Fourth Chapter
"Travel to the moon
The dream where you first appeared fades out
The light of the star I longed for is taken away
The smile I had to forget in order to be strong, for sure
If we are together, we can take it back
Understand this,
I'm here waiting for you
There is a future different from now
I'm here waiting for you
And I continue screaming
The thread that binds our hearts together is pulling
To bring you by my side as before
No need to cry
Travel in silence
I extend my hand to feel you, yet
You're so far away
That memory is etched within me
When I hear your voice as I close my eyes
Even a little pain is precious to me
See me now,
I'm here waiting for you
When I'm all alone being blown by the wind
I'm here waiting for you
I can see the entire sky
Truly inside my heart, my hands stretch out to protect
Your heart, until you come back
No need to cry..."
"But...How...?" That was all Sophie could say, she understood less and less. Where was this strange woman aiming at?
Yûko simply smiled and went back to the door. She placed her delicate hand on the door knob and closed her eyes. For a moment she was whispering something, but then she suddenly pulled the door open.
"We'll use this way. It's the quickest way and that is why it's the best. I don't know how much time we have left..." Yûko muttered, looking absent-minded.
The path they were about to use didn't look promising at all. The air was so thick with the grey fog, that Sophie couldn't see anything at all. There could barely be seen a dark forest, but npthing else, she could not even figure out the path they were going to take.
On the other hand, maybe it was a blessing that she couldn't see what kind of creatures there were in the endless darkness. Although Sophie knew it would be most likely dangerous, she stepped outside without looking back. When it came to Howl, she could face every single beast or monster.
"Well, good luck then. I'll be waiting for you back here..." Sophie heard Watanuki babbling, but before he could say anything else, Yûko had already taken a firm grip of his collar.
"Oh no you won't! You are coming with us NOW!" Yûko pushed the boy out and followed closely behind him.
"Ow man... I should have seen this coming..." Watanuki muttered and Sophie couldn't help smiling. Somehow she had a feeling that the fates of those two were connected.
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After making sure that Watanuki wouldn't try to sneak away, Yûko took the lead. She showed the way and Sophie had the strangest feeling that there was no path what-so-ever, but instead the trees were moving in order to get away from Yûko's way.
Sophie had no idea how powerful the witch was, but from what she had seen, she could swear she was powerful.
Very powerful.
The road they had taken didn't change, it became even more and more unpleasent. The fog was so thick that now Sophie couldn't see anything at all, not even the tree.
That's why it was so suprising when Yüko suddenly announced: "Here we are then."
After a few moments of pointless looking around, Sophie could figure out the abandoned looking old mansion before them. She couldn't understand what did that old house had to do with Howl and she was about to say it aloud...
"That's where Howl is, kind of," Yûko told her before she had said anything.
"He's there...? I don't... Understand. What about his heart, we were going there, right?" Sophie look back and forth between Yûko and the house.
"We are already in his heart, I was not talking about the organ called heart, I was talking about his very soul," Yüko expalined slowly.
"You see, all this that surrounds us, is part of Howl's very soul. There is a great amount of darkness dwelling in everyone's heart and this is the darkness of Howl's heart. And that mansion in front of us, it's his inner soul, the very part of him. So that is why I would kindly recommend both you to not touch anything nor do anything else that could do some harm. Even I cannot know what will happen if something is harmed," Yüko finished talking and then without hesitaiting walked to the door.
There was no need to open it, because it creaked open by itself.
Sophie went inside after Yûko and after a moment of hesitation, Watanuki decided to follow the women. He had no urge of staying alone in the darkness, with that creepy fog curling around him.
But he already knew, that whatever was waiting for them inside, it couldn't be pleasent either.
-A/N: Long delay, I KNOW! The simple reason is my studies, I've been so busy that haven't had time to write... At leats I know what's gonna happen on the next chapter. The song lyrics from the beginning are from Olivia INSPI'Reira's 'A Little Pain' (it's from the anime Nana, if you're familiar with it.). I really wish that you would review after reading, because writing without reviews feels REALLY pointless...! Special thanks to my beta-reader Kiseki Gurl!