Two days had passed and Raphael knew it wouldn't be long before the king would send his loyal guards for him to start the spell. To be truthful with himself he was kind nervous as he hadn't heard much from Anais. His mind was jumping to different conclusions, had the king done something to her? Whatever it was made Raphael feel uneasy of what was going to happen today. There was no way he could trade his friends soul for the king, he just wished whatever Anais planned would work. It was the early hour of the day and Raphael let his mind run wild. He worried for his friend but he was also worried that he wouldn't see Regina again. He missed her like crazy but if the spell went wrong he knew the outcome for him would be death by the king himself.
Hearing the dungeon door open Raphael was faced with two guards standing out his cell. As one of them open the cell door the other manhandled him up from the cold stone floor onto his feet. Raphael hadn't realise how weak and tried he was. He no strength to hold himself up to walk as the world around him began to spin. Being in the cold stone cell Raphael hardly ate the food that was given to him. it was often rotten and crawling with living things that he wished not to think about now but as the guard dragged him down the corridors of the castle Raphael could finally see the sunlight coming from the windows. Feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin felt good. It had been weeks since he had seen the outdoors but he small happy moment was cut short when they reached their destination. The castle hall.
Shoving him into the hall Raphael was faced with the devil man himself. The king smirked as he watched Raphael stumble to the floor. Looking towards his wife Anais his smirk only grew more. Anais' wrists where chained with the king holding the remaining of the steel chains in his hands. " Dr Facilier, How nice of you to join us at such hour." King Richard moved closer to Raphael Pulling Anais along with him. " We have a lot accomplish." Quickly looking towards his guards King Richard order them to bring all the equipment needed for Spell alongside removing Raphael cuff. Behind him was a small platform with a cauldron on it that was already at boiling point. The Guards dragged Raphael towards the cauldron, the King did the same with Anais. Around the cauldron were two stick like figures, small stick voodoo dolls that Raphael knew represented the king and Anais' souls. However what caught his eyes was what one of the guards was holding. The Poppy of death.
As the guard passed the poppy over to the king, Raphael knew this wasn't going to end well. Summoning the death himself was never easy and not many Witch doctors even tried the spell let alone learn the ritual. Raphael noticed the stress and terror on Anais face, It was time for the words to be spoken. The King and Anais were standing in front of the cauldron as one of the guards Passed over the ancient spell book which was open to the dark spell the sick king so badly wanted.
" Start the ritual Doctor your wasting precious time." The baritone voice of the king made Raphael skin turn cold. He didn't know how this was going to play out but as Raphael began to Read the words from the page the space around them seemed to get colder. The glass windows began to frost over and the boiling water in the cauldron started to turn crimson red.
" Place in the Poppy in the cauldron." Raphael said. King Richard dropped the Scarlet Red Poppy into the cauldron and in a instead the colour darken. The Hall became gloomy darker as if a thunder storm was brewing outside. Raphael continued to read until he heard a loud screech coming from the cauldron. Looking towards the sound the boiling liquid began to swirl around rapidly creating a hole, splinting the liquid in half. The cauldron began to shake rapidly as the liquid rise. Raphael had never witness such a thing before, he was lost in the burst of magic surrounding the king and Anais. The dark Liquid twisted and turned around them like a snake trapping it's prey. The Liquid found the stick like voodoo dolls, absorbing into them the dolls turned blood red. " FACILIER!, CONTINUE! The ritual is almost complete."
Snapping out of daze Raphael began reading again quickly gazing at the Anais next to the king he noticed a tall black figure standing behind them. Still reading the figure only grew bigger. piecing red eyes appeared on its face as it started to take more of a human form. The Loa of death had been successfully summoned. Bawon Samedi Was now in the living world.
Bawon Samedi Was the voodoo Loa of death, the deity responsible for carrying the souls to the over side. It was rare for voodoo Loas to be seen in the living world and Raphael had never seen such a scary sight after all he was looking at Death himself in the eyes. The deity walked towards the voodoo dolls, picking them up the deity let out a deep laugh that gave Raphael goosebumps along his skin. " You summoned me my young child." Bawon Samedi said as he walked closer to Raphael with a dark smile. Shock at the fact the God of death was talking to him Raphael began to clear his mind as he had to remind focus. He was dealing with master of all dealers, life and death was this deity payment and if he wasn't carefully he wouldn't just be Anais' life in danger.
" I called you for a deal... a deal of immortality." Staring at the Loa Bawon Samedi only laugh loudly at the ridiculous request. The loa turned around to face the king and Anais. " I sense a sick soul...It won't be long before...it mine."
The king hadn't moved a muscle since he felt a cold dark present behind him. When the present revealed itself to be the loa of death King Richard had never seen such a terrifying man. The deity was lanky tall and wore a top hat with a purple tailcoat blazer. As the deity gracefully moved passed him he strangely smelt like Rum and smoke but when the deity looked at him in the eyes with no fear the King had never been more terrified. For his whole life he had be ruthless and barbaric but at this moment he was beginning to feel small. Long locks of hair shadowed over the deity face and as he walked closer to the king with the red Voodoo dolls the king felt his body turn ice cold as he looked into his red eyes. " A life for a life...Your life for this maiden who clearly is not here by choice...Tut-tut." Bawon Samedi looked at the king with disapproval.
" I...I wish to trade... my wife's life for immortality...I must live...I must rule my kingdom." The king stuttered. Raphael looked towards Anais with concern, The loa was unpredictable if he went along with King Richard request then he had failed as a friend, failed to keep her safe. The Deity was now in front of chained up Anais. Anais looked down to her feet but her chin was tilted up by his bony long fingers so she was looking at Bawon Samedi in the eyes. " Eyes are window to the soul my young Child and yours is pure...to a degree." The smirking Deity removed the chains form her wrists as he dramatically turned around facing Raphael again. " I need a pure soul and yet you have given me none...Two dark soul will not balance my deal of life." Looking at the voodoo dolls Raphael could see that one dolls was still red, one should of turned white for Anais soul but it was wrong. Raphael was confused. The Deity shoved the voodoo dolls into his hands. "Wasting my time will come at a price no one wastes my time...I will collect." Raphael's mind was at a lost. " Loa I do not understand?"
" The pretty maiden's soul isn't pure only half but the man's soul is darker. If you want immortality you need a pure soul which you don't have." Bawon Samedi looked back at the king with a evil grin on his face. " Its time to collect my poor unfortunate soul." King Richard realised what was happening and with a word he quickly began to run to the closest exit however the Loa's power were great and powerful. Raising his right hand the king suddenly stopped in his track, froze to his spot. Confused King Richard tried desperately to move this legs with all his manly power. Bawon Samedi chortled at the kings despair as he stood in front of him. " Your not going anywhere...part from the over side."
" WHAT! RELEASE ME...I'M A KING!" King Richard shouted in rage but was muted by the Deity's magic. " And I'm a god yet your soul belongs to me." Opening a huge portal a large shadow hand reached out towards the king, pulling his soul from body. Anais and Raphael watch in shock as the soul was taken into the dark portal leaving the king's body lifeless on the floor. Dead. "Pleasure with doing business with you." The loa busted into a dark shadow with a screeching voice as it flew across the hall breaking the windows in the process. Hearing the loud noises the King's guard rushed into the hall only to see the lifeless king on the floor and strange flying shadow screeching. The Shadow finally flew into the portal and once gone the portal closed instantly.
" THE KING IS DEAD!" The guards looked towards Raphael and Anais in disbelief. Pointing their weapons at them Anais was quick to lower their defences. " Yes, the king is dead but your Queen is still alive and I command you lower your swords!" Hesitantly the guards did as they where told but looked towards the king's body. " The spell was successful but unfortunately a wrong soul was picked. Our king had to pay the price." Anais said with coldness. " Remove the body."
The guard looked at each other as they never taken orders from the Queen before but with out a word they followed the order. As The guards disappeared with the body Raphael looked at Anais Strangely. " What did do you Anais? Your soul was pure...I was this your plan?" Anais looked down at her feet, unable to look at her dear friend.
"Yes, after we spoke when your mother was here I realise that the only way was to stain my soul...make it dark." Anais finally looked at Raphael but with tears in her eyes. " I..I Killed a innocent woman from the king's staff...I..I had no choice. I had read about the ritual you had to have a pure soul...I had no choice." Anais broke down in tears as she remembered the horrific night. Raphael's eyes widen. he didn't believe Anais would do such a thing but seeing her in tears broke his heart. " Anais I understand I truly do we all have to make choices some good some bad." Raphael said as he comforted Anais. She continued to cry and as a friend Raphael continued to wipe away her tears.
Two days had been hell for Celine. Her had refused to come home with her and it made her sick to her stomach. He good reasons not to go but she couldn't help but feel hurt by the look he gave her. He wasn't happy to see her. Celine loved her son dearly he was her world and knowing that he was danger at moment made her want to be physically sick.
Pacing up and down her chambers she was lost in her thought when she felt a disturbance in the atmosphere. Suddenly Celine's chamber door opened swiftly revealing her mother. " MAMA! You scared me." Celine said placing a hand on her beating chest.
" Did you fell that Child something dark just entered this world." Mama Odie said with concern in her voice. However it wasn't long before the dark feeling disappeared. Leaving both voodoo Queen confused. " That was odd."
" It might of been the spell Raphael told you Maybe the ritual was successful. Maybe the Loa crossed worlds." Mama Odie said to her daughter. Celine had fear in her eyes she knew that spell was risky. Her son was a talented young man but nobody plays around with the Loas. " Mother it impossible no Witch Doctor has done so and lived to tell the tale."
"Nonsense child, Anything is possible you just have to be crazy enough to do it. you have to hope it didn't cost him his life." Mama Odie said with a deep frown.
Regina and Zelena had a wonderful sister day out. They had eaten out in the town and within the two Regina blood pressure had finally gone down to a health level. The twins were back to moving around which made Regina smile with relief. However Just like everyday other Regina missed Raphael. She still wasn't sleeping right without him but now she often cry for him when she was alone. She missed his love, his comfort, his gentle words and charming smile. She hated that he was also missing milestone in her pregnancy. According to Zelena Regina was at the end of her second trimester. Zelena however was surprised she remember such information from midwife days. Now her breast was getting bigger especially when she was carrying twins. However She had just reached 7 Months and but the one person she wanted to tell wasn't there.
She just wanted him here. She hadn't heard anything from Celine or Mama Odie and it was killing her. Sometimes in the back of mind she feared the worst that she wouldn't see him again but shaking her mind of that thought she focused on her sister's conversation on expanding her farm. She just hope she could still stay positive before her dark thoughts took over.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter :-) X