Hello again fanfiction world! Chapter 37 is here and we're down to two more left. This has been such a long journey that has tested my writing abilties and I'm so excited to share this next one with you all. This is the final 'Creature' chapter (if you've been paying attention to my chapter titles) and I think it fits so well in this one. Anyway, it's been a while since I updated so I won't ramble on for too long. Here you go!

There was a familiar emptiness inside. Where his heart used to be - where it should have been - simply became a hollow space of nothingness. Even as he lay on the ground unconscious, he could still feel the barren void that desired a lively, beating heart. It was a different feeling, however, than when he willingly handed his heart over to Calcifer - Suliman had more sinister motives than his fire demon.

"Howl!" Kenta tried breaking through his electric prison, though his bindings were comprised of more power than he was able to manipulate. Electricity was not under his jurisdiction, and Suliman was aware of that. Due to her extensive knowledge of magic and her former students, she was able to hold Kenta and Xarx as prisoners, command the mind of a doctor to keep Sophie captive, and distort the goodness in Howl's heart to complete a prolonged vengeance.

Sophie had the ability to disintegrate the binds. Her electrokinesis was already quite powerful, and she only had moments left before she no longer would be able to use magic. Her child would wield her abilities - or form its own - and any trace of magic would be stripped from her. Yet she was the only one who could free them.

"We're at ten centimeters. It's time." Sophie widened her eyes as she lifted her head to see the doctor. His indifferent look focused only on the task at hand, working step-by-step as a doctor would during childbirth. He had no understanding of anything other than the task Suliman assigned. His equipment was orderly, his process was organized and standard - yet he couldn't see beyond. He was a puppet on a string, fulfilling his duty to his superior.

She turned to everyone in the room, hoping for a miracle to come in and stop this moment. She wanted to hit pause and go back to their small cottage in the middle of a farm town; she wanted to go back to the flower shop where she knew Lettie was only a trolley ride away; she wanted to go back to the moment she met Howl.

She wanted to go to any moment except for the one she was in right now.

"You need to start pushing."

"No!" Sophie screamed through the pain, but she couldn't hold back any longer. This baby was coming whether she was ready or not.

"Sophie." She turned to Kenta, the distress in his eyes staring at her like daggers. He tried breaking free, but Suliman would not let him. "You have to. For your child's sake, you must."

She thought of every horrible possibility, all of them beginning with Suliman completing what she had started years ago. She held Howl's precious heart with the greediest of looks, the wickedest of hearts, and the most inhumane soul a person could have. She was prepared to steal his heart and their baby. She was prepared to rip away every beautiful thing in their lives without a second glance. Allowing herself to give birth meant they were out of time; it meant Suliman had succeeded.

But as hazy as the future was and knowing nothing of what was to come from this, Sophie knew one thing - she wanted to give her child every opportunity.

Starting with its first breath.

Suliman stared at the scene before her. Everything was going according to plan, her plan. She had calculated every moment, every event that led to this one in which she would receive the greatest power of all time. She was a fearsome sorceress, she knew, but now she would be nearly unstoppable. A powerful heart and a powerful child - they would reap all that they had sown, and she would be gifted for her patience and diligence to conceive such an intricate plan of demise.

Never had she felt so confident in what was to come - and then she came.

Two beady eyes appeared before her, staring directly at her, and in one quick motion Suliman stood stunned. She was placed under a mind conjuring spell, unable to move. No one in the room was able to use their magic except for whoever had recently joined them.

Suliman seethed as Howl's heart lifted from her hands, the obscure shadow hardly visible. Every aspect, every tiny little detail she had planned for and plotted against in order to secure her triumph. She had not expected an intruder. Someone deviated - that was the only possible way.

Suliman narrowed her eyes as Howl turned to lie on his back and his heart reunited with him. He took in a heavy breath, but remained comatose. As quickly as her prize was within reach, there it was just out of her grasp again. Countless times she could have taken it, though those would have been foolish. Waiting, preparing, and minimizing any and every divergence from the course she set - all to watch it be wasted.

Suliman clenched her teeth. "Why don't you stop being a coward and show yourself, whoever you are?"

A voice chuckled, but whoever had altered Suliman's grand scheme still had not shown themselves. "You want to see power, I'll show you power." The invisible witch appeared before them, and as Suliman attempted a strike against her, Martha had placed a barrier separating the room in half - Martha and Suliman stood on one side while the others were safe on the other. Without her control over them, Kenta and Xarx were free from her restraints.

Kenta immediately hurried to Sophie's side, holding her hand and speaking words of encouragement. Xarx knelt down to Howl. He slapped his cheeks and yelled to bring him back to consciousness, though his attempts were futile. Howl was alive, but his interior was fighting within himself.

Suliman sneered at the sight of Martha. "I will say, this is quite a surprise."

"That's what I was hoping for." Martha replied.

Suliman creased her eyebrows. "Apparently you're more skilled than I gave you credit for."

Martha held her hands forward, one crossed over the other, in preparation for an attack. "You have Annabel to thank for that."

Xarx watched their one-on-one from the other side of the barrier. Martha was quick to defend herself, but hesitant to make her own attacks. If their positions were switched and he was faced against Madame Suliman, he would not hesitate. He wanted her to reap the consequences of her actions and feel the pain from each soul she had twisted and ruined over the years. He would use every ounce of his strength to end her.

But he could not break the barrier. Martha's skill was strong, stronger than any from one who only discovered her abilities a few years earlier. She didn't want anyone getting in the way - she had chosen to face Suliman on her own.

"I'm right here, Sophie." Kenta whispered softly in her ear, hoping to ease her pain by letting her know a familiar face was there. "I'm right here for you."

She panted heavily, sweat building along her forehead and cheeks. "I need Howl. I need Howl."

Kenta looked over to Xarx, who continually tried waking Howl from dormancy. Suliman's effects could not be undone. While his heart still beat normally, there was a darkness inside, something outside of Howl's own. The source of her power and in the wickedness of her abilities, Suliman changed his heart with the evil intentions she used nearly her entire life.

On the other side, Martha struggled to hold her advantage over Suliman. Her surprise intrusion gave her an edge to begin with, but Suliman had decades of skill that prepared her for such moments. However, having studied defensive spells for the majority of her training, Martha was fairing quite well against a well-rounded, masterly magician such as the Royal Sorceress.

"You ignorant child," Suliman growled under her breath. "You thought you could defeat me? You've seen the future - you should have predicted that you or anyone who went up against me was no match."

Martha bit her lip. She knew that very well. She had seen battles against Suliman, all of them ending in disaster for anyone who dared to challenge her. She knew the risks that came with this. Despite that, nothing was more dire to her than keeping Sophie and her child away from someone as wicked as Madame Suliman.

"You're right." Martha said, her voice heavy from exhaustion. "I have seen the future. I knew I was weak against your abilities." Suliman narrowed her eyes and glanced around the room, but Martha kept her gaze focused on Suliman. "I also knew this child would grow up in a happy home, that Sophie and Howl would raise this baby to be a strong and loving magician. I have seen this child destroy you."

Suliman whipped her head back to Martha. She thrusted her arms forward, vines extending from her fingertips in Martha's direction. The witch crossed her arms over her face instinctively, using white light to disintegrate the vines as they approached her. The force was strong enough to push Martha back until she nearly hit her own barrier, though she pressed her magic against Suliman's with an aggression she had never used in her powers before.

Suliman pressed further with her attack. "Impossible. This child cannot be stronger than my own ability."

Martha slowed her breathing. Defense was not enough - not against Madame Suliman. For a woman who spent her years studying the world of magic to its core, mastering abilities outside of her source and climbing the ranks to be Royal Sorceress, Suliman was the predicted victor. And Martha - someone who did not know she was a Seer until a few years prior - believed she was in over her head facing her in battle.

Yet what she lacked in skill and experience, Martha gained in her drive to succeed.

She summoned her inner strength, relived the visions that pierced at her soul, and fueled her attack with every part of her being. She gathered the support of those who had perished, those who were still by her side, and those who desperately needed Martha's victory. She would not fail anyone else; she would not sit and wait for things to change.

Martha extended her arm forward and Suliman's attack came to an abrupt stop. Suliman wielded such anger in her eyes Martha was sure this was near her breaking point. "You are mistaken. If my own child could not inherit my skills, then this child is no different."

Martha chuckled. "You better believe it was true. I've seen many things, Suliman, most of them involving terrors from you." Suliman threw spell after spell in her direction, but Martha was quick to evade and diminish them. She spoke over her petty attacks, none of them causing the damage she was capable of. "I watched as you killed my sister; I watched as you forced Sophie into an arranged marriage; and I saw the deaths of every life you destroyed just so you could stay in power."

An innocent cry broke out into the room. Suliman turned to the newborn in the doctor's arms and the exhausted mother panting and sweating. Xarx looked up from aiding Howl, watching as Kenta had tears in his eyes. "It's a boy, Sophie."

Suliman's smile widened. This was her moment.

Martha shook her head. "I'm done watching." It was already too late when Suliman noticed her approach. The young witch cast a magnetic spell that connected them together and pushed them through the window. Suliman could not break away from her spell - they were drawn to one other as magnets were attracted to each other. Her powers, for the first time, were useless.

They fell from the height of the tower and though Suliman screamed against the thunderous downpour, her efforts were made in vain. "You horrible girl! I won't let a novice like you end me."

Martha took one final breath before they reached the ground. "You're finished."

A little short, but man did a lot happen. Sophie finally had her baby - and it's a boy! - Martha finally took action, and Suliman has been taken down. I think it's safe to say that Martha truly is a creature of defiance to go against what her powers would allow, knowing what she did about the future. We're still not done, yet! Howl has his heart back, but he knows it's not the same as it was before. And they're still in a burning building. AND we still don't know the fate of Suliman and Martha yet. But all is to come, the ending is near. Finals are coming up so I'm gonna do my best to update, but I can't promise too much anytime soon. Please be patient and I promise you will have your ending! Thank you!