Howl's Moving Castle Fan Fiction ❯ Somebody I Left Behind ❯ Arina ( Prologue )

Today wasn't any different from each of the ones that had come before it. At least, that's what she thought. Every day she got up, checked for danger, and if there was any, shifted their position accordingly. It would not do for them to be discovered by the one person, well, wizard actually, that would no doubt eventually find them anyway. She knew that it was futile for her to hide them, but she had to try. Her magic had never been, and would most likely never be, more powerful than Howl's. She knew, and hated, that he would eventually find them, and on that day she would have to explain herself, and he would be crushed, and then he'd probably disown her and her children.

 

He just didn't know that they were his children as well.

 

For six years, she'd hidden from him, protecting her precious children. They were a miracle, to say the least. It was unheard of to give birth to two children of the opposite sex at the same time, but she had done it. She supposed they had never recorded a birth between two magicians.

 

Her oldest, by about five minutes, was her daughter, Natalie. Unbeknownst to most, she was named for her father, who had most likely forgotten his true name in order to hide it from anyone wishing him harm. For every witch and wizard knows that the greatest weapon an enemy can have over you is your birth name. She had the most beautiful green eyes and pure black hair, even darker than her father's. It confused her mother, and made her, if at all possible, love her even more.

 

The younger, Jonathon, had blue eyes like his father but he had his mother's mouse brown hair. Ordinary, yes, but he was her Jon. He was a frightening, and yet wonderful, surprise. Arina had not known that she was carrying twins, let alone one male and one female.

 

Arina was the name that she had chosen for herself in order to hide from Howl hearing the name that he had known while with her. She had known him since before he cursed himself by giving his heart to the demon Calcifer, and had stayed by his side while he went into exile. She had finished her apprenticeship, and went on to make a living selling minor spells and enchantments to local townspeople. She had sheltered her lover from the searchers while he worked out the magic to create the portal door that he later placed in his “moving castle.”

 

Great monstrosity of a thing, it was. When she first saw it, she didn't believe that it would ever be able to move, but once again Howl proved his ingenuity through using his bound demon, Calcifer, to power the atrocity. She frowned upon his method of hiding from his old master, but did not argue, as this newest development had left her without the responsibility of keeping him just beyond Suliman's reach.

 

With that, he had bid her farewell, and walked out of her life forever…at least that's what they had both thought at the time.

 

Now, dear readers, this is where their story begins.