The Sickleback of Notre Dame
Chapter 1: The Bells of Notre Dame
It was a bright morning in the French city of Paris. The city was just waking up from its night of slumber. The only sounds at the moment were the sounds of a rooster crowing and a gypsy man singing:
Gary:
Morning in Paris, the city awakes
To the bells of Notre Dame.
The fisherman fishes, the baker man bakes
To the bells of Notre Dame.
To the big bells as loud as the thunder
To the little bells soft as a psalm
And some say the soul of the city's
The toll of the bells,
The bells of Notre Dame.
Listen, they're beautiful, no?
So many colors of sound, so many changing moods,
Because you know, they don't ring all by themselves.
Little Gary:
They don't?
Gary:
No, silly boy.
Up there, high, high in the dark bell tower
lives the mysterious bell ringer.
Who is this creature?
Little Gary:
Who?
Gary:
What is he?
Little Gary:
What?
Gary:
How did he come to be there?
Little Gary:
How?
Gary:
Hush, and Gary will tell you.
It is a tale, a tale of a man and a monster.
Dark was the night when our tale was begun
On the docks near Notre Dame.
Man #1:
Shut it up, will you!
Man #2:
We'll be spotted!
Gypsy:
Hush, little one.
Gary:
Four frightened gypsies slid silently under
The docks near Notre Dame.
Man #3:
Four guilders for safe passage into Paris.
Gary:
But a trap had been laid for the gypsies
And they gazed up in fear and alarm
At a figure whose clutches
Were iron as much as the bells…
Man #4:
Judge Claude Taleth!
Gary:
The bells of Notre Dame.
Chorus:
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)
Gary:
Judge Claude Taleth longed
To purge the world
Of vice and sin
Chorus:
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)
Gary:
And he saw corruption
Ev'rywhere
Except within.
Taleth:
Bring these gypsy vermin to the Palace of Justice.
Guard:
You there, what are you hiding?
Taleth:
Stolen goods, no doubt. Take them from her.
Gary:
She ran
The gypsy woman ran with her small bundle as fast as her legs could carry her. Fast behind her, Judge Taleth rode his black horse. The gypsy woman on foot was more agile than the horse, but the horse was faster. Taleth was reaching down to grab her when he rode into a hanging sign. The minor buffet was just enough for the gypsy to gain some more distance between herself and Taleth. She jumped a fence into a narrow alley, which the horse couldn't follow through.
She continued running until she was at the town square in front of the Notre Dame cathedral. She ran to the large doors and banged her fist against them. "Sanctuary! Please give us sanctuary!" she cried. She turned around to see Taleth riding his horse into the square. The gypsy woman turned to run away, but Taleth caught up with her and grabbed the cloth wrapping of her bundle. The gypsy woman refused to let go and Taleth kicked her away. She fell backwards and struck her head against the stone steps. After that, she never moved again.
Taleth was momentarily contemplating the dead body on the steps. She was a mere gypsy. Her death could have no consequences on his soul. But suddenly, the bundle of 'stolen goods' started to cry loudly. "A baby?" asked Taleth as he unwrapped part of the bundle to look at it. He winced in disgust and said, "A monster!" He might have known the spawn of a gypsy would be a monstrous creature, but even this stretched his imagination. Such a monstrosity must be disposed of at once. He looked around and spotted an old well in the square. He rode his horse over and dangled the bundle over the well, preparing to drop it.
Cydra:
Stop!
Gary:
Cried the Archdeacon
Taleth:
This is an unholy demon.
I'm sending it back to hell, where it belongs.
Cydra:
See there the innocent blood you have spilt
On the steps of Notre Dame.
Taleth:
I am guiltless. She ran, I pursued.
Cydra:
Now you would add this child's blood to your guilt
On the steps of Notre Dame?
Taleth:
My conscience is clear
Cydra:
You can lie to yourself and your minions
You can claim that you haven't a qualm.
But you never can run from
Nor hide what you've done from the eyes.
The very eyes of Notre Dame.
Chorus:
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)
Gary:
And for one time in his life
Of power and control
Chorus:
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)
Gary:
Taleth felt a twinge of fear
For his immortal soul.
Taleth:
What must I do?
Cydra:
Care for the child, and raise it as your own.
Taleth:
What? I'd be settled with this misshapen ..?
Very well. But let him live with you, in your church.
Cydra:
Live here? Where?
Taleth:
Anywhere.
Just so he's kept locked away
Where no one else can see.
The bell tower, perhaps.
And who knows, our Lord works in mysterious ways.
Even this foul creature may
Yet prove one day to be
Of use to me.
Gary:
And Taleth gave the child a cruel name
A name that means evil-formed, NegaMorph.
Now here is a riddle to guess if you can
Sing the bells of Notre Dame:
Who is the monster and who is the man?
Gary and Chorus:
Sing the bells, bells, bells, bells
Bells, bells, bells, bells
Bells of Notre Dame!
There's the first chapter of this year's Christmas parody. Sorry it's taken so long to start putting up, college you know. Anyways, this won't be on a regular update schedule. At this point, the chapters will be up as soon as they are done. Another thing is that with this story, I'm going to try to cast it with only OCs. So if you want to know who these guys are, you'll have to check out some of my other stories. Of course, Taleth belongs to my co-author, largefish8. Incidentally, Frollo was a rather hard role to fill in. I've thought about using Ghoulwyrm, Mantichrome, or the upgraded Leroy from 'Genetic Genesis', but none of them seemed to be right. But I digress. Gary is from a story of mine that's on deviantART. Anyways, the next chapter will be up soon. I know this chapter was mostly song, but it's a musical, what can you do? Anyhow, the real story will start next chapter so keep an eye out for it. Please review.