A/N: SURPRISE! Another chapter! I'm giving this to you several days early because I felt generous (Readers, say thank you to the Reviewers/Followers/Favoriters/Now-I'm-Just-Making -Up-Worders! It's all thanks to them!)

Chapter 3

I awoke the next morning to pounding on the door, waking just before Sophie. Footsteps pounded on the stairs and I watched a kid appear as Sophie pretended to be asleep.

"Hey, who's this lady?" The kid asked.

"Porthaven door." Calcifer stated, ignoring the kid's question.

"How'd she get in here?" I cocked my head curiously as the kid pulled a cloak from under the mess, pulling the hood over his head as a gray beard appeared. "Stand by." He said in a deeper voice as he switched the color on the door to blue from green and light outside poured in the window above the door. The kid opened the door and it revealed a man in a black suit and a sash with a man in blue behind him. "Mr. Mayor, good day." He spoke in a rougher voice.

"Good afternoon, sir. Would the great Wizard Jenkins be at home?"

"I am afraid that my master is out at the moment. I speak for him in his absence." The boy in disguise told him as I jumped off the sofa and moved towards the stairs curiously, just as Sophie 'woke up'.

"An invitation from His Majesty the King. The time for war is upon us. His Majesty requires that every witch and wizard aid our homeland. Wizard Jenkins must report to the palace immediately. That is all." The Mayor finished. Sophie fed Calcifer some logs as she muttered to herself.

"War... I can't believe it's come to this." She said, warming her hands.

"And what do you think you're doing here, Grandma?" The kid asked, still in his cloak.

"Calcifer said that we can come in," Sophie said.

"'We'?" The kid asked, looking around for another human until his gaze landed on me. "A cat?" He questioned.

"You've got a problem with that?" I asked suddenly and he yelled out, stumbling back. "You'd think that because you have a talking fire, you wouldn't be frightened by a talking cat," I said to Calcifer, jumping onto the table. "Guess not." The fire chuckled.

"Ho-How? How is that cat talking? Master Howl never told me animals can talk!" He exclaimed.

"They can when they were once human," I told him simply. His eyes widened then they softened, him muttering an apology that I waved off. Thankfully, Calcifer spoke up before an awkward silence began.

"I did not tell them they could come in. They just wandered in here from the Wastes."

"They're from the Wastes?" The kid asked in his normal voice, pulling the hood down. "How do we know that she's not a witch?" He asked, gesturing to Sophie.

"And what? I couldn't be?" I snapped, ignoring my sister's raised eyebrow.

"Do you really think I'd let a witch in here?" He asked as Sophie chuckled. The doorbell rang and everyone turned to look. "Porthaven door again!"

"Must be a customer," the boy said, slamming the letter he received from the Porthaven Mayor inside a large, dusty book, then put up his cloak hood again to answer the door. "Stand by." He opened the door to reveal a little girl this time. "Yes, my dear child?"

"My mom sent me to pick up a spell." She told him.

"Ah, yes, do come in." He said, letting her in and closing the door behind him. "Just keep quiet and don't cause any trouble, Grandma." He hissed at Sophie, jerking his hand away as I clawed at him for talking to my sister that way. The little girl stared at Sophie unabashed as my sister crossed the room to peek out the window. I followed her, jumping down from the table then up to the window sill.

"It's not the Wastes." She pointed out to me surprised. I nodded my head.

"Excuse me, Granny, are you a witch too?" The little girl asked Sophie.

"That's right. I'm the scariest witch of them all." She said with playful narrowed eyes. I rolled my own blue-green orbs and batted her face with my tail as soon as she turned around, making her sputter.

"Dust your ship with this powder and the winds will favor it," the boy said, handing the little girl a paper bag. She nodded and payed him, thanking him as she walked down the steps. Sophie walked over to the top of the stairs.

"Quit telling lies to our customers," the boy told her in his normal voice as soon as the door closed behind the little girl.

"What about you?" My sibling asked as he pulled out a blue pouch. "You're wearing a disguise."

"I have to. I'm practicing my magic," he defended himself, removing the cloak hood just as the doorbell rang once again.

"It's the Kingsbury door!" Calcifer called out. I leaned out a bit to see the kid, with his hood up, twist the knob until the dial above the door was red after saying "Stand by" once more before opening the door. I looked out the window again and gasped when I saw the large buildings and airplanes instead of the seaside and seagulls.

"Good day. Would this be the residence of the great Wizard Pendragon?" A man asked as the boy confirmed his question. "I bear an invitation from His Majesty the King. Please inform Mr. Pendragon that all witches and wizards are required to report for duty at the palace." The man explained as Sophie made her way down the stairs.

"I will inform him right away." I heard the boy said then Sophie gasped and said that it was the royal city. "Move it, Grandma, or you'll loose your nose." He said then shut the door as soon as Sophie was inside. "And stop wandering around!" I heard her cackle lowly and shivered, knowing she was going to get someone mad.

She switched the dial to green and I looked out the window to see the Wastes. With a sigh, I jumped down from the window, knowing where the other two went, though I was curious about the black dial. She went to Porthaven again before the boy stopped her.

"Leave it alone, Grandma. I'm getting angry."

"This is a magic house, isn't it?" She asked and even I had to roll my eyes. "So tell me, where does the black one lead?" She asked curiously and I flicked my ear towards them to listen better.

"Only Master Howl knows that." The boy said, removing his head from the large between the iron railings. "I need some breakfast. I'm starved." He stated, pulling out a plate of cheese off the table and a bag of bread from a drawer.

"Don't you want to have some bacon and eggs?" Sophie asked, pulling a covered plate of dried bacon towards her.

"Yeah, but we can't use the fire. Master Howl's not here," the kid said, pushing things off the table and out of the way so he could sit down. Sophie chuckled and grabbed a skillet, stating that she could cook. "It doesn't matter. Calcifer only obeys Master Howl." I jumped back on the hearth.

"Oh, is that another part of the contract?" I whispered, smirking at the look Calcifer sent me.

"That's right, lady. I'm not taking orders from you." Calcifer said then blew a raspberry as Sophie picked up her fallen hat, completely ignoring the fire demon. I chuckled.

"All right, Calcifer. Let's get cooking." Soph said, pulling up the shawl so it wouldn't accidentally get in the flames.

"I don't cook! I'm a scary and powerful fire demon!" He flared up angrily than stuck out his tongue at her.

"Calcifer." I said darkly and he turned to me. "I was turned into a cat two days ago, I am tired, I am hungry, and I want some bacon and eggs. I will stay here and bug you until I turn how to turn back myself because I will not help you until you cook breakfast!" I roared, advancing on him with venomous eyes until he had shrunken down to a tiny spark.

"Ok." He whispered in a squeaky voice.

"You never want to get on the bad side of Verity," Sophie advised the kid as the put a piece of bacon on the pan and placed it over the now larger flame. He tried to fight it, but then saw me and let it be. "That's right. That's a good fire. Thank you, Verity." She said to me and I nodded.

"I never should have let you two in here." Calcifer grumbled. "Here's another curse. May all your bacon burn."

"Calcifer's doing what you said," the kid looked at me awed and I puffed out my chest, proud of myself. Sophie asked for a tea kettle and the kid raced to get it, ignoring the fire demon's complaints. Apparently the kid was named Markl. I glanced up as the dial above the door switched to black and a very familiar blonde-haired, red and grey coat-wearing, wizard walked in. "Master Howl, the king's messengers were here." Markl started as the Wizard Howl closed the door and it switched back to Porthaven. "They said you have to report to the palace as both Pendragon and Jenkins."

Sophie looked up at Howl and gasped quietly, glancing to me. I nodded understandingly. It was the same wizard from the day earlier. And here Lettie said he would have eaten our hearts. Sophie quickly went back to cooking the bacon.

"Calcifer?" Howl asked amused. "You're being so obedient."

"Not on purpose. That cat bullied me," Calcifer complained and Howl looked to me with a raised eyebrow then back to Calcifer. "Don't look at me like that," the fire demon snapped.

"Don't worry, he's not crazy." I spoke up, grinning wide when the wizard swiveled his head around surprised. "I'm just a talking cat." His lips twitched as he tried to fight off laughter.

"Not just anybody could bully Calcifer." He complimented me. "And you are... who?" He asked, turning to look at my sister.

"Uh, you can just call me Grandma Sophie. I'm your new cleaning lady. I just started work today." She said nervously. "Verity came with me." She indicated myself and he nodded.

"Give that to me," Howl said, gently sliding into Sophie's place and taking the wooden spoon from her hand. "I assume you want some?" He asked me, smirking when my eyes narrowed and I nodded. "Hand me three more slices of that bacon and eight more of those eggs." He directed and after a moments hesitation, Sophie placed the bacon onto the held-out skillet and handed him the eggs one by one. He fed each of the egg shells to Calcifer once they were empty, and the fire demon happily ate them.

"So, then, who hired you to clean?" Howl suddenly asked as he broke the sixth egg into the skillet. I honestly didn't think it would all fit, but it somehow did.

"Uh, Calcifer did. He's disgusted by how dirty it is in here." Sophie answered as she gave him the final egg. He hummed in response then ordered Markl to get the plates.

"Wait a second, you're all gonna eat while I do all the work?" Calcifer asked irritated.

"Didn't you eat the eggshells?" I asked him and he simmered, quieting down.

"Thank you, Verity." Howl said as Markl told Sophie to eat breakfast with them. I trotted after her, wondering where they would place my food. "Now, I don't think there's a problem with you eating on top of the table." He told me when he saw me pause.

"Thanks." I said with a smile then hopped up as Howl slid a plate over to me after Sophie and Markl received theirs. Markl filled up a cup of tea and placed it in front of me hesitantly. I smiled awkwardly, now uncomfortable with being a cat.

"Which do you want? You can only get one 'cause the rest are dirty." Markl said, holding out two spoons and a fork to Sophie. I chuckled at her distasteful expression.

"Looks like I've got my work cut out for me." She muttered as Howl started handing out bread. I shook my head when he looked at me, then I waited for him to tell us to go ahead and eat before I dug into my food. I winced whenever the eggs splattered on me as my ears flattened on my head. I looked up and saw Howl give at me pitying glance when he saw my dilemma, but I knew he couldn't do anything about it.

"Even the manners are a mess in this house," Sophie told me quietly as Markl dug into his food.

"So, what do you have hidden in your pocket, Sophie?" Howl asked suddenly and I looked at him confused then back to my sister. She paused, letting her egg drop back onto her plate before she sat her spoon down and pulled a folded red card out of her pocket.

"What is this?" She asked confused.

"Give it to me," Howl said and she shrugged, handing it over.

The card sparked as soon as it touched the wizards hand, making me jump, and opened as it fell to the table, disappearing as the same marks on the card appeared on the table with smoke rising from it.

Markl gasped, leaning over to get a better look. "Scorch marks. Howl, can you read them?" He asked the blonde.

"That is ancient sorcery. And quite powerful too." He said.

"It's from the Witch of the Waste?" Markl questioned and I looked at him surprised. How did the kid come to that conclusion?

"'You who swallowed a falling star, oh, heartless man, your heart shall soon belong to me.' That can't be good for the table." Howl said. I glanced at Calcifer to see him a duller shade of orange, like he had paled, and decided to commit the message to memory. The fire demon noticed me looking and regained his color, pretending to zip his mouth closed. My attention was brought back to Howl when he wiped his hand over the marks and it was wiped away, leaving only smoke.

He brought his hand back to his chest and I noticed burn marks on it from removing the scorch mark on the table. "Wow, it's gone." Markl exclaimed, leaning close to see if there were any traces of it left.

"The mark may be gone, but the spell is still there." He said, clutching his coat tighter around him then standing up. "Excuse me, my friends, please continue your meal." He picked up his uneaten meal and carried it over to the fire demon. "Calcifer, move the castle 60 miles to the west," Howl ordered, pouring the food into the demon's mouth before going up the stairs and pausing on them. "And while you're at it, make hot water for my bath."

I smirked at Calcifer's moans and groans as Howl continued up the staircase.

"You're not working for the Witch of the Waste, are you?" Markl asked suspiciously.

"I would never work for that witch! She's the one who..." She exploded and trailed off as she tried to talk about it, mouth clamped shut, not letting her even mouth the words. "I'm actually a..." I winced, knowing she was getting extremely irritated. She sat up straight with her hands in the air then slammed them down on the table, knocking books and food to the floor. I yowled angrily when she almost made a book smash my tail. Markl was smart enough to pick up his plate from the table.

"If I ever get my hands on that witch, I'm going to wring her fat neck!" She yelled. "Finish your breakfast." She growled at the poor kid who was definitely regretting his question, then stuffed her face with her food so she could get to work.

"Sophie Hatter, you will apologize to that poor kid." I snapped at her, narrowing my eyes as she narrowed them back at me. "I'm warning you." I said, lifting up a paw of claws.

"Fine. I apologize," she grumbled to Markl, finishing her food at a slower pace by she was still incensed. I huffed and went back to my food, gobbling up my food as Markl and Calcifer stared at me incredulously, like I had just tamed a vicious dragon, but to them that was probably true.

A/N: Wow, Verity's got super powers! Controlling both Calcifer and Sophie in one day!? I'm blown away. YAY! HOWL APPEARED! (Well, now we know it's Howl, I mean.) Sorry, I just love Howl. Howl, Howl, Howl~! Sorry, feeling very energetic mentally, but not physically. I'm soooo sick~! TT-TT You know, this story is really easy to update when you already have everything written. Imagine that. Well, I should be updating sometime next week, so be prepared~! (Yes, I totally sang Scar's song from the Lion King as I wrote that.) Oh, sorry for any mistakes! I try to go back and edit them, but I can't get them all. Okay, my ranting's done. Ja ne!

P.S. If someone knows the Grave of the Fireflies movie, I have to watch it with a bunch of people and I'm very emotional normally, so could you tell me if it's worth it to see it anyway. And when I say emotional normally, I mean I cry to Disney movies and I'm in my teens. (Yeah, I'm that pathetic... No offense to anyone else who does too! ...If anyone does... TT-TT)