The Haunt of Danzig Ruin

Crinoline's Message

        Fitz paced back and forth outside the closed door, arms crossed with one hand to her mouth, fingers tapping lightly against her chin.  She did not know what to expect from what was occurring between the two people she truly cared for beyond the closed door.
        In coming together as a celestial scribe and his bound assistant, Fitz knew extremely little. She did know, however, that it was common for such a bond to be sexual in nature. She understood Nora's readiness for intimacy, but equally understood Petrich's wariness toward such a relationship with her, having experienced the more base aspect of the sexual act, as did everyone of a certain age.  But this was neither here nor there. The point of encouraging the two to complete their bond was for one reason and one reason only, to rid Danzig castle of its true demon in the form of a celestial document.
          Fitz noticed Leon's eyes following her as she paced. It was the most he had responded to his surroundings since being found writhing on the floor and gasping for breath.   Fitz knelt down to where he sat.
         "Alright?" she asked simply.
         Leon's eyes focused on her face and she could see that his shocked state was slowly ebbing away. He nodded his head a bit shakily.
         "What's happening? Where are Petrich and Nora?" he asked.
          "They are," Fitz gave a small tilt of the head toward the door, "Sorting out how to defeat this cursed object, before it destroys us."
           Leon's brow furrowed, but then he sighed in resignation. "She's too young to be bound to him."
           "Agreed, but their combined effort is our only hope. We must trust their judgement in the matter."
            "As you know, her life is quite literally in his hands now, and vice versa." Fitz nodded dismally, as Leon found the strength to stand up again.  "Now, what is their plan from here?"
           "Well. . .I do not have an answer for that. I'm quite sure Petrich has some sort of knowledge in the dealings of cursed documents."
           "He did not sound so very sure when the subject was discussed at the river."
             Fitz tightened her jaw. The argumentative Leon Stephanotis was certainly back in full effect.
"Be that as it may," she said, "We still must trust his abilities and give them both upmost support."
"That goes without saying, but-"
Leon stopped abruptly, listening to the sound of something approaching them in the dark stone corridor. Fitz peered into the dark with the use of her night vision eyesight. It was the tall lanky form of Tim, the walking dead.
Just how long can a reanimated corpse carry itself? Fitz silently wondered, an involuntary shudder coursing down her spine at such a thought.
She lifted her lantern in acknowledgement. "Ah! Tim! You have found us!" she called to him in the Kush language.
"Yes," the pale faced corpse replied, "I had to find you. I have been given a message from Crinoline Danzig. She wants the celestial scribe to know the origin of the document's curse."
               "We had the idea that Crinoline had tainted a single thread that was to cause the tapestry to self destruct, or so the legend goes."
Fitz offered.
             But to this Tim shook his head. "No. The thread was found out and discarded before it was woven into the tapestry. Even so, Crinoline was most grievously punished for having planted it."
         "What did they do to her?" Fitz asked, quite taken with this new information of the legend she thought she knew better than most anyone.
           "They imprisoned her in her own quarters by the insistence of that horrid Theo Xander! They bricked up her door and windows! Crinoline's servants were imprisoned also, guilty of the conspiracy against the engagement of Rosemary Danzig to that monster of a man Easily!"
"So, did Crinoline die in her prison?" Fitz wanted to know, enthralled with finally hearing the truth of the Danzig legend.
"She, with the help of her servants escaped the quarters, but did not escape the grounds. Crinoline was found hanging from the low bough of the ancient oak in the courtyard, but not by a vigilante mob nor the authorities, but it was the cursed tapestry. Her noose was made of many woven strands of thick thread. All of them red as fresh dripping blood."
"So, the cursed tapestry caught up with everyone involved, the whole Danzig family, among others." said Leon, after Fitz translated the conversation to him.
"All except one." Fitz replied. "Celestial Scribe Theo Xander." She turned back to Tim, "The one the tapestry wants the most revenge."
"Yes! Yes!" Tim exclaimed, "It is for what he did that the tapestry so seeks another scribe to receive the punishment Theo Xander did not!"
Leon looked from Tim to Fitz. "Well? What else did the wretched bastard do?"
*. *. *.

"You must wake up," Nora heard Petrich's voice say softly in her ear. Or is it in my head? She wondered. She then opened her eyes to Petrich holding her close.
"I do not have to ask how you are feeling." he said, "I know your current emotions as well as you know mine now."
Nora smiled. "I see that as a wonderful thing. No wasted effort trying to guess."
"Yes, extremely convenient when there is much work to do. Being synchronized to each other is the key to our success."
Nora leaned away from him. "Then you already know how much I love you, Petrich Hollenburg."
Petrich chucked softly. "Yes, I've always known, but now I can acknowledge it and actually respond. But there is now work to be done."
            "Yes," Nora agreed, "What's to be done first?"
             "We must conjure, a rather advanced act for a scribe and assistant, but we must try to bring the tapestry to us. Only then can we begin to pick it apart to find the truth behind the curse, then hopefully break it."
"We are still playing by ear, aren't we?" said Nora, recalling Petrich's rather sketchy education of the deactivation of cursed items.
"Yes," Petrich answered, "But then again, no." He grinned with that roguish twist of the mouth Nora found so irresistible. "You will soon understand how much power we now have together over such things."
Nora nodded, more confident than she had ever felt in her entire life, for now she felt complete.
As it were, there was no need to conjure anything, for at that moment came a great gust of screaming wind rushing down the crumbling chimney and in the room. Upon hearing the approach, Petrich immediately took hold of Nora and made her crouch low in a far corner and protectively hovered over her.
The room instantly filled with soot and dust as thick as fog so that for a moment Nora could see nothing, only feel Petrich's breath in her hair.
I need for you to shut your eyes, Nora, she heard him say in her mind. It will be important that we tackle this with our mind's eye. It will try to confuse us with hallucinations if we look upon it otherwise.
Nora nodded her head and quickly swept off a light scarf she wore at her neck. She tied it over her eyes. Petrich did the same with his discarded necktie. With them both blindfolded, they had no choice but to see about them with only their synchronized mind. What they saw instead of a decaying sitting room in a dilapidated castle ruin, was the same room in its glorious prime some two centuries before. And they were not alone.

*. *. *.

"Well??" Leon repeated, impatiently, "What did the rotten scribe do to provoke such a curse?"
Fitz scowled at him. "Calm yourself, Dr. Stephanotis." Then to Tim, in Kush, "Time is of the essence. Please tell us."
"Crinoline's father and Easley met with Theo Xander to discuss the marriage contract." Tim explained, "Xander warned both parties that the star readings did not coincide with their wishes for the union. They were adamant and so bribed the scribe to misread the stars to validate the marriage, and in his weakness and greed, Xander did as he was told. He knowingly defied the very heavens! For this reason, the tapestry document, aware of the treachery upon completion, cursed the family Danzig and all involved in the creation of a false document. It, therefore, took revenge on all, but had not the opportunity to punish the scribe. The punishment, likely death, might break the curse."
After quickly translating Tim's story to Leon, Fitz said to Tim, "No one, especially the scribe we have with us is going to be sacrificed in the stead of the true perpetrator. We are not here to appease such a thing."
"Then you mean to destroy it," said Tim.
            "Of course." Fitz replied.
             "But. . .destroying it will have made this expedition completely worthless!" Leon argued.
"Surely there is a way to deactivate the curse and keep the document intact, isn't there?" Leon shot the question to Tim, who merely stared at him without comprehension until Fitz translated.
Tim frowned at Fitz's words. "This man apparently has a taste for greed. . .just as did Theo Xander."
"What was that he said??" snarled Leon defensively.
But Fitz ignored him and said to Tim, "No, it is not greed. Dr. Stephanotis has taken much time and effort to retrieve this document. Please understand his position. I am a part of his team in his search. We have a duty to complete this commission, if at all possible."
"I understand," Tim replied after a moment. He looked over at Leon, and said in his broken Leidenschaftlichen, "I apologize for my offense, Doctor. For the curse to be lifted and for your expedition to be a success, that is my true hope." He then gave Leon a sincere and humble bow.
             Leon's crossed-arm stance of hostility eased, then fell away. He returned the bow in acknowledgement.  Leon then turned to the closed door and asked in his usual inpatient tone. "Just how long should we stand around before bursting through that door to help Petrich and Nora? How long should this bonding take, anyway?"