"So... you don't mind that we stay here for now?" T.K. asked.
"No, not at all," the hunchback he knew from so many books and movies smiled. "Make yourselves at home, this is a house of god, after all... we would never turn down anyone who comes in here."
"Not even... me?" Patamon asked, pointing at himself with a hoof.
"Hey, don't worry! We're not exactly quite normal either," the gargoyle known as Hugo smirked.
"Ain't that the truth..." Laverne mumbled.
"Croissants for our guests!" Victor smiled as he put a basket next to the young Digidestined and his partner, filled with fresh, french, baked goods.
"Thanks!" T.K. said and took a croissant. Taking a bite, he then asked: "So... you've lived here all your life?"
"Yes," Quasimodo smiled sadly. "The people out there... they are not like you or your friend. They would never accept a... a monster among them."
"A monster?" Patamon wondered. "Where's a monster?"
"He means himself..." Laverne sighed. "Quasi, we talked about this... you are not a monster, you hear me?"
"True, you are just special," Hugo grinned. "You're one of a kind."
"Thanks for your kind words, guys," Quasimodo sighed. "But I know what I look like..."
"Well, you might not look like all the other guys out there, but you, um, certainly got a... certain something more."
"Everyone needs to find his place first," Patamon said confidently. "That's something T.K. and I learned as well while we were in the Digital World."
Quasimodo wordlessly shuffled over to the balustrade, from where he looked down, into the nave of Notre-Dame.
"You certainly look like you're good friends..." the bellringer murmured. "But dreams don't come true for everyone..."
T.K. walked up to him and followed his gaze. Down there, walking past the candles, was a beautiful woman with dark skin and raven black hair, wearing clothes that looked a bit more exotic than what most people would wear in these times.
"Who is she?" Patamon whispered to the gargoyles.
"A gipsy girl called Esmeralda," Victor whispered back. "Quasimodo met her while he was in town... and now she's hiding here from the vassals of the judge Frollo."
"Why? What did she do?" Patamon wondered.
"Nothing... only that she is a gipsy. And that is enough for Frollo to throw anyone he doesn't like into the dungeon."
"That's... horrible!" Patamon gasped. "Can't we do anything against him?"
"Well, I would do it right away, if I could," Hugo said with a dark frown. "There's only one small problem..."
"And... that is?"
Victor sighed. "He's the foster father of Quasimodo."
T.K. thought about it. He wasn't that familiar with the novel, but the names Esmeralda and Frollo were familiar to him. But... wasn't Frollo a priest in the books?
Wanting to make sure that they were talking about the same man, he asked: "This Frollo... is he a religious man?"
Hugo snorted. "You're asking if he's religious? Boy, that man practically takes his bible to bed with him."
Judge Claude Frollo was standing in front of the fireplace, over which a white marble figure was hanging.
"Beata Maria..." he quietly mumbled to himself. "You know I am a righteous man, of my virtue I can just be proud...
Beata Maria, you know I'm so much purer than the common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd."
With every word, he approached the fireplace even more.
"Then tell me, Maria, why I see her dancing there, why her smoldering eyes still scorch my soul..."
Outside, in front of the doors leading to Frollo's chambers, two soldiers were standing guard.
"Does he talk to the fire again?" one of them whispered.
"Worse..." the other one whispered back. "This time, he's SINGING!"
In front of Frollo's delusional eyes, the flames transformed into the likeness of the gipsy girl he had seen during the carnival.
"I feel her, I see her, the sun caught in her raven hair is blazing in me out of all control. Like fire - hellfire - this fire in my skin! This burning desire is turning me to sin!"
Suddenly, the image of Esmeralda disappeared in a plume of fire that came shooting out of the fireplace... and this time, it wasn't just in Frollo's mind.
The judge gasped in fright when the fire surrounded his body with a circle of flames, and at the same time, turned from red to green.
"My god... what is happening?" he gasped. "It... it's not my fault... it's in god's plan... he makes the devil so much stronger than a man!"
"Claude Frollo!" a booming, but female voice came out of the fire.
"Wh-what?" Frollo asked. He shuddered. Could it be...?
A pair of eyes were glaring at him, eyes from a woman who had a pair of black horns on her head. "No, I am not the one you have addressed in your speech... however, I am here to warn you: Your soul is doomed! You have failed to do your duties, and thus you will burn in hell for all eternity!"
And for one time in his life of power and control, Frollo felt a tinge of fear for his immortal soul.
"No, no, nothing but that!" Frollo shouted. "Please, I always tried to do whatever the Lord told me... is it because of the gipsy witch? Or wait, is it because I spared Quasimodo?"
"SILENCE!" Maleficent shouted. Frollo, who couldn't know that this devilish apparition was not a creature from hell, winced under her voice. Shaking like a leaf, he dropped down to his knees. "Please... please, I'll do anything..."
"There is a way how you can save your soul, Frollo!" Maleficent told him. "A boy has arrived in Paris tonight... a young boy, accompanied by a dark creature of evil... you will bring them to me..."
"Yes..." Frollo murmured. "Yes, I will do as you say..."
"And don't you fail me!" the apparition commanded, before she vanished in another plume of flame.
The door opened and the two soldiers came running inside. "Sir, we heard strange sounds... what happened?" Then they gasped when they saw the flames that were still dancing around Frollo. "What... what is this?"
"Witchcraft!" the other one yelled.
"No..." Frollo murmured. "No, these are just the flames of justice... of righteousness... of salvation!" He made a gesture, and the flames seemed to jump at the two men. "And just like they will help me, you will be also my soldiers who bring justice down on all the evil I will face!"
And when the fire engulfed the soldiers, they let out horrible screams as they transformed... and turned into black, winged creatures with wicked-looking swords in their hands.
"Like the avenging angels of heaven, you shall be my sword," Frollo told the two Invisible Heartless, which he believed to be angelic warriors that were empowered by the holy fire. "Find the heathens and bring them before me... for their final judgement!"
And after the Heartless had left the room, the insane judge knelt down in front of the fireplace. "God have mercy on them..." he murmured. "God have mercy on me..."
His thoughts then went back to Esmeralda, and his face turned into a grimace of madness. "But she will be mine or she will BURN!"
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(Posted Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:04)
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