Roxas sighed and looked at the ceiling as a single pigeon flew through a crack and out into the world.
"Safe behind these windows and these parapets of stone-" he began to climb up several boards of broken wood that functioned like stairs.
"Gazing at the people down below me..." he sighed looking where the happy people of Notre Dame were buzzing around the Festival of Fools with excitement.
He turned and wiped a tear from his eye. "All my life I watched them as I hide up here alone. Hungry for the histories they show me." Roxas stopped and picked up a wooden replica that looked like a smiling lady. He thought it must have been the baker's daughter because she always cheerfully walked out of the bakery after giving him a kiss. He considered that it may have been the baker's wife, but the baker was much too old and the girl was always with another guy. Roxas loved to guess what the town's people's relations were to each other. It was just something he did in his spare time.
He sighed again, "All my life I have memorized their faces...knowing them as they will never know me." He reached forward and picked up the figurine that looked like the baker's daughter's love interest.
"I always wonder what it feels like to pass a day... not above them, but a part of them..." he mumbled. He looked down then ran over the side of the tower and swung from the marble concrete pillars.
"And out there, living in the sun. Give me one day out there. All I ask is for one, to hold forever!" He grinned and picked up Vincent and Larxene then nuzzled them and giggled. He ran to another pillar and hugged it then looked towards the darkening sky.
"Out there, where they al live unaware what I'd give...what I'd dare just to live one day out there!" Roxas swung among some more columns then stopped and yelled as if someone might acknowledge him.
"Out there among the millers and the weavers and their wives! Through the roofs and gables I can see them. Everyday they shout and scold and go about their lives. Heedless of the gift it is to be them. If I was in their skin, I'd treasure every instant..." Roxas smiled and slid down a water canal and then stopped and grabbed onto some pillars and thrust himself forward then sat on a large concrete canal that poured out water. He dipped his hands into the water happily and drank some of it.
"Out there strolling along the seine. Taste the morning! Out there like ordinary men-" he jumped around some more Saint Mary statues then he began to climb even higher to a granite roof that went up into a point and had many little spikes coming out of it that acted as foot and hand holders.
"Who freely walk about there! Just one day and then I swear I'll be content! With my share-" he smiled as he began to jump down from the pointed roof. "I just want to have spent one day out there!"
Luxord held his map all sorts of ways, upside down, right side up, sideways, diagonals- Every way looked like it was the wrong way, however. He sighed and looked around confusedly. He crumpled up the map and tossed it aside, "You leave for a few decades and they change everything," he mumbled.
He noticed two soldiers rush past him, "Excuse me gentlemen, I'm looking for the palace of justice could you-" he watched them walk by him without a second glance and then looked down. He turned and rubbed his head, "Hmm...I guess not..."
He walked on through the roomy stone covered streets, his horse following obediently behind him.
--
Axel was tapping his tambourine on his palm and swinging his hips, long and spiked red hair swaying to and fro in the wind. He closed his emerald eyes and smiled happily as a small goat danced in front of him. He had the most interesting birth marks under his eyes, they resembled upside down triangles and had a dark green, almost black, color to them.
A woman and child passed by and the child was drawn to Axel. The woman pulled the child's wrist. "Don't go near them! They're gypsies! They'll rob us blind!" he nodded, walking away quickly.
Luxord brought his horse by and looked down at a small purple hat. He bent down and threw some gold coins into the hat then looked up. His eyes caught Axel's swift movements and his expression softened. His blonde eyebrows rose in awe. He was beautiful! Absolutely beautiful! His lips parted slightly as he watched every spin and sway the redheaded gypsy made.
A small boy ran over and whistled through a gate. Axel his companion and his goat all gasped and looked up. The goat grabbed the hat in it's mouth and Axel abandon his tambourine. They began to run but the goat accidently spilt the coins out of the hat. He made a baa sound and Axel ran over, trying to pick up the gold coins and put them back into the hat. The two guards Luxord had seen earlier looked down at Axel and pulled on his hat.
"Where'd you get the money, gypsy?" one of them sneered.
Axel looked up angrily and pulled the hat back. He held it close and snarled, "For your information I earned it!"
"Tch, gypsies don't earn money!" the guard laughed, putting his hands on his hips.
"Stealing!" the other guard said, grabbing Axel from behind.
"You'd know a lot about stealing!" Axel nodded, flinching his shoulders away.
"Trouble maker!" the guard said.
Axel snarled and kicked his legs up, kicking the guard in front of him in the chin.
"Maybe a day in the stalks will cool you down!" one of the guards said.
Axel's goat growled and head-butted one guard then kicked the other. Axel grabbed the goat and they quickly sprinted off. The guards regained composure and ran after them, but Luxord didn't want axel to get caught. He was, to be frank, love struck. The guards ran into the horse, one of them falling right into a puddle of mud, He groaned and Luxord looked down at him then back up to his horse.
"Achilles, sit," Luxord demanded. The horse obeyed and sat right on one of the guards. "Ohh!" Luxord said as a crowd gathered and laughed. "I'm sorry!" He pointed a finger at the horse and gave a fake stern look. "Naughty horse!" he said, wagging his finger. "He's just impossible! I can't take him anywhere!" he nodded.
Axel watched from a nearby corner. He bit his lip and giggled sheepishly, then he and his goat ran off.
"Get this thing offa meee!" the guard cried.
"I'll teach you a lesson, peasant!" the other guard growled, pulling out a dagger.
Luxord brushed his cape out and revealed his sword, the crowd that had gathered gasped in awe. He pulled it out and slightly threw it, it turned in his hand and he caught it with ease. "you were saying?" he asked. "Lieutenant?"
"C-C-Captain!?" the guard gasped, saluting him. He hit his head and the dagger and helmet clanged together. "Ohh! At your service sir!" he gasped, his dagger flying out of his hands.
Luxord grabbed his sword and sliced through the guard's mustache. (The one that was under Achilles) "I know you must have a lot on your mind, but the palace of justice?" Luxord grinned.
"Make way, make way!" the guards called as they led Luxord to the Palace of Justice. "Make way for the captain!"
Luxord looked down and noticed some gold coins. He picked them up and gave them to a bundled up person with a pipe in their mouth. He walked forward and Axel took off the blanket flap he was using as a hood. They looked over and the goat spit the pipe out.
"Come on boy, Achilles, heel!" Luxord said. (Lol get it? Achilles heel? xD Sometimes I crack myself up...xD)
Luxord entered the Palace of Justice to the sound of whippings when he saw Xemnas. He gave him a dirty look and watched as he advanced forward.
"Ah! So this is the gallant Captain Luxord, coming home from the wars," he smiled.
"Reporting for duty as ordered sir," Luxord said, his hands behind his back.
"Your service record perceives you, Luxord," he said, walking an entire circle around him. "I expect nothing but the best from you, Luxord."
"You shall hear nothing but it, sir," Luxord nodded.
"Yess," Xemnas grinned. "You know, my last captain of the guards was a bit of a disappointment to me," he said, holding his hands together gently, though taking on a serious look. There was a loud scream after several whips and a smile replaced Xemnas' serious look. "Well I'm sure that you'll...whip my men into shape," he said, slowly walking forward.
"Uh...thank you! Tremendous honor sir!" Luxord nodded, following him.
"You've come to Paris in her darkest hour, captain," Xemnas said. "It would take a firm hand to keep the weak minded from being misled," he said, looking back at Luxord.
"Misled, sir?" Luxord asked.
"Look Captain," Xemnas said, pointing down over the balcony's cement railings. "Gypsies. The gypsies live below the noble order and their terrible ways are bringing out the lowest instincts of the people," he said, looking below at the gypsies dancing around and playing music. "And they must. Be. Stopped."
Luxord stared at him in disbelief, "You summoned me from the wars to capture...fortune tellers and palm readers?!" he asked, trying not to raise his voice too terribly much.
Xemnas put a hand on Luxord's shoulders and pointed below again, "The real war, Captain, is right here, before you," he explained. "For twenty years I have been taking care of the gypsies." Xemnas noticed some ants on the railing and he pulled his sleeve up, "One." Squish. "By." Squish. "One." Squish.
Luxord stared and winced slightly. those poor ants were defenseless...
"And even with all my efforts, they have thrived," Xemnas continued. He picked up the tile of the railing and revealed hundreds of ants crawling around. "I believe they have a safe haven, a nest if you will, they call it the-" he paused to laugh. "Court of Miracles."