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DISCLAIMER: I do not own any characters from Howl's Moving Castle.

COULD YOU SHOW ME?

Just beyond the hill stood some sort of mechanical creature that seemed to be living and breathing. It's "tongue" stuck out of its large mouth. It had eyes like a chameleon that moved in every which direction. Many chimneys poked out of the top of this creature and they all billowed out black smoke. Many other unnecessary looking trinkets stuck out of its sides. A small house seemed to be growing on its side. It was made of both wood and metal and it had a creepy sort of look to it. With a huge yawn, the creature folded up its chicken-like legs and plopped on the flat ground, causing a small earthquake.

Evelyn's eyes seemed to bulge out of her head. She was sure they were going to pop if she looked any longer so she turned her attention to Madison, "Wha-what is that?!"

But Madison did not answer. All she did was smile the widest smile Evelyn has ever seen. Was this girl nuts?! This… creature stood before them and all she could do was smile.

"I knew it! I knew he was here! MARC!" Madison screamed at the top of her lungs as she sprinted towards the mechanical being. That monster's name was Marc? Was that creature her brother? Evelyn was so confused. All she could think to do was to catch up to Madison.

Evelyn effortlessly caught up to Madison, whose legs were half the size of hers. "Madison!" She shouted next to her, but it seemed that Madison wasn't paying attention. Tears were streaming across her cheeks and into her cotton candy hair as she ran faster and faster towards the creature. Evelyn looked at the machine again. Its mouth was opened wide and its tongue was making a ramp into it.

When they both reached the tip of the tongue, Madison crawled up it while Evelyn stopped dead in her tracks. Inside the tongue, where the taste buds would be if it were real, stood a tall man. His arms were outstretched and soon filled by Madison's embrace. While hugging Madison, the man looked directly at Evelyn, looking rather confused and a bit protective.

After pulling away from her extremely long hug, the man knelt down on one knee and spoke to Madison. She nodded furiously and pointed towards Evelyn, but didn't look at her. But the man was. If he were to look any harder, Evelyn's image would burn into his retinas. He looked at Madison, then at Evelyn again but this time he gave her a hand gesture. No, not that kind. He was gesturing her to come up.

With great strain, Evelyn made it up the creature's metal tongue. Madison and the tall man stood there waiting for her, looking rather amused. Evelyn's face flushed from exasperation and embarrassment. Then Madison spoke, "Evelyn, this is my brother, Marc." She was hugging his waist so tightly Evelyn was expecting his face to be blue.

But it wasn't. The only part of his face that was blue was his magnificent dark blue, almond shaped eyes. He had high, but not too high, cheek bones. His white-blond hair was slicked back but didn't look like it held any gel at all. His height from a distance did not do him justice. He towered over Madison and Evelyn was sure that he was at least a head taller than her. He was wearing a heavy looking dark blue jacket; its shiny, large, fancy looking buttons were undone and showed a pale yellow button down shirt that was tucked into his matching dark blue suit pants. He was possibly the most beautiful man Evelyn has ever seen. His smile was bright and welcoming and his arm was outstretched, "Marcel L'Amour." Even his name was beautiful, the kind that just rolls off your tongue, "My sister here tells me you helped her find my house. You have my sincere thanks." His voice was smooth, like a jazz singer's.

Evelyn reached out her hand to shake his, but he took her hand gently and brought it up to his lips, kissing the back of it softly. She blushed again, taking her hand back quickly to save herself from any further embarrassment.

Awkward silence.

"Are you going to tell me your name?" Marcel's silky voice filled Evelyn's ears and made her jump.

"Uh, yeah, sorry." She shook her head and smacked her palm to her forehead, "It's Evelyn. Evelyn Asher."

He smiled at her, "What a lovely name. Welcome to my home, Evelyn Asher. Would you like to come in?" He asked.

Evelyn blinked a few times, quite shocked that a man this handsome would invite a girl like her into his house. Wait… house?! This… thing was a house?! She questioned this whole situations actuality again, but didn't want to pass up such an offer. "Yeah, sure. That would be nice."

He smiled again and turned on his heel, walking into the darkness of the creature's throat. Madison followed. But Evelyn was doubtful. As if Marcel and Madison were to turn around any moment and scream "SYKE!" at her and throw her out. But, alas, there was no screaming and, thankfully, no throwing out. So she walked into the darkness.

Marcel stood at a large wooden door, waiting for Evelyn to emerge. When she was within eyeshot, he opened the door, letting his little sister in. He continued holding the door open as Evelyn walked in; she gave him a quick nod as she did.

As soon as her eyes adjusted to the light, her jaw dropped. The inside of the house was almost as crazy as the outside! Dishes were piled everywhere along with food, clothes and other objects that couldn't be named. The floor was gritty, as if a pound of dirt was spread across it. She looked down; her once black, not-so-shiny shoes were now light brown just from stepping into this room. She would have never guessed that an attractive man such as Marcel would live in this condition.

Madison looked just as repulsed as Evelyn did, "Marc, how do you live in this dump?!" She picked up a stray sock and held it as far away from her face as possible, "Our parent's house is so clean! I don't know who…" Her words trailed off and she dropped the sock on the floor. Her face turned a bright shade of red as her eyes welled up with tears. But before Evelyn could even figure out what was going on, Marcel was right by her side, comforting his little sister.

Madison was bawling now, her hands covered her face and she was crouched down on the dirty floor, "They kicked me out, Marc. They finally figured out. I was trying to hide it for so long." Her muffled voice cracked with sorrow. Evelyn couldn't bear to stand there and just watch her cry, so she knelt down in front of her. Marcel was looking at her with great care. Evelyn could tell that he loved his little sister. But she also wondered what could force parents to kick their young daughter out of the house and onto the streets?

"I know, Madi. I know. I should have taken you when I had the chance. I'm so sorry." Marcel's words were soft and genuine. He hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her fluffy hair. He then swept her off the floor and into his arms, looking at Evelyn as he did, "I'll be right back, I'm just going to put her in my room." He smiled at her, "Stay put, okay?" Evelyn nodded and Marcel disappeared up the stairs.

Now Evelyn really had time to study the messiness of this room. As she was looking around she wondered if the rest of the house was like this. Probably. She tried to picture the room without the mess. There seems to be a dining table under that pile of junk and counters under that massive pile of books.

Books?!

Evelyn's face brightened up at this sight. She nearly sprinted over to the counter and immediately began rummaging through the gigantic pile.

"Spells: Volume 1-589."

"Recipes for a Wizard."

"How to Reverse Gone-Wrong Spells and Other Magical Mishaps."

Evelyn nearly choked on air when she realized what these books were for. Was this man a wizard or is he just really interested in magic?

Seeing these books reminded her of that night at her house with Lita-

"So I see you've found my books." Marcel's smooth, low voice filled the room and interrupted her thoughts. She turned around and he was standing right behind her. How long was he there!? He chuckled, seemingly reading her thoughts as she freaked out in her head, "I don't mind. Do you like reading?"

Evelyn was relieved that he wasn't furious. She smiled, "Oh yes sir, I love reading."

Marcel held up a hand, palm facing her, "Please, don't call me sir. It makes me feel old. And by the looks of it, we're not too far apart in age. How old are you, eighteen?"

Evelyn nodded, "Exactly." She gave him a long, hard gaze, "And you must be… twenty…" she paused, not really sure how old he is. She didn't want to hurt his feelings so she went with the median, "five?"

Marcel smiled, but shook his head, "Close, but no cigar. Twenty-three." He said with great pride.

Evelyn held back a laugh, "Well if you keep on saying," she held up two fingers with each hand over her head, making quotation marks, "'close, but no cigar' people are going to think you're at least sixty." A coy smile was planted on her face.

Marcel's jaw dropped, "Really? Do I look sixty?!" He placed his hands on his hips and put his nose in the air.

Evelyn tried to hold it back again, but it was no use. She giggled wildly and nodded at him, "Yeah kind of." Then she turned back to the books, still chuckling, and picked up one named "How to Tame Magical Creatures."

Marcel showed up at her side and looked over her shoulder, "So, you like books." He paused, "What about magic?"

Evelyn cleared her throat, sort of shocked at the question, "Well, I've dabbled in it. But nothing more." She lied, waving a nonchalant hand in the air.

"And the result?" Boy, he didn't waste any time.

"Well…" she began. "Give me your hand." He did as he was told and she grabbed it with her own.

"You have really warm hands." He paused, "Is that what happened?"

She shrugged, "Some of it. I used to have really cold hands. But that's not the point! Make me excited."

He blinked, "Uhh." He cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

She thought about it, not really getting what he was saying. When it clicked, she rolled her eyes, "Oh God, no. Not like that. Never mind, make me angry."

"They're tearing down the library." He said to her, using the little bit of information he knew, hoping that would be enough. Dry heat began radiating between their hands. He was about to pull away, but Evelyn squeezed his hand.

"Hold on. You feel that?" He nodded as a response. "Say something else. There's more."

He hesitated, reluctant to burn his hand off. But he was curious to see what would happen so he continued, "And they're replacing it with… an arcade." And as soon as the last word left his lips, he could feel sparks between their palms. They burned into his skin and he pulled away. And he did just in time, because now there was a massive display of sparks coming from both hands. All he could do was stand there and stare at them.

After the sparks died down, Marcel spoke, "You're telling me that you did that by yourself?"

"Well, me and a friend. We had a spell book and we were chanting a fire conjuring spell. I'm pretty sure nothing happened to her, but this is what happened to me." Evelyn held out her hands which now had black ashes all over them.

Marcel reached out and grabbed her hand, rubbing it with his own to get the ashes off, "I'm sorry. That really sucks."

Evelyn nodded, she could feel her cheeks getting warm, "And how are you connected to magic?" She asked as she watched him rub off the black residue.

He looked up from his work and stared into her eyes. He could now see that his eyes were not only blue, but they also had green in them. They looked like little globes. "Well, I'm a wizard." He shrugged and dropped his eyes to her hands, "I'm actually surprised that you don't know who I am."

Evelyn's face scrunched up, "Well, I'm kind of sheltered." Which is one-hundred percent true. Both of her parents are aspiring authors and they don't allow television or radio in their house. They say it messes with their own "vibes".

Marcel chuckled, "So that's why you love reading so much. Because there's nothing else for you to do in your house."

Evelyn blushed for the millionth time today and nodded, "Yeah." There was a slight pause in which Marcel continued rubbing her hands. Evelyn then spoke up, "Hey."

Marcel looked up again; confusion filled his expression, "Hmm?"

Evelyn tilted her head, "Could you show me?"