MAGIC IN MECHANICSBURG

CHAPTER 4:

THE VOICE OF THE CASTLE

Carson led them through the town, and through a secret passageway hidden in a storage room for maintenance tools near the Red Cathedral, down to what turned out to be the true Heterodyne family crypt. The sculptures, coffins, sarcophagi and the like were, frankly, more than a little disturbing. As they passed them, Harry could see that Judy and Von Pinn found them very familiar, while Agatha was staring in awe, murmuring the occasional name that stuck out in her memory from some story or other.

It was a stark reminder to Harry that, Agatha and her father and uncle aside, the Heterodynes were monsters, some of whom made Voldemort look tame by comparison. And so, he asked Carson, "Would the people here accept her if she was more like her father and uncle?"

"Oh yes. We adored Masters William and Barry, Mr Potter," Carson said as they arrived in a chamber. "They may not have been traditional Heterodynes, but they were interesting all the same. And all Heterodynes come back here, one way or another. Masters William and Barry are the exceptions, thus far…but a place has been reserved for them when they return. No matter in what state they return in."

Judy gently nudged Agatha, and pointed to a marble slab at the blonde's feet. Agatha and Harry looked down, and saw that this was the resting place of Klaus Barry…her older brother, killed in The Other's attack on Castle Heterodyne. "Why would she kill her own son?" Agatha murmured.

"I don't think anyone knows," Judy said quietly, as Von Pinn began to emit a keening noise of distress and mourning. "Barry only left hints, that something in her changed somehow. Maybe it was brain damage. Maybe she was possessed by the real Other, or fused with it somehow. Or maybe Klaus Barry died wholly by accident. I doubt we'd get any straight answers from her if we asked the version of her in your head."

Von Pinn's fists were clenching, but Harry noticed that the Construct looked sorrowful. He gently touched her arm. She looked at him sharply, before shaking her head. "His death was my greatest failure," Von Pinn said.

"I'm sorry," Agatha said.

Von Pinn shook her head again. "I don't need your sympathy or pity, girl. They do nothing to ease the pain."

"Von Pinn…I know we haven't seen eye to eye at all…but I will do everything in my power to try and stop something like this happening again," Agatha said.

"…See that you do," the leather clad Construct said.

"I'm sorry, Von Pinn," Carson said. "I'm getting old, forgetting what happened. Judy, what have you told them about what happened?"

"I told them the general gist," Judy said. "But hearing your side, such as it was…"

"Very well." The older man gathered himself, before saying, "I was not in the Castle at the time. Three days prior, I had handed over my duties to my son. The Masters were away, dealing with giant vegetables at Huffnagle, I believe. Then, at 8:17 that night…a massive tremor rocked the town, part of the Castle exploded." He shut his eyes, seemingly reliving the night. "Out of the 207 staff of the Castle, 63 died that night, including my son. He died trying to protect your brother, Agatha. Serving the Heterodynes to the very end."

"…I'm sorry," Agatha said. "I really am. He must've been so brave…along with the rest of your family. I…thank you."

Carson harrumphed in both embarrassment and sadness. "Gratitude? Now I'm beginning to wonder whether Judy is telling the truth." He looked distant once more. "We ended up breaking our way into Lady Lucrezia's laboratory. She was missing, you see. And we didn't find her there, either. She had a Geisterdamen assistant, though we didn't know what a Geisterdamen was at the time. Said assistant had been murdered, her throat slashed open. There was a struggle, a battle even, of some sort. And then, the Masters came back."

"Bill was distraught," Judy said quietly. "It took a lot to get him to understand…we could not revive his son. Barry took charge, and coordinated the rescue and repair efforts…"

"And then, they secluded themselves in Master William's laboratory," Carson said. "They argued, argued like they never had before for two days. What about, I can't tell you. They left the next day, and we never saw them since."

The last bit held an edge of betrayal in his voice. "We heard rumours. Not to mention someone trying to wipe out the Sparks of Europe. 43 major houses dying, Slaver Wasps, revenants…many thought the Apocalypse had come. Three years later…"

"Barry found Agatha," Judy said. "He never spoke of what happened, not in any great detail. Only that The Other had been vanquished, but not defeated utterly. We weren't taken by Bill and Barry on their venture to stop The Other. Eventually, Agatha was left with us, though not before Klaus returned."

Carson nodded. "Many flocked to him, as he brought about peace that they desired, after The Other, and Sparks began warring again. When he arrived here…well, it's not that I didn't trust him. I actually always liked him, as did the Masters. The records showed that I and my son had died, and I adopted the name of Heliotrope to conceal me. After organising the City Council, Klaus took the Jägers and…Von Pinn. In any case, the City Council answers to myself and to Vanamonde, albeit in secret. A shadow government. Klaus may suspect its existence, but we go out of our way to avoid giving him problems, even helping him if necessary. However, with your arrival, things may change. If what Judy said is true, and there is a conspiracy looking to topple Klaus, then an impostor Heterodyne is still a possibility. So at the very least, I am probably going to have to do something I haven't done for a long time."

"You're going to link to the Castle," Judy whispered in horror. "Oh, Carson…"

"Link to the Castle?" Harry asked. "Like…it possesses him?"

"In a manner. It's rather unpleasant," Carson remarked, before sighing resignedly. He got them to follow him once more. They made their way through some even creepier passages, and once they reached the bottom of the stairs, he spun a wheel, causing the lights to shine brighter on something that, in Harry's opinion, should have remained in the darkness: a grotesque throne at the centre of a morass of cables and pipes. "The Throne of Faustus Heterodyne. The man who based the mind of the Castle on his own."

Harry grimaced. "And you're going to sit on it?"

"Yes," Carson said, shrugging off his coat. "Judy, would you assist Agatha with the warm-up sequence? I'm supposed to do it myself, but…"

Judy nodded, and directed Agatha to a nearby bank of controls, the pair of them going through a diagnostic sequence. Harry realised that there was a helmet on an arm, with a bunch of clamps, wires and tubes on it. "What the hell does this thing do?"

"Drives special metal rods into my brain," Carson said. "And yes, it hurts, even with the special sockets that were surgically implanted. I haven't done this for years, partly because it hurts, and partly because I've gotten into arguments with the damned Castle."

"…Can't that be done…I dunno, a little more humanely?" Harry asked.

"You're talking about Heterodynes and Sparks," Carson remarked. "Humane rarely enters into it."

Soon, Agatha and Judy were finished, and Carson put the helmet on, gathering himself, before flipping a final switch. With a sickening noise and a scream of pain from the older man, the metal rods disappeared into his skull, and he went rigid as the apparatus glowed. Then, he murmured something to himself in an eerie voice that wasn't Carson's, not quite. It was something ancient and eldritch, deep and resonant. He was saying something about how many seconds it was before the system was last activated, before a deranged grin lit up his features, now a little bloodstained from the brutal interfacing system. "Why, it's still Old Carson! He swore he'd never come back, so that must mean…he's very certain indeed." His eyes, hidden behind some lenses, flickered over to Judy and Von Pinn. "Ah! Judy! And Von Pinn! A pleasure to see you two again!"

Judy nodded. "It's been a long time."

"Hmm…so is this him?" the Castle, in Carson's body, mused, peering at Harry. "Hmm…what's with the feathers? Is he a Construct?"

Harry winced at the reminder of his imperfect Animagus transformation. He always seemed to end up with black feathers sticking out of his hair. Judy cleared her throat. "No, that is the…companion of the Heterodyne. She's right here. She has been vouched for by Master Barry himself. She is the child of William and Lucrezia."

The Castle's proxy body turned its head to Judy and Agatha. "…Are you a crossdresser?" it asked.

Agatha, her face twisted in anger, snarled, her voice tinging with that she had while in the depths of the Madness Place, "ENOUGH! I do not want to deal with this idiocy! Instead, I need to know what to do!"

Carson's possessed body showed an expression of shock, whispering, "The Voice…you sound very like Lady Lucrezia…hmm…well, given that Judy is vouching for you, I will humour you…for now. Still, the Heterodyne line rarely produces daughters. We will have to wait until I can test you in the Chapel of Bones. I presume you want to enter me soon?"

"For now, the Baron has forbidden it," Judy said. "If the situation changes, we will enter soon, but for now, we intend to be patient. This is the situation so far…"

After Judy explained what had happened, Carson's possessed body nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Not the best of situations, but I suppose it could be worse. And given that Von Pinn isn't making an effort to try to kill you, I doubt you are currently possessed by Lucrezia. Still, what you said about the wizards is hardly surprising. I have a group of them within me, along with a most interesting bird. It tried to rescue them, so I skewered it, and it burst into flames! Oh, that was hilarious! It's still growing from being a chick." The grin it showed was vicious and sadistic.

"Fawkes…" Harry whispered in horror, before he glared at the Castle's borrowed body. "You'd better not have hurt them!"

"Boy, your loyalty is commendable, but I personally would not hurt them anyway. Why would I? Through their…Will-based Transmogrification Force…"

"See? Even the Castle agrees with me!" Agatha said.

"Ahem. While it would be amusing for me to squish them, I would rather be whole and fully functional, and their repairs are helping matters, accelerating my eventual completion. Besides, the girl, Luna Lovegood…oh, she is such a wonderful conversational partner, her talk of strange creatures aside. They have done more for me over this past little while than the Baron's little convict colony have done in years. You know, if you really are the Heterodyne, then I wholeheartedly recommend wedding and bedding this one as soon as possible, to start up one hell of a line! The combinations between so-called wizards and Sparks…ooh, it makes me shiver in anticipation just thinking about the possibilities!"

"…You're nuts," Harry said. "A mad scientist castle, created by mad scientists, and it's insane. I shouldn't be surprised."

"Castle Heterodyne cares not from where the babies flow, only that there are babies," the Castle said with an unrepentant grin(1).

"…And a pervert too."

Agatha looked at Judy aghast, blushing furiously, and the Construct coughed, a little embarrassed. "The Castle is very much like that. That aside, how close are you to functionality?"

"I cannot put an exact figure on that. Indeed, I am concealing just how functional I am from most of the workers inside. At least one of them is part of a conspiracy against the Heterodynes, even if only by proxy. Their real target, after all, is Wulfenbach's empire. But I am certainly not far from full functionality. Still…I believe that will become a moot point before long. While most of my defences are down…I can tell that there is something in the sky, approaching the town. Something big. Something…gaudy. Something…pink. I believe this may be the impostor you feared. Still…this may be enough to allow the Baron to send you in. Make for the Masters' Library, for there will be a map to help guide you. Normally, the Heterodyne must enter alone…but I will make an exception for Judy, Von Pinn…and your pet wizard."

"My name is Harry Potter," Harry said, glaring at the thing inhabiting Carson's body. "Remember it."

Carson cackled. "Oh, you've got spirit, wizard! I'll release Carson. It's refreshing to have one of these little chinwags without him forcibly disconnecting. I look forward to meeting you in person." With that, the metal rods sprang back, and Carson cried out in pain, before tearing off the helmet, a deranged grin still playing over his features. "Oh, that is unpleasant, but still, very invigorating!" He chuckled.

"…But what was that about something in the sky?" Harry asked. "Something pink?"

"I saw it through the Castle's eyes," Carson said, still a little manic, even as he wiped the blood away from his wounds. "An airship…pink, hideously so…but with the trilobite of the Heterodynes on the side! It's still a fair way away…but it'll be landing soon! Come on, we need to see what they're up to!"

CHAPTER 4 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry and Agatha have spoken to the Castle. And it seems Zola is on her way…

1. I got this line originally from Gregg Landsman's Evangelion/Mass Effect crossover The Long Night of the Harvest, but when I used this joke in It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine), reviewers pointed out that this is actually a reference to Khorne of Warhammer. Just replace 'babies' with 'blood'.