**One-Shot Requests: OPEN**
A guide to the series filled with exclusive content such as never before seen one-shots, character sheets, fun facts, contests, etc.
Book List in Recommended Reading Order:
BOOK ONE: Puppet
PREQUEL: What Happens in...
Note: this AU features Carter and Tobias as the main characters, but others do take on important roles! Suggested by Kk_Zoe (kyo_deku on Instagram) and inspired by Howl's Moving Castle as well as Tangled. Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments! Have discussions and whatever else! And definitely feel free to take this idea and have fun with it! I know I am. I'll be updating the AU periodically if I think of anything more or want to add something!
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> Tobias takes the role of Howl (the magician), and Carter takes the role of Sophie.
> Blu is the current king of the kingdom, having gained his throne through vile means and with the help of a witch.
> He asked for the power to keep Carter strength, so she cursed him with that strength, but in doing so cursed him to become a little less human every day.
> His body, with every action, every decision, every day, becomes a little less flesh and blood and a little more mechanical.
> He is literally losing his humanity piece by piece, and currently his entire right arm is completely iron. He can still move it and use it like any other arm, but he does not feel through it; and in fact feels nothing much at all.
> Being with Carter is the only thing keeping the curse at bay, as Carter is the last of his humanity.
> Carter, like Blu, is living with his own curse, one he was born with, one that no magician can explain or reverse.
> Flowers grow from his skin when he is too stressed, embarrassed, or doubting himself (thinking he's worthless, ugly, useless, etc.)
> The flowers vary: daffodils, edelweiss, bluebells, amaryllis, azalea, lavender, begonia, daisies, iris, aster, dahlias, peonies, camellias, hibiscus, and other small flowers.
> It's impossible to predict what species will grow where and when, as it seems entirely random.
> They bloom like flowers normally do, starting as small sprouts and growing along his skin like sweet peas climbing a wall.
> They are agonizing, placing Carter in near constant pain, and the only way to remove them is by cutting them out.
> He is confined in the palace to keep him from any type of stress, to keep the flowers from blooming too often. For his own protection and comfort.
> However, seeing Blu suffer daily from his curse, becoming less human every day, worries him greatly, causing flowers to bloom, and out of loyalty Carter leaves the palace without permission in order to find a cure for Blu.
> He's heard stories of a magician in town, one with phenomenal talent, and believes that he could be the one person who might be able to help Blu, so he seeks him out.
> However, he has heard rumors of this magician, one who runs a league of underground magic weilders in the deepest areas of the slums, far far from the palace.
> He heard tell that he steals the hearts of beautiful people, using them in rituals to stay young, but Carter believes he's in no danger, believing that he is, in fact, not very beautiful.
> And in fact the rumors are not true.
> Carter meets the magician, Tobias, and at first is too terrified to ask him for help, instead claiming he wants to study under him, and Tobias agrees, because Carter is very pretty indeed, and the flowers in his hair intrigue him.
> Tobias feels a deep connection to Carter, and Carter to him, something neither of them really understand.
> Carter seems to know Tobias on a deep and personal level, despite having never met before.
> Tobias, like Blu and Carter, lives with his own curse.
> When he was first starting out as a young mage, he witnesses an astronomical phenomena (like in HMC).
> Stars fall from the sky at night. Some hit the ground, and most disappear or become simple rock before Tobias can touch them, until he looks up and manages to catch a star before it touches the earth.
> Having read forbidden text regarding stars, Tobias decides to spontaneously test one of the spells, swallowing the star and pulling his soul, his very heart, from his chest, letting it sit in his hand as a glowing seed that flamed with red light.
> Something happens, he's distracted, maybe mugged, and he losses the seed, and while searching for it, it touches the earth, takes root, and grows into the most beautiful flower anyone has ever seen.
> The flower is rumored to hold healing properties, so when a beloved queen becomes ill, soldiers unroot the flower and press it into a tea, which she drinks entirely, leaving none of the flower, of Tobias' heart, left.
> Months later she gives birth, to a stunning boy with red hair and green eyes, cursed to have flowers bloom from his skin, because his life is only half his.
> Unbeknownst to either, Carter is the heart that Tobias lost so many centuries ago.
> Which is why the curse hurts so much less in Tobias' presence.
> The only way to break both of their curses is to connect, combine (whatever).
> Either through marriage or sex (I haven't decided).
> Lucky they fall in love, right?
> But I wonder if Blu would allow such a thing~
> Might come back to add more to this AU. Till then, add your own thoughts if you wish, tell me what you think!
