AN: I've never written for Howl's Moving Castle before, so please be gentle. I'm not entirely certain if this is going to have more points from the Anime or from the Book, but who knows. It's AU, but have pity on me. Once again, this is a first time thing, and if it goes well, I'll continue it. If it doesn't...well, I'll probably just leave well enough alone.
Disclaimer: I dun own Howl, Sophie, or their castle. Please don't sue me, I have mouths to feed.
Mist and Mysteries
By: Chibi-no-Oneesan
Chapter Two
Sophie was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a roaring fire burning in the fireplace, lighting the room with an odd green glow. She sighed softly, looking around the room and frowning slightly. Whoever lived here certainly wasn't much of a house keeper. She found a chair buried under a thick layer of blankets and drug it over in front of the glowing green fire. In the flame she could almost see two eyes and a row of jagged teeth and a long, sharp nose. She imagined the two tendrils on the side were arms. It looked rather fearsome.
"Hmmm, and what might you be?" She asked in a drowsy manner. She certainly didn't feel as energetic as she had when she'd been young. It was a good thing she was sitting down, because if she hadn't been, she'd have fallen out of the chair when she'd realized the fire spoke back, spitting glowing red embers.
"I'm a fire demon, what the hell else would I be?" It looked at her. "What do you think you're doing?"
She yawned. "Staying warm." She said evenly.
"Obviously." It snapped. "You're trespassing! You should leave!"
She hummed softly, looking at the fire demon with undisguised interest. "Is this your castle? Moving it seems kind of silly. It will crumble and fall down around your embers."
Those two glowing eyes snapped wide to stare at her. "You don't know who's castle this belongs to?" It asked warily.
She yawned. "Not a clue."
"It belongs to Horrible Howl, a wicked wizard known for eating the hearts of young women!" The demon snapped, seeming concerned. "Do you want your heart eaten?"
Sophie laughed softly. "If he eats the hearts of young women, he wouldn't be interested in mine, now would he?" She said smiling. Hmm? A wizard is it? Perhaps he would know the secret to lifting my curse. But if he could do that, then he'd eat my heart right away wouldn't he? A wry smirk twisted her lips. "Not a great idea..." She mumbled to herself.
The demon seemed to stare at her for a long time.
"So, if this isn't your castle, what are you doing here, anyways?" Sophie should have thought it was odd. She was sitting in a moving castle, speaking to a fire in a fireplace, surrounded by a mess of clutter, and acting like it was the most normal thing in the world. It would have been much more reasonable to run away screaming. She had always been considered an odd one. Her calm acceptance seemed to confirm that.
The fire squirmed. "I have a contract with Howl." It muttered.
"Do you have a name?"
"Of course I have a name!" It started muttering, spewing sparks like spittle every few moments. "Of course I have a name, why in the hell wouldn't I have a name? I'm a fire demon, I'm important."
She watched him for awhile in silence. "What is it?" She finally asked.
"What is what?" It asked, looking at her in complete bafflement.
She cocked her head patiently. "Your name?"
It's eyes widened and it settled down a bit. It seemed to be considering her for some reason. Sophie waited patiently, while it went through it's thoughts, seeming to be arranging them in some way or another. "I'm Calcifer." It said finally, seeming to be a little subdued. "That's some curse you've got..." It said.
She hummed in agreement, looking at the ceiling.
"Let me guess, can't talk about it, right?"
She looked at him in surprise and then smiled. If she'd had a mirror, she would have seen her face go from ancient to youthful in a matter of moments. It seemed to startle the demon a bit and she could have been mistaking, but there looked like two distinct pink marks had formed where it's cheeks would be. "So you can tell?"
"Only a blind fool wouldn't." Calcifer muttered. It averted it's eyes for a moment, then glanced back at her, contemplating something. "Say, if you could find a way to break my contract with Howl, I think I might be able to break your curse."
She tilted her head to the side, and it was like the illusion fell back into place. "Oh, but I'm no wizard or anything, I haven't experience with things like that."
Calcifer seemed to consider this. "Well, if you don't try, you wont know if you can, and if you can't, then I wont have to help you."
Sophie felt her eyes drifting shut and sighed, resting her cheek against the mantle. "Seems fair enough..."
He watched her fall asleep, a slight frown on his face. She certainly was an odd one. The way she dressed wasn't like anyone he'd ever seen before, and her clothing seemed darned to the point where if she tried to do so again, they would simply disintegrate. Her curse was peculiar as well, but it had a similar flavor to that of the one the Witch of the Waste had cast on Howl.
Howl was still evading that one at every step.
More importantly, how had this girl, because he was quite certain she was a girl and not the old woman she appeared to be, never heard of Howl?
Everyone in Ingary knew of the Wizard Howl. They'd made certain of that by spreading those rumors that stated that he ate women's hearts. It ensured their privacy at the castle, and kept most of Howl's unfortunate lovers away. Calcifer scowled. He'd seen this girl's pretty face. That old mask had dropped ever so briefly when she'd smiled. There was no doubt in his mind that as soon as Howl found out, this...naive little thing would be his next conquest.
The thought revolted the fire demon.
This girl had a purity that wasn't tainted by the world yet. A goodness that went far deeper than the skin. A goodness that being used by Howl could quite possibly destroy. No, he wouldn't tell Howl about her. If Howl had the braincells of a goat, he should be able to figure it out his own damn self.
But lately, Howl had been quite distracted, and he'd been going through the black door more and more and more, which could only mean that he had found another girl to pursue, this time in his own home town. Good. Keep him away from this girl, and things would be fine with Calcifer. Because if Howl figured out what she was before she'd figured out how to break the contract, most likely all would be lost.
He couldn't let that happen.
So he'd play a little game with his friend, keep the wool pulled over the wolf's eyes and he'd try to protect her as best as a fire demon who was tied to a fireplace could.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Michael Fisher lay in bed for a long time, staring up at the ceiling, remembering the events of the night before. He had taken to escorting Martha home on a nightly basis, which was becoming easier since Howl had been lost in his own little world. The night before, she'd even invited him inside her small apartment in the place Howl called "Wales".
He cared deeply for his little Martha Hatter, a girl with fine golden curls and shining blue eyes. Her face was rounded pleasantly and she had full pouting lips. He'd recently learned that those lips were, in fact, as soft as they looked, and he'd quite enjoyed re-learning that lesson every time he'd seen her since.
However, last night, she'd seemed troubled, almost withdrawn.
Last night, she'd spoken of her family for the first time since he'd met her. She'd spoke of her father, and his death a few years prior. She'd spoke of her sister Lettie, who had disappeared a short time later. She spoke of her mother, who went to find a way to save her father's hat shop and never returned home.
Now it seemed her other sister was gone as well.
Martha said she'd gone by the hat shop and had been shocked to find it closed. She'd then gone to her sister's apartment above it, shocked to find it empty as well. At first, she'd hoped her sister had gone seeking her fortune, but it wasn't like her to just up and leave like that.
Then she'd mentioned a man that her sister had mentioned, who had saved her.
That had troubled him. Especially since Howl had been so distracted lately. He'd also been spending an unusual amount of time in Wales himself. It eased his spirit that he wasn't interested in Martha, but it worried him deeply that Howl might have been the one who'd 'saved' his Martha's sister. Howl did not do something for nothing. What if she was his newest victim?
With a groan, he rolled over, staring out the window which looked over Porthaven and sighed, wishing silently that he could see out over Wales like Howl's window did.
Yes, Howl's castle was a kind of miracle. Somehow, the wizard had managed to make it exist in two different worlds, and they could, through it's door, enter four different places. At the moment, it resided in the Hills above Market Chipping, the seaside city of Porthaven, and the royal capital Kingsbury. Always, however, it connected through the black door to Wales.
Howl was powerful. Sometimes almost frighteningly so. He also oozed charm that made him able to seduce even the most cold of spinsters. Michael would be lying if he said that it were Howl's other characteristics that had lured him into becoming the wizard's apprentice.
In reality, Howl's faults greatly out-weighed his merits.
The man was vain to a fault, lazy, and he slithered out of whatever distasteful chore he could. Lately, Michael had been doing the transportation spells for the King, and the castle hadn't been cleaned in months. All Howl bothered himself to do was lure unsuspecting women into his clutches and break their hearts, leaving a string of hurt, angry, and broken hearted women all over Ingary, and probably Wales as well.
And spend hours on end in the bathroom primping.
Michael huffed, noting the sun was starting to make it's ascent in the sky and rolled out of bed, heading towards his door. He could hear voices downstairs, and a slight frown turned down the corners of his lips. Why in the name of hell was there a woman in the Castle? Howl was going to have a fit-
He turned the last corner and found a little old lady with a messy braid sitting in front of the fire, looking rather irate, talking to Calcifer, their fire demon. He blinked, looking from one to the other.
"I'm sorry that you consider it demeaning, but I can't cook any breakfast at all if you don't lower your head and let me stick this pan on it." The woman said, her arms crossed, one of their skillets dangling from that frail looking hand as though it weighed absolutely nothing at all.
"Tough." Calcifer snapped back, spitting sparks.
When he noticed the woman's grip shift and realized she was about to bludgeon the poor unsuspecting fire demon, he decided to intercede on both of their behalves. "He wont let any one cook on him but Howl."
The woman jumped, startled and looked towards him, seeming shocked that there was someone standing there. Then, she shot Calcifer a look that would have scorched the demon's hair if it wasn't already made of flame. "Is that so?"
Calcifer stuck his tongue out at her.
She leaned towards the fire demon in an intimidating manner. "Then maybe I should just go and let you figure out the whole situation on your own."
There was a distinct threat in that. He would have had to be deaf and blind not to know that. Calcifer seemed to shrink back and was about to open his mouth when Michael moved forward. "I don't think we even have anything for breakfast. I've been a bit busy this week, and haven't gotten to do the shopping. Howl, of course doesn't lift a-"
The door swung open and Michael's mouth snapped shut quickly.
A rather tired looking Howl entered the castle.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sophie stared at the man who entered, feeling shock numb her brain. No, it couldn't possibly really be him. He was the Wizard Howl? It couldn't be, yet at the same time it made a horrible kind of sense. She looked towards Calcifer, who was looking at Howl as well.
"Howl! She's bullying me!" He cried, actually sounding upset. Yet, she could pick up a merry trace in that face made of fire.
Howl looked around the room, arching an eyebrow. "It takes a special kind of person to do that." He said, moving towards the fire and he easily took the skillet from her slack hand and nudged her out of the way. "And you are?" He asked mildly as he slapped the skillet lightly down on Calcifer's head and looked towards her.
She had to think of something fast. "You can call me Grandma Sophie." She said pointedly, looking away with a huff. He certainly was more brusque than she remembered. Perhaps it was the old face that had thrown him off, since now he no longer wanted to eat her heart. An idea to keep her deal with Calcifer popped into her head and she threw a bit of caution to the wind. "I'm your new cleaning lady."
He selected two eggs and cracked one easily with one hand. "Really? I don't recall hiring you."
Sophie glanced towards the younger of the two and saw he was cleaning a few dishes in a rather questionable sink. "Calcifer did. He's sick and tired of this place looking like a pig sty." She said feeling a little bad for the lie, but she had promised Calcifer that she would stay to help him, but that didn't involve that she had to be completely honest with this wizard.
"Oh ho?" He asked, amusement evident in his voice. "Michael, how are those plates coming?" He asked, glancing back towards the boy who was obviously trying quite hard to ignore the drama unfolding behind him. A smirk turned up the corner of his lips.
"They're done..." The boy shifted a few stacks of papers and a few more stacks of dirty dishes went into the sink and he looked pointedly at Sophie. "I'm sorry about the mess."
The wizard began dishing out breakfast and Sophie cringed a bit as she looked at the dishes. These two men and she had quite different definitions of clean. The entire house was so covered in filth that she almost wanted to go home to Wales and get a big jug of Bleach to use on every available surface. She quietly accepted a spoon with a soft thank you.
She didn't see Howl glance at her from the corner of his eyes as though he were trying to puzzle something out about her. He couldn't pin where he'd seen the old woman sitting at the table, but he definitely recognized her from somewhere. Something about the color and shape of her eyes. Something about them made the space where his heart had once been tingle a bit. He chalked it to phantom limb pain and continued to serve the breakfast.
"I suppose..." He said, his voice so even, it even surprised him. "That if Calcifer hired you, you can stay." Besides, until he figured out how he knew her, he didn't want her out of his sight, wandering this world aimlessly.
There were two startled gasps, neither of which came from the old woman. Howl glanced at Michael then Calcifer. Both were staring at him in complete shock and he arched an eyebrow upon seeing the rather pleased kind of shock that Calcifer had. Hmm. It would appear that his new cleaning lady and his friend had something going on between them. Interesting.
Breakfast was eaten in general silence, but Howl was a bit busy thinking about the things he'd recently learned from around Ingary and in Wales. The Witch of the Waste was getting more and more bold in her search for him, and as of yet, he'd been unable to find that little mousy of a target he' let on the roof of Cesari's.
That thought caused him to pause and he discretely looked towards the old woman who sat at his table. Shock settled into the pit of his stomach when he realized that was how he recognized those eyes. They were quite nearly identical in shape and color. The voice sounded familiar as well, now although more raw from age. He glanced towards Calcifer who was looking at him warily and it all clicked quite suddenly. He stood, taking his unfinished breakfast towards the fireplace. "Open wide, Calcifer..." He said, smiling slightly.
Calcifer did as he was told and hummed happily when the remaining bacon and eggs were slid into his mouth.
Howl looked down at his friend while the demon cheerfully chewed the remains of his barely touched breakfast and felt the cogs in his brain turning rapidly. "And heat some water for my bath."
He felt all eyes on him as he headed up the stairs, not looking back. She could be a mother, or a grandmother with that face, but something about her said that this 'Grandma Sophie' was the same girl he'd helped in Wales. He entered the bathroom and filled the tub quickly, completely forgoing any scented bubbles, instead, stripping quickly and immersing himself in the water. He desperately needed time to think and clear his mind of the cluttered thoughts that were presently bombarding his brain.
Now that he could think clearly, he could remember the slight wavering of the curse placed on the girl. He couldn't see completely through it, but he could tell that it was a mask that she was wearing, and not her actual face. And knowing her name brought to mind the last girl he'd started a relationship with, who he incidentally hadn't seen in the week since he'd met the girl in Wales. It didn't matter, really, the relationship was not going anywhere.
A girl named Lettie Hatter. A girl who'd wandered quite incidentally into Ingary while looking for her way, and wound up under the tutelage of Mrs Fairfax, a fellow student of Mrs Pentstemmon, who had instructed both Howl and his friend Suliman in magic. She too, had turned out to be from Wales and often spoke of her meek sister, Sophie, who had ginger-colored hair and blue-green eyes. But there was nothing meek about the woman in his kitchen.
He could still remember the little mouse quite clearly. Her shyness was quite sweet, but when he put this gutsy woman beside her, he decided quite quickly he liked this one more. This one wasn't afraid.
It would take some investigation on his part, but he was going to find out for certain if this was in fact the girl he'd set down on the roof. He would check the Hatter shop in Wales, and go see Lettie once again. Perhaps she would have some insight into this person who was now his house mate. Then, when he was certain of her identity, he would confront Calcifer.
Because he didn't like it when his friend plotted things behind his back. It usually got them into trouble.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sophie relaxed when Howl left the room. She assumed it meant her identity was still safe from him, so he'd have no interest in her heart. Then she jumped when there was an abrupt knocking at the door.
"Porthaven!" Calcifer cried and she watched as Michael jumped up.
The young man cracked open the door and peered out, then relaxed. She noted that the knob had been turned towards the blue dot. Intriguing. Through the door, she could see bright blue water outside, and hear the sound of gulls.
"Oh, does your dad need more of that brew?" Michael asked. "Just a second..." He went over to the table and started shifting things around, eventually finding a small square of folded cloth. "There it is..." He hurried back to the door and handed it out.
"Thank you, Mr. Fisher...And thank Sorcerer Jenkins for us." The young ladies voice said.
"Certainly will." The boy seemed to pause. "No, Jenkins said payment was already taken care of."
Sophie frowned. "There's another wizard living here?" She asked Calcifer, arching an eyebrow in interest. When the door was shut, she looked towards Michael, who snorted.
"Howl is Jenkins the Sorcerer when we're doing business in Porthaven." Michael said, digging through a stack of papers to find one of the transport spells he was supposed to be working on. "When we're in Kingsbury, he's the Wizard Pendragon. Market Chipping knows him as Howl the Wizard or Horrible Howl." The young man said, sitting down with such a flop that he kicked up a layer of dust.
Sophie cringed a bit. This was going to take weeks to clean. Maybe a month. Good grief. Had no one ever taught these two men how to pick up after themselves?
"And as I was saying before he came waltzing in after a night of courting god only knows who in Wales, he's lazy."
She couldn't stop herself from speaking. "He isn't the only one."
Michael flushed. "It's not so much laziness on my part..." He muttered, hiding his face in the paper. "I'm trying a passive aggressive approach to see if he'll do anything. It hasn't worked yet. The bathroom's getting disgusting. I don't know how he can stand to bathe in there."
Sophie looked at all the dirty dishes and rolled up her sleeves. "Well, since it sounds like Howl has stopped using the water, I'll start." She looked towards Calcifer and gave him a sweet look, which made the illusion waver, which caused Michael to drop the papers he was holding in shock. "Calcifer, would you mind heating some water so I can clean the dishes?"
Michael looked at the fire demon, expecting the usual string of objections and was even more shocked to find the fire demon with two pink spots on his green cheeks. He almost fell out of his chair when the demon answered.
"Okay, Sophie."
Sophie smiled pleased and moved over to the sink, staring down into it with a sigh. This was no place to clean dishes just yet. So she found a relatively clean rag which she suspected had been used to clean the morning's dishes with and turned on the hot water. She made quick work of the sink after piling the dirty dishes beside it on the small wooden counter.
After the sink was clean, she filled it with soap and water, beginning to put dishes into it to soak. She mopped down the counter so it was tidy when the dishes were done and they'd have a place to dry. The entire time she worked, she sensed four eyes watching her back. How odd.
A sigh escaped her and she began singing a song she remembered from High school that didn't really have anything to do with where it was sung. She'd learned it specifically for going to a local Rugby game, when her father was still alive, since he'd been a rather avid fan of the sport. It was really the last thing her father had ever taught her. She managed to tune out everything else, and everyone else in the room, until she noticed two voices humming along with her singing. She glanced back, seeing Calcifer's head bobbing to the tune and Michael now hunched over the papers.
Where had they heard this?
Her question was answered when Howl appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in a blue and silver suit, singing the last verse of the song cheerfully. Apparently, whatever had been bothering him prior to his bath had been sorted out and the wizard was in a very good mood.
Everyone in the room watched as he walked to the door, flipped it to green with a flourish and disappeared into the hills above Market Chipping. "He certainly looks pleased with himself." She said evenly.
Calcifer nodded, slightly troubled. He held Howl's heart. He could feel it pounding with the Wizard's excitement. Something told him that this was not a good thing. Especially since Howl looked clear-sighted for the first time in days. He glanced towards where Sophie had her hands in the hot water, that long, unkempt silvery-white braid hanging down her back. And silently, he prayed that Howl hadn't figured out within two hours that this old woman wasn't actually an old woman at all.
0o0o0o0o0o0
AN: Okay, so chapter one had no reviews. So either it sucked and no one wants to insult me, or it was good and people are just not leaving reviews. Either way, I'd really like to know what SOMEONE thinks, otherwise, this will just get lumped into the eight million other stories I've written and never finished. Yeah, I know, there are only two here. There's actually a reason for that (who knew?). I write under another name here on and I am rather curious if anyone would read my work if they weren't actually watching me. Well, if that's a no, I suppose I'll just finish up my fanworks on the other name and quit writing it. No point if the only reason people open them is because it has that name attached. So, if you DO like this story, and WOULD like to read more, let me know, and if you can swing it, let me know WHY. If not, well, it might die right here. Or maybe I'll just post it under my other name.
AN (EDIT): Sorry about the previous rant. I'm merely frustrated. I don't mean to vent such frustrations at my readers. The baby was crying and I'm sleep deprived so...anyways, disregard.