The Twelve Chimes of Maligna Manor

Marco Polo in the Bathroom

Sara was actually pleased to see the bathroom. Her head was clearer than it had been, but she was still a little swimmy and plagued by a painful throbbing. A bit more water might do her good.

As accurate as it might have been to call this a bathroom, it would be underselling it.

The room was a gigantic square, rivalling the size of the parlour, with a corner toilet, pristinely white, a marble sink with a gold-trimmed mirror above it and a bath you could do laps in. It had a number of different tabs fed by a system of pipes which criss-crossed along the ceiling in an intricate web.

Of particular interest were the tile murals that lined the walls. Sara was not sure why you would want to have these kinds of Murals in a bathroom. They were sea scenes but not ones that seemed conducive to a relaxing soak. On the left wall was a ship caught in a tempest, on the right a tidal wave consuming a small fishing town and on the wall near the door was a drowning man. The worst by far, though, had to be the one above the bath, which depicted a green leviathan prominently displaying its needle-like teeth. Strangely, it was the only thing they had seen to this point that had been damaged. The tiles that made up the monster's eye were horribly cracked right down the middle.

"What do you think we're supposed to do?" Asked Ben.

"I don't know," Said Sara, her head once again beginning to throb, "wait around, I guess. I'm sure Lord Maligna will tell us what to do eventually."

Sara looked over to the sink. If she was waiting around anyway, she might as well cool her head a bit. She went over and turned the tap. There was a rattling sound that began somewhere in the mess of pipes above them and travelled around until it got to the tap. It began shaking violently, and as Sara took a step back...

Ploop.

A small drop of water fell into the basin. Nothing else. Sara groaned.

"This place probably isn't connected to the water supply," Said Ben, "The system will have changed since the house was meant to be burnt down."

"What, you mean Maligna can't sort out his plumbing?" Asked Sara.

"Why would he even need plumbing?" Ben replied.

Sara gave another groan and made her way over to the bath. Someone had put the plug in, which was weird. In fact, hadn't the plug been in the sink, too? Why would they have done that if there was no water? Sara tried the tap. Once again there was a loud rattling that made the journey towards the tap. Once again, the tap shook violently but Sara didn't bother stepping back this time.

Klink.

Something fell out of the tap. It wasn't watering this time. It was something small and metal. It was the key.

"Alright," said Sara, "Another one down."

"Really," said Ben.

"Yeah," said Sara, "I just found the key."

"But," said Ben, "That can't be all we had to do."

"Remember what dad always says," Said Sara, "Never look a gift horse in the mouth."

Sara bent over to grab the key. As she did, she was nearly deafened as all the pipes in the room began rattling in an horrific clatter. A jet of water burst from the bath taps, the sink taps and even from the toilet.

Sara stumbled back and slipped on the now slick tile. The water was rising rapidly. Sara glanced over to the door. It was sealed shut, and adding to that, this room had no windows. If the water kept on like this, it would flood in minutes.