Notes: This is a multichapter story that will be part of my Season 2 project—another unplanned special, as it were. This fic will be a bit more angsty and intense, which is why I'm regulating most of the action to Vincent, Shaggy, and Daphne.
Lastly, the villains of this fic were all onetime villains in the series just prior to 13 Ghosts, The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries.
The dinner table at Castle Van Ghoul was fuller than usual—Fred and Velma were visiting for the first time, and Vincent had done his best to make them feel as welcome as possible. His efforts had paid off; Fred and Velma were at ease around him now, much to the others' joy—like the rest of them, they loved Vincent's numerous stories, of which he had a seemingly endless supply.
They had, for the most part, finished their meal (Shaggy and Scooby still having their extra helpings, of course) and were idly chatting when they were interrupted by a knock on the front door of the castle.
There was some amount of confusion and concern, but as they followed Vincent to the entrance hall; after checking his enchanted statue head of Athena to ensure that there was no threat, he opened the door to reveal the baffled postal worker from the village, wordlessly holding out a letter with no recipient address or return address—just one word written on the envelope in Greek.
"I assume this is for you, Jadhugar," the mailman said, addressing Vincent with the Nepali word for "magician."
Vincent took one look at it.
"It's for this address, yes," he affirmed. "I thank you for making the trip, but you can call us next time to have us pick it up."
The mailman nodded and left, leaving the others staring at the envelope in interest.
"Well, what are you waiting for, Vince?" Flim-Flam asked. "Open it up and see what it says!"
"I would, if it weren't for the fact that it is extremely bad form to open someone else's mail," Vincent noted.
"But, like, you said it was for this address," Shaggy pointed.
"I said it was this address—I didn't say it was for me," Vincent reminded him. He indicated the word on the envelope—Δάφνη. "This is the intended recipient."
And, with that, he handed the envelope to Daphne.
"Me!?" she asked, surprised. "Who would be writing to me in Greek?"
"Well, you do know a lot of Greek mages," Fred pointed out.
"Yes, but they all know English—and they know that I don't know Greek," Daphne replied. Nevertheless, she opened the envelope, and groaned as the letter inside it was also written in Greek—and rather hastily so, based on how untidy it was. "Vincent, can you help me out here?"
Wordlessly, Vincent drew one of his translation talismans from his cape, and Daphne sighed as the words turned to English before her eyes.
"Dear Miss Blake," she read aloud. "I apologize for writing this in Greek, but I have to make absolutely sure that this gets to you without anyone else reading it. I am an old acquaintance of yours, and I need your help. I'm being held prisoner by a mutual foe of ours, and I need you and your partner Mr. Rogers to assist in my rescue—I'm being held in some ancient manor or palace on the island of Aeaea; my captor only visits me once a day, so you should be able to break in and get me out. I have vital information for the two of you that must not be found out by anyone else, and I don't know how long it'll be before I break and tell my captor everything. Make sure it is just the two of you—if you bring the dogs, it'll attract far too much attention—" Scooby and Scrappy harrumphed at this. "—But please hurry; I'm running out of time…" She trailed off.
"Well?" Scrappy asked.
"It just ends that way with a scrawl—I think he ran out of time and had to pitch it and hope for the best," Daphne said. "So… what do we do now? All we have is the one lead of the island of Aeaea."
"I don't like it," Vincent said, scowling. "There's magic afoot—how else could a letter from Aeaea get to you with no address?"
"Maybe it is was one of the other mages, then," Shaggy mused. "Sending a message to you would've been too obvious, so they sent it to Daphne."
"No mage would willingly set foot on Aeaea," Vincent declared. "The island was the home of the ancient sorceress Circe—the palatial manor is hers. She left the island after Odysseus left her, but she left a great deal of enchantments and magical items behind, many of which even most members of mage society know nothing about and wouldn't dare touch. I expect only Dean Cesare and the associate deans of Terror Tech would know exactly what kind of magic remains there…"
"If whoever send this is being held captive there, it doesn't sound like they were willingly setting foot there," Velma pointed out.
Vincent considered this for a moment before drawing out his crystal ball. The others watched in interest as he concentrated and began to recite—
"Friends of old and friends of new,
Hear me as I speak to you;
Art thou safe and art thou well?
I implore all—answer, do tell!"
Daphne was about to say something when her phone pinged; so did the others'— including Scrappy's smart watch.
"Um…?" Fred asked, looking at the message on his phone. "What exactly was the point of—?"
More pings came in as the other mages that the gang had met—Vincent's old gang, Miss Grimwood, and even his former Corinthian rivals, whom he had managed to mend ties with during their class reunion last fall, all responded that they were, indeed, safe and well.
"So, Vince basically just sent an 'are you all okay' group text?" Flim-Flam asked.
"Rhooks like it," Scooby commented.
"And it looks like everyone is okay," Shaggy noted, as the confirmations poured in.
"Yes, every one of my close associates is accounted for," Vincent agreed. "So, it would mean that whoever has sent you this plea is someone who doesn't know myself or Flim-Flam."
"Or Fred or me," Velma added. "They didn't mention either of us."
"I'm drawing a blank on who it could possibly be," Daphne sighed. "But regardless of whoever it is, we can't leave them high and dry if they need our help."
"But what if it's a trap—it seems pretty suspicious that they don't want Uncle Scooby and me to come along," Scrappy frowned.
"Well, they are right about more people—and dogs—attracting attention," Daphne fretted. She looked at Vincent. "What do you think?"
"It's not an easy decision, by any means," Vincent admitted. "I don't like the idea of you going to Aeaea, whether or not it is a trap. If you must go, I would prefer if you allow me to go with you—it may be going against the original request, but I can make myself unseen if need be."
"That's fair," Daphne nodded.
"Yeah, like, I'd feel a lot safer with you there," Shaggy nodded.
"And don't forget your own skills, as well," Vincent reminded them. "Bring your staff and sword, just in case."
"Right, I'll go get the sword Shaggy said.
"Shaggy, you're supposed to keep it with you at all times!" Daphne chided, following him out of the room.
"You want us to hold the fort here while you're gone?" Fred asked Vincent.
"Yes, that would be wise—but under no circumstances are you to let anyone inside," Vincent warned. "And it stands to reason that all of my protective enchantments will not protect you if you cross the castle's threshold."
"But what if it really is a trap that you three are going into?" Velma asked, softly.
Vincent glanced over at Scrappy and Flim-Flam, who were both complaining to each other about having to sit this one out.
"Prioritize their safety, first and foremost," Vincent said, priming his crystal. "If you do not hear from us in five hours, have Scooby look after them while the two of you focus on getting word to my old gang—use this."
He handed Fred the crystal.
"Hold the phone—you're trusting me with this!?" he asked. "Uh, Sir?"
"Of course," Vincent replied.
Fred exchanged a glance with Velma, but they and Scooby both looked back at Vincent and nodded.
Shaggy and Daphne returned now, with Daphne still giving Shaggy an earful about not having his enchanted Masamune sword with him.
"We can discuss that later," Vincent said. "For now, we are off to Aeaea."
The others waved to them as they teleported out.
Deep within the manor on Aeaea, a man with dark, curly hair sat with his ankles in manacles. His arms were free, and he was holding his head in his hands, trying not to look at the dark-haired woman standing beside him, nor at the two faces on the video screen in front of them.
"Why are you making me do this!?" he lamented. "Those two youngsters never meant to hurt anyone—you already had me put them through so much with that Mask of Medusa affair; why would—?"
"I don't pay you to ask questions, Mikos!" the large man on the screen snarled.
Professor Mikos looked up at him now, frowning.
"You don't pay me at all," he retorted.
"Of course not—on account of our prior association, the doors of your profession have been closed to you," the man guffawed. "You have no one else to turn to—isn't that right, Wilmer?"
The second man on the screen giggled.
"Of course, Mr. Blimp!"
"And anyway, Chandra here is grateful for my giving her a second chance at a life—you should be, too, Mikos!" Blimp added.
"Of course, I am grateful," the woman smirked. "You found a way to change me back from that frog form and restore my mana—and I got to regain the Moonstone Medallion, too! You will find the services of a witch most useful, Mr. Blimp."
"You see, Mikos?" Blimp asked. "Cooperate with me, and Chandra can use her magic to get you back into the academic world."
"But those poor youngsters!" Mikos protested.
"It was their fault for crossing us in the first place!" Blimp bellowed.
"And I, too, want my revenge!" Chandra scowled. "Remember our agreement, Blimp—I help you finish Blake and Rogers, and then those two dogs—and you will let me finish Jones and Dinkley."
"Yes, the agreement stands," Blimp assured her.
"Mr. Blimp is a man of his word," Wilmer crowed.
Blimp was about to reply, but then smirked as a security camera feed activated outside manor.
"Ah, that must be them—so eager for heroics, just as always… …What!?"
A copy of the footage appeared on the screen in front of Mikos and Chandra—leaving the four of them staring in confusion as Vincent stood with Shaggy and Daphne as they looked up at the manor.
"They didn't come alone!" Blimp scowled. "Ah, well—at least it's just one additional person."
"He's probably their pilot or ferryman," Wilmer shrugged.
"…No…" Chandra frowned. "I sense mana from him—powerful mana."
Mikos suddenly gasped.
"What is it?" Blimp demanded.
"N-Nothing. Nothing at all!"
Chandra held her staff—topped with the Moonstone Medallion—under his neck.
"What is it?" she echoed.
"It… It's just… I've studied a lot about ancient Greece, you know…" Mikos gulped. "In addition to the priests that served the Old Gods, nearly every God and Goddess had mages who served them—and the most powerful mages of all served the Olympians." He shuddered. "I've seen artworks of a mage in the service of Athena… a mage who looks uncannily like that man—all of the descriptions say that he was born shortly after the start of the first century and is the descendant of the Demon King Asmodeus—and that he is the most powerful warlock in existence! He is said to have shattered mountain peaks in the blink of an eye!"
"That's the descendent of the Demon King…?" Chandra breathed.
"But… but… what is a being like that doing with Blake and Rogers!?" Blimp asked.
"Perhaps they offered him a tribute so that he would grant them safe passage through Aeaea," Mikos said. "There are numerous legends about this place."
"Then you know what must be done, Chandra," Blimp said. "I simply must have him working for us. I need you to outbid Blake and Rogers and get that warlock to our payroll!"
Chandra hesitated. She knew that the fabled descendant of Asmodeus could overpower her—even with the Moonstone Medallion augmenting her powers.
"Chandra!" Blimp bellowed.
"Y-Yes, Mr. Blimp?"
"Do you hear me, Chandra? Do whatever you must, but get that warlock over to our side!"