Disclaimer: See chapter one.
Author's note: This crossover with Howl's Moving Castle is based on the anime by the amazing Hayao Miyazaki, not the book written by the also amazing Diana Wynne Jones.
Just a Keepsake requests a Howl's Moving Castle crossover, Howl/Harry and "sunshine"
'It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up.'
Howl couldn't help but sigh to himself as he stared out the small window out into the darkened waste of Ingary. The past few years had been the most heart breaking of his life, a far cry from what they had been not long before. The moving castle still kept on moving, powered by his friend the fallen star and the fire demon known simply as Calcifer. But the once full castle had dwindled down to two, and the spark of life and laughter had been slowly fading from the wizard's eyes. Having his heart back with Sophie in his life had been one of the most magical things he had ever experienced, but part of him wished he could give it to the demon once more, almost anything would be better than this pain.
The Witch of the Waste, admitted from the beginning that she didn't know how to break the curse she placed on his beloved Sophie Hatter, and for years they had believed they had destroyed the spell on their own…until Sophie fell ill. It was years after the senile old woman that was left of the witch finally succumbed to old age, but rather quickly, Sophie's health deteriorated to the old woman she had been changed into many years before. Her hair, the color of starlight that Howl had loved so, started to turn ash white, and would break at the simplest touch. Then, the coughing started, as well as the terrible pain. And then one morning, she just never woke up.
Sophie's death had hit them all incredibly hard, but the one who seemed to take it the hardest besides Howl was his apprentice Markl. Markl had grown to be a very talented young wizard, his magic while still growing, was very apt, especially in the areas of blacksmithing and carpentry. They had known for years that Markl had seen Sophie as the mother he had never had, and with her death…one day Markl had simply set the door on black, walked out and hadn't been seen since.
The waste was still the same as it had once been, even after the war the scorch marks and damage left to the earth still remained. Grass and wild flowers still bloomed and withered, people seemed to age and die, but Howl still seemed forever trapped in a 27 year-old body. At least demons lived for centuries, Howl didn't know what he would do if he had to face forever alone.
It was then that that a bright flash filled the night sky for one shining moment, then seemed to fall almost faster than the eye could see; a light that seemed so much like the shooting stars of his childhood, but yet more different than the wizard could possibly describe.
"Calcifer? Did you see that?"
"See what? You think I have time to look around with all the work you have me doing? No respect I tell ya…" The demon muttered from his hearth, stretching out his small flaming arms towards a pile of split wood and quickly devoured a log.
"Set a course due east Calcifer, something fell from the heavens and even from here it's more powerful than anything I've experienced before."
Barely two hours had passed, but already the light was much dimmer than it had been before. The source of the light had crash landed in a valley between two tall mountains, leaving a crater in the ground that was larger than one could imagine. Once the castle had settled, Howl had quickly hurried out the door and towards the source of the light, his bright blue eyes darkening as the power of whatever the object was seemed to roll over him. Carefully the wizard floated down into the crater, only looking about him once his feet landed on earth once more. There before him was a curled up object, covered in some sort of invisible material that could only be seen due to the amount of dirt and dust upon it. Lifting the fabric away was easy, surely the obviously magical material couldn't be heavier than a spider's web, revealed the true source of the power, and it took Howl's breath away.
Curled up in the crater, but seemingly untouched by the dirt and filth around him was a young man, a wizard like himself but far different from anything Howl had seen before. While Howl's dark hair could be likened to that of a crow's wing, and the same color of the dark feathers of the creature he could turn into, this boy's hair was darker than night, a null that seemed endless and made Howl desperate to run his fingers through the locks; The boy's skin shown with the same color as the light from before, an almost golden color that reminded Howl of the setting sun, of sunshine. Resting a hand on the boy's cheek, Howl was visibly shaken as power coursed through his body, it was powerful, it was magnificent, and it was so pure.
Part of the wizard wanted to believe the boy was sent for him, a gift to ease him in his time of suffering. But as Howl lifted the delicate boy into his arms and approached the waiting castle, he felt a warmth fill his heart that was more comforting than he had ever felt before. He knew that this boy was the key, the key to his happiness; the sunshine to his darkness.
Please Review! Remember to leave a prompt for a crossover, 1-5 words please.
Anyone recognize where the quote at the very top is from? ;D You get yummy pixel cookies if you do.