The voice cried out as soon as the door opened, saying "Welcome to the second hall, The Hall of Illusions. As misdirection is the first tool of a magician, illusion is the second, for only when the audience thinks they see something happen will they believe it did happen, whether or not it is true. All you have to do is walk across this hallway, but beware, for all is not what it seems."
Daphne looked about and began to step forward but Shaggy grabbed her arm and said, "Wait Daphne, I have a sneaking suspicion regarding the ghost's warning." As Daphne watched Shaggy knelt and cautiously felt forward. After patting the door several times he nearly collapsed as his hand fell through the floor. After pulling himself back upright Shaggy said, "Alright, I think this time I will lead the way, patting the floor to make sure it's there, while you keep your open for anything that comes our way." Daphne nodded in agreement and the two headed forth.
They proceeded at a slow pace as Shaggy carefully felt before him for any other holes, directing the two of them around any such dangers. They had proceeded forward for several seconds when a fearsome tiger burst out of a side door and headed toward them. Before Shaggy could bolt back to the door Daphne grabbed him and said, "Hold it Shaggy. There wasn't a door there before. This is probably just an illusion." Sure enough the tiger just sailed through them before disappearing. Shaggy shivered in fear for a few seconds before continuing forward with Daphne close behind, keeping an eye out for anymore illusions.
Several more illusionary dangers manifested themselves along the way, with Daphne keeping Shaggy from loosing his head in panic. Finally they reached the door, but Shaggy slowly went over the door to make sure that it wasn't a fake or if it was that there were no hidden dangers within it. Finally, after ascertaining that it was safe he carefully opened the door.
As soon as they beheld the third hall the voice once again broke the silence, saying, "Welcome to the third and final hall, the Hall of Magic. While the previous two skills learned can be acquired by anyone with enough practice, only the luckiest of people can acquire the skill of true magic. All that you have to do is to pass along this hall, but beware, for the magic that inhabits this room will distort reality in such a way to deny you egress."
Shaggy and Daphne looked at each in concern, but knowing that they had no other choice they stepped forward into the third hallway. They walked along cautiously, but nothing happened to them for the first half of the way. At that point Shaggy said, with relief deep in his voice, "Man, I guess that the trick to this hall is that people think it's going to be scary but is in fact a bluff." As Daphne began to agree with him the room shifted as if made out of clay, transforming into something beyond imagination.
As the room morphed and distorted Shaggy gave a shriek and leapt into Daphne's arms. As Shaggy quivered in fear against her body a warm feeling passed through her, but that feeling quickly passed as fear also began to enter her mind. She turned around to where the door had been, but that was gone as well, leaving the two trapped in this maelstrom of a room.
The two of them huddled together, trying to gain support from each other. As the room continued to shift around them, becoming more terrifying by the minute, Daphne began to notice a trend. The more that Shaggy and she quivered in fear, the more horrible the room became, as if it fed off of the fear they generated. With that thought she calmed down and the room became less terrifying, but it was still a chaotic morose as Shaggy was still overcome with terror.
Daphne shook him to get his attention as she said, "Shaggy, calm down. The room is reacting to your fear, if you calm down then everything will be okay." But despite her words he was too caught up in his fear to hear her. In desperation she reached into her purse and pulled a box of Scooby Snacks, saying, "If I give some Scooby Snacks will you calm down."
With a shiver in his voice Shaggy replied, "I don't think even Scooby Snacks will keep me from freaking out." With those words the room became even more horrifying, and that began to erode at the confidence that Daphne had built up against the wave of fear that constantly beset her. As she looked all over, searching for inspiration, the thought running through her mind was a question, how could she divert Shaggy's attention from the fearsome situation around them.
The answer came to her as if from out of the blue, and at first she balked at it, but she realized that it was possibly the only thing that would be enough of a shock to drag his mind from the danger they were in. She quickly turned his head to face hers and then, before she could have second thoughts or he could react, she dropped her head to kiss him full on the lips.
Her eyes were open as she did so, so she was able to see his eyes pop open as their lips made contact, but as time passed her eyes closed as she concentrated all of her mind onto the kiss. The lips that hers were pressed against were just as she had dreamed they would be, and this caused her to pull him closer as she felt him do the same to her. Time seemed to have stopped as the two clasped each other, their only thoughts being the lips that they were sharing with each other.
Finally they slowly pulled apart, their eyes opening to gaze on each other with a hint of both amazement and emotion. Several more seconds passed before they noticed that the hallway around them had reverted to the way it had been. With a slow nod they headed along to the door, still looking at each other. As they opened the door the voice boomed out, "Congratulations, you have passed the Three Halls of Magic. You have felt the wonders of magic and can no consider yourself worthy enough to be known as a magician." But Shaggy and Daphne ignored those words, still only concerned with studying each other.