Nastasia approached the Count's private closet, her heart pounding in her ears.
Any louder than this, she thought and the Count will hear it!
This was by far the boldest move she had ever done. Breaking into the Count's office and reading the Dark Prognosticus without the Count's authorization. The only reason she reckoned she could pull this off was that the Count was using the pool in the Solarium. Knowing how long it would take the Count to get dressed it would be at least 10 minutes for him to get there, even if he flipped there.
The door opened with ease as Nastasia used the charm that Count Bleck had given her in confidence to access his office. She proceeded toward his desk and throne, complete with his Cloth of State. She pushed aside the cloth and uttered the words she had committed to memory from Count Bleck. The featureless ebon surface appeared to shiver and the faint rectangular outline appeared.
Nastasia breathed deeply. Now for the final incantation. Get this wrong and she wouldn't have to worry about the Void anymore...
Meanwhile, Dimentio stalked around the mechanical workshop, formerly the domain of Mr L. Dimentio still had preparations to make and was keeping a low profile in Dimension D, a small pocked of space-time that could only be accessed by flipping. Although he was aware that all except O'Chunks could flip, Castle Bleck was sufficiently vast that it was no great difficulty to construct this little pocket.
The workshop looked just like Mr L had gone to the Refectory to get something to eat. The dolly was still on the floor and most of the tools placed back on their marked holders. The corner furthest from the hanger doors was the most chaotic. Large sheets of metal where discarded on the floor along with machine parts. My, Mr L, you have been a busy boy.
Dimentio froze as he saw movement in his peripheral vision. He turned and saw a small robot who had wandered into the discarded metal. Watching it he saw that the robot had been walking around the room all the time he was here, he'd just noticed it when it reached the pile of metal.
The little robot had given Dimentio food for thought. He recognised it as the robot he'd put the spy camera in and that its face was a facsimile of Mr L. Dimentio smiled. If those heroes make it to his domain he would make sure their last moments would be spectacular, With Mr L's handiwork the star of the show.
Keep breathing, keep breathing. There it is. The Dark Prognosticus. Having got this far, the charms and spells she cast she would be protected from the dark magic which pervaded this ancient tome. But something didn't sit right. The tome did not seem almost alive like she remembered it.
Not long now.
She opened the tome in a part she recognised. The text looked the same but it didn't crawl or mutate like she remembered it when the Count handled it-! Damn! Better get out of here!
She placed the book back in the niche, taking deep breaths before she chanted the protective incantation, sighing with relief as the wall closed over it. Then the next chant to close the viewing. Backing around the desk she caught her shirt on his pen stand.
"Shit!"
Ink splashed on the desk and on her clothes. Fighting against a tide of panic, she practically ran out of the door, muttered the closing charm and only breathed when she heard the click. Taking no more risks she flipped back to her quarters.
Once the adrenaline of her close escape wore off, the true horror of her findings dawned on her. The Dark Prognosticus is a fake! There could be only one who could do such a thing!
Well, there was only one course of action now. You must tell Bleck and face the consequences. After all, the worst case scenario cannot be as bad as what Dimentio has set aside. She looked in the mirror to check that her expression resembled normality prior to changing her clothes.
Feeling a flush of fey energy, she almost smiled as she ventured forth to Count Bleck's office.