She sat by the cold window, alone in her worn and ratty old nightgown, staring through the glass toward the unknown. Her ears winced at the light pitter-patter of rain that sprinkled the window, each trickle building her worry further. It was late - very late, actually. For her sister to be out in this weather, followed by her erratic husband off delivering her forgotten letter, Lona's skin crawled with bumps after each thundering sound, after each bolt of lightning that struck down from the sky.

She only thought of how she shouldn't have let Gwenda go so easily.

Lona clenched tiny fists and lightly tapped the couch that jutted up to the window. "Gwenda, why do you have to be so stubborn all the time?" It was no different when they were younger; Lona was always the meek and frail one, an easy target for the mean girls at school. Gwenda, being a few years older and a foot taller, always had her back. No matter who it was or what they'd done, her sister was there for her.

Now, Lona felt like she had failed her.

She scrunched her eyes closed. Kenta had warned her not to feel this guilt, but how could she forego it? How could she waive this feeling as if it didn't exist? The truth was, she had allowed her sister to wander into the depths of the most arbitrary environment in all of Ingary - all of the world, perhaps.

Even Kenta had his doubts about leaving, especially at the sight of such a storm. Though it seemed far off and not as alarming as previous thunderstorms, there was no telling what the creatures of the Wastes would do to heighten its power.

Or maybe the Wastes would simply do it on its own accord.

Lona stood up and faced away from the window. She couldn't torture herself like this. Wrapping shaky arms around her chest, she breathed slow inhales. She held these fearful breaths in for six seconds before exhaling. Lona did this several more times until those fears steadily became calmer, more relaxed. She had done this every day that Kenta was away working for Madame Suliman - granted, the majority of that time she had been transformed into a dove - yet those calming breaths were the only way she freed herself of the guilt and pain of only watching him from afar. She couldn't torment herself with those haunting questions. Why she had let him go, why she couldn't stop it, and why she needed to stop blaming herself.

And she needed to stop blaming herself this very moment.

With her final calming breath, Lona awakened her eyes and stood straight. She had to occupy her time with other thoughts - better, more exciting thoughts. She thought to check on the kids and see if they were causing any mischief this late. While Sora was good about sleeping through the night, Lona and Kenta could always count on the boys brewing up a suspicious plot. Although, whether that was working together or against one another, well, that depended on the day.

She walked down the hall and crept the boys' door open just barely enough for a sliver of the hallway light to glimmer through. She watched their exhausted bodies lay still and quiet in their beds, a stark difference from their normal craziness. Toss ball... cradle ball... whatever it was, that game usually tired them out and they fell asleep those nights almost instantaneously.

Lona shut the door softly before reaching Wynne's room. Though not as much of a night owl as her brothers, there were times when she and Kenta could hear magical spells being whispered through the walls. As much of a young witch in training as she was, Wynne was more persistent in her skill than anyone Lona knew.

No sound emitted from her room. It didn't hurt to check and pop in just to see a glimpse of her sleepy daughter, so Lona gradually opened the door. As she let in more light from the hallway and stepped through, she also caught a chilling gust of wind. Rarely did Wynne open her window during the night, and it was a strange thing to do with such a thrilling and thunderous storm.

"Wynnie, you know you shouldn't keep your-" As Lona turned on the bedroom light, she cupped her mouth and sucked in a short breath. Her eyes bulged like a frog as she quickly assessed the scene, an observant detective after her own daughter.

Wynne's bed had been untouched, the window fully opened, and the petite figure of her young witch in training was nowhere to be seen.

As Lona begged to scream and released the fear that had swallowed her, a booming knock slammed against the front door and she swallowed that scream inside of her frail soul. In a frantic race, Lona rushed to the door hoping only to see her husband and sister and daughter all returning home where they belonged. She longed to see their smiling faces, hoping Wynne had just snuck out for a minute of fresh air and happened across Kenta returning after convincing Gwenda that her plan was silly and fruitless.

She hoped for all of these things to miraculously occur all at once.

"Kenta!" Lona unlocked the cottage door, yet instead of her charming husband on the front step, three wizards stood outside looking as disheveled and confused as she herself was. The rain had somehow stopped when only moments ago there seemed to be the beginning of a rampant downpour. Like her breathing technique, the atmosphere had calmed down.

Only now, that storm revived itself inside of her body as her worries heightened for why these three would approach her house late this night rather than those she desperately wished for.

Lona gulped, never parting her eyes from theirs. "Wha-what are you doing here?"

Howl, Calcifer, and Xarx simply stared at the woman, then back at each other. Neither had the words nor the courage to share what they knew - or at least, what they thought they knew. Even the events that had happened were mostly a mystery to them.

Howl cleared his throat and managed to meet her desperate eyes. "There's something we need to tell you."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

The tea kettle screeched a loud cry and Lona immediately jumped to answer its plea. While the wizards did not want to impede, she had insisted on making them a warm drink. After they stood shivering in the cold for far too long, it was the least she could offer. It also helped for her to move around and keep busy rather than sit timidly as they shared their news.

Howl had been the major storyteller. He sat across from Calcifer and Xarx, his eyes diverting their attention between the darkness outside and the skittish woman in the open kitchen. Even still, his words were firm and true. "...so when we saw Kenta's gryphon flying toward the scene, we figured your home was close by. We hoped you would be able to fill in some of the gaps."

Lona poured the steaming water into four teacups, none greater than the size of her fists put together. Each cup held a different tea bag inside from a collection Kenta bought. He said each bag of tea the rare merchant mixed together was of his own personal blend, so he couldn't quite guarantee their taste. It was one of the many spontaneous aspects of him she loved, to buy something so artistic.

She grabbed two cups and began walking them toward her guests. Calcifer stood to help, stretching his hands toward her, but Lona simply walked around him and set the cups on the coffee table. She returned to the kitchen and did the same with the other two cups, not once looking Calcifer in the eye.

As she sat next to Howl, he turned to her. "By the looks of it, we were right - that was Kenta out there in the Wastes."

Lona grabbed the teacup with shaky hands, the searing drink rippling like tidal waves. "He left about an hour ago to find Gwenda. I knew there was going to be trouble, especially going into the Wastes like that, but he insisted on it."

Howl bowed his head, the pieces fitting together in a sad, twisted truth. First, his former apprentice was lost, and now his dear friends had fallen victim to the consequences of magic. He could only imagine Calcifer's anger, staring closely at the wizard as he clenched solid fists and pressed them into his knees. There was no mistake - the former star had heard Gwenda's wish.

Which meant they truly were worlds away.

Lona's shivering persisted as she shakily spoke her next words. "And now I can't find Wynne."

This was a shock to the wizards. "What?"

Her lips trembled. Though she hoped the heat from the tea would ease her aching mind and warm her frigid soul, it only seared her fingers until they were bright red. "Before you got here, I went to check on the kids in their rooms. The boys and Sora were all asleep, but Wynne's room was empty." She swallowed hard, her throat like dry bones. "And her window was wide open."

Howl stared at the ground, taking in this new information and still finding new pieces to fill the puzzle: Gwenda on a strange mission of her own, Kenta following in an attempt to stop her, and now Wynne was missing as well. Even with Markl's disappearance a month prior to all of this, somehow he believed none of these were a stroke of coincidental luck - or rather, quite the opposite of luck. If Gwenda and Kenta had been sucked into a whole new world, there was a good chance Wynne was with them also.

"Why was she out there in the first place?" Calcifer asked.

Lona narrowed her eyes at him, her disdain for him evident in her harsh tone. "How should I know? Considering I just found out that my daughter is missing, I'm out of the loop here, too."

He shook his head. "No, I meant Gwenda. I had hoped, of all places, she'd come here to you."

"Oh, she did." She spat her words as cold and cruel as the air outside. Calcifer noticed her cold shoulder, but he didn't want to spark another argument. He'd already disputed enough with the people he cared about, and those conversations only led to more anger and misunderstanding.

He continued. "If Gwenda was here, why didn't she just stay?"

Lona glared daggers at him, the steam rolling up from her drink between her vibrant, and quite honestly frightening, eyes. "I wonder why she would do something so stupid like run off into the Wastes with the most terrifying creatures in the world. I wonder who or what pushed her to such a suicidal mission. Although, she was pretty hellbent on figuring out what was in a certain letter. But you would know all about that, now wouldn't you?"

Calcifer sighed, as he was not the only one privy to her tone. The other two wizards instantly picked up on her piqued irritation. Howl and Xarx sat frozen like ice cubes, itching to break the tension between brother- and sister-in-law, though having no idea where to even begin. While they only had a portion of Calcifer's story, Lona was fairly certain she could see the entire picture - and unfortunately for the former fire demon, she was not on his side.

Xarx hardly shared an emotion for the intense animosity however, seeing as he had no connection whatsoever to this woman. He had seen her on occasion whenever he met up with Markl at family events, but other than that she was almost a stranger to him. His visage was a blank slate, and his feelings were indifferent. Howl, on the other hand, felt sympathy for both Lona and Calcifer. It was clear to him that these recent events and uncertainties tore at them, body and soul.

He reached into his pocket, catching a short glimpse of the exact letter to which Lona had referred - the letter addressed to Calcifer Maguire, still left unopened. The scorch marks branded into its smooth surface, revealing the marks of an unforeseen curse only to be revealed at its initial opening.

Howl knew Calcifer was aware of such dangerous magic, considering he hadn't broken the seal, yet his fate determined that he must. Scorch marks were not a frivolous game, as much as Howl had dabbled in the sorts often in his youth. Once the curse is set, it must be revealed - and the longer he waited, the possibilities only grew more speculative and more infinite.

He hid the letter back in his pocket as Calcifer closed his weary eyes, rubbing them with the stale ends of his fingers. "She told you."

"Of course she told me. We're sisters." Lona said as she set her cup down, all bets off the table. "She loves you more than anything, and the only thing you do is lie and manipulate and pretend like you have everything under control. She ran out into the Wastes because of you and now I have to sit here hoping we can find a way to bring her and the rest of my family back. News flash, Calcifer, when a woman you love says she's willing to help you out, just take the damn offer and move on."

He rested his arms against his knees, leaning forward to plead his case. "Lona, I'm not myself right now. I haven't been myself for some time. Yes, I admit that I've lied to her and held back the truth for too long, and I'm sorry, but I don't know what's come over me lately. It's like I'm a whole other person all of a sudden."

She glared irritated, observant eyes at him from his muddy boots to his wrinkled shirt up to his scruffy chin. No matter his defense, no matter his explanation, she refused to hear him out. To her, he was no different than any other man who exploited and used Gwenda for selfish gain. Every word he spoke flew over her head and vanished into the void, nothing registering in her at all.

She huffed and looked away. "I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

Even with his pleas for forgiveness, deep inside of himself he knew Lona was right. There was no denying that he was a liar; there was no denying the pain he'd cause his love from withholding the truth. Gwenda was the one he needed to apologize to for the mistakes he'd made. He was already paying the price by not knowing how to bring her home - Lona was simply setting his faults on a guilty pedestal, displayed for all to see.

Calcifer rested against the soft cushion, accepting bitter defeat. At some point, he realized this would be an endless argument with her. Though they rarely fought, and truthfully rarely spoke to one other, she had seen enough of her squabbles with Kenta to recognize that she always stood her ground.

And he was not prepared to wage war with a Maguire sister - he knew that from experience.

"I don't even know why she would wish to go to Wales." He cursed himself inside - even that statement was half lying. He wondered when it became so natural for himself to spit out false perceptions of reality.

It was easy lying to strangers, especially those who visited his shop. He'd learn to embellish certain spells and potions, making them seem more glamorous and mystical than they truly were. That was normal; people lie all the time. Yet lying to family was something he'd hoped he matured from since his days as a demon. He'd gotten so used to it, however, he was starting to believe the lies that shielded the truth. Apparently, he still had a lot of learning left in him.

"How does she even know of Wales?" Howl asked. "Very few people from Ingary even acknowledge that other planes exist."

Calcifer bobbed his head back and forth, finding the words to say. "After we saw the stars fall last night, I was a mess. We got home and she tried cheering me up, asking me about extravagant places to visit. She wanted to take a break, go on a vacation or something like that. I mentioned the place you were from, Howl, and somehow she got excited."

Howl creased his eyebrows. "There's nothing exciting about Wales. There are hardly any magicians there and the only fun thing to do is play rugby. And that's saying something."

Xarx reached for his cup of tea but stopped himself at Howl's last comment. "Maybe that's why she went."

Howl titled his head. "To play rugby?"

"No." Xarx rolled his eyes. "She went to a world without magic."

As Howl's imbecilic mind registered his words and grew more sensible, Calcifer felt his heart nearly fall out of his chest. For some reason, that thought had escaped him. A world without magic - a perfect place for someone who loathed the very existence of magicians.

Calcifer cupped his face, attempting to hide the onslaught of tears that burst through his eyes. His muscles tensed and quivered in fear. His fingers began to perspire droplets of sweat that fell down his cheeks. Even during their beautiful years together, he somehow always felt in the pit of his heart that maybe she hadn't fully accepted magic. From her passivity toward his spell casting and potion making to her blatant disregard for the craft, he slowly felt her pulling away from the only side of himself that ever truly made sense.

Within the few hours they had been separated, between their distance and distressing estrangement, she had already sliced his heart into broken shards. He knew she was mad; he knew she needed time or space or both or whatever but this - this was beyond her, beyond any punishment Gwenda could ever place upon him.

He hadn't expected her to leave him like this.

Howl sensed Calcifer's anxiety almost immediately. He stood up and took giant strides over to his friend, kneeling down to better comfort him. "I know what you're thinking, but we can't go there right now."

"Why not?" Calcifer whispered, his voice chattering at each word, "It's exactly as it looks. She wants nothing more to do with me."

Xarx rolled his eyes once more. "Geez, and I thought Howl was the dramatic one."

Calcifer lifted his reddened eyes to the man sitting next to him, his hair close to flames. Xarx was unphased by this, however. He had experienced enough of Howl's tantrums from their years in the apprenticeship to have built an immunity to such childish behavior.

"She is not leaving you." Xarx said sternly, "Seriously, you think after seven years of living with a magician and actually marrying one that she would only now think about getting away from magic? Logically, she would have done that years ago if she truly hated magicians. Have a little faith in the woman, would you?"

Calcifer seethed through his teeth. "As if you would know anything about my relationship with Gwenda. Why don't you keep your nose out of things that don't concern you, hermit."

Xarx waved his hand in the air. "Fine by me. Don't listen to reason and logic for all I care. It doesn't change the fact that she and Kenta and possibly Wynne are in another world this very minute."

Before Calcifer could strangle the wizard, Lona chimed in. "Xarx is right, though. That's not the reason why."

Xarx held a proud smirk on his face, while Howl and Calcifer stared at the woman with a disarray of confusion. "Then how-"

"Before she left, Kenta told her your magic was failing. She wants to find someone who can help save it." Xarx and Howl turned to him - another revealing secret he intended to bury. Nothing was safe anymore, not even the truths he hid so well before.

Calcifer felt a wave of relief only for a brief moment before groaning in irritation. Thankful this excursion wasn't to abandon him, he now faced a new problem. Gwenda had run off on some quest to a foreign land in order to save him from losing magic. As much as he admired her tenacity and courage, she was just as stubborn and blind to the dangers of magicians.

Especially to those magicians trapped in a human-dominated world.

He pulled at his hair, nearly ripping them from atop his skull. "Why does she insist on solving my problems? I never asked her to do that for me. This is pure madness."

"Honestly, she should leave you." Lona scoffed at him. "Maybe it's because she loves you enough to release that burden from you."

"It's not her job, Lona! It's my burden and I'll carry that alone."

Howl tapped his chin. "Hmm, maybe how I decided to help Markl on my own because I didn't want to burden you all?" Calcifer shot an irate glare toward his friend, and Howl simply raised his hands in defense. "Just a thought."

"Wait," Lona said, taken aback by this new revelation, "what's wrong with Markl?"

Howl sighed - another truth to share. "He's been missing."

"For how long?"

"A month."

Lona stood up and dropped her jaw in utter shock. "A month? Calcifer, did you know this?"

"Not until late last night."

"We thought he was just dealing with personal issues," Lona whispered grimly to Howl. "Why didn't you tell any of us he was gone?"

Howl rubbed his temple, a pressing headache forming with each new secret transitioning to a spoken truth. "Let's focus on one problem at a time. My goodness, if I knew this was going to be a show and tell of secrets, I would have brought brandy or vodka. Maybe even malört if I really wanted to feel this miserable."

"No!" Lona shouted louder than she'd hoped. This was not information her children needed to hear quite yet, but her emotions were too frenzied and spinning out of control. "What is wrong with all of you? First Markl goes missing, now half of my family is trapped in another world, and all you three can think about is making sure your petty secrets stay safe."

"Lona-"

"Don't you dare patronize me, Howl." Her voice grumbled low enough to even frighten the mighty wizard who stood before her. "This isn't some twisted game, so why are you all hiding these secrets from us? And if you even think to say it's to protect your family, you can't really do that when they're all gone."

Howl, severely taken aback by her words, could only bow his head in shame. As strange and startling as it was for Lona to speak with such hostility and malice, it was the blunt truth they all needed to hear. It pained him to think if he had entrusted Markl's disappearance with his family sooner, maybe he would have already been home.

Xarx watched the scene from his comfortable seat, examining how their emotions took over and consumed them from the inside out. As much as he believed these emotions were justified, he preferred to spend their time formulating a game plan to revert their current issues. While he honestly only had a personal connection with Markl, he did care for Kenta a little. Without his trust in hiding his source of light, there was no telling the damage Madame Suliman would have done to him.

He focused back on the issue at hand. Presently, they only knew that Markl had abandoned Ingary for another world weeks prior. And now ironically Gwenda, Kenta, and this Wynne child were transported to another realm as well.

Xarx actually chuckled - it would be more ironic if Markl had somehow made his way to Wales as well. But that was something they couldn't fully calculate.

Lona directed her anger toward his brief laughter. "You think this is all funny?"

Xarx met her gaze, hardly fazed by her temper. "No, I actually agree with you. All of this lying is pointless and is really only making us run around in circles. Instead of bickering about who hid which secret, maybe we should come up with a plan to get to Wales and bring them home?"

"How can you sit there like this is some easy fix?" Lona asked in disgust. "It's like you don't care what happens to them."

Xarx shrugged his shoulders. "Unlike you all, I don't rely on emotion to get things done - I just get things done. So, let's start coming up with a plan already."

Lona felt smoke puffing out from her ears, and before she could set the dense wizards straight, Calcifer cut her off. "Wait, Lona. I know you're upset with him, and honestly for good reason, but something you said earlier just hasn't left my mind yet."

Xarx groaned and sprawled his arms out, his eyes practically rolling into the back of his head. Calcifer ignored him, as his desperation heightened. "You said Gwenda wanted to find someone who can help save my magic. Who exactly is she looking for?"

Lona dared to look back at him, noticing the pain and anguish that washed over him from such a question. She relaxed her temper enough, but whether she had a proper answer or not, she knew for certain he wasn't going to like it. "She doesn't even really know. All she said was that the only person who could understand your situation was another fire demon."

The room silenced itself like someone had pressed a mute button. No longer were their untouched teacups warm, but they had lost their steam and heat and were chilling to touch. No one spoke; they barely heard each other's fragile breaths as three of the most powerful wizards Lona knew feared her own words.

Even Xarx's indifference was now tainted in terror.

Calcifer replayed her words in his mind over and over and over again. This was beyond anything he could have fathomed, anything he thought Gwenda was capable of setting her mind to. Yet Lona didn't lie, and the seriousness in her tone was far too convincing.

Lona glanced around at each of their frightened faces. "Why do you all look like that's such a bad thing? What's wrong with looking for another fire demon?"

Howl opened his mouth to speak, but Calcifer cut him off first. "As much you think of me as someone who's selfish, inconsiderate, and even manipulative - believe me when I say you haven't seen the extent of a star's infamy to surpass those in the worst ways unimaginable. For all of our sakes, we better hope Gwenda doesn't find one."

And this, unfortunately, was the first truth Calcifer spoke wholeheartedly in the longest time.