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Post by Dr. Facilier on Feb 13, 2010 22:28:36 GMT -5
It was an unexpectedly warm day in New Orleans, the midday sun shining brightly in the sky whilst beneath its glow people bustled back and forth amid a cacophonous melody of a hundred songs ringing out from all directions. Of course, the brighter the light the darker the shadows it cast were, something that was especially apparent in one particular dark alley in the heart of the city. A lone figure was lurking at the head of the alleyway, elegantly leaning against the dull, stone wall as he gazed out at the passing people with obvious scrutiny. Catching the eye of a passing young woman, Doctor Facilier gracefully raised one bony hand and beckoned her over, a sly smile fixed on his face.
“Good afternoon to you, little lady,” began Facilier smoothly, raising his hat courteously with one hand as he spoke. As he said this, behind him his shadow leapt into action, ripping up a flower that had been growing into a crack in a pavement and slipping it into the Doctor’s hand in one quick movement. He casually revealed the flower to the woman before him, placing it in her button hole before leaning nonchalantly on his cane.
“What do you require of Doctor Facilier?” Noticing that the woman still seemed uncertain he reached into his jacket and drew out a single card, handing it to her with a flourish, “here; my card.” His face remained inscrutable as the woman examined the card, barely giving her time to finish reading the intricate, miniscule text before whipping it out of her hands as quickly as he’d handed it over.
“Or maybe... this card is yours.” With a flick of the wrist he began to spin the card between his fingers, until finally when he stopped a lone tarot card had replaced the business card from only seconds ago. With another flourish the shadow man swept his other hand in a circle around the card, a trail of cards fanning out after it as the rest of his deck revealed itself. Taking advantage of this distraction his shadow darted across the wall to lurk behind the woman, gently pushing at her own shadow so that she was urged further forward towards the Doctor.
“Don’t be scared,” crooned Facilier, his hands almost a blur as he shuffled the pack of tarot cards, “there’s nothin’ to worry about. Just a little fun; find out what the future holds.” He smirked, fanning out the cards in one hand and offering them to the woman as he once again leant on his cane (his shadow had been holding it upright as he shuffled).
“Interested?”
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Feb 14, 2010 20:50:57 GMT -5
"The Crescent City." Elisa mused to herself as she wandered the streets of New Orleans. Sure, it wasn't New York, but there was no denying that New Orleans did have a special spark of it's own. Musicians played on the street corners, and Elisa dropped some spare change into a man's hat, smiling as he winked his thanks to her while continuing to play on a jazzy tune on his trumpet.
Elisa continued on her way, catching eyes with a tall and lean man at the entrance of an alleyway. He beckoned her forward with a wave of his hand, and Elisa walked up to him, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Good afternoon." She greeted back, a little surprised as he produced a flower out of no where, sticking it in the button hole of her jacket.
She took his card, examining the brief description of tarot readings, charms, and potions. Elisa never really believed in any of that, but then, a few years back, she wouldn't have believed that gargoyles, magic islands, and aliens were real.
Elisa blinked in surprise as Dr. Facilier's card was whisked out of her hands and replaced with another, this one featuring a picture of a lone gray wolf howling at the moon.
Before she'd realized it, she was walking closer to him, unable to hid the intrigue on her face.
"Why not?" Elisa said, taking another card from the offered deck.
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Post by Dr. Facilier on Feb 17, 2010 17:15:56 GMT -5
It was difficult for Facilier to resist smirking as the woman took a card, especially as he spotted the clear look of interest that adorned his potential victim’s face. It was gratifying whenever someone was drawn in this quickly, especially considering everything that was on the line for the Doctor. Following the debacle with the Prince and the waitress he had been forced to pull a lot of strings and promise a lot of favours in order to secure his release from the hell he had been imprisoned within, so naturally his friends on the other side had become a lot less patient with him than they would once have been willing to be.
“You, little lady, have lost your way,” explained Facilier smoothly, dramatically waving one hand across the card the woman was holding, “barely surviving from day to day.” As he said this the picture on the card changed, showing a heavily stylised depiction of Elisa that was clearly in a state of considerable distress. Facilier’s shadow was far from idle whilst this was going on. Once again taking advantage of the woman’s distraction, the shadow slipped one hand into the pocket of Elisa’s shadow, drawing out her wallet and holding it up so that Facilier could read the name on the ID from over her shoulder, before carefully replacing the wallet as if it had never moved.
“Now Miss. Maza I’d wager (and believe me I don’t leave things to chance) that you’re in need of guidance,” he tapped his cane against the ground once with a flourish, causing flames to spring into life in the alley behind him. A small doorway was revealed from the within the depths of shadows, above which the name ‘Dr. Facilier’s Voodoo Emporium’ was emblazoned and underlined with fire.
“And Dr. Facilier would be only to happy to provide,” with a flick of the wrist he jabbed his cane in the direction of the door, which swung open apparently in response to this simple action, “y’all care to step inside?”
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Mar 1, 2010 16:38:09 GMT -5
Elisa was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. How on earth did he know her name?
She whirled around to face the shop, the shadows giving it an even more eerie feeling than she already had. She supposed any voodoo shop had that feel too it, but for Elisa, this particular one had her mind practically screaming at her to get out. The mere fact that it was tucked away in the alley was more than enough to raise the red flags.
"Look..." Elisa began, briefly wondering why her legs weren't backing away like she wanted them to. "I uh... really don't go for this kind of thing. Just tell me what I owe you for the card thing, and I'll be on my way."
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Post by Dr. Facilier on Mar 1, 2010 17:32:47 GMT -5
“Don’t you walk away from me,” instructed Facilier, his face darkening and his tone becoming forceful for a moment as he darted around Elisa to block her escape. For the briefest of seconds a hint of his dark motives could be seen in his eyes, however in an instant his face had returned to his customary charismatic expression.
“Now don’t worry; if you relax I guarantee this’ll be an enlightening experience.” The shadow man tucked one arm around Elisa’s waist as he said this and gently guided her forwards through the door of his shop, the end of his cane holding the door ajar until they had both passed through it. Of course like everything else about his spiel, this simple enough gesture was not what it seemed. As Facilier gently guided her forward his shadow swept around and pushed harshly against the back of Elisa’s shadow, forcing the uncertain woman forward into the chamber beyond.
“I knew you’d come around to my way of thinkin’,” stated the doctor calmly, subtly locking the door with one hand as he tapped his cane against the floor to mask the click of the lock, “and don’t go worryin’ about payment. Helpin’ a lost soul to find its way is more than enough reward for some.” With a slight flourish the shadow man clicked his fingers, an action that garnered an immediate reaction from a light further in the shop. A curtained off booth was revealed beneath the bulb’s dingy glow, within which a table and several rather battered chairs were set up and waiting.
“Take a seat, Elisa,” continued Facilier smoothly, drawing one of the chairs back and gesturing for her to sit down, “and prepare to be amazed.”
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Mar 7, 2010 21:55:33 GMT -5
Elisa wasn't able to stop the uneasy look that crossed her face as Facilier's tone suddenly turned sharp, his expression darkening for just a moment. His charismatic tone returned as his hand found her waist, easing her forward into his shop.
Elisa tried to move away, but suddenly found herself pushed into the voodoo shop. She whirled around to face to witch doctor, who was leaning casually on his cane.
"You're a regular philanthropist, aren't you?" Elisa said, not bothering to hide her sarcasm.
If Elisa had seen Facilier lock her in, she might have reconsidered sitting down in the offered chair. Even still, her brown eyes were now filled with skepticism and mistrust.
Her posture stiff and uneasy, Elisa waited for him to begin his parlor tricks. The sooner he was done, the sooner she could leave.
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Post by Dr. Facilier on Apr 7, 2010 11:19:23 GMT -5
“What can I say?” said Facilier smoothly as he slipped into the seat across from Elisa, “I’ve always been a big fan of people.” He chuckled quietly at this for the briefest of moments, as if the seemingly casual comment was nothing but a joke to him.
“The world is full of people...” continued the shadow man as dealt out the tarot cards in an intricate fan on the table before them, “rich people, poor people, all got dreams. They all have somethin’ they desire.” He smirked, reaching out one bony hand and flipping over the card that lay closest to Elisa. The drawing on it was highly stylized and crude, as if it had been drawn only seconds before he had revealed it, however the creature depicted was unmistakeable.
“Even Gargoyles,” said Facilier, leaning back in his chair idly as he gazed at his mark to gauge her reaction. In all honesty the witch doctor was nowhere near as confident about this revelation as he appeared, after all the newspaper he’d read about the gargoyle rumour in wasn’t the most reliable of sources. The story had been one off those side-notes that was crammed onto the front page to fill up space, in fact Facilier had completely forgotten about it until he read Elisa’s name on her ID. The report had contained a quote from a New York police officer denouncing the existence of Gargoyles, and he was fairly sure (though not certain) that the article had referred to an officer named “Maza”.
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Post by ~Elisa Maza~ on Jun 3, 2010 19:09:48 GMT -5
Elisa's eyes widened as Facilier revealed a card with a gargoyle. It's wings were spread, as if it were about to take flight. Did he really know about gargoyles, or was this just coincidence?
Her mind began racing as she let her face take on a bored expression. She'd just gotten the gargoyles back, there was no way she was going to reveal their existence to anyone. Particularly not to this man, who was making every instinct Elisa had tell her not to trust him, and to get away as soon as she possibly could.
"Gargoyles, huh?" Elisa said, laughing a little. "Next I suppose you'll tell me about the aliens too."
"Don't give him anything about the gargoyles." Elisa told herself. "Just get out of here."
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Post by Dr. Facilier on Aug 23, 2010 0:32:31 GMT -5
Facilier’s brow furrowed in frustration as the woman before him feigned ignorance about the mythical creatures in question. The shadow man was utterly convinced that Elisa knew more than she was letting on. Years spent conning people out of their hard earned money (and occasionally their immortal souls) had given him a keen eye for body language, so naturally he’d noticed that the moment he’d revealed the card the woman before him had tensed up.
“Oh you don’t want to know about the aliens,” said Facilier with a dismissive wave of his hand, “terrible people, always claiming they left their wallet on their other planet.” He chuckled, continuing to stare intently at Elisa as he attempted to gauge the best way to resume the Gargoyles line of questioning. If there was one thing Facilier had learnt over the years, it was that gold or jewels paled in comparison to the value that a good secret could hold, especially one that could leave him with a whole new race to exploit.
“Now Miss. Maza, I try to be a reasonable man,” continued Facilier confidently, as behind him his shadow reared up with a malevolent grin, “in fact I even considered adding it to my card at one point.” He idly flicked one of his business cards at Elisa as he said this, however rather than bouncing off her it seemed to unravel as it soared through the air. The small rectangle of card seemed to stretch out and twist around itself, quickly transforming into a serpentine strand of rope which sprang forward in a savage attempt to bind the officer to her chair.
“The only problem is I’m not a reasonable man,” said Facilier with a smirk, “so why don’t you take another look at that Gargoyle with that in mind.”
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