Facilier's idea for a voodoo cart evolved into a table, he doesn't have much creativity when it comes to building things, which will have small curses and various healing ointments. He decided that it'll be a sample of the store, so if anyone wants something big, or their fortune read, they'll have to head to his and Lily's emporium.
Of course, a raggedy-looking kid in front of a similarly suspicious cart wouldn't do good for sales. Insert Lily's homemade costumes. Each of them complimented the other but had different elements.
Facilier's costume involved a twin-tailed coat, fitting black pants, a purple vest, and a top hat he refused to wear ("I look ridiculous Lils, don't make me wear it!"). Lily's costume was a black trench coat without the sleeves, which had a wide assortment of hazardly sewn on patch-pockets, a purple t-shirt a similar color to Facilier's vest, and what once was jeans but now an assortment of multi-color patches, where most of them were pockets.
With both a table and fancy costumes the news of a voodoo shop spread, funnily enough, the reason why Lily and Facilier weren't getting any customers was because no one knew about them. People certainly did now though and both were getting flooded with requests each day.
One of these requests was to find 9 missing cats, all belonging to a certain Mr. Figg. Lily peering into her crystal ball notices that if he finds the cats in a certain order he'll meet a lovely British woman and they'll both elope to England, with his cats as well. Of course, the hype faded after two weeks or so, but their reputation and skills still spread.
The issue with these requests though is that Lily and Facilier have a limited supply of ingredients, thus it wasn't uncommon to see the two resident witch doctors running about with odd plants and animal skulls.
During a recent search for rats, those buggers may be many but it's tricky catching them, and of course, the spells require hand-caught rats. They wandered into an area with lots of abandoned warehouses. Hearing a squeak, Lily raced into one of the buildings, a huge, pale, and yellow sugar mill. Facilier rolled his eyes but followed after her, complaining that they'll never catch a rat if they keep loudly running around. His complaints dropped however when he entered the building.
It was massive and open, the roof had fallen in at some point but it gave the room an airy light, an old wooden staircase stood in the back, and cobwebs filled every corner. But the entire place held a whimsical and homely feeling. He looked at Lily who was walking around slowly, mouth agape. She gently brushed the railing of the stairs before turning around and smiling at him.
"This place is going to be special." She said it with such confidence that Facilier couldn't help but agree. After they left that place with as many rats as they could find, Facilier made a mental note to keep an eye on the abandoned building.
The happy memory took a darker turn after they returned home, a group of young men stood around the front door. A couple of them held bottles, none of them were full. Facilier blanched and stepped back quivering, he knew these men, they threatened him earlier this week. Lily, however, didn't know them.
"Excuse me gentlemen, but is there something you want?" She asked as politely as she could because they definitely didn't look like gentlemen. One man leered in her face.
"We want ya two tah beat it." He slurred heartedly. "Or we're gonna trash this place and you."
"Why would you do that?" Lily asked the innocent question but her voice was far from it. Another man spat at her feet, causing the rest to laugh.
"Cause black magic ain't help to anybody, ya'll gonna get us all killed." Lily nodded at their words. Facilier let out a little gasp, she couldn't agree with them, could she? He didn't need to worry though as she continued.
"I understand your concern, and I appreciate any customer feedback. But we know the risks and we're ready to take them."
The men didn't like that though and one in the back swung a bottle at her head. Only for it to be caught by Spaghetti, which landed next to Lily with a fierce scowl. Facilier laughed off his past concerns before grabbing a purple powder from a pouch. Blowing it on the bumbling men they all started screaming and running away.
"What was that?" Lily asked.
"Hallucinogen."
They laughed so loud that one of their neighbors yelled at them to shut up, they didn't but went inside anyway.
AN:
UnnaVox: This was a fun chapter. I'm trying to speed things up a bit but still show their growing friendship. Next chapter Lily's mom comes into play, wonder how she's going to take Lily doing magic! :)