Disclaimer:I own nothing. Only Victor Hugo's novel and the Disney movie...nothing more.
Disney owns the awesome song "Hellfire" in said movie.
Which is The Hunchback of Notre Dame, if you still haven't figured it out.
On a beautiful evening in Paris in the year of 1482...
A peaceful starlit night. Candlelights in the windows slowly fade like eyes gently closing. As the city slumbers, only one light remains in the center of the town. A mysterious black-robed figure stares out of the window, deep in thought. Gazing out into the distance, he can see the structure and hear the bells of Notre Dame. They sound the evening mass with a beautiful, haunting melody. While the city remained calm, a tempest was raging deep inside of his mind, and within the depths of his very soul...
"No, it can't be...it must be a spell! I won't let myself fall under it!" He can feel his mind and his very soul slowly descend into the abyss. As he sinks even further into denial, he turns to pray in front of the fireplace...
"Beata Maria, You know I am a righteous man...of my virtue I am justly proud..."
Et tibit, Pater...
"Beata Maria, You know I'm so much purer than the common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd..."
Quia peccavi nimis...
An upright, virtuous man (or so he thinks) falling prey to the carnal inhibitions of the rest of the populace? This is unspeakable! Being a man of God and an upholder of the law, he must be perfect. He must be purer than everyone else. At least, in the mechanics of his mind...
"Then tell me, Maria, why I see her dancing there; why her smoldering eyes still scorch my soul?"
Cogitatione...
"I feel her, I see her! The sun caught in her raven hair is blazing in me out of all control!"
Verbo et Opera...
Judge Claude Frollo was confused.
"What is this feeling?" He asked himself this as the image of a certain woman burned within his memory. A Gypsy woman, no less...the beautiful Esmeralda. Ever since her dance at the festival, he couldn't get her out of his mind. As he stares into the fireplace, he sees her image in the fire, dancing provacatively. Could it have been that heathen dance that cast a spell over him? Or could it possibly be...He just couldn't bring himself to admit his temptation for the Gypsy girl.
"Like fire! Hellfire! This fire in my skin..."
At this point, Frollo was frightened. His desires were maddening. He pulled out the scarf which he kept that day, and caressed it against his face. It still fragrant with the scent of sweet perfume. He would never admit his feelings for a Gypsy. He thinks back to when he locked Esmeralda in the cathedral. There was no way she could escape, she was his...
"This burning desire is turning me to SIN!"
Right before Frollo locked her in the church, he held her forcefully. Admiring her long dark hair, he leaned his head against it. When Esmeralda asked what he was doing, he responded "I was just imagining a rope...around that beautiful neck." With this, he caressed his hand down the front of her neck. Thinking back to that time, he remembered how soft her skin was. It was even smoother than the silk scarf that he was holding. He would give anything to feel that silk beneath his fingers, for her soft touch against his skin, or better yet, just one night of passion to satisfy his forbidden desires...
Frollo twisted the scarf around in his hands, suddenly angry. "What am I thinking?!" He suddenly kneels down in his confusion, and tries to gather his thoughts. Just then, a jury of red-robed figures appear in the room. Inquisitorial prosecutors...the Wraiths of Hell.
"It's not my fault!"
Mea culpa!
"I'm not to blame!"
Mea culpa!
"It is the Gypsy girl, the witch who set this flame!"
Mea maxima culpa!
"It's not my fault!"
Mea culpa!
"If in God's plan..."
Mea culpa!
"He made the devil so much stronger than a man!"
Mea maxima culpa!
Of course, Frollo continues to deny his thoughts. He was completely surrounded by the red-robed judges. Frollo tries to blame everything on the temptress, instead of blaming his own temptation. What he doesn't realize, however, is that the Wraiths are actually part of his conscience. Or subconscious, rather. They were saying that it actually WAS his fault, thereby condemning him. Try as he might to plead his case, they continued to say the same thing. Refusing to believe anything else, he sent them all away into the fireplace. They all turn into flames and encircle him, and as if sealing his fate, the flames swirled around him. Frollo then felt himself slowly being pulled into those flames. The Wraiths then all went back into the fire with a loud CRASH!
"Protect me, Maria! Don't let this siren cast her spell!"
"Don't let her fire sear my flesh and bone!"
It was already too late for this. He could feel the flames of temptation slowly consuming him; mind, body, and soul. The spell, if there ever was one, was one of lust; not witchcraft. He continues to stare at the sultry dancer within the flames...
"DESTROY ESMERALDA! And let her taste the fires of Hell!"
At this, he held the scarf up high.
The fiery dancer was somehow mystically bound, and perished within the flames with a haunting shriek.
"Or else let her be mine and mine alone..."
But just then, a smoky, ghostlike image of Esmeralda rose out of the fireplace.
Frollo, already having lost most of his inhibitions, and perhaps his sanity, steps forward to embrace her. He grabs her, and his obsessive thoughts are interrupted by a sudden knock on the door...
Guard: Minister Frollo, the Gypsy has escaped.
Frollo: What?
Guard: She's nowhere in the cathedral. She's gone.
Frollo: But how? I-- Nevermind. Get out, you idiot!
I'll find her! I'll find her, even if I have to burn down all of Paris!
"Hellfire! Dark Fire! Now Gypsy, it's your turn!"
"Choose me or your pyre! Be mine or you will BURN!"
"That witch will burn in Hell for what she's done to me," Frollo thought as he threw the beautiful silk scarf into the fireplace.
"Soon", he thought, "that will be her. Unless she chooses me. The tomb, or my bed. She has no choice!"
Kyrie Elieson...
"God have mercy on her."
Kyrie Elieson...
"God have mercy on me."
Not knowing whether to feel satisfied or guilty, he leaned against the wall in frustration.
Spirits of darkness slowly crept up against the wall toward him...
Kyrie Elieson...
"But she will be mine or she...will...BURN!!!"
The spirits of the shadows grow larger and larger as the fireplace goes out.
Soon, the room is enveloped in darkness, much like the abyss within Frollo's soul.
The End
A/N: This has been nagging at the back of my head for the longest time,
so I decided to do a songfic on my most favorite part of my most favorite movie.
Here's the translation to the Latin parts:
Et Tibit, Pater - And to you, father
Quia Peccavi Nimis - That I have sinned
Cogitatione - In thought
Verbo et Opera - Word, and Deed
Mea Culpa - Through my fault
Mea Maxima Culpa - Through my most greivous fault
Kyrie Elieson - Lord have mercy
Now that you've read this drabble, let me know what you think. Please?
Please review and let me know of any suggestions. This is my first songfic, so I know it stands for improvement. Thanks!
