The door to the library had been set right, and the books all put away. Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby were sitting in the parlor.
"I wonder what we'll do now," Daphne said, "since Mr. Van Ghoul didn't find what he needed in the books here."
"Back to Tibet?" Shaggy offered.
"Vincent didn't say anything about it."
"Rhe's meeting rwith Miss Grimwood now," Scooby said.
"I wish we knew what they're talking about," Daphne mused.
There was silence for a few minutes as each of them was lost in their own thoughts. Shaggy broke the silence first. "Did Mr. V say anything about how we lost our memories?"
Daphne shook her head absently. "No. I tried to ask him about that today, but he didn't answer. I guess he'll tell us about it when he's ready."
"I feel kinda bad that I was so afraid of him the other day," Shaggy admitted. "I mean. He can be really intimidating, but we were with him long enough to know better. I just freaked. I saw someone who only dreamed about, and not even that often."
"Yeah," Daphne agreed. She became thoughtful. "Maybe we'll all understand this better when Mr. Van Ghoul explains it to us."
"Rif he rexplains," Scooby added a little glumly.
"...what I wanted to know. Thanks, Matches," Scrappy came in, followed by Flim-Flam and Matches.
"Yeah," the dragon huffed, then went and curled up by the small table.
"What are we waiting for here?" Flim-Flam asked.
"Mr Van Ghoul is talking to Miss Grimwood," Daphne told him. "And after that, I guess he'll tell us what we're doing next."
(-)
"I know you don't like it, but I can't think of any other options for you," Miss Grimwood said. "I don't know anyone else who could possibly help fix the crystal ball. And you said he's helped before."
"It was…" Vincent paused, leaning back in the chair in front of Miss Grimwood's desk and steepling his fingers. His crystal ball, the one that was not shattered, sat on the desk in front of him. "An experience. He's always an experience. Thank you for help and hospitality. I appreciate it."
Miss Grimwood waved his words away. "It's the least I can do Vincent. If there's anything you think of that I can do to help, promise you'll contact me right away."
"I will," Vincent assured her, though they both knew that anything she could do would be limited at best. He stood up, picking up the crystal as he did. "I need to get the kids."
Miss Grimwood smiled as she watched him go. Once he was out of the room, she turned her attention back to the papers on her desk.
When Vincent walked into the parlor, the Gang snapped to attention.
"I am obliged to keep searching for a way to repair the crystal ball," Vincent announced. He held the whole crystal out. "There is another place I can look for the information."
"Another old friend?" Daphne asked.
"That's a way to put it," Vincent acknowledged.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Flim-Flam asked.
"Be warned," Vincent said, as the crystal began to glow green. "He's a little eccentric."
When they came out of the teleport, they were standing on a snowy mountain, riddled with trees. A sign was nearby.
"You are entering the lands of the Winter Warlock!" Shaggy read the sign, starting slowly but becoming more alarmed as he did. "Zoinks!"
Scooby hopped into his arms and they both shivered. "Rwinter Rwarlock?"
"Who dares trespass on the lands of the Winter Warlock?!" A voice thundered out of nowhere. Daphne stepped back involuntarily. Even Flim-Flam and Scrappy looked nervous.
Vincent crossed his arms over his chest and answered, annoyed, "Vincent Van Ghoul!"
The scene around them shifted and changed and they were standing in a wide receiving hall. Daphne noticed with a shock that the walls that had seemed painted pale blue were actually made of ice, frosted to make them opaque.
An imposing figure in a silvery blue robe, matching hat that looked more like an old-fashioned nightcap than any modern hat the Gang had ever seen, and with a long white beard stood before them. "Well, why didn't you just teleport yourself into the castle like usual? Young warlocks these days..." he trailed off. It was then that the Gang noticed something else: Idesvigg was sitting on the man's shoulders.
"Young warlocks?" Flim-Flam repeated.
Vincent cleared his throat. "I'd like to introduce you all to the Winter Warlock. Winter, this is Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne, Flim-Flam, and Scrappy."
"It's very nice to meet you!" Winter boomed. Then something hit the castle.
Shaggy and Scooby were clinging to each other again. "Were we followed again?" Scrappy asked.
Winter bent down and made a snowball. He tossed it into the air, and when it landed in his hand again, it was a crystal ball. He peered into it for a moment. The castle shook again. He tossed the crystal snowball to Vincent. "I thought you got your family problems sorted out."
No one was paying that much attention to what he was saying, though, as when Vincent held the crystal up, they could see that Asmodeus was circling, flinging fireballs at the castle.
"How does he keep following us?" Daphne asked, exasperatedly. Shaggy and Scooby were still hugging each other and shivering.
Winter Warlock looked at the image in the crystal, and began to recite a spell. "Winter wind with haste and speed, come to me now in time of need. Bring icy blast and freezing snow, and drive away from me my foe." As he finished the last word, he flung a hand out towards the crystal ball that Vincent was still holding, and they watched a blast of snow blow the monster back. Winter Warlock drew his hand back, and as he did, there was a snowflake hovering at his palm. He clapped his hands together over the snowflake, and a gust of magical energy blew through the room and everyone standing there. A roar came up around the castle, and the light in the windows suddenly dimmed as a blizzard blew up outside.
"There," Winter Warlock said, "that should keep him busy."
"Like, don't you think that creeper might not be happy with you?" Shaggy asked. By now, Scooby was so frightened that Shaggy was holding him again.
Winter Warlock raised an eyebrow. "Young man, I don't care who is out there. It is the epitome of rudeness to fly up my mountain and fling fireballs at my castle. I don't hold with that. Asamad can wander around in a blizzard for a while. And don't go outside. Visibility is zero right now."
"Asamad?" The Gang repeated.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, time is confusing for me. I've been through a great deal of it, you see," Winter Warlock explained. "And since I knew him once as Asamad Van Ghoul, I still tend to think of him that way, though he doffed that moniker a few millennia ago."
If it had not been for the blizzard roaring outside, there would have been dead silence in the room. The others all turned to look at Vincent. Even Shaggy and Scooby had stopped shaking.
"Asamad Van Ghoul?" they repeated in unison.
Vincent sighed. "Yes. Asamad Van Ghoul. I have the extreme misfortune to be descended from him."
[A/N:] Tonight on Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?...
all jokes aside, though, Winter Warlock (yes, this is the same Winter Warlock from the Rankin-Bass Story of Santa Claus) became important while plotting this thing out. His first and only appearance was supposed to be an interlude chapter, a flashback scene set later in the story. But I liked him too much to leave him there. The flip side of this is that when I was plotting this story I had tons of cameos, and we were gonna go all over the place with Vincent and the Gang before they finally faced Asmodeus. Then I was forced to sit back and ask myself I really wanted this thing to be. A lot of plot ideas got dropped off after that, with the Ghoul School and Winter being two of the things I kept.
Regarding the revelation in this chapter, a couple of things. (Spoilers ahoy for the second season, if you don't want 'em, stop reading now!) When Rose of Pollux updated Pleasant Valley Poltergeist a couple of weeks ago and introduced Asmodeus, I had not expected it. When I saw what had transpired in that chapter, I was actually writing Chapter 11 at the time. I don't think I'll spoil LoT by saying that we discuss Vincent's colorful family history in the opening of the next chapter. I was prepared to scrap out Chapter 11 and re-write it try and line it up better with the second season, but then I got looking at Chapter 10 again and realized that I'd have to scrap out the end of this chapter too, so I let it alone. Anyway, it's a rewrite of the movie, and Vincent's family revelations were kind of important in the movie, so that was another reason I let the chapters stand as they had been written.
Instead of an interminable avalanche scene, we're gonna spend some time with Winter instead! That avalanche scene was ridiculous! And that's all I'm gonna say about that.