A couple of hours had gone by, and Vincent had fallen asleep on the couch of the study room, his head resting on Daphne's shoulder.
Daphne, on the other hand, found the time to read one of her favorite books given to her by Vincent now that it was all over, looking back at him from time to time to make sure he was okay.
She looked up from her book as Asamad now entered the room, holding a cup in his hand.
"How is he?" he whispered, not wanting to wake Vincent up. "I brought him some of his favorite tea to help him feel more like himself again if he needs it."
"He's okay," Daphne whispered back and smiled. "He was just tired."
"Well, thank you for keeping an eye on him," he nodded, setting down the cup of tea on the small table next to them.
"You don't need to thank me. I'm just happy to have him here at my side again," she told him.
"The rest of us agree," Shaggy added, looking up from what he was doing.
Vincent started to wake up now, lifting his head off of Daphne's shoulder and looking at her.
"Had a good nap?" she guessed.
"Yes, I think so," Vincent smiled.
He then turned his attention to Asamad now, putting his hand on top of his.
"How are you?"
Asamad had a slightly confused look on his face.
"You're asking how I am when you're the one that got possessed?" he responded.
"Do not act like it did not affect you," Vincent said.
The red ghost sighed.
"I am alright," he admitted. "Thank you."
"Of course. I am glad to hear that. Though, there's something you should know about, something that happened during our… situation."
Daphne looked up from her book again, Jayden stopped drawing, Cheryl paused her editing, and everyone else stopped what they were doing as they directed their attention towards him. At that moment, the room had fallen silent.
"Well, what is it?" Cheryl asked, breaking the silence.
"I found myself outside the path that leads to the afterlife, where I saw Valentina and Ophelia," Vincent confessed.
"You saw Ophelia!?" Asamad repeated. "Wait, what was she doing out of the afterlife? What did she say?"
"So, I guess Daphne was onto something when she guessed that you were in the same place as she was," Jayden commented. "Well, kind of."
"While you were all trying to find the spell to reverse the possession spell, her and Valentina were taking me back home," the warlock explained. "Ophelia said she had to help after hearing Asamad was the one possessing me."
Asamad sighed again and crossed his arms.
"Even when she finds peace, she comes back once she hears my name!" He then dropped his arms and smiled. "Though, it is very kind of her and your sister to help you return home. I am thankful for that. How is she, if you don't mind me asking?"
"She is alright, fortunately. We got to tell each other about our lives, and we enjoyed it. Her and Valentina were even a source of comfort for me throughout the situation," Vincent told him. "They even handled Rankor while all of you were bringing my soul back into my body."
"So that's why Rankor was on the ground outside after we got you back," Flim Flam figured out.
"Indeed," he confirmed.
He then noticed the cup of tea on the small table next to him.
"Oh, is this…?"
"For you, yes," Asamad confirmed. "I prepared it."
Vincent lifted the tea and tasted it for a moment.
"It is good, thank you," he smiled. He then set the cup down. "I also heard from Daphne that she knocked you out, which I am proud of. No offense to you, of course."
Daphne and the others chuckled a little at that.
"Oh, do not worry. I expected you to be, actually. It was not that bad in my opinion," Asamad told him, smiling back.
"Well, I am just grateful that you all brought me back and that Rankor has been defeated once more," Vincent sighed in relief. "There's nowhere I would rather be than here right now."
"Reah, we rare too!" Scooby replied, with the others also nodding in agreement.
"You should know, I did feel those chains on my soul too while I was possessed. So, I understand Asamad's anger more when it comes to that," the warlock admitted.
Velma sat down across from him.
"Was it… painful?"
"It was more of the feeling of being tied up than anything painful," he told her. "As if I was trapped."
"We're so sorry, Vincent. It was my fault, I put you through that," Daphne apologized, putting her hands on top of his.
"An apology from you or anyone is not necessary. It was not your fault, you were just doing what was best at the time," he assured her. "The feeling quickly went away when the chains were off, so it's not as if it lingered for too long."
He took another sip of his tea, and laid his back against the couch again, sighing.
Flim Flam looked at him, smiling a little bit.
"Are you still tired, Vince?" he wondered.
"Yes," Vincent told him. "The situation has drained me too much, if I am to be completely honest. I must continue to rest." He then turned to Daphne and raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't mind if my head fell on your shoulder again, would you?"
"Of course not," she smiled.
"Thank you," he smiled back, before closing his eyes and falling asleep once more.
It didn't take much long before his head had fallen on her shoulder, and she let out a small chuckle.
"The others and I will take care of him for the rest of the night," she promised Asamad.
"Very well then," he nodded. "I will return to my bedchamber now, though, if he asks for me, please let me know."
"Sure thing," Cheryl responded. "But are you sure you don't want to stay here?"
"I am, though perhaps I will come back later. Also, there are some people I need to thank anyway."
With that, he exited the room, leaving Daphne to continue reading her book and everyone else getting back to what they were doing as well.
Scrappy had hit the floor in an instant, focusing more on Bogel and Weerd's laughs around him than the fall itself.
"Just give up, kid. Your uncle and his friends think you're dead so they're not looking for you anymore!" Weerd shouted.
"Let me ask you again, why are you doing this!?" the puppy who had gone missing and grew up now exclaimed, getting himself to stand up now.
"You were always the weakest out of everyone," Bogel told him. "They don't need you. You just needed them."
Scrappy's eyes widened.
"That's- that's not true. I do need them, but-" he began.
"They don't need you!" Weerd repeated. "Now, get that through your big head."
"No!" Scrappy shot back.
He then made another attempt to run away, but Bogel picked him up before he could do anything.
"Going somewhere? I don't think so."
The two ghosts then towered over him, and the dog could only whimper at what was going to come next.
Notes: Episode 9 is finally done, and Scrappy has officially made his first appearance in my series! I'm not exactly sure when I'll start Episode 10, since I'm planning to do a video essay on The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby Doo timeline soon, but I'll figure it out.
The names of all the chapters except the first and last are lyrics from the song "Panic Room" by Au/Ra.