Chapter 3 – Realization
"Calcifer! Help me!" Howl cried as he thrust Sophie towards the fire demon. This maneuver was complicated by Sophie's increasingly tight hold on his arm.
"Help you? What am I supposed to do? I warned you against this, remember?"
"You never told me that she would turn into this ... this ... terrifying monstrosity!"
Howl winced when Sophie giggled again. "Oh, Hooowwwlll. You say the nicest things," she simpered while batting her eyelashes erratically.
"See? Did you see that, Calcifer?" Howl sank to the floor in despair, his hands in his hair. He let out a quiet sob when Sophie scooted closer to him and started rubbing his arm. "Oh what am I going to do?"
"What were you expecting to happen when you fed her a stinkin' LOVE POTION?" Calcifer roared in contempt. "Those things ain't true love! They're just a cheap imitation."
"I thought it would just be a little change," Howl responded from the depths of his despair. "But it's as if it replaced her. I talk to her, and it answers. I look into her eyes, and my Sophie isn't the one looking back. This is not what I wanted."
"Well, remember what you always say, Howl," Calcifer crackled from the hearth.
"Hot water for my bath?" Howl sniffled.
"Agh! No!" Calcifer shot his fiery tongue out in frustration. "For every spell, there's a counter-spell. Sheesh. Is your appearance all you ever think about?"
"Oh. That one." A glimmer of hope flared inside him. Now determined, he majestically rose, dragging a clinging Sophie with him. With a flick of his hair and a glint of his green earring, he headed towards his spell collection.
"Calcifer! No need to despair. I shall turn this wretched situation back to normal before you consume another log!" Howl grinned in delight at the prospect. "But first things first. Calcifer!"
Expecting gratitude, the fire demon glowed brighter. "Yes, Howl?"
"Hot water for my bath. My hair is feeling a bit frazzled."
Sophie's inane giggling drowned out the fire demon's indignant response.