A Howl's Moving Castle AU written by Illeana-Starbright, my co-author and beta-reader, in which 707 is Calcifer, and it is hilarious.
Chapter 4: Forget the Happy Ending
The knocking came at the door when it was far too early for her to even consider being awake. Ellie grumbled under her breath and pulled the blankets further over her head, hoping whoever was at the door would realize it was far too early to be up and go away. A moment later her hopes were crushed as another knock on the door was accompanied by her phone chiming. "Alright, I'm moving," she grumbled, slipping a hand out of the warmth of the covers to grab her phone and unlock it. The light when the chat room loaded up almost blinded her and she let out a little growl, not unlike the sound Elizabeth the 3rd made on the rare occasions where she was a tiger instead of a cat.
707: It's the South Street Door.
Ellie glared at the message as if it had personally offended her, slipped out of bed and taking the comforter with her. The South Street Door had always been Rika's, and she wasn't equipped to deal with that at four in the morning.
Yoosung, who had been curled up at her back, one arm draped lightly over her shoulder, let out an unhappy whine at the loss of the comforter. Ellie couldn't help how her expression gentled into a smile at the sight of his truly spectacular bed head and the way his yawn ended on a high pitched squeak. He melted her, just like his smile had the first time she'd met him. He smiled back at her before her phone chimed again, this time accompanied by more vigorous knocking.
707: Remember, it's tan on the dial...
Ellie: If it's Unknown, I just might commit murder.
707: lol
707: With a comforter?
Ellie hitched the comforter more firmly around her shoulders and stomped as softly as she could towards the door, her mood not improved by 707's teasing. She turned the dial so it clicked when it landed on the tan section, the sky visible in the window above the door still dark, and opened the door a crack. A man in military uniform stood outside, two more standing just a few feet behind him. "Is Rika available?" the man asked and Ellie scowled at him.
"No."
"Can you take a message to her?"
Ellie barely resisted the urge to turned her eyes heavenward to look for an answer. "That would be incredibly difficult, since she's dead." There had even been an announcement in the newspaper. The man's feet shuffled a little, the only sign of his discomfort, and tucked one of the two sealed envelopes into his coat.
"What about V?" His voice trembled a little on the single letter, heavy with all the vicious rumors that spread so easily, and Ellie sighed.
"Give it here," she demanded, sticking a single hand out into the chilly morning air, made hazy by fog drifting off the harbor. The man handed over the letter, careful not to let his fingers touch hers, and she shut the door in his face with a firm thud.
"Trouble?" Yoosung asked through a yawn, pushing himself upright as if he was fighting gravity.
Ellie glanced down at the envelope in her hand, uncertainty churning in her gut. "I don't know."
Rika had been one of the best witches in the country. Her displays of power spread her name far and wide, until you couldn't step three feet without hearing about some amazing feat that Rika had pulled off. Ellie had grown up hearing stories about Rika's accomplishments; how she'd banished an entire army into another dimension, how she'd turned a disrespectful prince into a scarecrow, how she'd cursed a woman who disrespected her. Everyone had known Rika's name, and that had been her downfall.
A group called the Mint Eye had started raising up rogue wizards and witches to challenge the establishment. One of them, calling himself Unknown, challenged Rika to face him. Rumors claimed it was pride that had made her accept the challenge, but Ellie didn't believe that. After meeting the others, she was sure that something else had pushed Rika into that fight, but regardless of the reason, Rika had gone that day alone to face her opponent. The sky had lit for hours with flickers of light and explosions had made the ground vibrate and trees groan. When everything had finally fell silent, Unknown had walked back out the way he'd come and Rika had been gone.
The knock at the door at 6:35 AM sharp was expected and entirely predictable. Ellie and Yoosung's cell phones chimed at the same time, making both of them jump, glance at each other, and giggle."Watch the eggs," Ellie said, leaning over to kiss Yoosung on the cheek. He blushed and took the spatula from her, bumping his hip against hers. Seven made their phones ding obnoxiously half a dozen times for ignoring him, which didn't make either one any more inclined to glance at the chat room. Then she headed for the door, grabbing her phone and unlocking it as she went so that it would stop dinging at her.
707: Business District Door
707: Hey, I said the Business District Door!
707: Stop flirting you two and open the door!
707: Pay attention to MEEEEEEE!
Jumin: Is that Assistant Kang?
Ellie rolled her eyes at Seven's dramatics and flipped the dial on the door to the deep violet section as she tapped back and affirmative on her phone. Jaehee Kang, Jumin Han's assistant, was standing on the doorstep in a neatly pressed skirt, white top, and suit jacket. "Good morning, Ellie," Jaehee said with a slim smile. There were dark circles under her eyes, something that was, unfortunately, normal. Jumin was next in line for the throne, unless his father actually married one of his flings and had another kid so he could disinherit his son, and Jaehee was the one who was supposed to make sure Jumin carried out all of his duties.
"Good morning, Jaehee. Why don't you come in? Jumin will be down in a moment." Zen likely would be too, but Ellie didn't mention that. It was more fun to watch Jaehee blush and stutter when Zen tried, unsuccessfully, to find out when she had a free day so he could ask her on a date. Yoosung gave her a conspiratorial smile when she took the spatula back from him.
"Good morning, Ellie, Yoosung," Zen's voice called as he thumped down the stairs, looking handsome as always. Ellie would have been convinced that he woke up looking flawless if she hadn't accidentally barged into his room during his first month there and seen him quickly fixing his bedhead with magic. "Oh...Jaehee! It's good to see you!"
"Z-Zen?" Jaehee stuttered, blushing. Yoosung and Ellie grinned and nudged each other while Jaehee and Zen made awkward, embarrassed conversation behind them.
Ellie always said she stumbled on the group by accident, but the truth was more sinister. She had worked in her aunt's bakery every day of the week, and V had come in almost every day. Occasionally they'd talked since Ellie was the only one who would serve him without flinching. She didn't put much stock in the rumors that circled the wizard. She'd decided a long time ago that even if the rumors were true, worrying wouldn't keep her heart in her chest. Unfortunately she hadn't realized that treating V like any other customer would put her in serious danger.
Unknown had noticed their conversations, as short as they might be, and had decided he could use the anomaly to his advantage. Ellie had found herself sprinting through the streets, drenched by rain and chased by twisting, tar like monsters. She'd stumbled upon Rika's apartment by accident and spent the night huddled in the doorway, shivering in terror. Her phone had roused her the next morning, chiming frantically. Seven had hacked her phone and taken over it, flooding it with messages until she explained what was going on. Even then, he hadn't been very happy with her presence, and even less happy that V hadn't seemed upset about her sticking around.
V came downstairs an hour after Jumin and Jaehee had gone to work, Zen had left to handle a problem someone had brought in, and Yoosung had left to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Ellie had finished the dishes and settled down to debate with Seven on whether or not Jaehee and Zen would ever get together. Seven was pretty sure that they were just going to dance around each other for all eternity, but Ellie was pretty sure that they would manage to get together, and sooner rather than later.
707: Pushing them together is cheating on this wager!
Ellie: What wager? You just said that you didn't think they'd ever, ever get together. I disagreed. That doesn't automatically make it a wager.
707: Well I'm a great and powerful electricity demon, and I say it's a wager.
707: And that you can't help push them along.
Ellie huffed, folding her arms over her chest and scowling at the phone in her lap as V shuffled around the kitchen behind her. She heard the click of the oven and then silence instead of anything igniting. "Seven, start up the oven please," V said, tone mild.
707: I get no respect around here!
Seven's indignant message popped up at the same time the stove ignited, making Ellie giggle softly. "Good morning, Ellie," V said mildly and she turned a smile on him.
"Good morning, V." The tea kettle whistled a moment later and Ellie turned back towards her phone to continue her argument with Seven, only to see the letter that had disrupted her sleep. Her stomach dropped to her shoes. "Uh, V?" Her voice came out wobbly and uncertain and her hands twisted anxiously in her lap. "There's a letter here for you. It was delivered this morning."
"By who?"
"A couple of guys in military uniform," Ellie replied, reluctantly handing over the envelope when V held out his hand. She watched as he broke the seal and pulled out a thick piece of parchment paper. His expression didn't change as he crumpled the paper in his hand and it burst into flames.
"When do the others get home?"
"Zen and Yoosung will be back in a few hours, but Jumin will probably be held up until evening since he's been putting off his meeting with his father for the past two weeks."
"Very well." V's expression didn't change but the air around him suddenly felt heavy. "I'll return at sunset." Then he placed his teacup on the table next to her and crossed the room, switching the dial to the black patch and walking out the door. Once it was shut, the door spun and turned to the green patch, leaving Ellie and Seven alone in the house.
Ellie: What do you think that was about?
707: I don't know...
707: But I'm guessing it's not good.
Ellie glanced at the small pile of ashes on the floor and then back at her phone before informing Seven that she'd figured that part out for herself, thanks.
After about a month of cleaning the house and running errands for two scatter brained wizards and one magically gifted prince with a mercurial temper, Ellie had dared to ask a question about Rika. She'd been compared to the powerful witch dozens of times, largely because she spent a lot of her time around Yoosung, she'd wanted to know the truth. Everyone had heard the rumors about what had happened to Rika. They had spread like wildfire after her duel with Unknown and, while Ellie doubted that any of them were true, she guessed that some of them held a grain of truth. Unfortunately, aside from stories about their shared childhood that she'd managed to pry from Yoosung, she hadn't really learned anything about Rika.
As soon as the question slipped out of her mouth, she knew she'd made a mistake. All the color had leeched out of Yoosung's face and Zen had frozen with a spoonful of oatmeal halfway to his mouth. V had been lifting his teacup to his mouth but when she'd asked the question, he'd calmly placed it on the table. The tea had promptly frothed, turned green, and spilled across the table. "The Rika who went to fight that day was not the Rika I loved," he had said, voice cold. Then he'd stood and swept out of the room, a blast of cold air and a trail of ice following him. It was the first time she'd seen V loose his temper, and it had left her shaken for the rest of the day. She hadn't dared to ask again.
By the time Zen and Yoosung returned to the house, Ellie had cleaned up the letter's ashes and was dusting on the main floor. Her phone was unusually silent as Seven either searched for answers as best he could or worried about what was to come, and the silence was making her even more uneasy. "V wants to talk to us tonight," she told them as they put the groceries away.
"About the letter from this morning?" Yoosung questioned and Ellie nodded.
"Letter this morning?" Zen asked, reaching around her to grab the tea and put it up in one of the high kitchen cabinets.
"Yeah," Yoosung replied with his usual brightness. "Someone came at four in the morning to deliver a letter for V."
"Nothing good ever comes at four in the morning," Zen said with the air of someone who had vast experience with bad news arriving at four in the morning.
"Sometimes good things come at four in the morning," was Yoosung's chipper response. "After all, Seven says that Ellie showed up at four in the morning."
"Only because Unknown was chasing her."
"Zen might be right about the letter being a bad thing," Ellie said, cutting off their brewing argument before it could turn into a fully fledged disagreement. Any arguments between Yoosung and someone else tended to turn into chaos. Yoosung wasn't fully trained yet so his magic tended to explode when he got upset and Ellie had cleaned up a ridiculous number of messes before she'd figured out that she needed to defuse arguments before they started. "V burned the letter after he read it." Yoosung and Zen silently exchanged a look and then turned back to unloading groceries without a saying a word. When Jumin stormed in four hours earlier than expected, grumbling at his father under his breath, it was almost a relief. The dark look on his face when they told him that V wanted to talk to them about the letter was enough to cancel out that relief.
Ellie spent four full days after V turned his tea into green slime just waiting for someone to throw her out. She had not harbored any illusions about what would happen to her if she lost this sanctuary. The few times she had gone to buy food with Yoosung, she had seen Unknown's monstrous creatures stalking her from the shadows. Her only protection were the wizards that practically surrounded her, and they could only manage to keep the monsters at bay. She'd found herself flinching at shadows and keeping her head down, unable to muster her usual smiles, or any irritation for Seven's constant teasing.
Because she'd kept her head down, she hadn't noticed Yoosung's increasingly worried glances in her direction. She also hadn't noticed the flurry of not so secret planning going on behind her back, so when they sent her out to pick up a couple things from the market, she didn't think it was any more than her gradual separation from the group. She also hadn't been surprised when two of Unknown's tar monsters had jumped her, the ooze sticking to her clothes and turning her hair into a matted mess. Some of it had slipped into her mouth and she'd started to cough and choke, stumbling away in a blind panic. Her head had slammed into the stone sidewalk and she'd caught a glimpse of V's bright hair and a flash of white light before the world had faded.
She'd woken up a day later with Yoosung and Zen hovering over her, both looking incredibly apologetic. They'd babbled apologies over one another until she'd started giggling weakly, the sound quickly turning into racking coughs. V had waved them away moments later, handing her a glass of water. "I am sorry for my behavior," he'd said as she drank, voice strained. "It was unacceptable."
"It's okay," Ellie had croaked back, feeling warmth rush through her. "I forgive you."
The dial near the door spun to the black patch and everyone at the kitchen table turned expectantly as V stepped through it. For a moment his shadow had feathery wings instead of arms but they faded away as he approached. He slipped by them in silence, filling the kettle with water for tea. A few turquoise feathers drifted around the kitchen in his wake, one of them turning to ash when Ellie caught it in her hand. For once the stove clicked on immediately when V turned the dial, Seven not bothering to make V chide him into doing his job. Only once the kettle was heating did V turn to face them. His eyes skimmed across the gathered group before finally meeting Jumin's.
"Your father called me to the castle today," he said, voice rough and tired.
"Naturally," Jumin said, expression free of emotion. "You're the strongest wizard he has at his command." If he were anyone else, Jumin might have sounded bitter, but Ellie had realized months ago that Jumin simply did not care about being the most powerful. V let out a bitter laugh at that, bowing his head. The kettle whistled behind his back and V turned to remove it from the heat.
"What's going on?" Yoosung asked, looking worriedly between the two men. "What aren't you telling us?"
Jumin folded his hands on the table and said nothing while V's full focus seemed to be on the cup of tea he was making. "There was talk about war at the harbor today," Zen said cautiously, his lips pulled down in a worried frown. Ellie felt her stomach twist at that. She wasn't old enough to remember the last great war, not like some of the others gathered around the table, but she had been told stories about the horrors people had experienced. Entire towns had been wiped off the map, destroyed by bombs and by wizards who had stretched their magic too far and become monsters.
When V didn't respond, head bowed over the steaming teacup in his hands, Jumin turned his attention to the others at the table. "My father has decided that now is the proper time to restore the honor we lost during the last great war. He intends to regain lost territory, and conquer the other kingdoms, by any means necessary and using any weapon at his disposal."
"You mean..." Yoosung trailed off, voice wobbling a little, and when Ellie reached across the table to squeeze his hand, she noticed that her own was shaking.
"My contract with the university requires me to be at the king's command," V said, voice void of any emotions he might be feeling. "I leave tonight to be deployed with the front lines."
"I will be leaving as well," Jumin said, standing and pushing back his chair. "My father does intend to use all resources at his disposal, and that includes me. I have requested that Assistant Kang check up on you from time to time to ensure that the three of you are still doing well."
"You're both leaving? Just like that?" Ellie asked, trembling slightly. She had felt safe from the dangers of the outside world, but now they were beginning to intrude, posing a threat to those precious to her.
"I'm afraid we have no choice," V replied, voice calm.
"The two of you can't leave," Yoosung protested, tears welling in his wide blue eyes. "What if Unknown comes back?"
"Zen will be here with you, and Seven will look after you all." V's expression was gentle and fond as it skimmed over all of them. Phones dinged then, Seven added his piece to the fray.
707: Of course I will! I'm the All-Powerful 707!
707: But V
707: Take care of yourself.
"Stay safe, all of you," V ordered, ignoring Seven's message as he followed Jumin to the door. "And try to find what makes you happy in this life."
Jumin stepped through the door without saying farewell, but Zen scrambled to his feet and grabbed V's arm before he could follow the dark haired man. "Seven's right, take care of yourself," he said, suddenly looking very young. "And V?"
"Yes, Zen?" came the reply, the tone that of a parent speaking to a precious child.
"Please, don't overdo it."
V just smiled, the expression somehow achingly sad on his face, and stepped through the door in a rustle of turquoise feathers.
