Chapter 7: Shocking Revelations and Kidnaps Natalie's POV
The next morning came, and it went on the way it usually did. Me and my friends waking up, going to get some breakfast from the baker while Quasimodo rang the bells for the morning mass. Once he was done and when we got back, we all sat down at the table and began to eat. As we finished eating, we saw Phoebus coming in. Quasimodo said,
"Good morning, Phoebus."
I said, "Good morning."
Irena and Leslie waved hi.
He then said, "Good morning Quasimodo, Natalie, ladies."
I asked, "What brings you here?"
He said, "Well, I actually have bad news to share with you."
Quasi asked, "What is it, Phoebus?"
He said, "Well, the suspect that was involved in attacking Natalie has escaped."
My eyes widened in shock. How could this happen? How could he escape? I asked,
"What?!"
Quasi asked, "Are you sure?"
He answered,
"Yes, it turns out that the men that helped me bring him into the Palace of Justice were his henchmen and my real men were mugged."
I asked, "Oh my gosh, are you serious?"
Irena said, "That's insane!"
Leslie added, "No kidding!"
Quasi asked, "Phoebus, do you have any idea where he could be now?"
He answered, "I'm not sure. But I went through some notes on my desk and I might know who the attacker is."
I asked, "Who?"
He said, "I read some notes that were sent to Frollo, and the one named Jehan seems to have a relation towards him."
I then heard Quasi say, "Jehan? Jehan... I know I heard that name before."
I asked him, "You heard it before? When?"
He said,
"When I was still a child. I always heard my master talk about that name. I believe it was the name of his brother. Oh, I remember Frollo talking about him in a bad light."
I asked, "What did he say about him?"
He answered,
"He always called him a low life, a deadbeat, and he did tell me about what happened between him and his brother once."
Leslie asked, "What happened?"
He said,
"He said that he and his brother grew up learning in the cathedral as scholars. They were happy then. But while Frollo continued to do his studies, Jehan started getting into drinking and partying with gypsies and nobles, and Frollo wasn't happy about it. Then one day, when it was Frollo's birthday, Jehan brought a gypsy woman into the church to surprise him. But instead, he told the archdeacon that was there at the time, and he threw Jehan and the gypsy woman out. Frollo felt bad and tried to apologize, but Jehan blew him off and left with the gypsy woman."
I was blown away by that story. I never knew that Frollo had a brother nor about how they grew up in the cathedral. Out of curiosity, I asked,
"Did they ever see each other again after that?"
He said,
"Oh yes, I-I was actually there when Jehan came to see Frollo. As a young boy. I was watching from the door when Jehan came asking him for forgiveness. Frollo didn't listen and he kicked him out of the cathedral. And I remember walking up to them as Frollo banished him, I tried to stay hidden, but he caught a glimpse of me and I saw him."
He then gasped and his eyes widened in shock.
Concerned, I asked, "Quasi? Quasimodo what is it?"
He then looked at me and said, "Natalie, the man that attacked you at the festival was Jehan."
My eyes widened in shock. Was it really him? I then asked,
"But how would you know for sure that it was him?"
He said,
"I remember what he looked like, he had blond hair and wore red, and the man that attacked you looked just like him. And you said it yourself, he looked a lot like Frollo."
Irena chimed in, "But if it is him, we have to know why he did what he did."
I then immediately realized why he attacked me and I said, looking down to the ground,
"I think I know why he did it."
Quasi asked, "Well, what is it?"
Irena said, "Tell us Nat."
Leslie said, "Yeah."
I answered grimly,
"He's doing this to get back at us for what happened to Frollo."
Everyone just stared at me in shock, even Phoebus was surprised. I then broke the silence by saying,
"I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, Quasimodo, I'm the one that ended his life. But I didn't do it out of cold blood. I did it because he was about to kill you and I couldn't bare to lose you like that."
Quasi then placed his hand onto mine and said,
"Natalie, I know why you did what you did. All my life, he told me that the world was a dark, cruel place and that I was a monster. You saved me from Frollo, I don't judge you for that."
I sighed and said,
"If only Jehan knew about the pain that you went through and how he treated others." He nodded in response.
Phoebus then said, "Well, until we find Jehan, I suggest that Natalie stays hidden."
I asked, "So you're saying that I can't go out in public anymore?"
He said, "No, not necessarily, but for safety, I suggest wearing a disguise out in public."
I nodded and Quasi said,
"We'll be sure to do that, Phoebus." He nodded in response and said,
"Good."
We then saw Esmeralda come in, holding Zephyr in her arms.
She said, "Good morning Quasi, Nat, girls."
Quasi said, "Good morning, Esmeralda."
I said, "Good morning."
Irena and Leslie said, "Good morning."
She then turned to Phoebus and said, "Phoebus, can I speak to you? alone?"
He said, "Sure."
She then looked down at their son and said,
"Zephyr, go say hello to your aunt and uncle, go on."
And with that, little Zephyr did as he was told and he ran over to me and Quasi with a smile and his arms stretched out wide for a hug. We smiled back and I picked him up and gave him a hug as I said,
"Hi, little buddy."
I then set him down and he ran over to Quasi with his arms stretched out for a hug. Quasimodo welcomed him with a smile and he scooped him up and said as he hugged him,
"Hello Zephyr."
I then turned my attention back to Phoebus and Esmeralda as she pulled him aside to talk to him. I heard her ask in an angry tone,
"What's the meaning of this?!"
He asked, "Of what?"
She said, "This!"
As she shoved a note at him. He took it and looked at what it said as Esmeralda crossed her arms with a glare.
As he read the note, his eyes widened with shock and he asked,
"What is this?"
Esmeralda said, "You tell me, lover boy!" And turned her back against him.
He said, "No I'm serious! I don't know what you're talking about."
She then said, "Then tell me Phoebus, who is this Fleur-de-Lys, and why did she send you this note?"
He then said
"Fleur-de-Lys? I haven't heard that name or seen her since I was a young lad, training for wars."
She then said, "Oh, so you do know her!"
He sighed and said, "Yes I knew her, but that doesn't mean that I'm with her."
Esmeralda snapped, "Then tell me, who is she?!"
He explained,
"She was just some girl that I went out with in the past, but she means nothing to me. She was apart of my life that I don't want to see again."
She then said with a glare, "Well, it's pretty clear that she does!"
I asked, "What's going on? What are you guys fighting about?"
Phoebus said, "She's mad because she thinks that a woman that I knew in the past is having an affair with me."
Esmeralda asked, "Well, why else would she send you this letter?!"
He replied in frustration,
"I'm not having an affair with her! And besides, I have better things to do than to focus on something as ridiculous as this."
She then asked, "So, you're calling this ridiculous? My love for you is ridiculous?!"
Phoebus said, "I didn't say that, I mean-" And he sighed in frustration.
He then said,
"What I mean is that right now, I have to find the culprit who attacked Natalie yesterday at the festival."
She then said, "Oh don't worry, I'll help you find him. In fact, I'll find him, and more about this Fleur-de-lys."
Phoebus tried to say something, but all he did was sigh in frustration.
I then asked, "Esmeralda, you're going to help us find Jehan?"
She said,
"Yes Natalie, you and Quasimodo are my best friends, and nobody gets away with treating my friends like that."
Quasimodo smiled and said, "Thanks Esmeralda."
I said, "Yeah, we owe you one."
Leslie chimed in, "We'll help too." As she and Irena stood up.
I asked, "Really guys, are you sure?"
Irena said, "Yeah Nat, you're also our best friend."
Leslie added, "And if Esmeralda's gonna go out to find some clues, she's going to need help."
I said, "Thank you guys, you're all really good friends."
Irena said, "No problem, Nat." Leslie nodded in response.
Esmeralda asked, "In the meantime, can you and Quasi watch Zephyr while we're out?"
I said, "Oh yeah, sure."
Quasi said, "We'd be more than happy too, Esmeralda."
She smiled and nodded in response. She then walked over us and said to Zephyr after she planted a kiss on him "I'll be back soon ok, be good to your aunt and uncle." She then said "We'll see you in a bit." Irena said "Bye Nat, bye Quasi." Leslie said "Bye." I said "Bye guys." Quasi said "Good luck." And with that, Esmeralda, Irena, and Leslie left the bell tower to go find more information about Jehan and Fleur-de-Lys.
Phoebus then turned to us and said, "Well, I guess I should start looking for Jehan too."
He walked over to little Zephyr and said as he ruffled his hair,
"I'll see you in a bit son. Be good to your aunt and uncle."
He turned back to me and Quasi and said, "I'll see you guys later."
I said, "Good luck, Phoebus."
Quasi said, "Yeah, good luck." He nodded in response and with that, he left the bell tower to go search for Jehan.
We then saw that Zephyr was getting upset about his parents leaving. Quasi said to try to calm him down,
"It's okay little one! your parents will be back soon."
I then had an idea and said, "I'll be right back."
He nodded and said, "Okay."
And I walked over to Quasimodo's workbench where the model of Paris rested while he took Zephyr over to a bench and sat him down on his lap. I grabbed the figurines of Esmeralda and Phoebus and walked back over to them and sat next to them on the bench.
I asked Zephyr,
"Hey Zephyr, who's this? Huh? can you tell me who this is?" As I showed him the figurine of Esmeralda.
He said as he looked at it, "Mama."
I said, "Yes, that's your mama."
Quasimodo asked as he showed him the figurine of Phoebus,
"And can you tell me who this is?"
He said, looking at it, "Papa."
He said, "That's right, that's your papa."
Zephyr then grabbed both of the figurines and looked at them. We then heard something break and we turned to see a broken plate on the floor. Quasi started to get up, but I stopped him and said,
"No, I'll take care of it."
I then walked over to the shattered glass and picked up a small broom and dustpan and I started to sweep up the mess. As I cleaned up the mess, I saw them both laughing as Quasimodo started bouncing Zephyr up in the air. I smiled at both of them in response. It made me think how great Quasimodo would be as a father if we had kids. I smiled as I kept sweeping up the mess and after I finished, walked back over to Quasimodo and Zephyr and sat back down next to them.
While we continued to watch Zephyr play with the figurines of his mother and father, all of a sudden, we heard a bark from across the room. We looked to see my dog Janie running into the bell tower to greet us. I picked her up and asked as she licked my face,
"Janie, what are you doing? How did you get here?"
She then turned to Quasi and licked his face. He chuckled and said,
"Well hello to you too, little one." As he started to pet her.
I then saw my brother Nathan come in.
I said, "Hey Nate."
Quasimodo said, "Hello, Nathan."
Nathan said, "Hi."
I asked him, "Nathan, what are you and Janie doing here?"
He answered, "I came to deliver a message from our parents and Janie just followed me."
I said as I saw Zephyr playing with Janie, "Oh, well what did they want?"
He answered,
"They want you and Quasimodo to come back to our world so we could talk about your engagement."
Thinking about what happened at my graduation party, I said,
"Well tell them we're not coming."
Quasi said, "Nat."
Nathan said, "They're going to be mad."
I said,
"I don't care. They shouldn't have questioned my relationship with Quasimodo to began with. They know how much I love him, and you already saw what happened. Tell them I said no."
Quasimodo looked at me and said, "Natalie, you can't stay mad at your family forever."
I turned to him and said,
"I know that. But what makes you think that they're going to listen to us if we see them?"
He said,
"Well, maybe they changed their minds about our engagement. And even if they didn't, we gotta try to make amends with them. After all, don't you want them at our wedding?"
I said, "Of course I do, more than anything. But I don't know, what if they don't-"
Nathan chimed in and said,
"Nat, no matter what their opinion is now, they're going to have to come around eventually. And even if they don't, just know that you and Quasimodo already have my blessing."
I smiled and said,
"Thanks Nate. You know what? I think I will see them, tomorrow. But only if it's in this world."
Nathan said, "Alright, I'll go tell them."
I said, "Great, I'll see you later."
He said, "See ya." Quasi waved bye.
Nathan called Janie and she was reluctant at first, but I said to her,
"It's alright girl, I'll see you in a bit okay? Now go back to see mom, okay? Go!"
And with that, she ran over to Nathan, and he picked her up, and with his magical crystal, they vanished.
I turned to Quasi and said, "Do you think I made the right choice?"
He said, "I think you did. I mean, it's better to make amends with your family now than later."
I said, "I know, it's just that I'm afraid that they won't accept us."
He then said wrapping his arm around me,
"Natalie, you worry too much. You said the same thing when you had the chance to go back to your world to see them the first time, and remember what happened when you got there?"
I said, "I told them our story and they accepted us."
He then said, "You see? And even if they don't, we'll always have each other. That's all that matters."
I said, "You're right, we have each other."
He then kissed me on my forehead as I continued to think about tomorrow and watched Zephyr.
Third Person POV
Throughout the day, Phoebus was searching the town square, in houses, inns, almost the whole city to find Jehan. He then decided to search the country side of Paris. He continued walking until he came across a house sitting on top of a small hill. It was a house next to the miller and his family, but it seemed quiet, too quiet. He knocked on the door, but there was no response. He knocked again, but there was still no answer.
He then turned to leave, but all of a sudden, he heard a sinister voice say,
"Looking for something, captain?"
He pulled out his sword and said, "Who's there? Show yourself!"
The mysterious man then came out of the shadows to reveal himself to be Jehan as he laughed and said holding a bottle of wine,
"Oh captain, I heard that you were gullible. But I didn't know that you were this gullible!"
Phoebus said as he glared at him, "Jehan!"
He said as he took a sip out of the bottle, "That's my name! Don't wear it out."
Phoebus snapped, "This is no laughing matter! You're on the charges of assaulting a woman!"
Jehan said,
"Oh dear captain, I was only offering her a chance to leave that monstrosity of a bell ringer and come see what it's like to be with a real man. And she turned me down. So I decided to teach her a lesson."
Phoebus asked, "So you admit your crimes on assaulting Natalie. The soon to be wife of the bell ringer, Quasimodo?"
He then said,
"Oh, so that's her name. Hmm, remarkable name for someone who's sleeping with the monster."
He then said,
"Well whether you know her name or not, you're under arrest for breaking into a tent and assaulting a woman."
Jehan said, "Oh, I don't think I'll be going to the slammer mon capitaine."
Phoebus asked, "And why is that?"
Fleur-de-Lys said as she joined Jehan's side,
"Why, it's because you're nothing but a fool, mon capitaine."
Upon looking at her, Phoebus said as his eyes widened in shock,
"Fleur-de-Lys?"
Unbeknownst to him, one of Jehan's men came and hit him in the back of a head with a stone, knocking him out. As more of his men came to pick him up off of the ground, below the hill, Madellaine and Pierre Gringoire gasped as they witnessed the attack.
Madellaine said, "Oh my God, that's Phoebus!"
Pierre said, "We must go get help!"
As they were about to run off to get help, all of a sudden, they were stopped by two of Jehan's henchmen as they watched them from behind. One of them asked,
"Where do you think you're going?" As they grabbed them.
Jehan looked and said, "Excellent, you both caught his dear friends! Take them all to the Palace of Justice!"
And with that, Jehan's men started to drag the three of them away.
Madellaine shouted, "Let us go!"
Pierre shouted, "You thugs will not get away with this!"
Jehan smirked and said "I believe I have."
Fleur-de-Lys joined him and shouted joyfully,
"We did it Jehan! We finally got our revenge!"
He said taking a sip of wine while wrapping his arm around her,
"Yes Fleur we have, but not all of it. For you see, we still got a date with the gypsy, the bell ringer, and his little wife!"
