[AuroraSky]

The Voodoo Queen is currently IN. If you would like her help to boil your enemies alive, infest a town with pox, or locate an ancient artifact, please PM me to see the Voodoo Queen!



"Strange fruit hanging," Marie crooned softly. She had been sitting on the edge of the pier outside of her shack, leaning up against a wooden post. One of her legs swung freely down below, her toes skating across the tip of water to the beat of her song. "From the poplar trees." How peaceful the evening had been. From where Marie was sitting she could look down the water as far as her eyes could see, and how the water had been so calm, so still. What was left of the sun rays shone right back up the water towards her, bathing her in an orange light. The grasses on the banks had swayed with the gentle evening wind, it seemed that most of the creatures had taken their leave for the night, and Marie had wished it could stay like this forever.

"Pastoral scene of the gallant south," There was a small pressure on her lap as Baby adjusted himself. Marie smiled down at him, running her hands along the toughness of his skin as if he were a cat instead of a crocodile until he was finally at rest, and he too could enjoy the serenity. "The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth..."

[AuroraSky]

If there was one thing that she hated, it was the swamp.

It was disgusting. Pesky little flies were always flying through your head, and anytime you moved too quickly you were at risk of running face first into a bunch. One had already gotten in Arcane's mouth and she had gagged so hard she thought she might have vomited. The water was so thick with mud and gunk that no matter how close you stood there was no way to see what was under the surface, which also made Arcane a little uneasy. On her way in, she had been warned that crocodile were none too friendly around these parts, and some had been known to leap up from under the water to attack. Ugly frogs stared at you from their lily pads, considering whether or not they would try to jump onto you and infect you with whatever diseases they must have had. As she passed one of them, Arcane remembered the dagger that had been strapped to her thigh, and considered impaling it with a quick throw. It would have satisfied her, of course, but Arcane knew better than that. Everything in the bayou, from the tiniest knat to the clunkiest crocodile, was protected by Marie Laveau.

And one did not want to face the wrath of Marie Laveau.

Arcane turned her speedboat to the right, finally on the last leg of her journey to the Voodoo Queen. If she squinted hard enough, she could see the Voodoo Queen's shack, but it would still be another ten minute's drive or so until she reached it. It was going to be now or never.

[AuroraSky]

It had only been a few more moments of peace before Baby was suddenly stirring again, quite agitated now. Marie had had her eyes closed, contemplating taking herself a little snooze in the sunlight, but begrudgingly she had let them fall open again, squinting to adjust to the light again. "Baby," Marie groaned, swatting the croc. "What is the matter with you?" She demanded. "You couldn't be hungry, you ate just a few hours ago." But Baby had slowly, left the side of his mistress and before Marie could stop him he had slipped down into the water. Marie watched the water, unsure of where he had gone, when she saw his familiar snout break the surface a few meters away.

Marie brought her leg up and crawled across the length of the pier, crinkling her eyebrows. "Baby?" She called after him, but whatever had gotten him in such a tizzy would not allow him to return to her. Marie sighed and sat cross legged back on the edge, watching his tail whip back and forth until he faded out of sight. It was only a few minutes later that Marie had heard what Baby had so long before: the whirring of a speed boat engine.

Marie tensed. The last unexpected visitors that she had had had not be so kind, and she had had to feed them to the bayou before they hurt her. It was one of her skulls that had joined the mantelpiece, the other she still could not find.

[AuroraSky]

The shack had become significantly clearer and closer when Arcane noticed the ripple in the water. It had been too far away from her to be a disturbance by her boat, and it had come dead center in the river as if something was planning on charging her. She could feel a little clench in her stomach when she thought about that; something charging her little dingy hard enough would surely throw her into the depths of the water, and Arcane was positive that if that had happened she would never be seen again. She pulled the gun from the holster on her hips and flicked off the safety.

Arcane wondered if this mission was a waste of time. Voodoo was magic, and Arcane didn't trust magic. She thought it a coward's defense; when the going got tough all Arcane needed really were her two fists, not some potions or spells (of course, telling any of this to Marie Laveau would have been out of the question). And who was to say that the Voodoo queen would even help her? When she had asked around, most people had flinched at her free talk of the Voodoo queen and had refused to answer her questions, as if Marie Laveau had been lurking around the corner. This mission could have proved to be as fruitless as ever, and Arcane would have risked her life for nothing.

She neared the ripple in the water.

[AuroraSky]

Marie came to stand, placing her hands on her birthing hips. Whoever was out there on that speedboat was too far for Marie to get a good luck at for sure, but Baby had gone out there pretty aggressively and Marie didn't want him to go for any type of kill if whoever was driving the speedboat wasn't of any danger to her swamp. Could have been a lost tourist, for all she knew, those white people were so needlessly adventurous sometimes. She would need a closer look. "Baby's eyes." She whispered softly, and her own brown orbs suddenly clouded until both of her eyes had turned white as milk.

Out in the swamp's river, Baby's sharp yellow eyes too became a glowing white, and poked his head from the surface. He blinked, and Marie saw a little brown dingy heading her way. Manning the craft was a light skinned black girl, her hair as blonde as Governor Winter's wife. She wore all black, and Marie had at once noticed her beaten up fishnets. Odd clothing for 'round these parts; fishnets were for unruly teenagers and whores. Marie guessed that whoever this was was both.

But Marie didn't consider her to be a threat. She couldn't have been more than twenty years old, if even that much, and that gun she was holding wouldn't help her here. "Baby, return." Baby sunk back down into his familiar muck, and with a thrash of his tail spun himself back around to reluctantly return to his master.

His eyes were back to yellow.

[AuroraSky]

As Arcane neared the dock of the shack, she had never been more thankful for some sweet solid ground. Whatever collision she had been anticipating had never come, and Arcane had convinced herself that her eyes had just been playing tricks on her and she was being paranoid. She slowed her boat down until the engine was just barely purring, and after a few quick maneuvers she felt the tip of the boat gently tap the wood of the dock. But no matter how softly Arcane had tapped the dock, she was nervous with all the rotten wood the whole thing would just fall to pieces. She was relieved when it didn't.

Arcane secured the boat to the single wooden post, next to a boat that was just slightly larger and must have belonged to Marie herself. When she was sure it wouldn't float away, the man she had rented it from had been pretty adamant about no damage coming to it lest she face his wrath (and she honestly wasn't in the mood to snap anyone's neck right now), Arcane stepped out.

The shack was much more impressive now that she was up close, as impressive as a shack could be. It was as long as it was wide and had three unaligned stories. Around the side Arcane could see some rickety old stairs, and up front where what looked to be the front door was was a makeshift porch with two comfortable looking chairs. However, the Voodoo queen was nowhere to be found.

[AuroraSky]

Marie pondered the intruder for a moment, sitting with her legs crossed on the balcony of the second story. She was definitely young, even probably still in her teens, but there was something odd about her. She did not radiate the youthful innocence of a child, but instead seemed hardened with anger and trauma. Her eyes were a brilliant color of blue, odd for a black child, but there seemed to not even be a drop of warmth in them. Only coldness. It made Marie wonder.

But, if the girl had been sent here to harm Marie, she was doing a poor job. Her entrance had been noisy, she had cussed so many times Marie was sure her neighbors would have heard (if she had any), and her weapon had just been dangling casually at her side. No, this girl hadn't come to play executioner. She had come for help. Marie uncrossed her legs and descended the staircase at the side of her shack, as quiet as the waving grasses, watching the girl until she was standing only a few feet from her. Yet, the girl hadn't flinched and was still looking around as if Marie hadn't even approached her. "You lookin' for something, child?"

Marie had expected the girl to jump, but instead she had just spun around hard as a bull with her gun pointed straight at Marie's forehead. Marie raised an eyebrow.

[AuroraSky]

Arcane stood, gun pointed, chest heaving and eyes narrowed at her new target. She gazed upon the woman who, how Arcane did not know, had actually snuck up on her. She was black and looked to be in her early to mid thirties. Her coat was brown, its sleeves embroidered with what looked to be gold, but what was most interesting to Arcane was how her breasts had been held up with a bra that...seemed to be made of the bones from fingers. Her hair was predominantly black, singed with a few white strands here and there, and was messily thrown up into a half up beehive, like Arcane had seen in old magazines. Their eyes met. Hers were golden, and lit with mischief and amusement. Around them was smudged black makeup that made her face look all the more hollow, and unforgiving.

"You're Marie Laveau." Arcane said finally. The woman eyed the barrel of Arcane's weapon, and nodded slowly, though not fearful as much as cautious, and a bit weary. "That's right." The woman confirmed, and Arcane had immediately decided she liked her voice. It was silky, like it could convince you to do anything. Arcane brought her weapon to her side, and tucked it back in her waistband.

"Sorry." She uttered hastily. "You snuck up on me."

[AuroraSky]

Marie was relieved, for the girl's own sake and not so much for hers, that she had had the good sense to lower her weapon after all. She smirked. "Sorry, child, I didn' mean to frighten you. But I can hardly say that I snuck up on you while on my own property." Arcane opened her mouth, but conceded Marie's point and instead decided to say nothing. Marie folded her arms and glanced at the little boat that the girl had rode up in. "Word of advice, child, next time you come through the bayou you better make sure it's not in one of those little ass boats. A crocodile would smack that head on and toss you right over, and even your gun couldn't save you then."

Arcane thought of the ripple in the water before and wanted to shiver at the thought. "Noted." She responded, almost gruffly.

"So," Marie said, swinging her hips as she began to saunter past the girl and towards the front door of her shack. "Did you come all this way to try and kill me?" She asked nonchalantly.

Arcane turned around to watch her go, unsure if that was her cue to follow. "No. Of course not."

Marie glanced over her shoulder and smiled a smile that made Arcane uneasy. "Then come on in."

[AuroraSky]

Arcane followed the Voodoo Queen into the shack, surprised to see it was much more spacious than how it had looked on the outside. The bottom floor was one large room, divided in half by the kitchen and her living area, and it was the kitchen that Arcane was led to. The shack's front door squeaked to a close behind her, the squeak more akin to a soft scream. Arcane rolled her shoulders back and mentally kicked herself to be brave. "Where you come from?" Marie asked, gesturing Arcane to the kitchen table. It had been made of wood, as was much of the furniture she could see, but had been sanded down to a perfect smoothness. Atop was a vase of swamp flowers, a few dark purple and a few black, and a salt and pepper shaker. "Skytaen."

Marie opened the fridge door and pulled out a large pitcher of water. "You're a long way from Skytaen, child." Marie said as if Arcane hadn't already known that. She set a cup in front of the teen and poured her a glass, and although Arcane hadn't been particularly thirsty she took a sip anyway. "I know that. But I need information, and I think you might be one of the only people that can help me."

Marie raised her eyebrows, amused. Girl got straight to the point, didn't she? "What kind of information could I possibly have for you?" She asked, curious.

[AuroraSky]

Arcane took another sip. She wondered if she should have been a little more wary with Marie Laveau, especially if her reputation preceded her. Arcane held a strong conviction that trust was something to be earned, and not just handed out. But at the same time she was desperate, and if she lied or omitted some of the truth she had the uncomfortable feeling that Marie Laveau would have been able to tell. "I'm hunting someone."

Marie grinned a tight grin. So there it was, huh? That's all she got, these days, were bounds of murderers trying to get their grimy little hands on their victim. "Hunting someone, huh?" She asked, unimpressed. She looked Arcane up and down. "What's a little thing like you hunting someone for?"

Arcane bristled at being called a 'little thing', but she had promised herself to control her usually flammable temper. Besides, Marie was from the bayou, and from the south, and she'd probably have a bunch of insulting sayings on deck. "He's trying to kill someone that I..." Did she care about Demetrius? Arcane liked to believe she didn't care about anyone. "Someone that I need to keep alive." That much was true; Arcane served the State and Demetrius was a part of it.

[AuroraSky]

Marie sat in the chair opposite Arcane and leaned back, folding her hands and resting them on her stomach. "Seems like your friend has quite the problem." She said, flatly. "And my best advice for you is to let your friend handle it. No sense picking up other people's burdens." Marie watched as the girl got this wild look in her eyes as though she wanted to strike Marie, or better yet reach for that gun and blow her head off, but instead she just dug her fingernails into her palms. "It's not that easy." Arcane said, her voice pinching.

"Seems to me like it is." Marie's head tilted to one side, curiously. She thought for a moment. "You got a name?"

"Arcane." The girl responded briskly, as if she had preferred to keep names off the table.

"Well, Arcane, you come up here to my home, unannounced, with a gun. Did you come up here with the intention to fire your weapon?"

"I already told you I didn't come here to kill you." Arcane said impatiently, and a bit nervously. She got the sudden feeling that Marie Laveau was trying to analyze her, and she was trying to avoid that at all costs.

[AuroraSky]

"And that's a good decision on your part. So tell me, Arcane, do you always make it a point to carry a gun," She glanced down at Arcane's bottom underneath the table, "And a dagger, and whatever the hell else you have tucked away in places I don't want to know about?" Arcane didn't answer. "Seems to me like you came here looking for a little more than just information." Marie suggested.

Arcane felt her stomach turn. She wasn't trying to make an enemy out of the woman, but inadvertently she had been doing just that. "It's not like that." Arcane insisted quickly. "I always carry this kind of stuff around."

"And why would you have to do that?"

"Because-" It suddenly became clear, and Arcane felt like an idiot for not seeing it before. Marie Laveau hadn't really seen Arcane as a threat; she was trying to figure out what it was that Arcane was apart of. And Arcane would have rather died than tell Marie Laveau anything about S16. She glared at the woman, realizing just how cunning she actually was, with that voice of silk. "For protection." Arcane responded firmly.

[AuroraSky]

Marie blinked at Arcane. The girl was smart enough to know that Marie didn't believe that he had come fully stocked just for 'protection'. And the way she had reacted to Marie's approach, the precision of her reflex and stance, was not of someone who just carried weapons for protection. She wanted to laugh at her. "Arcane, honey, I'm from the South. I know plenty of people who carry around weapons for protection." She said with a half smile. "You throw a rock 'round my town? You hit a gun before you hit a man."

"You trespass into my home, demanding information for free, and on top of it you're lying to me?" Marie asked, her eyes narrowed in contempt. "Well, girl, you better grab up your gun, get back into your tiny little boat, and dig off back to the town. We're done here." Marie sat up and scooted back her seat, giving Arcane room to do the same.

Perhaps Marie had been a little gruff, but she had been in the bayou a long time and she had learned that not everyone who comes to you for knowledge is pure of heart. Long ago Marie had given some people information that had gotten someone who didn't deserve to die killed, and ever since then she had always had her guard up. And Marie knew that this little girl with the pale blonde hair and the dagger on her thigh could be up to no good.

[AuroraSky]

Arcane watched, practically foaming at the mouth, as Marie Laveau stand and begin to saunter away from her. What right did this woman have, to just dismiss her like that? After everything Arcane had done to get here, everything that she was risking...Arcane felt helpless, watching her only hope to even begin to try to save Demetrius' life just slip away, biting her lip and warning it not to open, before, "Wait." Her voice was low, almost a whisper, as if Arcane had hoped the woman hadn't heard her.

Marie Laveau stopped walking, not yet turning back around to face her, and Arcane grimaced. She couldn't believe what she was about to do, and a second she thought about cutting her losses and getting the hell out of there. That was what her mind, her practical, calculating mind was screaming at her to do, yet..."You're right. And. I'm-" Sorry? She wasn't sorry, and Marie Laveau would know that too. "I'm putting a lot of people in danger by being here." Arcane finished instead.

Marie Laveau still hadn't turned around. "Well, is whoever you're trying to save worth it to you?"

Arcane stared at the back of Marie's head, thinking for a moment that she might unclip her dagger and hurl it straight through the woman's skull. "Yes."