Chapter Five

DC: I don't own Howl's Moving Castle

Sophie figured morning sickness was the cause of her hunger. She fixed that by eating a lot of fruits, except for strawberries, which made her sick, and vegetables. She found out that steamed turnips on buttered bread tasted good. She found this out by eating that kind of sandwich for an after lunch snack that day.

Markl thought she was weird. Sophie, not wanting to tell anyone else of the pregnancy, told him that it was just a little phase. It would be over with soon. Markl shrugged it off. He was sure that he had weird phases, too.

The day was spent, for Sophie, lightly cleaning around and thinking. She thought herself into a quiet silence, not even talking to Calcifer.

Calcifer didn't mind. He liked the quiet, and hoped that the Witch of Waste could get her hands off the buckets and water.

Howl didn't return. Sophie also wondered how the meeting was going. Just how many wizards and witches were going to war? The new evil sounded tough, and already there were attacks. She hoped if Howl was doing okay.

The cleaning lasted until dinner. She heated up the left over stew, and cooked some meat over the fire. If she put her turnips over the meat, it went down okay and didn't come back up.

"You are really weird," Markl said, looking at her meat and turnips.

"Don't worry about it," Sophie replied. She cut off another piece. "I'm hungry today."

"I can see," Calcifer said, eating a log. "You'll never be able to fit into your dresses again."

"You really don't need to worry about it." Sophie threw a piece of meat at him. "Keep your mouth shut, Calcifer."

Calcifer ate the meat, leaving the room in silence. The Witch of Waste stared at the fire. "What a nice fire."

That left the table in silence again.

Luckily the silence wasn't unnerving. It was the "we would like to have silence" type of silence. Sophie chewed at her meat and turnips, wondering when Howl would come home.

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After dinner, Markl and Sophie did the dishes. Markl always helped out with the dishes. He always wanted to make sure that Sophie never felt alone. After the dishes, Markl went to take a bath before bed. Heen went upstairs, following Markl's every move. Sophie pulled up a chair next to Calcifer.

"There is something on your mind, huh?" Calcifer asked.

"I just don't know what to say to Howl," Sophie replied with a slight sigh. "I get so nervous."

"It's good just to blurt things out." Calcifer popped a log into his mouth. "You shouldn't keep it from him any longer."

"It's not like I've been holding this secret for weeks or something," Sophie said. It spooked her that it seemed like Calcifer knew what was going on. "I just only found out this morning."

Calcifer nodded leaving the conversation with an empty feeling. Sophie zoned out, staring at the wall behind him. Calcifer ate his logs, and kept the castle moving. All of the sudden Sophie asked, "I feel like something is going to happen. Where are we?"

"Well we've been going east for a while." Calcifer thought for a moment. "I think we're nearing your hometown, was it Market Chipping?"

"Do you think I could stop to see my sister? I haven't seen her in a while." Sophie thought of her dear sister, Lettie. She missed her a lot, and hasn't seen her for at least a long time. Maybe telling her sister the good news would give her more confidence to talk to Howl about it. "I'm sure I can go."

"I think you can. You can't be deprived of family," Calcifer answered.

Sophie smiled. "Thanks Calcifer. That was something nice to say for a change."

Sophie got out of her chair. Calcifer grumbled, "So what, I don't say anything nice?"

Sophie placed the chair back. She stretched, yawned, and went upstairs. She made sure the Witch was safely in her room, that Markl's door was unlocked and he was sleeping, before she went into her room to change. It had been a long day and she deserved some sleep.

She fell against her pillow, but it took her awhile to actually fall asleep. She had that nagging feeling that something was going to happen. Good or bad, she wasn't sure, but it just wouldn't leave her alone.

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Calcifer watched the castle as everyone slept. Being a demon meant he didn't need any sleep, although he did take short naps every now and then. His glow sent little shadow images onto the wall. He was so used to it that it really didn't matter what scary image came from where. But tonight he too had a nagging little feeling. A feeling that wouldn't allow him to take a short nap.

Calcifer watched the shadows move as he moved. When he shifts the shadows shifts. It was almost like a game to him. What scary shadow could you make, was the title. Of course, he was the only victor in this game. The only one who played it, too.

Something made him jump, though. The portal on the door. It made the quiet, but oddly loud, click, and changed colors. The door opened slowly and there were soft footsteps coming up.

Howl's dark bluish-black hair popped up in Calcifer's vision. Calcifer smiled slightly, greeting him with a, "Where have you been?"

"Sorry," Howl said smiling. "That meeting was a long one."

"I can tell. And Sophie has something to tell you. She's been itching to tell you all day."

"That's nice. Calcifer? Can you stop the castle?"

Calcifer looked at Howl oddly. "Stop? The castle? Howl, have you lost it? You told me to go east, and that's what I'm doing. We don't make stops, not usually at least."

"I want to see something." Howl gave Calcifer an odd smile. "Please?"

Something bothered Calcifer, but knew Howl wouldn't do anything unreasonable or dangerous. Stupid, also, for that matter. Plus, this was his castle. He could do anything he wanted with it. "Sure thing, Howl. Just tell me when you're done."

Calcifer concentrated, and the castle slowly came to a stop. Everyone inside the castle didn't feel it come to a shaky halt and pause for a second.

Howl turned his head away from Calcifer. Calcifer wondered what Howl was thinking.

Meanwhile, Markl woke up having to use the bathroom. Afraid that someone might be in the bathroom upstairs, he slipped out of his own room, careful not to wake Sophie, and stepped onto the stairs, Heenhad woken up too, and wasat his heels. There was an extra bathroom downstairs.

When he reached the middle, he saw Howl. "Master Howl? Is that you?"

Howl jerked his head over to Markl. Markl gasped. He saw Howl's eyes. They had something in them. The light of Calcifer made Howl's eyes shine. They weren't the kind, determined eyes Markl was used to seeing.

"Calcifer! That's—" Markl was cut off.

"Huh?" was all Calcifer could get out, before he was locked in a sort of air bubble. He couldn't get out. It was a strange sort of magic. He tried flaring up into his real demon self, but it didn't work, it just tired him out.

The portal door opened, and a black shadow reached in. It blew in wind, which made Howl's clothes and hair blow all around. Markl, feeling a little scared, ran up the rest of the stairs. Heen ran downstairs, barking madly at Howl.

Howl's eyes changed to a rusty red color. He smiled evilly. "There is no where to hide!" He swiped his hands into the air, and all the doors locked. He moved his hand, and the dog stopped barking. Heen whimpered, still trying to pry his mouth open.

The shadow that came in broke into little shadows. Each of which had their own monstrous shape with shadowy long fingers. Calcifer recognized them as Howl's dark evil shadows he calls upon.

Markl scrambled up the steps. He heard several clicks just as he reached Sophie's door. He tried to turn it once, but it wouldn't budge. He was left to just bang on the door. "Sophie? Sophie, please wake up!"

Sophie woke up with a start inside the room. She heard the knocking and yelling. Somewhere in the distance it sounded like there were things being knocked over or thrown. Markl sounded frantic. She went to her door and tried the knob. It was locked. "Hey, hey! Markl? What's going on?"

"Howl—no!—Is here, attacking us!"

"Markl! Hide, please hide!" Sophie cried. "Please just find a hiding place! I have to try to get this door open!"

Markl nodded, as if Sophie could see, and ran around trying to open the doors. No luck. Not even his magic could unlock the dark spells put onto the doors. He stood at the end of the hallway, hugging his knees, and watched as the dark shadows came slowly up the steps.

"Markl?" Sophie cried. "Are you there? Markl!"

There was a sudden gush of wind. Sophie was knocked back, falling hard on the floor. She shook her head and looked up, and gasped. The head of Howl, with red eyes and fang like teeth, smiled wickedly at her. "Don't worry. Markl will be safe with me," he said.

"You stay away!" But before she could do anything, his head retreated, and the wind stopped. Everything was blown around, and settled when he left.

Sophie crawled to the door, and hit it a few times. No one responded. She couldn't hear anything through the door either. The knob was still locked tightly.

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Sophie fell asleep on the floor, waiting for something else to happen, and woke up when there was a loud slam. She scrambled to her feet, and tried the door. It opened with a creak. Not bothering to dress, she ran down the hallway, and almost tripped down the steps.

Sophie calmed a little, and went a little slowly down the stairs. She looked over the railing, and gasped. The living room area was in a mess. A very big mess. There were papers all over, most of them being from Howl's books and quills, and other things were just all over.

She looked at Calcifer. He was dozing in his fireplace, although his flame wasn't as healthy as it should look.

"What happened?" Sophie asked herself aloud. She felt tears form in her eyes. "Why would Howl do this?"

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Lala Rue here! And I've updated, although I'm not sure how many will like this chapter.

Nothing much to say other then...Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is coming out! I'm excited!

So...I'll update soon if I can get some reviews!

Love, Lala Rue!