The Voodoo Doll

Chapter LVII: Plans for Noah

Not yet. The boy is not ready.

At first, Belleth did not understand the Oracles' words. When he saw the baby for the very first time, it was crystal clear that the boy was an angel's son. Snow-white skin, round cheeks, thick midnight hair and irises that changed color every minute, the shades sometimes overlapping into a rainbow of light.

It was, without a single doubt, the most beautiful baby Belleth had ever seen. Hitori was a naughty girl compared to Noah, but the demon did not want to recall anything from his old life. It made him feel weak, terribly weak.

And it made his heart ache a little, a pain he was glad to bear, for the sake of his grand plan.

Belleth had to get closer to the king, and doing that required him to eliminate the strongest demon guard he had. What came next was a piece of cake. He soon became the King's advisor, his right hand, the leader of his army, then, slowly, Belleth's rotten ideas crept their way up to the demon king's essence.

Don't kill the angel boy. We need him to threaten the Queen.

I have intel on how to make him ours.

We may have lost the battle but we will win the war, because when used properly, Noah shall be the killing tool we need to exterminate the angels forever.

The Boy can strip immortality away from us, the creatures of the otherworlds.

Soon enough, Belleth was feared by anyone who valued his essence, inside the Core. He knew what to do with Noah once he grew up, yet, he did not know how to do it. How to turn a half-angel into a complete demon? The answer lied in the Oracles' words.

Not yet. The boy is not ready.

When will he be? How ?

Belleth knew the answer on the first day he visited Agiel.

"How's he doing?" , he asked the demon father once they were alone in the basement, where the couple kept human livestock. They both sat on a table away from all the blood, their backs facing the torture devices, their legs resting on metallic cubes usually used for other unspeakable purposes. On the wooden table, there was a small desk lamp, its light flickered once every minute, rendering them in complete darkness more often than not. That was how the demon couple's basement operated: Darkness brought fear, and fear brought more pain.

"We brought him a couple of dolls yesterday. The boy is a killing prodigy. Instead of playing with them, he stabbed them with his knife. The next minute, we heard a screaming from our basement. One of the human livestock died. His chest gleamed with a blooming rose, made of blood."

Belleth could not believe his own ears when he heard the story.

"Do you mean--?"

Agiel nodded, a wide smirk already showing on his face. In the next appearance of the dim lamp light, his teeth showed, white as a clean blade, ready to cut everything in its trail.

"Voodoo Magic"

According to the Oracles, there was another set of creatures, completely separated from the three worlds. These creatures were immortal, extremely powerful, but were careless of what was happening between angels and demons. The Voodoo Spirits. They rarely saw something in humans, but whenever they did, they gave them a fraction of their powers. A power that is said to defy the rules of life and death.

A power only the chosen ones could wield.

"Interesting" , Belleth hissed, his lips following the movements of the demon father's.

Voodoo magic was very delicate to handle. It did not depend on the user's training. It did not depend on the quality of the dolls he made.

It mostly relied on the feelings of the Voodoo magician.

The boy is not ready yet.

Of course. Of course he's not. That's it. That's how a monster should be made.

Noah's powers were now dormant, because he was still a toddler. Roughly one year old. He was still discovering the world, he had no idea what life meant, he had no idea how to be upset, happy, when or how to cry, when or how to laugh, he did not know pride, nor did he recognize the good and the bad. He had no ideals of his own, he believed in nothing but what his parents told him.

And for now, he had to stay that way. A blank page, a doll with a wooden heart, empty of blood but waiting for that extra piece of magic that will turn him into a real boy, made of flesh and bone and a whole set of mixed feelings about this world.

What if one wanted to create a boy? The body will come first. It will grow stronger, preparing for the day it will be filled.

When that day comes, one would slowly add feelings to the body, and the powers will strengthen little by little every single day. Finally, to finish the masterpiece, one will want to turn the prototype into a real monster, ready for murder, out for angel essence.

Monsters are driven by their own hatred towards the world, towards the ones who wronged them. What better way to fill someone with hatred than to make them experience real love first?

"Agiel" , the demon spoke, his voice lit up with a new flicker of hope, a concrete plan finding its way to his brain, connecting the neurons with a surge of electricity powerful enough to destroy mountains. "When the boy turns sixteen, send him to school"

"Yes, my Lord" , the demon father obeyed. "May I ask the reason behind this decision?"

Belleth only smiled, his lips barely visible in the shy light of the flickering lamp.

"Did I ever tell you how much I hate humans? They're unpredictable. They're selfish, they're greedy, and they always make the same mistakes. Some humans are dumb, however some can be more terriying than demons themselves."

"And what does that have to do with Noah...My Lord?"

"Agiel, don't you wonder sometimes how futile angels' work can be? They're trying to make humans do good, while not knowing that a human is the closest creature to a demon."

"My Lord?" , Agiel asked, still as confused as ever.

But Belleth ignored him. It was too late, he was now drowned in his own thoughts, unable to hold a conversation. "All I can say is, Lailah the Queen has given birth to a very interesting test subject."