❛ 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆 ❜

21

hours had passed, and the fury that had consumed howl earlier in the night had finally dissipated. now, in the quiet stillness of the castle, his mind felt clearer, though an unsettling guilt still gnawed at the edges of his conscience. holding a lit candelabra, howl slowly made his way down the dimly lit hall toward y/n's room, his footsteps soft against the wooden floor.

when he reached her door, he hesitated, his free hand hovering over the wood before he gently knocked. "y/n?" his voice was soft, almost tentative. "y/n? are you awake?" he asked, but only silence greeted him in return. howl sighed, a deep, weary breath escaping his lips. it was late, after all.

he reasoned that y/n was probably asleep, trying to recover from the distress she had endured earlier. he couldn't blame her. 'if only i could make things right...' he thought, guilt tugging at his very being. slowly, he turned the handle and pushed the door open, careful not to make a sound. the room was bathed in shadows, the soft flicker of candlelight casting long shapes across the walls. "y/n?" he called her name once more, stepping inside. he extended his arm, letting the candles illuminate more of the room, but from his current position, the bed was hidden in the darkness. he took another careful step forward, holding his breath as he moved closer.

as he approached the foot of the bed, his breath hitched. the sheets were ruffled, the blankets thrown back, but the bed was empty. y/n was gone.

howl gasped at the sight, his hand shaking as he released the candelabra. it clattered to the ground, the flames snuffing out with a soft hiss, plunging the room into near darkness. his chest tightened, the air leaving his lungs in sharp bursts as panic gripped him. how could this have happened? how could she have slipped away so easily, right under his nose? his eyes darted frantically around the room until he noticed it—a breeze that pushed his dark locks back, chilling him to the bone. howl turned his head toward the source and spotted the open window.

the curtains flapped wildly in the wind, the cool night air swirling inside the room. 'so...she escaped.' he concluded, the realization hitting him like a punch to the gut. without thinking, he stormed out of the room, his boots thudding heavily against the floor as he rushed down the stairs. "calcifer!" he bellowed, his voice trembling with a mixture of anger and desperation. "calcifer!" he continued to scream.

the fire demon stirred in the hearth, his small flame flickering as he rolled his eyes at the sound of howl's voice. "what? what do you want?" calcifer sassed, his tone laced with annoyance. he wasn't in the mood to deal with more of howl's tantrums.

howl reached the bottom of the stairs, gripping the wooden railing so tightly that the wood splintered under his hands. his voice cracked as he shouted, "she's gone! y/n's gone!"

calcifer's flames flickered slightly, his usually smug expression softening for just a moment. he had known y/n's departure was inevitable—he could see the conflict in her, the desire for freedom. but hearing howl confirm it made the reality hit harder. still, calcifer wasn't about to shoulder the blame. "and how is that my fault?" he shot back, his tone still sharp but with an undertone of sympathy.

howl's face twisted with rage, his voice rising in frustration. "because you're supposed to be watching her!" he spat the words like venom, his fingers digging into the railing. "i gave you one job, calcifer. one measly job, and you couldn't even manage that!"

calcifer's flames flared slightly, matching howl's intensity, but he wasn't about to back down. "in case you forgot, i can't walk!" calcifer snapped, his flames puffing up in indignation. "what was i supposed to do? drag myself over there and block the door with my tiny, burning body? yeah, right." he retorted, scoffing. if he were to do that, the entire castle would catch on fire and he'd be blamed from there.

calcifer just couldn't catch a break.

howl groaned loudly, his hands clutching his head as his thoughts raced. he paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, trying to think of where she could have gone, what she could be planning. "she must've climbed out the window...i never thought she'd be that desperate."

"well, clearly she was," calcifer muttered. "she's been trying to leave for days, howl. you've been too blinded by your own fears to see it." he pointed out and soon, the fire demon opened his mouth to speak, but howl raised his hand sharply, pointing his finger with an unmistakable warning.

"not another word out of you." howl snapped, his voice low and dangerous.

the silence that followed was heavy, filled with tension. howl knew calcifer was right. he had let his possessiveness take over, let it fester into something much darker. y/n had slipped through his fingers because of it, fleeing from the suffocating hold he had tried to place on her. the guilt gnawed at the edges of his mind, but it was quickly swallowed up by something else—something far more powerful.

'she needs me to protect her. she doesn't understand what's out there...' he thought to himself and what would become of y/n if she happened to run into the wicked witch of the waste? howl didn't even want to consider it, but he knew it was just as valid as any possibility. soon, his guilt was replaced by fierce determination, a smothering sense of responsibility that twisted itself into obsession. he couldn't let her go. not when the world outside was filled with dangers—dangers she wouldn't survive without him.

his hands clenched into fists, and the air around him seemed to hum with energy, reflecting the storm brewing inside his mind. calcifer dared to speak up again, "howl, this is—"

howl shot him a look that could have burned through stone. "i said, not another word." his tone was final, and the fire demon knew better than to push further. calcifer's flame flickered dimly, retreating behind a log as he sulked in silence. the wizard's resolve solidified, the weight of his decision settling on his shoulders.

he would bring her back. he had to. he couldn't allow her to leave him—not when she was his. his to protect. his to care for. his to keep.

without another glance at calcifer, he turned toward the door. "continue moving the castle to the west," he ordered, his voice devoid of any emotion now, cold and mechanical. his mind was already set. "i'm sure this won't take long." or at least, that's what he hoped. he swung open the front door, stepping outside into the cold night. hits boots hit the ground with a heavy thud, the sound swallowed by the eerie quiet that had settled over the landscape. the moving castle rumbled in the distance, its hulking form retreating slowly. howl watched it saunter away, his eyes narrowing with grim focus. he needed to transform, to take on his other form—something that would allow him to cover ground quickly, to search from the skies.

with a deep breath, he bent his body forward, clutching his arms tightly to his chest as his bones began to shift. a sickening crack filled the air as his spine twisted unnaturally, his ribs bending inward and curving like the bars of a cage. his shoulders snapped with a grotesque pop, contorting as his limbs elongated unnervingly. black feathers began to sprout along his arms, first in small patches, then spreading quickly, covering his skin like a growing infection.

his legs buckled beneath him, joints bending backward in ways they shouldn't. his boots ripped apart as talon-like claws burst from his feet, sharp and gleaming in the moonlight. howl let out a low, guttural growl, his voice distorted by the transformation. his face elongated, jaw cracking violently as it stretched into something avian, his teeth sharpening into jagged fangs. feathers burst from his neck, spreading upward across his face until his human features were nearly unrecognizable. the sound of it all was like bones breaking and grinding together, a horrifying symphony of pain and power. his wings unfurled from his back, large and black, each feather glistening with a dark sheen. they stretched wide, casting a shadow over the ground below, as his now-beastly form towered in the night.

he stood there for a moment, his breath ragged, chest heaving as he adjusted to the monstrous shape he had taken on. his eyes glowed with an eerie light, predatory and wild. the transformation had left him more creature than man, a terrifying beast wrapped in black feathers and twisted, unnatural limbs.

howl craned his long neck, flexing his wings as he surveyed the sky. his senses had sharpened, and he could feel the pull of the wind, the scent of the earth, the distant heartbeat of everything around him. without another moment of hesitation, he leaped into the air, wings beating heavily as he lifted off the ground. with a mighty flap, howl shot into the night sky, disappearing into the darkness, his mind set on one thing: finding y/n and bringing her back, no matter the cost.