Chapter 8
After my bath (taken in my human form, finally!), night fell and we all headed to bed. I whispered goodnight to my sister and kissed her on the cheek before I moved on to Calcifer. I blew a kiss at the fire demon and winked when he sparked, darkening with his equivalent of a blush. To the Witch of the Waste I said a short goodnight and I groused a farewell to the mutt. Markl had come to say goodnight to me earlier before he went to sleep.
I hummed to myself, thinking of the words Markl had told me earlier. "Don't worry about Master Howl, Verity. Sometimes he likes to go away for days on end." Nice to know. Thank you, Markl. A knock rapped on my door and I quickly went to open it, smiling when I saw my sister on the other side.
"You're getting younger by the day," I said happily, hugging her.
"Calcifer is working fast." She said with a shrug, now looking no more than 40. I shook my head.
"It's not Calcifer, sweetie. Remember, he promised to break your curse after you broke his. You're doing this yourself, like I did mine." I pointed out. She smiled back at me and sat on my bed, chuckling when she bounced up. I grinned and flopped onto the mattress, giggling when she squealed and hung onto the covers so she wouldn't fall off the side.
"Immature," she said with a playful glare.
"Says the old lady," I teased, then sat up to look out the window with a sigh. She joined me, sighing as well. I sighed louder then my eyebrow twitched irritated as she sighed even louder. We had our mini sighing war then collapsed into a fit of giggles together, like when we were kids. "Stop mocking me, you old hag!" I said with a snort and a roll of my eyes. She chuckled before we fell into silence and I stared out the window once more.
"You know Howl will come back, right?" She asked softly, putting a worn hand on my shoulder. I shook myself out of my daze, staring at her confused. "You've been staring outside since I came back inside from the shop, and sighing too. Did Howl admit he loved you?" She asked teasingly, thought there was a hint of worry. I blushed deeply, but shook my head as my expression turned solemn.
"No, but he did say that he's doing all this to make sure we have comfortable lives. When he's gone." I choked out. She frowned sadly and pulled me into a hug, running her fingers through my curls.
"He won't leave us." She said firmly. "He has Markl and Calcifer to look after too, you know."
"Cal won't exist if Howl is gone." I told her and she pulled back stunned, asking how I'd figured that out. "He has Howl's heart. They need each other to survive."
"You love him." She said confidently. "That will pull through above the rest."
"When did you get so sentimental, Soph?" I asked her through a watery grin.
"Comes with being old, dear sister of mine." She chuckled, and we both jumped as sirens filled the air.
"What is that?" I asked her, clutching my pounding heart.
"An air raid siren. It's still a long way's off, but make sure not to open your window or go outside. Madame Suliman's henchmen are looking everywhere for this place," she warned me and I reeled back surprised, then cocked and eyebrow. "The Witch of the Waste told me," she admitted sheepishly. She kissed me on the forehead after I slipped under the covers and wished me a goodnight before she left.
The next morning, I showed Markl and Sophie the portal Howl had taken me through. We collected all the flowers we could and had Markl change all unnecessary items to vases for the pretty plants. We agreed on the prices and filled the shop up with flowers to open the next day. Markl and I made posters for the shop until lunchtime, where we all sat and ate a good meal with our other three occupants.
Later in the afternoon, I sent Markl outside with his cloak and two flowers to give to a random person, to advertise. I was heading back inside the house when Markl came rushing in, bumping into me and making me fall onto Sophie.
"Verity, Sophie, there's a strange lady in here!" Markl yelled, pointing back at the woman in a yellow dress walking into the room. My jaw dropped and I carefully moved behind my sister, not wanting to be crushed in a hug.
"Mother?" Sophie asked disbelieving.
"Sophie!" She cried out, rushing forward to tackle Sophie to the ground in a hug. "Verity!" She said when she noticed me, yanking me closer into the embrace. "Thank goodness you two are here! I searched everywhere for you!" She said as tears streamed down her face. Flowers that Sophie had dropped floated to the floor around us. "Oh, my, look at your face, you're so old!" She told Sophie, who was still frozen in shock, before turning to me. "And, Verity, you have a tail and cat ears! Everyone's saying that it's my fault you two left! You'll both forgive me, oh, won't you?" She sobbed as we both wrapped our arms around her.
We led her further inside, letting her look around. I was still stunned that she had appeared and didn't know how to handle it. Sophie was doing well though. "I barely recognize the place. Who's that woman?" She asked us, noticing the sleeping Witch of the Waste. "Huh? The landlady? Oh! I forgot to tell you! I got married again!" She said, flashing us a large diamond ring after she sat her drawstring bag on the table. "He's such a nice man, and he's filthy rich too, so we can all live together again! You won't have to work as a cleaning lady anymore," she told Sophie, then turned to me hopefully. My eyes narrowed sharply. How did she know Soph worked as a cleaning lady?
"No thank you, Mother. I'd rather live here," I said softly as Sophie took my mother's gloved hands in her own.
"That's alright, Mother. We actually like living here." She told the woman.
"Really?" Mother asked in disbelief then gasped. "I forgot! I've got a car waiting. I've gotta run." She said, hurrying to the door. We followed her out. "Sophie, Verity, I'm so glad I found you." She said as the door closed behind us.
"I hope you and your new husband will be very happy," Sophie wished.
"Goodbye, Mother!" I waved from the door, standing beside Markl and watching townspeople leave their homes with a few bundles of things and their clothes on their backs. "Isn't it strange that she wasn't too frightened by our new appearances. Like she already knew what to look for," I said, pouting when Sophie nudged me in the ribs.
"Don't be so suspicious of your own mother," she chided. "Wow. Look at all of them. If they keep leaving at this rate, the town will soon be empty."
"Do you both want to leave too?" Markl asked, staring forward stone-faced as we looked down at him surprised. "That lady said she wants you to live with her now."
"Yes, well at least she cared enough to visit." Sophie said and I raised my eyebrow.
"Even though she didn't know it was us who lived here," I told her and she glared at me without any actual heat.
"Don't leave, Verity, Sophie!" He shouted, trying to hug both our legs at the same time. "I love you. You have to stay." His tearful confession was muffled by our clothes as we both bent down to comfort him.
"Oh, we love you too, Markl." Sophie told him.
"We promise we'll stay." I finished, picking the boy up and putting him on my hip. For a twelve year old, he was really light.
"Because we're a family now." He said, looking between the two of us.
"Yeah, because we're a family," I said, nuzzling my nose into his curly, auburn locks.
"Thank you, Verity, Sophie," he said, hugging me tighter as we moved back inside.
That night, I sat down on the wooden chair, laughing when Markl clambered onto my lap with a newspaper while Sophie tried to get Calcifer going again. We were discussing the newest battle.
"But the newspaper said we won." Said Markl, holding up the folded paper as proof.
"Only idiots believe what they read in the paper," the Witch of the Waste replied, blowing more smoke from her lips as she knocked the ashes from the tip of her cigar onto the floor. I glared at her, my nose scrunched up and tears filled my eyes as that awful cigar smell and dust from the fireplace filled the air.
"That's so strange. I can't get Calcifer going." My sister said, worried. Markl glanced up at me and I smiled reassuringly, though I was fearful myself. Without Calcifer or Howl to protect this place, we would be like sitting ducks. I was also worried that something might be happening to Howl as well, or might have already happened. "Do you have to keep smoking that?" Sophie asked the Witch. "It smells terrible."
"Don't deny an old witch her pleasures, young lady." She replied taking another huff.
"Markl, please go crack open the window. I'm not sure my nose can take much more," I whispered in the boy's ear, grinning when he nodded and hopped down from my lap.
"I wouldn't open that window, if I were you, dear," she said, just as I remembered what I was worrying about earlier. I sprinted out of my seat and pulled the boy away from the curtains before she even finished her explanation. "Calcifer's too weak right now to protect this place. Suliman's henchman could get in," she told Sophie.
I cried out and held Markl to me tightly as the house shook and we heard explosions from outside. My ears were flat on my head as he buried his face into my stomach terrified. I ran outside to the courtyard and looked up to see a battleship flying over our house. I passed the young apprentice to Sophie, who had both followed me out.
"Sophie, make sure they all stay in the living room. I'm going to check on the shop," I told her, rushing away with the skirts of my new dark blue dress hiked up. Markl called out to me as Sophie quickly pulled him back inside, but I didn't look back.
I passed the rows of flowers to the front door, swinging it open. I gasped as I saw a building in flames across the street and thanked whoever was up there that we were safe for now, at least. Sirens wailed and people cried and yelled. I looked over my shoulder sharply, hearing hissing come from behind me. Soldiers were turning into blob men of Suliman's.
"There are bombs falling on us! Why don't you go put fires out instead!" I yelled at them before running back inside and locking the door behind me to hopefully deter them. I heard the door slam open and glass breaking, right as I made it out into the courtyard. I paused, looking up with a gasp as another ship flew above us dropping bombs. I cowered close to the wall, spotting a bomb coming straight for the courtyard. Either way I was going to die.
Suddenly, I saw a new object zipping through the sky and attaching itself to the bomb. As feathers flew behind it, I knew who it was. "Howl! No!" I cried out, not wanting him to die as well. As other bombs exploded around our house, I was slammed against the wall with stones and sticks. I ducked my head, turning to the wall to protect my face. When it ended, I looked up and slowly turned around as I heard rustling behind me.
"Howl!" I yelled happily, running into his arm and embracing him tightly around the neck. "You're all right!" I said. His crumpled wings curled around the both of us as my tail wrapped around his feathered waist. The bomb was still in one piece on the ground, saved by Howl.
"I'm sorry, Verity. I should have gotten here sooner." He rasped, blue eyes shining down at me.
"You're alive! Oh, thank goodness!" I said, nuzzling my face into his chest as he combed his fingers through my thick brown hair. He wrapped his arms tightly around me then led me inside as the blob men followed us, squished into a deformed pile of black limbs and green suits as they all tried to reach us. They were force out of the room by Howl's magic as we swooped inside.
"Master Howl! Verity! You're okay!" Markl said happily as Howl sat me down, rushing away from Sophie to hug me. My sister soon came over as well, assuring herself of my safety, as we watched Howl bring a black glob out of Calcifer's mouth, exploding it into sparks of magic.
"Calcifer! You hang in there, now." Howl said, then walked over to the Witch of the Waste with his hand held to his chest. "Tell me, was that cigar a gift from Madame Suliman by any chance?" He asked her as she blew smoke around his figure.
"Howl, she fed me something gross. I feel sick." Calcifer moaned, gagging in disgust.
"Why, if it isn't Howl. I think you and I need to have a nice, long, heart-to-heart chat." She said, lounging lazily with her chin on her knuckles.
"There's nothing I'd like more than that, but right now there's a war going on." He said with a smile, holding out a hand. She blew out one more puff of smoke then crushed the cigar into his hand, making it flare with magical sparks.
"How unlike you, Howl, not running away anymore." She commented with a smirk.
"Until later, then." He said, closing her hand over the remnants of the cigar with a quick bow to the Witch of the Waste. He turned to me, holding onto my shoulders as I looked up at him. "Stay here. Calcifer will protect you from the henchmen. I'll stand guard out front," he said, shifting around me then gliding to the door.
"Howl, wait! It's too dangerous out there!" I said, embracing him and burying my head into his back.
"Another wave is coming." He told me, shifting his head. "And Calcifer's too weak to stop the bombs."
"Then let's run! Don't fight them, Howl," I pleaded.
"Sorry. I've had enough of running away, Verity. Now I've got something I want to protect. It's you." He said and I gasped slightly, loosening my grip enough for him to fly off.
"No! Come back!" I yelled, racing after him and looking up to the sky where he was soaring away. I looked to the shop to see the blob men reforming and nodded determined, rushing back inside and quickly switching the dial to the Wastes. I cracked open the door and peeked into the pouring rain. I ignored the wreckage of the castle as I tried to spot Howl from the cliff. Sophie followed me, holding my hand comfortingly as her old features melted away to an 18 year-old's face with silver hair.
"There's where we are at the shop." She told me worried. "Looks like Howl's in trouble." She stated, pointing to the ship flying above the shop. It caught on fire and I gasped, stepping forward and almost falling off the cliff if not for my sister's quick hand.
"Howl, look out!" I cried out as the battleship when down in flames, tears filling my eyes. It exploded on the ground just as Markl came out. He asked what was going on then turning surprised to Turnip-head, who had hopped over to Sophie's side.
Sophie suddenly looked up with a glint in her eye and she ran inside, dragging me along and asking for Markl's help. She had a plan.
"We have to move the portal away from the shop!" She exclaimed to Calcifer as soon as we got up the stairs, making us all pause and look at her before my face lit up with a grin.
A/N: I'm really glad so many people like my story! I regret to say that it's almost over. I believe there's just one or two more chapters, plus the epilogue. I was actually planning to update this yesterday, but I got distracted by Thanksgiving. Oh! Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrated it and I hope you all like this chapter! See ya next week!