Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle

Behind her, Professor Mezzasalma cleared his throat. “Prince Wulfenbach and Prince Sturmvarous are in position. The connections are made and will probably hold. All we are waiting for is you, my lady.” He glanced in her direction, blushed, and looked away. “Are you all right?”

Agatha glanced down and saw her skin color shift to a bright cyan. “Well, no, Professor, I’m not.”

Mezzasalma looked flustered. “Yes, of course…I knew that…”

Fraulein Snaug slid her wrench back into one of her belt loops. “I’m finished,” she announced. “I’m hooking you into the circuit—” She flipped a switch. “Now.”

Suddenly, Agatha pitched forward. “They’re sicker than I thought,” she groaned. With effort, she straightened up. “We’ll start with Tarvek,” she muttered.

Snaug looked alarmed. “Weren’t we going to do you all at the same time?”

Agatha shook her head. “At this point both Gil and Tarvek are too worn out. The si vales valeo procedure hasn’t got a chance of working without someone stronger in the donor position.” Agatha noticed that her hand was trembling and dropped it to the console. “At the moment, the strongest person is me.”

“But…” Snaug frowned, “if you use all your energy on them, then won’t you all be drained when it’s time to revive you? It’s just, well, I’m as big a fan of perpetual motion machines as the next girl, but they hardly ever work.”

“Well spotted. Yes. It’s possible there could be some problems at that point, but I’ve got a few things set up that will fix that.” She poked at her devices and fiddled with a dial. “Probably.”

Snaug frowned. “Oh, that fills me with confidence.”

Agatha didn’t bother to argue further. “To your station, Snaug,” she ordered.

“Yes, mistress,” Snaug moved to her place.

Agatha looked around, her gaze lingering first on Gil, then on Tarvek. They lay still, strapped in their arrays on the slabs that flanked her, and took a final deep breath. They were all as ready as they were going to get. “Good luck, you two,” she whispered. She then wheeled about and unhesitatingly threw a large lever. “First switch!” she called.

There was a crackle of electricity and Tarvek shrieked and strained against his restraints.

Violetta went pale. “He…he sounds like he’s dying!”

Agatha rolled her eyes. “Well of course he is. That was the point.” She sat herself down in an elaborately constructed chair. “Now come on, it’s time to get me strapped in.” Violetta tore her eyes from Tarvek’s thrashing form and fumbled at the first of a series of straps and buckles. “Make sure those are really secure,” Agatha admonished.

“I know! I know,” Violetta mumbled.

Agatha studied a bank of readouts next to her chair. “Hurry! Tarvek’s readings are almost terminal!” She raised her voice. “Professor! We’re getting power fluctuations!”

Mezzasalma swore. He scuttled over to a smoking cable, ripped it apart, and slammed a new connector into place. “We’re burning through fuses faster than expected,” he shouted back. “But I can deal with it!”

“Sturmvarous is flattening on all meters,” Snaug sang out.

“Good!” Agatha hunkered down in place. “Keep the power running as smoothly as you can!” She glanced towards Violetta—

“This is the last strap,” Violetta said.

“Then start the countdown—Now!”

Numbers started flicking down on the board. “Professor!” Snaug shouted, “My controls just went dark!”

“Sorry,” Mezzasalma returned, “this thrice-cursed fuse has melted! I’m shunting to number four array!”

Agatha ignored them. “Violetta?” she asked nervously, “did you remember to strip all the metal off them?”

“Yes. Of course.” Violetta assured her, settling a heavily-wired crown of lights onto her head and strapping it on.

“Even Gil’s…ring?” Agatha whispered.

“Sheesh! Yes! You only told me three times!” said Violetta, connecting wires in the crown to the rest of the array.

“You’re nervous,” Violetta said. “If you don’t relax, this is really going to hurt like crazy.”

Agatha gave her a grim smile. “Oh, I certainly hope so.”

“Prince Sturmvarous is prepped for revivification!” Snaug announced.

Agatha closed her eyes and grit her teeth. “All right—Do it! And then get back!”

Violetta nodded. She took hold of Agatha’s locket and held it in place while she undid the clasp. Then, all at once, she leapt backward, taking the locket with her.

Agatha’s head slammed back against the headrest of the chair and she screamed, initially in agony, but midway through it changed into a scream of triumph. The blue lights on the crown device went red, and Lucrezia opened her eyes.

“Why, I’m back!” A wicked smile crossed her face. “What a lovely surprise!”

Then her eyes widened in panic and she tugged at her restraints. “Wait—What is this?” She looked up and saw Violetta watching her intently. “Release me at once!”

Violetta licked her lips. “Wow. That really is weird.”

Instantly Lucrezia looked scared and vulnerable. “Yes! There’s something very wrong! There’s been a terrible mistake! Quickly now, untie me!”