The Encounter
Dom Claude Frollo sat in his study during what appeared to be yet another solitary evening of study. Inside his most peculiar office were to be found things which would astonish the medieval Parisian. Among Dom Frollo's many treasures were several animal skeletons, which hung from the cold stone ceiling. On his desk sat a single human skull and various old texts on obscure matters. Visibly displayed on various shelves throughout the room were vials of mystery liquids, ranging in hue and viscosity, and potions of all imaginable sorts.
At the present moment, Claude was immersed in some obscure alchemical text, enthusiastically reading its contents. His reading was made possible by five candles which dimly brightened the room.
Suddenly, the unmistakable sound of ringing bells filled the room. The dull and heavy clang echoed throughout the small room, forcing its occupant to look up in surprise.
Naturally, Dom Frollo wondered why such a sound would be produced in the dead of night. Although he knew not the reason behind the bell ringing, he attempted to find a satisfactory explanation to appease his mind.
"Oh, it must be that wretched hunchback and his bells again" Dom Frollo muttered. "He's ought to be awfully lonely inside of that cathedral in order to make such noise at these hours of the night."
Satisfied with his explanation, Dom Frollo dismissed the incident and resumed his reading.
No sooner had he laid eyes upon his text than an icy cold began to spread throughout the room.
A sudden drop of temperature, however, was not to distract Dom Frollo from his study, and whatever caused the variance in temperature knew that well enough.
Consequently, the cold became so intense that some water dripping from a forgotten corner of the room turned into icicles. That same cold, as if anthropomorphized, blew out the first and brightest of the five candles in the room, which happened to have been illuminating Dom Frollo's text.
Claude Frollo, understandably, became alarmed after the light nearest him had been extinguished, as there was no open door or window which would have permitted such a wind to enter his study.
Abandoning his text, Dom Claude Frollo looked around the room, endeavouring to find the source of said wind.
As cold sweat dripped from his forehead, Claude Frollo realized that the entrance of the room was completely closed, making it impossible for any reasonably powerful wind to enter.
At that moment, the light from the four candles in the room dimmed as a dark figure began to manifest itself before Dom Frollo's eyes.
From the shadows in that room appeared a limb, a leg, an ear and all sorts of components which suggest the formation of a complex organism. It was as if each secret within the walls of that macabre structure held a part of this most terrifying figure.
The cold pervasively dispersed as the formidable figure reached a solid state, so that, when fully manifested, it was a thing dark and terrible, yet as solid as any other in the room.
Dom Claude needed not look at it to sense, with chilling certainty, that this being was utterly terrific. In fact, he had not yet fully gazed upon it, for he was undoubtedly frozen in terror.
When Dom Frollo gathered the courage to look up and meet the eyes of what now stood before him (if it had any), he was faced with a horrendous sight.
The creature which looked upon him did not appear to be completely human. The upper half of the stranger was indeed recognizable as that of a man, yet this made it no less appalling. Its legs were covered with ink-black fur and its feet were not feet, but hooves.
To this, Dom Frollo had no reaction save the stillness which often accompanies stupefaction.
"What on Earth are you?" Dom Frollo managed to utter once he composed himself.
"I am what I am" said the goat-man before transfiguring into a handsome angel and bathing the room in a most dazzling light.
Despite the brilliance of the light, the atmosphere became neither glowing nor warm. In fact, the light seemed to make it a colder, darker and more despaired sight to behold.
Claude Frollo's eyes observed the angel with awe, following its every move with a mix of fear and curiosity.
"I know who thou art" the Dom declared, as if this knowledge was to grant him dominion over the mysterious stranger.
"Dost thou, priest?" the angel inquired, returning to its former state.
"Indeed, I do" Claude Frollo confirmed. "For I am a priest and have read much regarding thee and thy craft."
"Priest, neither my nature nor my name is to be found in the pages of the volumes you have greedily pored over" the goat-man remarked. "For they have called me many names and attributed many characteristics unto them, all of which bear an equal amount of insignificance."
Dom Frollo looked upon this goat-man, temporarily unable to find anything to say.
"Thou art the deceiver of man" the priest exclaimed. "Scripture has warned man about thee, for thou art the Devil!"
The goat-man gazed at his unwilling host with a most icy look upon his face.
"Indeed, they have come to call me that above all other names in present day" the Devil said. "But thou, thou art the deceiver of fools…for thou art a priest!"
Dom Claude fell silent upon hearing this most cutting remark.
"What secrets dost thou hold within thy bosom?" the Devil inquired, fixing his gaze upon the astounded priest.
"Depart, thou Devil, by God's command!" Dom Frollo cried, ignoring the question.
He proceeded to throw a vial of holy water, which sat upon his desk, at the unwelcome stranger.
"Thou art a foolhardy man" the Devil concluded after this action took place. "What thou hast hurled at my person is not 'holy water' in any sense of the term, but common water from a creek."
Dom Frollo, surprised at the lack of effect the holy water had on this demon, reached for a wooden cross which also rested upon his desk.
"Art thou hard of hearing or merely lame of mind?" the Devil said. "The 'holy' object in thy hand is nothing more than a bit of wood taken from an elm tree, having neither power nor meaning anywhere but inside thy mind."
It was a simple yet shattering truth.
"Those objects bear no importance in their true form" the Devil commented. "They are not deceptive in their claims, for they haven't any. It is only the ones desiring to be deceived who attribute unto these common things powers which are not their own."
Claude Frollo stood in silence. The wooden cross which he had held in his right hand slipped from it, audibly hitting the cold stone floor upon its fall.
"Now, priest…reveal to me thy secret heart in thy own words, so that I may lend my ears to your perception" the Devil said.
"What in God's name dost thou want from me?" Dom Frollo defensively stated, unwilling to reveal his heart to such a menacing figure.
The Devil stood before him, looking at him with eyes which betrayed not his intentions.
"La Esmeralda" the Devil uttered. "Is that not the name of the dancing gypsy girl, priest?"
"It is" Dom Frollo confirmed. "La Esmeralda, a heathen gypsy with whom thou must be well acquainted with. She has sent thee forth to torment me, I presume…"
"Alas, I wish such a statement was true, but the fact is that I do not know her well at all" the Devil said in mock regret. "But thou…now there's a heart whose rhythms I can hear."
"Thou dost not know me, Devil!" Dom Frollo replied, clutching his chest with his pale hand as if to impede his heart from revealing itself to the observing fiend.
"Priest, answer this" the Devil mocked. "Dost thou still dream those dreams of a life of joy at her side, those rosy dreams of matrimonial harmony in the country?"
Claude dared not give a reply, for the truth was simple: he held those dreams closer to his heart than any other thing in the universe.
"Thou dost!" the Devil shouted, letting out a loud laugh. "But what of that most handsome general, whose face and name are as the sun, most fair, that singular name…Phoebus."
A second candle relinquished its flame at the sound of this name, as if the sun god himself demanded to add unto his brilliance the light from that feeble fire."
"Phoebus" Claude Frollo muttered angrily.
"Ah, I have aroused the ire inside thee, I see" the Devil remarked gleefully. "Phoebus, yes, it was Phoebus."
Dom Frollo unconsciously looked at his long, thin and white hands.
"Was he not murdered by a wound to the chest?" the Devil inquired. "I believe it was the fatal result of an unquenchable jealousy, was it not, Dom Frollo?"
"I know not whether he lives" Dom Frollo truthfully admitted. "And I hope for her sake that he doeth not live."
"Yet whether he lives or dies, is she not the one alleged culprit in the affair, priest?" the Devil pointed out. "Is she not presently tormented due to thy actions?"
A third candle lost its light as the Devil whispered to him: "mea culpa".
"I shall rescue her from her fate and take her to the country, where we shall live in bliss and remember neither Paris nor the past" Dom Frollo stated in a desperate attempt to quell his guilty conscience.
"Ah, and how would this be done?" the Devil asked, fully enjoying himself in tormenting the priest.
"I have not determined the details of it yet, but my plan is to take her out of Paris through the Seine, by boat: Frollo said, more to himself than to his sinister guest. "Then, she will think of me as her savior and love me forevermore."
"Such idealistic hopes, such lofty dreams, dear priest" the Devil sighed. "Yet she would take the grave before your hand, and this one approaches on swift wings."
A fourth light, from a fourth candle, ceased to exist.
"Why dost thou torment me so?" Claude Frollo cried, as if afflicted by a great agony. "I implore thee to leave me at once!"
"I came not to torment thee, thou most foolish man, but to inform thee of these things which thou knowest to be truths, yet cannot accept as such" the Devil said. "I haven't a thing to gain by tormenting thee, so thou would be well advised to cast away thy superstitious fears, for one has no need of fear when faced with the truth."
"Truth?" Claude Frollo said.
"Truth" the Devil confirmed. "As I know thy truths so well, that I may confirm the impiety of thy soul, its profound nonfulfillment, its wretchedness and its absolute disdain for a most useless God to whom prayer is futile."
"How can thou state these things with confidence when thou art not inside my mind?" Dom Frollo replied, attempting to make logic of the situation. "Thou art but a spectator whose perception may be flawed."
The Devil abandoned his haughty demeanour and met the dark eyes of the priest with his own, as if the two were part of the same structure.
"I am not outside, but within, priest" the Devil solemnly expressed. "Thou hath but to gaze upon thy own true image in order to find me, for I am of man and of man alone."
The fifth and final candle was extinguished as the Devil evanesced.
Upon his removal, Dom Frollo's study returned to its previous state.
Dom Frollo found himself awakening from a profound slumber. His alchemical text was still resting upon his desk and his candles were all fully lit. Water dripped quite audibly from some corner of the room, causing a minor distraction.
Calmly, Dom Frollo rose from his seat to seek out the source of the mildly peeving noise.
At last, he found said source in one dark corner of his study. The water, Dom Frollo observed, was dripping from a melting icicle.
Claude observed the melting icicle and the movement of its dripping water, which led his gaze down to a puddle where he was faced with his own reflection, dimly lighted by the five candles in the room.