Chapter 2 is herrrrrrrreee! I hope you like it, and please review! :)

Chapter Two: The Extremely Powerful Fire Demon and the Extremely Powerful Wizard

I wake up and scan the place I'm in. In front of me, I see a small fire keeping the large room warm. There are tables and shelves all over the place, filled with books and paper. I furrow my eyebrows as I begin to realize that I'm not in the Wastes... Nor home.

"Hey, kid!" There is a voice that is probably referring to me, and I rapidly look around the room, trying to find the source of the voice. "Over here, in front of you." It comes again, and I move my eyes slowly towards the fire.

What I see, I did not expect. The fire that was once small and did not have a face is now bigger and has grown eyes and a mouth. Also, he has grown arms and hands.

"H-How did you do th-that? I-I-I didn't know fires could come to life," I tell the flame as I stutter through the sentences.

"I'm not just any fire, I'm an extremely powerful fire demon named Calcifer!" After he says that, fire comes out of his mouth and he gives me a mischievous grin. "I just like to do that once in a while,"

"Okay then. So, your name is Calcifer?"

Calcifer nods.

"Where am I, may I ask?" I ask the fire demon politely.

He sighs. "You, Sir, are in Howl's Moving Castle!" He replies, and he throws his hands into the air as she says that.

"Wait, did you just say Howl?"

He nods again.

"You mean, the Howl? As in, the powerful wizard dude?" I ask him, my voice rising with my excitement.

"Yes," He narrows his eyes. "Why are you getting all excited?"

I stand up, keeping my eyes on Calcifer. "Because I'm training to be a wizard! Well, was..."

"Why was?" Calcifer asks. "Wait, I need to know your name."

"My name? Erm, Markl." I reply.

"Okay, now explain what happened to you, kid."

"Well, I'm a wizard in training. I am trained by Master Althalos in a town called Wedgemore. I live with my mom and I am 9 years old."

"Okay, Markl, now what happened?"

"Well, my friends and I were playing hide-and-seek, and I was the seeker. I counted to ten, and when I opened my eyes, I went searching for them. I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, so, I think I got lost. I looked for Wedgemore, but never found it, and I ended up in the Wastes... I have no idea how I got here. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was in this dump."

"I see," Calcifer says. "I know how you got here."

"Really? How?" I ask him.

"Just one word. Howl."

"What does he have to do with anything?"

"He went outside to walk around, and found you. He didn't want to just leave you there. Apparently, he felt bad and brought you back here." Calcifer explains.

I review in my head what Calcifer just said. "Howl found me? And brought me back here?" I ask in awe. I've heard many stories about Howl, and how he is an amazing wizard. He is my role model, and that's what made me want to learn the art of wizardry.

"Yup. That is pretty much what I said, kid." He chuckles, and his face and arms disappear, leaving me by myself.

Oh. My. God. I am in Howl's Moving Castle. Just as I think that, the door opens up and a tall, pale, thin man with blond, shoulder length hair comes inside the dump that people call a castle.

The man is wearing a white, long sleeved collared shirt tucked into long black pants and black shoes. Over top of his shirt, he is wearing a pink coat with a big collar and black diamonds in a pattern, and the coat is outlined with yellow. He is wearing a golden necklace with a blue stone hanging on the end, and green dangling earrings that are in the shape of raindrops.

His bright blue eyes are drooping, and his hair is all over his face. He has a couple scratches here and there, and he walks slowly past me and up the stairs. I hear a door open and shut, and Calcifer reappears.

"Was that Howl?" I ask him curiously.

"Yeah, and he doesn't look so good," Calcifer replies, shaking his flame.

"What's going on? Why does he look like that?" I ask, concerned about the wizard, even though I've never met him. I don't want him to get hurt.

"Well, um, there is a war going on, and he is fighting in it. He goes out every morning, and maybe comes back at night. Sometimes he comes the next day or night, or even the day after that." Calcifer explains as he shakes his disapprovingly. "The guy's gonna kill himself!"

I sigh. "He saved me. I don't want him to die!"

"Well, I don't control that... Actually, I kind of do..." Calcifer says, and cock my head, confused.

"What do mean?"

"Oh, never mind. Hey, get me some wood if you would," Calcifer laughs at his clever sentence.

"Ha-ha, sure." I go to the side of the fireplace and grab two pieces of wood and throw them to Calcifer.

"Thanks, kid!" He happily grabs one bites it.

I chuckle as I walk away from the now tiny flame and observe the room. "This is such a dump!" I wonder aloud as I walk up the steps, my curiosity getting to me. There is a long hallway with four doors. One of the doors is across from the top of the steps. I decide not to go inside this door because I hear water, and it's probably a bathtub, and Howl is probably in there bathing.

The second door is next to me, and look inside to find a simple bedroom.

The third door is down the hall from the bathroom. I deliberately open the door, and inside is a large bed against the wall at the back of the huge room. The room is greatly decorated with many different knick knacks on the wall and on the floor. Also, color fills my eyes, and I walk out of the room still seeing tons of colors.

After blinking a couple times, I continue down the hall and into the room at the end. It is the same as the second room, a simple bedroom, but with a different bed and has more area.

I move back down the hall towards the stairs, but notice out of the corner of my eye another large, green door. It turns out that the "large door" is actually two doors. I open it, and step out onto a small balcony. I run to the edge, amazed by the view in front of my eyes. There is a vast field that the Castle is moving through, but it's not just an empty field; it is filled with colorful flowers and trees and a beautiful lake. There are also some train tracks and a train passing through the grassland.

"Wow," I say to myself, almost a whisper.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" The man walks out and stands next to me, looking out at the scene. "This is one of my favorite places to pass through. Probably once every 2 months we pass through it. That lake over there is called Star Lake."

I gaze up at him, and he looks back at me. "A-Are you Howl?" I ask.

"Yes, yes I am." He smiles kindly and furrows his eyebrows. "And you are...?"

"My name is Markl, and I'm a wizard in training!" I say proudly putting my hands on my hips and raising my head up high.

He chuckles and imitates me, making me giggle. "Well, if we end up not finding and taking you home, Calcifer and I would be happy to have you stay here with us. It gets lonely sometimes, and plus, I can continue to train you, Markl." He winks and ruffles my already messed up hair.

"Thanks for the offer but, I kind of want to go home and be with my mom, and be trained by Master Althalos." I give him my cute smile, and rock on my heels.

"Whatever you please," Howl says and strolls through the doors to go downstairs.

I sigh and follow him, thinking about whether I'd like it here or not. I guess it would be pretty awesome, and to be trained by Master Howl? That would be the best thing that would ever happen to me...

WOOHOO! CLIFFHANGER! Hehe, remember, leave your comments in your reviews ;)