"Basil, I'm so worried about my Olivia and Fidget!" Hiram Flaversham said anxiously. "They could be lost, alone, hungry…or worse…killed!"
"Dash it all, Basil! It's getting late!" Dawson agreed, "We have to go out there and look for them!"
"Calm down," Basil said dispassionately, trying to get his partner and the girl's father to forget their troubles, "You two might be jumping a gun. I'm sure they'll make it soon enough." Knowing Fidget and Olivia, he was sure they'll make it, even when obstacles approach when Olivia's father couldn't forecast what they were up to. They will always find ways to get each other out of each mess.
"He's right, Flaversham," Dawson assured Flaversham.
"There's nothing to be afraid of," Mrs. Judson said.
Flaversham nodded, knowing that the Baker Street mice had raised a legitimate point. As Basil would say, it was all in a good time.
…
Forty minutes later after the case of the Sea Beast came to a happy end, Fidget started shivering in his sleep. Not only was he chilled to the bone, he was also having night terrors. Luckily, his partner crawled over to him and shook him awake.
"Fidget, wake up!" Olivia hissed softly.
The bat opened his eyes to hers. "Oh, Livy? What time is it?"
She glanced at her watch. "Nine o'clock. You were cold," Olivia continued with concern, "And you must be having a nightmare. What's it about?"
"I can't talk about it, Livy. It's too scary."
"I can handle it."
"No, you can't!" Fidget argued.
"You'll feel better once you tell me."
Fidget was close to blowing his top, but he managed to take a deep breath and reply calmly, "Okay, I've been dreaming about what I can do to save you in return." He was getting a bit ambitious to help others in need, including those closest to him. He liked to get things over with because if he didn't, it could eat him alive!
"Like what?"
"Like if you get snatched away from me when I'm not looking."
"That's one example, but there's more than that."
"I know. I also dreamt that you got your foot caught in a rope. Then the Beast came back!" He found himself getting misty-eyed once again.
Olivia hugged the now weeping bat. "Aww, it's alright. I'm here. Don't worry so much. For example, that Sea Beast is gone and he can't find and hurt us, anymore."
"But what if he…comes back to…to…haunt us, Livy?" Fidget sobbed. His tears rolled down his face out of control. He hadn't cried in a long time, although an hour ago, he had. "I'm trying to look out for you."
"Shh…shh…shh…shh…" Olivia said softly, "I know, but he's in the sea, where he belongs. We're safe. It was only a bad dream."
At last, Fidget's sobbing slowly began to decrease. Then he turned to see something cloudy ahead of him. "Oh, great! Fog!" Fidget grumbled, "Don't get me wrong. I like fog, but not when you can't see anything and bump into something." He soared across the fog and inadvertently hit his head against the lamppost. "Ow!" he said, upon noticing his crash and rubbing his head. He hurried back to Olivia and Toby through the mists. "Do NOT go over there!"
"But Fidget, you just did," she giggled; she couldn't help it.
"Never mind that!" Fidget retorted, still rubbing his sore head from his accident.
"Well, I'm going to feed Toby. He must be very hungry from all that traveling."
"Sure, go ahead. I'll dream a way out for both of us in order to save us."
"Good luck with that." Olivia kissed his cheek.
"I'll try," Fidget said softly, too tired to argue and he yawned. "But Basil…Dawson…your dad–"
"Fidget, we'll worry about them later," Olivia interrupted.
Fidget shivered some more. "Livy, I'm cold."
"Me, too, Fidget."
"But you have a coat on," he pointed out. With a gesture, he added fearfully, "And look ahead!"
Olivia gasped.
"Mist!" Fidget shouted before she could answer. "It's getting thicker!" He was right. It was getting thicker.
"It's no wonder why we're so cold."
"How are we going to go home?" Fidget panicked, "I'm scared and cold and hungry and tired!"
"Don't panic. We'll think of something, but for now I must feed Toby." Fidget relented and dozed off. She wasn't trying to cause him distress. He'd been distressed enough as it was. Olivia admitted that there were times where she had problems she couldn't control just as anybody would. It's always good to be optimistic, but if one gets too optimistic, it could be a problem to not only him/herself, but to others, as well. One has to gain enough confidence to redeem himself and/or at least help the other recover from faithlessness. She slid down Toby's back and landed on her feet. Then she plucked out a cheese crumpet for Toby. "Hey, Toby. Want a crumpet?"
Without hesitation, he licked it straight out of Olivia's hand and gobbled it up. She, too, helped herself to one and she gave him another crumpet because Toby needed more energy and he licked her as a "thank you". Olivia scrambled up onto Toby and she sat down next to Fidget.
He awoke from his short nap. "I still think we're lost," he complained helplessly. He just couldn't seem to let it go and he had trouble sleeping.
Olivia eyed something in Fidget's wing pocket. "What's this?" she asked, gingerly snatching the object.
"Be careful with that, Livy!" he warned. "It's a compass! I was told by my parents that it'll help anyone who is lost."
She knew better than to break such a precious thing, so she handed it back to him. She only wanted to look at it. Nothing more.
"Thank you," Fidget sighed in relief, "You didn't do anything wrong. I figured you'd know better than to break things. I'm sorry I overreacted."
"It's okay," said Olivia, "I think you made a point about the compass helping us not lose our way as long as it leads to the right direction."
This made Fidget smile until his ears drooped with worry and concern. "What can we do?"
"We'll wait for the fog to clear," Olivia answered, "Besides, I got blankets. How about a story?"
That got him to let go of the issue. "A story sounds great, Livy!" Fidget said happily covering himself with a blanket. Olivia had done the same.
"It's not by me, though," she warned.
"But that would do, anyway, Livy," he assured her.
"It's called The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but this is more 'family friendly'."
"This should be good. Give it all you got."
"In the city of Paris, a tall gypsy mouse named Clopin, that looked like a jester, was telling the children a story of a man and a monster."
"Okay, but who is the man and the mons–"
"Ah, ah, ah!" Olivia cut him off, "You'll have to find out." Then she resumed the story. "A gypsy bat couple was carrying their child. In spite of being a hunchback, the child looked cute. He was a grey-furred bat with blue eyes and red short hair. His parents were protecting him from Frollo's soldiers and the pair were completely surrounded."
"Oh, no!" Fidget gasped.
"But the mother, holding her baby, was seeking sanctuary for her and her child because the soldiers were disarming and killing the gypsies and Frollo, the grey rat with the greyish minister suit for church and red eyes, was riding his evil black dog, chasing after her. He snatched what he thought was a stolen good, kicking her down the stairs, killing her and when he heard the baby cry, he unwrapped the blanket seeing what he NOW thought was a MONSTER!"
Fidget gasped, but Olivia went on, "But before Frollo could throw the child in the well, the older mouse minister, who was wise stopped him because if Frollo wanted to save his soul from eternal punishment, he'll have to raise the child as his own and Frollo reluctantly agreed because the child could mean something to him. Since the bat was deformed, he was named 'Quasimodo'."
"Frollo's mean!" said Fidget.
Olivia nodded. "Indeed. He told Quasimodo to stay in the tower with his song, 'Out There', but Quasimodo longed for a friend in the outside world with the rest of the song, although he had bat gargoyles to encourage them. Frollo didn't like them, but he allowed the hunchback to keep them. Frollo had told him that stone cannot talk. Frollo had to go because he was the public official of the Festival of Fools, but he did not like it because he was disgusted by the acts gypsies do, but just as Frollo had left, Quasimodo snuck out of the cathedral."
"Yeah!" Fidget grinned. "Go, Quasimodo!"
"During his escape, a beautiful gypsy mouse girl was earning money for dancing and Phoebus, a bat watched, with his dog, Achilles, in admiration. Unfortunately, she was stopped by a couple of rat guards Brutish, the thin one and Oafish, the fat one, accusing her of stealing money, but she defended herself, pointing out that she earned it and her pet rabbit, Djali, kicked the bandits away from his owner and took the hat full of money with him. Phoebus was hired to work for Frollo as a captain."
"Gee, wiz! Just like me!" Fidget liked Quasimodo, Esmeralda, and Phoebus so far. Quasimodo because Fidget was taken hostage by Ratigan. Phoebus because they worked for a villain. Esmeralda because she reminded him so much of Olivia since they were accepting to people that are different as they were.
"Just like you. Quasimodo was enjoying the fest until Frollo punished him and had others humiliate him for his hideous looks. The bat pleaded the rat to stop, but the judge did nothing and no one stopped until the beautiful girl arrived and untied the bat, setting him free, while standing up to the rat."
"Esmeralda!" Fidget cried with excitement.
Olivia described how Esmeralda and Phoebus coordinated in the cathedral after her escape from the villains from the Festival of Fools outside. This was very much like Olivia's interaction with Fidget, in which Fidget agreed to. "Quasimodo, despite being imprisoned for leaving the cathedral when his master told him not to, went to help Esmeralda escape, who was also taken as a hostage by Frollo."
Fidget was undeniably entertained by the story and Olivia explained how Phoebus turned against Frollo. Cutting to the chase, Fidget was also thrilled to see Quasimodo's heroic actions and thanks to Laverne, Hugo, and Victor, and that Esmeralda survived the flames when tied to a wooden post, since Quasimodo rescued her. "Frollo was angered at Esmeralda's survival and chased the hunchback and the gypsy outside. Quasimodo held on to Esmeralda for dear life before either of them could fall into the 'fiery pit', where bad people, who refused to change their evil ways enter when they die. Frollo waited twenty years to throw him overboard when Quasimodo took him by the cape, bringing him to another gargoyle. Just as he was about to chop off Esmeralda's and Quasimodo's heads off, declaring in his last words..." Fidget winced at this; he dreaded the thought of the characters getting their heads chopped off. If this is really family friendly as Olivia claims, then why have a story where characters get their heads chopped off? he wondered. "'And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!', the gargoyle beneath him began to crack, making him lose his balance as he wrapped his arms around the gargoyle and the sword fell out of his hands. The gargoyle horrified him, leading him to his doom in the pit!" At this, Fidget smirked devilishly in delight. He must have compared Frollo to Ratigan and he was glad to have the sewer rat out of the way.
"As Esmeralda watched Quasimodo fly down, she was stunned, not knowing he could fly. Thankfully, down below, Phoebus took him by the wing, much to her relief and the three reunited. Later on, the crowd cheered at the sight of Quasimodo for the hero that he was, who finally saw light in this world a lot brighter."
"Woah! That was quite a story!" Fidget cheered, "Thanks, Livy! I liked it!" Then, he saw the mist vanish. "Look, the fog is clearing!"
"So it's time we mosey on," Olivia told him.
"Can you tell me another story on the way home?"
"Alright and this one you'll enjoy, as well. It's called Sleeping Beauty, but in this version, Sleeping Beauty is a prince."
As much as Fidget enjoyed the original tale, he decided to be told a different twist in it. "Sleeping Handsome? I like the sound of it."
"Go, Toby! Sic 'em!" Olivia commanded the dog and he obeyed.
On the way home, the three travelers saw something glow in the mist, making it and their worries disappear faster: fireflies! They were enthralled by the sight that made their hearts shine brightly. Their troubles were over.
The juvenile mouse girl began her story, "Once upon a time, there lived a bat king and queen, who invited all but one: an evil rat sorcerer named Mol to the new prince's christening. The baby prince was named Aiden. Mol wanted to put an end to Aiden's life when Aiden turned sixteen with just one prick of his finger on the spinning wheel. Luckily, the three good mouse wizards Forest, Finch, and Martian decided to put him to sleep."
Fidget listened intently to the story in great interest, although Mol reminded him of Ratigan, who would have somehow end Fidget's life, even if it meant having Fidget sleep forever until Olivia and her friends come to rescue him. "To keep the bat prince safe, the wizards took him to a cottage as instructed by his parents after they got rid of their magic."
"Because they had to act like normal humans to the kid for sixteen years," Fidget guessed.
"Yes." Olivia nodded.
"And the mouse wizards are his uncles?"
"Precisely. Sixteen years later, Aiden grew handsome and was ready for adventure. He asked his 'uncles' Forest, Finch, and Martian if he could go and they said he could as long as he didn't wander off too far."
"But Aiden's sixteen! I hope these mouse lizards…" Fidget did not care to say "wizards" at this point because he was not in the mood and he took Aiden's side. "I hope they understand that he's old enough to go how far he wants!"
"They do eventually," Olivia assured him.
"Sorry if I took the story seriously."
"You're fine. Stories are supposed to fill you with emotions to catch your attention." Fidget was ready for Olivia to continue. "Aiden loved to fly in the morning and at night. In the forest, he met a beautiful mouse princess named Phila and her dog, Sam." Fidget stared at the mouse girl telling the story, dreamily. "The princess greeted the prince. Aiden was shy. So shy, he backed away from the girl, but she took him by the hand. She told him that she remembered him since they were kids."
"Once upon a dream," Fidget recited.
Olivia winked at him. "They danced and picked berries together. Aiden told her it was time for him to part ways with Phila for the day, but he promised to see her again soon." Olivia saw Fidget getting sleepy, so she had to find a way to wrap up this story in time quickly. "The wizards took the prince back to the castle once they restored their magic. Suddenly, after they left him alone in his room, he followed a shiny red bulb that led him to a spinning wheel where he pricked his finger. The wizards finally found the prince sleeping on the floor and their enemy behind this scam…Mol! Mol came to Phila and said that the prince was sleeping forever, but Aiden can be awoken with a kiss. The wizards helped her fight the rat, especially when the villain turned into a bear!"
Fidget watched, alerted by this. "But she fought him with a sword and threw the sword into his heart." Fidget cheered up again upon hearing the princess's redemption and the villain's comeuppance. Little did he know that princesses could be warriors. "Once the battle was over, Phila broke the curse with true love's kiss. Aiden woke up to see her beautiful face and everyone was happy. Aiden reunited with his long-forgotten parents and he and the princess danced."
Fidget clapped. "Good job!" he cheered, "You sound like a great storyteller!"
"Why, thank you and which part did you like best?" He was asleep at last. "Fidget?" He rested his head on Olivia's lap, snoring, which never bothered her. "Goodnight." And she, too, fell asleep with him. They were going home…
Author's note: Wow! That was a long chapter, but it was fun, anyway! Hooray, Fidget saved Olivia like he promised! Good job!
*Yes, Olivia was telling him the stories of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Sleeping Beauty (or rather Sleeping Handsome because I decided to switch the genders of the characters). The horses in these versions are dogs. As for Frollo, guards, and Mol (male version of Maleficent), they are rats because Ratigan may have similarities to Frollo and Mol. Ratigan put Fidget to sleep in a couple of my GMD fics, The Sleeping Bat and The Hypnotic Rat. As for Quasimodo, Phoebus, and Aiden, I had them be bats for their interaction with female mice very much like Fidget had with Olivia, such as Esmeralda and Phila (female version of Phillip). I had Djali be a rabbit, instead of a goat and Mol's animal transformation to be a bear because bears can be as big as dragons. As a matter of fact, I read that the bear from The Fox and the Hound is either a melanistic grizzly or a Kodiak-grizzly mix on Disney Wiki and the YouTube comments. To Olivia's credit, she had done great telling the stories. That's not to say that Clopin hasn't.
*As for Fidget's snoring, I don't think it bothers Olivia one bit, but Basil is another story. I'm in between on Basil getting annoyed by it or just keeping his cool about it.
