Howl and the Soulmate Stone

Part One : The Witch of the Waste

With the level of cackling the Witch of the Waste was doing, it was truly a miracle that the rest of the castle was still asleep. Yet, despite the blinding flash of light and cries of triumph, the other residents of Howl's infamous moving castle stayed sleeping.

The Witch was so happy because, despite all of Suliman's promises that her spell was permanent, she once again had her powers. Of course it was all because of that insolent fool Howl. She had slowly been stealing his potions and materials while the others weren't looking or out on some stupid excursion in a village.

She hated them all, she really did. That horrid Sophie most of all. Honestly she hated the fact that the girl had been the interest of Howl despite being old and ugly. What about her?

But it was because of them that she now was reunited with her precious magic. Maybe she would leave without taking Howl's heart... As a favor or something. That way she would owe no one anything. She had been planning on taking it for some time but perhaps she could live without it.

The moon filtered through the windows showing the silent street. The Witch wasn't sure which town they were in now. It didn't really matter to her. After the events a few months ago where the castle was destroyed and Howl had his heart returned, things had happened quite quickly.

First the now unturniped Prince Justin had returned to his home and called off the war between kingdoms (and probably blamed the Witch). Was it her fault? Probably. But he did make a nice vegetable. It suited him better than being a prince.

Howl restored his castle and figured out how to run it without the help of Calcifer, who still stopped in sometimes to visit. Marukuru went off to school with some other wizards his age. He took that annoying dog Hin with him, thankfully.

This, off course, left Howl, Sophie and the Witch to stay in the castle. It was around two in the morning now, an obnoxious time to be awake. But she had no choice. It was the only time she could do her experiments without being interrupted. The Witch had been trying to regain her powers since they had been stolen.

Well now, of course, she could leave. Leave and never have to deal with any of these neucences again! Oh the joy of it! She could leave and never come back and there was no one who could stop her-

"What are you doing?"

Although she would never admit it to anyone, the Witch of the Waste jumped about five feet in the air as she turned to see Sophie standing at the stairs. "Oh, I was just-" she began when Sophie noticed that The Witch was no longer old and magicless but instead young and back to her former glory.

"But, how did you-? Howl! Howl get down here, quickly!" she called up the stairs.

Blast that girl! She was going to get the Witch caught! Howl would never just let her walk free after the trouble she had caused him and everyone else. Especially that brat Sophie... Wait...

The Witch turned her beady eyes on the white haired girl and a wicked smile spread across her face. Sophie. The little dear was all alone with the Witch of the Waste and she happened to be the person the Witch hated most. Well, after Howl, of course. And Suliman... But that was beside the point.

She had a wonderful idea.

"Please, child, we all know how deep a sleeper that wizard of yours is, and how absolutely dreadful he is at waking up. He won't be down here for a while yet. We're all alone. And, I have a proposition for you," she hissed, stalking forward. It felt good to use her young body again, although she was a bit bigger than she had remembered. Her hip jarred against the corner of the fireplace and she bit back a curse.