Another chapter of the tale of mystery.

FAMILY SECRETS

A HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE FANFIC

Chapter 54

It took around a week for me to recover enough to leave. I hated being there so very much. I was completely and utterly at his mercy. I couldn't fend for myself at all. I had to rely on the man who just as easily kill me as help me. All while I was desperate to escape from his clutches! I had no choice but to accept his help and recover my strength. He was my lifeline and I hated it. Alas, there was nothing that I could do about it. I was far too weak to do anything.

It was also frustrating not being knowing what William was doing! He was gone for large chunks of the day. Leaving me to rest in peace. I guessed that he hadn't quite given up just yet. That he was still searching for the relic that he sought. Even though he said that this place was useless. He refused to give up. It was almost inspiring if it wasn't so damned worrying! The man was to up no good and there was nothing that I could do about it.

I was too weak! I couldn't even stay awake for more than a few hours at a time! More than once I wished that Howl was here with me. I needed his strength right about now. If nothing else I needed his insight. He always found solutions to a problem that I never thought of. He may be a coward and liar but he was inventive. He could think ten steps ahead of his enemy. He might be able to come up with something that would help. Only problem was that Howl was still in our era. I had no way of bringing him without wearing myself out and tipping off William. Which I didn't need right now. I would have to deal with his alone. Which was not a promising prospect indeed.

For now I decided to play along with William. Right now, I had no real way to stop him and I wanted to avoid him killing these people. They had nothing to do with this. I had to wait and see what happens. Hopefully, something would come along that I can use against him. It wasn't much but it was all I had. So when I was good enough to go out I started searching for his damned relic.

Fortunately, neither I nor William knew exactly what we were looking for. That really slowed things down. How do you find a treasure that you don't even know what it is? The answer is that you don't. Which was great for me since it wasted more of our time. Which gave me more time to figure something out. William on the other hand was getting frustrated. He kept accusing me of purposely not trying to find it. To which I always responded:

"It's not my fault! Maybe if you knew what it is it would help. But you don't. I'm sorry but I can do so much!"

He would always growl at me. "Don't give me that: You're not looking!"

"I am." I would assure him. "I may not want to find the thing, but I am looking. What other choice do I have?"

He would then grumble about me taking us here on purpose. Even though I had no idea where here is. Nor did I have the strength to get us out. I hadn't recovered that far yet. So, we were stuck looking for an item that may or may not exist. Needless to say he wasn't happy about it. We were not making the progress that he wanted. His plan was falling apart and I was elated. After all, I didn't want him to find this power source.

There was some progress though. We could now somewhat understand what the people. William had managed to create some kind of translator for us to use. With it we could understand maybe every third word. That's it. Neither of us could figure out what they were saying enough to find anything truly useful. Which again I was happy about that. It meant that we were utterly stuck. Slowing down his progress even further. The only problem was that the longer we took the more antsy my traveling companion became. He wanted results. Which had not happened. He was getting more frustrated by the day. He might take his frustrations out on the surrounding population if we did not find this relic soon. Which was the last thing that I wanted. This stalemate could not last forever. I had to find a way out of this before it turned into a bloodbath.

At least he finally allowed me the relative peace of searching alone. Even if it was only to increase our chances of finding it faster. I was grateful to spend as little time with the man as possible. Something told me that the feeling was mutual. He never even so much as said a kind word to me. Anytime that he showed any form of concern it was purely out of selfish motivations. He needed me and my power. He could not afford for me to die here. So he took care of me but only as far as what was needed. Nothing more. He didn't truly care what happened to me. I was means to end. A pawn to thrown away once I had outlived my usefulness. We were not friends or allies. This would end badly if he found what he was looking for.

After almost a week of searching I had break. A messenger tracked me down. We could barely understand each other, but he was able to tell me to follow him. He led me to a house then hurried off. Inside, the Queen awaited me. She was beautiful but not dressed in silks or fine clothes like I expected. Instead, she wore a simple but elegant dress that somehow highlighted her beauty even more. I didn't know if she was the Queen mentioned in book, but I started to secretly hope that she was. If so then maybe were related! That would be wonderful. I would love to that she was my ancestor. Who wouldn't want to be related to this woman?

She asked me to sit down beside her. That's when I noticed the oddest thing about her: I could understand her! Not every third word like everyone else. It was so amazing to be able to converse with someone here that I almost forgot my purpose. There was finally someone whom I could understand! She must have come from our time. It was the only explanation for this. How else would she know our language? My head spun with the possibilities. Maybe she really did have my power. Maybe the legends about her were true. Maybe she knew something that could help me in my fight against William. I had to ask her. I couldn't allow this opportunity to go to waste. I told her about what my situation and asked her what to do about it. How she responded threw me for a loop.

"You already have that ability, Sophie. You don't need me."

I shook my head, "But you don't understand . . ."

She cut me off. "I do. You're stuck here with a megalomaniac who has threatened to kill you and everyone around if you do not cooperate. Does that about sum it up?"

I nodded. "Yes it does."

"Well then you do not need my power. It's utterly useless."

"What?" I could not believe what I was hearing.

"I said that my power is useless, Sophie. I don't have great power. Nor do I have the power to travel through time. Not on my own that is." She clutched a necklace around her neck. "This is how I did it. It's an ancient talisman that I found a few years ago. Or years from now. It really depends on your perspective." She shook her head. "Anyway, that's not the point. The point is I didn't get here on my own. This thing did most of the work. It brought me here. I just activated it. That's all."

"Sophie, you don't how amazing you are. You traveled to here on your own. Without any help! This is literally hundreds of years ago! That is no small feat. We may be from the same time, but we are nothing alike. My power pales in comparison to yours. I can't do what you can. You need to realize that."

"That's not exactly true." I answered quietly. "I had help." I swallowed. "My husband, Howl, helped me."

Her eyes lit up. "Howl? Howl Pendragon? He's your husband?!" I nodded. "That's amazing! He's a tough one to pin down. A real lady killer and all around slithery guy. How did you do it?"

"I broke his curse."

She laughed. "Then you'll be fine. If you were able to break something like that then this will be no challenge. You just need to find a way. I know that you can do it." She took her talisman off of her neck. "Here, take this. You don't really need it, but it will take some of the strain off of you. My power maybe useless, but this isn't. It's one of the most useful artifacts that I have ever encountered. It connects you to other times/places. Really helpful right now, don't ya think? Just return it to me when you're done. Gotta be all mystical and stuff. Can't really do that without my friend here. It's kinda critical, y'know!"

"Wait!" I flew to my feet. "I don't even know your name."

"Oh! That. It's Louisiana. But people here call me Queen Latvia of the Chronos. It's because of that whole seeing through time thing. That's how I saw you! I knew that I had to give you this item. You will need it in the fight to come. It's the best that I can do right now to help you. For I cannot fight anyone for a while."

She placed her hands on her stomach then I understood. She was with child. She couldn't help me if she wanted to. A witch's powers weaken considerably during pregnancy. She was not a help to me or anyone else. It made me wonder if what Edvard said was true.

"Tell me, are you really my ancestor?"

Latvia sighed. "I don't know, Sophie. It's possible. I mean there is a lot of time between now and when you were born. When we both were born. So, it's possible. Although it is kinda weird. I mean, we grew up around the same time. I shouldn't be your ancestor. Yet, I could still be. I don't know. It's possible. I do know that I have no intention of returning home. I have a life here. I will not abandon it. So, it is definitely possible even if it is improbable."

"Ahh. I see. Thanks." That didn't really help, but then again how would she know who her descendants were? It's not like it is written down. Heck, her name wasn't even written down! It was all possible but there was no way to know. There was too time between then and now to be sure. Anyone could be her descendant. It was hard to know. Then again maybe it did not matter. I am who I am and she is who she is. The rest was not important.

She smiled at me. "You are far stronger than you know, Sophie. Use that talisman well. Summon the help you need. Stop that madman."

"Thank you. I will." With that my impromptu audience with the Queen was over. Latvia disappeared. I left here in the house; alone with her talisman. That's it. The rest was up to me. I had to go and get the help that I needed!


Next Chapter coming up!