NOTES: Sorry if the first two chapters were a bit boring, I didn't want to overload everyone with chapters. It's been a while since I wrote a fanfic, since I only recently discovered that they put the Gorillaz topic back up w;;; So bear with me as I try and jump back into it. For those who forgot the author note or forgot stuff, Howl and Sophie do have a baby boy in the second book, named Morgan. Howl was also more of a smart ass in the books so sorry if I shattered everyone's pretty gentleman Howl visions xD I also figured Al would probably love being in Howl's company since he's so young and naïve. I don't know if Ed would take it any worse or better than this, but that's just how I see it.

Calcifer's New Spark

CHAPTER THREE- THE WIZARD HOWL

"Nii-san!"

"Al!" Ed looked around. He had half expected to fall into a wooden tub and be beaten over the head with rusty garden tools. Instead he was sitting on a stairwell and he could hear the crackling of a fire. In front of him was the door he had come through, but next to it on the stone wall was a circle divided into four sections of different colors: red, green, yellow, and black. Ed looked back to see Al behind him, smiling wide. "Al how did—" He was interrupted by the distant sound of a baby crying.

"I guess we woke Morgan up." Al got up and climbed the stairs. "I'll be right back!"

"Wait, Al," Ed started, but Al had already disappeared from sight. Ed crawled up and poked his head over the last stair. There was a hearth that looked as if it were being swallowed by a giant turtle. It was surrounded by various armchairs and a red couch on top of a very clean embroidered rug. Beside the stairs was an alcove with a sink and a cupboard and opposite him the room opened up into a patio green and lush with grass and ferns and potted flowers. Underneath the yellow awning was a wicker rocking chair. A staircase led to the upstairs and opposite the hearth was a large dining table of shining cherry wood. Another door was shut behind it and it was surrounded by cabinets and bookshelves, and a bay window gave way to the sun. He crawled out of the stairwell cautiously on all fours, his hands rested on the wooden floor and he studied the room like a wild cat that had snuck in through the window. He listened for Al. He was too paranoid to stand up and make himself at home here. Where was here anyway? Al was right after all. All this time there had been this huge house inside and beyond the shed.

"Pssst! Hey, you! On the floor!" Ed straight up and looked around for the owner of the new voice. No one was around.

"Who is that?"

"Over here! What, am I that invisible?"

The voice was coming from the place by the hearth. Ed crawled over and peered around the armchair with its back to him. He had hoped to see a small person sitting there, but it was completely vacant. "Hello?"

"Hellooo! Up here!" A lick of flame flickered over the side of the hearth and Ed came face to face with the fire…the fire with a pair of round wide eyes. "Finally. I thought a ball of energy would be hard to miss!"

"You…you can…"

Al's footsteps sounded from the stairs and he bent over the banister to smile at Ed. "I see you've met Calcifer!" he said brightly and ran down the stairs.

"Calci-who?" Ed asked, still crouched over on the floor.

"Calcifer. He's a fire demon."

"A fire demon?" Ed wasn't sure what to think. Al was treating this all as if he had known it all his life. The elder felt as if he had stepped into his younger brother's imagination. It had been so long, he forgot to expect the unexpected.

"What's the matter Ed? Why are you on the floor like that?"

Ed crawled over to the couch and pulled himself onto it. "I think I broke my back when I landed on you." The little flame was staring warily at him, his eyes bobbing up and down with the wave of his flames. At times they rolled around and came back and looked back and forth from Al to Ed. He and Al exchanged looks for a moment before a sound from the door alerted them all.

"Verona door," Calcifer said, and before Al could reach it, the old man from the vineyard floated up the stairwell and landed gracefully on the floor.

Ed shrieked and dove off the couch. "It's him!"

Al didn't look the least bit shocked. "No fear," a young man's voice, speaking perfect English, came from the old man. "It wasn't until the last minute that I realized who you were."

"Who I was!" Ed slammed his fists onto the couch and shot straight up like a meerkats. "Who the hell are you!"

The old man removed his cap and with a swipe of his arm he had changed form completely. In the old man's place stood a tall and lank young man with shoulder length dark hair and bright and childish blue eyes. He threw the cap into the air and it became a bird and flew out the window to the outside. "My name is Howl," he said. "I've heard a lot about you, Edward Elric."

Ed got up and grabbed Al's wrist. "I'm taking my little brother and leaving now," he said and marched to the door, dragging the unwilling Al behind him. Howl moved aside and watched as Ed stomped down the staircase, threw open the door and was literally sucked out of it. "AAAAGH!" Ed clung to the threshold for dear life. He thought he was going to walk into the vineyard but instead he was dangling from a door in the sky! Al was holding tight to his brother's leg, kicking angrily as he was dragged through passing clouds.

"Nii-san! Why do you have to be so rash all the time!" he screamed and pinched Ed's real leg.

"Ow! Shut up!"

Howl's head poked over the side to look at them. Ed glared up at him. If he had a free hand he would have smacked the smile right off this guy's face! "Would you like some assistance?" he asked mockingly.

"What's going on here!" Ed demanded.

"Well I was about to tell you that this was a floating castle and that you probably couldn't get back unless you had the right dial, but you walked away so quickly I didn't have a chance." Howl said this all very quickly, but even if he had said it slowly Ed, who had zero patience at this moment, wouldn't have understood a word of what he was talking about anyway.

"Liar! You weren't going to tell me anything about whatever you said. You could have stopped me but you let me do this on purpose!"

"Did I?" Howl looked thoughtfully up at nothing. "Oh, I suppose I did. Oh well, same message, different methods. Would you like a hand up?"

Without waiting for a reply, Howl took Ed's Hand and lifted him over the edge by his pants. He lifted Al in more gently. When they were in and safe, Howl closed the door and went up to the dining room. "Would you like something to eat?"

"I already ate," Ed said bitterly and rubbed his head. Howl had pushed him into a stair to make room for Al.

"I'm starving!" Al said cheerfully and joined Howl. Ed's stomach growled but he coughed to mask it, but Al heard it. "So is Ed," he added as he helped Howl get plates and cups from the cupboards.

"Go ahead and get some extra ones for the others, they should be back soon."

Ed watched the two of them from the stairs, his mouth open in disbelief. Howl and Al were like two best friends. "WHAT IS GOING ON!" he screamed. Al almost dropped the teacups he was carrying. "Al, who is this guy, where are we? Why are you acting so friendly! We have to get out of here; we don't have time for a luncheon!" After this Ed screamed long and loud, so loud that the room shook and from upstairs the baby began to cry again.

"Oh I forgot to tell you, the door to your world probably isn't there anymore," Howl laughed, embarrassed.

"WHAT? What do you mean?"

"Verona. You can't get back."

"That can't be! Why?" Ed looked shocked, even Al seemed a little scared. "We should be in Verona helping our friend Noah with the festival."

"I'm sure they can handle it on their own. They seemed pretty far along yesterday."

"Yes, but—"

"I'm very sorry," Howl said apologetically. "My spell didn't work out like I wanted. I haven't moved the castle in so long; I've grown a bit shabby. Excuse me."

This guy's a nutcase! Ed thought to himself as Howl went upstairs to tend to the crying baby.

"I hope Noah and the others don't leave without us," Al said, a bit worried. "It lasts a week, but maybe they will wait for us?"

Yes, Al. Noah knows we've been sucked through a door to a different world and will tell her entire group what has happened. They're sure to wait up for us then! "Why were you here in the first place? If you hadn't run off, we wouldn't be having this problem at all!"

"Me?" Al cried defensively, "Why is it my fault? You should have believed me! This is what you get for being so…so…"

"SAY IT!"

"SO STUBBORN!"

"Who's stubborn? You're just as stubborn as me!"

"'Cause we're brothers! Brothers are supposed to trust each other!"

"Says who?"

"Says everyone!"

"Oh forget it, Al!"

"Hey, keep it down over there!" Calcifer roared from the fireplace.

"It's no use, Calcifer," Howl said from the staircase. "Morgan is wide awake anyway." He came down holding a baby with dark hair, bright shining blue eyes. Morgan sucked on his thumb and stared at everything.

"Sorry, Howl," Al said and nudged Ed who apologized under his breath.

Howl pulled a chair up for himself to sit in with Morgan. "I apologize for startling you. I was the old man in the vineyard."

"I gathered that from your magic trick," Ed said. Al pulled up a chair next to him, but Ed refused to sit. He felt if he let go of the chair he was holding onto his legs might give out.

"Magic trick?" Howl laughed hard at this. He waited for Ed to respond, but Ed only looked at him. "I thought my family could use a nice vacation to Verona. I thought my barrier would hide my door from sight, but I guess you're sharper than I thought."

"What barrier?" Ed raised an eyebrow and looked at Al, who looked back and shrugged.

Howl smiled slyly. "I wouldn't expect you to see it, you being from another world and all."

Ed shot Al a look. "Sorry Nii-san. I told him."

"Your brother tells me you two are quite the alchemists!"

"We were," Ed said sharply before Al could speak. "We can't do it anymore, now that we're..."

Howl put up a hand to stop him from talking. "Still…" He got up and took Morgan over by the hearth. He took some toys from a basket and gave them to the baby, and left him for Calcifer to watch over. "You saw through my barrier. Your lady friend did too."

"Noah?" Ed thought for a moment. If it was a magical barrier Howl had created, it made sense for her to see it. She was a psychic after all. But he and Al were just alchemists. They were scientists, not magicians. "Hey! If the door to Verona is closed, can't your family get back?"

"Luckily Sophie took Markyl to Kingsbury to do some shopping. I'm afraid all we have to eat right now is bread and cheese…which reminds me, I should change the dial back." Howl ran to the door and Ed heard a click and voices—as if a crowd were right outside. He peered over the banister and sure enough there was a street and people walking by. Howl was looking out with his hand over his eyes. Ed looked out the window. There was a city, and trees, and people. The sky was no longer there.

"I think I will sit down now…" Ed grabbed the chair Al had pulled out for him and sat down in it as fast as he could.

"Are you feeling sick?" Howl asked from the door. "Alphonse took this a lot better than you!" Howl came upstairs, smiling.

"This has to be a dream," Ed groaned.

"No dream, sorry." Howl bowed deep. "Welcome to my castle!"