Once again I do not own any of the characters in this story or any part of Howls Moving Castle.
SOPHIE POV
I roll over in bed feeling the heat from within the covers. Half awake I reach my hand out a bit, then further and further. My arm is reached as far as it can go and I realize I am alone. 'Howl left' I think to myself as my heart sink into my chest. 'Why? I asked him to stay and he still left. Why is he doing this, maybe I've done something wrong? He said he would never want to leave us and yet he is always gone. Even when I beg him to stay he still manages to escape. Should I just come to terms with the way things are, I don't want to hurt Howl but this isn't the way things were supposed to be. I just wish he would be honest with me.' A knock at my door disturbs my thoughts and awakens me fully, it's Markl.
"Sophie, Lucina is here. She says she can't stay long. Are you asleep? Should I tell her to come back another day?" Markl says keeping the door only cracked. He knows he isn't allowed in Howl's bedroom (the magic inside was beyond Markl and he could get hurt) but seeing as Sophie was the only one home he felt it was alright to just peek his head in. "That's alright Markl, I'm getting up. Tell Lucina I will be down shortly okay?" I say sitting up in bed and putting my shoes on. Markl nods and closes the door behind him. I can hear his footsteps throughout the house and some muffled talking downstairs, just like this morning. This time was different though, this time Lucina was downstairs and if I had any chance at figuring out what was going on this might be the best time.
I fix my hair and head down the stairs to find Markl showing off some of his simple magic tricks to Lucina. To my surprise, she didn't seem that surprised, most people who witness Markl's magic tricks are blown away. She applauded him and praised Markl on his wonderful skills but didn't look to be really impressed at all. 'Probably because Howl has shown her better tricks' I think to myself rolling my eyes and joining the group. "Sophie! Glad to see you again, you look a little pale, are you alright? Oh nevermind, before I forget these are Howls things. Please return them for me if you would be so kind. I cannot stay long but I still wanted to drop by and visit." Lucina hands me a bag tied at the top, I don't bother to open it. The fear of what might be inside distracts my curiosity. 'If it's underwear or clothing, I'll clobber him. If it's something else...I'll still probably clobber him.
"Thank you for returning Howls things, would you care for something to drink? We have tea, coffee, water?" I ask placing the bag in a corner. I could feel my heart racing and a bit of sweat forming on my forehead. I don't know what it was about this woman but whenever she was around I got nervous, I guess it was just her wow factor. Lucina stands up and walks into our kitchen "Yes, I would love a quick cup of tea, allow me to help you please." She grabs the kettle from the sink and begins to fill it with water. "Oh no! Lucina you're our guest, I cannot have you help with something as simple as making tea. Please, have a seat and relax." I protest and take the kettle from Lucina, she huffs at me. "Sophie, I'm a waitress. I'm used to this type of thing, I insist you let me help at least a little, especially with you in your condition." She grabs the kettle back from my hands and gives me a wink. "Condition? What are you talking about?" I ask in a serious tone. Did she know about my absent mindedness? Or how I haven't been feeling well lately? Did Howl tell her about all of my mishaps lately, he wouldn't, considering that's a little private. Something to not be spread around to strangers. Why would he talk about me behind my back?
Lucina, realizing she's said too much shakes her head. "Oh nothing, nothing. Nevermind about that now, how about we start the tea?" Lucina and I continue to chat while waiting for Calcifer to boil the water. Normally he would protest at least a little but seeing as how we had such beautiful company he thought to behave himself. He might have been freed from the curse but he still feared what would happen if he were to ever anger Howl or even myself. "Such a good fire." Lucina says smiling down at Calcifer. "So warm and strong." Lucina places her hand near Cal to absorb some of his warmth. She pulls away, then goes and sits beside me at the table. I can see Calcifer watching her every movement. Trying to not look obvious or suspicious, Markl approaches Calcifer and leans in close. "Calcifer what's wrong? Is she a witch?" Markl asks covering his mouth. "No, but if she was, she'd be the most beautiful witch in the entire world. She says I'm warm! And strong too no doubt! She even tried to touch me! Such a sweet, beautiful woman couldn't possibly be a witch!" Calcifers fire begins to grow at every word, by the end of his speech it's about five times greater than it originally was. "Calcifer calm down! Do you want to set the kitchen on fire again?!" Markl shouts trying to block the view from Sophie and Lucina.
"You mean the way she lit my heart on fire! Look at her, even her hair is red! A great fire demon like me would have no trouble at all swinging me a girl like that! Plus she's just a human meaning it would be easy to impress her with MY magic!" Calcifers fire continues to grow along with his ego and before either of them know it the fire is reaching the size from this morning. There's a bit of smoke filling the room again and some nearby fire logs are starting to spark up as well. "Calcifer stop! Howl's not here remember what Sophie said this morning!" It's at this point where I notice the huge flame and stand up quickly from my chair. "Calcifer! Markl get away from him!" I shout running over and pulling Markl to safety. A few dish towels have picked up on the flames and begin to burn causing more smoke to fill the room. "Calcifer stop!" I yell running over to the kitchen. "I can't! You know once the fire breaks off I can't control it anymore! Hey wait a minute what are you going to do with that?!" He shouts as I fill a bowl up with water and start to throw it on the fire but out of fear of splashing Calcifer I hesitate and miss.
The fire is now beginning to eat away at the countertop and the roof. The house is filling up quick with smoke and my first thought is to just evacuate. Calcifer can survive a fire, but I have Markl and Lucina with me. I can't put their lives in danger as well. I toss the bowl and grab onto Markl's hand, "Hurry Lucina! Follow me out of the house!" I shout but I now notice Lucina isn't phased whatsoever by the flames, she's actually still sipping her tea as if nothing has happened. "Lucina!" I shout while coughing at the smoke. "Alright, I guess it's gone too far now." Lucina says placing her cup down and standing up out of her chair. Although, instead of fleeing with the rest of us she walks straight towards the flame and raises her hands. She muttered a few words but I didn't catch them with all of the commotion and the flames begin to die down. She was like an angel, her red hair flowed so swiftly throughout the room you couldn't tell what was hair and what was fire. Slowly and softly she moved about the room killing each flame and clearing the smoke. Simply hovering her hand over the countertops erased the black soot, she snapped causing all of the windows and doors to open. Curling her lips she let out a long breath and all of the smoke evacuated the room at once. All of the soot was gone, the smoke had vanished, and the flames died.
Markl and I stood there in shock as we watched her perform spell after spell. Our jaws were practically dropped as she turned to us quickly and gave out a wink. Lucina then took her aim towards Calcifer and actually LIFTED HIM into her hands. Calcifers flame grew smaller and smaller the closer she pulled him towards her face. Any and all confidence he had previously had was no longer present. Lucina stopped a few inches away from her bright green eyes and smiled sweetly at Calcifer. "You really are a great and powerful fire demon aren't you? So much to where I don't think you know your own strength. Let's make sure this doesn't happen again, okay?" Lucina slowly places a kiss on Calcifer's face and sets him back down. "Uh huh uh huu…" Calcifer was so out of it, he couldn't even manage to form a complete sentence, he just nodded and made noises. His flame shrank the smallest I had ever seen and turned pink, I guess this was his version of blushing.
Lucina turns back towards us smiling brighter than I had ever seen. Calcifer wasn't the only one affected by Lucina's magic, Markl nor I could say a single word. The two of us just stood there in complete shock trying to understand what just happened. True that wizards and witches weren't much of a rare thing around us considering Howl and Markl were both wizards. Although, Lucina had never so much as showed an interest in magic up until now and for her to be such a powerful witch was even more of a shock. Yes, witches and wizards WERE common but, coming across such a skillful witch or wizard was not an everyday thing. Was this what Howl had seen in her over me? If so I was done for, I can't compete with a woman like her. My shock stays strong but Marlk's seems to die down since he's actually able to speak now.
"L-lucina! That was….AMAZING!" Markl shouts running up to her side. "I had no idea you were a witch and a strong one too! Wasn't that amazing Sophie?!" Markl looks over at me expecting a cheerful face but instead notices sadness and a worried look in my eyes. His excitement wears off quickly and runs back to my side. "Sophie what's wrong? Do you need to sit down?" Markl ask carefully pulling me towards a chair. I shake my head and smile down to Markl, "No Markl I'm alright." I turn my gaze towards Lucina. "That was just beautiful, I've never seen magic performed so lovely before, including Howl's magic. You really are an impressive woman Lucina, I can see why Howl likes spending so much time with you." I wipe a tear from my eye and clear my emotions. If Howl wanted to be with this woman then that's that, there's nothing I can really do to make him stay if he has made up his mind. I want what's best for him and if Lucina is it then I'm glad I got beat by such a strong, beautiful, extraordinary woman.
Lucina tilts her head slightly and gives me a confused look. "I don't know about all that, it's my father Howl really loves spending time with." Lucina says before laughing lightly. "Your father? But I thought…" I ask looking even more confused. Lucina watches my facial expressions for a moment trying to figure out the rest of my sentence before opening her eyes wide. "Wait, you actually thought that Howl and I were...OH HEAVENS NO!" Lucina gives out a loud laugh before sitting down and sipping her tea once more. "Darling Howl IS a great man and a powerful wizard but he's not my type, much too immature for my likings." I take a seat next to Lucina quickly. "But the two of you have been spending so much time together lately and he told me to stay away from you!" I ask urgently and scooting closer. "Yes Howl and I have been spending time together lately, but that's only because I live with my father who Howl has been visiting almost everyday lately. We live in such a tiny house, it's hard to not see each other." Lucina says in a happy tone but it's at this point she realizes she may have overstayed her welcome.
The redhead takes a quick look at the clock on our wall before finishing her cup. "Oh well look at the time, I should really be going now." Lucina quickly gets up and begins to retrieve her things. "But wait Lucina, why has Howl been spending so much time with your father? And why did he tell me to stay away from you?" I ask trying to stall her for more information. Lucina jumps and gives me a nervous look "Uh, I don't really know for sure but I really do have to go right now. We can talk about it another time." She quickly finishes gathering her things and begins to head for the door. I stand in front of her, blocking the only exit. "But why hasn't Howl mentioned you before?" I ask desperately. I don't think it's in Lucina's nature to lie to people because she only avoided the question while trying to get around me but I blocked her every move. Markl just sat in a corner watching, trying to understand exactly what was going on, Calcifer was no help as he was still distracted with his recent love event.
"Sophie please, I really must go now. My father will worry if I arrive late." Lucina says making one last attempt to get around me but I've had it at this point. Why isn't anyone telling me anything, what is going on here?! "Lucina please tell me! Why has Howl been gone so much lately, why is everyone being so secretive around me lately? I'm not letting you leave until you explain what is going on!" I hold out my arms to block both sides of me and firmly stand my ground. The whole room is silent, all I can hear is my heart racing inside of my own chest. I wait impatiently for Lucina to respond, but she doesn't. Lucina just stands there looking from side to side as if she was panicking, I can see a cold sweat breaking out of her forehead. "Uh...Um...Well, haha…" She says looking around the room trying to avoid my eyes before yelling. "Ahhh! I can't do this! Sorry Sophie." Lucina says before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small orange bead. She lifts it up high before smashing it on the ground, a huge smoke bomb explodes filling the entire house. It was orange and smelled slightly like oranges filling every corner of our kitchen. It took a moment for the smoke to clear but when it did we realized Lucina was gone without a trace.
"What was that?" I ask waving some of the smoke away from my face. "Orange tele-bomb, I've read about them. They're pretty difficult to make but if made successfully you can teleport anywhere without the risk of being followed, it also leaves a pleasant scent behind." Markl says sniffing the air around him. I do have to say as upset as I am that she got away, I'm relieved that for once our house is filled with a pleasant kind of smoke. I let out a big sigh, admitting defeat and begin to head upstairs. "Sophie where are you going?" Markl asks following behind for a few steps but stops at the foot of the stairs. "I'm going to go rest for a bit, all this commotion has made me quite tired." I place my hand on top of Markl's head and ruffle his hair a bit before retreating to my room upstairs. "Will you be in your room or master Howl's room?" Markl asks innocently, as simple as the question was it still managed to make me blush a little. Howl and I have been living together for a few years now and we've done just about all there is for couples to do but I still refused to stay in a room with him. Howl's begged me many times to just move my things into his room, he says he would rather wake up to my face every morning. As nice as it would be, I turn him down every time. We're not married and shouldn't be sleeping in the same room but with the way things have been going lately… we may not even be staying in the same house anymore.
"I will be in my room of course!" I shout bashfully and stomp up the steps and lock myself inside my room for some peace and quiet. Glance outside my window and notice the sun is already going down. "It's probably almost eight o'clock... I wonder when Howl will be back. We have so much to talk about, I'll wait up all night for him if I have to. Even if Lucina is telling the truth, there are so many things I need to ask and get off of my chest." I think to myself while slipping off my boots and getting comfortable inside of my bed. I smile lightly to myself as I recall all of the memories I've had here over the past years. "I remember when I first came here, we were all so happy and full of love, except for the war of course. The walks in our secret place, watching the flowers bloom in spring and summer. Winter time was always so joyace, going on walks, seeing the snow fall together. Obviously Calcifer never joined us, both he and Howl prefer the warmer months." I wipe a tear from my eye before it falls down my cheek. The sun continues to set outside as the light in my room slowly dims. "Christmas won't be the same without everyone, I wonder if I'll even get to see Markl or Cal anymore? There wouldn't be much of a reason for me to come by anymore so probably not. I'll miss out on all of the festivals, holidays, and even the birthday-" My eyes open wide at this last thought and my smile fades away and becomes serious. I sit up quick in my bed and look around the room, thinking. "What day is today?" I ask myself outloud as I grab my shoes and quickly slip them on sloppily.
I open the door in front of me and shout Markl's name but he doesn't respond. The entire house is quiet, too quiet for my liking. "Markl! Where are you? Calcifer?" I continue to shout hoping for a response but never get one. I run out of my room and begin to race down the stairs to hopefully find Calcifer asleep at least, he should know where Markl is. Oddly enough, when I reach the kitchen Calcifer is missing too, now things were getting really strange. "Markl?! Calcifer?!" I yell beginning to panic when I feel a soft hand being placed on my shoulder from behind. I don't need to look, I already know who the mysterious stranger is. Every hair on the back of my neck stands up as I hear him speak a single word. "Sophie…"
New chapter to be posted very soon! I hope you've enjoyed the story so far!
