A/N: In this chapter we will have an official introduction to our main characters and the villain of our tale. Many thanks to those who have reviewed so far. I really appreciate your input! I hope you guys enjoy this one too.
Disclaimer: The Hunchback of Notre Dame II is a property of Disney Studios and is not owned by me. This was made for entertainment purposes...and also because I don't have anything better to do at the moment. Haha!
Warnings: Introduction to an original character lies within the chapter. Why? Because Madellaine needs a friend, that's why.
Chapter 1: The Hunchback and the Dreamer
Soft rays of light streamed into the bell tower of the illustrious structure known simply as Notre Dame. By one of the windows, three stone gargoyles watched the whimsical displays of the couples far below them. One of them seemed particularly moved by the scenes of bliss.
"Observe the rituals of courtship as citizens gather two by two," the gargoyle known as Victor murmured softly, his eyes glazed with a dreamy look one would find more common in a school girl than a terrifying gargoyle, but then, looks can be deceiving.
"Looks like there's someone for everyone," another gargoyle, Laverne, stated with the same air of bliss in her tone.
"Ah, yes," Hugo, the third and most flamboyant of the three gargoyles, added. "Too bad there's only one of me to go around."
And just like that, the peaceful air surrounding the trio popped like a balloon.
"One is plenty, believe me," Laverne grumbled, clearly agitated by Hugo's usual antics. From his place by the window, Victor sighed, realizing all too soon that a fight was bound to break out as it always did.
Of course, Hugo didn't realize the jab right away.
"Ah, thanks."
The other two gargoyles patiently waited for him to catch on.
"Hey! Was that a shot!?"
Laverne allowed herself to smirk in triumph at him. "Maybe..."
Meanwhile, as the inevitable fight began, a figure entered the room, having seemingly climbed up from below. Upon seeing the gargoyles participating in their usual arguments, the man smiled and walked over to his sitting table with a yellow rose in hand.
The man himself wasn't much to look at. With a horrendously hunched back and some twisted features, he was often labeled a monster by those who had never met him before. However, ever since the death of Claude Frollo seven years ago, the hunchback of Notre Dame had gained many friends and acquaintances in the city of Paris as well as respect for being the church's bell ringer.
Though given the cruel name of Quasimodo, the hunchback was a very kind spirit and had one of the warmest smiles around.
Nevertheless, his grotesque features had cursed him to a life of solitude in many respects. Even after finding the courage to face the world, there were some things he knew he would never have.
Of course, he often chose not to dwell on it, lest he find himself depressed. Regardless of whatever was missing from his life, he was living a far better life than he had been a few years ago.
At the moment, Quasi was mostly concerned with making sure that La Fidele, the bell that had just been brought to the church yesterday for the festival, was nice and polished.
After placing his yellow rose in a makeshift vase made from clay, he turned to the window to find that Laverne had punched Hugo's lights out.
"Are you guys going to fight all day or help me with the preparations for the festival?" he asked good naturedly as he began to climb the ladder leading to the countless bells handing above them.
His three friends/guardians turned to face him, sudden joy etched in all their faces.
"There he is!" Victor announced, his arms spread out wide. "Making his triumphant return!"
Quasi laughed heartily, finding it difficult not to roll his eyes a bit. "Come on, let's get the marble out. We have to polish La Fidele."
"And what's the festival..."
"Without the bell?"
"Or the bell ringer!"
Ignoring their cheers, Quasi walked forward toward the bronze bell, unaware that a new presence had entered his sanctuary.
"Toro! Toro!"
Upon hearing the loud, familiar screech, Quasi turned around and found his young friend Zephyr holding his hands next to his head as if they were bull horns while angrily walking in place. He was ready to charge.
Quasi responded quickly by unfolding the long cloth he had brought up with him to polish the bell. While shaking it out he yelled, "Toro! Toro!"
Encouraged by Quasi's screams, Zephyr immediately charged, shouting out as he did. The two played back and forth a bit, with Zephyr laughing the whole time as Quasi dodged his charges as best he could. Of course, the young boy was very quick and eventually climbed up Quasi's back. The older man responded by helping the boy onto his shoulders before tickling him relentlessly.
As their giggles echoed through the tower, Esmeralda entered from below, her gaze a bit stern but full of contentment upon seeing her son and Quasimodo playing together.
"Zephyr, you need to slow down," she called once she was fully in the room.
Quasi approached Esmeralda with Zephyr still on his back as the boy spoke, slowing down his speech as he talked.
"Ohhhhhh...kay...mooooooooooom..."
Phoebus entered the room around that time, laughing at his son's antics before saying, "Okay now, listen to your mother young man."
"Yes papa."
With a smile, Esmeralda turned her attention to the new bell. "Is that...?"
Quasi glanced behind him before focusing back on his friend. "Yes, indeed it is."
The gypsy stepped forward, walking past Quasimodo while reaching to touch the outside of the bell. "So this is La Fidele. She's magnificent."
"You gonna ring it once for my mom, Quasi?" Zephyr asked.
Phoebus answered before the bell ringer had a chance to speak. "You bet he is and your mother is going to be down in the square screaming into the night, 'I love my husband, Phoebus."
Once again, Esmeralda smirked, a mischievous glow lighting up her emerald eyes. "Oh, really? And what makes you think I'm going to shout so loudly?"
"You'll have to," Phoebus replied, "To be heard over me yelling 'I love Esmeralda!" With a soft tug he twirled his wife about the room briefly, dipping her toward the floor before bringing her back up for a kiss.
For poor Zephyr the sight was embarrassing.
"Ugh...yuck..."
"Yeah, yuck," Quasi stated, although he sounded significantly less appalled by Esmeralda and Phoebus sharing a lip lock right in front of them. If anything the poor man was simply dreaming of the day when he would meet a girl who would want to kiss him.
Of course, such a dream is impossible for him.
To stop himself from letting his mind drift to dark places again, he set the young boy back down on the floor and stepped underneath, which glowed from the countless rare gems that adorned the whole of the interior. Seeing the pure beauty of the bell's inside lifted Quasi's spirit greatly.
Unfortunately, Zephyr followed behind him and asked the one question that nearly crushed his heart there on the spot.
"Who's name are you gonna call out tomorrow, Quasi?"
As a young child who was taught not to judge others based on their looks or occupations, Zephyr wouldn't know of the troubles Quasimodo faced when it came to love, especially considering that the boy thought the hunchback was the best guy in the whole world.
And because he didn't have a grasp on the daily struggle his friend faced, he was unaware of the wound he had inflicted.
Still, Quasi being Quasi tried to brush it off and simply continued forward with his business.
"No one, I guess," he told the child, barely succeeding in hiding his distress from him.
Even with that answer though, the boy kept prying.
"Then who's gonna scream your name?"
The hunchback took a step backward, his gaze falling to the floor as his heart sank within his chest. "I don't think...anyone ever will, Zephyr."
Only when Quasi turned away did the young boy realize he may have said something wrong and with a look of concern he watched his friend walk away toward the other end of the bell. Reflected in the pure gold, he could see Quasi's forlorn expression. It prompted him to ask a final question.
"Well, why not?"
Quasimodo couldn't answer him. He didn't want to answer him.
Looking at his face on a regular basis should have been answer enough. There's no one in the world who would want to be with someone who looked the way he did. Quasi was well aware of this fact and had been for all of his life. Frollo had ingrained that into him time and time again. Despite gaining many friends over the years, some facts about the world were undeniable. There were still some who saw him and automatically labeled him as some form of beast rather than an ordinary man.
He didn't expect to strike gold twice in a lifetime. It was enough to have people in his life who cared for him, right?
Still, sometimes he did feel an overwhelming sense of loneliness when he saw other couples. Not because he was jealous of them but more because he wished there was a possibility that someone could love him the way those couples seemed to love each other. It was a simple wish, really.
Hearing Quasimodo's silence, Esmeralda entered the bell and placed her hands on the man's shoulders. "Quasi..."
He looked at her briefly, his blue eyes shining with something akin to grief before his gaze fell to the ground again. Esmeralda pressed on.
"It takes more than looking to really see."
Quasi knew there was wisdom in her words, but in that moment he couldn't figure out just what that wisdom was.
With a tender smile, the gypsy gently gripped his chin and forced him to gaze at his reflection in the gold. "Someday you'll be ready and when you are you'll find her."
And for that brief moment, the encouragement allowed him to see something else in his reflection. For a few seconds he saw a normal man with a normal face. It made him smile, but he knew it was only an illusion his mind created.
"Someday?" he murmured, pressing one of his hands to hers on his shoulder. "Nah. What could possibly ever change?"
"I swear, you never change."
These words were uttered by a woman with short, blonde hair and radiant blue eyes. She wore a simple green dress over a white, long-sleeved blouse and was currently walking barefoot across a tightrope about three feet off the ground. Her expression was etched into a frown as she glared over at the slightly older woman standing by her tent's entrance.
This woman wore an odd outfit that consisted of a crimson tank top that stopped just above her belly button, skintight black, leather-spandex pants with leather ankle boots, black fingerless gloves with crimson bracelets, and hoop earrings coated in a silver-colored paint on her ears. Her raven locks were styled into a pixie cut, which shaped her face quite nicely. Unfortunately, she was also scowling a little, though clear amusement shone in her pale grey eyes.
"Hey, I'm just telling you that Sarouch is going to be angry when he finds out you're not in that box 'standing there and looking pretty'." With a laugh the woman walked a little closer, examining her friend as she continued to practice. "Sometimes I don't know why you bother practicing, Madellaine. You know that vain pig of a man isn't going to let you do an act."
Madellaine took a careful step forward on the rope, her fancy rose-colored umbrella in hand. "I'm sure I can convince him one of these days to let me at least try it..."
"Yeah, about as much as you can convince him to sell all his precious, expensive mirrors," the woman interrupted, looking skeptical of Madellaine's plans. "It's not good to dream big in our line of work, honey."
"You are not helping my concentration..." the blonde paused for a moment, stumbling just a bit. "Gabriella..."
Gabriella smirked wickedly. "Fine, I'll take my leave. Who knows, maybe your harebrained scheme will work and you can finally have your dream of walking across a thin rope hundreds of feet in the air where the slightest distraction may lead you to plummet to your untimely and gruesome death! Ahahahahahahahaha!"
The random evil laughter prompted another bout of stumbling from the blonde. With yelps of terror she sprinted to one of the wooden posts holding the rope and held on to it tight, heaving all the while. Gabriella chuckled at first at the sight of her friend then found herself doubling over in full-blown hysterics once she caught a glimpse of Madellaine's terror stricken expression.
"Now that's what I call entertainment!" Gabriella cackled, still clutching her stomach. "Oh, the look on your face is priceless."
Madellaine gave a dejected sigh after catching her breath. "Are you through torturing me yet?"
Gabriella was still giggling but she nodded. "Yes, I suppose that's all the fun allotted to me for one day. But on a serious note though, do be careful when you eventually convince the boss to let you have a tightrope act. I don't want you getting hurt."
"I'll do my best," Madellaine replied, gearing up to practice again as Gabriella began to take her leave. "You be careful too."
"Of course, this life is no problem for a veteran acrobat like me." With that said, the raven-haired pixie left the blonde dreamer to her practicing. She supposed everyone needed a reason to go on, even if it was something as simple and hopeless as a dream.
As for Madellaine, though slightly annoyed at her longtime friend, she was mostly happy at the moment. There was always a sense of euphoria that swept over her whenever she was off the ground. She wasn't sure if the adrenaline rush she got was a result of her fear of heights or general excitement at the thought of walking high above the cruel, unforgiving world below. She wasn't entirely sure. She only knew that practicing her act was one of the few things that made her feel truly happy.
"Madames and Monsieurs," she called out, taking a step forward along the rope. "Kindly direct your attention high above, for the magnificent Madellaine is about to perform her daring high wire act." With a bright smile on her face, the young woman lifted her hands high above her head and began to walk the rope backwards.
"Without a net," she continued just before stumbling a bit. She muttered an 'opps' as she recovered before shouting, "And the crowd goes wild. Ah!" Regaining her balance she poses again. "A hush comes over the crowd as Madeline prepares to perform her graceful trick...oh ooooh!"
Once again the young woman was losing her footing and balance to the point where she had to run to the wooden post again. With a tiny yelp she grabbed onto it, spinning around it in one full rotation before regaining her balance again. Breathing heavily she continued her previous commentary.
"Madellaine catches her breath, having nearly plummeted to her death..."
Suddenly she remembered Gabriella's words.
Now that's what I call entertainment. The look on your face is priceless."
Madellaine lifted her fist slightly before shaking her friend's words out of her head. Opening the umbrella she shouted, "And the crowd roars with applause! They scream for more!" Once again she walks across the rope, having no trouble this time. At one point she is even able to balance on the thin rope on one foot, a daring feat for her.
"Encore! Encore!" After quietly laughing to herself she takes a bow. "Thank you. Thank you. You're too kind..."
"Where were you Madellaine!"
The sudden shrillness of Sarouch's voice caught the poor girl off-guard, causing her to lose her balance completely. Luckily for her, the tightrope was only three feet up from the floor.
But even with the short distance, the landing still hurt.
"Well?"
Finally noticing Sarouch's imposing figure at the entrance to her tent, she tried in vain to explain her absence from his side.
"I...I was...standing..."
Sarouch raised an eyebrow.
"I mean...uh...of course I was standing. I mean...I haven't always been sitting...and," she trailed off, realizing how stupid she sounded. "I'm sorry."
The man didn't seem to hear her as he entered the tent, his gaze transfixed by the nearby mirror casting his reflection.
Even so, Madellaine continued. "I just...wanted to contribute more to the circus."
Sarouch didn't turn away from the mirror. "Your job is to be there on stage by my side and look pretty."
Madellaine would have said something else, but Sarouch was too busy murmuring sweet nothings to his reflection. Quite frankly his behavior in regards to his own appearance was really starting to frighten her.
"Now, I know you want to do more," Sarouch finally blurted after another minute of seducing himself, "And you shall do more." With a sharp movement he yanked the umbrella from her hand and broke it underneath his foot before continuing.
"I have the perfect job for you."
A/N: And behold...a cliffhanger! Ahahahahahahaha! Not that this cliffhanger is particularly suspenseful but...well...just roll with it.
Music corner: Some music I listened to while writing the piece of the chapter that introduced Gabriella and Madellaine is a piece called Amazoness Quartet from the original Sailor Moon series soundtrack. If you have time, take a listen to it. It's a fun little piece.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this second chapter!