Sophie stirred. Something rested on her back. She knelt on a rocky ground. As she sat up, her memories returned to her. Glancing to her hand, she still held the thing Sal gave her. But why? What did she mean? Sophie pocketed the hourglass. How can I possible fix this? Howl just wanted to protect me, and what do I do? She couldn't bring herself to think what happened to Howl, but she felt she knew. Her eyes started welling up.
A series of quiet whimpers came from her left. She slowly glanced down. Heen, as the Old Chalk Sheepdog looked at her worried. Her eyes flooded further and calmly as possible she asked, rhetorically of course, "Heen, what I have done?" He tears overflowed down her face. "I poured water on Calcifer," she turned away and the dreaded thought left her subconscious mind, through her brain and out with her voice, "What if I killed Howl too?" she buried her head into her hands. She felt even more worse than when she tried to leave the Castle when Howl went all slimy.
Heen started barking. Then he pawed at her leg. Sophie glanced at him through her fingers. Then she noticed it. The ring Howl gave her when she went to see Madame Suliman, the jewel glowed blue, then same as Calcifer after she dumped the water on him. The metal also vibrated. She examined it closer. "It's moving! Is Howl still alive?" she asked the ring, "Can you lead me to him?" the ring reacted, the light blue magic jumped out like a fountain's water spout. The magic then returned to ring and shot a beam out. She looked up to see where it went. In this case pointing straight towards a piece of metal. Propped up against the cliff face. Curiosity overtook her. She stood up and followed the light. Something sat behind the metal, part of the frog façade she guessed. It left just enough room to for her to squeeze inside. She pushed and pushed and pushed. The panel fell forward. Heen got out of the way.
Sophie could now clearly what hid behind the metal. "The front door," the ring flared again pointing at the door. Sophie pulled at the handle. The blackness looked back at her. It did not seem like inch thick nothingness now. More an abyss. Just to be sure, she raised the ring. The light shot out, guiding her into it, the light stopped and spread along it. Sophie felt the blackness. Just as before. Could Howl have gone back to Llamedos? Well, only one way to find out. She plucked up courage and stepped through. She continued through the blackness, not straight to Llamedos then. The silence of the nothingness somehow both calmed and unnerved her.
As she walked, slowly and unsteadily, a scene faded into existence front of her. A square room. A few bits of furniture and a small cooking range. Her boots started making a sound, indicating she stepped into the room. She looked at the papers on the table with the unoccupied chair. The papers greatly resembled those Markl worked on. Confused she looked at the ring. It vibrated but the light did not emit from it, as if it lost its sense of direction.
A scratching at the door caught her attention. "Heen?" she whispered. She walked over and put her hand to the door. Pulling it open she gingerly walked out. The night sky took her attention. Dozens of falling stars glided through the sky before falling on the far side of a familiar lake. A steady water on wood beating told her she just walked out of the watermill cottage in Howl's secret garden. Maybe he retreated here? Another star flew passed much closer. Instantly Sophie thought of Madame Suliman's subjugation spell and she winced. Then she saw the ring. A blue glow outlined it, but the metal wore thin, like something invisible nibbled on it.
The star's landing and burst made Sophie look up. The light illuminated a figure walking on the end of the lake. It looked like one of Madame Suliman's pageboys, only dressed in middle-class clothing, and with black hair. Sophie looked closer. She made a guess. "That's Howl?" More stars shore down. The boy looked up. Sure, enough Sophie saw a younger Howl, greatly resembling his niece and nephew. Sophie again thought of the little stars playing Ring a Ring o' Roses. Dreading something bad would happen to she ran as fast as she could. Her boot dug into the mud. She could not help but think of Markl's star chasing in Enlightenment Country only a few weeks ago. And then Howl's comments when Markl talked about it, and then Calcifer's hint about Howl catching a falling star. "I know where I am," she said to Heen, not checking if he followed her. "I'm in Howl's childhood,"
As she ran on the lakeside she wondered how it could have happened. Howl did off-handily mention about going to see his own Naming Rite if he wanted to, maybe this is what he meant. The black door must send Howl where he wants to go, or maybe needs to go, and it allowed Sophie here for a reason. A star lowered itself down to the lake and burst. The little stick figure started running across the water before fading and falling in. Two more burst behind her. The shock nearly made her fall over. As did one landing on the ground directly behind her. The stick figure ran past her making her stop. It continued onto the lake and spluttered into nothing. The glowing little creature faded as it sunk.
Sophie watched the lake. The reflection caught her by surprise. She looked as young as she used to be, and as young as she felt right now. Indeed, she looked a whole lot better with shorter hair than with the pony tail, she looked a lot more confident. She felt her boots stir and started sinking into the mud. Shrieking, she pulled herself out and stumbled backward. Another star shore over as it fell. Howl caught it in a burst of light and fire. Sophie inhaled as she witnessed it. She stood closes enough to she Howl's lips move, but too far to hear the word. But she understood them. Her hand with the ring trembled as she gripped her skirt and apron. Young Howl, to her amazement and disgust, swallowed the star. His hand went to his chest and he lurched in pain. His hand left his chest. A heartbeat pumped through the silence. In his hands he cupped a small fire.
The ring snapped. Reality opened under her. It slowly pulled her into the abyss. She looked back at the boy still reeling. "Howl!" she called. "Calcifer!" Howl turned to look at her with wide eyed confusion as the abyss encroached on them. She continued, "It's me Sophie, I know how to help you now!" Howl suddenly became very scared at what she implied and Calcifer opened his eyes. Sophie knew she could not do anything at present, or in the past, so gave him some hope, "Find me in the future!" Heen dived after her. The abyss closed around them. The world spun as she and Heen fell. She saw the elephants and the turtle, she could feel time swivelling and knot around her. How can I get to Howl? How can he find me now?
Heen barked and started walking. Sophie pulled herself straight and started to follow. As she did so she couldn't help but think. Howl didn't have a heart for, he looked to be about fourteen, so, she did the maths in her head, at least a decade.
Now logically she knew the heart did not regulate the emotion, it's all chemicals in the brain. Although she once read in a modern medical book written by an Igor, and approved by the Lady Sybil Free Hospital, the heart is a hormonal gland, producing Dopamine, about reward and, suppressed her blush, pleasure, Epinephrine or adrenaline, Norepinephrine which helps people cope with certain shocks. And the same book states some recipients of heart transplants have reported changes in their personalities, tastes and desires that seem to mirror the donor's lifestyle. So maybe the being without his heart for his formative years did affect Howl. Maybe since Calcifer safeguarded Howl's heart he affected Howl's emotions, accidentality of course. Calcifer liked her, faults and all, maybe Howl fell in love with her over the last month.
Sophie realised, I shouldn't have said 'It's me Sophie,' Howl and Calcifer wouldn't have known me back then. The next time we would have met was on May Day, and Howl's first word to her came back. There you are sweetheart. Sorry I'm late. I've been looking everywhere for you.
It all made sense now. Why he chased after girls. Why he said those word. Only then she'd not been quite the girl he'd been looking for. But now, she became her. The girl, the woman, Howl needed and wanted. And as Wilbert said, with all the things he did to show how much he valued her, the woman he possibly loved. Why did she not see it until now? She felt tears well up again, no sure why, she held her hands to her face.
Heen barked. "I'm sorry Heen," she said, "I'm trying to hurry. I just can't seem to stop crying," she felt a weight come off her, or more exactly she felt the absence of a weight, one she did know existed until it went away. The door appeared before her. She stepped through after Heen, the gravity of the Disc settled as she did her best not to stumble. She stopped as she realised what sat before her. A huge mass of feathers slowly breathing. Sophie plucked up courage and walked forward, she never feared Howl as a monster, now with what she suspected, she would never dream of it. She came up close and asked, "Howl?" she reached through the feather and pulled them aside. Howl face appeared from underneath. He looked cold with the thousand-yard stare through red-rimmed eyes. But still his face, he held on to at least one part of his humanity. He came straight here to find her, no lengthy session doing himself up, he came straight here, dishevelled from his fight, and waited for her. Calcifer and Markl's words came back to her. He really did love her. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Did I come too late? I didn't mean to make you wait this long," she leaned in. Closed her eyes. She gave him a small kiss on the cheek. As she pulled back she saw his static face stir. Sophie smiled. "I need you to take me to Calcifer if you can?"
The mass of feather moved. A monstrous crow's foot stepped out as Howl stood up. Sophie climbed onto the talons. Heen jumped on too. Howl spread his wings and took to the air of the early morning. He went, clichéd yes, as the crow flies.
A peculiar shaped pile appeared in the middle of the Waste. A fantastical shape of twisted little towers, rising to one main tower pointed slightly askew, like a knotty old finger. The thing seemed to be made of the yellow-grey grit of the Waste. At Sophie wondered if it might be some strange kind of ants' nest. But as she got nearer, she could see it look as if something fused together thousands of grainy yellow flowerpots into a tapering heap. She grinned. Howl's Castle often struck her as being remarkably like the inside of a chimney. This building looked like a collection of chimney pots. It looked like the work of a fire demon. As they approached closer Sophie noticed its look of overindulgence, waste and superiority. One person above all other to Sophie's mind embodied those. The Witch of the Waste. She tricked her with a henchman acting as a doppelganger. Wormed her way into the Castle and now she would have Markl, Calcifer and Turnip-Head.
Howl landed. Sophie stepped off. He collapsed to the ground and the feather blew off him. Sophie quickly rolled him over onto his back and pushed his hair aside. He looked to merely asleep. Sophie looked from him to the Witch's castle. What do I do? I can't leave him like this. Sal's words came back, she seemed to remember quiet a lot when frantic. She reached into her dress pocket and took out the hourglass. She glanced between it and Howl, Sal said just think of him. She placed the timer on his chest. The sand for some reason did not stir, it eerily defied gravity. Slowly grains started disappearing from the top bulb, not going through the neck to the bottom bulb, just ceasing to be there. Howl stirred. His eyes opened. Sophie leaned closer. "Howl?"
"Sophie," Howl whispered, he sounded drained, but he smiled. "Your hair looks like starlight, it's beautiful," she grinned. "You think so? So, do I," she leaned in and gave him a kiss. His eyes widened. His hands wrapped around her waist. She broke off abruptly. "We need to stop the Witch, she's got Markl and Calcifer and gods knows what she'll do to Turnip-Head?"
"The scarecrow?" she nodded and turned looked up at the door. Heen pawed at them. They opened and Heen rushed behind Sophie. Two gangly all too familiar figures lurched out of the dark space. The Witch's main henchmen. She tried to speak to them politely, to show she did not have any quarrel with them, how could she, they did not truly live according to Wilbert. "Good morning," she said, helping Howl up as he pocketed the hourglass.
They gave her sulky looks. Her second thoughts mutter, about the only look mud can give. One bowed and held out his hand, pointing towards the misshapen dark archway between the bent columns of chimney pots. Sophie glanced at Howl, he gave her an unsure nod. "It looks as if we're expected. I don't think we have much choice," she nodded gummily. He offered his arm and she gladly took it before following the first henchman. Heen scurried behind and the other henchman brought up the rear. And of course, the entrance vanished as soon as they went through it. The two of them would have to deal with the problem when they came back.
Sophie's memory went back to the walk down the alleyway when she first met Howl, a lot changed in the space of a month, but once again they found themselves in a situation orchestrated by the Witch. Walking through the Witch's fortress felt like going through the Castle door on the black setting. A moment of nothingness followed by murky light. The light came from greenish-yellow flames burning and flickered all around, but in a shadowy way which gave no heat and very little light either. When Sophie looked at them, the flames never quite emitted where she looked, always to the side. She shrugged. Always the way with magic. They followed the lanky blob man this way and the other among skinny pillars of the same chimney-pot kind as the rest of the building.
"Sophie," Howl whispered. His spare hand pressed his pocket. "Do you know what that is?" Sophie shook her head. "Sal just gave it to me as something to help you," Howl shuddered slightly. "She'd really sacrifice herself like that?" Sophie blinked, and her eyes widened. "Sacrifice? Howl, what do you mean?" Howl's spare hand went into his pocket and remained there. "This, Sophie, is a life-timer," Sophie gasped. The henchmen at the front stirred, but it did not turn back to look. Sophie's mind picked apart the revelation Howl just gave her.
At length the henchmen led them to a sort of central den. Or maybe just a space between pillars. Sophie became architecturally confused by then. The fortress seemed enormous, though the witch in her suspected a form of deception. The sound of fight suddenly sounded as they passed under the archway. A scythe swung into the front henchman, cutting him into two and the sludge dissipated. Sophie flinched at the scene before her.
The Witch of the Waste, looking halfway to becoming covered in scales fought Miss Susan. The Head Mistress of the Teacher's Guild now look a lot like a heroine, the demi-god her heritage suggested. The appearance of the Witch slithering and scaly made Sophie remember Howl's fight above Ankh-Morpork, and over the past couple of days, Howl, Sal and Wilbert became very cautious with their wording. They must have known about the Miss Throckmorton doppelganger all along, and they did not tell her. Either they must have not wanted to hurt her feelings, or they figured she would work it out. She shook her head internal. Why am I so naïve at times?
As the fight continued Sophie looked about the room. She noticed in a far corner, Wilbert making and maintaining some form of shield spell, blob men pounded at the dome. While Sal, looking rather tired, held tight to Markl. The skull and the harp also sat within the magic circle. Where's Calcifer? Sophie wondered.
A series of clicking sounded from another corner. Sophie's eyes darted sideways to the place of origin. In the other corner stood a seven-foot figure dressed in a rode of absolute darkness. Darker than the nothingness of black door, it just absorbed light completely. Out of one of the crossed sleeve jutted a hand, no, the bones making up the inside of a hand. The figure tips rattled against the covered shoulder down with an unnerving rhythm.
She also saw Calcifer, still as a weak blue flame, sitting on the other shoulder. Heen wormed his way behind the figure as well.
A muttering came from the dark cowl. In truth, it just appeared as a mutter within Sophie's head in a voice like the Voice Miss Susan demonstrated, sounding like the slam of a coffin WITH THE NUMBER OF TIMES, SUSAN'S TAKEN IT WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. I AM BEGINNING TO THINK I WILL HAVE TO GIVE HER A SCYTHE OF HER OWN.
"Well?" said a familiar voice. Sophie glanced little more to the left. Chaos stood next to Death. The voice sounded like Mr Soak, and he wore the helmet with the butterfly motif. He also wore an ancient style of armour, in his hand he held an ice sword. Even from this distance away, Sophie could feel the coldness radiating from it. Chaos turned to Death. "Why haven't you done it yet?"
HER FATHER WOULD NEVER HAVE APPROVED. MORTIMER WAS THE ONE MORTAL WHO COULD WIN IN AN ARGUMENT WITH ME.
"Well he can't stop you, now can he? No offence meant. While we got time, I'd like to know one thing. I can get why Pestilence and Famine aren't here, this conflict doesn't call for them, but why's War not here with us?" Death glanced at Chaos and Sophie caught a glimpse of two little blue stars deep within the eye sockets. BECAUSE RONNIE THERE IS STILL A WAR GOING ON OUTSIDE. I THOUGHT YOU KNEW? WE ARE THERE AS WELL AS HERE.
"Well, yeah," Ronnie said. "Just thought he'd be here too," he turned to look at Miss Susan. "You think we should help her?"
NO, Death said grimly, even more grimly. THIS IS SOMETHING SUSAN HAS TO DO, WITHOUT OUR HELP. THIS IS A MORTAL CONCERN. OR MORE ACCURATELY IT CONCERNS A MORTAL.
Miss Susan swung the scythe again. This time it nearly sliced into Sophie and Howl. The teacher paused. "Be careful where you stand," this paused let the Witch to strike. The other henchman became a pure sticky blob. It slurped deceptively fast along the floor grabbed Sophie, Howl and Miss Susan by the ankles and glued them to nearby chimney pot pillar. Miss Susan tried another swing, but the sludge plucked at her hair. She let go of the scythe.
Sophie tried to move. "I'd most rather have the green slime!" she said. "Let us go!"
"No," said the Witch, returning to what she deemed as normal. And she seemed to lose interest in Sophie entirely.
Sophie began to fear, as usual, she made a mess of things. The sticky stuff seemed to be getting harder and more elastic every second. When she tried to move, it snapped her back against the pottery pillar.
The Witch instead swerved up to Howl. "Hello Howl," she smoothed. "I think now we can have that heart to heart talk," she snuggly cackled. "You're sense of timing is quite amazing Howl. When I got the invitation, I could tell Madame Suliman planned to get rid of me, so I made gave a minion a copy of my memories and personality and sent it to its fate. I just wanted Madame Suliman and the King out of my way, but when you sent the tacky little hat shop girl to see Madame Suliman the same time I sent my minion decoy I saw the opportunity of getting a spy into your Castle, I knew I should take it," she chuckled and looked to Miss Susan, "It seems I didn't need you to send the curse after all,"
Miss Susan gave her the look. "Then will you give Imp back?"
"Ah yes, the Llamedos boy with the harp," Miss Susan raised an eyebrow. "He is thirty-eight you know,"
"To me, he's still a boy. Since you're here, and have gone against our little agreement, I think I have the right to tell you, I found a use for your lover boy," she looked to Howl. "I also have a plan for you dear Howl," she glanced at Sophie then to Wilbert and Sal and sniffed. "You people are quite determined to stop me from my goals. First Wizard Suliman would not come near the Waste, so I had to threaten Princess Valeria to make the King order him out here. Then the King would not let Prince Justin follow Suliman for months, and when he did follow, the silly fool went to the Chalk for some reason, and I had to use all my arts to get him here. It wasn't too hard to get Prince Stephen of Strangia here, and I found the Llamedos boy,"
"Miss Susan titled her head. "So, you didn't plan to stumble onto Imp and give him a ride to Cwtch?"
"Plan?" the Witch said offended. "You can't plan for everything. I just see an opportunity, and I take it. I have worked very hard for this moment, and I am not to be argued with."
The Witch made a gesture towards the murky flames. A sort of throne trundled out from the pillars and stopped in front of the Witch. A man sat in it, wearing a green uniform and long, shiny boots. Sophie thought he slept at first, with his head out of sight sideways. But the Witch gestured again. The man sat up straight. He did not have a head on his shoulders at all. Sophie realised she looked at the remains of Prince Justin.
"If I was Fanny," Sophie said, "I'd threaten to faint. Put his head back on at once! He looks terrible like that!"
"I disposed of the parts I didn't need," she looked about the room and fixed on the skull and harp. "I sold Wizard Suliman's skull when I sold the Llamedos boy's harp. Prince Justin's head is walking around somewhere with other leftover parts. This body is a perfect mixture of the Princes, Wizard Suliman and the Llamedos boy," she reached down and took the headless man's hand. "I couldn't help it. But musician's hands can be so, playful," the Witch smiled at Miss Susan's growl and looked to Howl, "It is waiting for your head and heart Howl to make it our perfect human. I seem to have lost the decoy, I've sent out other minions, I'll find it soon enough,"
Sophie glanced to Death. He lowered his head, he permanent smile seemingly formed into a sly grin, a bony finger came to his mouth. A quiet shush, like a dry, decaying wind buzzed in her mind.
The Witch finished. "When I have both, I shall complete my masterpiece. After this war has devastated the two countries we shall have a new king of both nations and I shall rule as queen."
Sophie snapped back, "What about the International Alliance? They'll stop you,"
"Oh, I doubt it, King Rolland and King Benedict will just keep on fighting. And who know? Perhaps the other nations will get draw in and collapse, then I can rule them too," she turned away and wandered off into the murk.
Sophie stared after the overgrown black figure moving among the dim flames. She's crazy! I must get loose and rescue the others, all of them! Remember how the Stick fell victim to the sludge, Sophie needed to be careful. "Get out of it!" she said. "Let me go," her hair dragged painfully, but the stringy black sludge began to fly away sideways. She worked her head and shoulders loose when there came a dull booming sound. The pale flames wavered and the pillar behind Sophie shook. Then, with a crash like a thousand tea sets falling downstairs, a piece of the fortress wall blew out. Light blinded in through a long, jagged hole, and a figure cam leaping in through the opening. The black outline possessed only one leg. Turnip-Head came bouncing in.
Wilbert then did something very strange. He leaned down picked up the skull. Quickly he made an opening in the dome and threw it at the scarecrow. Skull and turnip met, a fizzing jolt of strong magic buzzed about the hall and the skull melted into the turnip head. "Now I can speak." Turnip-Head said in a somewhat mushy voice. He turned to face Sophie. "I must thank you. Sir Benjamin Suliman sent me. He cast all the magic he could spare into me and ordered me to come to his rescue. But the Witch took him to pieces by then, as well as the pieces of the others and put them in various places. Methodically I collected them all bit by bit, it has been a hard task. Sir Benjamin's… My skull was far away, and I ran out of strength before I reached it. I would have laid in that hedge forever if you had not come and talked life into me."
The Witch gave a yell of rage and rushed towards it with her hat flying off and flabby arms stretched out. The scarecrow leaped at her. A violent bang and the two of them became wrapped in a magic cloud, like that cloud over Ankh-Morpork when Howl and the Witch in disguise fought. The cloud battered to-and-fro and filled the air with shrieks and booms. Sophie's hair frizzed. The cloud only yards away, going this way and the next among the pottery pillars. The break in the wall came quite near too, confirming Sophie's thought about the fortress's size. Every time the cloud moved across the blinding white gap, she could see two figures, one skinny and the other unimaginably fat, seething and scaly.
She loosened herself expect for her legs when the cloud screamed across in front of the light one more time. As she slowly worked her way out she thought about Turnip's words. So, when Prince Justin ordered the finding spells, they must have pointed to Turnip-Head, to the Skull. She glanced to Heen hiding behind Chaos's heal and shivering. And Heen is made of the Wizard Suliman, the Princes and Imp y Celyn. How's Lettie going to take this? And being full of magic would explain how Turnip-Head produced the Stick and the umbrella from nowhere.
Sophie worked got her legs free. Miss Susan stared. "How did you do that?" Sophie shrugged. "I think I spoke magic into the blob, I told it to let go of me and my magic won out," Miss Susan titled her head with an annoyed look mainly aimed at herself. "It was really that simple?" she looked down at the sludge bounds. LET US GO AND DON'T COME BACK," she said firmly. The sludge ran away. Howl collapsed to the floor. The life-timer rolled onto the floor.
Miss Susan picked up the scythe and ran into the cloud. Sophie remained with Howl. Tried to pick up the life-timer, but it rolled towards Death. "Howl!" Sophie pleaded.
A scream came from the cloud. It moved again and, in its wake, left a familiar figure. The old Witch slumped and unmoving. However, the fighting continued as a new figure replaced the Witch and tore Turnip-Head to pieces. Out of the cloud jumped the new figure. Red, scaly with leathery bat-like wings. Gender wise, quite ambiguous, the creature looked male, female and neither all at the same time. Sophie guessed. The demon of greed. She figured a demon about greed and desire would not want to be only one gender. She scowled at it. "The Witch is dead,"
"Isn't that too bad!" the demon said, quite unconcerned. "Now I can make myself a new human who will be much better. The curse is fulfilled, earlier than expected. Throckmorton did have her cunning instincts, such a good choice. I can lay hands on Howell Jenkins's heart now," it turned to the corner with Death and Chaos. It swaggered over looked Death in the eye socket. "You can't interfere. That's universal law. And that means your scythe won't hurt me," and then to Chaos. "And you've got no power in the demonic realms. Pandemonium is so well organised, and as a servant of it you have no power over me." It plucked Calcifer off Death's shoulder. Calcifer wobbled on top of the clenched fist looking terrified. "Nobody moves," the greed demon said warningly.
Nobody dared stir. "Help!" Calcifer called weakly.
"Nobody can help you," the demon said. "You are going to help me control a new human. Let me show you. I have only to tighten my grip." The hand holding Calcifer squeezed until its knuckles showed pale yellow.
Howl and Calcifer both screamed. Calcifer beat back and forth in agony. Howl's face turned bluish. Sophie did not think he breathed.
The demon became astonished. It stared at Howl. "He's faking,"
"No, he's not!" Calcifer screamed, twisted into a writhing spiral shape. "His heart's really quite soft! Let go!"
Sophie looked about. "Something, anything, beat the demon up!" a muffled tapping came from beside her. "As you wish ma'am," before Sophie could say anything the ghost of the Stick swung and hit the demon's tight knuckles with the biggest crack she ever heard.
The demon let out a squealing hiss like a wet log burning and dropped Calcifer. Poor Calcifer rolled across the floor, flaming sideways. The demon raised a foot to stamp on him. The ghost of the Stick hit the demon over and over many times. The demon hissed and staggered. Sophie dived to rescue Calcifer. The fire demon did not seem hot. His milky blue flame shook. Sophie could feel the dark lump of Howl's heart only beating very faintly between her fingers.
A scream caught attention. "No!" yelled the greed demon. Markl and Wilbert manhandled it into the magic circle. Sal jumped out as the demon replaced her, the Research Witch stumbled to her knees. The ghost of the Stick beat the greed demon on the head and it hit the ground. Wilbert and Markl escaped the circle and the demon reformed trapping the demon. Markl looked to Wilbert worried. "It won't get out, will it?" Wilbert rolled his eyes. "I did say I trained at the Department of Post-Mortem Communication, exorcism is a forte," the demon tried to bang at the dome. But the inner circle of symbols made a massive magic discharge at it. For a moment its form changed, from a demon to large rubber duck with sunglasses and back again. Markl burst out laughing. Wilbert smirked. "It won't try that again, too embarrassing. Dr Hix was very proud when I demonstrated it to the senior faculty," he then rolled his eyes and grumbled, "but the paperwork went missing,"
Sophie took this opportunity to make things right. No time to waste. "Calcifer?" she asked. The eyes looked up at here wearily. "Sophie I'm so tired,"
"If I give Howl back his heart, what will happen to you?" the fire demon looked unsure, but he said, "I'll be okay if you do it, I think. I mean you dumped water onto me and Howl and I both survived. That's why I asked you to break the contract. I could tell you could talk life into things. Look what you did for the scarecrow, the skull and the Stick," he sighed. "For once I had a friend I could talk to all day,"
Sophie looked around and saw Death taking hold of the Stick and it fade. Sophie smiled sadly as well. "I'm going to miss the Stick too. But I don't have the heart to replace it, and right now, Howl doesn't have a heart at all. I'd better try then," she brought Calcifer and Howl's heart closer to her own. The heartbeat increased. Sophie smiled assured. "It's so warm," she said. "And fluttering like a bird,"
"It's still just the heart of a child," Calcifer explained. Sophie spoke aloud, "Please, help Calcifer live, and please help Howl take back his heart," she willed very hard as she lowered the heart to Howl's chest. "Calcifer, have another thousand years," she passed the heart down and she felt it sink. The blue flames spread around her hands and through her fingers.
A moments stillness.
Sparks of multicoloured magic shot out from the area of Howl's chest. A light accumulated and passed through Sophie's hand. Everyone awakened watched as the little star started to dart around. Calcifer's voice came from it, "I'm alive!" he said excitedly. He spun around Sophie, Markl, Sal, Wilbert and Heen. "Look I'm free!" he laughed before spiralling up through the hall and presumably out the topmost chimney pot.
Sophie returned to Howl, Markl came running beside her. Howl coughed with a twitch. Markl smiled. "He moved!"
"Well," Wilbert said, glancing at the imprisoned demon. "Now we have a bit of a respite until Howl wakes up, I have a small matter of business," he helped Sal up. Holding her up they carefully walked over to Death. Sal smiled. Slowly bent down and picked her life-timer up. She looked at Death cheerfully. "Hello skellington," Death deflated. I DO WISH YOU WOULD STOP CALLING ME THAT.
Miss Susan walked up with the scythe and handed back to him. "You know Miss Lifton, grandfather?"
YES. I WILL EXPLAIN LATER. Death turned to Wilbert. YOU WISH SOMETHING OF ME, DR WEATHERWAX? Wilbert nodded. "I do," he looked from Sal to Howl. "Sal sacrificed a bit of her time keep Howl alive. I want to give Sal some of my time, so that we can be together as long as we can," Sal looked at him astonished. "Wilbert?" she whispered.
YOU DO RELEASE THE IMPLICATIONS OF WHAT YOU ASK ME? I TEND TO BE VERY SERIOUS. Wilbert nodded again. "We were practically born together. I'm want to spend the rest of my life with her," he glanced down to Sal. "If you want that of course," she smiled. "I want to marry you Wilbert Weatherwax, of course I want to as well,"
VERY WELL, Death took out another life-timer from his robes. Made of a red wood and of a standard size for an hourglass. He held out his other hand. Sal put her life-timer in the open bone palm. Death held to two hourglasses up at equal height. Slowly he brought them together. They shimmered as they grew nearer. Sides touched and fused. The sizes equalised. A red wood hourglass with gold stands rested in Death's write hand. The engraving proclaimed: Wilbert Eldridge Weatherwax, Sal Octavia Lifton. Death put the hourglass into his cloak. YOU'RE LIVES ARE NOW ONE. IT IS UP TO YOU TO MAKE IT A GOOD ONE.
Wilbert and Sal held each other. She leaned her head on his shoulders. He leaned his head on hers.
Howl stirred. His head rose slowly, and his eyes opened. "What's going on?" he shook his head "I think I've got a hangover,"
"No," Sophie said. "You must have hit you head on the floor," Howl flinched. "I feel terrible. Like there's a terrible weight on my chest," Sophie smiled. "A heart's a heavy burden," she gave him a peak on the lips. The two looked into each other's eyes.
Someone cleared their throat. The two turned. Miss Susan stood with her arms crossed. "I'm sorry for breaking up this romantic moment," she pointed to the trapped greed demon, "We still have that to sort out," Howl nodded and started to get up. Sophie allowed him to lean on her as they walked over. Wilbert joined them. The demon shrived, and something rolled from its hand. It could have been a lump of cinder, expect for being the same shape as the thing Sophie just pushed into Howl's chest. The demon whined like a wet fire and held out its arms imploringly as far as it dared.
"I'm afraid not," Howl said. "You've had your time. By the look of things, you were trying to get a new heart too. You were going to take my heart and let Calcifer die, weren't you?" the demon remained silent. Howl turned to Wilbert. "You're the expect at exorcism, you must know what to do," Wilbert smirked. "While the Witch and Miss Susan fought before you and Sophie got here, I made the magic circle so to exorcise this demon of greed and undo the effects of her magic, deliverance of the demon's influence is a common part of the process after all," he cleared his throat. Held his staff up, his coat became caught by an undetected wind. Static magic sparks jumped from his finger.
In the far corner, Death clutched his skull and groaned, OH, DRAMA...
Undeterred Wilbert proclaimed, "I cast you out, unclean spirit! Begone and fly far! Never tempt us with your vanities! What you offer us is evil! Drink the poison yourself." He then stood more normally and added, "Next time you come here, be a bit more helpful to humanity," he retook his pose and finished, "Back! Once more the void from whence you came!" The demon shrieked and faded. From behind Wilbert, Sal added, with stifled giggles, "Run along!"
The old Witch's heart crumbled into dust.
Then the fortress started shaking. Pieces of terracotta crashed to the floor and faded. Markl looked about worried. "Should we run?"
NO, Death said firmly. THIS IS BUT THE PASSING OF GREED.
All around them the fortress faded away. Revealing a peaceful morning sky over the Waste. Something became apparent. The moment the demon disappeared, the remains of Turnip-Head, Heen and the incomplete body of the prefect man no longer existed. If Sophie cared to look, she would have seen four tall men standing there. The two princes, one in a green uniform, the other in a fine cream suit and white top hat, shook hands. Imp y Celyn picked up his harp and gave it a strum, before Miss Susan ran into his arms.
Sir Benjamin Suliman on the other hand. He walked a little way away. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small crystal ball.
On the other side Madame Suliman smiled. "Benjamin," she said warmly. "You don't know how glad I am to see you back to normal. Has everything turned out all right?" her son turned sideways to show his Mother the scene.
Howl, Sophie, Wilbert, Sal and Markl stood watching as Death mounted his white horse and rode into the sky, followed by Chaos in his chariot, and they waved as Miss Susan and Imp rode off on Viarion. Prince Stephen shook hands with Prince Justin before pulled a long pole from his pocket. Madame Suliman contained her emotions as she noticed how Howl and Sophie occupied a separate part of the universe. "Howl found his true love. Maybe now he should find himself a proper job, perhaps as a Royal Wizard," Benjamin rolled his eyes and turned to look. Prince Stephen started hoping away across the air on the stick. The image in the glass faded. Madame Suliman sighed. Things did not turn out quite as she expected, but maybe it would be for the best, she never planned for any of this.
After all, you couldn't plan for every eventuality, because that would involve knowing what would happen, and if you knew what would happen, you could probably see to it didn't, or at least happened to someone else. So, Madame Suliman never planned. Plans so often got in the way.
Now Ingary needed to broker a peace. She smiled. "The game is over," she turned to the pageboy present. "Get me the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence. It's time to put an end to this idiotic war," her servant bowed. "Yes ma'am,"
The servant returned sooner than expected. "Excuse me, Madame Suliman," he started acting very nervous "but a Professor Eskarina Smith is here to talk to you,"
Benjamin walked up to Howl. "Well then, Pendragon," he said. "What happens now? I know the Prince and I will need to return to Kingsbury as soon as possible. What about you?" Howl shrugged. "I don't know, my Castle is in pieces, we're in the middle of the Waste and all we have is one broomstick," Howl turned to Sophie and their eyes met.
"And a sixth level wizard," Wilbert added. Sal tilted her head. "Why don't we go to Lancre, Sophie's family should be there."
Markl suddenly shouted, "Hey! It's Calcifer!"
Indeed, a star flew towards them. Howl turned and looked at his old friend. "You didn't have to comeback, Calcifer." Sophie stepped forward and reached for the star. The fire demon flickered alight in her cupped hands. "I kind of missed you guys. And it looks like it's going to rain," Sophie smiled. "I missed you too, Calcifer," she gave him a small kiss. And the fire demon flared into a blush.
Sorry for being a few days late with publishing this chapter, but events and other project made me forget myself.
We have one last epilogue chapter. But I hope this story made sense.
The passing of greed line comes from the Chaplin's speech in The Great Dictator I just thought it would be appropriate.
See you at the epilogue.