Disclaimer: You all know the drill

Note: Sorry to say, but this is a filler chapter because I need to do some research about Cajun/French cuisine for the next chapter.

Chapter 3:

Peaceful Malevolence

As the words he wanted to hear swam through his ears, Axis tilted his head to the sky to mask his wicked expression. After years of painful mistakes and fruitless gains, he finally built the last piece to the puzzle. It's time! When Axis managed to reduce the curves of his lips to a welcoming display, he quickly whipped around to face his new master.

Shadow Man was flattering Nateriah with his new desires. He managed to draw a large square in the thick mud with Nateriah kneeling in the top left corner of the picture. She was greatly amused by the poorly drawn box for she thought being his place marker would help her picture what he had stored in his imagination. She continued to nod and stare through glistening green eyes as Shadow Man rambled on about delicious food, bright colors, and wide spaces. Even the quiet Sirius was attracted to his descriptive chit-chat . Sirius slowly waltz over to Nateriah and heavily dropped his knees behind her. He pushed back some of messy hair to reveal his dull violet eyes peaking at the creation in the ground.

"Next to you Miss Nateriah is going to be my momma's room. She has to have her own room with a large window next to a garden. She loves trees. We would have to make another Maple here." He made deformed circle next to Sirius. Sirius simply smiled at the sight. Then Shadow Man paused. He took another look at the jagged, gray trunk that rested behind him. "Yes! There definitely has to be trees in the garden." So Shadow Man drew several little sticks with cotton ball shapes on top of them.

Axis couldn't help but listen to the passionate imagination that boiled within his master. Through not will of his own, Axis also saw his words form pictures in his own mind as his continued to list the vivid demands he held for him and his peers. Axis grew envious and he even transformed in to subtle anger, so he marched up to his three partners and stood stiffly before them. Nateriah immediate sensed his conflicted emotions.

"Oh, right!" Nateriah said with child-like enthusiasm. "Young Facilier, we must act fast to turn these desires into concrete experiences. Let's head to the French Quarters now. There we can visit your new house." Before Shadow Man could react, Nateriah began to braid her hair to distract him. Suddenly her head shook violently. Axis and Sirius upper half did the same.

Shadows slithered out of the eyes and mouth of all three of their bodies. Their outer skins laid lifeless on the mud. The shadows once again towered over Shadow Man, and then they tilted down to scoop up their skins. In a flash they stuffed their skins in a large hole at the upper half of their translucent bodies. Surprisingly, Shadow Man remained calm at the unnatural sight. The non-human looking Axis, Nateriah, and Sirius laughed at their new friend, and snatch him to head to their first destination.