With the Vespa that Daphne had conjured, she and Shaggy had made it to the volcano in record time.
"Look at that," Daphne said, pleased with herself. "This gives us a great deal more time to find the Lyre. Did I have a great idea, or what?"
"Who said this is a good idea?" Shaggy asked. "We have no idea how strong that Hydra is in there!"
"And that's why we're only going to fight the Hydra as a last resort," Daphne reminded him. "You know what Vincent says—'Always try to avoid a conflict whenever possible.' That goes double for multi-headed lava beasts."
"Well, I can agree with that, at least," Shaggy said, with a nod. "But how do we know which cavern to go into? They all look the same."
Daphne took a look at the caverns.
"Ah…" she said, trying to think again. "Okay, let's see… What would Vincent do in a situation like this?"
"He'd use the crystal ball," Shaggy pointed out.
"Right!" Daphne exclaimed, taking out the spare crystal from her bag. Normally, Flim-Flam was the one who held onto it, but she and Shaggy had borrowed it for the exam, for just such an occasion. "Show me the Lyre of Apollo."
An image appeared in the crystal of a lyre that seemed to be crafted out of a special kind of gold—it glowed with a vibrant light as it rested on a large, stone pillar, surrounded on three sides by a lava pool. A narrow stone walkway led to it on the fourth side. And nearby, in the lava, a dorsal fin was just barely visible in the lava.
"Is… is that…?" Shaggy pointed at the dorsal fin.
"The Hydra? I'm willing to bet it is," Daphne said. "We'll have less room to work with in there than I thought."
Shaggy gulped.
"That's problem 2; problem 1 is where exactly is 'in there,' anyway?"
"That involves us using the crystal's divining feature," she said. She held the crystal out in her hand.
Nothing happened; Daphne's ears were turning red with embarrassment.
"…You know, Vincent usually comes up with some sort of rhyme to get it to work," Shaggy pointed out.
"…Right…" she remembered. She pondered for a moment over what to say, and then cleared her throat and began to recite—
"As we stand here, prepping for
A journey through these caves of fire,
I ask you, Crystal, show us now
The direction of Apollo's Lyre!"
The crystal took on a steady, green glow, and as Daphne pointed it in one particular direction, the glow grew brighter.
"That must be it," she said, as the crystal's glow peaked in the direction of one of the caverns.
They walked closer to it; even as they approached it, Daphne could feel the immense heat increasing around them.
"Okay, this is already getting to be a bit much," she said, wiping sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief.
"Really?" Shaggy asked, unfazed. "I'm perfectly fine!"
Daphne gave him a look.
"You keep your room at 80 degrees," she reminded him.
"Can I help it if I hate the cold…?"
"Okay, well, you can wait if you want, but I want to take my half of the anti-heat potion now, thank you very much," Daphne insisted.
Shaggy shrugged and indicated for her to go ahead. With a sigh, Daphne uncorked the small bottle and drank her half in one gulp. Her face took on an odd expression as she swallowed the brew.
"What's wrong?"
"It tastes like something burnt—like that fire-roasted eggplant they serve in the village, with the peel charred black."
"Oh, perfect—I love that stuff!" Shaggy exclaimed.
Daphne gave him a look again and handed the small bottle to him.
"You can have the rest, then," she said, with a shudder as the aftertaste tingled on her tongue.
Shaggy shrugged and pocketed the bottle, aiming to save it for when he would really need it.
Daphne sighed as she stared at the cavern entrance—and the long tunnel that seemed to lead into the volcano.
"Well, this is it, Shaggy—if we want to do this stealthily, we might have just once chance at pulling this off. You ready?"
Shaggy gulped again.
"As ready as I'll ever be…"
Daphne nodded; as excited as she was to prove herself, she had to admit that she felt some nervousness, as well.
"Look…" she added, glancing back at him. "Whatever happens, we're going to give it our best shot, right?"
"Right," Shaggy nodded, still nervous.
"Okay," she nodded. "I don't want to fail this, but even if we do, it won't be for a lack of trying."
"Yeah, like, I get that," Shaggy agreed.
"Okay, then—let's go," she said.
And she led the way into the cavern's maw, with Shaggy right behind her.
