Notes: I wrote this oneshot for today, which would've been Casey Kasem's 90th birthday. This oneshot takes place between "Class Reunion" and my current crossover fic, "The Ghost Bride of Hagglethorn Hall." Shaggy getting the Masamune sword in "Class Reunion" was meant to reference his being chosen by the Green Dragon in Samurai Sword, which was Casey's last official run as Shaggy. At the end of "Class Reunion," I left Shaggy undecided as to whether he was going to seek further training with the sword, but in this oneshot, he finally makes his decision!
Daphne had first sensed something amiss the days after she and the others had returned to Vincent's castle following all that had transpired at his class reunion at Terror Tech the previous week—and it had been quite a lot. From finding out that Asmodeus had been planning to allow Hades to return to the world of the living and manipulated countless innocent warlocks and witches to do it—and then facing down Hades when he had returned, only to have had Vincent transform into a Paladin because he'd taken a strike from Hades's spear that had been meant for Daphne—they had been through so much without really being able to discuss it.
The first sign that something had been off was, one morning following their return to the castle, the dining room table had been completely empty; Vincent usually had breakfast on the table, not needing as much sleep as the mortals did. He'd been putting breakfast on the table later than usual since their return, but Daphne had chalked that up to Vincent having a lot on his mind.
Wondering where Vincent was, Daphne heard voices coming from the kitchen; following them, she found Shaggy stirring the contents of a cauldron that had been suspended over the kitchen fireplace. She looked on in impressed wonder.
"I can't believe it!" she grinned. "You finally decided to start!"
"Start what?" Shaggy asked, looking up from the cauldron.
"Your magic training!" she exclaimed.
Shaggy blinked, staring back at her in confusion.
"Like, what are you talking about?"
"Isn't that a potion you're brewing that Vincent taught you to make?" Daphne asked.
"No, it's tomato soup for a breakfast side dish."
Shaggy indicated the rest of the preparations; Scooby was frying up some potatoes on the stove as Flim-Flam and Scrappy attended to a growing stack of toast, waving to Daphne as she looked over in their direction.
Daphne merely sighed.
"In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't be surprised…" she began, but she trailed off. "Wait a minute, Vincent usually has breakfast ready for us when we're awake. Why isn't he involved?"
"He's still asleep," Flim-Flam replied, with a shrug.
"Really?" Daphne asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I walked past his room earlier to make sure he was okay," Scrappy said. "I could hear him snoring and I figured he could use the rest, so we made breakfast ourselves!"
"Rhotatoes are done!" Scooby exclaimed, transferring them to a serving dish.
"Thanks, Scoob," Shaggy said. "Can you take over the soup for me for a bit while Flim-Flam and Scrappy set the table? Daphne and I will wake Vincent; he shouldn't miss a breakfast this good."
"Rhokay!"
"Sure, Shaggy!"
"We've got this!"
Scooby began to stir the soup and Scrappy and Flim-Flam moved to set the table while Shaggy and Daphne headed to the turret.
"There's something you're not telling me, is there?" Daphne asked.
Shaggy bit his lip and nodded.
"Like, have you noticed that, normally, Vincent doesn't need to sleep for longer than half an hour each night?"
"Yeah, and I wish I could pull that off—can you imagine having seven and a half extra hours?" Daphne sighed.
"Daphne, Vincent told me that the reason he doesn't need to sleep is because of his mana," Shaggy interrupted. He gave a nod of confirmation as she turned to him, wide-eyed. "And he only sleeps if he needs to restore it."
"Oh, no…" Daphne groaned. "I had a feeling his mana was related to how much he slept,, too, but I guess I just desperately wanted to deny that inkling. Something must've happened last night after we turned in that caused him to burn through his mana again."
"…It's been more than last night, Daphne."
"…What!?"
"I've been on midnight snack runs almost nightly since we've returned," Shaggy said. "I could hear his snoring in the hallway outside his room, too. He's managed to get up in time to put breakfast on the table and he clearly didn't want to act like anything was out of the ordinary, so I didn't say anything… except this morning—"
"—He's still asleep," Daphne said, realizing what it meant. "Oh, no!"
She practically dragged Shaggy along back to the turret; sure enough, they could still hear Vincent's snoring even as Daphne knocked on his door.
"Mr. V?" Shaggy called, also knocking on the door.
"Vincent, wake up!" Daphne called.
The snoring only continued, and when Daphne opened the door to check on him, she gasped as she saw Vincent snoring away on the floor of his room, just next to his bed.
"Vincent!" she cried.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy yelped. "He's so out of it, he fell out of bed!"
"Shaggy, I don't think he even made it to his bed—look," Daphne pointed to Vincent's tuxedo and cape—what the warlock considered casual wear. "He was so drained, he must've passed out before he could even change into his pajamas!"
"And look at that—a large vial of mana potion," Shaggy added, looking at Vincent's bedside table and the vial of blue liquid on it. "He must've taken a swig of that each night so that he'd be able to get up in time for breakfast…"
"…Only he passed out before he could take it last night," Daphne finished, reaching for the vial. "Can you raise his head and shoulders up?"
"How do you like that?" Shaggy sighed, helping prop Vincent up so that Daphne could give him a sip of mana potion. "All those times he's chided us for relying on caffeine to keep us awake instead of resting and recovering—how is this any different?"
"It's not," Daphne said, flatly.
A few tense minutes when by before Vincent now finally stirred, coming awake as he managed to sit up on his own.
"What in the name of Olympus…?" he muttered. "What are you two doing in here? And why am I on the floor!?"
"I was hoping that you would answer that for us!" Daphne exclaimed. "What have you been doing each night that's draining your mana to the point where you need a full night's rest and mana potion to be functional in the mornings!?"
"Whatever it was, it must've been a doozy, because you were dead to the world—as much as I hate that expression," Shaggy said, wincing.
Vincent looked away, and then sighed as the memory of the previous night returned to him.
"I pushed myself too far," he realized.
"Doing what!?" Daphne asked.
"If you must know, I was trying to learn how to trigger the power surge that caused me to transform into a Paladin," Vincent said, looking furious that he had failed. "I need to master that form, for all of our sakes, before my seal on the Underworld gate fades and Hades and Asmodeus return…!"
He trailed off as Daphne looked away, trembling slightly.
"You really gave us both a scare," Shaggy said. "Like, I get that you need to practice it, but… maybe you should have one of us as a spotter or something—however that would work magic-wise, I mean…"
"Do you realize how close we came to losing you when we were facing Hades?" Daphne asked, looking back at Vincent now. "If you hadn't transformed right when he'd got you with that spear…"
"And do you realize how close I came to losing the both of you!?" Vincent returned. "That spear had been meant for you, Daphne! And you would've been next!" He looked to Shaggy, who merely gulped at the reminder. "Did you think my pushing myself to master this new transformation is a matter of pride!? It's to make sure that I'll be able to protect you and the others when those two return!"
"…And who's going to protect you?" Daphne asked, quietly.
"We both will, Daphne," Shaggy said, prompting both her and Vincent to look at him in surprise.
"…What are you saying…?" she asked.
"I'm saying that… Since the Green Dragon chose me to have that Masamune katana, maybe I should do something about it and learn to use its magic, just like how you're learning to use magic because you want to help Vincent. Well, this is like the other 12 ghosts we caught—it's bigger than all of us and… As much as I wanna keep my head down—and boy do I wanna keep my head down—if I could do something to help… then I should. So, whatever you can teach me, Vincent, I'll be willing to learn it."
There was a moment's silence.
"Shaggy…" Daphne said, in admiration. "That's the bravest thing I've ever heard."
"Not really," Shaggy gulped. "I'm absolutely terrified."
"And that's what makes it so brave," Vincent reminded him. "I am deeply touched by the both of you being so insistent on helping, but—"
"But nothing," Daphne interrupted. "Whatever happens, we're in it together." She managed a smile. "But you've known that for a while now."
"Yes, I… I've been aware of it," Vincent admitted. "Well, I wish it could have been under different circumstances, but we can focus on some lessons for Shaggy to help him catch up to you, Daphne, and then I'll train the two of you together."
"Sounds like a plan," Shaggy nodded.
"I agree," Daphne said. "But… no more pushing yourself too far, okay? I know you're under a lot of pressure to perfect your Paladin form, but you'll help us figure this out, and I'm sure we'll find a way to help you figure that out, too."
Vincent gave them a thoughtful look.
"You know, I think you're right."
"Great," Shaggy said. "Now, like, let's get down to breakfast before Scoob eats it all!"
They headed down together, as casually as they could to avoid worrying the others. The coming days wouldn't be easy for any of them, they knew.
But they also knew that their odds would be best together, just as they'd always been.