Facilier was pacing. He had faith in Lily, that wasn't the problem, but he didn't know what her mother was like. Thus barely talked about her and, based on his own experiences with adults, he feared the worst. What he wasn't expecting was Lily and Ms. Jones to walk into the shop discussing the many luxuries of magic.

The shop was filled in silence as the two parties stared at each other, even the mischievous dolls had stopped. Lily gave a nervous laugh.

"Mom, Facilier. Facilier, mom." Her mother looked at him appraisingly, before cautiously stretching out her hand to shake. Facilier smoothly grabbed it and pecked it lightly.

"A pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Lily smacked him. Tulip sniffed but said nothing, turning to look around. She took in the now moving dolls, the table with Lily's crystal ball, and the shelves filled with various knick-knacks.

"Are those rats?" Tulip asked.

"Yes." Both said at the same time. Lily's mother nods, not bothering to ask why. Lily and Facilier both look at each other in apprehension, waiting for her next words.

"Well… it's not horrible." She couldn't get another word in as Lily squealed, and jumped to hug her.

"So I can stay!?" She cried excitedly. Tulip sighed deeply.

"Yes. but I'll be making a few rules." Facilier groaned at this but the two ladies ignored him. "One, I would like to know what sort of magic you do, and if I think it'll harm you then you won't do it. Two, we need some sort of communication, if you're dealing with strangers I need to have some assurance that you can get help quickly. And three, working hours, I won't have you working from sun-up to sun-down. Can we agree to this?" Lily nodded. "Good, now show me what's so great about magic."

Facilier got up at this point and very dramatically predicted Tulip's future, which made Lily go and grab her crystal ball to do the same. They also showed her their voodoo dolls and the next ritual they were planning on doing, Lily's mom turned a bit green at the mention of animal sacrifice but didn't veto the ritual. Reading the results of the ritual Lily perked up.

"Hey, this might help us with rule number two, mum," Lily said.

"How so?" Tulip asked, wondering how animal sacrifice relates to communication.

"Well the ritual animates our shadows, giving them a bit of personality and self-thought, so if we're in danger it could go to you or someone else!"

Tulip thought it over and nodded, "Alright, love, that sounds good to me." Facilier fist-pumped the air then scurried about to get the supplies. Lily walked over to the caged rats slipping some sedatives into their treats. Curious, Tulip walked up and watched as her daughter carefully placed the sleeping rats in the middle of the compass-shaped pattern Facilier drew. They stood over the rats letting their shadows fall over them, Tulip was by the door. Once again Lily started chanting, and Facilier followed behind. Their chanting quickened as the rats' bodies began to darken and then finally dissolve. After the rats disappeared Lily, and Facilier slowed their chanting only stopping when their shadows started twitching.

Tulip let out a gasp when Facilier's shadow stretched and moved all over the room, moving its head in silent laughter, but what shocked them all was when Lily's shadow popped out of the ground in a 3-d shape. It tilted its head at Lily then smiled and patted her head, before it sunk back to a 2d form. They all looked at one another, surprise written across each of their faces.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Tulip asked, thinking that the two magic experts would know.

"No, that's not supposed to happen," Lily said as she flipped through the book, "And I have no idea why it did, the book isn't saying anything." Facilier took the book out of her hands with an eye-roll.

"It's obvious what happened, Lily has more magic. More magic means a more powerful shadow."

"How do you know my magic's more powerful?"

"When we first met you teleported in front of me, you're the only one who can accurately use the crystal ball," He counts off his fingers, "And all the voodoo dolls like you better." He gestures to the dolls, and they nod in affirmation. "See? You're more powerful, Lils, simple as that."

"Oh." She says dumbly, "I guess I am." Facilier smirks.

"And you know what that means?"

"What?"

"More magic equals more powerful pranks." They both start cackling crazily while Tulip stares at them in horror.

AN:

UnnoVox: Yay, more magic! And now Lily's mom isn't scared of voodoo! On another note, Facilier's trademark shadow appears. How he gets it is different from the movie but I don't want him selling his soul to the mask-thingies. AND we learn a little about Lily's magic, so yeah her magic is more powerful because she is a witch, while Facilier is still a muggle. How that works, well I'll explain later on… hopefully.

DuoAnimi: The story is starting to pick up pace now! It's getting quite exciting. Just another reminder, if you think we could do anything better please let us know. We are open to improvement! Lily and Facilier are getting much more adept at magic! Maybe we'll see them do more complicated spells in the future? :)