Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle

This was too much for Agatha. “I watched her rip them to bits right in front of my eyes!” she screamed.

Tarvek turned to Gil, worried. “Okay, that’s all I’ve got. You got anything?”

Gil rubbed the back of his neck. “Hm…Maybe…”

“Go for it. Please.”

Gil took a deep breath. “Actually, I wanted to tell you at, I don’t know, a better time, but Punch and Judy? They’re still alive.”

Agatha was shocked. Then she glowered, and looked like she was going to punch him. “Impossible! Why would you say—”

“Not impossible,” Gil interrupted. “Just very, very difficult! After you escaped from Castle Wulfenbach, I had them in my lab within the hour, hooked up to oxygenated nutrients, and being prepped. I stitched them back together and the reanimation process was underway within a week.”

Agatha’s face was now filled with a look of wonder. Gil continued. “As far as I can determine, there’s almost no memory loss. They’re still recuperating, but—” All at once Gil found his arms full of Agatha. She was hugging him with almost bone-cracking force.

“Gil! You’re wonderful!” She kissed him and thanked him over and over again, still holding him tight.

Gil tried to enjoy the moment, but he could almost feel Tarvek glowering at him.

“Seriously? The old ‘bring her family back from the grave’ gambit?” Tarvek’s lip curled. “Have you no shame?” He turned away from Gil and Agatha, picked up a syringe, and got back to work, muttering bitterly to himself. “I mean, jeez, it’s such a cliché! The last time I saw it was in Feydeau’s ‘The Clockwork Pantalettes’! And the reviews for that were terrible!”⁹⁹

Violetta kicked him in the shins. “Are you listening to yourself?”

Gil tried to ignore Tarvek’s jealous rambling. “They’re stable now, but they’re back on Castle Wulfenbach. I’ve left orders for them to be transferred to the Great Hospital as soon as it’s possible.”

Agatha let go of Gil sat down abruptly. “I just…it’s amazing.” she said in a daze. “She tore them to shreds.” “The thing we should be asking,” Zeetha said grimly, “Is what will she do to you if she gets a chance?”

Agatha considered this. “She didn’t kill me,” she said slowly. “And she had the chance.” She looked at Gil and Tarvek. “She’s important to these two. I’ll help them now, and, well, try to talk to her later.”

“You may not get the chance.” Tarvek said. “She really is dying, and we don’t have a lot of options down here.”

The angel clank hissed in distress. “This-is-is must-must-must-must not-not-not-not happen!” Its eyes flared. “You can-can-can-can-could-will-will-will—must do this for us-us-us!”

Agatha knelt down beside the stricken device. “Shh. Take it slow.” she said in a soothing voice. “Now…do what? What can I do?”

Lights flashed again within the clank’s eyes. “The M-mu-muse Otilia was pried-torn from this vessel. She-it-she must be-be restored to it, and I—returned to my proper function-instrumentality.”

Agatha straightened up. “You want to return her to this mechanical body? How will that help? It’s dying, too.” “No-no-no. Not dying. Not alive. I am Castle Heterodyne. I am—was—am vast. This engine constrains me. I-I am too much for it. But re-re-restore its muse, and this clank can be salvaged. Re-repaired.”

It jerked its chin towards the mechanisms that littered the room. “This is where it was done. These are the machines. You-she can do this, and you must do it now!”

Agatha stared at the clank. Her jaw firmed and she nodded once. Then she stood and clapped her hands. “Let’s get to work!”

A while later, von Zinzer was peering closely at the inner workings of the control panel on the lift cage. He pushed aside a wire with the tip of his screwdriver and a fierce grin twisted his face. “Oh yeah,” he breathed. “There’s the problem.”

“Herr von Zinzer?”

Von Zinzer turned. “Ah, Fraulein Snaug.”

She smiled at him. Without Lucrezia actually giving her orders, she was able to operate as normally as she ever did.

However, Zeetha had hit her hard in the fight, and she now sported a prominent black eye. She held up a sausage and a pot of beer. “I brought you something to eat.” She indicated the crowd of Sparks at the other end of the room. “They’ll want to get going soon.”

Von Zinzer gratefully accepted the sausage and took a bite, which made him realize just how hungry he was. “Thanks,” he said sincerely. He then tapped the control panel. “Oh…I was just thinking about you.”

Snaug was surprised. “Oh! Really?”

“Sure. That trouble you had operating the lift?” He tapped the panel again. “Not your fault, see? Loose worm gear.”

Snaug blushed and giggled. “Thank goodness! I’d hate for you to think me clumsy.”

Von Zinzer waved a hand. “Oh, not at all. Clumsy people don’t last around here.” He looked at her again and frowned. “Hey. Let me look at that eye.”

The girl felt an unaccustomed wave of embarrassment sweep over her. “Oh! Don’t look…”