Yay! Anyways, the ending part of this chapter was something I wanted to use from the Howl's Moving Castle book, so credit to Diana Wynne Jones! I felt like I needed to use one of the best scenes from the book. Anyways, enjoy!
The Ghibli Six eventually walked for what it seemed like hours. They came to a fork, where a new path was splintered off in a western direction. The sign above the fork and it said Howl's Moving Castle and pointed to the direction the new path was headed.
"Woah!" Miki said, pressing her hands against her cheeks. "Now I wish I had brought my camera!"
They traveled down the path for a while without discovering something new, but they suddenly stumbled upon some big rocks and bushes, although there were no trees in sight.
Satomi massaged her head. "Are we going the right way?" she said, pointing.
Nikki shrugged. "I'm assuming," she said. "But I don't remember seeing this location on the map."
Miki scrunched her face. "Maybe it's just really too tiny for it to be big in the map," she said. "But it could be possible that we may encounter some-"
"Attack!"
Before they could realize what happened, thick ropes suddenly appeared out of the boulders and wrapped around the girls, making them tied up. The ropes dragged them down to the ground, on their back.
Several raccoons appeared from behind the boulders and surrounded the girls, using sticks as weapons, threateningly pointing at them. "I feel like I'm in Gulliver's Travels!" Miki complained, struggling against the ropes.
They tried to untangle themselves from the ropes, but the ropes were goodly tied, so there's no chance of escaping from these creatures. "You humans will not escape this time!" A raccoon warned them.
Naomi struggled. "Let us go!" she demanded. "We are not worth your while!"
"Shut up!" Another raccoon defended the previous one.
Nikki, realizing who they are from their behavior and appearance, she leaned closer to Yuka's ear, who was beside her. "It's the tanuki from Pom Poko," she whispered.
"No kidding," Yuka whispered back.
The tall raccoon that looked like the leader stood on their legs. "I bet you've come here to steal our supplies," he accused. "No human is worth trusting!"
"Oh come on!" Naomi complained. "Why does everyone we encounter for now hate humans?! What's wrong with this place? This is getting really old now!" She struggled against the ropes.
"Be quiet, you!" the raccoon ordered. "Humans steal our supplies, and those are worth are lives, therefore we have no choice but try to kill you."
The girls struggled faster. "What's your problem?!" Miki mocked.
"You don't know who we are, imbecile," the raccoon said, and gestured to the raccoons. "Let's just impersonate them when they are gone."
Nikki, suddenly realizing the gravity of the situation, trying to stop them. "Wait! I know who you are!" she said quickly, knowing that she doesn't have enough time to reprimand them. "Your the tanuki! You are dog raccoons that can shape shift objects and people! Your leader is Gonta!"
Gonta, the largest raccoon, gestured to his friends to drop their weapons. "Your from the real world, aren't you?" he asked.
"Doesn't it look obvious, you little rascal?" Naomi spat, still disgusted by their behavior.
Gonta thought for a moment. Then he sighed and turned to the raccoons. "Untie them," he ordered.
The raccoons grabbed some nature sharp sticks to cut the ropes free, and pretty soon the girls were set free, even though they were still angry at the tanuki for capturing them without even thinking.
"We are so sorry," Gonta apologized. "We weren't thinking, but judging from that you sound and look like, you came from beyond the Ghibli World."
"Apology, accepted," Miki said. "Just as long as you guys stop capturing humans."
Nikki nodded. "Listen, Gonta and friends," she said, bending down to them. "We fell through a book and landed here. We just needed to find Howl's castle and figure out a way to stop Kalura."
Gonta blinked rapidly. "But Kalura won't stop at nothing to get what she wants!" he said. "Even if you girls are powerful enough, you still don't have a chance to face her!"
"But we can't defeat her if we don't try," Yuka said.
"Yuka's right," Nikki said. "The Ghibli world now rests on our hands, and now it's out top priority to save it, wether you like it or not."
Gonta smiled. "You've go to go," he said. "And we appreciate your bravery against the enchantress."
Nikki smiled back. "Thank you, and it's been a pleasure meeting you," she said, and walked away, with the others following. Satomi left behind.
"Oh! I have something for you," Satomi said, and grabbed some fruit and nuts from her pocket and handed it to the tanuki.
They were happy. "Food! Food!" the tanuki cheered.
Satomi always kept food in her pocket in case she needed, but also when necessary. She followed the others afterwards.
They went back to the road again and started trekking towards the castle. They didn't stop, because they had to hurry, and they don't have much time before Kalura could attack.
By the time it was nearly sunset, the girls ended up in a mountainous place full of steep hills and grass everywhere. It was warm, and there was a village far away from here.
"I think we reached the wastelands," Nikki said.
Miki sighed. "It's about time we did," she said, rubbing her head.
Naomi walked over the hill where they could see the village of Sophie. "It looks gorgeous here!" she said. She always dreamed of seeing the Ghibli landmarks in real life, and right now, it was in front of her.
"It's amazing on how Miyazaki designed these places in his perspective," Nana said.
Nikki smiled. "Well this world will go on if we believe that we can stop Kalura," she said.
"Your right," Miki said.
Nana put her hands on her hips. "Now all we needed to do is find the-"
They heard a thump on the ground, it almost made them fall over. Thump, thump, thump. It was like a ball that was the size of a planet, and it seemed to be bouncing towards them. They looked around until they saw the mystic sight before them; the castle.
"Look! It's Howl's castle! It's really Howl's castle!" Nikki squealed in excitement.
"Oh. My. God," Nana dramatically said. "Oh, what a marvelous sight! Let's go to it!"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Miki said.
They all sprinted towards the castle before them. They felt adrenaline fill their skin. They were running not because of they needed the answers, they were running because of excitement. They were about to encounter the greatest structure. Miyazaki build ever.
Pretty soon, they reached the front door, which was hard to catch up on. They panted, even though they had to catch the railings of the front door. They eventually did, and they could feel their adrenaline go away.
"I can't believe it..," Nikki panted. "We are on the porch of Howl's castle!"
Miki looked at it. "Yeah," she replied. "
"Let's not waste more time," Nana said, and tried to open the door, but the knob didn't turn, indicating that it was locked. She tried again, same result, and she kept knocking hard on the door.
"Hello~?" she said out loud. "Let us in! We don't mean any harm!"
No one opened or answered the door. Naomi put her hands on her hips. "This isn't working very well than I thought," she said.
Miki shrugged. "It worked on Sophie," she said, recalling the events from the movie. "Speaking of which, how did she-"
They heard Nana scream and they turned around to see the door opening for them. Nikki went in first, checking if they were in the right place. As it was clear, she gestured her friends to come inside.
The inside looked messier than it appeared in the movie. They saw potions around and sofas, from the moving scene of the movie. They turned to the fireplace to see none other than the fire demon, Calcifer himself.
"Oh my god," Nikki said, and grabbed Nana's arm. "It's Calcifer!"
"No freaking way, it really is him!" Miki said.
Naomi carefully approached the fire demon, and she glanced at his face, sleeping. She kneeled in front of the fire place and she examined Calcifer very closely, she could almost feel her face hot from the heat of the demon.
Without aware of it, Calcifer suddenly blinked his eyes open, and Naomi jumped back. "Hey hey hey!" The fire demon yelled in surprise. "Who are you? And what are you doing in the castle?"
"Well we all know your Calcifer the fire demon," Satomi attempted to say it in the quickest way she can. "You are Howl's heart and you can burn up if something the opposite of your element harms you and you are in control of the castle! In which case, we know your motives and actions!"
Calcifer suddenly stopped ranting, and eyed them suspiciously. "How do you know all that personal stuff?" he suspiciously asked. "Did you spy on me?"
Then suddenly, realizing it, his eyes lit up. "Oh! I get it!" he concluded. "You fom the real world! I know you do judging from your clothing and knowledge of me."
Nikki shrugged. "Well, your correct," she said. "In a nutshell, we fell through the Ghibli book and landed here."
"But not exactly here, as in, here in the Wastelands," Miki corrected. "We landed in San's forest and recommended us to go here since we are on a mission right now to defeat Kalura."
Calcifer looked at them as if he was witnessing a lion was eating a bird, flesh to flesh. "What?!" he gasped. "You kiddos realize that there is no way to defeat the enchantress? Your gonna kill yourself if you take the chance!"
Naomi blinked. "What?" she said. "As in...there is no powerful person enough to defeat the enchantress? Not even the strongest? And not even Howl himself?"
Calcifer shook his head. "Nope, no one is strong enough," he said.
"But there's gotta be a way!" Nana protested. "There's always another way!"
"But Kalura's already kidnapped some of our friends," Calcifer said.
Nikki was determined not to give up. "It's our priority if we need to risk our lives to save the world from evil, Calcifer," she said. "And no one's gonna stop us from defeating her, because with all of us combined, we can defeat her, magic or no magic!"
Suddenly, they heard the door click. They tuned to see the wizard Howl himself walk inside. He was the definition of charming. He wore a white sweater covered in a blue and pink diamond patterned cape, donning black pants.
"Someone pinch me now," Naomi muttered.
Howl looked up and saw the six girls staring at him in awe. He turned to Calcifer, with a mischievous smile on his face. "Calcifer," he said. "You brought more ladies in."
Calcifer shook his head. "I did not!" he said. "Well, sorta. I opened the door for them, but that's because they were demanding to be let in!"
Howl faced the six girls. "What are your names, ladies?" he asked.
Nikki was struck, she could barely speak. "Hi!" she greeted through a smile. "Nice to meet you, Wizard Howl Jenkins Pendragon! I'm Nikki!
The girls tried to cover their excitement through a mask of smiles. "Yeah! I'm Miki!" Miki said, shaking Howl's arm.
"The names Nana," Nana said.
Yuka looked shyly. "Yuka," she said.
"Hiya! I'm Satomi!" she said.
"Naomi, the name," Naomi said.
Howl raised his eyebrows, keeping his calm and smiling look. "I don't think you girls are from here," he said. He faced Calcifer. "Do you think so, Cal?"
"I do! They came from the real world, and I believe it judging from their clothing!" Calcifer said.
Howl raised his eyebrows higher, it could reach his streak of hair. "I see," was all he could say.
Calcifer gave him a what-look. "What?!" he gasped. "'I see,'?! What do you mean by that?!"
"Oh, Cal," he assured. "I don't see nothing wrong with these girls."
The girls blinked. "Woah, woah, woah," Naomi said, up her hands. "I thought your not okay with strangers in here. Well, that's what I've heard."
Howl faced her. "But you girls are interesting, coming from the real world," he said. "I've seen many books explaining about it but I never imagined to meet people from the real world."
The girls looked surprised. "Really?" Miki managed to speak out.
Howl faced them. "I've heard one of our friends Ged saying it," he said, mentioning the wizard from Tales from Earthsea. "He told us that there's this thing called technology that we heard of, and we've seen some of those in some of the locations here in this world."
Nana was struck. "I'm surprised that you know about our world," she said. "But there's one question: Isn't Sophie supposed to be-"
"Howl?" A British woman voice called out from above. They heard footsteps coming down, the louder it came, the closer it was. Then, in a second or two, they saw Sophie Hatter herself standing on the stairs, looking around the unknown company.
"It's Sophie! It's Sophie!" Satomi whispered.
"Alright already, I'm not blind!" Miki whispered back.
Sophie looked at the girls curiously. "Howl, who are these girls?" she asked.
Nikki was the first to introduce herself. "Hi I'm Nikki!" she said in a hyper way. "It's a pleasure to meet your Sophie! I've heard all about you!"
Miki smiled stupidly. "And I'm Miki! This is my sister, Satomi," she said.
Nana winked. "The name is Nana, madam," she dramatically said.
"Hiya! I'm Naomi, and this is Yuka," Naomi introduced.
Sophie smiled and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she greeted.
Nana never looked so excited. "Hi, I am so happy to meet you!" Nana said in a moon like voice.
Naomi nudged her. "Nana, she's a woman, not from the moon," she reprimanded.
Nana gave her an insulted look. "Ever heard of good impression?" she mumbled.
Howl stepped in. "So, how can I help you girls?" he offered.
Nikki cleared her throat. "This may really sound stupid if we say this," she said.
Howl chuckled. "Come on, cough it up," he insisted. "I won't judge it, neither will Sophie or Calcifer."
Nikki grinned stupidly. "We-we just need something of yours to stop Kalura," she said.
Sophie gasped. "Your going to defeat Kalura? By yourselves?" she said. "But she's dangerous, and you know that she can feel your presence though she is far away."
"But we have to!" Naomi protested. "If Kalura destroys this world, then the Ghibli Studio will close down in our world!"
They have heard of the real world, but not aware of its happenings. "Wait, are you saying that the company won't make any more stories and characters if Kalura destroys this world?" An unaware Howl asked. "That sounds serious."
"We have to," Satomi said. "We love Ghibli, and there's no way we will let it go down the drain!"
Howl and Sophie looked at each other hesitantly, and faced the girls again. "Only the two of you has to come with us," Sophie suddenly said.
The girls exchanged glances. "What do you mean, two of us?" Miki asked, confused.
Howl bit his lip. "Well, I have to blurt the out," he said. "But there's a meeting in the palace of Kenna later. We may be able to discuss the situation and how to defeat her if you come with us."
The girls exchanged glances. None of them knew who would go, because they've never been apart. Nikki stepped forward. "I'll go," she said with such determination.
Miki looked nervous, but stepped forward anyways. "I'll join too!" she said.
"You sure about this guys?" Nana hesitated.
Nikki placed her hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Nana, if we attend the meeting, we can discover how to defeat her," she assured.
"We are forgetting one thing," Miki piped up. "Kenna won't, like freak out if she sees us, right?"
Sophie frowned. "Oh, now that you mentioned it, the meeting is strictly for the characters who take over the different directions of the land," she said. "Howl takes the west, so Nausicaa and Chihiro would attend the meeting."
"Kenna's gonna throw you girls out if she sees you," Howl warned. "Unless we come up with something unrecognizable and stealthy."
Miki and Nikki looked at each other. They forgot that Howl was a wizard, so they thought he must have potions and spells that can make them magical for the sake of the matter.
"Don't you have an invisibility spell?" Miki asked.
Nikki shot a crazy look. "Miki, what made you come up with that?" she doubted.
"Now that you said it, I actually do," Howl admitted. He went to a nearby shelf, and started rummaging around it to look for the paper of his spell.
While waiting for Howl, Yuka approached Sophie. "Did Howl use one of his spells on you sometimes?" she asked.
Sophie smiled. "Oh that man," she chuckled. "There was one time he was testing speed spells and I ended up going 200 miles, and Howl had to push Calcifer into finding me!"
Calcifer joined in. "I would have died if Howl had it his way!" he said.
"There was also one time which he wanted to create food fast," Sophie shared. "It worked, but it turned all of us to vegetables for one day! Oh, Howl can be clumsy in spells, but he's a great wizard."
Miki chuckled. "I would never imagined to see Howl like this," she said.
Sophie continued. "There was also one time he drank too much bubbly," she told them. "He ended up getting drunk until the next day! He was acting so childish and weird."
Naomi laughed. "I never knew Howl loved bubbly and could get drunk," she said.
"Found it!" Howl exclaimed, grabbing a paper from a stack of books. He handed it to Nikki.
"This invincibility spell will last for as much as you want," Howl instructed. "You can use it when we are close to the castle. Just pronounce the chant, and then you are nowhere to be seen! Only Sophie and i could see you since I enchanted her to see invisible things and I go with that gift too."
"Awesome! Just like in X Men!" Miki said.
"Who?" Sophie asked.
Nikki smiled. "Never mind," she said. She forgot that the Ghibli World didn't have any knowledge of other movies than their movies theirselves.
Howl put his hands on his hips. "Well, we better get moving," he said, and grabbed his coat. Sophie grabbed her hat, with Nikki and Miki following.
"Take care!" Nana said, with the others waving their hands.
"Oh, and for the remaining girls here," Howl said, turning to them. "You can chat with Calcifer and since Markl is here, you can all chat with my fellow apprentices."
He opened the door and Sophie followed, and Nikki with Miki.
"One question," Miki asked. "How will we get to Kenna? I mean, if we are in the West then she's in the North, it would be a lot of miles ahead!"
Howl blinked. "Oh, I forgot about that!" he said, raising his hand, opening his palm. Two pairs of boots appeared on his hand, and handed it to Nikki and Miki, noticing that Sophie and Howl were wearing the same boots.
Nikki was about to put it on. "No no no! Don't put it on!" Howl warned.
Miki shot him a confused look. "Why?" she said. "You guys are wearing it."
"I told you that I enchanted Sophie," Howl said. "So that explains why we can wear it. You see, these aren't ordinary boots. They are the 100 Acre Boots."
Nikki blinked. "The 100 Acre Boots?" she asked. "What's that?"
"They are magical boots which can easily zoom you guys to the castle," Howl instructed.
"Sooo, how does it work?" Miki asked.
"Just raise your boot towards the direction you want to go, drop your foot, and you'll end up there," he instructed.
Nikki forgot something. "But how come you don't want us to wear it yet?" she asked.
Howl shrugged. "I realized if you girls wear it and raise it without instruction, then you two would just zoom far away randomly," he said.
"Oh," Miki said.
Nikki tied her boots immediately and then stuck it to her foot, same with Miki. They were ready to go. "Okay, we are ready," Nikki said.
Sophie stepped forward. "I'll go first," she said, and raised her boot in the direction of the north, then put it down and then, in a millisecond, she zoomed to the area, and they could see her extremely tiny figure from the distance waving at them.
"Will it hurt?" Miki asked while nervously glancing at the boots.
Howl laughed. "Of course not, but you will feel the air," he assured.
He raised his boot towards Sophie, dropped it and zoomed to the distance next to her. Howl waved at them to go next.
"Here goes nothing," Nikki muttered.
She closed her eyes and looked away, raising her boot towards Howl and Sophie and dropped her boot. Then, she felt herself move extremely fast, and the air rush past her face. She closed her eyes, and found herself standing beside Howl and Sophie, and could see Miki far away from the distance.
Miki shakily raised her boot towards their direction, dropped her foot and practically zoomed towards them. She found herself beside her friends, and turned to see the castle really tiny from their perspective.
"That was fun!" Miki said.
Howl nodded in agreement. "It truly is," he said. "But be careful of their disadvantages."
"What are the disadvantages?" Nikki asked.
"Well, the zooming part may cause some stumbling and staggering, which involved the feet rowing up," Howl said. "So therefore, you will mistakenly point your foot to another direction and accidentally zoom towards that place. If that happens, just don't put your foot down."
"Okay..," Miki said, looking at the boots.
The four took it off to avoid disadvantage and started walking to the castle up ahead, with Miki and Nikki silently hoping that there is a way to stop Kalura.
I loved this chapter, because it features a great love story than Twilight itself. Anyways, hope your gonna enjoy the next chapter!