AAN: I OWN NOTHING OF THE SCOOBY DOO FRANCHISE!!!!
Practical War,
Chapter Two: The Shadow Realm,
Gibby bowed his head and sat down so that he could do his work. Velma felt slightly bad that her words had hurt him, but still, she's married, has children, is pregnant, what was she supposed to do? Say 'take me, I'm your's?' Yea, I don't think that would go over well with Shaggy. The rest of the work-day, Velma avoided unnecessary contact with Gibby and kept mainly to herself and to her work. When she was finally ready to leave, she couldn't wait to get home and just be Velma, without Gibby Norton.
Meanwhile, Harry, Melinda, Arya, and Allou had made it back to Mystery Inc. Headquarters.
'So, this is where our young one lives?' Allou asked as she sat on an armrest of one of the couches. 'How very... colorful.'
'If the young one id happy here, what more can we do? We can control her no less than we could control Miss Piper. Both of them are hard-headed and stubborn.'
"Hey, I like being 'hard-headed' and stubborn!" Melinda commented as she put her bag on the kitchen counter. "Scooby Doo, where are you?" She called out when she noticed that both Great Dane and children were not in the living room. Scarlette came into the kitchen and noticed Allou immediatly.
'Don't even fur-ball.' Allou hissed and Scarlette scampered back a little.
"Hey Scarlette, have you seen Scooby around?" The Black Labrador nodded and proceeded out of the kitchen, followed by the rest. She led them into the play room. There Scooby was, asleep with bows over his ears and a Cinderella dress on. Around him slept four princesses and two knights. Upon seeing the sight, Harry, Melinda, Allou, and Arya crept slowly from the room and back to the kitchen so as not to wake them up.
"So, are you taking me to the Shadow Realm, or not?" Melinda asked Arya once they were able to talk once more.
'Yes, but the boy stays here. We are your gaurdians, and your guardians alone.' She responded from her spot on the kitchen floor.
"Fine, come with me, I'll get Allora's book ready."
Once the book was out, Melinda began to follow very precise instructions. She laid out twenty candles, four red, four white, four purple, four black, and four gold. She drew a giant pentagram in chalk on her floor and drew a circle around it. Next, she placed the candles around the circle in a patern of black, white, red, purple, gold. Once that was finished, she waved her hand over the circle and the candles lit, one by one. She took incents and sage from her chest beneath her bed and lit them in various places around her room. Lastly, she drew Allora's amulet from beneath her shirt and held it so that it glowed white. As she did this, her clothing transformed to the same dress that she wore years ago, when she had to save Velma's life. Her hair sprung free of the band she had put it in and she slipped her shoes off, her eyes glowing brighter as she stepped into the circle with Arya and Allou. Arya and Allou bowed their heads and began chanting in the forgotten language of magic, the ancient language from which all magic and language had formed itself from. The air around them began to swirl and color seemed to fade around them. Next thing they knew, everything stopped and they were no longer in Coolsville.
Melinda opened her eyes and slid her amulet back beneath her dress.
"Is this the Shadow Realm?" She asked, Arya nodded. Melinda looked around her, everything was tinged gray, or colorless. The air was cold and the plants were dead. In place of the musical birds that earely fall kept until it was time for them to fly away, were crows and ravens, eyeing them from the treetops above. "Remind me why we're here again.?"
'You will see little one, you will see.' Arya said as she began to walk forward, Melinda began to follow. As they walked through the Shadow Realm, Melinda couldn't help but notice that no souls lingered nearby, or anywhere for that matter.
"Arya, I thought you said that souls were banished to the Shadow Realm?"
'They are little one, but when they sense fresh souls, they hide in fear of being destroyed by the Elders of our world.'
"Oh...." Melinda kept close to Arya and Allou and began to notice signs that unusual wreckage had occured in the realm. Houses that were spooky enough as it was, were almost utterly destroyed, as if something had... blown right through them.