~The Voodoo Queen~

Virgil hopped as fast as he could as Evangeline-or rather her shadow-was being dragged by some mystical being. It was the witches; the witches had come, but they weren't after him this time. They were after her. They wanted her for some reason. If only he could figure out why.

None of this thinking was helping. It wasn't getting Virgil any closer to Evangeline, and it definitely wasn't stopping that monster from getting away with her. Louis wasn't any faster, but how could they stop a shadow, anyway?

"Virgil! Louis!" She kept calling out to them, but it was no use. They weren't as fast as this demonic shadow beast. She had no idea where it was taking her, but she was sure it wasn't any place good. "Please! Someone help me!"

"Hang on, Evangeline!" The girl stopped her struggling when she heard that tiny voice. Mimi the firefly came to her rescue and flashed her light at the beast. It immediately disintegrated into nothing. Evangeline fell to the ground, but she was unscathed.

She breathed out a relieved sigh. "Thanks, Mimi."

"Anytime!"

"Angel!" The two turned to see the frog and the gator running towards them. "Hey, where'd that thing go?" Virgil asked. He was relieved (not that he would ever admit that) Evangeline was safe, but he was still curious as to what happened to the shadow that snatched her up.

"Mimi used her light to destroy it."

"Well let's get out of here before more come!" Louis said before running ahead of the others.

After a few yards of running (with the exception of Mimi who was flying), they stopped to rest. "Do you think we got away?" Virgil asked.

"Don't worry," Mimi said. "My relationals'll deal with those shadow monsters!"

"You little guys are too good to me," Evangeline said. "I barely know any of you and you still saved my life."

"It's an honor to protect Tiana and Naveen's daughter!"

"I'm still confused," Virgil said. "Who are Tiana and Nav-ah! Forget! We don't have time for this! We have to run-"

A eerie rumbled erupted, cutting off the fraud prince completely. Everyone looked at the coy gator, who was blushing terriblely. "I guess... I'm a little hungry."

"We don't have to time to stop and eat! Those shadows-!" Virgil's stomach also roared with hunger. He looked away uncomfortably.

"I guess we're all hungry," Evangeline said.

"It's too bad we have nothing to eat." This time, the frog did not see any fruit bushes or even a scrape of food. Even the bugs were absent, except for Mimi, but he couldn't eat her; even though he barely knew her, he didn't want to eat her for three reasons:

1. She was still a bug.

2. Eating bugs was gross.

3. She could protect them from the shadows with her glowing... butt.

Surely Evangeline still had some fruit she could spare. "Uh, Angel...?"

"No, I have nothing to spare," she said. "We're just going to have to look for something to eat ourselves."

"But, those shadows could come back any minute," Louis said, quivering. "You might get snatched up again if we put our guard down."

"Hm. Perhaps you're right."

"Then I'll stay here," Virgil offered. He was lying against a stone and put his hands behind his head, laidback. "and you know, watch out for anymore of those shadow things. It's the manly thing to do; no one has to worry while I'm here protecting y'all."

Evangeline rolled her eyes. "The only one who's capable of protecting us is Mimi. How are you supposed to produce a light?"

Virgil grunted something incoherent and continued to lie against the rock.

"I'll stay too!" Louis claimed which didn't surprise anyone.

Evangeline shook her head. Some men. "I guess we're the providers, Mimi. Let's make this quick."

The little firefly nodded. "On it, chère!"

"Let's see," the young woman mumbled to herself. "What do you see that looks edible, Eva?" She saw a few mushrooms by a tree. They didn't look poisonous and there was nothing else she could see that was palatable. She reached for them, but then they vanished within a milisecond. "What the...? How did that happen?" Then she saw the striped tail. She smiled. Their masked friend was back. When she tickled its tail, it immediately shot out of the bushes and ran up the tree, dropping all of the mushrooms.

"It's just a lil' raccoon," Mimi said. "Lil' guy's probably starved."

"It must be the same raccoon." Evangeline picked up a handful of the mushrooms and held one up to the raccoon. "Come on, little guy," she tried to coax him. "I'm not going to hurt you. Consider this an apology for what that grumpy little frog did to you." The raccoon looked from Evangeline to the mushroom curiously before leaping on her shoulders and nipping the mushroom from her hands. He licked his paws before nuzzling her cheek. "Aw, you're actually really cute. How about you help me scavage a few things for dinner." The raccoon nodded before scampering off.

A few minutes later, the three went back to the Virgil and Louis. However, the frog was not very pleased to see who was with them. "You again!" Virgil cried when he saw his foe hanging on the girl's shoulders like a stole.

The raccoon snarled at the little frog. "Virgil, be nice," Evangeline chastised the frog. "The poor thing was just hungry, is all. He's actually really friendly."

"Friendly, my ass!"

Evangeline rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her ankle. Or rather, her shadow's ankle. "AH!"

"Not again!" Virgil began to sprint forward, but then another one grabbed him. There was more than one shadow this time, and he didn't think Mimi's light could wipe them all out. He was about to give up all hope, until a flash destroyed this shadow, releasing Evangeline once again. "Whoa. Nice move, Mimi."

"That wasn't me, Cap."

Another figure began walking towards them. It was an extremely eerie sight; Virgil thought it was another shadow, but it was too misty to tell. But out came a very elderly woman in white robes, a headdress, and sunglasses. She was holding a club that was lit on fire, swinging it around her finger by an attached ring. She blew out the light and stopped in front of the group. Then she smiled, which totally caught Evangeline and Virgil off guard. "Y'all in a bit of a pickle, ain't cha? Ha ha!"

"Mama Odie!"


The stories of Mama Odie were not just stories, Evangeline thought. In fact, this woman was exactly what she pictured in her mind: very, very, very old, blind, and wiser than most. She also lived in that same boat house. However, Evangeline did not expect to a see a boat entangled in a mess of branches in a tree. It seemed really impossible, but voodoo magic also seemed really impossible a few days ago and now she was in the Bayou looking for the one source of pure magic. Anything was possible.

Mama Odie was really thrilled to meet her, she thought, but that would be an underestimate. When they were settled in the boat treehouse, the elderly woman hugged all of the air out of her lungs. "I never thought I'd see the day," she said. "The hop-alongs had two tadpoles and didn't say anything to Mama!"

The young woman didn't know what to say, mostly because she was suffocating from this woman's remarkably strong hug. When the woman finally released her, she gasped. "I'm sorry, Mama Odie. I don't believe we've met."

"Of course we ain't met before!" the young exclaimed. "But I know who you are. And little Ray Ray."

"Y-You do?" Now that was uncanny.

"Good to see you, Jabber Jaws!" The elderly woman suddenly ignored the young woman, which annoyed Evangeline. Her parents were also right when they said she could be very aggravating times. But if she could help them, she had no problem with her short attention span. "How's that dream of yours!"

"Great!" Louis said. "I play at Tiana's Palace every night!"

"So the hop-alongs finally got that restaurant, did they?" Mama Odie walked up to her chair. She abruptly stopped and called out, "Juju!" A yellow snake casually came out of its covert and slithered to its master. "Give your mama some sugar!" The witchdoctor grabbed hold of the snake and kissed it, tongues and all. Needless to say, the group was utterly disgusted.

"This lady's wack!" Virgil exclaimed.

"I think I've gone blind!" Louis cried, covering up his eyes. Evangeline did the same. She wished most of the things her parents had told her weren't true.

Mimi seemed to be the only one not fazed by it, which the rest of the group found disturbing.

Once the voodoo priestess stopped kissing the snake, she stretched it out into a walking stick as she made her way to her chair. Once she was seated, she turned her attention back to Evangeline. "So what brings you here, child?"

"Him." She pointed to the frog thrown in disarray.

"So, you got yourselves another hop-along." Mama Odie laughed. "Your family never learns, do they?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Your parents came to me with the same problem. Those two hop-along had a lot to learn."

"My parents?" She finally understood. Those stories her parents had told her when she was a little girl were true. And those frogs in the story were her parents. That meant that Ray (the one from the story) did exist and Evangeline the Evening Star really was his lover. And Louis... he knew the whole time!

Louis could feel her glaring daggers at him. She figured it out, he thought in fear.

"Okay," Virgil said. "someone better start explaining what's going on because I'm tired of being in the dark!"

Mimi just shrugged. She had no clue either, but she knew Mama Odie would explain everything for them.

Mama Odie suddenly jumped out of her seat and walked up to Evangeline. She studied her up and down, and at other angles. For a blind woman, Evangeline observed, she was very perceptive. All of a sudden, the blind woman laughed. "Yep! You're a special one, child! I knew I liked something 'bout you! You have magical potential in you. Even after your parents turned back human, you were still affected by the magic. That's why you can understand what all the lil' critters say."

"Really?"

That sure does explain a lot, Evangeline thought.

"So, Angel has powers?" The old woman clarified this with a nod. "Does that mean she can turn me back into a human?" Virgil insisted.

"'Course not!" Mama Odie's cry startled the frog. "Now, did you two figure out what you need?"

"Oh no," Louis groaned.

"What I need is to get back to normal," Virgil answered.

"Yeah," Evangeline agreed.

"WRONG!" The frog fell back against her snake and it quickly recoiled back. "Dig a little deeper, deary."

"Dig a little deeper for what?" Virgil had no idea where this was going, but this woman was not proving to be very helpful to their cause. "You're crazy! All I want is-"

"Listen to your mama, child!" Mama Odie whacked him in the bad of the head.

"OW! You crazy ole'-"

"You two need to stop worrying about what's happening around you and look at what's in front of you." She had the two face each other. For a moment, Virgil could see a sparkle in Evangeline's dazzling chocolate-brown orbs. It was a sight; he couldn't believe he'd never noticed it before. She was... beautiful. And she had been so nice to him through this whole trip; he was surprised she hadn't ditched him. Why now did he just notice these things?

"Now!" Mama Odie suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "Y'all wanted the answer to your problem. Follow Mama." The Voodoo Queen led them to a tub filled with gumbo.

"What's with the tub of goo?"

"Hush up and look at the gumbo!" The elderly woman scolded him. Then she said a chant:

Gumbo, gumbo in the pot,

We need a princess,

WHAT YOU GOT?

An image slowly appeared in the gumbo. Tiana's Palace slowly came into view along with a group of people. "My parents!" Evangeline said. "And Uncle Lucas. They've been looking for me this whole time. I've made them worried sick." The police were interrogating her parents about her whereabouts, which made her feel even more guilty.

"... We'll do our best to find your daughter, sir," the police officer said.

"Thank you," her father replied. As soon as the policemen left, Naveen sighed irately and turned to his wife. "This is turning into a disaster."

"You're telling me!" Lucas exclaimed. "I don't think these policemen know what they're doing. My niece has been missing for two days and there's no trace of her anywhere! I'm not leaving this country until I know she's safe!"

"Now you two need to calm down," Tiana tried to console the two brothers. "I'm sure Evangeline will show up by tomorrow. She wouldn't dare miss Mardi Gras." She cupped her husband's cheek and gave him a reassuring yet sad smile. "Now, buck up! I don't want see that frown on your face during the Mardi Gras parade. We're the royal family this year, and we have to look proud."

"Royal family...?" The young woman had almost forgotton her father was the runner-up for the title "King of the Mardi Gras parade". He must've won that privilege. "If Daddy's the king of the Mardi Gras parade, that would make me..."

"... a princess." Virgil finished.

"Yep. Only true love's kiss will break the spell."

"Now hold on!" Evangeline finally cracked. Virgil and Louis winced, fearing what the enraged girl could possibly do to the old, feeble woman. "I've been stuck with this little nuisance-who I'd just met on my 18th birthday-for days because he wanted me to kiss him so he could turn back into a human, and we've been avoiding magical obstacles and aimlessly walking through this swampy wasteland to get to you because Louis said you could help us! And now you're telling me that I actually have to kiss him just so he can be human again and get out of my life for good!"

"... Yep." Mama Odie replied with casuality. "But it'll only work tomorrow, by midnight, or the kiss will not work. Too bad you're not a prince, Hop-along."

"Hey! I resent that!" Virgil argued.

"Well, I'm still not going to kiss you, even if I wasn't the Mardi Gras Princess." Evangeline declared. "Don't you have any other solutions?"

"Nope. Now," Mama Odie began to push the group to the door. "you folks best be on your way, and remember to remember what's important."

"Wait! How are we going to get back to town?" Virgil asked. "If we walk, it'll be too late!" Evangeline sighed. Even though she already disagreed with it, everybody was ignoring her.

Louis held a sly grin. "I have an idea."

"WAIT!" Everyone stared at Mimi. "Cap's not a prince?"

Everyone facepalmed. "Oh, Mimi..."


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