement.
After a morning of traveling in the back of the cart, it finally stopped and Alec hopped off. He picked up his skirts—which he was still trying to get used to—and continued to walk down the uneven road towards the Waste.
He heard the farmer's son call to him, "I wouldn't do that, miss! There's nothing but Witches and Warlocks out there!"
Alec turned and waved to the elderly farmer and his good son. "Thank you but I'll be fine!" he called back.
Alec continued to walk and he grunted when he was met with an uphill walk. In his normal body, this wouldn't be so bad, however, in a female body he felt as if he was getting tired more easily. His legs didn't have nearly as much muscle and the blasted skirt kept getting in his way.
By noon he was already tired out and there was still so much farther he had to walk. There were still so many hills to climb and he had no idea where he was going! He sat down on a rather large rock that was resting on the hill and looked over the town of York Valley.
He sliced a bit of bread and a chunk of cheese for his lunch. He chewed slowly as he tried to get his energy back. Why was this female body so much weaker than his male body? He could barely walk he was so sore and he still had so much more he had to walk. He needed something to help him.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw something sticking out of a bush. He did a quick double take. It was a stick. A stick that looked like it was perfect to be a walking stick. "Hm, I could use that," he said to himself.
He pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the bush. He grabbed hold of it and pulled. It didn't budge; all it did was shake the bush. He pulled and shook the blasted thing and it did not give way an inch.
"Stubborn branch," he said through clenched teeth. He pushed on it, hoping to get it detached from whatever it was that was holding it back. Why didn't he have any muscle in this body? He was weak; he couldn't do anything with these arms or his legs. "Come on!" he shouted, pushing even harder until he felt his face go red from the exertion.
Something broke through the bush just as Alec thought he had freed the branch. The first thing he recognized was the black suit. He quickly backed away in fright and after a moment of nothing happening he looked up and saw a scarecrow standing before him. He sighed in relief. "Oh, it's just a scarecrow," he said as his heart returned to its normal pace. "I thought you were one of those blob men."
He noticed that the scarecrow was attached to the stick he was trying to get out of the bush and that it was standing up without being propped up against anything or run into the ground. "But how are you standing up all on your own?" he wondered aloud.
His only response was the ever present grin on the face of a friendly scarecrow. The legs of the suit he was wearing was fluttering in the wind, along with the tail of his coat. It looked old and worn, the once regal suit looked dirty and frayed.
"You're head is shaped like a turnip. I always hated turnip, ever since I was little," he said to the scarecrow. The scarecrow didn't respond, it just continued to smile in one direction. "Well, at least you're not upside down anymore. Farewell," he said, waving goodbye to the odd scarecrow.
He picked up his purse and continued on his way up the steep hill. He continued to walk even when the day turned to evening and the sun began to set over the horizon. The wind became even harsher and the skirt around his legs fluttered and restricted his movements even more than before. His long hair kept blowing in front of his face and in front of his eyes. His old sweater seemed to do nothing to help with the cold.
"Why is it so cold?" he said to himself. He looked over his shoulder. "And I can still see the town; I've barely moved." He stopped when he saw something not a little too far behind him. It was the scarecrow, hopping towards him on its one leg.
"Go away!" he called. "Don't follow me! There's no need to thank me; you don't owe me a thing!" The scarecrow obviously didn't listen because it kept hopping uphill towards him. "I'm sure that you have a spell on you and I have had enough with Witches and spells, so just go find a random field and stand in it!"
Alec turned back around and started walking up hill at an even greater pace, hoping that the scarecrow had turned around and left him alone. He didn't hear the sound of hopping past the rushing wind blowing past his ears. He didn't notice the scarecrow until it was standing right next to him.
Before he could say anything, the scarecrow dropped something by his feet. "Huh?" He bent down and held up a walking stick. It was just the right size and it was decorated with the pattern of flowers. A little feminine but Alec couldn't complain. He smiled up at the scarecrow. "Thank you, this is perfect." Alec thought up a quick plan. "If you want to do me one last favor, you can hop off and find me a place to stay for the night."
The scarecrow stood there for a few moments and then turned around and hopped back down hill. Alec chuckled and waved goodbye to the retreating scarecrow. "I almost felt bad about that," he muttered to himself.
After his last encounter with the scarecrow he had continued his trek. Day was done and it was now night and the wind was harsher and colder than ever. It blew right through Alec. "How does Izzy live in a body like this? She must be cold all the time! There isn't any extra body fat on this body to help keep me warm.
He pulled the neck of his sweater over his face in hopes of keeping himself warmer. He thought of just giving up for the night and falling asleep in the middle of the narrow, worn road. Then he smelt the familiar scent of smoke. "Someone has a fire burning; maybe there's a cabin nearby."
He walked with a new found determination but was quickly stopped short when he heard the sound of steam whistling and a strange clunking. That was followed by what appeared to be just a large bunch of metal parts that moved like clockwork. It rose over the other side of the hill and hopping along beside it was the scarecrow.
Alec recognized the shape of the hunk of metal and gaped.
"You…you Turnip Head!" Alec shouted as the scarecrow got closer to him. "That's Magnus Bane's castle!" He had never seen it up close before, only the shape of it on the hill of the Waste from the shop windows. "That is not what I meant when I asked for a place to stay!"
The front of the castle looked to be shaped like a face. There were towers and steam chimneys and random pieces of metal and scraps all coming together to form this strange creation on four legs! It stopped just before Alec and the mouth of the castle opened in a sort of sighing manner. It rested for a moment, steam whistling from every crevice and chimney.
"Look at that," Alec said, taken aback. "They call this a castle? Looks more like a dump to me," he said to himself.
The castle rose to its feet, it clogs beginning to move in a synchronized rhythm. It breathed out steam again and began to walk again. Alec stepped back to keep from being trampled on. It moved past Alec and Turnip Head quickly hopped after it. It wasn't moving very fast.
Turnip Head hopped along side a set of stairs that was sticking out the back of the castle and there was a door that was lit by a lantern hanging from the metal canopy.
"Is that the way in?" Alec called. He ran after it on his now much shorter and skinnier legs. He tripped over his skirt a few times; he finally just picked it up and tucked his walking stick under his arm. "Slow down!" he shouted. He grabbed hold of the railing of the stairs. "Are you going to let me in or not?" As its answer, the castle scooped Alec up to the stairs.
Alec grabbed the railing and pulled himself to his feet. The scarecrow continued to hop along by the stairs. Alec opened the door. He didn't see much of what was inside, just the dusty old stairs and the soft glow of a fire.
He turned back around to Turnip Head. "It's nice and warm in there so I'm going in. Hopefully Magnus won't eat my heart," he said. Of course the scarecrow didn't respond. "It has been a pleasure meeting you; even though you are my least favorite vegetable!" he called back as the castle became to quick for the scarecrow to keep up. "Take care, Turnip Head!"
With that said, Alec went inside and closed the door behind him. He sighed as he was out of the cold and in a nice place where it was warm. He didn't really mind the danger of going into the castle of someone who was famous for eating beautiful peoples' hearts.
He silently climbed the old stone steps. The house was dead; everyone living there must be asleep at this time of night. The only life in the castle was the one of the fires. Alec looked around the room as he crossed it to get to the chair that was positioned conveniently in front of the fire.
"What a mess," he mumbled to himself as he sat down. "When I think castle this is not what I pictured." Every available space was cluttered with books and scrolls and papers. Shelves were crammed with random junk that Alec could not assort. There was dust and cobwebs and spiders on the beams.
And the overly wide and spacious fender of the fireplace was piled with ashes from previous burnings. The tiny fire was flickering and popping on one log. Alec saw a basket of logs by his chair and tossed two logs to the warm orange flame.
He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, it's warm at least," he said to himself as he felt sleep overtake him. As he was dozing off he thought he could see a face in the fire. He could see two eyes, a nose, wavy hair, and a mouth…
"I feel bad for you, miss; that is one bad curse," a voice from the fire said. It had flames for arms as it leaned against one of the logs that Alec had put in its grate.
Alec was suddenly jolted awake. He stared wide-eyed and disbelieving at the fire. "The fire…it spoke…?"
"Let me guess," the fire continued in a smug sort of way. "The curse won't let you talk about it, am I right?"
Alec gaped and blinked at the fire; he rubbed his eyes and pinched his arm to make sure this wasn't a dream. "Are you…you aren't Magnus, are you?"
The fire grinned at the boy-turned-girl. "No; I am an extremely powerful fire demon named Jace!" he declared proudly, breathing out pink flames. He chuckled to himself. "Sometimes I just like to do that."
Alec sat up in interest and leaned forward. "Goodness, a fire demon! Then you should be able to break my curse!" he said.
Jace shrugged his fiery shoulders. "Maybe, maybe not. Listen, if you find a way to break the spell that's on me and Magnus than I should be able to break the spell that's on you. You scratch my back, I scratch yours! Deal?"
Alec raised his eyebrows and smirked. "If you're a demon how do I know that I can trust you? Do you promise to help me if I help you?"
Jace made a face. "I don't know, girly; demons aren't really known for making promises."
Alec sunk back in his chair. "Then go find someone else," he said.
Jace raised his fiery arms above his head in frustration. "Come on, miss, you have to help me! You don't know what it's like living with Magnus! You should feel sorry for me; our stupid contract has be trapped in this castle and Magnus treats me like his slave and burns me up. You have to keep the water hot, the rooms warm, the castle moving; Come on!"
Alec began to drift off to sleep as Jace was on his rant about how unfair it was to live with Magnus. He was barely listening at this point.
"Do you know how hard it is to move a castle?" Jace asked rhetorically as he continued. "Listen, if you can find some way to break this thing I'm in with Magnus than you can break my spell too! After that, I can easily break the spell on you!"
Alec sighed and yawned at the same time. "Alright, it's a deal…" he said as he fell asleep on the chair in front of the fire. This new body was so much weaker than his old one; he got tired faster.
"Huh?" Jace wondered aloud as he saw Alec drift off to sleep. "Hey, hey, miss. Hello? Hey! Miss, hello? Hey, hey, hey!" He groaned and tried to scoot across the ashes to get closer to Alec. "Let me just get over there…" He couldn't move any farther without someone moving his logs. He sighed. "Some help you're going to be…"
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Ranko: There is chapter 2 for you! I know, totally exciting, right? Oh my, gosh! There was walking! And then there was more walking! And wait! Alec fell asleep! Oh whoa, that kept me on the edge of my seat! This is how I amuse myself. Anyway, I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter. This is going to be a really fun story to write, I know it.
Anyway, since this story is told mostly in Alec's point of view than that means he will still refer to himself as a boy but to everyone else he is a girl. Make sense? Good ^^
Okay, please review and tell me what you think! What I could have done better, something you enjoyed, something I can improve on, spelling/grammar mistakes, anything you want!