He didn't dream often, nor were his dreams this hazy and muddled, but this was a rare occasion. Maybe it was the way she screamed or the way he cried for mercy, but everything seemed far from normal.

The sound resonated like an echo repeating for miles with no end. Her voice was a sharp-edged sword piercing through a quiet night. It was painful to hear, painful to encounter. This innocent girl, a soft beauty with silver hair, desperate for a remedy to end her torture. The sound of terrifying shrieks as she wept in agony was too much to bear.

The man lay on the floor, pleading for mercy and begging for an end. His own torture mixed with hers was enough to fracture him and leave him vulnerable. This scene of a million broken pieces continued to shatter and snap until those little pieces had grown smaller than imaginable.

The multitude of cries molded into an innocent laughter, as consciousness took over once more. The sleeping dog heard a loud thud, and immediately opened his eyes with panic. He recognized the lively room with the talking fire and energetic boy.

He darted his eyes between the two, trying to remain calm. He remembered his dream, and recognized many of those faces, as well.

"You're going to break something if you keep jumping like that." Calcifer said after he released an irritated sigh.

"No I won't." Markl prepared to jump once more.

"Yes, you will."

"No I won't."

Heen wheezed short breaths, the bickering between the two hardly anything he was concerned with. He had never seen a dream like that. The faces were familiar, their pain as real as they were.

But this was no ordinary dream - it was a vision. 

"Oh my..." Sophie couldn't form the words she wanted to say. She hardly recognized her baby sister after not seeing her in nearly five years.

She wasn't the little girl who cried as their mother forced her onto the train to Wessex Boarding School. Not anymore, at least. Martha sat tall and poised, though her adolescent features appeared through her cross-legged seating and tilt of her head. Her long, black hair flowed like a dark rain to her lower back. Her smile, though blissful, was timid and concealed her teeth.

Sophie always loved how Martha would try fitting every last tooth into her smile when they were younger. Her sister had changed over the years.

Martha uncrossed her legs and jumped off the chair in a graceful charm. "I missed you."

"I can't believe you're here." Sophie extended her arms and Martha tiptoed into her embrace, careful not to push against her stomach. Sophie sniffled as she wrapped her arms tighter around Martha.

"Sophie." Howl said softly. "You know her?"

The girls turned to the crowd watching the sisters' reunion. Heen rushed to the pair and sniffed Martha's ankles. Markl held the Witch's hand as her attention turned to Calcifer in the fire pit, amazed yet again at his brilliant flames. Gwenda looked confused at the scene, but was more preoccupied by the three gashes on her arm. Kenta noticed her pain, so he began a healing spell to close the wounds.

Sophie nodded. "This is Martha, my little sister."

"The littlest of the little." Martha said with a bow.

Gwenda seethed through her teeth as Kenta's spell felt like alcohol seeping into the gashes. Even still, she was more shocked by this girl's revelation. "I'm sorry, what? You have another sister?"

Sophie nodded. Howl raised her eyebrows and turned to Martha. "Wow. Um... it's so nice to meet someone from Sophie's family."

"I'm sure you are, Wizard Howl Pendragon." Martha crossed her arms. "Our family has never really been a fan of magic, but I'm a little more lenient toward magicians."

Kenta finished the healing spell and nodded toward Martha. "I can tell, being as you are one yourself."

Sophie stared at her sister in awe. Martha lowered her gaze and tucked her hair behind her ear. She slowly moved her eyes up to Sophie, her sister's shocked visage nothing short of what she had expected.

"You... you're a..." Sophie stuttered her words as they once again failed to come out.

Martha waved her hand in Calcifer's direction. One of the logs sitting next to him levitated and wobbled gently to his fire. Calcifer extended his flames to the new addition, and nodded with gratitude toward Martha.

She smiled. "Yes, I'm a witch. And I assume you have a lot of questions."

"Well... yes, actually." Sophie pulled a chair from the table and sat down, Martha returning to her original seat while the others followed in suit. Howl, Kenta, and Gwenda joined the sisters at the dining table while Markl helped the Witch to a more comfortable seat on the couch. Markl pointed to each of the lamps in the room and they sparked with a low light, clarifying the features of the castle. It was magnificent how familiar everything looked. The castle had remained in the same state as it was before they moved. Same furniture, same layout - everything they had left behind during their rushed escape to Ovela.

Martha crossed her legs again and gestured to the table. "Ask away."

Sophie cleared her throat. "For one, I thought you were still in boarding school."

Martha snorted at that, leaning her arm on the back of the chair. "Please, don't remind me of that awful place. Mother just wanted me to marry rich or royalty. It was terrible; all the other students were snotty or stuck up. I probably stayed for two months before booking it."

Sophie widened her eyes. "You left that long ago?"

"But I wasn't alone." Martha said. "I found Mrs. Fairfax."

"Mrs. Fairfax?"

"She trained me in the ways of magic and witchcraft. She was an excellent teacher."

"I've heard of her." Howl said. "She likes to keep to herself, but every once in a while she'll take on an apprentice or two."

"I was her last." Martha bowed her head. "I trained with her for about three years before she was summoned to the Palace by Madame Suliman. I waited for her, but after some time I was too frightened to discover what had become of her."

Sophie gently placed her hand over Martha's, her sniffles reminding her of all the loss they have felt since this ordeal began. "Where did you go then?"

Martha shook her head and blinked rapidly before continuing. "I travelled through the Wastes for about a year meeting all kinds of witches and wizards. Some were nice and taught me new spells and potions, but others were cruel. I never expected so many to be like Madame Suliman."

"You'd be surprised." Kenta growled.

"Anyway, I somehow survived on my own. It wasn't until a few months ago that I found Howl's castle and set up camp."

"So you just decided to make yourself at home, huh then?" Howl remarked, his tone playful and sarcastic.

Martha giggled, her cheeks blushing a light pink. "I hope you didn't mind my intrusion, but I knew you would be okay with this."

"Oh really?" Howl asked. "And how's that?"

Martha tapped her middle finger to the side of her skull, right above her ear. Her smile crept wider as Howl's eyes deepened. Kenta raised his eyebrows in shock as well.

Kenta turned to Howl. "She can't be serious."

Howl stared into Martha's eyes. "She is."

"A Seer?" Kenta said. "There are only a handful of people who can actually do that through their own skill."

Gwenda rubbed her temple. "I am so lost."

"As am I." Sophie turned to Martha. "A Seer?"

"My magical source is through premonition." Martha said, her voice stolid and still. "I receive visions of the future."

Sophie dropped her shoulders. "Really?"

Martha laughed. "Yes, really. That's how I knew to come here; I received one that showed me you would return to Howl's castle."

"You received this months ago?"

Martha nodded. "I have seen premonitions from events that will happen a hundred years from now. Not that those matter right now, but the world will see some interesting things come about."

"What else have you seen?" Sophie asked, her body naturally leaning closer to the table. She was amazed by her sister's ability and the temptation to learn more grew immensely.

Martha tilted her head. "Curiosity is a dangerous thing to have, Soph."

Howl rested a hand on Sophie's shoulder. "There's a reason why magicians like Kenta and I don't have an ability like this. Only certain people are responsible for seeing future events."

Sophie lowered her gaze. This was new; she couldn't think of another magician with this power. Well, other than Madame Suliman, who always seemed to know their exact movements before they did. She was still getting comfortable with the fact that her baby sister was a magician herself. If only Lettie could see this.

"Lettie." Sophie whispered. Gwenda tensed, as that name still haunted her nightmares. Howl cleared his throat. Hearing Lettie's name brought some painful memories back from the grave. He never met her, but he knew how devastated Sophie was after discovering her untimely death.

"I know." Sophie lifted teary eyes to Martha, but the girl sat in solemn. "I saw."

Sophie bobbed her head. "You... you saw? You were there?"

"I received a vision." Martha said, her voice struggling to stay strong. "It was only a few days before it happened, but there was nothing I could do about it."

"You didn't try to stop it?"

"Sophie, knowing these events doesn't give me the power to stop them."

Sophie's hands began to tremble. "But you knew. You could have told someone. You could have come to me!"

Howl grasped her hands and tried to calm her. "Sophie, listen to her."

Her breaths were short and shaky. Her thoughts ran wild through all the possibilities and alternatives to change the past. She couldn't imagine watching Lettie die and not think of stopping it.

A hand reached across the table. Sophie looked up, Martha's melancholy eyes sharing a hint of remorse. "I wish I could have done something, but it wouldn't have changed the result."

Sophie swallowed hard. Lettie didn't deserve to die. She was beautiful and happy with her life and had so much ahead of her. She had a future, one that was brutally taken away from her. There might have been a chance she could have accepted Howl had she known Martha was a magician herself.

Martha's eyes were weary. She seemed so young to have so much knowledge and power within herself. Sophie couldn't imagine having this ability. She would want to change everything she could.

Maybe that was why Martha was gifted with this - she knew when to hold back.

"But I can tell you I saw the moment you and Howl met." Sophie looked up, Martha's smile beginning to calm her. "I saw how excited you were and how much you enjoyed being around him. It was like an impromptu adventure for you."

Sophie turned to Howl, remembering that moment as well. He was so narcissistic at the time, but he was daring and bold and she loved that. It was different; he was different. He was exactly what she needed.

Martha continued. "Magicians don't choose a source. They form through our identities and grow from our strengths."

Sophie ran her hand down her stomach. "I've been using electrokinesis since the baby. That's what Kenta and Howl told me."

"I don't know what my source is." All eyes turned to Markl, who had been sitting quietly in the armchair listening to their conversation. He slumped into the chair, one arm dangling off the side swinging back and forth.

Howl stood up and walked over to the boy, kneeling to his height. "I didn't learn my source until I was years older than you. You'll get there, Markl. I promise."

"Howl." He turned to Sophie. "What is your source?"

Howl knelt for quite some time, his legs refusing to stand. He stared at the ground, hoping the answer was somewhere down there. Sophie stood up, her footsteps lightly pounding against the hardwood floor toward Howl. He still wouldn't move.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Please, Howl."

He cleared his throat and clenched his fists. "You don't want to know."

"Howl." Sophie leaned in, but her body refused to join him on the ground. "Why are you hiding this from me?"

"Because I hate it. I hate that I come from it."

"Come from what?"

"I said you don't want to know."

"But I do." Howl seethed through his teeth, though Sophie wouldn't give up. "Where does your source come from?"

"From darkness." Sophie released her grip on his shoulder. His eyes wouldn't meet hers. "Suliman trained me in the ways of darkness. It's a dangerous source, and can easily be manipulated. She saw that it was in me and knew how to extract it."

The room fell silent, the only sound coming from the crackle of the firewood under Calcifer. Howl bowed his head to Sophie, one knee on the ground and his hands gripping hers. She sat against the couch and held onto him. She had already assumed what he said - it was only a matter of him saying the words.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Sophie asked, one hand reaching to cup his cheek. "This is a part of you, a part that you can't change. No matter whether it's good or bad, I still love you."

"But how?" Howl looked up, his eyes glossy. "How can you love someone who carries darkness inside?"

Sophie smiled and leaned closer. "Because you're more than that."

Howl exhaled heavily, his hand pressing into his chest. His heart felt the way it did when Sophie returned it to his body. This heavy burden returned to remind him of all the things he couldn't change and all the things he desperately wanted to.

The Witch turned to them and smiled. "I like being at home."

Howl nodded. "Me too."

"Maybe we should all prepare for the night." Kenta said as he stood up. "We've had a long day and should rest."

"Agreed." Howl pushed against his knee and stood straight, looking back to Martha. Before he could ask, she already answered.

"Your old bedroom is already prepared for you and Sophie. I've been sleeping in the Witch of the Waste's bedroom, but I don't mind giving it back and letting Gwenda take the spare."

Gwenda shrugged her shoulders. "I don't mind sleeping out here."

Martha raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? You don't have to do that."

"It's no problem." Gwenda smiled. "I'm used to it already."

"Well, it's your wish."

Martha helped the Witch to her bedroom while Markl allowed Kenta to share his room. Sophie checked the storage closet, and sure enough there were extra pillows and blankets for them all. Sophie couldn't help but smile; her sister prepared for every little detail.

Gwenda took a pillow and blanket from Sophie. "I didn't know you and Lettie had another sister."

"Neither did I." Calcifer chimed in.

Sophie sighed. "I haven't seen her in nearly five years. I just assumed she had stayed at the boarding school. Martha never really liked our mother, especially when she sent her away."

"Do you trust her?" Calcifer asked, his flames shying away. Gwenda breathed heavily, her nerves shaken by the fire demon's comment.

Sophie nodded with confidence. "Of course I do."

Calcifer relaxed, but his mind was still cautious of anyone unfamiliar to him.

Gwenda set up her sleeping arrangements and bid Sophie goodnight. When Gwenda turned her head and yawned, Calcifer lightened his flames and curled away as well. Sophie trudged up the stairs, unfamiliar to the struggle since their cottage was only one floor. Somehow, she felt relieved. They were home again.

She headed for the bedroom when a shadowy figure appeared in the corner. "Martha."

"Can we talk?" Martha whispered. Her eyes darted to the screen door that led to the porch.

Sophie raised her eyebrows. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes and no." Martha sighed. "In the premonition that I received of your arrival, I'm noticing something different. Someone in the vision hadn't come with you."