Notes: There are references in this oneshot to two previous fics I've written—"What's Past is Prologue" and "In the Blood."
Daphne was quiet during lunch, though she had the wind element scroll with her once more, trying to read it was almost impossible knowing that she'd be attempting actual magic in minutes.
Somehow, she managed to keep it together as she and the others rejoined Vincent in the training room. The others took their seats on the mats to watch.
"So…" she said, biting back her nervousness. "What are we starting with? An elemental spell? Teleporting? Protect or Reflect Barrier?"
"We're going to start with something simple first rather than diving right in to those more complex spells," Vincent replied.
"Oh…" Daphne said. "But I thought I've cast complex spells before, haven't I? I cast Fira once, and then I cast Temporal Chains twice—you said that was really advanced."
"This is true, but in those occasions, you were borrowing the mana of another powerful mage; you used Sypha Belnades's mana to cast Fira—she was a highly talented witch. And, of course, you used my mana to cast Temporal Chains. With my powers as strong as they are, it only took a little bit of mana to be as effective as they were. Plus, my mana was more or less a guide for you; as effective as it is, the goal is for you to learn to cast spells independently. Using a different source of mana—one that is controlled by you, completely on your own—is going to be noticeably different. You are, more or less, starting from scratch, so for all intents and purposes, just forget that you ever cast those spells before. I hope you don't find this discouraging."
"No," she assured him. "Just a little disappointing, I guess. I thought you said I had a lot of promise, and I've done the readings and I've honed my focus…"
"I meant what I said," Vincent assured her. "I wouldn't have suggested the idea of you learning magic if I didn't think you were capable of it. And yes, you've mastered the theory and have learned to focus—an essential part of spellcasting. But there are many other factors involved in spellcasting. Just as I told the others, the whole point of practicing is so that you'll improve on those factors." He glanced over at the others. "I do hope you are all paying attention?"
The others nodded.
"Rheah, rhou're making sense," Scooby assured him.
Satisfied, Vincent turned back to Daphne.
"Are you alright with this?"
"Yes, but…. This was what you wanted to tell me earlier, huh?" Daphne realized. "Not to expect too much from today's lessons?"
"Yes," Vincent admitted, regretting that he hadn't addressed this then. "I know you are eager to prove yourself, but don't try to hold yourself to perfection when this is, for the most part, going to be completely new to you."
Easy for you to say, she silently responded. You weren't the one constantly being called "Danger-Prone," after all…
"Trust me, Daphne—the sense of pride you'll have upon achieving spellcasting on your own will be far greater than anything you've felt until now," he continued. "Now, shall we begin?"
She steeled herself and nodded.
"So, if I'm not casting anything advanced, what am I casting?"
"I'll explain in just a moment; first, I want to give you a bit of background," Vincent said. "Spellcasting involves the use of energy to manipulate matter. I'm sure you recall learning in your mortal schooling that energy and matter can neither be created nor destroyed, is that not so?"
"That sounds familiar," Daphne agreed.
"Like, wow, that's a flashback and a half!" Shaggy commented. "All those hours in Mr. McDabble's physics classes…! This was the thermodynamics lesson!"
"So, first we had magic as yoga, and now we've got magic as thermodynamics?" Flim-Flam mused. He blinked, and then looked at Scrappy. "What's thermodynamics? I don't think I've gotten that far yet."
"You got me; I didn't have to learn that," the puppy returned.
"Lucky you," Shaggy commented.
"Well, your mortal teacher was correct—not even magic can create or destroy energy or matter—merely move or distribute it. For example, I can use the energy source of my mana to manipulate the air into a breeze… Aero!"
Daphne took a step back as a small gust of wind swirled around Vincent's left hand and blew towards the ceiling.
"That was the wind element," she recalled from her reading.
"Correct—Aero is the basic version of the spell. There are higher levels of strength of the spell that I use when needed—the Aeroga spell. The suffix denotes the strength of a spell."
Daphne managed a nod, and then sighed.
"Couldn't I at least try it?" she asked.
Vincent's expression softened.
"You are welcome to try, but please—don't be disheartened if the results aren't what you hope for. Try the basic version of the spell first."
She nodded, trembling slightly, but aimed the staff towards the ceiling.
"Aero!"
A rather unimpressive puff of air shot out of the staff head. Daphne could feel her face flushing red in embarrassment.
"…Well, that could've gone better," she sighed. "Is it really just because I was depending on your mana when I cast those other spells?"
"Not entirely," Vincent said. "You should also keep in mind that you were casting those previous spells in urgency—there are no stakes here, so you don't have the benefit of adrenaline helping your performance."
"…I think I get it," Shaggy said. "It's not 'real' if you're just standing in a training room; that makes it harder to force."
"Which is also why I wanted you to work up to it," Vincent added. "Let's try something that I think you'll be able to do today. I mentioned earlier about the manipulation of matter—that isn't just creating elemental magic. Mages can manipulate anything—change its size and shape by using mana to change its atomic structure in a process called transmogrification."
"Hey, now that sounds like alchemy," Flim-Flam said, perking up. "Changing lead into gold, and all that."
"Yes, mortals found the concept intriguing and had to try making their own version of it—that's how alchemy was started," Vincent replied. "It was rather amusing for us mages, being able to stand back and watch."
"Is rhalchemy real?" Scooby wondered aloud.
"Real in the sense that magical manipulation of matter works in a similar way," Vincent said. "Of course, mages have no need to turn lead into gold—we can conjure up anything we need, so using gold as currency is pointless, though you mortals seem to like it. Conjuring is a form of transmogrification—taking the atoms in the air and converting them into whatever it is we need."
"So it really is making stuff appear out of thin air?" Scrappy asked.
"I guess you could describe it that way, yes," Vincent mused. He glanced back at Daphne. "We're not going to try conjuring today; that is a bit more advanced than simple transmogrification of an object." His expression grew serious for a moment. "Transmogrification can, theoretically, be used on anything."
"And there's no written rule against the transmogrification of living beings," Daphne recalled from her readings. "However… that isn't how we roll." She managed a smile. "So no turning people into frogs or… anything else."
Vincent's expression softened again.
"You'll be tempted," he admitted. "And you'll find yourself in situations where such a course of action would be justified. But you're better than that—and I have faith that you'll find other ways to deal with those situations. Now, then… I would like for you to focus on manipulating your staff—it should be the easiest thing for you to transmogrify, as it has its own mana."
"What would you like me to do to it?" she asked.
"I'll leave that up to you," Vincent said. "But I imagine you'd want to find a way to carry that staff everywhere you go, but in a way that would be less cumbersome than dragging it around in its full size. There are many ways for you to handle this, and I would like you to choose which you prefer. Hone your focus, and let your mind resonate with the mana and make it happen."
He stood and watched as Daphne closed her eyes and concentrated again. A few minutes passed, and then the staff, still glowing in her hands, was suddenly transformed; the main body of the staff had turned into a thin, silver chain, and the head of the staff—with the emerald in the silver meshwork—now dangled from it like a pendant.
Daphne opened her eyes and grinned, slipping it around her neck.
"Well, what do you think?" she asked.
"I think it's perfect," Vincent replied, sincerely, as the others clapped and cheered. "You've made it perfectly portable—all you need to do now to use it as a staff again is to will it to return to its default shape."
Daphne held the staff head-turned-pendant in her hand and, a moment later, the chain fell away from her neck and re-formed itself into the staff.
She practiced this a few more times—turning it into a necklace and back again until she could do it with relative ease. Clearly satisfied with her progress, Vincent declared the day's lesson a success.
"Part of your training is ensuring that you are well-rested," he informed her and the others. "When you're performing magic, you'll want to have your wits about you at all times. Class is dismissed."
Shaggy, Flim-Flam, and the dogs all headed out, chatting excitedly about what they'd seen and wondering how long it would take for them to progress with the theory part of it. But Daphne didn't move; she was still deep in thought as she looked at the staff-turned-necklace resting around her neck.
"Daphne?" Vincent asked, concerned.
"I got this part so easily," she said, sounding genuinely confused. "But when I tried Aero, it didn't work."
"Well, I explained the reasons why—elemental spells are advanced, you're on your own without my mana to guide you, and the lack of urgency is still a bit of an inhibition," the warlock reminded her.
"…Is there a way to remove that inhibition?" she asked. "A way to make it more… real, as Shaggy said?"
Vincent frowned, both concerned and confused.
"Daphne, I would have thought that you'd be pleased with the progress you've made today," he said. "Most beginning mages wouldn't have been able to master transmogrification of a single object in just one day. Your ability to master the elemental spells will come in due time."
"But if we can get my mastery of those spells to happen faster, I think we should," she said. "And if the way to have it happen faster is to make it more real, then I think we should do that."
Vincent continued to look at her in surprise.
"What is the urgency?" he queried, arching an eyebrow. "Is this about the Olympians possibly following your progress? I asked you not to give too much thought to that. They know and understand that you are mortal—if anything, your performance today would have impressed them."
"No, it isn't that—not entirely," she admitted. "I mean, I know that there'll be people looking at this and questioning your decision to pick me as your heiress of knowledge. Of course I want to prove to them that you were right to believe in me. But that's only just part of it."
"And what's the rest?" he asked, gently.
"…You really want to know?" she returned.
"Yes, I do."
Daphne drew in a deep breath, but steeled herself and continued—
"I haven't exactly been the most graceful person around. If there was a trapdoor or revolving wall switch somewhere, I was usually the one to find it and get stuck," she admitted. "And I always seemed to get in trouble, too—particularly when we were chasing crooks—or being chased by them…" She winced, blushing bright red again as she recalled a few of those incidents. "…My nickname in high school was 'Danger-Prone Daphne.' The others were able to help me out of the trouble I got into, though, but after I graduated and we all went our separate ways, I realized that, since I was alone, I would have to learn to defend myself."
"The martial arts classes?" Vincent asked.
She nodded.
"I still seem to be a magnet for trouble, though, even after those classes," she sighed. "And the stakes are higher now. Asmodeus is out there, and he's planning something. I can't afford to be 'Danger-Prone Daphne' anymore—not when I know that Asmodeus will be after the others, and especially you…" She shut her eyes for a moment. "Earlier this year, when I got sent to that other dimension by that shadow witch, you followed me there to help me, and… you almost didn't make it back alive, and I was absolutely helpless! You were so far gone that trying to use your mana to heal you almost didn't work—I really thought I was going to lose you! …But then, a few months back, when we had to deal with the ghost of that witch hunter, I was able to save you and stop him by using magic. I wasn't helpless anymore!" She exhaled. "That's why I want to speed up my training as quickly as I can and be competent at the more advanced spells—so that I can actually watch your back against Asmodeus or anything else that attacks."
Vincent nodded, understanding. In spite of her own baggage, her selflessness still shone through.
"I see," he said. "Well, perhaps there is a way that we can overcome the hurdle of this indoor training not being 'real' enough for you."
"Really? How?"
"…I don't know yet," Vincent admitted. "I'll need to give some thought on how best to accomplish it—we don't want reality to come at the cost of your safety. But give me some time—I'm certain I'll think of something."
Daphne managed a smile again, nodding.
"I'm sure you will, too," she said, confident. She moved to leave the room, but paused again. "…Thank you."
He nodded in response, and then gave a good-natured sigh as she hugged him briefly before leaving to join the others.
Left alone now, Vincent pondered over the puzzle at hand. A change of scene was in order, for certain—something outdoors, preferably in a place that would seem more immersive than this.
…Perhaps it was time to bring Voudini into this.