Another chapter of the tale of mystery.
FAMILY SECRETS
A HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE FANFIC
Chapter 6
After our visit Howl hung around the house more. I think he was convinced that I would just just do something stupid if he took off. He tried to hide that he was worried, but that was obvious now. Hell, the fact that the man tracked me down spoke volumes! I wasn't going anywhere dangerous! Just down to Fanny's house! I wouldn't have taken Arthur along if there was any danger! We were not in danger. Even Howl would have known that. Yet he followed us. Meaning that he was worried. So very, very worried. He was just trying to hide it from me. Not that I was fooled. I am his wife, after all.
One good thing that came of all this was that Howl finally admitted that there was a problem. Somehow someone sent this letter past his defenses. Somehow I doubted that he knew how. That wasn't an easy feat to accomplish. I didn't know of many wizards who could pull off that feat. Yet this one did it with ease. That was very troubling. There was a good chance that there was a spell of some kind in the letter. One that he was actively trying to protect me from. Only I wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Something told me that I needed to act out the spell immediately. Something that Howl would not allow. He was still on high alert. He was not ready to listen. Not now at least.
So, instead I reviewed what I had already learned. Father may or may have not been a wizard, but somehow I received magic powers. Meaning that more than likely magic runs in the family. Which would explain me and my sisters. Why Lettie is good at magic and why I can talk life into things. Heck, even Martha had an aptitude for it. She used it to disguise herself and work in Lettie's place. Magic definitely ran in our family. Father was the most likely source. If it was on mother's side then Martha would have never been able to cast a single spell. But why did father never tell any of this to us? Why did Fanny send Lettie away to learn magic? She had to have known or at least suspected! None of this made any sense!
Then there was the matter of Howl's assertion that father was cursed. It was one way to explain Fanny's story. If father was cursed than any medical assistance would be useless. He would have died anyway. I have found that things were rarely that simple. There is far more to that story than either Fanny knows or is willing to tell. Howl is rarely wrong when it came to magic. If he says that my father was cursed then it is likely true. It is his area of expertise. Howl would know. He would never lie about that. Particularly to me. That would be too cruel. He had to believe it to be true. Otherwise, why would he be behaving this way?
I turned my attention towards the flower that I had cut. I had asked it to live for at least a year. That spell that took a fair amount of me. I wanted it to stay fresh for as long as possible. I had no idea when I would figure out this spell. It might take a lot of time. I didn't want to lose it if I could help it. I wasn't sure that I could find the right flower again. As is, this might not be right one. I could be the wrong one. I studied it as I recited the spell to myself again. Alas, no luck. I had no further insights into it or the spell.
At some point I must have fallen asleep. For I heard my father's words again. He repeated the words over and over. Yet again they didn't make sense. I called out to him. I begged him to help me! Nothing. He did not answer. He did not seem to notice me. Suddenly, I was no longer in a void. I was in the field of flowers. Howl was there with me. He smiled as he showed me what he had created. He told me that he loved me. Then he asked me to marry him. In his hand was the tulip that I had picked. But Howl never asked me like this. Not here. Not back then. No, the idiot proposed in that thing that he called a car right after we were kissing for a while. This never happened. Nor did his eyes sparkled in this way. They were not glass orbs. This didn't make any sense. I didn't remember any of this! Yet it was playing out before my eyes! It was so real that I could almost swear that it happened. It was all too romantic to believe. Howl would never do this. What was going on?
The scene suddenly changed. Howl was gone. But the flower remained. Suddenly, I was at a great sea of most beautiful color. I had never seen an ocean so green. It was almost turquoise. Above it dawn was just breaking. No one was here. Not even the birds. The waves lapped at my feet as the flower waited for me to pick it up. I picked it up then hesitantly thrust it back into the ocean. It changed color. It was now black, exactly like his natural hair color. The world changed as a golden door appeared above the waves. It opened to reveal a silhouette of a man. He was familiar but I couldn't quite place him. He was calling out to me. Telling me to come to him. I wanted to find to him. Help him. Only I didn't know how. The more I ran the farther the door floated away.
I cried out, "Father! Father! Wait! Wait! Wait!"
He did not answer me. He just kept moving away. Instead, someone else did. "Sophie, Sophie! Wake up! You have to wake up!" It was Howl. He was pleading, begging me to wake up. But why? It was only a dream. "Sophie!" I could feel Howl's magic. It was trying to reach me. But why was he doing this? I was just dreaming! Unless, I wasn't. Maybe I was no longer inside my body. Maybe I had drifted away somehow. It was unbelievable, but then again I had done stranger things. I drifted towards his voice. I felt him take a hold of me and guide me back. Before I knew it my eyes were open and I staring at his face.
He seemed genuinely relieved that I was back. "Thank god. I thought that I had lost you."
I sat up slowly then asked him, "What happened to me?"
He smiled, " Congratulations Sophie, you've done what few have ever have done. You've projected yourself into another time and place. I'm proud of you." I smiled. I couldn't help it. It was rare that Howl praised me like that. It also held a hint of concern. He continued, "Although your tether was getting weak. If I hadn't called you back when I did then I would have lost you."
I blushed. "Oh, sorry."
He smiled, "No worries. Just don't do that again unless by yourself. Don't want you wandering off too far." He kissed me. "Welcome home, Sophie."
"Thank you."
A minute later Arthur started to cry. The moment was broken and it was back to motherhood once again.
Next Chapter coming up!