21. Dr Santé
1. At Lucifer's palace, the front lawns proved a perfect training ground for Dan to utilize his dark magic. It had been three days since he had been rewarded for assisting the Dusk in Purgatoria with a codex on black magic. His abilities to conjure black balls of energy and wield darkness to his will were improving every day, so much so that it made Lucifer suggest.
"what are you doing?" he walked up to the practicing Dan.
"dark magic"
"I know a thing or two about dark magic, but it's satanic dark magic, the darkest of the dark, it is so powerful and dangerous that it can't be taught to anyone outside the bloodline of Satan himself, for he was the first to conjure it" Lucifer hinted.
"that sounds pretty deep. I'm better off where I'm at" Dan remained complacent.
"just thought you wanted to know about a doctor who could help you"
"I'm not ill, Lucifer" Dan objected.
"oh no, not that kind of doctor. I have an acquaintance uptown in Dadoville, his name is Dr Santé. He's the finest voodoo witch doctor in all of Hell. I met him when he first arrived here, the 1910's I think it was. Maybe he could teach you a thing or two about dark magic. The things he can do are unbelievable, even by my standards" Lucifer complimented.
"hmm... where is he again?. I guess this book can't teach me everything there is to know"
"he owns a voodoo souvenir store in the district. Voo-dun-it? It's called. I think he also caters to white magic folk as well, but whatever rocks your boat" Lucifer said.
"what will you do while I'm gone?" Dan asked to make sure Lucifer could survive without him for a while.
"probably some devil business here, devil business there, just go, he hasn't got all day" Lucifer encouraged Lucifer to head out. Dropping the book on the grassy lawns, Dan flew through the air to the north where the voodoo suburb of Dadoville lay. In Dadoville, swampy bayou flats gave way to stilted communities and houses as well as marketplaces and stores to outrageous spectacles on more solid ground near the city center.
2. Up in the clouds of Heaven, the Arch-angel Elodie had called to order another meeting of the Halo Council, with a new addition.
"I have called this meeting to announce as Arch-angel, I am nominating my dear friend Kemuel as General of the forces of Heaven on Blood Moon Day" Elodie remained seated while murmurs stirred amongst the others.
"I thought you two hated each other's guts" God spoke from a taller seat beside Elodie's.
"since he is within earshot, I love him. Anyway, Kemuel, this all comes down to you. Do you accept?" Elodie looked over to their white robed rival.
"of course. It is an honor to lead the charge. I am sure we will be led to victory, all because of you, Arch-angel Elodie" Kemuel gestured to the other side of the roundtable where Elodie was seated. Little did he know that he had made a terrible mistake. By being general of the Heavenly forces, he had possibly saved Elodie's neck from near instant slaughter as they were originally meant to lead the frontal charge. But Elodie had had a change of heart. Under the guise of selflessness, they were merely handing out the meagre chores to the other angels they wished to see dead on Blood Moon Day.
"that is both praiseworthy and oddly fulfilling, Elodie. Well done" God looked down on his lieutenant.
"please, it was nothing really" they replied as the meeting continued.
3. Dan was directed to the Voo-dun-it? store in Dadoville by the locals. On the streets he could see street vendors and colorful spirit costumes worn by the eccentric witch doctors who roamed through the bayous of Dadoville on small wooden canoes. Dan traversed the cobblestone streets of the district until the neon sign of the store came into view. It was comprised of wooden planks and was shaped like a giant lobster cage, with a smaller wooden door of planks granting Dan entrance. He made his way into the store, latched onto by a shrunken head, a skull, and several voodoo dolls that proceeded to poke him and bite him.
"leave" a low voice ordered the trinkets back to the stands on the shelf from where they came. A tall man in a black and white striped suit and tie walked out. His hair was lacquered in place and his eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses. He wore a small red talisman around his neck, ostensibly to bring good luck. It was Dr Santé himself, born as a Creole in the Louisiana bayous just outside of New Orleans. He was an articulate man, but his skill at deal making proved to be his downfall, ending him up in Hell.
"good day, mister. Can I help you?" the voice asked.
"hi. I heard you are good in the way of magic" Dan replied.
"light or dark, it's your choice. I can sense the power inside of you, very strong and potent. I've seen you in the paper, that Purgatorian from the trial with that girl"
"yep, that was me alright" Dan bragged. He felt a cold breeze come over his shoulder as the dark spectre of the doctor's shadow came to face him. It appeared to have the same proportions as the doctor
"how did you do that?" Dan was shocked.
"a little voodoo magic as all"
"can you teach me to do that?" Dan looked at the sentient shadow with amazement at how it moved independent of its owner.
"sure, I can. Just sign on the line and we'll be in business" the doctor summoned a contract from thin air, with a pen to sign. Dan hesitated for a second, but upon remembering Lucifer's recommendation signed the document and was escorted outside to a courtyard behind the store with the help of the doctor's shadow. Over the course of the next few hours, the good doctor instructed Dan on how to use and harness his own shadow, more advanced techniques of white and black magic in combat, and how to appreciate both sides of his demon and angel form as a Purgatorian.
However, when the training was complete for the day, Dan did not realize the horrible mistake he had made in making a deal with the witch doctor. When the last potion had been thrown and Dan gave his thanks to Dr Santé, the doctor took off his sunglasses, revealing a purple hue that began to leech across his body. Dan took two steps back while the doctor transformed into a giant purple wolf monster with white eyes and jagged teeth. It jumped at Dan, forcing him to punch it back. The wold and Dan continued to attack each other, working the fight through the walls of the voodoo store and smashing many of the trinkets inside. Dan took shelter behind the front desk as the wolf attempted to sniff him out.
Dan quickly texted Lucifer that he was in trouble with the doctor and needed help. With no reply, Dan lunged back at the giant purple wolf and wrestled it to the ground. After several minutes, a puff of red smashed through the roof of the voodoo store, with Lucifer appearing from the smoke and dragging Dan back to the front desk.
4. "what happened?" Lucifer asked before punching the wolf through the west wall of the store out into the parking lot.
"I don't know. I made a deal with him and that was it" Dan explained.
"goddamit Dan, you made a deal with him. Down here, voodoo deals come with an excessive amount of power. The only way to stop him is nullifying the deal. I need you to stall him while I find the contract, it should be around here somewhere" Lucifer ran into a door leading to the doctor's office as the purple wolf charged back at Dan. He continued to fight the beast, nearing defeat at its powerful jaws before Lucifer jumped out from the back hall with the contract in hand. He had scoured Dr Santé's office top to bottom as Dan had stalled the wolf's onslaught.
"do it" Dan shouted while the jaws edged in closer to his face. Lucifer took the signed contract in his hand and ripped it in half, destroying it in a green flame before the purple hue of the giant homicidal wolf dissipated back to the ripped suit of the doctor lying flat on the ground. Dan was helped to his feet by lucifer.
"thanks" the doctor swished his finger across his field of vision, levitating a white voodoo doll from one of the intact shelves towards the duo. To avoid anymore confusion and chaos, Dan and Lucifer left Dadoville back to the safety of the palace across town. Back home, Lucifer set about modelling the voodoo doll into the shape and style of his rival Elodie, as a little something that could come in handy to mess with them on Blood Moon Day.
5. Back up in Heaven, Elodie stood outside the gates of their palace, handing out large sums of money in burlap sacks as some kind of weird reverse yard sale. The angels simply saw the big signs saying, "free money" and swooped in to claim their own. All they asked of them was their total support and obedience in exchange.
Orifiel, one of the angels of the Halo Council had been enticed by the concept of free money in a society where he was paid minimum wage like everyone else, but Elodie had cash to literally burn. Elodie had also managed to bargain Orifiel into a deal whereby he would round up several high ranking angels in Heaven in the effort to make a rival faction that would constitute the new government after Elodie's coup against God. Soon, several generals, poets, mercenaries and goldsmiths had defected to the side of Elodie's growing revolution.