Notes: So, it turns out my muse has a lot more stories to tell about the gang during the 13 Ghosts days, so this is going to be the first in a series of multichapter adventures that will serve as my "Season 2" to the original 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, with this fic creating the premise of my "Season 2." As with the oneshot I posted last month, I'm drawing from the Curse of the 13th Ghost movie for only Vincent's backstory, and will be ignoring the "present-day" stuff from the movie, as it retconned way too many things to make sense, such as making the gang younger except for Flim-Flam or refusing to explain Scrappy's absence. I probably will address Asamad/Asmodeus being the final ghost at some point down the line, but for the moment, he won't be the focus.
Shaggy found the howling of the Tibetan winter winds surprisingly not as scary as he had expected. Actually, a lot of his current location was surprisingly not as scary as he expected. He had been in many ancient castles before and had been scared out of his wits—and none of those castles had been on a frigid Tibetan mountaintop, either.
But this castle? In an odd way, it felt like home. And to think, he never would have ended up here if he hadn't been so incredibly gullible…
He winced. He still felt guilty about that—opening the Chest of Demons and freeing the 13 ghosts inside—and he knew Scooby felt that way, too. In hindsight, it seemed so obvious that they were getting tricked—but neither of them could have imagined just how badly their blunder would have ended up being.
And yet… in a weird way, it had been almost worth it to meet Flim-Flam and Vincent Van Ghoul. Flim-Flam had gotten along with Scrappy right away, and Scrappy had been thrilled to have a companion close to his own age. As for Vincent, well… he had taken much longer to warm up to them, having been initially furious over the Chest being opened. Shaggy had been absolutely terrified of the warlock at first as a result, but as it became clearer that Vincent's icy exterior was merely a façade to hide his true caring nature, the fear was eventually replaced by admiration—an admiration that Daphne and Scooby also shared. As their quest to recapture the 13 ghosts progressed, Vincent had inevitably become another member of their mixed-up little family, and it was his castle that Shaggy—and the rest of their ghost-hunting crew—were currently staying.
They had captured Zimbulu, the 12th demon ghost, at the winter solstice in Boris Kreepoff's studio. With only one more remaining, Vincent had granted them some time off. While Flim-Flam's swift dealing allowed him to eagerly cash in on the madness that was holiday shopping season, Shaggy, Daphne, Scooby, and Scrappy had proceeded to spend the holidays in Cocoa Beach with their longtime friends Fred and Velma; it had been a nostalgic week, reliving the days when they had been chasing after (and being chased by) crooks in costumes, and yet, they had felt guilty for leaving Vincent all alone. They couldn't even bring it up to Fred and Velma—as far as they knew, Daphne was traveling all over the world as a reporter, with Shaggy and the dogs helping out; though it hurt to deceive their oldest friends in such a manner, they knew it was essential for their safety—Fred and Velma simply weren't prepared to take on the burden of hunting real monsters and ghosts, some of whom had proven to be vengeful and outright dangerous, and wouldn't have spared them.
And so, when the holidays ended and Fred and Velma returned to their day jobs, the others had picked up Flim-Flam and had ended up on the doorstep of Vincent's castle, much to his surprise.
Nevertheless, the warlock was a most gracious host, having only two house rules: the first, the nonnegotiable rule, was that they were not to touch any unfamiliar magical object or read from any unfamiliar spellbook for their own safety; the second rule, not as strict as the first, was that they at least try not to make a mess of the place.
And so, they stayed, playing the waiting game until, they hoped, the final demon ghost would make his presence known. Vincent spent most of the days searching with his crystal ball, trying to locate the ghost, but the ghost was determined to stay under the radar. The others helped in whatever ways they could—which were limited, seeing as they didn't have any magical lineage. But they also continued their own affairs—Daphne was submitting her articles remotely, with Shaggy and Scooby helping with the research when they weren't busy poking around in Vincent's kitchen. Scrappy was introducing Flim-Flam to his favorite tabletop games, and Flim-Flam returned the favor by teaching the puppy the art of grifting. January had given way to February, and February to early March, and they had all settled into this routine.
Shaggy slowly peeked out from under his stack of quilts as the wind and snow continued to howl outside. It was nearly midnight, and he was getting sleepy—but, perhaps, it wouldn't hurt to grab a quick pre-bedtime snack…
He covered a yawn as he slipped out of bed, put on his slippers, and headed out of his room and into the hall of the castle's turret. He paused for a moment, wondering if he ought to awaken Scooby, who was in the room across the hall; in the end, he thought better of it—whenever he invited Scooby to come along on a kitchen raid, the Great Dane usually was the one who ended up eating the lion's share of the food. Scooby was perfectly capable of raiding the kitchen on his own if he got hungry, anyway.
Shaggy was impressed with himself as to how quickly he'd learned his way around the castle; he fully expected to be lost, even after all this time, but he made it to the kitchen from the turret in record time. His sweet tooth was active tonight, and he proceeded to grab a few squares of shortbread—a recipe that Vincent had picked up on one of his many travels, and was supposedly able to satisfy a person's appetite with one piece. Indeed, Daphne, Flim-Flam, and Scrappy had found just one filling—and even Shaggy and Scooby had the edge taken off of their appetites after a few.
He placed a few pieces of shortbread on a small tea saucer and nibbled on one as he carried the saucer back to the turret; while making his way up the stairwell, he noticed that one of the side doors that led to the eastern wing was open. He hadn't noticed it on his way down—perhaps he had been too hungry. Wondering who else was up at this hour, Shaggy detoured to the eastern wing.
As Shaggy headed down wing's corridor, he realized that there was a light coming from Vincent's study; the study was crammed full of books on all areas of magic, and beside an ornate glass window was an enchanted telescope that, when activated, displayed whatever it saw upon the walls and floor of the study. More than once, both Shaggy and Daphne had wished they could've let Velma in on the secret—she would have loved to have spent hours getting up-close glimpses of stars and galaxies like never before. And Fred would've had a field day with all of the books; there was no telling the novels he could've come up with just by looking at the titles alone.
Quickly realizing that Vincent was the one still awake, Shaggy moved to wish him goodnight before heading back to the turret. He reached the doorway of the study, and, sure enough, Vincent was once again gazing into the crystal ball, trying to find any sign of the final escaped ghost.
Shaggy was just about to knock on the study door to get his attention when a bright light suddenly appeared behind Vincent; Shaggy froze, his eyes widening as the light seemed to form into some sort of doorway, that opened to reveal a woman dressed in armor, carrying a shield in one hand and a long staff in the other. How had she managed to breach the numerous protection spells that Vincent had cast all around the castle!?
Vincent had turned around to seemingly confront the intruder, but then, to Shaggy's surprise and concern, Vincent didn't move—he seemed stunned by her presence, and didn't even say a word.
"C'mon, Mr. V…" Shaggy murmured under his breath, as the woman surveyed Vincent with an unreadable expression. "Do something…"
But Vincent still didn't move, even as the woman now spoke—
"It has been a very long time," she said. "And I suppose you know why I am here? I am here to collect on a very old debt. Will it finally be repaid at long last?"
Shaggy watched in apprehension as Vincent now bowed before the intruder.
"It shall, My Lady," he said. "My word is my bond—and your wish is my command."
A satisfied smile crossed the woman's face.
"Excellent," she said, and she reached out with the staff, touching Vincent on the shoulder with it. "Let's go."
There was a flash of bright light, and Shaggy thought he saw the doorway of light close; when the light faded, both Vincent and the woman were gone—nowhere to be seen. The crystal ball was gone from its stand, as well.
And now Shaggy hit the panic button, dropping the saucer of shortbread in his haste to run back to the castle turret. What had just transpired in front of him had forcefully reminded him of when Nekara, one of the demon ghosts they had already captured, had entranced Vincent in a love spell. Was that what had just happened again? Was this new woman the final ghost, out for revenge?
Whoever or whatever she was, they had to save Vincent from her!
Shaggy was now knocking on all of the bedroom doors, raising the alarm—
"Vincent's gone!" he cried. "He's been spirited away! We have to find him—to save him!"
That had certainly gotten everyone awake and into the corridor in a hurry; as they ran to Vincent's study, Shaggy relayed what he had seen and heard.
"She said something about repaying a debt, and Mr. Van Ghoul agreed to do whatever she wanted—and she just magicked herself out and took him with her!"
"It really does sound like someone wanting revenge," Daphne said, worriedly.
"Rhat do we do!?" Scooby wailed. "Re gotta find him!"
"Uncle Scooby's right—before she does something to him like Nekara was going to!" Scrappy fretted.
"I'm going to use our crystal ball to triangulate Vince's location," Flim-Flam said, also concerned as he pulled his crystal from his sweatshirt pocket. "Lucky for us, he managed to take his crystal before he got Shanghaied."
"Well, like, hurry, Flim-Flam!" Shaggy exclaimed.
"I've almost… got it!" the boy exclaimed, after working on the crystal ball. "Look, I can see some sort of ancient Greek temple—that must be where Vince is. I don't see the lady—what did she look like?"
"Well, I guess you could say she looked like…" Shaggy trailed off, noticing a statue head above the study door. "Like, she looked like that woman in that statue there."
"…Really?" Flim-Flam asked. "Well nevermind; whoever she is, we have to save Vince from her! Just another moment here, and… transport!"
Nothing happened.
"…Flim-Flam?" Daphne asked. "What went wrong?"
"I… I dunno…" Flim-Flam said. "It's as though something is blocking the crystal-to-crystal transport."
"I'll bet it was that woman!" Shaggy fretted. "Like, she got in here as though all of Mr. V's protection spells were nothing!"
"That means that meanie could have him at her mercy right now!" Scrappy exclaimed.
"Roh no," Scooby moaned. "Poor Mr. Van Ghoul…"
"This can't be it!" Daphne said, shaking her head in sheer disbelief. "After everything Mr. Van Ghoul's done for us, we can't let him down now! Flim-Flam, you've got to get it to work!"
"I'm trying! Agh, come on!" Flim-Flam shouted, shaking the crystal ball now. "We've gotta find Vince!"
He smacked the crystal ball in frustration, and, finally, it began to glow.
An instant later, they found themselves in the Greek temple they had seen—sprawling marble surrounded them, including an ornately decorated roof supported by giant columns—and on top of the roof was a colossal statue of the woman Shaggy had seen in Vincent's study.
"Like, wow…" Shaggy said, as he took a few steps further inside. "This place is gigantic; Mr. Van Ghoul could be anywhere—"
"Halt, Intruders!"
"Zoinks—!"
Shaggy froze in his tracks as a winged being in ancient garb confronted them with a large bow that seemed to double as a sword blade.
"I am the Captain of the Guard here—and you were not among the ones invited! You shouldn't have been able to get here uninvited!"
"We're sorry—we don't mean to intrude," Daphne said, trying to calm the winged guardsman. "But we're looking for a friend of ours; we have reason to believe he was taken here—and that he might be in trouble!"
"You must be mistaken," the winged guard declared. "Everyone here was invited—and no one is in any trouble."
"Oh yeah!?" Scrappy said. "Then you shouldn't mind us looking around to make sure of it!"
They moved to push past the winged guard, who backed up to block their way again with his bow-blade.
"You can't go in there—you need to leave!" he insisted.
"We're not leaving without Vince!" Flim-Flam declared.
"Rhea!" Scooby agreed, trying to be defiant despite the fact that he was hiding behind Shaggy.
To their surprise, the guard blinked.
"'Vince?'" he repeated. "Are you talking about Vincent Van Ghoul?"
"You bet we are!" Scrappy returned.
"What seems to be the trouble here?" a new voice asked.
"Zoinks, it's her!" Shaggy exclaimed, pointing to the woman with the staff and shield, who was now approaching them. "She's the one who took…" He trailed off as he saw Vincent following behind her. "…Mr. Van Ghoul?"
"…And he's not alone…" Daphne said, going red with embarrassment to see two other familiar faces with Vincent.
"It's Mr. Voudini and Mr. Kreepoff," Scrappy realized, the fight going out of him and being replaced by utter confusion. They'd met Boris back in December, of course, during their run-in with Zimbulu at his studio, and they'd met Voudini nearly a year ago in New Orleans during the whole fiasco with Nekara.
"Well, this is certainly unexpected," Voudini mused aloud. "Especially with a barrier in place…"
"…And just what are you five doing here?" Vincent asked, also clearly surprised to see them.
"Rhaggy did it," Scooby declared, pointing at him.
"Oh, thanks a lot!" Shaggy gulped. "Like, all I know is that I saw her show up in the study just like that, and then she took Mr. Van Ghoul here. What was I supposed to think in a situation like that? I thought it was Nekara all over again, and that she was the thirteenth demon ghost!"
"Shaggy, no!" Vincent said, looking absolutely embarrassed now.
"I would advise you strongly to take that last statement back—or else," Boris warned, as he and Voudini cast nervous glances at the woman.
"Huh?" the beatnik blinked.
"Shaggy, apologize to her at once!" Vincent said, urgently, and without waiting, he turned to the woman. "My Lady, please forgive him; he has no way of knowing—"
"I understand," she said, with a serene look, and she turned to Shaggy. "You may put your mind at ease, Norville. I am not a ghost nor a demon."
"Oh, well that's… How did you know my real name?"
"She is Pallas Athena!" Vincent informed him.
"You mean, the Greek goddess of wisdom and light?" Daphne exclaimed. Suddenly, she felt very awkward, realizing that she was standing before a goddess in just pajamas and a robe—and her hair and makeup undone.
"The one and the same," the winged guardsman proudly replied, before Vincent could confirm it himself.
"Ohh," Shaggy said. It sunk in after a moment, and he suddenly stammered, pointing at her. "The g… the g…"
And without another word, he fainted on the spot, prompting Vincent to facepalm with one hand and cast a revival spell with the other.
"Talk about your first impressions," Flim-Flam mused, before it sunk in on him, as well. "Uh… Howdy, Goddess—what can I do ya for?"
Please forgive us for intruding," Daphne said, as she and the others now helped Shaggy back to his feet. "If we'd only known what was going on, we wouldn't have come here—but we thought Mr. Van Ghoul was in trouble."
"Well, I can't fault you for that," Pallas Athena replied, mercifully amused by what was going on. "You are quite a lucky man, Vincent."
"…Am I?" he deadpanned, still facepalming.
"I know of very few warlocks who would have five mortals follow him blindly out of sheer concern—not to mention have said mortals successfully cross a divine barrier to follow him," she said. "I don't suppose there are more mortals that we can expect?" She glanced at Boris and Voudini, who both shook their heads. "Very well, then—let us reconvene the meeting we had started."
"What about the mortals?" the winged guardsman asked.
"My Lady, should I send them back?" Vincent asked.
"There's no need for that," Pallas Athena said. "I think they have earned the right to attend and understand why I had to take you from them."
"As you wish, My Lady," Vincent said, and he turned back to the gang with a sigh. "…What am I going to do with you five?"
They merely shrugged in response and followed him to the temple's inner chamber.