Finally, A long one! I had to come up with other scenes to make this chapter long. Well atleast this is where the journey starts. Enjoy!
"And so, Howl accidentally poured some oil on me while he was cooking bacon," Calcifer told Nana, Naomi, Satomi and Yuka, gathered around with Markl with them.
"I almost burned out, but luckily Howl had a backup spell in case something like that happens to me!" his little flames burst while he said it.
Yuka chuckled. "Never imagined fire like you could lead to accidents," she said.
Markl straightened his legs. "So, can you all tell me about your world beyond ours?" he asked with curious eyes.
The girls exchanged glances. "Well, you can tell that we look "modern" if you know what that is," Satomi said.
Markl remained blank. "Never mind," Satomi said upon seeing Markl's confused look.
Naomi whispered to her. "He doesn't know what that is," she whispered.
"But I do know Miyazaki and our movies!" Markl protested. "I love how he designed my character. Good thing he didn't choose the design where I looked like a complete fool who came out of a rock!"
Nana scrunched her face. "That's interesting to hear," she said.
Calcifer gestured to continue his little story. "One time Heen peed on the floor, and you'll never believe Howl's reaction to that," he told them. "You should have seen the look on his face!"
Nana and Naomi exchanged nervous glances, knowing what Calcifer is saying isn't gonna be pretty. They have seen Howl's tantrum in the movie, but they knew that his reaction this time was far worser than when he slimed.
Nana cleared her throat. "Don't you ever clean the house whenever it's dirty?" she asked.
Calcifer looked at her as if he was being called a hypocrite. "Do I look like I do, lady?" he snapped, highly insulted. "Sophie cleans the house, and you should know that!"
Naomi smirked. "Nice going, Nana," she muttered.
Nana shot a dead panned look at her. This was like the fifth time Naomi had doubts for Nana, oblivious of her personality and vanity.
Calcifer cleared his throat. "Just out of curiosity, are there any tributes to our story in your world?" he asked.
Yuka, being the bookworm, faced him. "Well the author wrote a book about Howl and Sophie's marriage, plus bearing a child," she told him. "Also, Howl turns into a baby accidentally."
Calcifer's eyes lit up. "Howl can never know of this," he said.
Satomi remembered something. "Speaking of Howl, where is he and the others-"
She was interrupted when they heard the door creak open. They turned to see a not so good looking quartet. Satomi was curious. "Well, how did it go?" she asked.
The others waited for a response. Howl sighed. "Not so good," he reported.
The others grew worried, but Nana didn't want to believe it. "As in...we can stop her..?" she asked, and the response she could get out was a nod from Sophie.
Nikki burst into tears. "They said that she's powerful enough, and that she's unstoppable," she said. "She's taking the one thing we love so much!"
Miki stomped her foot. "Drat, why is this happening?" she said. "She is taking everything!"
Naomi, not wanting to give up, hardened her fist. "Not everything- we still have each other," she said with a reassuring voice.
Although they appreciated her optimism, Howl and Sophie couldn't help but have doubts for this. The Ghibli Six believed they could stop Kalura from taking over the world, but nothing couldn't defeat her- not even a bunch of non magical girls.
"I'm having second thoughts about this whole believing to defeat Kalura thing," Yuka said. "I think it's over."
The despair and tension grew bigger in the castle. None of them wanted this. They just wanted their favorite studio to keep making great films. For sure, they thought that they wouldn't last forever, but never imagined it would happen now.
Naomi wasn't ready to give up hope yet. "No! There's still hope! I know it," she protested, running to the bookshelves and stacking off potions and books.
The others looked at her completely oblivious. "Naomi what are you doing?!" Nikki questioned.
Naomi didn't listen. She continued throwing every thing that was on the shelf.
"Are you out of your mind?" Sophie shot back.
"Those are mine! Be careful!" Howl warned.
Naomi didn't want to hear any more complaints. "Duh, I'm looking for a book that had something powerful enough or somethin'!" she said.
Suddenly, a golden book fell in front of Naomi. Curious, the tomboy picked it up and dusted the dirt off. It was titled, "The Ghibli Fairies"
"The Ghibli Fairies?" Naomi said. She flipped one page, and she beamed after she quickly read it. She handed it to Nikki happily.
"Maybe there is hope after all!" Naomi beamed.
Nikki held the book where the others could read and see it. She cleared her throat and began. "The Legend of the Ghibli Fairies," she started. "Decades ago, the land believed in supreme creatures called the Ghibli Fairies. They were the ones who protected the land from harm and danger, but it was believed that they disappeared. Legend has it that you can find them by forming their signature scepter, the Ghibli staff."
Nikki and the others looked at Naomi and scratched their heads in confusion. "I don't think we can find this Ghibli Staff and all," Nana doubted.
Suddenly, Satomi pointed at something in the book. "Hey! I see a paper stacked between!" she said.
Nikki removed the page and opened it. It was the illustration of the Ghibli Staff. It had a turquoise shiny staff and rare items stacked on it which the girls couldn't make out what it was. On the right side of the paper was the instructions to build the wand.
"To build it, you must acquire the legendary objects that played an important role in all of the Ghibli movies," Nikki read out.
Satomi scrunched her face. "Okay, maybe we can do it," she said. "But we don't even know if we can collect twenty-two items in time to stop Kalura!"
Miki put hands on her hips. "Hello, Santa managed to deliver presents to millions of children in seven continents in one night, the Easter Bunny delivered millions of eggs around the world in one day," she said in one breath. "If they could do that, I'm sure we can handle this one too."
Nikki faced them. "Can you name any precious Ghibli objects?" she asked.
Nana thought for a moment. "Sheeta's necklace?" she suggested.
Naomi grabbed a paper and pen from Howl's desk and wrote it down. "Laputa Necklace," she listed down.
"What about Totoro's seeds?" Satomi said. "I mean, Satsuki and Mei planted those seeds for something good, like nature."
"I like that," Naomi said, and wrote it down. "Totoro's Seeds."
Nikki faced Howl and Sophie. "I believed that you two have something precious, yes?" she asked.
They faced each other, and then Sophie lit up. "My ring!" she remembered, and ran to her bedroom upstairs.
They waited, and she came back with the ring that was the charm to guarantee her safe return. Sophie handed it to Nikki. "I thought it was broken," she said, recalling on what happened.
Sophie giggled. "Howl fixed it for me," she said.
Miki clapped her hands. "Yes! Now we are one percent on completing the wand," she cheered.
Yuka came up with one. "The Candy Box from Grave of the Fireflies, I think," she said.
"Setsuko's Candy Drops Box," Naomi listed down.
"How about...Ponyo's bucket?" Satomi said. "She loves it too much."
"Ponyo's bucket," Naomi listed down. "I think that's all we need to list down for now, and we can come brainstorm others later during our journey so we don't worry too much."
Nikki beamed. "I'm so glad we remember the Ghibli movies," she said.
"Yeah, but we forgot something," Nana said. "People will think we are fools doing something that they believe isn't true. How are we gonna travel to acquire these items?"
They went silent. Then Miki snapped her fingers. "Ive got it!" she said.
"Go ahead, sister," Satomi said.
Miki stood up and jumped. "We can make the castle fly just like in the end of the movie!" she suggested. "That way no one will suspect a thing and we can travel in secret!"
Calcifer gasped. "Woah! Woah! Woah! Lady!" he exclaimed. "That took me a lot of strength to do that, and it left me tired for four days straight!"
If Calcifer wasn't fire, Howl would have playfully rubbed his head. "Come on, Cal," he teased. "If you did it, you could do it again."
Calcifer scrunched his fire face. "Don't play stupid with me, Jenkins," he said. "I'm telling you- It would take more than just one spell to make the entire castle fly!"
Sophie crossed her arms. "But Calcifer, we need the castle to fly for the sake of saving the world," she pleaded.
Nikki blinked. "We?" she asked.
Howl turned to the girls and laughed. "You think we will just let you girls alone save the world without magic?" he said. "Of course we'll help you!"
Naomi wrinkled her face. "But you guys would get in trouble for the risk of accompanying us on this journey," she protested.
"We insist," Sophie demanded. "If you girls want help to save a world at stake, then I'm in. I rather go through dangers again to save something."
The girls exchanged looks. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to have someone help us," Miki shrugged.
This was actually a surprise to the Ghibi Six, because they were glad to have their favorite characters actually help saving the world in terms of finding twenty two items for a wand.
"This is a hard mission," Sophie told them. "Once we've entered it, there's no turning back now; the Ghibli World rests on our hands now."
She looked at Howl. The same confident smile appeared on their faces.
"Count me in too!" Markl said, raising his hand and went in between Sophie and Howl. "I know it's risky, but I'm up for the challenge."
Naomi looked at her friends. Nikki looked at Miki and Satomi, both of them nodded. Nana and Yuka smiled. Nikki smiled as well. "Count us in," she said. "No evil enchantress can destroy the a Ghibli World and get away with it!"
Miki clapped. "Excellent!" she cheered.
Everyone looked at Calcifer, waiting for an answer if he's gonna join or not. Realizing everyone fell for it, he sighed. "Alright, I'll join, and also lift the castle for you."
Howl laughed cheerfully. "I knew you would, Calcifer!" he said.
But Calcifer gave them a warning look. "But you still have to summon up power enough to make the castle fly," he said.
Sophie chuckled. "Don't worry, Calcifer," she assured, and bent down to him. "Howl can do it."
"Okay, now we just need to plan our journey," Miki said, grabbing a nearby paper and quill from the desk of Howl. "We need to know where to go and prepare for the coming locations which has danger. Does anyone have a copy of the Ghibli World map?"
Howl opened his palm and a scroll appeared. He handed it to Nikki and she handed it to Miki. She opened it and studied it for a while, being the fast reader and fast thinker of the group. Had she not mastered it, the mission would be messed up.
"Sooo, where do we go first?" Miki said.
The girls looked at each other and stared at Miki. "Well, isn't it obvious?" Satomi said. "Kobe."
Miki slapped her palm against her head. "Of course! I totally forgot," she apologetically said.
"Wait, I don't think we should go there yet," Nikki stopped her.
Miki looked at Nikki. "Why not?"
Nikki sighed. The others weren't aware of what had to come first. "There's just one problem," she said. "We don't have a staff or long stick to put it on."
Miki frowned. "Oh, nuts, I have to scribble 'Kobe' off," she complained, and scribbled it.
Nana crossed her arms. "But where would we find a staff?" she asked. "I don't remember a staff in some of the movies. I hope we don't have to go far to pick a random staff!"
They felt dumbfounded. A staff wasn't remembered, because it's never been in any of the Ghilbi movies at all.
Suddenly, Howl raised his finger. "Hold on! I think there is one staff that I can recall," he said.
Nikki felt the weight lifted off her shoulders. "Go on," she happily said.
"While Ged and I were chatting with each other, he went on and on about this evil sorcerer in his land owning a staff," he recalled. "The staff was hidden in the hallway of the sorcerer."
Miki scrunched face. "That's good to know, Howl," she said. "But who's the evil sorcerer?"
They all went silent. Then Nana burst. "IVE GOT IT!" she unknowingly shouted, and turned red in embarrassment.
She cleared her throat. "Just analyze what Howl said, he mentioned Ged taking about an evil sorcerer," she said, piecing it. "Unless there are other evil sorcerers, it is obviously Cob!"
Nikki beamed. "Of course! Cob!" she clapped her hands. "Howl gave us the details of Ged, so thanks! Remember that he tried to kill Arren and Therru."
Naomi squinted. "I hate his guts for trying to kill those two," she said.
Miki chuckled. "Okay, so the first thing we have to grab is the staff," she reminded.
"I think I have something better," Nikki suggested.
"What's that?" Yuka asked.
"What if we pass by the symbolized item of the movie while we grab the staff?" Nikki required.
"Sounds like a good idea, but what is the item?" Sophie asked.
Naomi snapped her fingers upon her mind reaching the answer. "Arren's sword," she said. "It's his precious sword given by his father."
She quickly jotted it down. "Alright, I think we have everything planned," Nana said, putting her hands on her hips.
They all looked at Calcifer, and he sighed. He had forgotten that he had to make the castle move. "Alright alright stop staring at me like that, people," he groaned.
He knew that they would force Calcifer into flying the castle, judging from their faces. But it was worth the shot, and Calcifer was hesitant to do it.
"Alright, we need to plan the stuff we need," Miki said.
Nikki thought for a moment. "We need something to put the items inside," Nikki said. "We need a big sack."
Howl walked to the back of the castle and came back with a sack. He threw it to Nikki, which she caught perfectly. "Great, now we have the sack," Naomi said.
"Okay, this maybe a little extreme," Naomi said. "But I suggest we bring weapons in case there is danger. We wouldn't want to die, now would we?"
Naomi listed it down. "Ropes, daggers, hooks, and other stuff," she repeated as she quickly jotted it down before her mind forgets it.
"That's pretty gangster," Nana said.
Naomi rolled her eyes. "What else besides a sack and some weapons?" Miki asked.
"I think food should be our priority," Sophie said. "We need enough food for the journey."
"I say a bread is a candidate," Satomi said, hungry for bread.
"Don't forget apples, potatoes, and other food," Miki reminded her.
Naomi showed the quill upon finishing writing. "I think we have everything we need, besides buying the food," she said.
Howl examined it. "Excellency, Naomi," he complimented.
Sophie placed her hand on Howl's shoulder. "I suggest that you should prepare your spell on lifting the castle," she said. "You never know- be ready for the big thing."
Howl chuckled. "Don't fret Sophie," he assured. "I'll make sure that it would be ready."
He kissed Sophie on the cheek. Nana gushed, blushing at the sight, but Naomi rolled her eyes at this annoyance. "I ship these two so much," Nana whispered to Yuka.
"What?" Sophie asked, hearing.
Nana shrugged. "Nevermind," she denied.
Howl turned to them. "Since you girls are going on a long journey, I suggest that I lend you some rooms," he told them.
Naomi blinked. "R-Really?" she gasped.
"Of course," he replied. "You girls definitely need a place where you can rest after a long journey."
Miki turned to Nikki. "Well it wouldn't hurt to be lend one," she said.
Yuka faced Howl. "But don't you have enough rooms for us?" she asked.
Howl laughed as if it was a joke. "I have twenty guest rooms, silly," he teased. "People keep growing here!"
"And here it is," Howl said, opening the door to their rooms.
The girls gasped upon the sight of it. The bedroom had a wooden floor and white walls, covered by a fancy ceiling. There were two beds, each one on the other sides of the room, and a desk at the center. A wardrobe was placed at the end of each bed.
Naomi faced Howl. "There are only two beds in here," she said.
Howl laughed again in humor. "That's because you girls will have a room each!" he told them.
Howl led Miki and Nikki towards the room, indicating that this room was theirs. Miki and Nikki exchanged glances. Howl may be a funny wizard, but he was really good at taking things funny and seriously.
"You two are gonna stay here," Howl instructed. He turned to the rest. "As for you girls, I'll show your other bedrooms."
He led them out, and before he could exit, he turned to Nikki and Miki. He smiled at them. "Get comfy, girls," he winked and closed the door.
Miki sat on the bed. She sighed in relaxation. "It's so soft," she said, lying her back on it.
Nikki sat on hers. "I guess mattresses were this soft during these times," she guessed.
Miki shrugged. "You know, there's one thing shocking than meeting all of our favorite characters," she said.
Nikki sat up. "What's that?"
Miki smiled. "The fact that the characters are helping us."
Gotta end it here. Winx out!