The song above is Greensleeves. Just so you know.

It's almost dark, and Howl hasn't come back from his supposed meeting with the king. I know I'm not supposed to be worried, but I kinda am. I turned yet another page of Lord of The Rings and smiled at my favorite line.

Not all those who wander are lost, Bilbo Baggins.

It's so....mysterious. I loved the adventure; the thought of such an exciting thing happening to me seemed impossible.

Yet here I was. In a moving castle. With a wizard, his apprentice, and his talking fire demon. I sighed and closed the book as I climbed the rickety wooden staircase to the upper floors. There was a music room I had found earlier while I cleaned!!! AH!! YAS! I opened every door along the narrow hallway trying to get my bearings around every room, and finally-sixth door to the right was the room.

Small ribbons of light lay on the floor. Yet other than that, the room was as dark as a black hole. Not much love for this room I can see. I gently stepped into the darkness though, and made my way to the curtains where I drew them back for the much needed dimming sunlight. The wood was a light caramel with spots of richer darkness to the color which covered every inch of the floor.

"A piano!!" I whispered in excitement at the large instrument as it lay abandoned in the corner of the room as if in solitude. I walked closer, and touched the black and white keys. Amazing it still works!! I raced out of the room and jumped down the stairs to see Michael hard at work on his homework while Calcifer munched on a log lazily.

"What's up? What's with all the excitement?" Calcifer asked, but I didn't have the breath to answer as opposed through my bags for the piece I wanted to play. I haven't been able to play since the trip with my college class, so I was hoping to catch up quickly! Hopping back up the stairs, and down the hallway, I noticed that Michael was following with Calcifer in a pan.

"What's up?"

Yet I let music speak for me as I placed my hands and began Greensleeves. OMG LIKE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW PRETTY THIS IS TO PLAY. I played with a soft and dramatic flair before dying down even more. Every note was like a page in a book, yet I haven't the slightest clue how it will end until I reach it. As the notes slow and speed up, the feeling of contentment never leaves.

It's that feeling when your heart is at rest, and you feel like you're floating in space without a care for the problems about the planet below. It's heroine for the musician and lust for anyone else that hears it. I could tell when I looked over at Michael's face as well as Calcifer that they felt this.

Yet sadly, the song cannot last forever, and must end. So I play the notes not as if it were the true end, but simply a goodbye, and that I'll play the sad melody once again.

~*~

Howl entered the house tired and dead sore. To him, pleasing a king was not as easy as many people suspected! How many promises had he made to people, only to let them die? Howl sighed loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose. Then he froze. CALCIFER WAS GONE!!! Freaking out, he was about to shout to Michael-

Suddenly, notes drifted from the walls.

Howl's chest constricted at the sound of such a melody.

Soft and quiet as if a ballerina were performing a mute dance nimbly. Movement was constant yet at a pace that Howl could not understand. He cautiously made his way upstairs. What was this noise? Who was making it? Why was his fire demon gone? The sixth door on the right. He pushed open the door, and the person at the piano- his piano, sat in a perfect stature with the sunset slowly dying behind her. Red hair mixing with the sky as she played.

Dumbstruck; he simply stood in the doorway with wide eyes as he watched the annoying Amelia Star play the last keys.

Or so he thought.

The melody began anew and more powerful than it had left. The movement of her hands like air as they pounced on the keys with precision.

"Wow..." Howl looked down, and sitting on the floor was Michael, and Calcifer in a small ash tray with little twigs to keep his flame going.

"That melody, it would make Demons cry." Calcifer commented softly; a tone of voice Howl never knew the fire could have. Michael nodded his head in agreement. Curls of wispy brown falling into his eyes. Howl regained his composure, into the king's wizard he was. No matter how much he wanted to chuckle and dance around the room.

This room brought only pain.

"This is no time to be slacking off." Howl finally spoke tiredly, and he saw Amelia jump.

"AHHH! Don't sneak up like that!!" She breathed heavily and stood up quickly. "And we're not slacking off. I found this room yesterday, and I wanted to explore it a bit more." There was no lie in her voice, yet felt his heart turn cold. Who wished for him to buy that run down piano? Who played endless songs such as this for many days and nights?

Sophie Hatter.

Nothing would ever change that feeling of emptiness. He thought darkly. She was his first true love and his last.

"Get. Out." He sternly pointed to the door. Using his magic, pushed the young woman from the stool and out the portal with a gust of wind. Michael with Calcifer followed quickly behind. Finally, grabbing the piece off the piano stand, Howl looked closely at the name.

Greensleeves.

What an awful name. He threw that out the door too, and closed the wood door behind him. He now stood in the hallway as Amelia composed herself.

"Hey!" Amelia shouted with anger, "what's the big deal!?"

"Go downstairs and simply read a book." Howl sighed angrily. He did not wish to fight today.

"Aw hell na!! You tell me what's going on with this stupid attitude!! You're acting like a kid that only got coal on Christmas!!" His eyebrows furrowed at the sentence.

"What's..Christmas?" He asked curiously, but his only answer was an groan of frustration as Amelia stomped her way downstairs.

~*~

GOD THAT MAN CAN BE SUCH A---

~this sentence has been blocked for its inappropriate language.

"-AND ANOTHER THING!-" I was cut off from my rant once again as the house creaked before something snapped. I was sent flying towards the wall!!

"Get down!!" Howl called to me as he raced down the stairs. Instead of brushing past me, he grabbed my waist and pulled me down after him. We fell to the ground as a plumbing pipe comes flying through the only window and embedding itself where I once stood.

"What's happening!?!" I cried before crawling to a corner and pulling my legs to my chest. I don't understand!! What's happening!?

"Oh Amelia~!"

Oh. Shit. Salazar.

Howl stood up in front of me as Michael was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Calcifer was roaring in the hearth. The castle shook with an unknown force, and all I could do was sit. Sit! I looked up from my hands to see the front door violently smashed to pieces.

And there he stood. Instead of the flamboyant costumes I've seen him, this was the most serious I've ever seen Salazar dressed up. He wore black leggings, and a white dress shirt with them dang long sleeves. His hair was a pale orange, and short yet tied into a ponytail.

His face was...cold.

"Salazar, you're face seems cold enough to freeze beer." Howl seemed to muse, but I can't tell really well, since he's still standing protective of me. Salazar's dark brown eyes slanted dangerously as he glanced down at me.

"She's coming with me Howl. No more playing around." He said calmly. I shivered in fright. What if Howl lets him take me? Es expressed more than once that he does not care about my wellbeing!! I was so busy thinking about what would happen if Howl handed me over, I didn't notice right away that he had not moved an inch from where he stood.

In front of me.

I looked up at him, expecting words to come out of his mouth, but none came.

~*~

Howl's face was frozen in a state of cool, nonchalant pose as he stared Salazar in the face. Why didn't he simply move? All of his problems would be gone.

"I know that's not what you're heart is telling you."

Lottie's words rang true in his head. He, Howl Jenkins Pendragon, cared what happened to Amelia Starr.

"No," Howl finally let the words escape his mouth, and Calcifer shot fire that caught everything in its wake with the weapon. Soon after, Salazar jumped back and lost his balance. Causing him to tumble out the open door and onto the streets of a city.

"Huh?!?" Amelia cried in confusion. Weren't they in a forest?!?

"No time to explain-" Howl quickly closed the door and locked it before turning the knob from green to blue. "-I must see the King at once. Calcifer? Keep Amelia safe and let no one leave this house." Calcifer nodded, and with a whoosh of his strangely colored coat flung over his shoulders, Howl was gone once again.